THREADNEEDLE STREET.
The Centre of Roman London--St. Benet Fink--The Monks of St.
Anthony--The Merchant Taylors--Stow, Antiquary and Tailor--A
Magnificent Roll--The Good Deeds of the Merchant Taylors--The Old
and the Modern Merchant Taylors' Hall--"Concordia parvae res
crescunt"--Henry VII. enrolled as a Member of the Taylors'
Company--A Cavalcade of Archers--The Hall of Commerce in
Threadneedle Street--A Painful Reminiscence--The Baltic
Coffee-house--St. Anthony's School--The North and South American
Coffee-house--The South Sea House--History of the South Sea
Bubble--Bubble Companies of the Period--Singular Infatuation of the
Public--Bursting of the Bubble--Parliamentary Inquiry into the
Company's Affairs--Punishment of the Chief Delinquents--Restoration
of Public Credit--The Poets during the Excitement--Charles Lamb's
Reverie.
In Threadneedle Street we stand in the centre of Roman London. In 1805 a
tesselated pavement, now in the British Museum, was found at Lothbury.
The Exchange stands, as we have already mentioned, on a mine of Roman
remains. In 1840-41 tesselated pavements were found, about twelve or
fourteen feet deep, beneath the old French Protestant Church, with coins
of Agrippa, Claudius, Domitian, Marcus Aurelius, and the Constantines,
together with fragments of frescoes, and much charcoal and charred
barley. These pavements are also preserved in the British Museum. In
1854, in excavating the site of the church of St. Benet Fink, there was
found a large deposit of Roman _debris_, consisting of Roman tiles,
glass, and fragments of black, pale, and red Samian pottery.
The church of St. Benet Fink, of which a representation is given at page
468, was so called from one Robert Finck, or Finch, who built a previous
church on the same site (destroyed by the Fire of 1666). It was
completed by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1673, at the expense of L4,130,
but was taken down in 1844. The tower was square, surmounted by a cupola
of four sides, with a small turret on the top. There was a large
recessed doorway on the north side, of very good design.
The arrangement of the body of the church was very peculiar, we may say
unique; and although far from beautiful, afforded a striking instance of
Wren's wonderful skill. The plan of the church was a decagon, within
which six composite columns in the centre supported six semi-circular
vaults. Wren's power of arranging a plan to suit the site was shown in
numerous buildings, but in none more forcibly than in this small church.
"St. Benedict's," says Maitland, "is vulgarly Bennet Fink. Though this
church is at present a donative, it was anciently a rectory, in the gift
of the noble family of Nevil, who probably conferred the name upon the
neighbouring hospital of St. Anthony."
Newcourt, who lived near St. Benet Fink, says the monks of the Order of
St. Anthony hard by were so importunate in their requests for alms that
they would threaten those who refused them with "St. Anthony's fire;"
and that timid people were in the habit of presenting them with fat
pigs, in order to retain their goodwill. Their pigs thus became
numerous, and, as they were allowed to roam about for food, led to the
proverb, "He will follow you like a St. Anthony's pig." Stow accounts
for the number of these pigs in another way, by saying that when pigs
were seized in the markets by the City officers, as ill-fed or
unwholesome, the monks took possession of them, and tying a bell about
their neck, allowed them to stroll about on the dunghills, until they
became fit for food, when they were claimed for the convent.
The Merchant Taylors, whose hall is very appropriately situated in
Threadneedle Street, had their first licence as "Linen Armourers"
granted by Edward I. Their first master, Henry de Ryall, was called
their "pilgrim," as one that travelled for the whole company, and their
wardens "purveyors of dress." Their first charter is dated 1 Edward III.
Richard II. confirmed his grandfather's grants. From Henry IV. they
obtained a confirmatory charter by the name of the "Master and Wardens
of the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist of London." Henry VI. gave
them the right of search and correction of abuses. The society was
incorporated in the reign of Edward IV., who gave them arms; and Henry
VII., being a member of the Company, for their greater honour
transformed them from Tailors and Linen Armourers to Merchant Taylors,
giving them their present acting charter, which afterwards received the
confirmation and _inspeximus_ of five sovereigns--Henry VIII., Edward
VI., Philip and Mary, Elizabeth, and James I.
There is no doubt (says Herbert) that Merchant Taylors were originally
_bona fide_ cutters-out and makers-up of clothes, or dealers in and
importers of cloth, having tenter-grounds in Moorfields. The ancient
London tailors made both men's and women's apparel, also soldiers'
quilted surcoats, the padded lining of armour, and probably the
trappings of war-horses. In the 27th year of Edward III. the Taylors
contributed L20 towards the French wars, and in 1377 they sent six
members to the Common Council, a number equalling (says Herbert) the
largest guilds, and they were reckoned the seventh company in
precedence. In 1483 we find the Merchant Taylors and Skinners disputing
for precedence. The Lord Mayor decided they should take precedence
alternately; and, further, most wisely and worshipfully decreed that
each Company should dine in the other's hall twice a year, on the vigil
of Corpus Christi and the feast of St. John Baptist--a laudable custom,
which soon restored concord. In 1571 there is a precept from the Mayor
ordering that ten men of this Company and ten men of the Vintners'
should ward each of the City gates every tenth day. In 1579 the Company
was required to provide and train 200 men for arms. In 1586 the master
and wardens are threatened by the Mayor for not making the provision of
gunpowder required of all the London companies. In 1588 the Company had
to furnish thirty-five armed men, as its quota for the Queen's service
against the dreaded Spanish Armada.
In 1592 an interesting entry records Stow (a tailor and member of the
Company) presenting his famous "Annals" to the house, and receiving in
consequence an annuity of L4 per annum, eventually raised to L10. The
Company afterwards restored John Stow's monument in the Church of St.
Andrew Undershaft. Speed, also a tailor and member of the Company, on
the same principle, seems to have presented the society with valuable
maps, for which, in 1600, curtains were provided. In 1594 the Company
subscribed L50 towards a pest-house, the plague then raging in the City,
and the same year contributed L296 10s. towards six ships and a pinnace
fitted out for her Majesty's service.
In 1603 the Company contributed L234 towards the L2,500 required from
the London companies to welcome James I. and his Danish queen to
England. Six triumphal arches were erected between Fenchurch Street and
Temple Bar, that in Fleet Street being ninety feet high and fifty broad.
