But this, though true, proved nothing in favour of the Company; it being an admittea fact, that those articles were furnished at a still lower price by the interlopers or private traders.

Sir Josiah Child was one of the first who projected the formation of a territorial empire in India. But the expedition fitted out in 1686, in the view of accomplishing this purpose, proved unsuccessful; and the Company were glad to accept peace on the terms offered by the Mogul. Sir John Child, having died during the course of these transactions, was succeeded in the principal management of the Company's affairs in India by Mr. Vaux. On the appointment of the latter, Sir Josiah Child, to whom he owed his advancement, exhorted him to act with vigour, and to carry whatever instructions he might receive from home into immediate effect. Mr. Vaux returned for answer, that he should endeavour to acquit himself with integrity and justice, and that he would make the laws of his country the rule of his conduct. Sir Josiah Child's answer to this letter is curious: "He told Mr. Vaux roundly that he expected his orders were to be his rules, and not the laws of England, which were a heap of nonsense, compiled by a few ignorant country gentlemen, who hardly knew how to make laws for the good government of their own private families, much less for the regulating of companies and foreign commerce."-(Hamilton's New Account of the East Indies, vol. i. p. 232.)

The

During the latter part of the reign of Charles II. and that of his successor, the number of private adventurers, or interlopers, in the Indian trade, increased in an unusual degree. The Company vigorously exerted themselves in defence of what they conceived to be their rights; and the question with respect to the validity of the powers conferred on them by their charter was at length brought to issue, by a prosecution carried on at their instance against Mr. Thomas Sandys, for trading to the East Indies without their licence. Judgment was given in favour of the Company in 1685. But this decision was ascribed to corrupt influence; and instead of allaying, only served to increase the clamour against them. The meeting of the Convention Parliament gave the Company's opponents hopes of a successful issue to their efforts; and had they been united, they might probably have succeeded. Their opinions were, however, divided part being for throwing the trade open, and part for the formation of a new company on a more liberal footing. The latter being formed into a body, and acting in unison, the struggle against the Company was chiefly carried on by them. The proceedings that took place on this occasion are amongst the most disgraceful in the history of the country. most open and unblushing corruption was practised by all parties.-." It was, in fact, a trial which side should bribe the highest; public authority inclining to one or other as the irresistible force of gold directed.” —- ( Modern Universal History, vol. x. p. 127.) Government appears, on the whole, to have been favourable to the Company; and they obtained a fresh charter from the Crown in 1693. But in the following year the trade was virtually laid open by a vote of the House of Commons, "that all the subjects of England had an equal right to trade to the East Indies, unless prohibited by act of parliament." Matters continued on this footing till 1698. The pecuniary difficulties in which government was then involved, induced them to apply to the Company for a loan of 2,000,0001, for which they offered 8 per cent. interest. The Company offered to advance 700,0007. at 4 per cent.; but the credit of government was at the time so low, that they preferred accepting an offer from the associated merchants, who had previously opposed the Company, of the 2,000,000l. at 8 per cent., on condition of their being formed into a new and exclusive company. While this project was in agitation, the advocates of free trade were not idle, but exerted themselves to show that, instead of establishing a new Company, the old one ought to be abolished. But, however conclusive, their arguments, having no adventitious recommendations in their favour, failed of making any impression. The new Company was established by authority of the legislature; and as the charter of the old Company was not yet expired, the novel spectacle was exhibited of two legally constituted bodies, each claiming an exclusive right to the trade of the same possessions!

The

Notwithstanding all the pretensions set up by those who had obtained the new charter during their struggle with the old Company, it was immediately seen that they were as anxious as the latter to suppress every thing like free trade. They had not, it was obvious, been actuated by any enlarged views, but merely by a wish to grasp at the monopoly, which they believed would redound to their own individual interest. public, in consequence, became equally disgusted with both parties; or, if there were any difference, it is probable that the new Company was looked upon with the greatest aversion, inasmuch as we are naturally more exasperated by what we conceive to be duplicity and bad faith, than by fair undisguised hostility.

