In the centre of the Exchange was a statue of Charles II., and here the stock jobbers hovered about--when they were not at Robin's or Jonathan's in Exchange Alley; and all about, each under his own nationality, stood the trim Italian, the Hollanders and Germans, with their slovenly mien, and uncouth, unkempt beards and moustachios. The Dons, in flat crowned hats and short cloaks, took snuff prodigiously, and smelt terribly of garlic; there were the lively Gauls, animated and chattering, 'ready to wound every Pillar with their Canes, as they pass'd by, either in Ters, Cart, or Saccoon.' Jews of course, amber necklace sellers from the Baltic in fur caps and long gowns, a sprinkling of seedy military men, and the merchants. These were the constituent parts of 'Change in those days, and it must have been a sight worth seeing. Round about were shops as now, where the spruce young Cits ogled the pretty glove sellers, or bought a Steinkirk, or a sword knot. Contemporary accounts of these fair damsels are not very good, but it was rather a libellous or scurrilous age as regards women, and they might not be true, or at all events be taken with much salt. Ward[169] gives an amusing account of the exterior. 'The Pillars at the Entrance of the Front _Porticum_ were adorn'd with sundry Memorandums of old Age and Infirmity, under which stood here and there a _Jack in a Box_, like a Parson in a Pulpit, selling Cures for your Corns, Glass Eyes for the Blind, Ivory Teeth for Broken Mouths, and Spectacles for the weak sighted; the Passage to the Gate being lin'd with Hawkers, Gardeners, Mandrake Sellers, and Porters; after we had Crowded a little way amongst the Miscellaneous Multitude, we came to a _Pippin Monger's_ Stall, surmounted with a _Chymist's_ Shop; where _Drops_, _Elixirs_, _Cordials_, and _Balsams_ had justly the Pre-eminence of _Apples_, _Chesnuts_, _Pears_, and _Oranges_,' etc., showing a view of the motley group of costermongers without. The pillars of the Exchange were hung round with advertisements, as indeed they were until very recently. [Footnote 169: _London Spy._] Some well-known names of bankers were then in existence--Child's, Hoare's, Stone's, and Martin's. In Harl. MSS. 5996, 153 is a somewhat curious advertisement of Sir Richard Hoare's. 'WHEREAS there hath been several false and Malicious Reports industriously spread abroad reflecting on Sir _Richard Hoare_, Goldsmith, for occasioning and promoting a Run for Money on the _Bank of England_; and in particular, several of the Directors of the said Bank reporting, That the said Sir _Richard_ sent to the Bank for Ten of their Notes of £10 each, with a design to send several Persons with the said Notes to receive the Money thereon, so as to effect his ill Designs, and to bring a Disreputation on the Bank, and occasion a Disturbance in the City of _London_: