London: volume 2
Knight, Charles.
1851
XLIII.-The Old Royal Exchange and its Founder.
XLIII.-The Old Royal Exchange and its Founder.
of Henry VII.'s ministers (Cardinal Morton) once told the Parliament that the King was but With the applicability of the poetical Cardinal's remark to the business in hand, , we have nothing here to do; but the passage itself is a happy illustration of the character and influence of a class of men of whom England has especial reason to be proud, and more particularly London; of men whose business it has been to draw wealth from the public by a kind of magical process (peculiar to the agents of the great wonder-worker Commerce), which leaves the public richer than it found them, and whose accumulations have, indeed, returned to their fellow-men, blessed with the fertilizing influences that belong to a higher intellectual atmosphere. It is needless to enumerate instances which will rise to the memory of every : we merely therefore observe that the same generation that beheld the foundation of the by merchant, had also witnessed, a few years before, the erection of the chief commercial building of the greatest commercial city of the world by another; and who, not content with that act of princely generosity which, taken alone, might have been thought only an exhibition of the sympathy and pride of class-transformed his own residence into a College, and richly endowed it for the promotion of those arts and sciences which may add lustre and dignity to any and every calling. No wonder that London holds dear the memory of Sir Thomas Gresham. | |
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But, in the Gresham family, the founder of the stands not alone. The original project for the Exchange itself is due to his father, Sir Richard Gresham, who, in , whilst Lord Mayor, drew the attention of the minister, Cromwell, to the subject, and laid before him a design for the erection, which-he proposed to place in ; whilst his uncle, Sir John Gresham, Sheriff in the same year that Richard was Mayor, obtained from Henry VIII. the original foundation of Bethlehem Hospital, and richly endowed with his own means Holt school, Norfolk, where was of the family seats. He too became Mayor, and among other matters made his year of office memorable by the revival of the splendid ceremony of the Marching Watch, described in To this uncle was Thomas Gresham apprenticed. | |
The name of Gresham is derived from a little village in Norfolk, where the ancestors of the future civic worthies had resided, it is said, for generations. Thomas, the younger of sons, is supposed to have been born in London about . At the proper period he was sent to Gonville Hall, Cambridge, which, it is worthy of notice, his father thought only a fitting preparation for his son's future career. The mercantile life, apart from its ends, presented at the period in question many picturesque and exciting features, and was esteemed so honourable, that, in some of the greater speculations of the day, the leading names comprise those of the most influential nobility, and who by no means appear as mere nominal patrons. Gresham had evidently high notions of the power and influence as well as of the duties of the British merchant of the century. Writing, some years after the expiration of his apprenticeship, to his patron the Duke of Northumberland, he says, he then goes on to praise his father's wisdom in so doing. We shall see presently to what excellent purpose Gresham turned these preparations. He was admitted into the Mercers' Company in , being then in his year; and prior to the expiration of the twelvemonth we find engaged as a merchant in furnishing supplies for the siege of Boulogne. Soon after he married Anne, widow of a gentleman of Suffolk, and sister to the lady of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper. In of his letters from the continent, written some years later, to the minister, Sir W. Cecil, he says, In many others of his important business letters, Gresham recurs to his and altogether it is very evident there was happiness by the domestic hearth. We now reach the most important period of Gresham's history; for from it may be dated all the consequences which have made his name memorable. | |
There were formerly but recognised modes of obtaining funds for great national emergencies-subsidies, levied by the arbitrary will of the sovereign or the government, which was as odious as it was in every other respect objectionable-and loans from wealthy merchants; generally of Germany or the Low Countries. By the period in question the last had become the rule, the only the exception. To negotiate the loans an agent became necessary, who was to reside abroad; a person, of course, of distinguished talent and probity, and of agreeable, conciliatory manners. Prior to , and during a period of | |
283 | considerable financial disorder, the post was held by a man who, in the opinion of the government, was unfitted for it; so, says Gresham, The opinion given was approved of, and Gresham immediately appointed Royal Agent. He set off with his family to Antwerp, the then great commercial emporium of the world. The nature of financial dealings in th century, and of the difficulties which they presented to the man who had determined to revolutionise the system, may be gathered from the following extract from the youthful King's manuscript journal, :-- Some readers will no doubt be surprised to find the tricks of the disreputable money-lenders of our own day traceable to such high and respectable origin. The zeal with which Gresham entered into the duties of his appointment must have been sorely tried in many ways; during the years, for instance, he was called over, frequently at the shortest notice, no less than times! As to what else was required from him in the pursuit of the objects he had set before him, and what he accomplished, we are glad to be able to allow him to speak for himself. The direct saving from this source alone he estimates at The means by which it was done are thus alluded to: He then points out the other advantages which have accrued in consequence of the raising of the exchange: The precious metals, it is pointed out, are, as a natural consequence, flowing into the country, and the credit of the sovereign is placed on a solid basis. And all this was done in despite of the It would be difficult to |
284 | explain the nature of these devices to the general reader; suffice it, therefore, to say that they present an extraordinary evidence of the far-sighted character of Gresham's mind, and of the claims which he has upon the gratitude of every English merchant, and of his countrymen generally. Gresham's chief opponents were the merchants of the Steel-yard, whose commercial privileges were a great cause of keeping down the exchange, and which produced besides great heart-burnings and jealousies among our native merchants. |
The Esterlings, or Germans, were settled in England as early as the reign of Ethelred; when, says Pennant, These men were undoubtedly our instructors in the art of commerce. For several centuries they were the chief importers and exporters of England, and the profits derived from their trade, and their connexion with the great Hanseatic Confederation, induced our sovereigns to bestow on them peculiar privileges. On more than occasion the London journeymen and apprentices resented the favour shown to them by riots and by attacks on the warehouses of the obnoxious foreigners. In it was decided by the Government that the Steel-yard merchants had forfeited their liberties, and should be placed for the future, with regard to the duties, upon their exports and imports, on the same footing as other strangers. The merit of this abolition of which, to every but themselves, had grown into serious wrongs, appears to have been never attributed to its true owner, Gresham; who states expressly, in his account of the by which he succeeded in raising the exchange, that he and the dates of the events show that he was successful, The Steel-yard, or, as it was occasionally called, the Steel-house, stood on the banks of the Thames, about the end of the little street still known as Steel-yard Street, a short distance eastwards from . Here also was the very interesting Teutonic , with its famous pictures by Holbein, representing the triumphs of Riches and Poverty. What became of these pictures we know not; they are supposed by Pennant to have been carried into Flanders on the final shutting up of the warehouse by Elizabeth in , and thence into France. Zucchero copied them at the Steelyard in , and engravings, probably from his paintings, were made in the last century. Pennant[n.284.1] thus describes the chief features of the designs:
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The document from which we have transcribed the foregoing passages relating to Gresham's financial miracles, for such they then appeared to all parties, is a Memorial presented to Queen Mary soon after the execution of Gresham's patron, the Duke of Northumberland, on no less occasion than that of the former being removed from the office he had filled with so much ability and success. That removal may in some way or other, perhaps, be attributed to his friendship with the fallen earl; and Gresham, naturally alarmed, seems to have feared that the entire ruin of his prospects was about to take place. Having mentioned the late King's acknowledgment of his services,-- --he nexts laments the influence of his enemies, and a loss he had just heard of
says he, Whatever the cause of his momentary disgrace, the services of Gresham were precisely of the kind that the Government were unable to dispense with, so he was soon re-instated; and when Elizabeth came to the throne he was able to give a scarcely less satisfactory account of what he had done--for Mary, and of the reward he had received, than is contained in the memorial above mentioned. He was present at the council held by the Virgin Queen, at Hatfield, and was received with marked favour. Elizabeth, to dissipate his fears of what his enemies might say in his absence, told him she would keep ear shut from his enemies, that should be ever open to him; and promised him, if he did her none other service than he had done to King Edward, her late brother, and Queen Mary, her late sister, she | |