At first the mutual hatred of the rival associations knew no bounds. But they were not long in perceiving that such conduct would infallibly end in their ruin; and that while one was labouring to destroy the other, the friends of free trade might step in and

procure the dissolution of both. In consequence, they became gradually reconciled; and in 1702, having adjusted their differences, they resolved to form themselves into one company, entitled The United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies.

The authority of parliament was soon after interposed to give effect to this agreement. The United Company engaged to advance 1,200,000l. to government without interest, which, as a previous advance had been made of 2,000,000l. at 8 per cent., made the total sum due to them by the public 3,200,000l., bearing interest at 5 per cent.; and government agreed to ratify the terms of their agreement, and to extend the charter to the 25th of March, 1726, with 3 years' notice.

While those important matters were transacting at home, the Company had acquired some additional possessions in India. In 1692, the Bengal agency was transferred from Hooghly to Calcutta. In 1698, the Company acquired a grant from one of the grandsons of Aurengzebe, of Calcutta and 2 adjoining villages; with leave to exercise judiciary powers over the inhabitants, and to erect fortifications. These were soon after constructed, and received, in compliment to William III., then king of England, the name of Fort William. The agency at Bengal, which had hitherto been subsidiary only, was now raised to the rank of a presidency.

The vigorous competition that had been carried on for some years before the coalition of the old and new Companies, between them and the private traders, had occasioned a great additional importation of Indian silks, piece goods, and other products, and a great reduction of their price. These circumstances occasioned the most vehement complaints amongst the home manufacturers, who resorted to the arguments invariably made use of on such occasions by those who wish to exclude foreign competition; affirming that manufactured India goods had been largely substituted for those of England; that the English manufacturers had been reduced to the cruel necessity either of selling nothing, or of selling their commodities at such a price as left them no profit; that great numbers of their workmen had been thrown out of employment; and, last of all, that Indian goods were not bought by British goods, but by gold and silver, the exportation of which had caused the general impoverishment of the kingdom! The merchants and others interested in the India trade could not, as had previously happened to them in the controversy with respect to the exportation of bullion, meet these statements without attacking the principles on which they rested, and maintaining, in opposition to them, thất it was for the advantage of every people to buy the products they wanted in the cheapest market. This just and sound principle was, in consequence, enforced in several petitions presented to parliament by the importers of Indian goods; and it was also enforced in several able publications that appeared at the time. But these arguments, how unanswerable soever they may now appear, had then but little influence; and in 1701, an act was passed, prohibiting the importation of Indian manufactured goods for home consumption.

For some years after the re-establishment of the Company, it continued to prosecute its efforts to consolidate and extend its commerce. But the unsettled state of the Mogul empire, coupled with the determination of the Company to establish factories in every convenient situation, exposed their affairs to perpetual vicissitudes. In 1715, it was resolved to send an embassy to Delhi, to solicit from Furucksur, an unworthy descendant of Aurengzebe, an extension and confirmation of the Company's territory and privileges. Address, accident, and the proper application of presents, conspired to ensure the success of the embassy. The grants or patents solicited by the Company were issued in 1717. They were in all 34. The substance of the privileges they conferred was, that English vessels wrecked on the coasts of the empire should be exempt from plunder; that the annual payment of a stipulated sum to the government of Surat should free the English trade at that port from all duties and exactions; that those villages contiguous to Madras formerly granted and afterwards refused by the government of Arcot, should be restored to the Company; that the island of Diu, near the port of Masulipatam, should belong to the Company, paying for it a fixed rent; that in Bengal, all persons, whether European or native, indebted or accountable to the Company, should be delivered up to the presidency on demand; that goods of export or import, belonging to the English, might, under a dustuck or passport from the president of Calcutta, be conveyed duty free through the Bengal provinces; and that the English should be at liberty to purchase the lordship of 37 towns contiguous to Calcutta, and in fact commanding both banks of the river for 10 miles south of that city. - (Grant's Sketch of the History of the East India Company, p. 128.)

