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 Chap. I.] NEW CHARTER BY KING JAMES. 247

separate analysis of it is altogether superfluous. The only points deserving of ad. leio. notice are, that while the number of members specially named in Queen Elizabeth's charter amounted to 218, in that of King James it is increased to 276; that the provisions against interlopers are rendered more stringent, by an authority given to the Company to seize and confiscate the ships and goods of contraband traders in any place.s, whether within the Bi-itish dominions or not, provided they be places where the " Company, their factors and ministers, shall trade and traflic by virtue of these our letters-patents;" and that the duration of the privileges of the charter, instead of being restricted to fifteen years, and a conditional renewal for other fifteen after the former should have expired, is made perpetual. This last clause loses much of its ai)parent importance by a subsequent provision, in which full power is reserved to the crown to recall the charter at any time "after three years' warning."

In the preamble to this charter. King James declared that he had found i""en«ed

subscription

" by certain experience, that the continuance of the said Company and trade will umier new

not only be a very great honour to us, our heirs and successors, and to our realm

and dominions, but also in many respects profitable unto us and our common-

wealtli." In this declaration, as well as in the provisions of the charter itself,

there was certainly an additional security that the exclusive privileges of the

Company would not be rashly infringed. To this it may have been partly

owing that the subscription for the sixth voyage was the largest that had yet

been made, amounting to £82,000. Three ves.sels were fitted out, one of them,

the Trades Increase, of 1000 tons burden; and the command was given to Sir

Henry Middleton, who had made the second voyage. He set sail in the .spring

of 1610, arrived in Saldanha Bay on the 2-ith of July, and, after dou))ling the

Cape, sailed northwards to the island of Socotra. It would seem tiiat the Red

Sea, and not India, was the oiiginal ilestination ; for the commander, instead

of continuing his course across the Indian Ocean, left the Pepper-Corn, the

second largest c^f his vessels, at Aden, and then steered for Mocha, where he

wa-s induced to believe a ready market would be foimd for all his merchandise.

At Aden he had been unable to procure a pilot, and had ventured for some

distance within the Straits of Babelmandeb without one. At last two Arabs rroceedings

came aboard, professing great skill in navigation. Having been intrusted with 'jiid.'

the pilotage, they ran the Trade's Increase on a sandbank shortly after the

town of Mocha had been descried. The subsequent proceedings leave little

doubt that it was wilfully done.

Sir Henry Middleton seems to have been little qualified for his command. When the ship could not be got off", the most valuable part of her ciirgo was sent ashore with the view of liglitening her. He afterwards landed with many of his people without taking any precautions for safety, and, as soon as the Arabs had completed their treacherous preparations, found hiuLself a prisoner in their hands. Ultimately, after losing many of his men and remaining a

f Sir Henry Uetun.


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 248 1IIST(JJIY OF INDIA. [liooK IF.

A.D. iGii. considerable time in captivity, he obtained his release, reajvered his ships, and

sailed for Surat, the road of which was refiched on the 26th of Septemh»er,

1611. Here he found a Portuguese squadron, cfjrLsLsting of .seven frigates

lying outside, and of thirteen smaller vessels inside the bar. They had heard

Arrogant of liis arrival in the lied !Sea, and, though the English were not then at war

claima of _

the Porta with Portugal, now made him aware that they disputed his right to trade at Surat, and would not even allow him to communicate with the Englishmen who had been left there by Captain Hawkiu.s. This arbitrary proceeding the Portugue.se admiral justified on the ground that he was invested with the office of captain-major, an ofiice which made him guardian of all the ports in the north of India, and warranted him in seizing aU ve&sels which presumed to trade with any of them without his carta or permit. Arrogant as this claim appears, it is not to be denied that the possession of it by the Poi-tugue.se had long been recognized even by the native courts ; and that therefore the captain- major, whose income was chiefly derived from the fees paid for these permits, had, if not justice, at least prescription on his side, when he insisted that the English vessels should retire if they coiild not produce a letter jfrom the King of Spain, or his viceroy at Goa, authorizing them to trade. The peace existing at this time between Spain, Portugal, and England, so far from weakening rather strengthened the captain -major's claim, because the charter of the Company expressly prohibited them from encroaching on the rights actually possessed by friendly European powers. On the other hand, it may be argued that the prohibitory clause in the charter applied only to the actual possession of places, and never could have been meant to recognize a right which, pvLshed to its extreme, would have warranted the Portuguese in excluding aU other nations from traffic with any part of the continent of India. Such a right would have made the Company's charter little better than waste paper; and we cannot therefore wonder that Sii' Henry Middleton at once declared his determination not to recognize it. Reply to the In the correspondeucc which ensued he told the captain-major that he had

major.' been sent by the King of England with a letter and rich present to the Great Mogul, in order to establish the trade which his countrymen had already com- menced ; and that, as India was a country free to aU nations, and neither the Mogul nor his people were under vassalage, he was determined to persevere, at all hazards, and, if necessary, to repel force by force. When he gave this answer he was in the belief that an extensive and lucrative trade had been, or was about to be established by the Company at Surat, but the information which he shortly after received convinced him that, for the present, all idea of establishing such a trade must be abandoned.

Captain "

Hawkin.s It has bccu ah-eady mentioned that Captain Hawkins, who commanded the

court of the Hcctor in the Company's third voyage, had, on arriving at Sm-at, foimd the 'ni prospect so flattering that he gave up the command to his first officer, and,

Great

1,..),

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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 Chap. I.] HAWKINS AT THE MOGUL COURT. 249

ordering the vessel to proceed for Bantam, resolved to remain for the purpose of a.d. leoo. establishing a factory. He had brought a letter from the King of England to the Great Mogul, and believed he could not do better than proceed to Agra and deliver it in person. The character in which he proceeded was somewhat ambiguous ; for though he speaks of himself as an ambassador, he does not seem to have been furnished with his powers. His credentials, however, were deemed sufficient ; and his reception at court was so gracious that he was soon regarded as one of its leadiny; favourites The reijxninrj Mo(ul at this time was Selim, the eldest son of the great Akber, who.se latter days had been so embittered by his misconduct that he had made an ineffectual attempt to disinherit him. On mounting the throne in 1605, Selim had assumed the pompous title of Jehangir, or Conqueror of the World, but did nothing to ju.stify it. He was, in fact, a capricious tyrant, of low, dissolute habits, who owed his continued possession of the crown, not to any talent or virtue in himself, but to the re.spect entertained for his father's memory, and the good order which, during his long reign, had been established in every part of the empire.

Hawkins, who must have had some previous knowledge of the Mogul's "''wkins

_ becomes

cliaraeter, and could not have been long at court withoiit obtaining a thorough nsi.ieut

, at the

insight into it, ought to have been upon his guard ; but, elated with the fami- Mogul

court.

liarity to which he was admitted, he deluded himself with the idea that he was about to make his fortune. Not long after his arrival, which took place 16th April, 1609, Jehangir, after promising to grant all the privileges of trade which he asked for the Company, proposed that he should remain permanently with him, as the Englisii representative, at a salary which was to begin at £3200 and increa.se yearly. The bait was tempting, and Hawkins at once swallowed it. His motives are best explained by himself in a letter addres.sed to his employers. " I, trusting upon his promise, an«l seeing it Wivs beneficiall both to my nation and myselfe, being dispossessed of the benefit which I should have reaped, if I had gone to Bantam, and that after halfe a doozen of yeeres, your wor.sliij)s would send another man of sort in my place, in the meane time I should feather my neast and do you service; and further, perceiving great injuries offered us, by reason the king is so farre from the ports, for all which causes above specified, I did not think it ami.ss to yield unto his request"

When lie had thus yielded, he began to feel some of the inconveniences of court favour. Being regarded as a mere upstart, his elevation gave umbrage to many of the nobility, while several Portuguese Jesuits, who pos.sessed consi- derable influence at Agra, intrigued with the greatest zeal and perseverance for the purpose of defeating the gi'eat object of his mi.ssion. In these intrigues they were so unscrupulous that Hawkins thought he had .sufficient proof of a conspiracy to poison him. Being still high in favour, he stated his fears to Jehangir, who proposed a rather curious remedy. "The king," he says, "was .xcceptsa

■ •1 1. 1 r ^ • 111 ••jii ^'^"^ from

very earnest with me to take a white mayden out of Ins palace, promising that the MoguL Vol. T. 32


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 2>0 HISTORY OF INDIA. [Book II.

