The Second Exchange on Fire--Chimes Extraordinary--Incidents of the
Fire--Sale of Salvage--Designs for the New Building--Details of the
Present Exchange--The Ambulatory, or Merchants' Walk--Royal Exchange
Assurance Company--"Lloyd's"--Origin of "Lloyd's"--Marine
Assurance--Benevolent Contributions of "Lloyd's"--A "Good" and "Bad"
Book.
[Illustration: THE PRESENT ROYAL EXCHANGE.]
The second Exchange was destroyed by fire on the 10th of January, 1838.
The flames, which broke out probably from an over-heated stove in
Lloyd's Coffee-house, were first seen by two of the Bank watchmen about
half-past ten. The gates had to be forced before entrance could be
effected, and then the hose of the fire-engine was found to be frozen
and unworkable. About one o'clock the fire reached the new tower. The
bells chimed "Life let us cherish," "God save the Queen," and one of the
last tunes heard, appropriately enough, was "There's nae Luck aboot the
Hoose." The eight bells finally fell, crushing in the roof of the
entrance arch. The east side of Sweeting's Alley was destroyed, and all
the royal statues but that of Charles II. perished. One of Lloyd's
safes, containing bank-notes for L2,500, was discovered after the fire,
with the notes reduced to a cinder, but the numbers still traceable. A
bag of twenty sovereigns, thrown from a window, burst, and some of the
mob benefited by the gold. The statue of Gresham was entirely
destroyed. In the ruins of the Lord Mayor's Court Office the great City
Seal, and two bags, each containing L200 in gold, were found uninjured.
The flames were clearly seen at Windsor (twenty-four miles from London),
and at Roydon Mount, near Epping (eighteen miles). Troops from the Tower
kept Cornhill clear, and assisted the sufferers to remove their
property. If the wind had been from the south, the Bank and St.
Bartholomew's Church would also have perished.
[Illustration: BLACKWELL HALL IN 1812.]
An Act of Parliament was passed in 1838, giving power to purchase and
remove all the buildings (called Bank Buildings) west of the Exchange,
and also the old buildings to the eastward, nearly as far as Finch Lane.
The Treasury at first claimed the direction of the whole building, but
eventually gave way, retaining only a veto on the design. The cost of
the building was, from the first, limited to L150,000, to be raised on
the credit of the London Bridge Fund. Thirty designs were sent in by the
rival architects, and exhibited in Mercers' Hall, but none could be
decided upon; and so the judges themselves had to compete. Eventually
the competition lay between Mr. Tite and Mr. Cockerell, and the former
was appointed by the Committee. Mr. Tite was a classical man, and the
result was a _quasi_-Greek, Roman, and Composite building. Mr. Tite at
once resolved to design the new building with simple and unbroken lines,
like the Paris Bourse, and, as much as possible, to take the Pantheon at
Rome as his guide. The portico was to be at the west end, the tower at
the east. The first Exchange had been built on piles; the foundations of
the third cost L8,124. In excavating for it, the workmen came on what
had evidently been the very centre of Roman London. In a gravel-pit,
which afterwards seemed to have been a pond (perhaps the fountain of a
grand Roman courtyard), were found heaps of rubbish, coins of copper,
yellow brass, silver, and silver-plated brass, of Augustus, Tiberius,
Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Domitian, &c., Henry IV. of England,
Elizabeth, &c., and stores of Flemish, German, Prussian, Danish, and
Dutch money. They also discovered fragments of Roman stucco, painted
shards of delicate Samian ware, an amphora and terra-cotta lamps
(seventeen feet below the surface), glass, bricks and tiles, jars, urns,
vases, and potters' stamps. In the Corporation Museum at the Guildhall,
where Mr. Tite deposited these interesting relics, are also fine wood
tablets, and styles (for writing on wax) of iron, brass, bone, and wood.