The important privileges thus granted were long regarded as constituting the great charter of the English in India. Some of them, however, were not fully conceded; but were withheld or modified by the influence of the emperor's lieutenants, or soubahdars. In 1717, the Company found themselves in danger from a new competitor. In the course of that year some ships appeared in India, fitted out by private adventurers from

Ostend. Their success encouraged others to engage in the same line; and in 1722, the adventurers were formed into a company under a charter from his Imperial Majesty. The Dutch and English Companies, who had so long been hostile to each other, at once laid aside their animosities, and joined heartily in an attempt to crush their new competitors. Remonstrances being found ineffectual, force was resorted to; and the vessels of the Ostend Company were captured, under the most frivolous pretences, in the open seas and on the coasts of Brazil. The British and Dutch governments abetted the selfish spirit of hostility displayed by their respective Companies. And the emperor was, in the end, glad to purchase the support of Great Britain and Holland to the pragmatic sanction, by the sacrifice of the Company at Ostend.

Though the Company's trade had increased, it was still inconsiderable, and it is very difficult, indeed, when one examines the accounts that have from time to time been published of the Company's mercantile affairs, to imagine how the idea ever came to be entertained that their commerce was of any considerable, much less paramount, importance. At an average of the 10 years ending with 1724, the total value of the British manufactures and other products annually exported to India amounted to only 92,410l. 12s. 6d. The average value of the bullion annually exported, during the same period, amounted to 518,102. 118. Od.; making the total annual average exports 617,5137. 3s. 10d. ; — a truly pitiful sum, when we consider the wealth, population, and industry of the countries between which the Company's commerce was carried on; and affording, by its smallness, a strong presumptive proof of the effect of the monopoly in preventing the growth of the trade.

In 1730, though there were 3 years still unexpired of the Company's charter, a vigorous effort was made by the merchants of London, Bristol, and Liverpool, to prevent its renewal. It has been said that the gains of the Company, had they been exactly known, would not have excited any very envious feelings on the part of the merchants; but, being concealed, they were exaggerated; and the boasts of the Company as to the importance of their trade contributed to spread the belief that their profits were enormous, and consequently stimulated the exertions of their opponents. Supposing, however, that the real state of the case had been known, there was still enough to justify the utmost exertions on the part of the merchants; for the limited profits made by the Company, notwithstanding their monopoly, were entirely owing to the misconduct of their agents, which they had vainly endeavoured to restrain; and to the waste inseparable from such unwieldy establishments.

The merchants, on this occasion, followed the example that had been set by the petitioners for free trade in 1656. They offered, in the first place, to advance the 3,200,000l. lent by the Company to the public, on more favourable terms; and, in the second place, they proposed that the subscribers to this loan should be formed into a regulated company, for opening the trade, under the most favourable circumstances, to all classes of their countrymen.

It was not intended that the Company should trade upon a joint stock, and in their corporate capacity, but that every individual who pleased should trade in the way of private adventure. The Company were to have the charge of erecting and maintaining the forts and establishments abroad; and for this, and for other expenses attending what was called the enlargement and preservation of the trade, it was proposed that they should receive a duty of 1 per cent. upon all exports to India, and of 5 per cent. upon all imports from it. For ensuring obedience to this and other regulations, it was to be enacted, that no one should trade to India without licence from the Company; and it was proposed that 31 years, with 3 years' notice, should be granted as the duration of their peculiar privilege.

This

"It appears from this," says Mr. Mill, "that the end which was proposed to be answered, by incorporating such a company, was the preservation and erection of the forts, buildings, and other fixed establishments, required for the trade of India. company promised to supply that demand which has always been held forth as peculiar to the India trade, as the grand exigency which, distinguishing the traffic with India from all other branches of trade, rendered monopoly advantageous in that peculiar case, how much soever it might be injurious in others. While it provided for this real or pretended want, it left the trade open to all the advantages of private enterprise, private vigilance, private skill, and private economy, the virtues by which individuals thrive and nations prosper. And it gave the proposed company an interest in the careful discharge of its duty by making its profits increase in exact proportion with the increase of the trade, and, of course, with the facilities and accommodation by which the trade was promoted.

"Three petitions were presented to the House of Commons in behalf of the proposed company, by the merchants of London, Bristol, and Liverpool. It was urged that the proposed company would, through the competition of which it would be productive, cause a great extension of the trade; that it would produce a larger exportation

of our own produce and manufactures in India, and reduce the price of all Indian commodities to the people at home; that new channels of traffic would be opened in Asia and America, as well as in Europe; that the duties of customs and excise would be increased; and that the waste and extravagance caused by the monopoly would be entirely avoided."— ( Mill's India, vol. iii. p. 37.)