AD. 1009. lie " would give her all tilings necessary, with .slaves," that " sliee should tume Christian," and "by this meanes my meates and drinkes should be looked into by them, and I should live without feare." Hawkias objected to the maiden pro- posed, " in regard she was a Moore," but he added, " if so bee there could bee a Christian found, I would accept it." Jehangir took him at his word, and pro- duced the orphan daughter of an Armenian Christian, a captain who had been highly esteemed by Akber. "I little thought," says Hawkins, "a Chri.stians daughter could bee found ;" but now, " I seeing she was of so honest a descent, having passed my word to the king, could not withstand my fortunes. Where- fore I tooke her ; and for want of a minister, before Christian witnesses I mar- ryed her: the priest was my man Nicholas, which I thought had beene lawfull, till I met with a preacher that came with Sir Heniy Middleton, and hee shewing mee the error, I was newly manyed againe: so ever after I lived content and without feare, shee being wilHng to goe where I went, and live as I lived." Ultimate Tliis marriage, though entered into under unpromising circumstances, appears

t rcti t m 6 11 1

of Hawkins, to have provcd happy. If so, it was the only good thing which Captain Haw- kins obtained at Agra. Instead of being able, as he had hoped, to feather his nest, he ultimately found that he had only been building castles in the air. The salary promised him was never paid ; and courtiers, bribed by the Portuguese, having succeeded in convincing Jehangir that a breach with them would prove more pernicious than a league with the English promised to be beneficial, the fickle and unprincipled monarch cancelled all the promises he had made of con- ferring commercial privileges on the English, and left Hawkins to find his way to the coast as he best could. Return of Sucli was the information which made Sii* Henry Middleton despair of being

Middleton able to establish a factory at Surat. If he had continued to have any doubts on the subject, they would have been dissipated by the natives themselves, who, while they assured him of their anxiety to trade, confessed that so long as the Portuguese retained their ascendency, they durst not venture to incur their displeasure. Their advice therefore was, that the English vessels should quit Surat for the port of Gogo, in the Gulf of Cambay, where, it was said, the Por- tuguese would be less likely to interfere. Sir Henry Middleton had another plan in view; and, after succeeding in taking on board Captain Hawkins and liis wife, who had arrived from Agra, and the Englishmen who had been left at Surat, called a council for the purpose of determining their futm-e course. At this council, says Sir Henry, " I propoimded whether it were best to goe from hence directly for Priaman, Bantam, &c., or to returne to the Red Sea, there to meete with such Indian shippes as should be bound thither ; and for that they would not deale with us at their owne doores, wee having come so far with commodities fitting their countrie, nowhere else in India vendable, I thought we should doe om^selves some right, and them no wrong, to cause them barter with

to the Red Sea.


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 252 illSTOHY OF INJJIA. [TiooK II.

A.iJ. 1011. finnan, and with that y'mw sailed directly for Mocha. lli.s rewiptioii wa-s encouraging; and, hy judicious management and the exercise of forbearance, pawt jealousies and fears might have been forgotten ; but there seems to have been little sincerity on either side, and Saris, on meeting with some obstructions, liastily quitted the port and returned to the Straits of Babelmandeb. Here he found Sir Henry Middleton engaged in pillaging, and instead of repudiating his pro- ceedings, •w&s tempted to become a sharer in them. Sir Henry's account of the Compact for unwortliy compact for "roraaging the Indian ships" is as follows: — "At last we

" romagiiig ,,.....

the Indian agreed and sealed it in writings interchangeable, that he should have one-third part of what should be taken, paying for the same as I did, for the service of his three ships in the action: leaving the disposing of the ships afterward tome, who had sustayned the wrongs."

When, by means of these violent proceedings, flimsily disguised under the name of barter, the depredators had possessed themselves of a sufficient quantity of Surat cloths and other Indian goods, for which a read}' market could be found in the Eastern Archipelago, they set sail in that direction. Sir Hemy Middleton was again unfortunate ; and after learning that the Trade's Incr&juse, which he had ordered to follow while he went forward with the Pepper-Corn, had been wrecked on a coral reef, died broken-hearted at the isle of Macliian, one of the Moluccas. Captain Saris, after spending some time in the same gi'oup, sailed

Voyage of for the islcs of Japan, where the Company had resolved to establish a factory.

Japan. On the nth of June, 1613, he ca.st anchor near Firando. Though he found the Dutch already installed, and disposed, not only to watch, but to thwart his proceedings, a letter from the King of England, and a valuable present to the emperor, procured him a favourable reception, and he had little difficulty in making arrangements for permanent trade. The voyage commanded by Sir Henry Middleton, notwithstanding the loss of the Trade's Increase, yielded 121 per cent. ; that by Captain Saris, 218 per cent. But it is e'ident, from the above account of their proceedings, that these returns have no title whatever to be classed, as they usually are, under the head of mercantile profits.

Voyage of About the Same time when Captain Saris set out on his voyage, a single

Hippon. vessel, the Globe, had been despatched from England, under the command of Captain Anthony Hippon. Her course, differing considerably from that which had hitherto been followed, deserves to be traced. After touching at the Point- de-Galle, on the island of Ceylon, the Globe, instead of proceeding directly to Bantam, turned northward into the Bay of Bengal, and followed the line of the Coromandel coast, which was thus visited by a Company ship for the first time, though it had long before been frequented by both the Portuguese and Dutch. On arriving at Pulicat, Captain Hippon, with the sanction of the native authorities, sent some of his people ashore, and was making aiTangements for trade when the president of the Dutch factory, producing a dociunent said to have been executed by the King of Golconda, and conferring the exclusive


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 Chap. I.]

VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN IIIPPON.

253

privilege of trade on those who had received Prince Maurice's permit, peremj)- torily ordered them to depart. Ca})tain Hijtpon, though httle disposed to yield obedience to this arrogant mandate, was not in a condition to dis])ute it, more

AD. 1612.

Point-de-Galle. — From ChurchiU's Collection of Voyages.

especially as he was anxious to take advantage of the approaching monsoon. He therefore proceeded north as far as Masulipatam, leaving some of his ])eopIe as the nucleus of a factory at Petapoli, situated on the coast at some di.stance south of that town, and then shaped his com-se for Bantam, which was reached on the 26th of April, 1612. From Bantam the Globe proceeded first to Patany, on the east coast of the peninsula of Malacca, and then to Siam, establishing factories at both. On the homeward voyage Masuli})atam and Pulicat were again visited. In this way, though in very humble beginnings, a foundation was laid for that intercourse with the Bay of Bengal which was afterwards to be so largely developed, and to yield such magnificent results.

The efforts of the Companj", which had hitherto been of an experimental and i-'m'ted

l)i'ogre.s»

very desultory character, had certainly done little to justify their title to a majei-) tia- chai'ter which invested them with the exclusive privilege of trading in nearh^ three (piarters of the globe. In the Eastern isles, to which they had at first resorted, they were completely overborne by the Dutch, and were Imrely able to maintain a precarious existence; in the Red Sea, in which, without any great temptation, they had rather invidiou.sly endeavoured to carry off a share of the traffic which properly belonged to the Turkey Comjiany, they had not only failed, but recklessly damaged their mercantile character by exhilnting them- selves as lawless depredators ; and on the whole continent of India there was not a single port at which they had obtained a permanent footing. Had Queen Elizabeth been spared to reign, the affairs of the Company would in all jiroba- bility have presented a very different a)i]>earance. She iiad expected, in gi'anting the charter, that the Company would at least rival, if not outstrip the Dutch ; and, before the result of the first voyage was known, liad, in a letter from which we have already quoted, u])braided the directoi"s with their sluggishness in not


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 25 1 HISTORY OF INDIA. [B(jok U.

A. IX 1012. preparing for a second. Suoli l)eiiig lier feelings, slie would doubtless have insisted that the Company should either carry on their operations on a grander scale, or resign tlieir exclusive privileges. Had they chosen the forrner alter- native, she would have backed them with all the power of her government, and they would have had no reason to complain of unredressed injuries by Dutch or Poituguese. Very different was the conduct of King James, whose j)usillanimity only encouraged aggression, and left the Company unaided to battle with their formidable opponents. To this cause, doubtless, is mainly to be ascribed the unsatisfactory progress which the Company had yet maxle. In almost every port which they visited, they found European rivals prepared to undermine them by intrigue, or crush them by open violence. Voyage of The course which the Company ouffht to have taken in such circumstances

Captain ...

Best. is very obvious, though it was long before they summoned courage to adopt it.

Instead of sending out a few straggling vessels, which were unprovided with the means of repelling insult and outrage, they should have fitted out a fleet, and armed it fully with all the munitions of war. Some such resolution appears to have been adopted in preparing for the eighth voyage, which consisted of the Dragon and Hoseander, or slander, afterwards joined by the Jaraes and Solomon, and was commanded by Captain Thomas Best. The two first vessels sailed from Gravesend on the 1st of February, 1612, and arrived in the Svjcdly or road of Surat in the beginning of September. Notwithstanding the dis- couraging account given by Captain Hawkins, little difficiilty was found in opening a communication with the town ; and Mr. Kerridge, who appears to have been a factor in the Osiander, was soon able to put Captain Best in possession of a sealed certificate giving the English authority to trade. As it wanted some of the requisite formalities, some doubts were entertained of its validity, and before these were solved the Portuguese again made their appear- ance. Besides an immense fleet of merchantmen, numbering 200 sail, and gi^'ing a striking idea of the extent of trade which the Portuguese must then have carried on with the north coast of India, there were four war galleons, which had come with the avowed determination of expelling the English. Captain

His spirited Bcst was Well prepared for them, and deeming it imnecessary to wait till he

proceedings.

was attacked, at once assumed the offensive. On the 29th of November, placing himself in the Dragon, about two cables' length from the Portuguese "s^ce- admiral, the depth of water not allowing him to go nearer, " I began," he says, " to play upon him with both great and small shot, that by an houre we had well peppered him. ' The following day the fight was renewed, and with still more success on the part of the English, who again defeated the Portuguese, and drove " three of their foure shippes on ground on the sands thwai-t of the Barre of Surat." These having again been got off", the Portuguese attempted repeatedly to repair their disgrace, but always with the same result.

The success which the English had thus gained over a superior force, proved


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 Chap. I.] SUCCESS OF CAPTAIN BEST. 255

far more effectual than their previous attempts at negotiation, and Jehangir, ad. icis. becoming as anxious to secure their alliance as he had previously been indif- ferent or averse to it, entered into a treaty in i-egular form. The principal clauses in this treaty were: — That the Enolish should have full freedom of trade ^esfs treaty in his dominions; that their persons, while ashore, should be protected from Jiogui. the Portuguese; that their imports should pay only 3^ per cent, as customs; that in cases of death no fees should be demanded, and the goods of the deceased should be delivered up to the first English ships which miglit subse- quently an'ive ; that in cases of wrong, redress should be speedily obtained; and that an English ambiissador should be received, and permitted to reside at the Mogul court. This important treaty was finally delivered, with much formality, to Captain Best at Swally, on the 6th of February, 1613.

