[Picture: The Royal Exchange]
Here merchants meet from all parts of the world. The traffic on the seas
being very great, to and from every nation, in time of peace, it must
afford great convenience to the ship-owners, ship-captains, and traders,
to have one spot where they can meet to transact their business. Sir
Thomas Gresham, a merchant, laid the foundation in 1566, and Queen
Elizabeth was so pleased with the building, that she dignified it with
the title of _Royal Exchange_, by sound of trumpet.
The inside of the Exchange affords a busy scene: Englishmen, Dutchmen,
Frenchmen, Spaniards, Russians, Turks, Americans, and Jews. How intent
every one appears to be on business, and what a general buzz and din we
hear: yet the figure of one individual stands very silently in the midst
of all, I mean the statue of Charles the Second, on a pedestal. In a few
years, every one of these active merchants will be as motionless as this
marble statue. It may be of service to the busy Englishman, sprightly
Frenchman, lazy Spaniard, plodding-Dutchman, rough Russian, proud Turk,
and rich Jew, to reflect on this; and to endeavour, with all their
gettings, to get understanding.