Chao. II. between the Inhabitants 
i 
and, fent him Prifoner to England. Though his Reign 
was fhort, it was very pernicious to his Matters, as well as 
to particular Merchants under his Jurifdidtion. 
But to return from this Digreffian : Bombay was govern- 
ed by a Deputy, fmce the Prefident was obliged to flay at 
Surat , and of feven or eight hundred EngliJJo that inhabited 
before the War, there were not above fixty left by the 
Sword and Plague. Thus Bombay , that was one of the 
pleafariteft Places in India , was brought to be one of the 
moft difmal Defarts ; but the Spirit olTirjiiftice ftill redded 
in it ; for thofe who had ventured through the War and 
Plague in defence of the Ifland, had not the Liberty of 
returning home to their own Country, nor to raife their For- 
tune by private Trade; but all were continued p retted 
Men, in the Right Honourable the Company’s Service, 
without the Hope of Preferment, which made fotne Dif- 
con tents ; and even in the Time of War, when Strangers 
fhould have been encouraged to have brought Provifions 
into the Ifland, the Company’s Taxes of live per Cent. 
Were exacted with great Severity ; for it was common to 
fee the Portugueze Subjects bring twenty or thirty Poultry 
to the Market, and five of the bell taken for the Cu- 
fiom of the reft. 
13. The Defire of continuing this hiftorical Account of 
the Affairs of Bombay , which I take to be very ufeful and 
inilrudfive, as well as curious and entertaining, has led me 
a little out of my Road of Chronology, and therefore Llhall 
be obliged to go back again .with relpedl to the Affairs of 
this Company, and the political Accidents that have at- 
tended them during the Reign of King William ; but the 
Reader will not fail into any Perplexity or Confufion from 
this Method of treating them, becaufe what I have now to 
fay has little or no Reference to the Affairs abroad, and 
ccnfequently has no Connection with what goes before. 
The firft Tranfadion I meet with in this Reign is a 
Charter of Regulations granted to the Eafl-India Com- 
pany, by their Majefties King William and Queen Mary, 
under the Great Seal of England , bearing date Nov. 1 1, 
1693. Referring to a Charter of the 7th of October, by 
which it fee ms their former Charters were confirmed, and 
by this new Charter they were enabled to take in a new 
•Subfcrsption for feven hundred and -'forty-four thou land 
Pounds. The Company was alfo tied down to -make pub- 
lick Sales by. Inch of Candle, to export yearly to the Value 
of one hundred thoufand Pounds of the Manufactures of 
this Kingdom, and to furnilh the Crown yearly with five 
hundred Tun of the belt Salt petre, at the Rate of thirty- 
eight Pounds ten Shillings per Tun in Time of Peace, and 
-at forty-five , Pounds, per Tun in Time of War ; they were 
.like wife directed to make no Dividend upon their joint 
Stock, but in Money only. This Charter was to continue 
for twenty -one Years, provided the Governor and Com- 
pany complied exaCtly with the Rules therein prefcribed.; 
as alfo -with fuch other Orders, Directions, Additions, 
Qualifications and ReftriCtipns as their Majefties, by and 
•with the Advice of their privy Council fhould think fit to 
. appoint on or before the 29th of September 1694, otherwife 
•all their Powers and Privileges might be determined and 
taken away, by' Letters of Revocation. 
Inpurfuance of this Pro vi-fo, another Charter of. Regu- 
lations was granted to the faid Company, under the Great 
Seal of England, dated September 28, 1694, and in the 
iixth Year of their Majefty’s Reign, in which among other 
things it is prefcribed, that once every Year, in the Month 
of - Auguff, the Governor and Company fhould .prefen t- to 
the,: privy Council a true Account fairly written, under the 
Governor or deputy Governor’s Hand, - of the Nature, 
Quantity, Value, and prime Coll of the Manufactures, of 
this Country, by them exported, and from what Place; 
and this upon ghe Oaths of the proper Officers and Ser- 
vants of -the Company. And, it was further ordered, that 
■none of thefe Goods fhould be again landed in England, 
or carried elfe-where, chan within the Limits of the Com- 
pany’s Charter. It was alfo direCled, - that, on the Appli- 
cation in Writing, of any fix or more, of the Proprietors, 
.each pofieffed of One thoufand Pounds Capital Stock, de- 
Tnanding a general Court , of the laid Company to be call- 
ed ; then the Governor, or Deputy- Governor, fhould be 
pbliged, within eight Days, to call fuch a Court, which 
■ N u m b . LXII. 
of Great-Britain, @V. 905 
fhould not be adjourned but by the Confent of the Majo- 
rity of the Proprietors fo .aiTembled-; and the Company 
were required to fignify their Acceptance of, and Subimffipn 
to thefe, and other Reftridlions, under Pain ofDiflolution. 