A great object had now been gained. The Portuguese claim to control the trade had been expressly disowned by the Great Mogul himself, and a permanent footing had been secured in several large commercial emporiums, where consi- derable sales of English goods could be made on favourable terms, and an unlimited supply obtained of the goods best fitted both for the home market and for barter against the spices of the Indian Archipelago. The affaire of the Company thus assumed a more promising appearance than they had ever presented before, and capital for future investments began to flow into their coffers. It was scarcely possible that, in these circumstances, the desultory mode of management hitherto pursued could be continued ; and in the determi- nation announced by the directors to abandon the system of separate adven- tures, and trade in future on a joint stock, we see nothing more than a necessary result of their altered and improved position.

The resolution to trade in future on a joint stock, under the immediate riieCom- management of the Company, must have been favourably received, as a sum to trade of £429,000 was raised for the purpose, and apportioned in fitting out four °"',ft°to^ij voyages, which were to sail successively in the years 1613, 1614, 1615, and 1616. The fleets were larger than had been previously employed : the first two consisting of eight vessels each, the third of six, and the fourth of seven. The voyages themselves possess little interest; but the results, though not so extravagant as when they were swelled by the spoliation of native ships, were on the whole satisfactory, as the average return of profit was 87g per cent. The most important incidents which occuiTed during the performance of these voyages were — a new encounter with the Portuguese in the road of Swally, in January, 1615, when a large fleet, under the command of the Viceroy of Goa in person, having wantonly attacked the English, was signally defeated, with the loss of 3.50 men; a declaration of war between the Portuguese and the Great Mogul, and a consequent strengthening of the English alhance with the latter ; and the arrival of Sir Thomas Roe, invested with full j)owers to act as ambassador from the King of England.


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 2"i(J IILSTOllY OF INDIA. [B^jok II.

AD 1015 This embassy, undcrtiikcn in accordance with one of tlie sti[)ulatiorw in the

treaty above mentioned, liarl the interest of the Company mainly for its oVjject, and was tlierefore maintained entirely at their expen.se. Sir Thoma.s Roe

Embassy of arrived in the end of 1615, and continued to be a resident at the Mogul wurt

Sir Thomas. _ ...

uoe. till the end of 1618. Though his recognized chanicter, and the judicious

manner in which he acted, gave him much more influence than HawkiiLS, it is impossible to tead his journal without being satisfied that the Company, in employing an ambassador at all, had committed a blunder. Points of eti(|uette which his position as ambassador would not allow him to yield, were apt to bring him into collision with the Mogul himself, or the higher members of his court ; and he gave it as his decided opinion, that as the object of his mission was onl}^ mercantile, a native agent duly authorized, and maintained at an expense of £100 a-year, would secure it better than ten ambassadors.

While thus candidly condemning the policy which had made him amba.ssa- dor, Sir Thomas Roe lost no opportunity of furthering the intei'ests of the Company ; and on several occasions, by counterworking intriguers, and obtaining redress of grievances, undoubtedly contributed to place the English trade on a stable footing, and prepare it for the larger development which it at last received. Still, it must be confessed that the most valuable service which he rendered, was in writing a journal which makes us intimately acquainted with all his transactions, and contains a most graphic description of Jehangir and liLs court. The subject has been already alluded to when mentioning the adven- tures of Captain Hawkins ; but the information of the journal, as well as that derived from other sources, will justify some additional details.

Character of Jehangir, after succeeding his father in 160.5, made great professions of e angir. jjjQf^gyat.ion, but liis bad habits soon resumed their ascendency ; and in the .second year of his reign, on the suppression of a rebelUon, headed by his eldest son Khosroo, who claimed the throne as the nominee of his grandfather Akber, he gave full scope to his ferocity, by ordering 700 of the captured rebels to be impaled in a line leading from the gate of Lahore. In the sixth year of his reign (1611), he contracted a maiTiage with Nur Jehan, a celebrated beauty, whose husband had perished in defending his honour against Jehangir's in- trigues. This event gave a colour to his future reign. Her ascendency over him was unbounded, and was employed by her less unworthily than might have been anticipated. In early life he had become excessively addicted to wine and opium, and while Hawkins resided at his court, was so completely enslaved by this vicious habit, that Ins daily routine is described as follows: — "His prayers being ended, foure or five soi-tes of very well dressed and roasted meats are brought, him, of which, as he pleaseth, he eateth a bit to stay his stomacke, drinking once of his strong drinke. Then he cometh forthe into a private roome, where none can come but such as himself nominateth. In this place he drinketh other five cupfiils, which is the portion that the physicians alot


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THE

Peterson

Mazryne

LADY'S

WORLD

OF

LITERATURE

AND

FASHION.

EDITED BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.

VOLUME III. FRON JANUARY TO JUNE, INCLUSIVE.

PHILADELPHIA: CHARLES J. PETERSON. 1843.


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 Chap. I.]

CHARACTER OF JEHANGIR.

257

him. Tliis done he eateth opium, and then he ariseth, and being in the height of his drinke, he layeth him downe to sleep, every man departing to his owne home; and after he hath slept two houres, they awake him and bring his supper to him, at which time he is not able to feed himselfe, but it is thruste into his mouth by others; and this is about one of the clocke, and then he sleepeth the rest of the night."

The government of such a disgusting drunkard could not be well conducted; and though the administrative talents of his wife, Nur Jehan, and the military prowess of his son, Prince Khurram, afterwards better known by his title of Shah Jehan, prevented the confusion which must otherwise have taken place, the court was a scene of constant intrigue, and corruption was rampant in every branch of the public service. Such was the state of matters when Sir Thomas Roe arrived. On first landing at Surat, he found the governor enrich- ing himself by seizing the goods of merchants, and insisting on their being sold to him at prices of his own fixing. On advancing into the interior, he was everywhere struck with signs of devastation and neglect ; and on his reaching the court, though he could not but be struck with the magnificence which surrounded the monarch, as he sat on his throne all covered with diamonds, pearls, and i*ubies, his admission to the drinking parties above described, when, with the exception of himself and a few grave personages, scarcely an individual remained sober, soon convinced him how little dependence could be placed on any aiTanofements that could be made with one who was so little master of liimself

Even at the time of Sir Thomas Roe's residence, Jehangir's sons, con'inced that his drunken habits must speedily terminate his life, had begun to intrigue for the succession; and yet, such was the strength of his constitution, that his reign was pro- longed for other ten years, and did not terminate till 1627. During part of this time, indeed, he ciould scarcely be said to possess the throne, as his sons were openly at war

either with him or with each other ; and the year before he died, he was some months a prisoner in the hands of one of his generals. On regaining his liberty, he set out on his annual visit to Cashmere, but had not long arrived before he was seized with a violent illness, and died on the way back to Lahore.

Vol. I. 33

A.D. 1627.

nisordcrs under the government of Jehaiigir

Jehangir's death.

Tomb of Jehangir at Lahore. — Hordinge's RecoIlectionR of India.


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 258

IIISTOKY UF INDIA.

[Book IT

CHAPTER II.

Progress of the Company's trade— Proceedings in the Persian Gulf — New joint stock — Arrangement with the Dutch — The council of defence — The massacre of Amboyna.

A.D. 1017

Extension of Company's trade.

Their dealings in Persia.

Y the treaty with the Great Mogul, the Company had not only

gained full access to the continent of India, but been enabled to

arrange a regular course of interchanges, from which a great

increase of mercantile profits was anticipated. At Sui-at, though

the sales of English imports were limited, reasonable purchases

could be made of the cloths and other goods which were in great demand at

Bantam and other stations established in the Indian Archipelago, and could, in

consequence, be advantageously exchanged against pepper and other spices,

which were at first regarded as the most important staples of the Eastern trade.

With the view of extending these exchanges, other stations along the coast of

India were gradually adopted, and the vessels of the Company began regularly

to frequent all the leading ports both on the Malabar and the Coromandel

coasts, and still further north to the mouths of the Ganges.

The ample scope for trafiic thus afforded was more than sufficient to give full employment for all the capital which the Company had yet been able to raise ; but their ambition appears always to have been larger than their means, and they resolved to turn their attention to Persia. An important trade with this coimtry had long been carried on by the Levant Company, but war had begrm to rage between the Tm'ks and Persians, and the usual channel of inter- course being thus interrupted, it was resolved to take advantage of the circum- stance, and endeavour permanently to transfer the trade from the Levant to the Persian Gulf The attempt thus to interfere with the monopoly of another British cliartered company was rather ungenerous; and it may have been partly on this account that Sir Thomas Roe not only decidedly disapproved of it, but endeavoured, on his own responsibility, to prevent it from being carried into effect. The flattering representations of the factors of Surat, however, prevailed ; and a vessel was despatched to the port of Jask, situated a little east of the entrance of the Persian Gulf, with a small sum of money, and a cargo of English broadcloths, kerseys, lead, tin, iron, cutlery, fee, to be exchanged for Persian silks. The adventure proved successfid ; and ultimately a regulai' trade was established between the Persian Gulf, Surat, and Bantam.

It had been foreseen that this trade could not be established without coming Portuguese, into ficrcc collisiou with the Portuguese, who had long possessed it as an exclu- sive monopoly ; but the signal successes which had been gained over them when

Collision with the


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 Chap. II.]

PROGRESS OF THE COMPANY'S TRADE.