Decker and Ben Jonson furnished the speeches and songs for this pageant.
June 7, 1607, was one of the grandest days the Company has ever known;
for James I. and his son, Prince Henry, dined with the Merchant Taylors.
It had been at first proposed to train some boys of Merchant Taylors'
School to welcome the king, but Ben Jonson was finally invited to write
an entertainment. The king and prince dined separately. The master
presented the king with a purse of L100. "Richard Langley shewed him a
role, wherein was registered the names of seaven kinges, one queene,
seventeene princes and dukes, two dutchesses, one archbishoppe, one and
thirtie earles, five countesses, one viscount, fourteene byshoppes,
sixtie and sixe barons, two ladies, seaven abbots, seaven priors, and
one sub-prior, omitting a great number of knights, esquires, &c., who
had been free of that companie." The prince was then made a freeman, and
put on the garland. There were twelve lutes (six in one window and six
in another).
"In the ayr betweene them" (or swung up above their heads) "was a
gallant shippe triumphant, wherein was three menne like saylers, being
eminent for voyce and skill, who in their severall songes were assisted
and seconded by the cunning lutanists. There was also in the hall the
musique of the cittie, and in the upper chamber the children of His
Majestie's Chappell sang grace at the King's table; and also whilst the
King sate at dinner John Bull, Doctor of Musique, one of the organists
of His Majestie's Chapell Royall, being in a cittizen's cap and gowne,
cappe and hood (_i.e._, as a liveryman), played most excellent melodie
uppon a small payre of organes, placed there for that purpose onely."
The king seems at this time to have scarcely recovered the alarm of the
Gunpowder Plot; for the entries in the Company's books show that there
was great searching of rooms and inspection of walls, "to prevent
villanie and danger to His Majestie." The cost of this feast was more
than L1,000. The king's chamber was made by cutting a hole in the wall
of the hall, and building a small room behind it.
In 1607 (James I.), before a Company's dinner, the names of the livery
were called, and notice taken of the absent. Then prayer was said, every
one kneeling, after which the names of benefactors and their "charitable
and godly devices" were read, also the ordinances, and the orders for
the grammar-school in St. Laurence Pountney. Then followed the dinner,
to which were invited the assistants and the ladies, and old masters'
wives and wardens' wives, the preacher, the schoolmaster, the wardens'
substitutes, and the humble almsmen of the livery. Sometimes, as in
1645, the whole livery was invited.
The kindness and charity of the Company are strongly shown in an entry
of May 23, 1610, when John Churchman, a past master, received a pension
of L20 per annum. With true consideration, they allowed him to wear his
bedesman's gown without a badge, and did not require him to appear in
the hall with the other pensioners. All that was required was that he
should attend Divine service and pray for the prosperity of the Company,
and share his house with Roger Silverwood, clerk of the Bachellors'
Company. Gifts to the Company seem to have been numerous. Thus we have
(1604) Richard Dove's gift of twenty gilt spoons, marked with a dove;
(1605) a basin and ewer, value L59 12s., gift of Thomas Medlicott;
(1614) a standing cup, value 100 marks, from Murphy Corbett; same year,
seven pictures for the parlour, from Mr. John Vernon.
In 1640 the Civil War was brewing, and the Mayor ordered the Company to
provide (in their garden) forty barrels of powder and 300 hundredweight
of metal and bullets. They had at this time in their armoury forty
muskets and rests, forty muskets and headpieces, twelve round muskets,
forty corselets with headpieces, seventy pikes, 123 swords, and
twenty-three halberts. The same year they lent L5,000 towards the
maintenance of the king's northern army. In the procession on the return
of Charles I. from Scotland, the Merchant Taylors seem to have taken a
very conspicuous part. Thirty-four of the gravest, tallest, and most
comely of the Company, apparelled in velvet plush or satin, with chains
of gold, each with a footman with two staff-torches, met the Lord Mayor
and aldermen outside the City wall, near Moorfields, and accompanied
them to Guildhall, and afterwards escorted the king from Guildhall to
his palace. The footmen wore ribands of the colour of the Company, and
pendants with the Company's coat-of-arms. The Company's standing
extended 252 feet. There stood the livery in their best gowns and hoods,
with their banners and streamers. "Eight handsome, tall, and able men"
attended the king at dinner. This was the last honour shown the
faithless king by the citizens of London.
The next entries are about arms, powder, and fire-engines, the defacing
superstitious pictures, and the setting up the arms of the Commonwealth.
In 1654 the Company was so impoverished by the frequent forced loans,
that they had been obliged to sell part of their rental (L180 per
annum); yet at the same date the generous Company seem to have given the
poet Ogilvy L13 6s. 8d., he having presented them with bound copies of
his translations of Virgil and AEsop into English metre. In 1664 the boys
of Merchant Taylors' School acted in the Company's hall Beaumont and
Fletcher's comedy of _Love's Pilgrimage_.
In 1679 the Duke of York, as Captain-general of the Artillery, was
entertained by the artillerymen at Merchant Taylors' Hall. It was
supposed that the banquet was given to test the duke's popularity and to
discomfit the Protestants and exclusionists. After a sermon at Bow
Church, the artillerymen (128) mustered at dinner. Many zealous
Protestants, rather than dine with a Popish duke, tore up their tickets
or gave them to porters and mechanics; and as the duke returned along
Cheapside, the people shouted, "No Pope, no Pope! No Papist, no Papist!"
In 1696 the Company ordered a portrait of Mr. Vernon, one of their
benefactors, to be hung up in St. Michael's Church, Cornhill. In 1702
they let their hall and rooms to the East India Company for a meeting;
and in 1721 they let a room to the South Sea Company for the same
purpose. In 1768, when the Lord Mayor visited the King of Denmark, the
Company's committee decided, "there should be no breakfast at the hall,
_nor pipes nor tobacco in the barge_ as usual, on Lord Mayor's Day." Mr.
Herbert thinks that this is the last instance of a Lord Mayor sending a
precept to a City company, though this is by no means certain. In 1778,
Mr. Clarkson, an assistant, for having given the Company the picture,
still extant, of Henry VII. delivering his charter to the Merchant
Taylors, was presented with a silver waiter, value L25.
