Oldys, in his _Life of Raleigh_, has described the "stalwart, sour-faced" statesman during his residence at Durham House, as attired in a suit of clothes surmounted by jewels to the value of six thousand six hundred gold pieces. The well-known story of Raleigh's first pipe applies--if there is any truth in the legend--to the time when he resided here. In 1586, Drake brought tobacco to England from Virginia. It is said that one day Raleigh's servant, carrying a tankard of spiced ale to Raleigh in his study in the turret, found his master on fire, as he thought, and, dropping the vessel, rushed for assistance, shouting that his master "would be burnt to ashes if they did not run to his assistance." Another version is that the clown dashed the ale over his master's head. Be this as it may, the early use of tobacco is intimately associated with Durham House, for, as is well known, Raleigh smoked as he worked. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 2: From the builders of the Adelphi, the _brothers_ Adam, who adopted the meaning of the Greek word, [Greek: adelphoi], for their great work. Prior to this, however, Robert and James Adam had signed their architectural drawings "Adelphi."] [Footnote 3: _London Past and Present_, vol. i., p. 540.] [Footnote 4: Thomas Fuller, _Church History_, B. III., cent. xiii., p. 20.] [Footnote 5: Nicolas, _Chronicle of London_, p. 94.] [Footnote 6: _The Town_, ed. 1859, p. 177.] [Footnote 7: Fox, ed. 1597, p. 1689.] [Footnote 8: Aubrey, vol. iii., p. 513.] CHAPTER II The New Exchange--The Earl of Salisbury proprietor--Opened by James I.--Popular Allusions--The First Edition of _Othello_ published Here--Samuel Pepys a Frequent Visitor--Henry Herringman--Otway--Etherege--Wycherley--Dryden--Addison--Durham House in Decay--Acquired by the Earl of Pembroke--Various Public Offices in Durham Yard--Charles II. helps to extinguish a Fire Here--Archbishop Le Tellier--Godfrey Kneller--David Garrick, wine merchant--Dr Johnson--Voltaire--Murder in the New Exchange. LEAVING for a moment Sir Walter Raleigh in his vain endeavour to uphold his claim to Durham House, let us glance at the Strand portion of the establishment. It teems with romance and literary interest. The stabling, which looked upon the Strand, had fallen into decay, and, early in the reign of James I., it was converted by Robert, Lord Salisbury, into the New Exchange. Its frontage extended from the present George Court to Durham House Street. The foundation stone was laid on June 10, 1608, and, in the following July, as we find from the State Papers, "The New Burse proceeds apace."