286 | would give him as much land as ever they both did. The characteristic reply was an exposition of his financial views, ending with the following admirable advice : It is worth noting how implicitly the advice appears to have been followed, with the exception of the matter of the licences. In carrying. out the and greatest of the reforms proposed, the restoration of a debased coinage, Gresham himself was, if not a chief actor, evidently the main adviser, for he introduced the foreigners who executed the gigantic task proposed, and was of their sureties during its performance. The Steel-yard not only did not recover but was finally closed by the Queen. And as to the disuse of foreign loans, and the establishment of domestic credit, Gresham again appears not only as the author of the propositions, but as the man who carried them into execution. Elizabeth made a subsidy in throughout England, which produced no more than More money was indispensable; so, the subsidy having failed, Gresham was empowered to negotiate with the great body, of British merchants known as the Merchant Adventurers. It was no easy matter. The merchants and the Queen held very different opinions on the subject of loans; which need not excite surprise when we know what the Queen's opinions were, or at least her conduct, which may be taken as their best representative. Whenever she was in want of a small sum of money, her remedy was strikingly simple: of the city companies were desired to furnish it. Nor was this all. On occasion she required the ironmongers to send her ; and if they were unprovided . The Merchant Adventurers were puzzled what to do with the application. At last, they referred the matter to a common hall, were the loan was refused by a show of hands. But if they had known the importance Gresham attached to the matter, they might have saved themselves much trouble. He was a man who could never understand failure in any scheme he undertook. He now met their refusal by a show of great surprise and indignation; he caused the Queen's Council to write expressing its displeasure; then, again going quietly, and in a conciliatory tone, to the individuals whom he had marked out for express favour, he soon obtained some for months. The loan had to be renewed at the expiration of the months; but in the mean time the merchants had become convinced that principal and interest were safe in the royal hands, and that Gresham had understood their interests, as well as those of the sovereign, better than either party had understood them for themselves. From that time we hear no more of foreign loans. Among the less permanently valuable services of Gresham, but which, during his own lifetime, formed not the least of his claims to the respect and attention of the Government, was the peculiar and delicate office which he undertook, in addition to his other multifarious occupations, as Queen's agent for the negotiation |
287 | of loans,--and Queen's merchant for the supply of military and other stores,--namely, that of being the Government's chief continental correspondent. Antwerp was then [n.287.1] The Flemish correspondence of the period, consisting of hundreds of letters, is almost entirely written by him; and the evidences are manifold of the great reliance Elizabeth and her ministers placed in his industry, talents, and judgment. Gresham, it appears, had a regular staff of spies, constantly running to and fro. Thus, when it was known, in , that an army had encamped in Guelderland, Gresham immediately sent a servant with crowns, who was to stay in the camp so long as the money lasted. Among the persons of this class whom he employed was Hogan, of whom Elizabeth expressed her distrust, as the man was professedly in the pay of the King of Spain; but Gresham satisfied his royal mistress that he knew perfectly well what he was doing. He was himself indefatigable in the same pursuit, setting time and place at defiance whenever anything of high importance had to be done, and he could trust himself only to do it. His skill in some of the manoeuvres that were then looked on, we presume, as quite proper to diplomacy, has been recorded by Strada, the historian of the Low Country wars, The importance of this revelation to Elizabeth will be appreciated when we remember the continual support she rendered through her reign to the Protestants of the continent, as well as the danger her own kingdom might be placed in if the measures of the King of Spain and the Emperor with regard to Germany were successful. Another of Gresham's duties involved considerable personal danger. Ammunition was continually wanted by the English Government from Antwerp; but this want could only be. supplied in great secrecy, for the laws of the Low Countries attached their severest penalties to the exporters. All kinds of ingenious schemes were consequently employed. The ammunition was concealed, in comparatively small quantities, in almost every ship that left Antwerp for England; and in Gresham's correspondence on the subject velvet, silks, satins, and damasks represent the forbidden articles. The continual arrival of these stores at the Tower attracted attention; although even that danger had been |
288 | pointed out by Gresham to the council at home, with a remedy which was perhaps thought unnecessary. Hence the catastrophe. In he writes to say he For on the , But Gresham's liberality had not enlisted the searcher alone in his favour; a kind of council was held on the matter; and the result was, that they agreed among themselves that if they interfered Gresham would not take it in good part at their hands. Dogberry himself never arrived at a sager conclusion. And so the matter ended, to the Royal Merchant's great relief; who desired the proper parties at home, to take better care for the future. Some of these transactions, it will be seen, are of a more than questionable character; but whilst the private and political honours, of our own public men are so often acknowledged even by themselves to present distinctions differences, it would be unjust not to give Gresham whatever benefit may belong to such a consideration. His private character, nay, his public even, where it refers simply to aught pertaining to self, is unspotted; and with respect to the violation of the laws of Antwerp whilst receiving its protection as an English official, his paid spies, his bribes, &c., they are but part of the widely-spreading system of artifice which the great statesmen of the century thought necessary to the support of the social fabric. It is astonishing what little materials went to the formation of their great policy. |