259

Arms of East India Company, cir. U>00 50. Fiom Minutf U^oksof the (on >iki>y-

At this time the a new joint-

stock com-

they attempted to prevent the establisliment of an Engli.sh factory at Sm-at, a.d. 1617,

appear to have satisfied the Company and their agents that Portuguese hostility

was rather to be courted than feared, as, in all probability, a rich harvest of

prizes would be made. The event proved as had

been anticipated. The Portuguese, now in a

state of rapid decline, made pretension.?, and

endeavoured to support them by hostilities, which

only led to their discomfiture, and they had the

mortification of seeing the English not only secured

in their trade, but in hiorh favour at the Persian

court, and formally leagued with its monarch in

an offensive and defensive alliance.

The favourable aspect which the affairs of the Company now bore had a visible effect in filling up the subscri})tion to a new joint stock, which started in 1617-18, with the large capital of £1,600,000

number of proprietors of stock amounted to 954, and the number of shii)s pany possessed by them is stated at thii-ty-six, of 100 to 1000 tons burden. The capital subscribed was allotted to three voyages, the first con.sisting of nine, and each of the other two of eight ships. Before the last of these voyages was undertaken, a remarkable change took place in the arrangements of the Company.

In the Eastern islands the Dutch not only claimed supremacy, but had OHwsition actually established it. They had, however, tacitly acknowledged the Company's i^>itch. right of traffic, at least to a limited extent, and nutmegs, mace, and cloves formed part of the usual returns imported from the East into England. The larger scale on which the Company's operations were now about to be carried on having afforded the Dutch a pretext for interfering, they plainly intimated their determination to reserve the trade in the finer spices as an exclusive monopol}'. They rested tiieir claim on the fact that they had conquered the Spice Islands fi-om the Portuguese, and being in actual possession of them, had a right recognized by the very charter of the London East India Company to debar all other parties from frequenting them. So satisfied were they with the validity of this claim, that, instead of regarding them.selves as unlawful aggi-es- sors in the violent steps which they had taken to exclude the English, they assumed the character of complainers, and in 1618 presented a memorial to King James, in which, after stating what they called their gi'ievances, they prayed for redress of past, and a prohibition of future encroachments. The Mutual

compl&mta.

London East India Company told a very different tale ; and after enumerating the various forms of obstruction and op]iression to which they had been sub- jected in cixrrying on their trade at Bantiim, where their right of factory could not be disputed, and in endeavouring to extend it to islands over which the Dutch could not pretend to have established any exclusive authority, they


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 260 niSTORY OF INDIA. [Book II.

A.D. 1019. besouglit the king to inteifere in tiicir Ijchulf, und protect them against a violence

which, though unprovoked, had become intolerable. Formal ar- j^, ^^g impossible that matters could remain as they were ; but King Jamas,

rangomont _ ./ o

with ti>c in accordance with his usual policy, only temporized by engaging in a course

Dutch.

of intricate and protracted negotiation. Ultimately, a kind of understanding was arrived at, and an agreement, acquiesced in by all parties, was formally concluded at London on the 7th of July, 1619. The leading stipulations were, that all excesses on either side should be forgiven ; that the ships and property which had been seized should be mutually restored ; that each nation should have the free privilege of trade to the East, without any limitation as to the capital which might be employed ; that both companies should strive to diminish customs and other exactions, and regulate the market by purchasing at prices previously arranged by common agents; that, in sharing the purchases thus made, the pepper should be equally divided between the companies, but only a third of the finer spices should be apportioned to the English ; that the foi-ts actually built should remain with their present possessor.s, but that all future forts acquired in the Moluccas or elsewhere by the common industry or common force should be possessed and garrisoned jointly; and that attempts should be made at the common expense to establish trade in new places, and especially in China. In order to give effect to this treaty, which was to last for twenty The council years, a special machinery was obviously required. Accordingly, a "Council of

of defence.

Defence " was instituted. It consisted of eight members, four from each company; and to make the equality still more complete, the members of each company were to preside alternately. To this council large powers were committed. Twenty ships, furnished in equal portions by each company, were to be main- tained for war purposes, and not permitted, except under special circumstances, to be employed in the transport of merchandise. These ships, and more if necessary, were to be placed under the immediate authority of the council of defence, which was empowered to distribute them at different stations, and pro- vide for the maintenance of the sailors and soldiers employed, by handing over the proceeds of the dues and customs, particularly in the ]Ioluccas, to the treasurers of the companies. When the vessels employed sustained damage by storm or similar misfortune, the loss was to be borne by the company to which they belonged; but when they suffered in the common cause, as in war, a different rule was to be observed, and reparation was to be made at the common expense. To prevent the disputes which might thus arise, each ship, when placed on the station, was to be valued, in order that, at any futui-e time, the amount of deterioration produced during its emplo}Tnent on active service might be easily ascertained. All questions arising between the companies were to be settled by the council of defence, and in the event of their being equally divided, the sovereigns of the companies were to act as ai-bitrators.

Had this treaty been honestly and candidly acted upon, it would not only


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 Chap. II.l

QUARRELS WITH THE DUTCH.

261

have given the Dutch and English a complete su])remacy in the East, but pro- ad. 1623. vided equitabl}'- for their separate interests. The two-thirds of the finer spices allotted to the Dutch could scarcely be considered more than their exertions in ^'';"• rooting out the Spanish and Portuguese entitled them to expect; and the English, who saw themselves in danger of being excluded altogether, might have been satisfied when they were secured in a certain portion, which could not be diminished. The management, too, was fau'ly adjusted; and it is not easy to see how it was possible, under such a management, for one of the com- panies to oven-ule the other. Such, however, was the charge brought against their colleagues by the Enghsh, who complained that everything vague in the treaty was interpreted to their disadvantage, and that their funds were seized and appropriated to purposes in which they had no special interest. The truth seems to be, that though both companies professed to acquiesce in the treaty, neither of them was satisfied with it; and hence both, while eager to avail themselves of all the advantages which the treaty conferred, had no scruple in endeavouring to evade the obligations which it imposed. The Dutch, who believed that they could easily have driven their rivals out of the Molucca trade altogether, gnimbled at being compelled to cede a whole third of it ; while the English, who had never at any former period fitted out ten vessels on a single voyage for mercantile purposes, found it impossible to carry on their trade, while the larger portion of their capital was required to fit out vessels for war purposes only. The interest of the parties being thus apparently adverse, it is easy to imderstand how their former rivalry revived, and theii- enmity, instead of being sup- pressed, became more invete- rate. This fact was soon to be demonstrated by a fearful tragedy.

In the island of AmbojTia the English, under the autho- rity of the treaty, had estab- lished a factory and several agencies. The whole power, however, was in the hands of the Dutch. The strong castle of Amboyna. which they possessed at the date of the treaty, remained imder their own entire control ; state of

. . matt«n at

throughout the island they far outnumbered all other Europeans, and m its Amboyna. harbours were ships of war as well as merchant vessels, on whose assistance

I they could confidently calculate in any emergency. In such circumstances there was no external force from which they could seriously apprehend any danger; and yet, on the ground that a conspu'acy had been formed for the

Castle of Amboyna. — Jlaps, <fcc., in Royal Librarj-, British .Museum.


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 Chap. II.] DIFFICULTIES OF THE COMPANY. 263

which all questions affecting the interests of the companies had been specially ^.d. luss. referred, was still in existence. Where was the danger of a delay which would have submitted the judgment to its revisal ? These are questions which the Dutch have found it impossible to answer; and the bloody deed of Amboyna, pei-petrated on the 27th of February, 1623, therefore remains to this day justly branded as a massacre.

When tidinors of the massacre reached England, the public indignation was iiKr.Kn.ition

C ° ^ ^ ill Kngland.

inflamed to such a pitqji that all idea of amicable arrangement was abandoned ; and even King Jame.s, forgetting his lethargic and mean-spirited policy, began to talk operdy of war. He had even issued letters of reprisal, authorizing the injured parties to seek redress at their own hands, and seemed bent on mea.sures still more decisive, when his in<xlorious career was brought to a close. The Dutch dexterously availed themselves of the opportunities afforded by a new reign to protract negotiations, and managed to spin out a series of years, making fair promises of giving redress, but always evading the performance of them. This crafty line of policy was only too successful, in consequence of the embar- ras.sments in wiiich Charles I. was soon involved. The seeds of a civil war liad been thickly sown in England even during his father's lifetime; and all other questions became comparatively insigniflcant when once public attention bejijan to be fixed on the great contest which was to decide the fate of the Engli.sh monarchy.

While this dispute was pending, the affairs of the Company were often at a Difficulties very low ebb. In the Indian Archipelago, station after station was abandoned comiiany. in order to escape from the oppression of the Dutch ; and in various other quarters so many untoward events occurred, that the Company, unable to pro- secute any regular system of trade, were obliged to rest satisfied with shifting expedients, sometimes successful, but oftener productive only of disappointment Their stock in consequence, instead of commanding a premium, could with difficulty be sold at a considerable discount. It cannot be denied that, amidst these discouragements, much perseverance was displayed. Every opening for trade was eagerly embraced. When that with Persia threatened to prove unproductive, the Red Sea was again resorted to ; and when misunderstandings with the Mogul endangered the factory at Sm-at, new stations were foimd on the opposite coast of the Indian peninsula. Here for some time the principal factory had its seat at Masulipatani ; but the extortions of the governor having become intolerable, a new locality was obtained, in 1628, at Armegon, situated on the Coromandel coa.st about seventy miles north of Madras. The factory established at Armegon was substituted for that of Ma.sulipatam, and is remark- able as the first station on the continent of India which the Company were permitted to fortify. The advantage which it thus pos.se.ssed promised at one time to make it a great emporium ; but the situation proved inconvenient, and the governor of Masulipatam, anxious to recover the revenue which he had lost


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 2C1> ULSTORY OF INUIA. [Book II.