There are also in the same collection, from the same source, artificers'
tools and leather-work, soldiers' sandals and shoes, and a series of
horns, shells, bones, and vegetable remains. Tesselated pavements have
been found in Threadneedle Street, and other spots near the Exchange.
The cost of enlarging the site of the Exchange, including improvements,
and the widening of Cornhill, Freeman's Court, and Broad Street, the
removal of the French Protestant Church, and demolition of St. Benet
Fink, Bank Buildings, and Sweeting's Alley, was, according to the City
Chamberlain's return of 1851, L223,578 1s. 10d. The cost of the building
was L150,000.
The portico, one of the finest of its kind, is ninety-six feet wide, and
seventy-four feet high. That of St. Martin's Church is only sixty-four
wide, and the Post Office seventy-six. The whole building was rapidly
completed. The foundation-stone was laid by Prince Albert, January 17th,
1842, John Pirie, Esq., being Lord Mayor. A huge red-striped pavilion
had been raised for the ceremonial, and the Duke of Wellington and all
the members of the Peel Cabinet were present. A bottle full of gold,
silver, and copper coins was placed in a hollow of the huge stone, and
the following inscription (in Latin), written by the Bishop of London,
and engraved on a zinc plate:--
SIR THOMAS GRESHAM, Knight,
Erected at his own charge
A Building and Colonnade
For the convenience of those Persons
Who, in this renowned Mart,
Might carry on the Commerce of the World;
Adding thereto, for the relief of Indigence,
And for the advancement of Literature and Science,
An Almshouse and a College of Lecturers;
The City of London aiding him;
Queen Elizabeth favouring the design,
And, when the work was complete,
Opening it in person, with a solemn Procession.
Having been reduced to ashes,
Together with almost the entire City,
By a calamitous and widely-spreading Conflagration,
They were Rebuilt in a more splendid form
By the City of London
And the ancient Company of Mercers,
King Charles the Second commencing the building
On the 23rd October, A.D. 1667;
And when they had been again destroyed by Fire,
On the 10th January, A.D. 1838,
The same Bodies, undertaking the work,
Determined to restore them, at their own cost,
On an enlarged and more ornamental Plan,
The munificence of Parliament providing the means
Of extending the Site,
And of widening the Approaches and Crooked Streets
In every direction,
In order that there might at length arise,
Under the auspices of Queen Victoria,
Built a third time from the ground,
An Exchange
Worthy of this great Nation and City,
And suited to the vastness of a Commerce
Extended to the circumference
Of the habitable Globe.
His Royal Highness
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,
Consort of Her Sacred Majesty,
Laid the First Stone
On the 17th January, 1842,
In the Mayoralty of the Right Hon. John Pirie.
Architect, William Tite, F.R.S.
May God our Preserver
Ward off destruction
From this Building,
And from the whole City.
At the sale of the salvage, the porter's large hand-bell, rung daily
before closing the 'Change (with the handle burnt), fetched L3 3s.; City
griffins, L30 and L35 the pair; busts of Queen Elizabeth, L10 15s. and
L18 the pair; figures of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, L110; the
statue of Anne, L10 5s.; George II., L9 5s.; George III. and Elizabeth,
L11 15s. each; Charles II., L9; and the sixteen other royal statues
similar sums. The copper-gilt grasshopper vane was reserved.
The present Royal Exchange was opened by Queen Victoria on October 28,
1844. The procession walked round the ambulatory, the Queen especially
admiring Lang's (of Munich) encaustic paintings, and proceeded to
Lloyd's Reading-room, which was fitted up as a throne-room. Prince
Albert, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Sir
Robert Sale, and other celebrities, were present. There the City address
was read. After a sumptuous _dejeuner_ in the Underwriters' room, the
Queen went to the quadrangle, and there repeated the formula, "It is my
royal will and pleasure that this building be hereafter called 'The
Royal Exchange.'" The mayor, the Right Hon. William Magnay, was
afterwards made a baronet, in commemoration of the day.