For the searching and measuring cloth, the Company kept a "silver yard,"
that weighed thirty-six ounces, and was graven with the Company's arms.
With this measure they attended Bartholomew Fair yearly, and an annual
dinner took place on the occasion. The livery hoods seem finally, in
1568, to have settled down to scarlet and puce, the gowns to blue. The
Merchant Taylors' Company, though not the first in City precedence,
ranks more royal and noble personages amongst its members than any other
company. At King James's visit, before mentioned, no fewer than
twenty-two earls and lords, besides knights, esquires, and foreign
ambassadors, were enrolled. Before 1708, the Company had granted the
freedom to ten kings, three princes, twenty-seven bishops, twenty-six
dukes, forty-seven earls, and sixteen lord mayors. The Company is
specially proud of three illustrious members--Sir John Hawkwood, a great
leader of Italian Condottieri, who fought for the Dukes of Milan, and
was buried with honour in the Duomo at Florence; Sir Ralph Blackwell,
the supposed founder of Blackwell Hall, and one of Hawkwood's companions
at arms; and Sir William Fitzwilliam, Lord High Admiral to Henry VIII.,
and Earl of Southampton. He left to the Merchant Taylors his best
standing cup, "in friendly remembrance of him for ever." They also boast
of Sir William Craven, ancestor of the Earls of Craven, who came up to
London a poor Yorkshire lad, and was bound apprentice to a draper. His
eldest son fought for Gustavus Adolphus, and is supposed to have
secretly married the unfortunate Queen of Bohemia, whom he had so
faithfully served.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE MODERN CHURCH OF ST. MARTIN OUTWICH.
(_From a measured Drawing by Mr. W.G. Smith, 1873._)
A. Monument: Edward Edwards, 1810.
B. Ancient Canopied Monument: "Pemberton," no date.
C. Monument: Cruickshank, 1826.
D. Monuments: Simpson, 1849; Ellis, 1838.
E. Monument: Ellis, 1855.
F. Monument: Simpson, 1837.
G. Monument: Rose, 1821.
H. Monuments: Atkinson, 1847; Ellis, 1838.
J. Monument: Richard Stapler.
K. Monument: Teesdale, 1804.
L, L. Stairs to Gallery above.
M. Very Ancient Effigy of Founder, St. Martin de Oteswich.
N. Reading Desk.
O. Pulpit.
P. Altar.
Q. Font.
R. Vestry.
]
The hall in Threadneedle Street originally belonged to a worshipful
gentleman named Edmund Crepin. The Company moved there in 1331 (Edward
III.) from the old hall, which was behind the "Red Lion," in Basing
Lane, Cheapside, an executor of the Outwich family leaving them the
advowson of St. Martin Outwich, and seventeen shops. The Company built
seven almshouses near the hall in the reign of Henry IV. The original
mansion of Crepin probably at this time gave way to a new hall, and to
which now, for the first time, were attached the almshouses mentioned.
Both these piles of building are shown in the ancient plan of St. Martin
Outwich, preserved in the church vestry, and which was taken by William
Goodman in 1599. The hall, as there drawn, is a high building,
consisting of a ground floor and three upper storeys. It has a central
pointed-arched gate of entrance, and is lighted in front by nine large
windows, exclusive of three smaller attic windows, and at the east end
by seven. The roof is lofty and pointed, and is surmounted by a louvre
or lantern, with a vane. The almshouses form a small range of
cottage-like buildings, and are situate between the hall and a second
large building, which adjoins the church, and bears some resemblance to
an additional hall or chapel. It appears to rise alternately from one to
two storeys high.
In 1620 the hall was wainscoted instead of whitewashed; and in 1646 it
was paved with red tile, rushes or earthen floors having "been found
inconvenient, and oftentimes noisome." At the Great Fire the Company's
plate was melted into a lump of two hundred pounds' weight.
In the reign of Edward VI., when there was an inquiry into property
devoted to superstitious uses, the Company had been maintaining
twenty-three chantry priests.
[Illustration: MARCH OF THE ARCHERS (_see page 536_).]
The modern Merchant Taylors' Hall (says Herbert) is a spacious but
irregular edifice of brick. The front exhibits an arched portal,
consisting of an arched pediment, supported on columns of the Composite
order, with an ornamental niche above; in the pediment are the Company's
arms. The hall itself is a spacious and handsome apartment, having at
the lower end a stately screen of the Corinthian order, and in the upper
part a very large mahogany table thirty feet long. The sides of the hall
have numerous emblazoned shields of masters' arms, and behind the
master's seat are inscribed in golden letters the names of the different
sovereigns, dukes, earls, lords spiritual and temporal, &c., who have
been free of this community. In the drawing-room are full-length
portraits of King William and Queen Mary, and other sovereigns; and in
the court and other rooms are half-lengths of Henry VIII. and Charles
II., of tolerable execution, besides various other portraits, amongst
which are those of Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor in 1553, the estimable
founder of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Sir Thomas Rowe, Lord
Mayor in 1568, and Mr. Clarkson's picture of Henry VII. presenting the
Company with their incorporation charter. In this painting the king is
represented seated on his throne, and delivering the charter to the
Master, Wardens, and Court of Assistants of the Company. His attendants
are Archbishop Warham, the Chancellor, and Fox, Bishop of Winchester,
Lord Privy Seal, on his right hand; and on his left, Robert Willoughby,
Lord Broke, then Lord Steward of the Household. In niches are shown the
statues of Edward III. and John of Gaunt, the king's ancestors. In the
foreground the clerk of the Company is exhibiting the roll with the
names of the kings, &c., who were free of this Company. In the
background are represented the banners of the Company and of the City of
London. The Yeomen of the Guard, at the entrance of the palace, close
the view. On the staircase are likewise pictures of the following Lord
Mayors, Merchant Taylors:--Sir William Turner, 1669; Sir P. Ward, 1681;
Sir William Pritchard, 1683; and Sir John Salter, 1741.