A.n. 1031. Ly the withdrawal of the Company'.s trade, ofFered term.s so favourable, that they were again induced to make that port their principal station.

a^iBcuss.vms I^i^i^'iiig these transactions the Dutch question continued open, and many

with tiio attempts were made, by commissioners appointed for that purpose, U) obtain an equitable adjustment. In proportion, however, as the domestic difficulties of the king increased, the Dutch were emboldened to refase redress; and the Company, losing patience, took the remarkable step of placing them.selves in direct communication with parliament. Hitherto they- had existed merely as creatm-es of the crown, and on several occasions had been made to feel liow little dependence was to be placed on its countenance and support. King James, at the very commencement of his reign, virtually ignored Queen Eliza- beth's charter, in the license by which he empowered Sir Edward Michelbome to trade within the prohibited limits ; and on a subsequent occasion, even after he had made the charter his own by renewing and confirming it, he leagued with his worthless favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, in arresting the ships of the Company, for the pui'pose of extorting a share in the prize money which they were alleged to have gained when assisting the Persians against the Portuguese in the capture of Ormuz. As yet. King Charles had not been implicated in any overt attack on the privileges or interests of the Company ; but the sluggish manner in which he urged their claim to redress for the injuries

Application sustaiued from the Dutch must have satisfied them that, at the best, he was a

of the Com- pany to very lukewarm friend. It is not sui-prising, therefore, that when, in 1628, the

great struggle between the king and the parliament assumed a definite shape by the presentation of the celebrated Petition of Right, the Company, impatient of the interminable delays to which they had been subjected, took the bold step of withdrawing their case from the exclusive cognizance of the crown by bring- ing it directly under the notice of the legislatm^e. Their memorial, prepared with this view, besides enumerating the hardships under which they laboured, founded their claims to public support on the benefits which they had, as a com})any, conferred on the nation. The question as to the expediency of the peculiar privileges which their charter conferred was thus fairly i-aised, and would doubtless have been fully discussed had not the parliament been sud- denly dissolved before the memorial could be taken into consideration. Prociama- The memorial, impljdng, as it obviously did, a censure on the dilatoriness

tion by the. ^

crown. of the crowu, and amounting to what many regarded as an interference with the royal prerogative, must have been very offensive to the king; but more urgent concerns engrossed his attention, and he so far concealed his displeasure as not only to leave the chartered rights of the Company unimpaired, but occa- sionally to issue proclamations in their favom One of these proclamations, dated 19th February, 1631, deals with an internal abase, and gives a striking manifestation of the helpless, or at least desponding state into which the Com- pany must have fallen before they deemed it necessary to seek the protection


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 Chap. II.] CONTINUED DIFFICULTIES. 265

of the king against their own servants. The plan originally adopted of giving a.d. lesi. an interest in each voyage to all the persons employed in it had never been abandoned, and accordingly even common soldiers and sailors had been per- mitted to trade on their own account in certain specified articles. The quantity of space allowed to each for this private trade was a chest 4 feet long, 1 ^ foot wide, and H foot deep. Under the cover of this permission, it appears that smuggling was carried on to such an extent as both to defraud the public revenue and diminish the Company's legitimate profits. The proclamation specially directed against this smuggling, " whereby the said Company's general affaii's are of late much declined and decayed, and the adventm-ers therein much discouraged," intimates that in future greater vigilance will be exercised, and calls upon all officers to exert themselves to the utmost against those who, not satisfied with the specified amount of licensed traffic, and " the extraordinary great wages which they (the Company) are accustomed to pay in their employ- Apparent ments," were ungratefully and ungenerously imdermining their employers by oftiio " driving a secret underhand trade." The abuse thus denounced was surely ""'^'""^ one with which the Company themselves ought to have been fully prepared to deal, and it is almost piteous to see them vii-tually confessing their incom- petency by calling in extraneous aid to assist them in their internal manage- ment. Even without the aid of government, it could not have been difficult to strike at the root of the evil by withdi'awing the license which made its detection almost impossible, and declaring that in future all the servants of tlie Company would be paid by fixed salaries and wages. The very opposite course was adopted ; and the proclamation, while denouncing the evil, proceeds very preposterously to increase it, by announcing that the license to carry on l)rivate trade, instead of being prohibited, would remain as before in the case of the lower classes of servants, and in the case of the higher classes would be extended, so as to give many of them double the quantity of private tonnage which had previously been allowed.

It would have been strange if the Company, while proclaiming their own Continued incompetency and sanctioning gi*oss mismanagement, could have prospered even under favourable circumstances ; and unfortunately at this very time a series of events took place which placed their affiiirs in great jeopardy. The Dutch had made good their footing at Surat, and gi-eatly reduced the profits of the trade by a formidable competition. In the Persian Gulf, where, in addition to the ordi- nary profits of trade, the Company had obtained a permanent grant of half the customs levied at the port of Gomberoon, their position was endangered not only by a new succession to the throne, but by an attempt of the Portuguese to recapture Ormuz. In the Eastern Ai'chipelago the spice trade had been almost extinguished, and the factory of Bantam, which, as it was the earliest, had long held precedence of all the other stations of the Company, became so unim- • portant as to be reduced to an agency dependent on Surat, which alone was Vol. I. 34


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 266

HISTORY OF INDIA.

[Book II.

AD. 1C34 now governed by a president and council VVliile tlias Vjfcset with difficulties, the trade of the Company wa.s brought almost to a stand in India }jy the devastation of a large portion of the country by a famine, followed as usual by a pestilence ; and in England by the state of ferment into which all minds were now thrown by the approaching civil broils. Perseverance The best tiling that Can be said for the Company during this gloomy period

difficiutius. is tiliat they never abandoned them.selves to despair, and even while losing ground, were always on the alert to take advantage of any favourable opening which might occur. In this way their success was often greater than they covdd have ventured to anticipate. The new Persian monarch. Shah Sophi, issued firmans reinstating them in all their former privileges, including the grant of the customs of Gomberoon, which, in 1632, yielded as the Company's share 550 tomands, a sum equal to £1650 sterling. In the same year the

General View of MASULiPATAM.—ChurchUl's Collection of Voyages.

factory at Masulipatam, which had been abandoned in consequence of the extor- tion and oppression of the governor, was re-established on favourable conditions by the express authority of the King of Golconda, to whom the territory belonged ; while Armegon, though abandoned as a commercial emporium, acquired new importance from the additional strength given to its fortifica- tions. A secure asylum was thus obtained within the Bay of Bengal, to which the attention of the Company was now more especially directed. Foundation Duriug Sir Thomas Roe's embassy to the Great Mogid Jehangir, a firman with Bengal, had been obtained, in general terms authorizing the English to trade in Bengal The importance of the permission thus granted appears not to have been appre- ciated, and no use had been made of it when Jehangir's reign teiminated by his death in 1627. During the reign of his son Shah Jehan, whose favour the English generally enjoyed, the idea of a Bengal trade was revived; and in 1634) a firman was obtained, which threw the whole trade of the province open to the Company, subject to the restriction that their ships were to resort only to the port of Piply or Peipley. This place, situated on the Soobunreka ten


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 miles above its mouth, and within a short distance of the estuary of the Hooghly, had a very indifferent harbour, but possessed the important advantage of giving immediate access to a country of almost inexhaustible resources, with an immense industrial population, from whom an indefinite supply of the fine white cloths suited equally for the English, the Persian, and the south-eastern markets, might at all times be obtained. The prospect of a revival of trade seemed in consequence so promising, that new efforts were made ; and Bantam, with the view of being again made a central emporium between the Indian peninsula and the Spice Islands, was once more restored to the dignity of a presidency. In the midst of this apparent success, an event took place by which the very existence of the Company was threatened.

CHAPTER III.

Truce with the Portuguese— Establishment of a rival company — Settlement with the Dutch— State of the Company under Cromwell.

S the contests carried on between the Company and the Portu- guese had long been productive only of mischief to both, a mutual desire for arrangement was felt. While they were wast- ing their strength the Dutch were continuing their successful career, and threatening to involve them in a common ruin. In these circumstances little difficulty was found in opening a friendly commmii- cation with the Viceroy of Goa, and forming a truce which, if approved by their sovereigns, might afterwards be converted into a permanent treaty. Under this truce, which gave each of the contracting parties free access, for all com- mercial purposes, to the ports and factories of the other, the Company naturally anticipated a large extension of traffic, and had begun to make the necessary preparations with that view, when they were startled by the information that King Charles had granted license to a new body of mercantile adventurers, for the special purpose of appropriating the advantages which the tnice was expected to confer.

This extraordinary proceeding, which took place in 1635, was probably the a result of a variety of causes. It may be that Charles, while he concealed his displeasure at the memorial which the Company presented to parliament in 1628, had never forgotten it, and was therefore not imwilling to avail himself of the first opportunity which offered to take his revenge. The very bitter terms in which the past conduct of the Company is stigmatized, certainly savours of vindictiveness. On different occasions his majesty had borne strong and willing


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 268 HISTORY OF INDIA. [Book II

AD. 1630. testimony to the lionour {iiul Ix-neiit wlijcli the Company had conferred on th^-. nation at large, wl)erea.s the e.stablishment of a rival association is now jastified expres.sly on the ground that " in all this time, since the erection of the said East India Company, notwithstanding the manifold privileges granted to them, they had neither so settled and planted trade in tho.se part.s, nor ma4^1e any such fortifi- cation or place of surety, as might give assurance or encouragement to any, in future times, to adventure to trade there ; neither had we received any annua) benefit from thence (as other princes did), by reason of the said Company's Charges ncglect in fortifying." They "had merely intended and pursued their own

agaiiist the _ '

Company: present profit and advantage, without providing any safety or settledness for establishing of trafiick in the said Indies for the good of posterity, or for longer time than it should please the natives or inhabitants there to permit the con- tinuance thereof" The conduct of the Company in this respect is contrasted with that of the Portuguese and Dutch, who " had planted and fortified them- selves there, and estabhshed a lasting and hopeful trade there, for the good of posterity; and by advantage thereof had not only rendered our subjects abiding in those parts subject to their in.solencies and apparent injuries, but, in a manner, wrought them out of trade there, which we found, not only by the complaint of divers of the adventurers in that society, but principally by the daily decrease of our customs for goods imported from thence, which we could impute to nothing more than the said Company's supine neglect of discovery and settling of trade in divers places in those parts where they had a plentiful stock, and fair opportimities to have compassed and effected it."

