Oldal 183 [183]
COMMERCE 1601
good reasons to urge for the views
he put before Cecil. English mer¬
chandise, he said, should be carried
in English ships, and no more pri¬
vileges should be conceded to the
foreigners of the Steelyard. The
struggle was precipitated when a
tax was imposed on their exports
and imports. The Hanse towns
imposed a similar tax on English
traders, and Cecil took the oppor¬
tunity of withdrawing all the special
privileges of the Steelyard, which
was finally suppressed in 1598. GRESHAM CLUB, KING WILLIAM STREET
Gresham's house, "at the sign of the Grasshopper,” his family
crest, stood in Lombard Street, where is now No. 68, the bank of
Messrs. Martin and Co. It isstated to have been the house of Matthew
Shore, whose wife,
Jane, figures un¬
pleasantly in the
annals of Edward
IV and Richard III.
Duncombe and Kent
conducted the busi¬
ness of the Grass¬
hopper in 1677, and
the name of the firm
varied. The first
Martin entered it at
the beginning of the
4
. Y
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