The interior of the "New Hall, or Taylors' Inne," was adorned with
costly tapestry, or arras, representing the history of St. John the
Baptist. It had a screen, supporting a silver image of that saint in a
tabernacle, or, according to an entry of 1512, "an ymage of St. John
gilt, in a tabernacle gilt." The hall windows were painted with armorial
bearings; the floor was regularly strewed with clean rushes; from the
ceiling hung silk flags and streamers; and the hall itself was
furnished, when needful, with tables on tressels, covered on feast days
with splendid table linen, and glittering with plate.
The Merchant Taylors have for their armorial ensigns--Argent, a tent
royal between two parliament robes; gules, lined ermine, on a chief
azure, a lion of England. Crest--a Holy Lamb, in glory proper.
Supporters--two camels, or. Motto--"Concordia parvae res crescunt."
The stained glass windows of the old St. Martin Outwich, as engraven in
Wilkinson's history of that church, contain a representation of the
original arms, granted by Clarencieux in 1480. They differ from the
present (granted in 1586), the latter having a lion instead of the Holy
Lamb (which is in the body of the first arms), and which latter is now
their crest.
One of the most splendid sights at this hall in the earlier times would
have been (says Herbert), of course, when the Company received the high
honour of enrolling King Henry VII. amongst their members; and
subsequently to which, "he sat openly among them in a gown of crimson
velvet on his shoulders," says Strype, "_a la mode de Londres_, upon
their solemn feast day, in the hall of the said Company."
From Merchant Taylors' Hall began the famous cavalcade of the archers,
under their leader, as Duke of Shoreditch, in 1530, consisting of 3,000
archers, sumptuously apparelled, 942 whereof wore chains of gold about
their necks. This splendid company was guarded by whifflers and billmen,
to the number of 4,000, besides pages and footmen, who marched through
Broad Street (the residence of the duke their captain). They continued
their march through Moorfields, by Finsbury, to Smithfield, where, after
having performed their several evolutions, they shot at the target for
glory.
The Hall of Commerce, existing some years ago in Threadneedle Street,
was begun in 1830 by Mr. Edward Moxhay, a speculative biscuit-baker, on
the site of the old French church. Mr. Moxhay had been a shoemaker, but
he suddenly started as a rival to the celebrated Leman, in Gracechurch
Street. He was an amateur architect of talent, and it was said at the
time, probably unjustly, that the building originated in Moxhay's
vexation at the Gresham committee rejecting his design for a new Royal
Exchange. He opened his great commercial news-room two years before the
Exchange was finished, and while merchants were fretting at the delay,
intending to make the hall a mercantile centre, to the annihilation of
Lloyd's, the Baltic, Garraway's, the Jerusalem, and the North and South
American Coffee-houses. L70,000 were laid out. There was a grand
bas-relief on the front by Mr. Watson, a young sculptor of promise, and
there was an inaugurating banquet. The annual subscription of L5 5s.
soon dwindled to L1 10s. 6d. There was a reading-room, and a room where
commission agents could exhibit their samples. Wool sales were held
there, and there was an auction for railway shares. There were also
rooms for meetings of creditors and private arbitrations, and rooms for
the deposit of deeds.
A describer of Threadneedle Street in 1845 particularly mentions amongst
the few beggars the Creole flower-girls, the decayed ticket-porters, and
cripples on go-carts who haunted the neighbourhood, a poor, shrivelled
old woman, who sold fruit on a stall at a corner of one of the courts.
She was the wife of Daniel Good, the murderer.
The Baltic Coffee House, in Threadneedle Street, used to be the
rendezvous of tallow, oil, hemp, and seed merchants; indeed, of all
merchants and brokers connected with the Russian trade. There was a time
when there was as much gambling in tallow as in Consols, but the
breaking down of the Russian monopoly by the increased introduction of
South American and Australian tallow has done away with this. Mr.
Richard Thornton and Mr. Jeremiah Harman were the two monarchs of the
Russian trade forty years ago. The public sale-room was in the upper
part of the house. The Baltic was superintended by a committee of
management.
That famous free school of the City, St. Anthony's, stood in
Threadneedle Street, where the French church afterwards stood, and where
the Bank of London now stands. It was originally a Jewish synagogue,
granted by Henry V. to the brotherhood of St. Anthony of Vienna. A
hospital was afterwards built there for a master, two priests, a
schoolmaster, and twelve poor men. The Free School seems to have been
built in the reign of Henry VI., who gave five presentations to Eton and
five Oxford scholarships, at the rate of ten francs a week each, to the
institution. Henry VIII., that arch spoliator, annexed the school to the
collegiate church of St. George's, Windsor. The proctors of St.
Anthony's used to wander about London collecting "the benevolence of
charitable persons towards the building." The school had great credit in
Elizabeth's reign, and was a rival of St. Paul's. That inimitable
coxcomb, Laneham, in his description of the great visit of Queen
Elizabeth to the Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth Castle, 1575, a book
which Sir Walter Scott has largely availed himself of, says--"Yee
mervail perchance," saith he, "to see me so bookish. Let me tel you in
few words. I went to school, forsooth, both at Polle's and also at St.
Antonie's; (was) in the fifth forme, past Esop's Fables, readd Terence,
_Vos isthaec intro auferte_; and began with my Virgil, _Tityre tu
patulae_. I could say my rules, could construe and pars with the best of
them," &c.
In Elizabeth's reign "the Anthony's pigs," as the "Paul's pigeons" used
to call the Threadneedle boys, used to have an annual breaking-up day
procession, with streamers, flags, and beating drums, from Mile End to
Austin Friars. The French or Walloon church established here by Edward
VI. seems, in 1652, to have been the scene of constant wrangling among
the pastors, as to whether their disputes about celebrating holidays
should be settled by "colloquies" of the foreign churches in London, or
the French churches of all England. At this school were educated the
great Sir Thomas More, and that excellent Archbishop of Canterbury, the
zealous Whitgift (the friend of Beza, the Reformer), whose only fault
seems to have been his persecutions of the Genevese clergy whom
Elizabeth disliked.