Not wholly The charges thus lavishly brought against the Company were not wholly

unfounded. They had commenced with experimental voyages, and shifted about from place to place, wandering over the whole extent of the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea to the isle of Japan, without having secured a single .station Avhich they could call their own, and to which they could resort as a secure asyhun in aU emergencies. They thus existed merely by sufferance ; and when attacked, suc- ceeded only in a few rare instances in maintaining their ground. Their conduct in this respect was not dictated by motives of poHcy. Sir Thomas Roe, it is true, had cautioned them against the erection of forts, as incompatible with their prosperity as a mercantile company, and declared that " if the emperor would offer me ten I would not accept one." But the Company had never adopted tliis view, and would gladly have fortified if they had possessed the means. The great difficulty was in the want of funds, which at no time sufficed for more than to furnish the necessary investments. They were thus very much at the mercy both of native princes and European rivals; and when subjected to injus- tice, were obliged either to overlook it, or to confine themselves to clamorous and unavailing supplications for redress. Claiming an exclusive right to the com- merce of more than half the globe, they were bound to have achieved for them.selves a much more dignified position.


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 Chap. III.] SIR WILLIAM COURTEN'S ASSOCIATION. 2G9

Admitting that the Company were thus far in fault, it does not follow that a.d. i635. Charles was justified in the method which he took to supplant them. They were entitled, at all events, to a three years' notice, and therefore ought not to have been threatened with violent extinction before even a single note of warn- ing had been jjiven. The truth is, that Charles had now been brought into that unhappy position from which he thought himself entitled to seek relief by any means which promised to be successful, however much they might be at variance with honour and equity. He was engaged in the ftital experiment of attempt- ing to ride without a parliament ; and having thus excluded himself from the only means of obtaining money by legal taxation, was ready to snatch at any expedient for replenishing his treasury. There can be little doubt that the license granted to the rival adventurers, afterwards known by the name of "Courten's Association," was one of those expedients. The truce recently con- Coui-teirs

association.

eluded With Portugal was represented as about to open up new sources of wealth, and the king, consulting only his necessities, was deluded into the belief that, by means of a new body of adventurers, a large and permanent addition might be made to his own revenue. Sir William Courten, a wealthy London merchant, had the principal share in the new company, and has hence given it its name. He had lent large sums both to the king and his father, and may possibly have cancelled part of the debt, or granted a new loan, in return for the royal license. It is plain, however, from the - — --. language employed, that Charles

had more than an indirect in- / <^^ ^^^ terest in the success of Courten's association. He speaks of the ffu^^^S) ' ^^^t voyage as having been partly undertaken "at and by the charge ^;,J^f^^j and adventure of us, and of our trusty and faithful servant, En- V ^^ J dymion Porter, Esq., one of the grooms of our bedchamber," and authorizes the ships, 'as an ensign

that they were specially employ- ed by us," to carry the "union

flag which our own ships, and none but the ships employed in our particular service, ought to bear."

The old Company, naturally alarmed at the special favour thus shown to the R<?mon- new adventm-ers, and the open mfringement of the exclusive privileges guaran- .ngainst it. teed to them by the chartere of Queen Elizabeth and King James, presented an earnest remonstrance ; but though they succeeded so far as to cause a new pro- clamation to be issued, in which the right of traffic conferred on the a.sso- ciation was restricted to " such of those parts and places before named, where the said East India Company had not settled factories and trade before the 12th December, 1635," they were so far from gaining their main object, that the license, originally granted only for a single voyage, was extended to five years, and declared to stand good against all who might be disposed to challenge it. "any charters, lettei's-patents, grants of incorporations, or of any liberties, powers, jurisdictions, privileges of trade or traffick. or any act of parliament,

• Seal used by Sir William Courten's Association. — MS. vol. Peter Manday'a Travels, in Lib of E. I. House.


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 270 IIISTOKY OF TN'DTA. [Book J J.

A.D. 1035. .statute, ordinance, proclamation, piovision or restriction, or other matter oi- thing whatsoever, to the contrary iiereof, in any wise notwithstanding," Tlie passage now quoted is curious, not only as evincing the king's determination strenuously to support the new association, but as displaying the extent to which he was prepared to stretch his prerogative, and to set at nought all the other powers of the state when they were suj)posed to interfere with any of his favourite projects.

Depressed At the date of the second proclamation, the ships fitted out fcjr the first

state of the. . ^ ^ • i o

Company, voyage of the association were already at sea. When they arrived at Surat, the president and council, who had not previously been informed of the license which had been granted, were surprised above measure, and utterly at a loss how to proceed. They had been preparing to take advantage of the an-ange- ment which had been made with the Portuguese, and had partly completed theii- investment with a view to it. Now, liowever, they found themselves forestalled, and virtually excluded from their most hopeful market. This disappointment was the more severely felt in consequence of the general .stagnation of trade, which had been produced by the recent famine and pestilence ; and also of a very violent proceeding on the part of the Mogul emperor, Shah Jehan, wlio, on learning that a vessel bearing his flag had been plundered by a pirate under English colours, had imprisoned the leading members of the Siu-at factory, and refused to release them till they engaged to pay a very heavy fine. Under these circumstances, trade was for a time almost entirely suspended. "While thus overwhelmed by adversity, the Company had the additional dissatisfac- tion to learn that Courten's vessels had made a prosperous voyage, and arrived in England with cargoes which would yield the adventurers a very profitable return. In a letter addressed to their servants at Surat, the governor and Company thus express themselves : — " Wee could wish that wee could vindicate the reputacion of our nation in these partes, and do oiu^elves right for the losse and damage our estate in those partes have susteyned ; but of all these wee must beare the burthen, and with patience sitt still, untill we may find these frowning tymes more auspicious to us and to our aflfayres." Attempt to For scvcral subsequent years the Company remained in a very depressed joint stock, state. At one time the rivalship of Courten's association, at another time the encroachments of the Dutch — who, no longer satisfied with their ascendency in the Eastern islands, were ambitious enough to aim at the establishment of it in all the leading ports of India — absorbed all their thoughts, and formed the subject of various petitions, in which they implored the government to inter- fere and save them from impending destruction. Their importunity at last obtained a favourable hearing; and the privy council recommended, as the most eflfectual remedy, that the hcense to Courten's association should be with- drawn, on the understanding that a new joint stock should be formed, on a scheme sufficiently large and liberal to promise a great extension of the trade.


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 Chap. III.J xVTTEMPT TO FORM A NEW JOINT STOCK. 271

In accordance with tins recommendation, the Company proceeded to take the a.d. i640. necessary steps, and issued a prospectus embodying the following proposals : — 1. That the subscription should be payable, by instalments, in four years; and that it should be left to the majority of the subscribers to determine in what Attempt to manner, and by whom the business should be managed. 2. That the subscrip- joUit stoct. tion should be open to all persons, as well foreigners as English, till the 1st of May, 164)0. 3. That on all past due instalments I4 per cent, per month should be levied, as a fine, till payment. 4. That the minimum subscription should be, by an Englishman £500, and by a foreigner £1000. 5. That, in buying any share after the books were closed, an Englishman should pay £20 and a foreigner £40 for his freedom. 6. That the old Company, or adventurers in what was called the third joint stock, should be allowed sufficient time for bringing home their property, but be prohibited from sending any more stock to India on their former account.

The above terms are fair and reasonable, and, under ordinary circumstances, 't* faUure. could hardly fad to have been eagerly and generally accepted ; but troublous times were at hand, and few who possessed capital were inclined to expo.se it to the risks which it would necessarily run during the struggles of a civil war. When the date fixed for closing the books arrived, the whole amount subscribed was the paltry sum of £22,500. The proposed scheme having thus proved a complete failure, matters returned to their former state; and the Company wei*e again left to fight their battle single - handed. While thus engaged, their course was checkered by prosperity as well as adversity. Under the former head, a first place must be assigned to the acqui.sition of a new locality on the Coromandel coast. This locahty was the nucleus of what was destined to swell out into the presidency of Madras. The acquisition was made in 1 640, on the most favom-able terms, the ')iaik or governor of the district volunteering to build a fort at his own expense, at which the English might settle and carry on their trade exempt from all customs. So satisfied was Mr. Day, a member of the factory of Masidipatam, who conducted the transaction with the naik, of the value of the otter which had been made, that he immediately imdertook the erection of the fort, which, in honour of the naik's father, received the name First settie- of Chenappa-])atan, or Clienna-patan, still ajiplied to it by the natives, though Madras. Europeans from the first knew it only by the name of Fort St. George. The importance of this station soon became a])parent ; and the decisive step which Mr. Day took in at once commencing operations was most fortunate, as it after- wards appeared that the Company, if they had been previously consulted, would have withheld their sanction mider a belief that the state of their funds did not justify the outlay. Another circumstance, which at this time had a favour- able influence on the Company's prospects, was the overthrow of the Spanish rule in Portugal, which in con.sequence resumed its position as an independent kingdom. By this event, tiie friendly relations ah-eady existing between