A curious fact connected with the second Exchange should not be omitted.
On the 16th of September, 1787, a deserted child was found on the stone
steps of the Royal Exchange that led from Cornhill to Lloyd's
Coffee-house. The then churchwarden, Mr. Samuel Birch, the well-known
confectioner, had the child taken care of and respectably brought up. He
was named Gresham, and christened Michael, after the patron saint of the
parish in which he was found. The lad grew up shrewd and industrious,
eventually became rich, and established the celebrated Gresham Hotel in
Sackville Street, Dublin. About 1836 he sold the hotel for L30,000, and
retired to his estate, Raheny Park, near Dublin. He was a most liberal
and benevolent man, and took an especial interest in the Irish orphan
societies.
The tower at the east end of the Exchange is 177 feet to the top of the
vane. The inner area of the building is 170 feet by 112, of which 111
feet by 53 are open to the sky.
The south front is one unbroken line of pilasters, with rusticated
arches on the ground floor for shops and entrances, the three middle
spaces being simple recesses. Over these are richly-decorated windows,
and above the cornice there are a balustrade and attic. On the north
side the centre projects, and the pilasters are fewer. The arches on the
ground floor are rusticated, and there are two niches. In one of them
stands a statue of Sir Hugh Myddelton, who brought the New River to
London in 1614; and another of Sir Richard Whittington, by Carew.
Whittington was, it must be remembered, a Mercer, and the Exchange is
specially connected with the Mercers' Company.
On the east front of the tower is a niche where a statue of Gresham, by
Behnes, keeps watch and ward. The vane is Gresham's former grasshopper,
saved from the fire. It is eleven feet long. The various parts of the
Exchange are divided by party walls and brick arches of such great
strength as to be almost fire-proof--a compartment system which confines
any fire that should break out into a small and restricted area.
West of the Exchange stands Chantrey's bronze equestrian statue of the
Duke of Wellington. It was Chantrey's last work; and he died before it
was completed. The sculptor received L9,000 for this figure; and the
French cannon from which it was cast, and valued at L1,500, were given
by Government for the purpose. The inauguration took place on the
anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, 1844, the King of Saxony being
present.
On the frieze of the portico is inscribed, "ANNO XIII. ELIZABETHAE R.
CONDITVM; ANNO VIII. VICTORIA R. RESTAVRATVM." Over the central doorway
are the royal arms, by Carew. The keystone has the merchant's mark of
Gresham, and the keystones of the side arches the arms of the merchant
adventurers of his day, and the staple of Calais. North and south of the
portico, and in the attic, are the City sword and mace, with the date of
Queen Elizabeth's reign and 1844, and in the lower panels mantles
bearing the initials of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria respectively.
The imperial crown is twelve inches in relief, and seven feet high. The
tympanum of the pediment of the portico is filled with sculpture, by
Richard Westmacott, R.A., consisting of seventeen figures carved in
limestone, nearly all entire and detached. The centre figure, ten feet
high, is Commerce, with her mural crown, upon two dolphins and a shell.
She holds the charter of the Exchange. On her right is a group of three
British merchants--as Lord Mayor, Alderman, and Common Councilman--a
Hindoo, a Mohammedan, a Greek bearing a jar, and a Turkish merchant. On
the left are two British merchants and a Persian, a Chinese, a Levant
sailor, a negro, a British sailor, and a supercargo. The opposite
angles are filled with anchors, jars, packages, &c. Upon the pedestal of
Commerce is this inscription, selected by Prince Albert: "THE EARTH IS
THE LORD'S, AND THE FULNESS THEREOF."--Psalm xxiv. I. The ascent to the
portico is by thirteen granite steps. It was discussed at the time
whether a figure of Gresham himself should not have been substituted for
that of Commerce; but perhaps the abstract figure is more suitable for a
composition which is, after all, essentially allegorical.