But these arguments did not prevail. The Company magnified the importance of their trade; and contended that it would be unwise to risk advantages already realised. for the sake of those that were prospective and contingent. They alleged that, if the trade to India were thrown open, the price of goods in India would be so much enhanced by the competition of different traders, and their price in England so much diminished, that the freedom of the trade would certainly end in the ruin of all who had been foolish enough to adventure in it. To enlarge on the fallacy of these statements would be worse than superfluous. It is obvious that nothing whatever could have been risked, and that a great deal would have been gained, by opening the trade in the way that was proposed. And if it were really true that the trade to India ought to be subjected to a monopoly, lest the traders, by their competition should ruin each other, it would follow that the trade to America—and not that only, but every branch both of the foreign and home trade of the empire- should be surrendered to exclusive companies. But such as the Company's arguments were, they seemed satisfactory to parliament. They, however, consented to reduce the interest on the debt due to them by the public from 5 to 4 per cent., and contributed a sum of 200,000/. for the public service. On these conditions it was agreed to extend their exclusive privileges to Lady-day, 1766, with the customary addition of 3 years' notice.

For about 15 years from this period, the Company's affairs went on without any very prominent changes. But notwithstanding the increased importation of tea, the consumption of which now began rapidly to extend, their trade continued to be comparatively insignificant. At an average of the 8 years ending with 1741, the value of the British goods and products of all sorts, exported by the Company to India and China. amounted to only 157,944l. 4s. 7d. a year! And during the 7 years ending with 1748, they amounted to only 188,176l. 168. 4d. And when it is borne in mind that these exports included the military stores of all sorts forwarded to the Company's settlements in India and at St. Helena, the amount of which was, at all times, very considerable, it does appear exceedingly doubtful whether the Company really exported, during the entire period from 1730 to 1748, 150,000l. worth of British produce as a legitimate mercantile adventure! Their trade, such as it was, was entirely carried on by shipments of bullion; and even its annual average export, during the 7 years ending with 1748, only amounted to 548,711l. 198. 2d. It would seem, indeed, that the Company had derived no perceptible advantage from the important concessions obtained from the Mogul emperor in 1717. But the true conclusion is, not that these concessions were of little value, but that the deadening influence of monopoly had so paralysed the Company, that they were unable to turn them to account; and that, though without competitors, and with opulent kingdoms for their customers, their commerce was hardly greater than that carried on by some single merchants.

In 1732, the Company were obliged to reduce their dividend from 8 to 7 per cent., at which rate it continued till 1744.

The opposition the Company had experienced from the merchants, when the question as to the renewal of their charter was agitated, in 1730, made them very desirous to obtain the next renewal in as quiet a manner as possible. They therefore proposed, in 1743, when 23 years of their charter were yet unexpired, to lend 1,000,000l. to government, at 3 per cent., provided their exclusive privileges were extended to 1780, with the usual notice. And, as none were expecting such an application, or prepared to oppose it, the consent of government was obtained without difficulty.

But the period was now come, when the mercantile character of the East India Company if, indeed, it could with propriety be, at any time, said to belong to them — was to be eclipsed by their achievements as a military power, and the magnitude of their conquests. For about two centuries after the European powers began their intercourse with India, the Mogul princes were regarded as amongst the most opulent and powerful of monarchs. Though of a foreign lineage- being descended from the famous Tamerlane, or Timur Bec, who overran India in 1400- and of a different religion from the great body of their subjects, their dominion was firmly established in every part of their extensive empire. The administration of the different provinces was committed to officers, denominated soubahdars, or nabobs, intrusted with powers, in their respective governments, similar to those enjoyed by the Roman prætors. So long as the emperors retained any considerable portion of the vigour and bravery of their hardy ancestors, the different parts of the government were held in due subordination, and the soubahdars yielded a ready obedience to the orders from Delhi. But the emperors were gradually debauched by the apparently prosperous condition of their affairs.