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 Chap. III.] PROCEEDINGS OF COURTEN'S ASSOCIATION. 273

declined. The same causes which depressed the Company must have affected ad. icag. them in a similar manner, but their misfortunes seem to have been far more owing to their own misconduct. After wandering about M'ithout any fixed [)lan, and committing depredations which sibjected them to severe reprisals, they resolved in 16-i6 to establish a colony at St. Augustine's Bay, on the island of Madagascar. The project, injudicious in itself, was altogether beyond their means, and proved a failure. In order to lelieve the embarrassments into which they were thus thrown they had recourse to fraud, and set up a mint, at which they coined counterfeit pagodas and rials. The cheat Aas soon discovered, and so seriously damaged theii* character that they afterwards found great difficulty in carrying on even a legitimate trade. Not long after this p»^i'o^i »<>

amalganiatf

transaction, a proposal was made that the Company and the association should the ai^oda- forget their (juarrels and amalgamate. Had the Com])any been their own tumiwiny. masters, they would never have entertained this propo.sal; but a complete change had taken })lace in tlie |)olitical state of the kingdom, and, in tlie general uncertainty Avhich prevailed, it was dangerous to demur to any pro- posal which had the sanction of the dominant party. The king was now a prisoner in the Isle of Wight, and the cause of the parliament was everywhere trium])hant. The Company, trembling for their charter, endeavoured to meet the threatened storm by proposing a new subscription, in which they made a curious effort at conciliation. In the prospectus i.ssued, while the public gene- rally were restricted to a certain day for filling up the lists, an exception was made in favour of members of parliament, for whom the period of closing was prolonged that they might have an op])ortunity to consider the subject, and to become subscribers. The device is said to have succeeded ; and the plan device to obtained so much of the approbation of the commons, as to amount to a lavcmi of virtual recognition of the rights and privileges of the Company. Accordingly, " """*" ' tlie council of state — to which the questions at is.sue between the Compan}- and Coiu"ten's association, which was now designated by the name of " The As.sada Merchants," from their settlement on an island of that name near Madagascar, iiad been submitted — while declining to give any formal decision, strongly recommended an amalgamation.

In accordance with this recommendation, vai'ious conferences were held ^'"'O"

between tlie

between the managers of the two companies, and a union -was finally arranged, association The leading conditions were — That a stock of £300,000 should be subscribed company, within two months, to be paid by instalments in four yeai*s ; that a valuation siiould be taken of all the houses, shij)ping. and goods belonging to the CVunpany in India ; that the .settlei's on the island of Assada should be allowed to trade direct to any ports of Asia, Africa, and America, but not to trade from port to port in India ; that, on this continent, a fortified station should be fixed on for both companies; that all Indian goods, .spices, &c., should be joint propert}'; that salaries, both in England and India, should be reduced; and that, in tlie Vol. I. 35


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 274

HISTORY OF INDIA.

[Book II.

Petition to parliament

ag linst tlie Dutch.

A.D. 1652. future management of the joint trade, a share of at least £500 should be neces- sary to give a vote. It was of importance to obtain legislative sanction to this arrangement, and a petition to that effect was immediately j>resented to the House of Commons. It wa,s taken into consideration on the 31st January, 1650; but though the Company appear to have hoped for a di.stinct confirma- tion of their exclusive privileges, the utmost they could obtain was the cautiously worded resolution, " That the trade to the East Indies should be carried on by one company, and with one joint stock, the management thereof to be under such regulations as the parliament should think fit ; and that the East India Company should proceed upon the articles of agreement made between them and the Assada merchants on the 21st November, 1649, till further orders from the parliament."

Whatever may have been the political predilections of individual membei-s of the Company, they appear, as a body, to have been easily reconciled to the constitutional changes which followed the execution of the king ; and, on the 14th of November, 1650, presented a petition, addressed, in the language and spirit of the times, to " the supreme authority of the nation, the high court of the Parliament of England." The gi-eat burden of the petition was the old complaint of ill usage from the Dutch, from whom redress, though hitherto asked in vain " from the late king and his coimcil, was now confidently antici- pated." At this time the new government was evidently preparing for a rupture with the Dutch ; and hence, as the petition was opportune, it met with such a favoiirable reception, that on the very day on which it was presented parliament adopted a resolution referring it to the consideration of the council of state. That the impression already made might not be permitted to die away, the Company endeavoured to keep their case before the x-iew of the council by a series of memorials. In the first of these, dated 9th May, 1651, after referring to their petition, they renewed their grounds of complaint against the Dutch, and drew up a list of their losses, which they estimated at £1,681,996, 15s. This was exclusive of interest, which it was alleged would amount to a larger sum than the principal. In a second memorial, presented in June, when the probability of a Dutch war was stronger than ever, they expressed their apprehensions for the safety of their homeward bound fleet, consisting of five ships laden with valuable cargoes, and particularly with saltpetre for the use of government; and prayed that ships of war might be stationed off the Land's End for the purpose of conducting theii" fleet in safety into the Downs. In a third memorial, foUomng close upon the other, they took the bolder step of praying that powers might be given, imder the great seal of England, to their presidents and councils in India, to enforce obedience on all Englishmen within their jm'isdiction, and to punish offenders conformably to the laws of England. On the 29th of January, 1652, they again imi)ortuned the council on the subject of their claims, because, knowing that ambassadors

Second memorial

presented

Third memorial.


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 27(i

HISTORY OF INDIA.

[Book II.

A.D. 1654

Conipou- sation awarded to the Company.

Its insignifi- cantamoiuit.

In tliu treaty drawn up on this occasion the claims of the Company were not forgotten. By the twenty-seventli article, it was agreed: — "That the Lords the States-general of the United Provinces shall take care that jas- tice be done upon those who were partakers or accomplices in the massacre of the English at Amboyna, as the republic of England is pleased to term that fact; provided any of them be living." By the thirtieth aiticle, four com mi.s- sioners were to be named on both sides to meet at London, and "to examine and distinguish all those losses and injurys, in the year 1611 and after to the 18th of May, 1652, according to the English style, as well in the East Indies as in Greenland, Muscovy, Brazil, or wherever else either party complains of having received them from the other; and the particulars of all those injuiys and damages shall be exhibited to the said commissioners so nominated before the aforesaid 18th of May, with this restriction, that no new ones shall be admitted after that day." Should the commissioners not come to an agreement within three months, the wliole case was to be submitted "to the judgment and arbitration of the Swiss Cantons," who were authorized for that puii^ose to delegate commissioners, whose decision, given within six months, should " bind both parties, and be well and truly performed." At the first meeting of the commissioners, held on the 30th of August, 1654, the English Company .stated their damages at £2,695,999, 15s. Strange to say, the Dutch contrived to exceed this amount, and stated theirs at £2,919,861, 3s. 6d. Both statements were supported by a series of accounts ; but the commissioners .soon became satisfied that little dependence was to be placed upon them, and within the three months pronomiced an award, of which the principal findings were that the island of Polaroon should be restored to the English, and that the Dutch Company should pay to the London Company the sum of £85,000, and to the heirs or executors of the sufferers at Ambovna the sum of £3615.

It seems to be admitted that the award was fairly made ; and therefore, when the comparatively paltry amount of the compensation is considered, it is difficult to account for the loud outcry which the Company had continued without interruption from the first years of their existence to make again.st the Dutch, as the main authors of all the calamities which befell them. Sm'ely less clamour might have siifficed, when the object merely was to obtain redi^ess for losses which, spread over the course of nearly half a centmy, had only reached the aggregate amount of £85,000. When the sum was paid, many questions arose as to the mode in which it was to be apportioned among the proprietors of the different stocks by which the voyages of the Company had been fitted out. A protracted and ruinous litigation might have ensued, had not Cromwell alarmed all the claimants, and united them as in a common danger, by proposing that in the meantime the money should remain ^ath him as a loan. The Company pleaded the general state of their affaii's, and the deores.sed circumstances of many of the indi^^.dual claimants, as reasons


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 CHAr. ITI.^ MADRAS RAISED TO A PRESIDENCY. 277

for not lending the whole sum ; und })roposed to receive £35, QUO in hand, iind a u 1054. to express their gratitude to the Protector by lending him the remaining £50,000, on the understanding that it was to be repaid in eighteen months by instalments. The final apportionment of the sum among the claimants was left to the decision of five arbitere specially appointed for that purpose.

After the arrangement made with Courten's association, the Company Privileges

ol.taimil ill

began to trade on what was called a united joint stock ; and while contendmg lici.gai. with many difiiculties, made some arrangements which ccmtributed greatly to their ultimate prosperity. Among others may be mentioned, the oljtaining of a firman which, in retm-n for a payment of 3000 i-upees (£300), gave them the privilege of free trade in Bengal without payment of customs. These very favourable terms, which were obtained in 1651, they owed to the influence of ]Ir. Gabriel Boughton, who, when English surgeon to the factory at Surat, had gained the fiivour of Shah Jehan by the cure of one of his daughters, and at a later period resided in Bengal as the medical attendant of the governor. Prince Hhuja, Sliah Jehan's son. While new facilities for trade were thus opened up in Bengal, the Coromandel coast was not overlooked, and in 1654 the important step was taken of raising Fort St. George to the rank of a presidency. In the Madras

rai.seci to .1

use of these and similar advantages, the Company might soon have re})aired all i.resiuency. their disa.sters, and attained a higher prosperity than they had enjoyed at any former period. Unhappily new obstacles arose from within. The imion with Courten's association had never been cordial ; and the members of the latter, accustomed to much more freedom of action than the more regular management of the Company permitted, became loud in their complaints. When the union was formed, the mode of canying on the joint trade was left open for future arrangement. On this subject, the views of the Company and of the A.s.sada merchants were almost diametrically opposed. The Compaiiy, jealous of their privileges, and convinced that they could not maintain them without a joint stock, refused to carry on the trade on any other footing. The Assada merchants, on the contrary, while admitting that a company was necessary, insisted that it should be, not a joint stock, but a regulated company, in which the members should have liberty individually '• to employ their own stocks, servants, and shipping, in such way as they might conceive most to their own advantage." To jn-ocure an authoritative settlement of the im])ortant que.stion thus raised, both parties, in the end of 1654, ap})eared as petitioners before the comicil of state.