The clock, constructed by Dent, with the assistance of the Astronomer
Royal, is true to a second of time, and has a compensation pendulum. The
chimes consist of a set of fifteen bells, by Mears, and cost L500, the
largest being also the hour-bell of the clock. In the chime-work, by
Dent, there are two hammers to several of the bells, so as to play rapid
passages; and three and five hammers strike different bells
simultaneously. All irregularity of force is avoided by driving the
chime-barrel through wheels and pinions. There are no wheels between the
weight that pulls and the hammer to be raised. The lifts on the
chime-barrel are all epicycloidal curves; and there are 6,000 holes
pierced upon the barrel for the lifts, so as to allow the tunes to be
varied. The present airs are "God save the Queen," "The Roast Beef of
Old England," "Rule Britannia," and the 104th Psalm. The bells, in
substance, form, dimensions, &c., are from the Bow bells' patterns;
still, they are thought to be too large for the tower. The chime-work is
stated to be the first instance in England of producing harmony in
bells.
The interior of the Exchange is an open courtyard, resembling the
_cortile_ of Italian palaces. It was almost unanimously decided by the
London merchants (in spite of the caprices of our charming climate) to
have no covering overhead, a decision probably long ago regretted. The
ground floor consists of Doric columns and rusticated arches. Above
these runs a series of Ionic columns, with arches and windows surmounted
by a highly-ornamented pierced parapet. The keystones of the arches of
the upper storey are decorated with the arms of all the principal
nations of the world, in the order determined by the Congress of Vienna.
In the centre of the eastern side are the arms of England.
The ambulatory, or Merchants' Walk, is spacious and well sheltered. The
arching is divided by beams and panelling, highly painted and decorated
in encaustic. In the centre of each panel, on the four sides, the arms
of the nations are repeated, emblazoned in their proper colours; and in
the four angles are the arms of Edward the Confessor, who granted the
first and most important charter to the City, Edward III., in whose
reign London first grew powerful and wealthy, Queen Elizabeth, who
opened the first Exchange, and Charles II., in whose reign the second
was built. In the south-east angle is a statue of Queen Elizabeth, by
Watson, and in the south-west a marble statue of Charles II., which
formerly stood in the centre of the second Exchange, and which escaped
the last fire unscathed.
In eight small circular panels of the ambulatory are emblazoned the arms
of the three mayors (Pirie, Humphrey, and Magnay), and of the three
masters of the Mercers' Company in whose years of office the Exchange
was erected. The arms of the chairman of the Gresham Committee, Mr. R.L.
Jones, and of the architect, Mr. Tite, complete the heraldic
illustrations. The Yorkshire pavement of the ambulatory is panelled and
bordered with black stone, and squares of red granite at the
intersections. The open area is paved with the traditional "Turkey
stones," from the old Exchange, which are arranged in Roman patterns,
with squares of red Aberdeen granite at the intersections.
On the side-wall panels are the names of the walks, inscribed upon
chocolate tablets. In each of the larger compartments are the arms of
the "walk," corresponding with the merchants'. As you enter the
colonnade by the west are the arms of the British Empire, with those of
Austria on the right, and Bavaria on the reverse side; then, in
rotation, are the arms of Belgium, France, Hanover, Holland, Prussia,
Sardinia, the Two Sicilies, Sweden and Norway, the United States of
America, the initials of the Sultan of Turkey, Spain, Saxony, Russia,
Portugal, Hanseatic Towns, Greece, and Denmark. On a marble panel in the
Merchants' Area are inscribed the dates of the building and opening of
the three Exchanges.
"Here are the same old-favoured spots, changed though they be in
appearance," says the author of the "City" (1845); "and notwithstanding
we have lost the great Rothschild, Jeremiah Harman, Daniel Hardcastle,
the younger Rothschilds occupy a pillar on the south side of the
Exchange, much in the same place as their father; and the Barings, the
Bateses, the Salomons, the Doxats, the Durrants, the Crawshays, the
Curries, and the Wilsons, and other influential merchants, still come
and go as in olden days. Many sea-captains and brokers still go on
'Change; but the 'walks' are disregarded. The hour at High 'Change is
from 3.30 to 4.30 p.m., the two great days being Tuesday and Friday for
foreign exchanges."
