In the Royal Exchange, erected for less speculative and more mercantile pursuits, were the early transactions of the moneyed interest in the funds carried on. In 1695, its walls resounded with the din of new projects; nor could a more striking scene be conceived than that presented in the area of this building. The grave Fleming might be seen making a bargain with the earnest Venetian. The representatives of firms from every civilized nation—the Frenchman with his vivacious tones, the Spaniard with his dignified bearing, the Italian with his melodious tongue—might be seen in all the variety of national costume; and the flowing garb of the Turk, the fur-trimmed coat of the Fleming, the long robe of the Venetian, the short cloak of the Englishman, were sufficiently striking to attract the eye of the painter to a scene so varied. There, too, the sober manner of the citizen formed a strong contrast to the courtier, who came to refill his empty purse: and there also, as now, might be seen the broken-down merchant, pale, haggard, and threadbare, haunting the scene of his former glory, passing his now valueless time among those who scarcely acknowledged his presence, and, as he had probably dined with Duke Humphrey, supped with Sir Thomas Gresham.
“Trampling the Bourse’s marble twice a day,
Though little coin thy purseless pockets line,
Yet with great company thou art taken up,
For often with Duke Humphrey dost thou dine,
And often with Sir Thomas Gresham sup.”
A new impulse had been given to trade, and the nation was beginning to feel the effect of the Revolution. William had already tried his power in the creation of a national debt: jobbing in the English funds and East India Stock succeeded; and the Royal Exchange became—what the Stock Exchange has been since 1700—the rendezvous of those who, having money, hoped to increase it, and of that yet more numerous and pretending class, who, having none themselves, try to gain it from those who have.
The charter granted by William to the Corporation of the Bank of England is the first instance of a debt bequeathed to posterity. Annuities had hitherto been the mode of raising supplies; and the day, therefore, which witnessed the establishment of the Bank is worthy of notice, as being also the day on which William laid the foundation of an irredeemable national debt.
It was soon found that the duties appropriated to the various payments of interest and annuities were insufficient to meet the claims. In 1697, the national debt amounted to twenty millions, and the revenue was deficient five millions. The payment in consequence grew uncertain, and the moneyed men of the day, watching the course of events, made large sums out of the distresses of government. “The citizen,” says an old writer on the subject, “began to decline trade and turn usurer.”
To prevent this, a law was passed against the stock-brokers and jobbers, which limits the number of the former, enacts some severe regulations, and makes some severe remarks upon the entire body.