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foreign parts. In this state of credit and reputation, he thought proper to provide himself with a mansion-house in the city, suitable to his station and dignity; and with this spirit built a large and sumptuous house for his own dwelling, on the west-side of Bishopsgate-street, London, afterwards called Gresham-college, where he maintained an establishment becoming his character and station. But this flow of prosperity received a heavy check by the loss of his only son, aged 16 years, who died in 1564, and was buried in St. Helen's church, opposite to his mansion house.

At this time the merchants of London met in Lombardstreet, exposed to the open air and all the injuries of the weather. To remedy which inconvenience, sir Thomas's father during his shrievalty wrote a letter to sir Thomas Audeley then lord-privy-seal, acquainting him that there were certain houses in that street belonging to sir George Monoux, which if purchased and pulled down, a handsome exchange might be built on the ground; he therefore desired his lordship to move his majesty, that a letter might be sent to sir George, requiring him to sell those houses to the mayor and commonalty of the city of London for that purpose. The building he supposes would cost upwards of 2000l., 1000l. of which he doubts not to raise before he was out of his office: but nothing effectual was done in it. Sir Thomas therefore took up his father's design, and improving upon his spirit, proposed that if the citizens would give him a piece of ground in a proper place large enough for the purpose, he would build an exchange at his own expence with large and covered. walks, where the merchants and traders of all sorts might daily assemble and transact business at all seasons, without interruption from the weather or impediments of any kind. This generous offer was gratefully accepted, and in 1566 several houses upon Cornhill and the back of it, with three alleys, called Swan-alley, New-alley, and St. Christopher's alley, containing in all eighty houses, were purchased by the citizens for more than 35327. and sold for 478%. on condition of pulling them down, and carrying off the stuff. This done, the ground-plot was made plain at the charges of the city, and possession given to sir Thomas, who was styled "Agent to the queen's highness;" and who, on the 7th of June, laid the first stone of the foundation; and the work was forthwith followed with such diligence, that

by Nov. 1567, the same was covered with slate, and the shell shortly after fully finished. It is said that the timber of which this fabric was built, was first framed and put together at Battisford, near Ipswich, in Suffolk, and thence brought to London.

The plan of this edifice was formed from the exchange at Antwerp, being an oblong square, with a portico supported with pillars of marble, ten on the north and south sides, and seven on the east and west; under which stood the shops each seven feet and a half long, and five feet broad, in all 120, twenty-five on each side east and west, and thirty-four and an half north, and thirty-five and an half south, each of which paid sir Thomas 4. 10s. a year upon an average. There were likewise other shops fitted up at first in the vaults below, but the dampness and darkness rendered these so inconvenient, that the vaults were soon let out to other uses; upon the roof stood at each corner, upon a pedestal, a grasshopper, which was the crest of sir Thomas's arms. This edifice was fully completed, and the shops opened in 1569; and Jan. 29, 1570, queen Elizabeth attended by her nobility, came from Somerset-house thither, and caused it by a trumpet and a herald to be proclaimed "The Royal Exchange." The story, however, of sir Thomas's having on this day reduced a costly pearl to powder, and drank it up in a glass of wine, seems to rest on very slender foundation, and is very inconsistent with his character, who knew how to unite the magnificence of the nobleman with the prudence of the merchant.

In the mean time he had scarcely entered upon the execution of this noble design, when in 1566, he was sent over to Antwerp to take up the sum of 14,6677. Flemish money, for her majesty, and prolong the time of payment for 34,3851. more; and in December of the same year, there was another debt of the queen's prolonged of 85321. Flemish. Sir Thomas, however, perceiving the disadvantage of borrowing money from foreigners, at an exorbitant interest, advised her majesty to take up what money she wanted of her own merchants; which advice, however, was not immediately adopted, but in 1569 an opportunity occurred which rendered his advice necessary. The quarrel which at this time took place between queen Elizabeth and the king of Spain, obliged the English merchants to send their effects to Hamburgh, on which the duke of