A City writer of 1842 has sketched the chief celebrities of the Exchange
of an earlier date. Mr. Salomon, with his old clothes-man attire, his
close-cut grey beard, and his crutch-stick, toddling towards his offices
in Shooter's Court, Throgmorton Street; Jemmy Wilkinson, with his
old-fashioned manner, and his long-tailed blue coat with gilt buttons.
On the south and east sides of the Exchange are the arms of Gresham, the
City, and the Mercers' Company, for heraldry has not even yet died out.
Over the three centre arches of the north front are the three following
mottoes:--Gresham's (in old French), "Fortun--a my;" the City, "Domine
dirige nos;" the Mercers', "Honor Deo."
Surely old heraldry was more religious than modern trade, for the shoddy
maker, or the owner of overladen vessels, could hardly inscribe their
vessels or their wares with the motto "Honor Deo;" nor could the
director of a bubble company with strict propriety head the columns of
his ledger with the solemn words, "Domine dirige nos." But these are
cynical thoughts, for no doubt trade ranks as many generous, honourable,
and pious people among its followers as any other profession; and we
have surely every reason to hope that the moral standard is still
rising, and that "the honour of an Englishman" will for ever remain a
proverb in the East.
The whole of the west end of the Exchange is taken up by the offices and
board-rooms of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, first organised in
1717, at meetings in Mercers' Hall. It was an amalgamation of two
separate plans. The petition for the royal sanction made, it seems, but
slow way through the Council and the Attorney-General's department, for
the South Sea Bubble mania was raging, and many of the Ministers,
including the Attorney-General himself (and who was indeed afterwards
prosecuted), had shares in the great bubble scheme, and wished as far as
possible to secure for it the exclusive attention of the company. The
petitioners, therefore (under high legal authority), at once commenced
business under the temporary title of the Mining, Royal Mineral, and
Batteries Works, and in three-quarters of a year insured property to the
amount of nearly two millions sterling. After the lapse of two years,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, eager for the money to be paid for the
charter, and a select committee having made a rigid inquiry into the
project, and the cash lodged at the Bank to meet losses, recommended the
grant to the House of Commons. The Act of the 6th George I., cap. 18,
authorised the king to grant a charter, which was accordingly done, June
22nd, 1720. The "London Assurance," which is also lodged in the
Exchange, obtained its charter at the same time. Each of these companies
paid L300,000 to the Exchequer. They were both allowed to assure on
ships at sea, and going to sea, and to lend money on bottomry; and each
was to have "perpetual succession" and a common seal. To prevent a
monopoly, however, no person holding stock in either of the companies
was allowed to purchase stock in the other. In 1721, the "Royal Exchange
Assurance" obtained another charter for assurances on lives, and also of
houses and goods from fire. In consequence of the depression of the
times, the company was released from the payment of L150,000 of the
L300,000 originally demanded by Government.
At the close of the last, and commencement of the present century, the
monopolies of the two companies in marine assurance were sharply
assailed. Their enemies at last, however, agreed to an armistice, on
their surrendering their special privileges, which (in spite of Earl
Grey's exertions) were at last annulled, and any joint-stock company can
now effect marine assurances. The loss of the monopoly did not, however,
injure either excellent body of underwriters.