With a few personal notices of Gresham we now conclude his history, with the exception of those prominent features of it which more particularly give to that history its interest,--and which therefore require to be treated independently. Thomas Gresham became Thomas on the occasion of his undertaking the duties of ambassador at the court of the Duchess of Parma. His principal English residences were in ; Mayfield, in Sussex, previously a favourite old palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury; and Osterley, in Middlesex: he had other country houses, but of less importance. was, in Gresham's time, the busiest and most important street in London, for it was there that the merchants from all parts of the world congregated in the open air. In short it was as yet the only Exchange. Like all other bankers and merchants of the day, Gresham had his shop in this street, with his grasshopper over the door as his sign. Those who feel any interest in so doing may yet look upon the site of Gresham's house. It stood where now stands the banking-house of Messrs. Stone, Martin, and Co. Pennant saw the sign itself in the last century, which is understood to have remained on the spot till the erection of the present building. Mayfield and Osterley were magnificent places; the furniture of Mayfield was estimated at ; and in both Gresham had the honour of a visit from his royal mistress. of the rooms yet existing among the beautiful ruins of Mayfield is called the Queen's chamber to this day. Of Osterley, Norden, the local historian, speaks as of
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289 | and that the park was formerly The paper-mill is a new point in Gresham's history; it was of the earliest, if not earliest, established in this country. His protégé, the poet Churchyard, says- [n.289.1] Does the poet here give his patron a hint ;-- --It looks very like it. This was written about the period of Elizabeth's visit to Osterley, perhaps a short time before. Among the other magnificent preparations made by Gresham was that it is peculiarly agreeable to read of, as showing the latent love of literature, and everything connected with it, that so often breaks out in the life of the bustling merchant of the world. We refer to a play and a pageant by Thomas Churchyard, written and produced expressly for the occasion. Fuller adds another noticeable incident:-- What the Queen said is unknown; no doubt Gresham received his reward in the delight and surprise visible on his royal mistress's face. The courtiers, thinking, perhaps, the merchant had outdone them even in their own way, This visit took place in . years later, Writes Holinshed, He lies in the church of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, near th tomb of Sir John Crosby, mentioned in beneath a costly, yet unambitious-looking memorial, constructed by his own orders during his lifetime. poor men and women in black gowns followed his remains to the grave, in a procession of almost unequalled splendour. The tomb bears the simple inscription, and even this is only of the date of , for it was thought, says Pennant,
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The motives or impulses which move men to the performance of great charitable actions are of course as various as their characters, and, where they have not themselves explained them to us, must be looked for in that direction. In Gresham's case many concurring circumstances probably aided the formation of his plan for an Exchange. His father had desired to see the merchants of England lodged as well as those of Antwerp, where he had seen and enjoyed the advantages of their new and magnificent Bourse. His own residence, in the very centre of the meeting-place, must have saved him personally from its inconveniences; but the same circumstance may have afforded him more leisurable opportunity for seeing how it affected others less favourably situated. His biographer seems to think a nearer motive may have been at work. His only son died in ; and with him, no doubt, a great portion of the magnificent fabric of future rank and power which should be his in the persons of his descendants. His father had died some years before. As the old faces disappeared, old objects would lose their attraction. Those only who have felt bereavement can appreciate the value of a new object at such a time; an object into which the energies-that, unemployed in their usual task, have become but so many instruments of self-torture, enhancing the grief which they ought to allay-can be forcibly directed, and there drawn into full occupation. Young Gresham died in . In that same year we find, from the minutes of the Court of Aldermen, the proposal was made to the Court by Sir Thomas Gresham respecting the erection of the Exchange. | |