But, notwithftanding all thefe Charters and Regulations, 
which feemed fo fully to confirm, and fo much rd enlarge 
the Powers and Privileges of this Company, yet were they 
never fo precarious as at this Juncture ; for, on the one 
hand, their Authority was boldly difputed by fuch as had 
an Intention to trade to the Indies , without any Regard to 
the Company’s Rights, and who, by them, therefore were 
fitted Interlopers : And this, upon Pretence that it was not 
in the Power of the Crown to grant any exclu five- Charter. 
On the other hand, the Government wanted Money, and 
therefore the Minifters, who fhould certainly have defend- 
ed the King’s Prerogative, fmce otherwife it was a high 
Crime in them to auvife him to grant fuch Charters, 
ilruck in with the other Party ; and, for the fake of mak- 
ing more Money, and removing the Obftaeles in the Way 
of their own Admin iftration, promoted the Ruin of thole 
.Grants and Charters, which they had been moft exorbi- 
tantly paid for .procuring ; and upon the Faith of which 
vaft Numbers of Perfons had fubferibed their Fortunes in- 
to the Company’s joint Stock. But as it was not to be 
Yuppofed that any Set of new People would advance two 
Millions, which was the Sum propofed upon a new Char- 
ter, which might prove as precarious as the old one, it 
was refolved to fubjefl the whole of this Affair to the 
Cognizance of the Houfe of Commons, in order to have 
every thing fettled and fecured by an A 61 of Parliament. 
Accordingly, in the Year 1-6.98, this Matter was propofed 
to the Houfe, not only with the Concurrence of Perfons 
in Power, but backed and fupported by all their Intereft ; 
fo that though it was fteadily and vehemently oppofed by 
the Members of the old Company, yet it was to very lit- 
tle Purpofe. They followed the Bill however into the 
Houfe of Lords, and were heard there by their Council, Sir 
Whomas Fowls, and Sir Bartholomew Shower - 3 who, with 
much Eloquence and great Strength of Reafon, maintain- 
ed the Caufe of their Clients, but without Succefs ; and it 
was a Point determined, that their Intereft fhould give 
Way to that which, whether truly or falfly, I fhall not 
determimine, was called the Intereft of the Publick. 
Thus it came to pafs that, in the Reign of King William 
the Third, a new Company trading to the Eajl- Indies, was 
incorporated by Act of Parliament, they having advanc- 
ed the Government Two Millions of Money, for which 
they, at firft received Intereft, after the Rate of Eight per 
Cent, out of the Funds affigned for the fame: But that 
Intereft hath been funk by fubfequent Statutes to Six and 
Five per Cent. After this, the old and new Companies 
having a due Regard to their own common Interefts, for 
the Prevention of divers Inconve.niencies.that might other- 
wife have happened, both to themfelves. and this Nation in 
general, agreed upon feveral Articles for the Union of 
the faid Companies in manner following, viz. 
It was agreed that the Effects of both Companies fhould 
be brought home with all convenient Speed for their fe- 
parate Accounts, and all poffible Provifion made for the 
enabling both Companies to bring home the fame with Se- 
curity ; and that neither the Crown nor the new Company,, 
take any Advantage of the old Company, under Pretence 
of Forfeiture ; and that each Company give a Releafe to 
the other, and to their refpeclive Fadlors and. Servants. 
The old Company’s 315,000/. in Funds., upon the 
.Execution of this Agreement, to be immediately united 
to the Capital Stock of the new Company ; and that the 
old Company purefiafe of the new Company, to be trans- 
ferred by three of their Members in their political Capa- 
city, 673,500 /. in the capital Stock and Fund of 
1,662,000 /. with the Benefits to arife thereby ; fo that 
the old Company may have 988,500 /. in the faid Fund, 
which .will make that Company equal to the new in Fund 
and .Title to the Trade, and which Stock of 673,500 /. 
fhall he transferred at four feveral Times, each fourth 
Part to be paid for at the Time of their Transfer, at 100 L 
for 1 00 /. 
That the old Company’s dead Stock at home and 
abroad, be valued at 33,000 /, and the new Company’s 
10 X dead 