"Lloyd's," at the east end of the north side of the Royal Exchange,
contains some magnificent apartments, and the steps of the staircase
leading to them are of Craigleath stone, fourteen feet wide. The
subscribers' room (for underwriting) is 100 feet long, by 48 feet wide,
and runs from north to south, on the east side of the Merchants'
Quadrangle. This noble chamber has a library attached to it, with a
gallery round for maps and charts, which many a shipowner, sick at
heart, with fears for his rich argosy, has conned and traced. The
captains' room, the board-room, and the clerks' offices, occupy the
eastern end; and along the north front is the great commercial room, 80
feet long, a sort of club-room for strangers and foreign merchants
visiting London. The rooms are lit from the ceilings, and also from
windows opening into the quadrangle. They are all highly decorated, well
warmed and ventilated, and worthy, as Mr. Effingham Wilson, in his book
on the Exchange, justly observes, of a great commercial city like
London.
The system of marine assurance seems to have been of great antiquity,
and probably began with the Italian merchants in Lombard Street. The
first mention of marine insurance in England, says an excellent author,
Mr. Burgon, in his "Life of Gresham," is in a letter from the Protector
Somerset to the Lord Admiral, in 1548 (Edward VI.), still preserved.
Gresham, writing from Antwerp to Sir Thomas Parry, in May, 1560
(Elizabeth), speaks of armour, ordered by Queen Elizabeth, bought by him
at Antwerp, and sent by him to Hamburg for shipment (though only about
twelve ships a year came from thence to London). He had also adventured
at his own risk, one thousand pounds' worth in a ship which, as he says,
"I have caused to be assured upon the Burse at Antwerp."
The following preamble to the Statute, 43rd Elizabeth, proves that
marine assurance was even then an old institution in England:--
"Whereas it has been, time out of mind, an usage among merchants, both
of this realm and of foreign nations, when they make any great
adventures (specially to remote parts), to give some considerable money
to other persons (which commonly are no small number) to have from them
assurance made of their goods, merchandize, ships, and things
adventured, or some part thereof, at such rates, and in such sorts as
the parties assurers and the parties assured can agree, which course of
dealing is commonly termed a policy of assurance, by means of which it
cometh to pass upon the loss or perishing of any ship, there followeth
not the undoing of any man, but the loss lighteth rather easily upon
many, than heavy upon few; and rather upon them that adventure not, than
upon them that adventure; whereby all merchants, specially the younger
sort, are allowed to venture more willingly and more freely."
In 1622, Malynes, in his "Lex Mercatoria," says that all policies of
insurance at Antwerp, and other places in the Low Countries, then and
formerly always made, mention that it should be in all things concerning
the said assurances, as it was accustomed to be done in Lombard Street,
London.
In 1627 (Charles I.), the marine assurers had rooms in the Royal
Exchange, as appears by a law passed in that year, "for the sole making
and registering of all manners of assurances, intimations, and
renunciations made upon any ship or ships, goods or merchandise in the
Royal Exchange, or any other place within the City of London;" and the
Rev. Samuel Rolle, in his "CX. Discourses on the Fire of London,"
mentions an assurance office in the Royal Exchange, "which undertook for
those ships and goods that were hazarded at sea, either by boistrous
winds, or dangerous enemies, yet could not secure itself, when sin, like
Samson, took hold of the pillars of it, and went about to pull it down."
After the Fire of London the underwriters met in a room near Cornhill;
and from thence they removed to a coffee-house in Lombard Street, kept
by a person named Lloyd, where intelligence of vessels was collected and
made public. In a copy of _Lloyd's List_, No. 996, still extant, dated
Friday, June 7th, 1745, and quoted by Mr. Effingham Wilson, it is
stated: "This List, which was formerly published once a week, will now
continue to be published every Tuesday and Friday, with the addition of
the Stocks, course of Exchange, &c. Subscriptions are taken in at three
shillings per quarter, at the bar of Lloyd's coffee-house in Lombard
Street." _Lloyd's List_ must therefore have begun about 1726.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF LLOYD'S.]
In the _Tatler_ of December 26th, 1710, is the following:--"This
coffee-house being provided with a pulpit, for the benefit of such
auctions that are frequently made in this place, it is our custom, upon
the first coming in of the news, to order a youth, who officiates as the
Kidney of the coffee-house, to get into the pulpit, and read every
paper, with a loud and distinct voice, while the whole audience are
sipping their respective liquors."
