From this period the commerce not only of London, but of England itself, may be said to date its rise. The failure of Sir Hugh Willoughby to discover a North-east Passage led, in 1553, to the formation of the Russia Company, and the opening up of the important trade with Russia and the Baltic; and the stories of the fabulous wealth to be acquired on the newly-discovered continent of America, excited a spirit of enterprise that gave a tremendous impetus to commercial transactions of all kinds. It is quite unnecessary to speak of the encouragement which good Queen Bess gave to this movement, or how far the success of those old sea-dogs, Hawkins, and Drake, and Frobisher, to say nothing of the exploits of the noble Raleigh, contributed to this impetus. Billingsgate and Queenhithe, the two places which had hitherto served for the landing of goods and the collection of the king’s Customs, soon proved to be inadequate, and permission was given for the landing of goods at other spots on the river. But this naturally gave rise to attempts to evade payment of Customs dues by smuggling goods ashore at unauthorised places. To repress this practice, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1559, enacting, under pain of very heavy penalties, that all goods should be landed and shipped between sunrise and sunset, and that the landing and shipment was to take place at such open spots as might be authorised by Royal Commission. This Commission, which was appointed by the Court of Exchequer, authorised twenty-two places for the landing of goods. As some of these old landing-places are still known as Legal Quays, it may be interesting to some of you to know that these ancient substitutes for docks were known as: Old Wool Quay. New Wool Quay. Galley Quay. Androw Morris’ Quay. Ambro Thurston’s Quay. Ranff’s Quay. Cock’s Quay. Dyce Quay. Bear Quay. Somer’s Quay. Busher’s Wharf. Botolph Wharf. Sab’s Quay. Young’s Quay. Crown Quay. Smart’s Quay. Fresh Quay. Gaunt’s Quay. Billingsgate. The Three Cranes. Johnston’s Quay. The Bridge House. Billingsgate was appointed only for Fish, Corn, Salt, and Fruit. The Three Cranes and Johnston’s Quay for Wine and Oil. Busher’s Wharf for Pitch, Tar, and Flax. The Bridge House for Corn and other provisions. Wool, Coals, and Beer might be landed at any place in the presence of a Searcher.