Next in importance to Lloyd's for the general information afforded to
the public, was certainly the North and South American Coffee House
(formerly situated in Threadneedle Street), fronting the thoroughfare
leading to the entrance of the Royal Exchange. This establishment was
the complete centre for American intelligence. There was in this, as in
the whole of the leading City coffee-houses, a subscription room devoted
to the use of merchants and others frequenting the house, who, by paying
an annual sum, had the right of attendance to read the general news of
the day, and make reference to the several files of papers, which were
from every quarter of the globe. It was here also that first information
could be obtained of the arrival and departure of the fleet of steamers,
packets, and masters engaged in the commerce of America, whether in
relation to the minor ports of Montreal and Quebec, or the larger ones
of Boston, Halifax, and New York. The room the subscribers occupied had
a separate entrance to that which was common to the frequenters of the
eating and drinking part of the house, and was most comfortably and
neatly kept, being well, and in some degree elegantly furnished. The
heads of the chief American and Continental firms were on the
subscription list; and the representatives of Baring's, Rothschild's,
and the other large establishments celebrated for their wealth and
extensive mercantile operations, attended the rooms as regularly as
'Change, to see and hear what was going on, and gossip over points of
business.
At the north-east extremity of Threadneedle Street is the once famous
South Sea House. The back, formerly the Excise Office, afterwards the
South Sea Company's office, thence called the Old South Sea House, was
consumed by fire in 1826. The building in Threadneedle Street, in which
the Company's affairs were formerly transacted, is a magnificent
structure of brick and stone, about a quadrangle, supported by stone
pillars of the Tuscan order, which form a fine piazza. The front looks
into Threadneedle Street, the walls being well built and of great
thickness. The several offices were admirably disposed; the great hall
for sales, the dining-room, galleries, and chambers were equally
beautiful and convenient. Under these were capacious arched vaults, to
guard what was valuable from the chances of fire.
The South Sea Company was originated by Swift's friend, Harley, Earl of
Oxford, in the year 1711. The new Tory Government was less popular than
the Whig one it had displaced, and public credit had fallen. Harley
wishing to provide for the discharge of ten millions of the floating
debt, guaranteed six per cent. to a company who agreed to take it on
themselves. The L600,000 due for the annual interest was raised by
duties on wines, silks, tobacco, &c.; and the monopoly of the trade to
the South Seas granted to the ambitious new Company, which was
incorporated by Act of Parliament.
To the enthusiastic Company the gold of Mexico and the silver of Peru
seemed now obtainable by the ship-load. It was reported that Spain was
willing to open four ports in Chili and Peru. The negotiations, however,
with Philip V. of Spain led to little. The Company obtained only the
privilege of supplying the Spanish colonies with negro slaves for thirty
years, and sending an annual vessel to trade; but even of this vessel
the Spanish king was to have one-fourth of the profits, and a tax of
five per cent. on the residue. The first vessel did not sail till 1717,
and the year after a rupture with Spain closed the trade.
In 1717, the King alluding to his wish to reduce the National Debt, the
South Sea Company at once petitioned Parliament (in rivalry with the
Bank) that their capital stock might be increased from ten millions to
twelve, and offered to accept five, instead of six per cent. upon the
whole amount. Their proposals were accepted.
The success of Law's Mississippi scheme, in 1720, roused the South Sea
directory to emulation. They proposed to liquidate the public debt by
reducing the various funds into one. January 22, 1720, a committee met
on the subject. The South Sea Company offered to melt every kind of
stock into a single security. The debt amounted to L30,981,712 at five
per cent. for seven years, and afterwards at four per cent, for which
they would Pay L3,500,000. The Government approved of the scheme, but
the Bank of England opposed it, and offered L5,000,000 for the
privilege. The South Sea shareholders were not to be outdone, and
ultimately increased their terms to L7,500,000. In the end they remained
the sole bidders; though some idea prevailed of sharing the advantage
between the two companies, till Sir John Blunt exclaimed, "No, sirs,
we'll never divide the child!" The preference thus given excited a
positive frenzy in town and country. On the 2nd of June their stock rose
to 890; it quickly reached 1,000, and several of the principal managers
were dubbed baronets for their "great services." Mysterious rumours of
vast treasures to be acquired in the South Seas got abroad, and 50 per
cent. was boldly promised.
"The scheme," says Smollett, "was first projected by Sir John Blount,
who had been bred a scrivener, and was possessed of all the cunning,
plausibility, and boldness requisite for such an undertaking. He
communicated his plan to Mr. Aislabie, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and a Secretary of State. He answered every objection, and the project
was adopted."
Sir Robert Walpole alone opposed the bill in the House, and with
clear-sighted sense (though the stock had risen from 130 to 300 in one
day) denounced "the dangerous practice of stock-jobbing, and the general
infatuation, which must," he said, "end in general ruin." Rumours of
free trade with Spain pushed the shares up to 400, and the bill passed
the Commons by a majority of 172 against 55. In the other House, 17
peers were against it, and 83 for it. Then the madness fairly began.
Stars and garters mingled with squabbling Jews, and great ladies pawned
their jewels in order to gamble in the Alley. The shares sinking a
little, they were revived by lying rumours that Gibraltar and Port Mahon
were going to be exchanged for Peruvian sea-ports, so that the Company
would be allowed to send out whole fleets of ships.
Government, at last alarmed, began too late to act. On July 18 the King
published a proclamation denouncing eighteen petitions for letters
patent and eighty-six bubble companies, of which the following are
samples:--
For sinking pits and smelting lead ore in Derbyshire.
For making glass bottles and other glass.
For a wheel for perpetual motion. Capital L1,000,000.
For improving of gardens.
For insuring and increasing children's fortunes.
For entering and loading goods at the Custom House; and for
negotiating business for merchants.
For carrying on a woollen manufacture in the North of England.
For importing walnut-trees from Virginia. Capital L2,000,000.
For making Manchester stuffs of thread and cotton.
For making Joppa and Castile soap.
For improving the wrought iron and steel manufactures of this kingdom.
Capital L4,000,000.
For dealing in lace, Hollands, cambrics, lawns, &c. Capital L2,000,000.
For trading in and improving certain commodities of the produce of this
kingdom, &c. Capital L3,000,000.
For supplying the London markets with cattle.
For making looking-glasses, coach-glasses, &c. Capital L2,000,000.
For taking up ballast.
For buying and fitting out ships to suppress pirates.
For the importation of timber from Wales. Capital L2,000,000.
For rock-salt.
For the transmutation of quicksilver into a malleable, fine metal.