The following note is curious:--"11th March, 1740.--Mr. Baker, master
of Lloyd's Coffee-house, in Lombard Street, waited on Sir Robert Walpole
with the news of Admiral Vernon's taking Portobello. This was the first
account received thereof, and, proving true, Sir Robert was pleased to
order him a handsome present." (_Gentleman's Magazine_, March, 1740.)
The author of "The City" (1845) says: "The affairs of Lloyd's are now
managed by a committee of underwriters, who have a secretary and five or
six clerks, besides a number of writers to attend upon the rooms. The
rooms, three in number, are called respectively the Subscribers' Room,
the Merchants' Room, and the Captains' Room, each of which is frequented
by various classes of persons connected with shipping and mercantile
life. Since the opening of the Merchants' Room, which event took place
when business was re-commenced at the Royal Exchange, at the beginning
of this year, an increase has occurred in the number of visitors, and in
which numbers the subscribers to Lloyd's are estimated at 1,600
individuals.
[Illustration: THE SUBSCRIPTION-ROOM AT "LLOYD'S." _From an Old Print._]
"Taking the three rooms in the order they stand, under the rules and
regulations of the establishment, we shall first describe the business
and appearance of the Subscribers' Room. Members to the Subscribers'
Room, if they follow the business of underwriter or insurance broker,
pay an entrance fee of twenty-five guineas, and an annual subscription
of four guineas. If a person is a subscriber only, without practising
the craft of underwriting, the payment is limited to the annual
subscription fee of four guineas. The Subscribers' Room numbers about
1,000 or 1,100 members, the great majority of whom follow the business
of underwriters and insurance brokers. The most scrupulous attention is
paid to the admission of members, and the ballot is put into requisition
to determine all matters brought before the committee, or the meeting of
the house.
"The Underwriters' Room, as at present existing, is a fine spacious
room, having seats to accommodate the subscribers and their friends,
with drawers and boxes for their books, and an abundant supply of
blotting and plain paper, and pens and ink. The underwriters usually fix
their seats in one place, and, like the brokers on the Stock Exchange,
have their particular as well as casual customers.
"'Lloyd's Books,'" which are two enormous ledger-looking volumes,
elevated on desks at the right and left of the entrance to the room,
give the principal arrivals, extracted from the lists so received at the
chief outposts, English and foreign, and of all losses by wreck or fire,
or other accidents at sea, written in a fine Roman hand, sufficiently
legible that 'he who runs may read.' Losses or accidents, which, in the
technicality of the room, are denominated 'double lines,' are almost the
first read by the subscribers, who get to the books as fast as possible,
immediately the doors are opened for business.
"All these rooms are thrown open to the public as the 'Change clock
strikes ten, when there is an immediate rush to all parts of the
establishment, the object of many of the subscribers being to seize
their favourite newspaper, and of others to ascertain the fate of their
speculation, as revealed in the double lines before mentioned."
Not only has Lloyd's--a mere body of merchants--without Government
interference or patronage, done much to give stability to our commerce,
but it has distinguished itself at critical times by the most princely
generosity and benevolence. In the great French war, when we were pushed
so hard by the genius of Napoleon, which we had unwisely provoked,
Lloyd's opened a subscription for the relief of soldiers' widows and
orphans, and commenced an appeal to the general public by the gift of
L20,000 Three per Cent. Consols. In three months only the sum
subscribed at Lloyd's amounted to more than L70,000. In 1809 they gave
L5,000 more, and in 1813 L10,000. This was the commencement of the
Patriotic Fund, placed under three trustees, Sir Francis Baring, Bart.,
John Julius Angerstein, Esq., and Thomson Bonar, Esq., and the
subscriptions soon amounted to more than L700,000. In other charities
Lloyd's were equally munificent. They gave L5,000 to the London
Hospital, for the admission of London merchant-seamen; L1,000 for
suffering inhabitants of Russia, in 1813; L1,000 for the relief of the
North American Militia (1813); L10,000 to the Waterloo subscription of
1815; L2,000 for the establishment of lifeboats on the English coast.