Alva, governor of the Netherlands, prohibited all commerce with England. Upon this, secretary Cecil, who was then at the head of the exchequer, had his fears lest the merchants would not have money enough to carry on their trade, and the queen lest the falling off in the duties on cloth might prevent her paying her debts abroad. Sir Thomas, however, when consulted, told the secretary that in his opinion the queen needed be at no difficulty to pay her creditors, if she saw her merchants well paid in London their first payment, which was half of her debt to them; for by the time the other half should be payable, the merchants would have plenty of money both here and at Hamburgh. He assured him, that the commodities shipped by our merchants from Hamburgh were well worth 100,000l.; and those shipped hence with our goods thither, were worth upwards of 200,000l. so that the duty upon cloths (10,000l. at least) would enable the queen to discharge her debt. As to the secretary's fears respecting the merchants, sir Thomas observed that there was no foundation for them, considering the great vent our commodities had at Hamburgh already, and were likely to have, and therefore he advised that the first payment agreed on at Hamburgh should above all things be provided for; assuring the secretary, that he knew certainly that the duke of Alva was more troubled with the queen's great credit, and with the vent of her commodities at Hamburgh, than he was with any thing else, and "quaked for fear;" that this was one of the principal hindrances to the payment of the tenth penny, then demanded by the duke for the sale of any kind of goods in the Netherlands; which he believed would be his undoing. He then renewed his advice respecting borrowing of her own subjects in preference to foreigners, urging many reasons grounded on facts. When, however, the motion of lending money to the queen was first proposed among the merchants by sir Thomas, it met with great opposition, and was negatived in the common-hall; but upon more mature consideration afterwards several of the merchants and aldermen lent her majesty various sums of money, to the value of 16,000l. for six months, at 6 per cent. interest for that time. She gave bonds to each of them separately for re-payment, and likewise other accustomed bonds to discharge them of the statute of usury; and when the six months were expired, she prolonged the payment for six months more, paying the same interest, with

brokage. As her majesty was thus enabled to borrow money of her own subjects, instead of foreigners, and the commerce with Flanders, particularly Antwerp, was now prohibited, sir Thomas's office as agent for her majesty in those parts, ceased of course. But in 1572, to shew her regard for him, she was pleased to appoint him, together with the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of London, and other persons of eminence, assistants to the lord mayor for the government of the city of London during her intended progress that summer. This method was afterwards continued on similar occasions, and sir Thomas Gresham was joined in the commission till 1578.

Though sir Thomas had purchased very large estates in several counties of England, yet he thought a country seat near London, to which he might retire from business and the hurry of the city as often as he pleased, would be very convenient. With this view he bought Osterley-park, near Brentford, in Middlesex, where he built a large magnificent seat within the park, which he impaled, being well wooded, and furnished with many ponds stocked with fish and fowl, and of great use for mills, as paper-mills, oilmills, and corn-mills. In 1578, queen Elizabeth visited Osterley, where sir Thomas entertained her magnificently. On this occasion, having given it as her opinion that the court before the house would look better divided with a wall, sir Thomas in the night sent for workmen from London, who so speedily and so silently performed their task, that before morning the wall was finished, to the great surprize of the queen and her courtiers, one of whom, however, observed, that it was no wonder that he who could build a change should so soon change a building. This became afterwards the property of the family of Child, and is now that of the right hon. the earl of Jersey, by marriage into that family.

Before Osterley was completed, sir Thomas projected and executed that noble design of converting his mansionhouse in Bishopsgate-street into a seat for the muses, and endowing it with the revenues arising from the royal exchange after his decease. While he was meditating this design, the university of Cambridge wrote him an elegant Latin letter, reminding him of a promise, as they had been informed, to give them 500l. either towards building a new college there, or repairing one already built. This letter was dated March 14, 1574-5; and it was followed

by another of the 25th, to acquaint him with a report they had heard, that he had promised lady Burghley both to found and endow a college for the profession of the seven liberal sciences. They observe, that the only place proper for such a design, was either London, Oxford, or Cambridge; they endeavour to dissuade him from London, lest it should prove prejudicial to the two universities; and they hope he will not make choice of Oxford, since he was himself bred at Cambridge, which might presume upon a superior regard from him on that account. At the same time, they wrote another letter to the lady Burghley, in which they earnestly request that she will please to use her interest with him, to fix upon Cambridge for the place of his intended college.

But these letters had not the desired effect; he persisted in his resolution to settle it in his house at London; and accordingly, by an indenture dated May 20, 1575, he made a disposition of his several manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments; with such limitations and restrictions, particularly as to the royal exchange and his mansionhouse, as might best secure his views with regard to the uses for which he designed them. This indenture was soon followed by two wills, one of his goods, and the other of his real estates: the former of these bears date July 4th ensuing, whereby he bequeaths to his wife, whom he makes his sole executrix, all his goods, as ready money, plate, jewels, chains of gold, with all his stock of sheep and other cattle if within the realm of England, and likewise gives several legacies to his relations and friends and to all his servants, amounting in the whole to upwards of 20007. besides some small annuities. The other will is dated July the 5th, wherein he gives one moiety of the royal exchange to the mayor and commonalty of London, and the other to the Mercers company, for the salaries of seven lecturers in divinity, law, physic, astronomy, geometry, music, and rhetoric, at 50l. per annum for each, with his house in Bishopsgate-street for the lecturers' residence, where the lectures were to be read. He likewise leaves 531. 6s. 8d. yearly for the provision of eight almsfolks residing in the alms-houses behind his house, and 101. yearly to each of the prisons in Newgate, Ludgate, King's-bench, the Marshalsea, and Compter in Woodstreet, and the like sum to each of the hospitals of Christchurch, St. Bartholomew, Bedlam, Southwark, and the

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