Born 1520.—Died 1598.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.—Elizabeth.

Lord Burleigh, was born in Lincolnshire. He was the greatest of all Queen Elizabeth’s statesmen and the chief originator of the English merchant navy. By taking their privileges from the Hanse Town steelyard merchants, who monopolized nearly all the foreign trade of England, he obliged English merchants to build their own ships; and devoted himself also to raising the revenues of the country. He purified the coinage and took a chief part in building the first Exchange, where the London merchants could meet under cover to transact their business. He persuaded Queen Elizabeth to visit it, and it ever after was known as the Royal Exchange. This building was burnt in the great fire (1666). Lord Burleigh was a silent and most cautious man, fond of books and his garden, and was a most useful minister to England.