Instead of being educated in the council or the camp, the heirs of almost unbounded power were brought up in the slothful luxury of the seraglio; ignorant of publie affairs; benumbed by indolence; depraved by the flattery of women, of eunuchs, and of slaves; their minds contracted with their enjoyments; their inclinations were vilified by their habits; and their government grew as vicious, as corrupt, and as worthless as themselves. When the famous Kouli Khan, the usurper of the Persian throne, invaded India, the effeminate successor of Tamerlane and Aurengzebe was too unprepared to oppose, and too dastardly to think of avenging the attack. This was the signal for the dismemberment of the monarchy. No sooner had the invader withdrawn, than the soubahdars either openly threw off their allegiance to the emperor, or paid only a species of nominal or mock deference to his orders. The independence of the soubahdars was very soon followed by wars amongst themselves; and, being well aware of the superiority of European troops and tactics, they anxiously courted the alliance and support of the French and English East India Companies. These bodies, having espoused different sides, according as their interests or prejudices dictated, began very soon to turn the quarrels of the soubahdars to their own account. Instead of being contented, as hitherto, with the possession of factories and trading towns, they aspired to the dominion of provinces; and the struggle soon came to be, not which of the native princes should prevail, but whether the English or the French should become the umpires of India.

But these transactions are altogether foreign to the subject of this work; nor could any intelligible account of them be given without entering into lengthened statements. We shall only, therefore, observe that the affairs of the French were ably conducted by La Bourdonnais, Dupleix, and Lally, officers of distinguished merit, and not less celebrated for their great actions than for the base ingratitude of which they were the victims. But though victory seemed at first to incline to the French and their allies, the English affairs were effectually retrieved by the extraordinary talents and address of a single individual. Colonel (afterwards Lord) Clive was equally brave, cautious, and enterprising; not scrupulous in the use of means; fertile in expedients; endowed with wonderful sagacity and resolution; and capable of turning even the most apparently adverse circumstances to advantage. Having succeeded in humbling the French power in the vicinity of Madras, Clive landed at Calcutta in 1757, in order to chastise the soubahdar, Surajah ul Dowlah, who had a short while before attacked the English factory at that place, and inhumanly shut up 146 Englishmen in a prison, where, owing to the excessive heat and want of water, 123 perished in a single night. Clive had only 700 European troops and 1,400 Sepoys with him when he landed; but with these, and 570 sailors furnished by the fleet, he did not hesitate to attack the immense army commanded by the soubahdar, and totally defeated him in the famous battle of Plassey. This victory threw the whole provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa into our hands; and they were finally confirmed to us by the treaty negotiated in 1765.

Opinion has been long divided as to the policy of our military operations in India; and it has been strenuously contended, that we should never have extended our conquests beyond the limits of Bengal. The legislature seems to have taken this view of the matter; the House of Commons having resolved, in 1782, “that to pursue schemes of conquest and extent of dominion in India are measures repugnant to the wish, the honour, and the policy of this nation." But others have argued, and apparently on pretty good grounds, that, having gone thus far, we were compelled to advance. The native powers, trembling at the increase of British dominion, endeavoured, when too late, to make head against the growing evil. In this view they entered into combinations and wars against the English; and the latter having been uniformly victorious, their empire necessarily went on increasing, till all the native powers have been swallowed up in its vast extent.

The magnitude of the acquisitions made by Lord Clive powerfully excited the attention of the British public. Their value was prodigiously exaggerated; and it was generally admitted that the Company had no legal claim to enjoy, during the whole period of their charter, all the advantages resulting from conquests, to which the fleets and armies of the state had largely contributed. In 1767, the subject was take n up by the House of Commons; and a committee was a pointed to investigate the whole circumstances of the case, and to calculate the entire expenditure incurred by the public on the Company's account. During the agitation of this matter, the right of the Company to the new conquests was totally denied by several members. In the end, however, the question was compromised by the Company agreeing to pay 400,000!, a year for 2 years; and in 1769, this agreement, including the yearly payment, was further extended for 5 years more. The Company, at the same time, increased their dividend, which had been fixed by the former agreement at 10, to 12 per cent.

But the Company's anticipations of increased revenue proved entirely visionary. The rapidity of their conquests in India, the distance of the controlling authority at home,