One of the most famous bubbles was "Puckle's Machine Company," for
discharging round and square cannon-balls and bullets, and making a
total revolution in the art of war. "But the most absurd and
preposterous of all," says Charles Mackay, in his "History of the
Delusion," "and which showed more completely than any other the utter
madness of the people, was one started by an unknown adventurer,
entitled, _'A Company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage,
but nobody to know what it is_.' Were not the fact stated by scores of
credible witnesses, it would be impossible to believe that any person
could have been duped by such a project. The man of genius who essayed
this bold and successful inroad upon public credulity merely stated in
his prospectus that the required capital was L500,000, in 5,000 shares
of L100 each, deposit L2 per share. Each subscriber paying his deposit
would be entitled to L100 per annum per share. How this immense profit
was to be obtained he did not condescend to inform them at the time, but
promised that in a month full particulars should be duly announced, and
a call made for the remaining L98 of the subscription. Next morning, at
nine o'clock, this great man opened an office in Cornhill. Crowds of
people beset his door; and when he shut up at three o'clock he found
that no less than 1,000 shares had been subscribed for, and the deposits
paid. He was thus in five hours the winner of L2,000. He was philosopher
enough to be contented with his venture, and set off the same evening
for the Continent. He was never heard of again."
Another fraud that was very successful was that of the "Globe Permits,"
as they were called. They were nothing more than square pieces of
playing cards, on which was the impression of a seal, in wax, bearing
the sign of the "Globe Tavern," in the neighbourhood of Exchange Alley,
with the inscription of "Sail-cloth Permits." The possessors enjoyed no
other advantage from them than permission to subscribe at some future
time to a new sail-cloth manufactory, projected by one who was then
known to be a man of fortune, but who was afterwards involved in the
peculation and punishment of the South Sea directors. These permits sold
for as much as sixty guineas in the Alley.
During the infatuation (says Smollett), luxury, vice, and profligacy
increased to a shocking degree; the adventurers, intoxicated by their
imaginary wealth, pampered themselves with the rarest dainties and the
most costly wines. They purchased the most sumptuous furniture,
equipage, and apparel, though with no taste or discernment. Their
criminal passions were indulged to a scandalous excess, and their
discourse evinced the most disgusting pride, insolence, and ostentation.
They affected to scoff at religion and morality, and even to set Heaven
at defiance.
A journalist of the time writes: "Our South Sea equipages increase
daily; the City ladies buy South Sea jewels, hire South Sea maids, take
new country South Sea houses; the gentlemen set up South Sea coaches,
and buy South Sea estates. They neither examine the situation, the
nature or quality of the soil, or price of the purchase, only the annual
rent and title; for the rest, they take all by the lump, and pay forty
or fifty years' purchase!"
By the end of May, the whole stock had risen to 550. It then, in four
days, made a tremendous leap, and rose to 890. It was now thought
impossible that it could rise higher, and many prudent persons sold out
to make sure of their spoil. Many of these were noblemen about to
accompany the king to Hanover. The buyers were so few on June 3rd, that
stock fell at once, like a plummet, from 890 to 640. The directors
ordering their agents to still buy, confidence was restored, and the
stock rose to 750. By August, the stock culminated at 1,000 per cent.,
or, as Dr. Mackay observes, "the bubble was then full blown."
The reaction soon commenced. Many government annuitants complained of
the directors' partiality in making out the subscription lists. It was
soon reported that Sir John Blunt, the chairman, and several directors
had sold out. The stock fell all through August, and on September 2nd
was quoted at 700 only. Things grew alarming. The directors, to restore
confidence, summoned a meeting of the corporation at Merchant Taylors'
Hall. Cheapside was blocked by the crowd. Mr. Secretary Craggs urged the
necessity of union; and Mr. Hungerford said the Company had done more
for the nation than Crown, pulpit, and bench. It had enriched the whole
nation. The Duke of Portland gravely expressed his wonder that any one
could be dissatisfied. But the public were not to be gulled; that same
evening the stock fell to 640, and the next day to 540. It soon got so
low as 400. The ebb tide was running fast. "Thousands of families,"
wrote Mr. Broderick to Lord Chancellor Middleton, "will be reduced to
beggary. The consternation is inexpressible, the rage beyond
description." The Bank was pressed to circulate the South Sea bonds, but
as the panic increased they fought off. Several goldsmiths and bankers
fled. The Sword Blade Company, the chief cashiers of the South Sea
Company, stopped payment. King George returned in haste from Hanover,
and Parliament was summoned to meet in December.
[Illustration: THE OLD SOUTH SEA HOUSE (_see page 538_). _From a Print
of the Period._]
In the first debate the enemies of the South Sea Company were most
violent. Lord Molesworth said he should be satisfied to see the
contrivers of the scheme tied in sacks and thrown into the Thames.
Honest Shippen, whom even Walpole could not bribe, looking fiercely in
Mr. Secretary Craggs' face, said "there were other men in high station
who were no less guilty than the directors." Mr. Craggs, rising in
wrath, declared he was ready to give satisfaction to any one in the
House, or out of it, and this unparliamentary language he had afterwards
to explain away. Ultimately a second committee was appointed, with power
to send for persons, papers, and records. The directors were ordered to
lay before the house a full account of all their proceedings, and were
forbidden to leave the kingdom for a twelvemonth.
Mr. Walpole laid before a committee of the whole house his scheme for
the restoration of public credit, which was, in substance, to ingraft
nine millions of South Sea stock into the Bank of England, and the same
sum into the East India Company, upon certain conditions. The plan was
favourably received by the House. After some few objections it was
ordered that proposals should be received from the two great
corporations. They were both unwilling to lend their aid, and the plan
met with a warm but fruitless opposition at the general courts summoned
for the purpose of deliberating upon it. They, however, ultimately
agreed upon the terms on which they would consent to circulate the South
Sea bonds; and their report being presented to the committee, a bill was
then brought in, under the superintendence of Mr. Walpole, and safely
carried through both Houses of Parliament.
In the House of Lords, Lord Stanhope said that every farthing possessed
by the criminals, whether directors or not, ought to be confiscated, to
make good the public losses.