We may see how much the proposed building was needed from the picture Stow, in his Chronicle, has left us of . at noon and in the evening. Sir Thomas now offered to remedy this state of things, by erecting a Bourse or Exchange, provided a site was found. A subscription was immediately set on foot for the purchase of the chosen spot in , and in the alleys at the back, which, with the houses thereon standing, were ultimately bought for The ground was then made plain, and the whole conveyed over to Sir Thomas Gresham, by certain aldermen, in the name of the citizens generally. Sir Thomas, on his part, Mr. Burgon adds to this passage the remark : On the , the founder laid the stone of the foundation, accompanied by several aldermen, each of whom laid a piece of gold upon it for the workmen. By , the entire building was completed. There is a curious | |
291 | tradition, not unsupported. by facts, with respect to the formation of the frame-work of the Exchange. Gresham, in of his letters, speaks of Rinxhall, or Ringshall, is near Battisford, in Suffolk, from which it is divided by a great common, called Battisford Tye. This was formerly rich in wood; and in a certain part of it the remains of or saw-pits are still discernible. These, says tradition, are the same that were employed in the frame-work of the great Bourse, which, according to the same authority, was entirely constructed here. The architect was Henrick, a Fleming, who, it appears, was in the habit of going to and fro between England and Flanders during the progress of the edifice, to obtain both materials and men. The stone, the slates, the iron, the wainscot, and the glass, all came from Antwerp. Hollinshed seems to intimate Gresham had evidently made it a matter of importance that he should be at liberty to employ Flemish artists and workmen, for the Court of Aldermen, in acceding to his,proposal, agreed also that might be employed. Many annoyances, however, were experienced from the English bricklayers, The magnificent range of statues which distinguished the Exchange were also most probably made in Flanders; for Mr. Burgon, we think, entirely mistakes the meaning of the following passage in. a letter from Clough, Gresham's factor, who says, Gresham's biographer supposes from this that some of the were sent over from- England, where he consequently presumes they had been made, to show the Flemish artist the style in which he was to construct Queen Elizabeth's. Is it not much more likely that the were really pictures, containing perhaps representations of the statues, if such were needed, and different portraits of her Majesty, to assist the sculptor in his task? |
The general aspect of the new building presented striking evidence of its in every way Flemish character. As Flemish materials, Flemish workmen, and a Flemish architect were employed in the execution, so was the design itself a tolerably close imitation of a Flemish building--the great Bourse of Antwerp. prints have been preserved of an interesting character, which show very completely the interior and exterior aspects of the building. They were executed in , and from the date, and the inscription upon them, it appears not improbable, as Mr. Burgon suggests, that they were engraved at Gresham's own order. The English inscription is as follows:-- This inscription is repeated in the prints in French, Dutch, and Latin, implying a care for its being read in every part of the world, which may be attributed with greater probability to Sir Thomas Gresham than to any else. The view shown by the print of the interior is seen in the engraving at the end of our paper, and need not therefore be described. We may observe, however, that the column there seen in front of the northern entrance, commanding a view of the court within, is shown in no | |
292 | other engravings of London; which is the more remarkable as, from its evident size, it must have been a conspicuous object from all sides. The principal feature of the exterior view is a lofty square tower with balconied galleries, and a grasshopper surmounting the ball at its top, which stands on side the entrance, and formed a bell-tower, from which issued at at noon, and at in the evening, the merchants' call to The pillars of the court were of marble. All the corners of the building were ornamented with the founder's crest, the grasshopper, in allusion to which and the Exchange, Bishop Hall, in his description of says- The building consisted essentially of portions, an upper and a lower; the being laid out in shops, in number, and the other into walks and rooms for the merchants, with shops on the exterior. For or years after the opening of the building the shops, remained and, for the time, caused a considerable disappointment to the founder, who anticipated a handsome revenue from that source. But the persevering spirit of Gresham was as actively at work as ever; and a new soon altered the cheerless-looking aspect of the place. It was noised abroad that the Queen was going to visit it, and Gresham's preparatory movements showed the importance he attached to the matter. says Stow, All being prepared-amidst the ringing of the bells in every part of the city- A bas-relief over the entrance through which Elizabeth had passed existed down to the fire, commemorative of this incident. A still more important memorial, however, is to be found in a play, divided into parts, by T. Heywood (whom Charles Lamb finely calls a sort of Shakspere), under the voluminous titles of-- and As it did not suit Heywood, nor perhaps his audiences, who looked upon Gresham as a miracle of wealth and generosity, to abide by the exact vulgar facts as above narrated, the poet gives us a new |
293 | reading of the Egyptian story. At the banquet Gresham produces a pearl of such value that few could afford to buy it from him, and, having crushed it to powder, drinks it off in a cup of wine.