The Company, in their petition, repeated all the arguments which they had Arrange- been accustomed to urge in lavour ot a joint stock: their own experience nnourcf acquu-ed during a course of forty years — the formidable competition of the i_'omymi^'^ Portuguese and Dutch — the failure of isolated voyages, the expenses of equip- ment far exceeding the means of individual adventurers — the extent of territorv over which the trade extended, the factories of the Company l^eing actually situated "in the dominion.s of not less than fourteen sovereigns" — and, above


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 278

lIISTOIiy OF INDIA.

[Book II.

A.U. IGM.

Arrange- ments in favour of a regiilateJ company.

Cromwell's decision.

all, "the engagements which the Company were under to the native powers to make good any losses which their subjects might sustain by the depredation-s of Englishmen," even though these should not belong to their service. On these grounds, they thought themselves entitled to ])ray that the Protector would be pleased to renew their charter, with such additional privileges as ha/1 been found necessary to enable them to carry on their trade ; to prohibit private persons from sending out shipping to India ; and to assist thern in recovering their position in the Spice Islands. Were this prayer granted, they had no doubt of being able not only to procure a large subscription at present, but to establish the East India trade on a secure and durable basis.

On the other hand, the Assada merchants alleged that management by joint stocks had not been so profitable either to subscribers or to the public as that of separate voyages would have been; and appealed in proof to the successful manner in which the Turkey, Muscovy, and Eastland trades were carried on under free companies. Besides this appeal to experience, they argued the point at great length, insisting, in substance, that a free trade regulated would encour- age industry and ingenuity, giving them full latitude and scope for exercise ; while each person, instead of standing idle and leaving others to act for him, had the ordering of liis own affairs, and consequently opportunity to make use of his 0"wn talents ; that by increasing the number of traders, it would destroy the spirit of monopoly, and, by means of active competition, lower the price of foreign commodities, to the great advantage of the public ; that instead of restrict- ing adventurers to a set time when the subscription list of a joint stock required to be peremptorily closed, and to the payment of ready money as the only mode of investment, it left them at full liberty to choose their own time, and to invest in the mode which might be most convenient, not merely in ready money, but in goods or shipping ; and, finally, that besides being less expensive in its manage- ment than a joint stock, it would be far more eflacient, because the adventurers, " being whetted on by their own interest and the competition of others, will in reason tiu-n every stone for discovering of new trades;" and thus have some advantage over the Dutch Company, who, hadng little control over their ser- vants abroad, make Holland the principal seat of their management.

While the subject of a joint stock or a regulated trade was thus keenly agitated, Cromwell at first maintained a strict neutrahty between the contend- ing parties, granting authority to both to undertake voyages to India, and conduct them on their own principles. An authoritative decision, however, was necessary ; and to obtain it, the whole question was submitted to the comicil of state in a writing signed by the Protector's own hand, and bearing date 20th October, 1656. The council refen-ed the matter to a select committee, who were dii'ected to report " in what manner the East India trade might be best managed for the public good and its own encouragement." On 18th December following, the committee reported that, after taking means to obtain the fullest informa-


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 Chap. III.]

A NEW JOINT-STOCK COMPANY.

279

tion, by directing notices to be affixed to the Exchange, appointing a day for all. d. less. persons concerned in the East India trade to attend, and fully considering all the arguments urged orally or in ^vriting by both parties, they had not ventured to come to any positive determination, though their own private opinion was that the trade ought to be conducted on an united joint stock. The council having the question thus returned upon them, summoned the governor and committees of the Company and the principal merchant adventurers to the East Indies to attend them; and after a full hearing on January 28, 1657, gave it as their advice to the Protector, "That the trade of East Indya be mannaged by a united joynt stock, exclusive of all others." Within a fortnight thereafter, Cromwell announced his determination to act on this advice; and a committee of the council was appointed to consider the terms of the charter to be granted to the East India Company.

It is to be presumed that the charter thus vu'tually promised was actually a new joint

stock coni*

granted ; but, strange to say, no copy of it has ever been discovered, and the i)anyfoi-iue.i only evidence of its existence is derived from a reference made to it in a petition which the Company presented to Cromwell in 1658, and from a letter from Fort St. George to the factory of Surat, in which it is stated that a vessel called the Blackmoore, which arrived from England on the 12th of June in that year, had " posted away with all haste after his highness the Lord Protector had signed the Company's charter." The Company were, of course, greatly elated with their success; and having again formed a coalition with the principal members of the merchant adventurers, succeeded in obtaining a subscription of £786,000 to form a new joint stock. It was necessaiy, however, before acting upon it, to make an arrangement for the settlement of previously existing claims. Under the original agreement with Corn-ten's association, the trade had for some years been carried on by the funds of what was called the "United Joint Stock." The state of its affairs, made up to the date of 1st September, 1655, throws light on the position which the Company then occupied: —

ACCOUNT-GENERAL OF THE UNITED JOINT STOCK, on the Ist September, 1655.'

Siil.irios of tlio mercliants remaining in India, Debii. from 30th Nov., 1650, to 30th Nov., 1C56, at £"JOt56, '2s. 8rf. per annum, to be paid in India, £9,641 19 4

Mariners' wages, for the like terms, per esti- mate, 4,000

Two years' generall exjionces in Snratt, from 30th Nov., 1654, to Nov., 1656,. 7,600

Coast of Coromandell, .... 5,000

Bantam, &c 2,800

Salary of the merchants gone upon the Three

Brothers, 230

Gratuitys to the comniitteea, none liaving been jiaid since this stock began, ... —

Rests 156,317 7 8

£185, .5S9 7

' This account is copied from Bruce's Annah (i. 50T but the two columns do not tally, as the credit side amounts to

Balance of estate in England, made up to the Credit.

Ist Sept., 1655, £82,053 12

Remaines in Suratt and subordinate factories, 32,829 5

At Madraspatnara and fiicturies on that coast, 22,671 11

At Bant.im and 8ulK)r(linates,. 26,451 10

Voyage to PoUaroone 1,051

Fort St. George, value, with all privileges of

saving of customs, 6,000

Customs of Gombroon 9,000

Three lioiises in Agra, .MiniodatMul, and Luck- now, with the garden at Suratt,. 1,932 Five hoitses at Bantam, Jajwirra, Macassar, Jambee, attd Bangar-Masseen, 3,600

Ship Expedition 600

— Sea-horse, 250

Sloop Marline, 200

Pynnace Hope, 50

£l.S5,58 9 7

£1S6,58,S, 19«. Oii. The error, however, does not interfere with the puri)ose for which the account is given.


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 280 niSTOKY OF INDIA. [Book II.

A.D 1C08. From this account, it ap{)ears that at its date the balance of tiie credit

of the united joint stock amounted to the large sum of £156,317, 7s. Sd. In 1G58, when the new joint stock was formed, this balance must have Vjeen v.ii nation of considerably reduced; but as much remained as to make it necessary U> settle the terms on which, if not the whole, at least that portion of it which lielonged to what is called dead stock was to be transfen-ed. The term.s, apparently very favourable, were: — That "on the new stock paying £20,000, ],y two instalments, to the imited stock, the forts, privileges, and immunities in India and Persia should be made over in full right, and the three ships and £14,000 in bullion, prepared for the voyage of this season, transferred at prime cost of the new stock ; that on the arrival of these ships at the Company's factfmfes, the goods, furniture, and stores were to be transferred to the new account, at the valuation of 6s. 6d. sterling per rial of eight; that the servants of the new stock should assist those of the united stock in recovering their debts; and that the united stock should be charged with the expenses of the settlements and trade till the arrival of the shipping of the new stock, when the agents of this stock should take charge, and be entitled to receive the customs of Gomberoon after the 1st October, 1658." Another arrangement of some importance was, that such persons as had served an apprenticeshij) to the members of the joint stock, should be admitted freemen and members of the Company on paying a fine of £5 ; and that the persons who had been possessed of shares in the former trade, and, on that account, had property in the Indies, were not to be deemed private traders, but were required, after a specified time, to carry' the amount of such ]iroperty to the account of the new stock. Newar- Haviug amicably settled these preliminaries, the Company proceeded to

Ibrolir" '^ make a new arrangement of their establishments abroad. In future, the other presidencies and factories, and more especially the factories and trade in Persia, were to be subordinate to the president and council of Surat ; at the same time, the presidency of Fort St. George was not only to be maintained, but to have a control over all the other factories on the Coromandel coast and in Bengal, where the Company now had a principal factory at Hooghl}', together with inferior agencies at Cossimbazar, Balasore, and Patna. The insular factories and agencies were to be subordinate, as before, to the president and council of Bantam. The abuse of private trafiic by the Company's seiwants, which had long been complained of, and had even, we have seen, been denounced in ro3-al proclamations, again attracted attention ; and tlie appropriate remedy was adopted by issuing an absolute prohibition of such trafiic, and compensating for the withdrawal of it by increasing the salaries of the presidents and mem- bers of council, and of the subordinate servants. As an additional protection against the continuance of the abuse, all officials were required to sign security bonds to specified amounts, to keep diaries of their proceedings, and annually transmit certified copies of them to the coiu-t in England. It is scarcely