[Illustration: LONDON STONE. (_See page 544._)]
The wrath of the House of Commons soon fell quick and terrible as
lightning on two members of the Ministry, Craggs, and Mr. Aislabie,
Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was ordered, on the 21st of January,
that all South Sea brokers should lay before the House a full account of
all stock bought or sold by them to any officers of the Treasury or
Exchequer since Michaelmas, 1719. Aislabie instantly resigned his
office, and absented himself from Parliament, and five of the South Sea
directors (including Mr. Gibbon, the grandfather of the historian) were
ordered into the custody of the Black Rod.
The next excitement was the flight of Knight, the treasurer of the
Company, with all his books and implicating documents, and a reward of
L2,000 was offered for his apprehension. The same night the Commons
ordered the doors of the House to be locked, and the keys laid on the
table.
General Ross, one of the members of the Select Committee, then informed
the House that there had been already discovered a plot of the deepest
villany and fraud that Hell had ever contrived to ruin a nation. Four
directors, members of the House--_i.e._, Sir Robert Chaplin, Sir
Theodore Janssen, Mr. Sawbridge, and Mr. F. Eyles--were expelled the
House, and taken into the custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms. Sir John
Blunt, another director, was also taken into custody. This man,
mentioned by Pope in his "Epistle to Lord Bathurst," had been a
scrivener, famed for his religious observances and his horror of
avarice. He was examined at the bar of the House of Lords, but refused
to criminate himself. The Duke of Wharton, vexed at this prudent silence
of the criminal, accused Earl Stanhope of encouraging this taciturnity
of the witness. The Earl became so excited in his return speech, that it
brought on an apoplectic fit, of which he died the next day, to the
great grief of his royal master, George I. The Committee of Secrecy
stated that in some of the books produced before them, false and
fictitious entries had been made; in others there were entries of money,
with blanks for the names of the stockholders. There were frequent
erasures and alterations, and in some of the books leaves had been torn
out. They also found that some books of great importance had been
destroyed altogether, and that some had been taken away or secreted.
They discovered, moreover, that before the South Sea Act was passed
there was an entry in the Company's books of the sum of L1,259,325 upon
account of stock stated to have been sold to the amount of L574,500.
This stock was all fictitious, and had been disposed of with a view to
promote the passing of the bill. It was noted as sold on various days,
and at various prices, from 150 to 325 per cent.
Being surprised to see so large an amount disposed of, at a time when
the Company were not empowered to increase their capital, the committee
determined to investigate most carefully the whole transaction. The
governor, sub-governor, and several directors were brought before them
and examined rigidly. They found that at the time these entries were
made the Company were not in possession of such a quantity of stock,
having in their own right only a small quantity, not exceeding L30,000
at the utmost. They further discovered that this amount of stock was to
be esteemed as taken or holden by the Company for the benefit of the
pretended purchasers, although no mutual agreement was made for its
delivery or acceptance at any certain time. No money was paid down, nor
any deposit or security whatever given to the Company by the supposed
purchasers; so that if the stock had fallen, as might have been expected
had the act not passed, they would have sustained no loss. If, on the
contrary, the price of stock advanced (as it actually did by the success
of the scheme), the difference by the advanced price was to be made good
by them. Accordingly, after the passing of the act, the account of stock
was made up and adjusted with Mr. Knight, and the pretended purchasers
were paid the difference out of the Company's cash. This fictitious
stock, which had chiefly been at the disposal of Sir John Blunt, Mr.
Gibbon, and Mr. Knight, was distributed among several members of the
Government and their connections, by way of bribe, to facilitate the
passing of the bill. To the Earl of Sunderland was assigned L50,000 of
this stock; to the Duchess of Kendal, L10,000; to the Countess of
Platen, L10,000; to her two nieces, L10,000; to Mr. Secretary Craggs,
L30,000; to Mr. Charles Stanhope (one of the Secretaries of the
Treasury), L10,000; to the Sword Blade Company, L50,000. It also
appeared that Mr. Stanhope had received the enormous sum of L250,000, as
the difference in the price of some stock, through the hands of Turner,
Caswall, and Co., but that his name had been partly erased from their
books, and altered to Stangape.
The punishment fell heavy on the chief offenders, who, after all, had
only shared in the general lust for gold. Mr. Charles Stanhope, a great
gainer, managed to escape by the influence of the Chesterfield family,
and the mob threatened vengeance. Aislabie, who had made some L800,000,
was expelled the House, sent to the Tower, and compelled to devote his
estate to the relief of the sufferers. Sir George Caswall was expelled
the House, and ordered to refund L250,000. The day he went to the Tower,
the mob lit bonfires and danced round them for joy. When by a general
whip of the Whigs the Earl of Sunderland was acquitted, the mob grew
menacing again. That same day the elder Craggs died of apoplexy. The
report was that he had poisoned himself, but excitement and the death of
a son, one of the secretaries of the Treasury, were the real causes. His
enormous fortune of a million and a half was scattered among the
sufferers. Eventually the directors were fined L2,014,000, each man
being allowed a small modicum of his fortune. Sir John Blunt was only
allowed L5,000 out of his fortune of L183,000; Sir John Fellows was
allowed L10,000 out of L243,000; Sir Theodore Janssen, L50,000 out of
L243,000; Sir John Lambert, L5,000 out of L72,000. One director, named
Gregsley, was treated with especial severity, because he was reported to
have once declared he would feed his carriage-horses off gold; another,
because years before he had been mixed up with some harmless but
unsuccessful speculation. According to Gibbon the historian, it was the
Tory directors who were stripped the most unmercifully.
"The next consideration of the Legislature," says Charles Mackay, "after
the punishment of the directors, was to restore public credit. The
scheme of Walpole had been found insufficient, and had fallen into
disrepute. A computation was made of the whole capital stock of the
South Sea Company at the end of the year 1720. It was found to amount to
L37,800,000, of which the stock allotted to all the proprietors only
reached L24,500,000. The remainder of L13,300,000 belonged to the
Company in their corporate capacity, and was the profit they had made by
the national delusion. Upwards of L8,000,000 of this was taken from the
Company, and divided among the proprietors and subscribers generally,
making a dividend of about L33 6s. 8d. per cent. This was a great
relief. It was further ordered that such persons as had borrowed money
from the South Sea Company upon stock actually transferred and pledged,
at the time of borrowing, to or for the use of the Company, should be
free from all demands upon payment of ten per cent. of the sums so
borrowed. They had lent about L11,000,000 in this manner, at a time when
prices were unnaturally raised; and they now received back L1,100,000,
when prices had sunk to their ordinary level."