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We may here mention that another play also exists to mark the interest taken by the public in the Royal Merchant during his lifetime. The we now refer to is in Latin, and preserved in manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. There are persons in the list of characters, the , Rialto, being intended for Sir Thomas himself. The prologue and epilogue are delivered by Mercury, and the scene is the . From the period of the Queen's visit the shops of the Pawn soon rose in value from to , says Stow, But we have in this passage only an indication of the transition period of the Exchange; for a few years later still, and the shops were filled with the richest wares that the world of commerce could produce, till even princes, according to Stow's pleasant exaggeration, sent daily to be served of the best sort. Not the least interesting part of the history of the old Exchange are its literary memorials, though, for the most part, their authors are unknown to fame. of these, the Rev. Samuel Rolle, a clergyman who wrote no less than Discourses, Meditations, and Contemplations on the Great Fire, thus speaks of the Exchange: And in an equally picturesque strain he continues: The Pawn, the part he principally referred to, was then, it must be remembered, very differently situated with regard to the fashionable parts of London from what it is now. During Gresham's time the , , &c., on the side, and the on the other, were to | |
294 | the rest of the Metropolis something like what , , and parts of are at this day. |
The lower part of the Exchange, including the great court, must have presented an animated and remarkable scene. Jostling each other among the crowd were men from almost every known nation of the world, habited in their respective national costumes, speaking in every variety of tone and language, exhibiting the most marked differences of manner and countenance. Interspersed with the more numerous English merchants, dressed in their large puffed breeches, long vests, short cloaks and ruffs, appeared here the half-naturalized Fleming, with his fur-trimmed coat and hat, and tight-fitting pantaloons; there the lordly Venetian, in his long robes and elegant cap, a fitting representative of the great and haughty republic. Mingling with the more sedate men of business too would occasionally be seen some courtier from the Palace in all his bravery, conning a new jest at the expense of the some lover of notoriety seeking to make the best of his small reputation--a for instance, Or some idle needy-looking scapegrace, who, perhaps in a penitent or philosophizing mood, is wandering about to see if he cannot catch, as it were, the contagious air of the place,--grow prudent, industrious, rich! Many a shaft is directed by our old satirists at these poor castaways of Fortune, whose usual haunts were and the Exchange. Hayman, in his (), thus addresses Sir Pierce Penniless:-- We need scarcely inform our readers that the Barmecide himself, in the never enjoyed a lighter or more digestible diet than Duke Humphrey presented to the noonday walkers in , or Sir Thomas Gresham to the promenaders of the evening «Change. | |
Another of these authors who have written on the Exchange in a style that gives intrinsic value to their compositions, apart from the subject, is Daniel Lupton, who published in a small work called The passage referring to the merchants of the Exchange is so excellent, that we give it almost entire :
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Numerous brief records of the Exchange exist in the referring chiefly to presentments of annoyances to which the merchants, visitors, and neighbours were subject; which, though not very remarkable or interesting in. themselves, help to fill up the details of the picture. From its pages we learn that at time the who walked in the Exchange on Sundays and holidays for the great number of boys and children, and young rogues, who made such that, at another, who sold apples and oranges at the entrance in , amused themselves that again, at a , the same entrance was beset by resorting thither; and lastly, to make the confusion worse confounded, and drive the quiet citizens mad, that the bearwards would bring their bears, dogs, and bulls before the Exchange, even at Exchange time, and make their proclamation as to the where and the when of the evening sport. | |
The last, and not least eloquent, of the literary memorials of the , that we shall transcribe, forms also the most fitting conclusion to its history. It is a leaf from the Book of the Great Fire:--Now the flames break in upon , that large and spacious street, and quickly cross the way by the train of wood that lay in the streets untaken away, which had been pulled down from the houses to prevent its spreading, and so they lick the whole street up as they go; they mount up. to the top of the highest houses; they descend down to the bottom of the lowest vaults-and cellars; and march along on both sides of the way, with such a roaring noise as never was heard in the City of London: no stately buildings so great as to resist their fury: the itself, the glory of the merchants, is now invaded with much violence. | |
The very interesting fact recorded in the words we have marked with italics is noticed by all the historians of the Fire; and the author of the before mentioned devotes a whole chapter to its illustration. The incident, indeed, was really remarkable, and calculated to stimulate thought into poetry--to connect agreeable memories with the wildest scene of | |
296 | desolation. Some would remember the exactly parallel circumstance at at the same time, where the architrave alone remained entire, with its builder's name visible by the light of the flames that were destroying his work; others would behold, in the prostration of the effigies of the long line of sovereigns, whilst that of the Merchant--the Philanthropist--the Statesman-remained standing, a symbol of the permanence and natural elevation of the inherent and better qualities of human nature, as contrasted with the temporary rank often bestowed where they are utterly wanting; whilst, lastly, all would feel how impressively that solitary statue seemed to say- --and feel the spirit of Gresham animate them to new exertions to replace the lost edifice. |
Footnotes: [n.284.1] Edition of 1793, page 333. [n.287.1] Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham, by John William Burgon, vol. i. p. 361; a work to which we must express our grateful acknowledgments. [n.289.1] In A Description and Discourse of Paper, &c. |
