776 



EAST INDIA COMPANIES. 



quered juid ruling nation, no permanent commercial 

 connexion could be formed ; and tliis system was pur- 

 sued for a century; sometimes with prudence, but 

 more frequently with p-rat inhumanity. The Dutch, 

 on the contrary, with their indifference to the moral 

 relations of nation*, and their well conducted com- 

 merce, were well calculated to succeed. Their su- 

 periority to the English, in their first enterprises. was 

 owing not only to their superior skill by sea, their 

 joutiiful republican spirit, and the greater amount of 

 their capital, but chiefly to their having carried on 

 all their operations, from the first, with a common 

 capital, while the first English East India company, 

 till 1610, was a mere association, each member of 

 which transacted business on his own account, mere- 

 ly conforming to certain general rules, such as the 

 employing the company's ships. It has been proved 

 by subsequent results, that a mere money power can- 

 not be upheld without an entire disregard of the 

 claims of humanity ; and the example of the first 

 Portuguese conquerors lias convinced enlightened 

 men, that the dominion of Europeans in India re- 

 mains insecure, if not founded on a certain moral, 

 legal, and religious community with the inhabitants 

 of the country. The charter of the Dutch East India 

 company was continued till 1644 ; Batavia was 

 founded in a very favourable situation for the traffic 

 with the Spice islands, the chief branch of the Indian 

 trade ; 34 41 freighted vessels annually left the 

 ports of Holland for India ; 2534 merchant vessels, 

 on the average, returned. The commerce with Ja- 

 l>an increased rapidly, and the extension of Portu- 

 guese power in the Brazils, after the accession of the 

 house of Braganza to the throne, although a great 

 disadvantage to the Dutch West India company, 

 promoted the interest of the East India company, by 

 directing the attention of the Portuguese wholly to 

 America, and leaving free scope to the Dutch in Asia. 

 In 1641, Malacca, the capital of the Portuguese East 

 I ndies, fell into the hands of the Dutch, by the treason 

 of the governor. But the increasing activity of the 

 English and French, and the political and military 

 establishments of the company, diminished their pro- 

 fits, and it was difficult to raise the 1,600,000 gmld- 

 ers, which were to be paid to the states general, in 

 1644, for the extension of the charter till 1665. Soon 

 after, however, the independence of the republic of 

 the United Provinces was secured by the peace of 

 Westphalia an event which was of great advantage 

 to the company, and enabled them to found colonies 

 on the cape of Good Hope. This was done in the 

 course of twenty years (from 1650), at an expense of 

 twenty millions guilders. These colonies were a 

 great assistance to the intercourse between Europe 

 and India, and richly repaid the expenses incurred. 

 In 1658, the conquest of Ceylon was completed, after 

 a vigorous defence by the Portuguese ; and the Tar- 

 tar revolution in China occasioned the settlement of 

 30,000 Chinese, who would not submit to the new 

 government, in the Dutch island of Formosa. These 

 proved a valuable accession to the population. Al- 

 though the direct commerce with China had to 

 struggle with insurmountable difficulties, the indirect 

 communication through these emigrants, who were 

 well acquainted with the country, and the influx of 

 Chinese productions from all sides into Batavia, 

 amply recompensed the company. They were, how- 

 ever, deprived of this valuable island in 1661, by a 

 Chinese adventurer, named Kaxinga, whose family 

 afterwards ceded it to the emperor of China. The 

 energy of the company seemed to be excited by this 

 loss. In 1663, the most valuable settlements of the 

 Portuguese on the coast of Malabar were taken ; 

 and, in 1666, by the conquest of Macassar, the object 

 of the exertions of seventy years, they obtained the 



monopoly of the spice trade. At this time, the civil 

 and military expenses of the company, exclusive of 

 the expenses of the war, amounted to tliree and a half 

 millions guilders. In 1665, after much opposition, 

 the charter was renewed till 1700, on condition of 

 payment of a large sum into the treasury ; and the 

 report of the company showed an almost inconceiv- 

 able extension of commerce. Their factories ex- 

 tended from the cape of Good Hope to the coasts of 

 Arabia and Persia. They were masters of all the 

 important settlements of the Portuguese, fromSurat, 

 on the Malabar coast. Ceylon, with its cinnamon 

 and ivory ; the pearl fishery and cotton trade on the 

 coast of Coromandel ; Bengal and Orissa, with their 

 silks and cottons, rice, sugar, saltpetre, &c., were in 

 the hands of the company, as was also the commerce 

 with Pegu, Siam, and Tonquin, only interrupted by 

 some temporary accidents. They obtained valuable 

 supplies of silver and copper from Japan ; carried on 

 an extensive trade in spices with Amboyna, the 

 Banda islands, and the Moluccas, &c. Malacca, the 

 principal seat of the Portuguese trade, appeared by 

 this report to be on the decline, the expense of pro- 

 tection being disproportioned to the size of the place ; 

 and the straits of Sunda, on which Batavia is situ- 

 ated, had superseded the straits of Malacca, as the 

 general passage to the farther East. The charter of 

 the company has since been several times renewed, 

 and always on condition of the payment of large 

 sums ; from 1701 40 ; then till 1775 ; and in 1776 

 for thirty years more, lor the sum of two millions 

 guilders, and the annual payment of 360,000 guilders. 

 Avarice and cruelty, which increased with the gra- 

 dual decay of the old patriotic spirit, and the decline 

 of simple and moderate liabits ; a sliameless system 

 of intrigue towards their allies, and particularly their 

 incapacity to appreciate the moral and religious cha- 

 racter of the nations of India ; and, finally, the re- 

 newed vigour of the British company at the com- 

 mencement of the 18th century, and the change in the 

 European demand ; the preference given to othec 

 spices ; these are the principal causes of the decline 

 of the Dutch East India company. In the 18th cen- 

 tury, their annals abound with relations of conspira- 

 cies, insurrections, and generally unsuccessful wars ; 

 and, in 1781, we find them so completely broken up 

 by the war with England, and by enormous political 

 expenses, that the states-general, notwithstanding 

 their own difficulties, were obliged to assist them 

 with a loan. In the first revolutionary war, the 

 company lost most of their possessions, and were 

 obliged to suspend the payment of their dividends in 

 1796. They had scarcely taken possession of what 

 was restored to them by the peace of Amiens, 1802, 

 (England retaining only Ceylon,) wheneverythingwas 

 lost by the new war ; and at the general peace, they 

 retained none of their early East India possessions, 

 but the governments of Batavia and Amboyna, Ban- 

 da, Ternate, Malacca, Macassar, and some scattered 

 factories on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. 

 The cape of Good Hope and Ceylon were lost to them 

 for ever. At their commencement, the Dutch East 

 India company had enjoyed the advantage of all the 

 Portuguese establishments ; their forts, magazines, 

 artillery, and provisions for defence, their commer- 

 cial and political relations, and an immense booty 

 which the capture of the Portuguese ships on every 

 sea afforded them ; while, on the contrary, the Eng- 

 lish had to struggle for a century with the difficulty 

 of gradually gaining the ground on which to plant 

 their commercial lever. But the very circumstance 

 of their slow progress gave a firmer footing to their 

 power. 



III. English East India Company. The history of 

 [ this great company may be divided into four periods. 