They also instituted rewards for those brave men who save, or attempt to
save, life from shipwreck, and to those who do not require money a medal
is given. This medal was executed by W. Wyon, Esq., R.A. The subject of
the obverse is the sea-nymph Leucothea appearing to Ulysses on the raft;
the moment of the subject chosen is found in the following lines:--
"This heavenly scarf beneath thy bosom bind,
And live; give all thy terrors to the wind."
The reverse is from a medal of the time of Augustus--a crown of fretted
oak-leaves, the reward given by the Romans to him who saved the life of
a citizen; and the motto, "Ob cives servatos." By the system upon which
business is conducted in Lloyd's, information is given to the insurers
and the insured; there are registers of almost every ship which floats
upon the ocean, the places where they were built, the materials and
description of timber used in their construction, their age, state of
repair, and general character. An index is kept, showing the voyages in
which they have been and are engaged, so that merchants may know the
vessel in which they entrust their property, and assurers may ascertain
the nature and value of the risk they undertake. Agents are appointed
for Lloyd's in almost every seaport in the globe, who send information
of arrivals, casualties, and other matters interesting to merchants,
shipowners, and underwriters, which information is published daily in
_Lloyd's List_, and transmitted to all parts of the world. The
collection of charts and maps is one of the most correct and
comprehensive in the world. The Lords of the Admiralty presented Lloyd's
with copies of all the charts made from actual surveys, and the East
India Company was equally generous. The King of Prussia presented
Lloyd's with copies of the charts of the Baltic, all made from surveys,
and printed by the Prussian Government. Masters of all ships, and of
whatever nation, frequenting the port of London, have access to this
collection.
Before the last fire at the Exchange there was, on the stairs leading to
Lloyd's, a monument to Captain Lydekker, the great benefactor to the
London Seamen's Hospital. This worthy man was a shipowner engaged in the
South Sea trade, and some of his sick sailors having been kindly treated
in the "Dreadnought" hospital ship, in 1830, he gave a donation of L100
to the Society. On his death, in 1833, he left four ships and their
stores, and the residue of his estate, after the payment of certain
legacies. The legacy amounted to L48,434 16s. 11d. in the Three per
Cents., and L10,295 11s. 4d. in cash was eventually received. The
monument being destroyed by the fire in 1838, a new monument, by Mr.
Sanders, sculptor, was executed for the entrance to Lloyd's rooms.
The remark of "a good book" or "a bad book" among the subscribers to
Lloyd's is a sure index to the prospects of the day, the one being
indicative of premium to be received, the other of losses to be paid.
The life of the underwriter, like the stock speculator, is one of great
anxiety, the events of the day often raising his expectations to the
highest, or depressing them to the lowest pitch; and years are often
spent in the hope for acquisition of that which he never obtains. Among
the old stagers of the room there is often strong antipathy expressed
against the insurance of certain ships, but we never recollect its being
carried out to such an extent as in the case of one vessel. She was a
steady trader, named after one of the most venerable members of the
room, and it was a most curious coincidence that he invariably refused
to "write her" for "a single line." Often he was joked upon the subject,
and pressed "to do a little" for his namesake, but he as frequently
denied, shaking his head in a doubtful manner. One morning the
subscribers were reading the "double lines," or the losses, and among
them was the total wreck of this identical ship.
There seems to have been a regret on the first opening of the Exchange
for the coziness and quiet comfort of the old building. Old frequenters
missed the firm oak benches in the old ambulatoria, the walls covered
with placards of ships about to sail, the amusing advertisements and
lists of the sworn brokers of London, and could not acquire a rapid
friendship for the encaustic flowers and gay colours of the new design.
They missed the old sonorous bell, and the names of the old walks.