Of the genuineness of the several letters,—of the credit due to the emissaries and their reports,—even of the accurate identification, in some instances, of the ‘Mr. Hackets,’ ‘Houghtons,’ and numerous other pseudonyms, under which ‘Lord Oxford’ is assumed to be veiled, there are, as yet, no adequate means of judging. CHAPTER VI. THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM. ... ‘He pry’d through Nature’s store, Whate’er she in th’ ethereal round contains, Whate’er she hides beneath her verdant floor, The vegetable and the mineral reigns. At times, he scann’d the globe,—those small domains Where restless mortals such a turmoil keep,— Its seas, its floods, its mountains, and its plains.’— THOMSON. _Flemish Exiles in England._—_The Adventures, Mercantile and Colonial Enterprises, and Vicissitudes of the_ COURTENS.—_William_ COURTEN _and his Collections.—The Life and Travels of Sir Hans_ SLOANE—_His acquisition of_ COURTEN’S _Museum_.—_Its growth under the new Possessor._—_History of the Sloane Museum and Library, and of their purchase by Parliament._ [Sidenote: BOOK I, Chap. VI. THE FOUNDERS OF THE SLOANE MUSEUM.] The history of the rise and growth of our English trade is, in a conspicuous degree, a history of the immigration hither of foreign refugees, and of what was achieved by their energy and industry, when put forth to the utmost under the stimulus and the stern discipline of adversity. Other countries, no doubt, have derived much profit from a similar cause, but none, in Europe, to a like extent. By turns almost all the chief countries of the Continent have sent us bands of exiles, who brought with them either special skill in manual arts and manufactures, or special capabilities for expanding our foreign commerce. To Flemish refugees, and more particularly to those of them who were driven hither by Spanish persecution in the sixteenth century, England owes a large debt in both respects. [Sidenote: FLEMISH EXILES IN ENGLAND.] Our historians have given more prominence of late years to this chapter in the national annals than was ever given to it before, but there is no presumption in saying that not a little of what was achieved by exiles towards the industrial greatness of the nation has yet to be told. Nor is it less evident that, over and above the political and public interest of the things done, or initiated, by the new comers in their adopted country, the personal and family annals of the exiles possess, in not a few instances, a remarkable though subsidiary interest of their own. In certain cases, to trace the fortunes of a refugee family, is at once to throw some gleams of light on obscure portions of our commercial history, and to tell a romantic story of real life.