A volume (says another writer) might be collected of anecdotes connected
with this fatal speculation. A tradesman at Bath, who had invested his
only remaining fortune in this stock, finding it had fallen from 1,000
to 900, left Bath with an intention to sell out; on his arrival in
London it had fallen to 250. He thought the price too low, sanguinely
hoped that it would re-ascend, still deferred his purpose, and lost his
all.
The Duke of Chandos had embarked L300,000 in this project; the Duke of
Newcastle strongly advised his selling the whole, or at least a part,
with as little delay as possible; but this salutary advice he delayed to
take, confidently anticipating the gain of at least half a million, and
through rejecting his friend's counsel, he lost the whole. Some were,
however, more fortunate. The guardians of Sir Gregory Page Turner, then
a minor, had purchased stock for him very low, and sold it out when it
had reached its maximum, to the amount of L200,000. With this large sum
Sir Gregory built a fine mansion at Blackheath, and purchased 300 acres
of land for a park. Two maiden sisters, whose stock had accumulated to
L90,000, sold out when the South Sea stock was at 790. The broker whom
they employed advised them to re-invest in navy bills, which were at the
time at a discount of twenty-five per cent.; they took his advice, and
two years afterwards received their money at par.
Even the poets did not escape. Gay (says Dr. Johnson, in his "Lives of
the Poets") had a present from young Craggs of some South Sea stock, and
once supposed himself to be the master of L20,000. His friends,
especially Arbuthnot, persuaded him to sell his share, but he dreamed of
dignity and splendour, and could not bear to obstruct his own fortune.
He was then importuned to sell as much as would purchase a hundred a
year for life, "which," said Fenton, "will make you sure of a clean
shirt and a shoulder of mutton every day." This counsel was rejected;
the profit and principal were both lost, and Gay sunk so low under the
calamity that his life for a time became in danger.
Pope, always eager for money, was also dabbling in the scheme, but it is
uncertain whether he made money or lost by it. Lady Mary Wortley
Montague was a loser. When Sir Isaac Newton was asked when the bubble
would break, he said, with all his calculations he had never learned to
calculate the madness of the people.
Prior declared, "I am lost in the South Sea. The roaring of the waves
and the madness of the people are justly put together. It is all wilder
than St. Anthony's dream, and the bagatelle is more solid than anything
that has been endeavoured here this year."
In the full heat of it, the Duchess of Ormond wrote to Swift: "The king
adopts the South Sea, and calls it his beloved child; though perhaps,
you may say, if he loves it no better than his son, it may not be saying
much; but he loves it as much as he loves the Duchess of Kendal, and
that is saying a good deal. I wish it may thrive, for some of my friends
are deep in it. I wish you were too."
Swift, cold and stern, escaped the madness, and even denounced in the
following verses the insanity that had seized the times:--
"There is a gulf where thousands fell,
Here all the bold adventurers came;
A narrow sound, though deep as hell--
Change Alley is the dreadful name.
"Subscribers here by thousands float,
And jostle one another down;
Each paddling in his leaky boat,
And here they fish for gold and drown.
"Now buried in the depths below,
Now mounted up to heaven again,
They reel and stagger to and fro,
At their wit's end, like drunken men."
Budgell, Pope's barking enemy, destroyed himself after his losses in
this South Sea scheme, and a well-known man of the day called "Tom of
Ten Thousand" lost his reason.
Charles Lamb, in his "Elia," has described the South Sea House in his
own delightful way. "Reader," says the poet clerk, "in thy passage from
the Bank--where thou hast been receiving thy half-yearly dividends
(supposing thou art a lean annuitant like myself)--to the 'Flower Pot,'
to secure a place for Dalston, or Shacklewell, or some other shy suburban
retreat northerly--didst thou never observe a melancholy-looking,
handsome brick and stone edifice, to the left, where Threadneedle Street
abuts upon Bishopsgate? I dare say thou hast often admired its
magnificent portals, ever gaping wide, and disclosing to view a grave
court, with cloisters and pillars, with few or no traces of goers-in or
comers-out--a desolation something like Balclutha's.[11] This was once a
house of trade--a centre of busy interests. The throng of merchants was
here--the quick pulse of gain--and here some forms of business are still
kept up, though the soul has long since fled. Here are still to be seen
stately porticoes; imposing staircases; offices roomy as the state
apartments in palaces--deserted, or thinly peopled with a few straggling
clerks; the still more sacred interiors of court and committee rooms,
with venerable faces of beadles, door-keepers; directors seated in form
on solemn days (to proclaim a dead dividend), at long worm-eaten tables,
that have been mahogany, with tarnished gilt-leather coverings,
supporting massy silver inkstands, long since dry; the oaken wainscots
hung with pictures of deceased governors and sub-governors, of Queen
Anne, and the two first monarchs of the Brunswick dynasty; huge charts,
which subsequent discoveries have antiquated; dusty maps of Mexico, dim
as dreams; and soundings of the Bay of Panama! The long passages hung
with buckets, appended, in idle row to walls, whose substance might defy
any, short of the last conflagration; with vast ranges of cellarage
under all, where dollars and pieces-of-eight once lay, 'an unsunned
heap,' for Mammon to have solaced his solitary heart withal--long since
dissipated, or scattered into air at the blast of the breaking of that
famous Bubble.
"Peace to the manes of the Bubble! Silence and destitution are upon thy
walls, proud house, for a memorial! Situated as thou art in the very
heart of stirring and living commerce, amid the fret and fever of
speculation--with the Bank, and the 'Change, and the India House about
thee, in the hey-day of present prosperity, with their important faces,
as it were, insulting thee, their _poor neighbour out of business_--to
the idle and merely contemplative--to such as me, Old House! there is a
charm in thy quiet, a cessation, a coolness from business, an indolence
almost cloistral, which is delightful! With what reverence have I paced
thy great bare rooms and courts at eventide! They spake of the past; the
shade of some dead accountant, with visionary pen in ear, would flit by
me, stiff as in life."
FOOTNOTES:
[11] "I passed by the walls of Balclutha, and they were desolate."
(Ossian.)