by earthquakes; and whenever, in places situated near It is not quite certain whether or not there is any con- meteors. Antient authors, especially Thucydides, frequently mention earthquakes; but only in general terms. Yet we learn enough from these slight notices to show that they were often equal in violence to those which in modern times have convulsed the continent of Europe and Asia. (Thucyd. 1. 101; iii. 89; v. 50; viii. 41.) No detailed description of an earthquake in Europe or in the old continent exists before that which, on the 1st of November, 1755, almost destroyed the city of Lisbon. This is the most destructive earthquake which has ever occurred in Europe. The number of persons that perished by it is stated to have been 30,000. In February and March, 1783, the north-eastern part of Sicily and the southern portion of Calabria were convulsed by repeated and very violent shocks, which overthrew the town of Messina, and killed many thousands of its inhabitants, as well as many persons in Calabria. The last considerable earthquake in Europe extended over the middle of the kingdom of Naples, and was most destructive in the districts lying along the declivities of Mount Matese. (41° 30′ N. lat.) The number of persons who perished by it amounted to 3274, besides 1615 who were wounded. On the first day of the present year (1837) the countries along the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, especially Syria, were violently agitated by an earthquake. The towns of Damascus, Acre, Tyre, and Sidon, suffered great damage, and Tiberias and Safet were entirely destroyed. It is stated that about 6000 lives were lost. was rebuilt on another site; but this new town and its port of Talcahuano were entirely demolished on the 20th of February, 1835. A most graphic description of this dreadful earthquake is given in the London Geographical Journal,' vol. vi. p. 319, &c., to which we are much indebted for several valuable facts and remarks. The inundation of the sea during this calamity may be compared with the narrative of a similar event recorded by Thucydides (iii. 89). EARWIG. [FORFICULIDE.] EASEL (derived by some from the Teutonic asel, or esel, an ass), the wooden frame, furnished with a set of moveable pegs, or more convenient sliding ledge, on which pictures are placed while being painted, and which raises or lowers them according to the artist's convenience. Its antiquity is manifest, from its appearance in pictures discovered in Herculaneum. EASEMENT (from the French words aise, aisement, ease), is defined by the old law writers as a service or con venience which one neighbour hath of another by charter or prescription without profit; as a way through his ground, a sink, or the like. It includes rights of common, ways, water-courses, antient lights, and various other franchises, issuing out of corporeal hereditaments, and sometimes, though inaccurately, applied to rights of common. (Kitchin; Woodd. Lect.) At the common law these privileges (which can only be created and transferred by deed) might be claimed either under an immemorial custom or by prescription; but 20 years uninterrupted and unexplained enjoyment of an easement formerly constituted sufficient evidence for a jury to presume that it originated in a grant by deed; except in the city of London, where the presumption of a grant from 20 years' possession of windows was excluded by the custom which required that there should exist some written instrument or record of an agreement.' Nonuser during the same period was also considered an extinguishment of the right, as raising a presumption that it had been released. By the recent statute 2nd and 3rd William IV., cap. 71, several important alterations have been made with regard to this description of property: 40 years' enjoyment of any way or other easement, or any water-course, and 20 years uninterrupted access and use of any light to and for any dwelling-house,' &c., now constitute an indefeasible title in the occupier, unless he enjoys by some consent or agreement expressly given or made for that purpose by deed or writing. The same statute also enacts that nonuser for the like number of years (according to the description of the particular right) shall preclude a litigating party from establishing his claim to it. The easements of the English correspond to the Servi tutes of the Roman and the Servitudes of the French law. The servitutes were a class of rights which gave rise to numerous complicated questions. Those of road, water, light, drains, were the principal. (Dig. lib. viii. De Servituti bus; Code Civil des Français, liv. ii. tit. 4, Des Servitudes.) EAST, the point of the compass which is in a direction at right-angles to that of north and south, and which is towards the right hand of a spectator who faces the north. The distinction between east and west must ultimately be derived from a reference to the human body; for we can only define a spectator's right hand by saying that it is the hand which is not upon the same side as the heart. America is more subject to earthquakes than any portion of the Old Continent, but they are only strongly felt between 20° N. lat. and 40° S. lat; and it is not the whole country included between these latitudes that is visited by them, but only the table-lands of the Mexican isthmus, the Andes, and the countries bordering on them, and those which are adjacent to the Caribbean Sea. Mention of earthquakes in these countries occurs in the Spanish historians of the Conquest; but it would seem as if the earthquakes were less destructive formerly than in the last century. In 1717 the town of Guatemala was greatly damaged by an earthquake on the 29th of September; and on the 29th of June, 1773, the town was almost entirely destroyed. Caracas was destroyed by an earthquake on the 26th of March, 1812, when upwards of 12,000 of its inhabitants were buried in the ruins; and the same town experienced, in 1826, another earthquake, which was hardly less destructive. Bogotà experienced a very severe shock in 1827. On the table-land of Quito violent earthquakes are frequent. In 1698, on the 20th of June, Lacatunga and Hambato were destroyed; and on the 4th of February, 1797, the town of Quito was greatly damaged, and Riobamba levelled to the EAST INDIA COMPANY This association originated ground. Not less than 40,000 persons are stated to have from the subscriptions, trifling in amount, of a few private perished by this last earthquake on the table-land. Lima individuals. It gradually became a commercial body with and the countries about it are likewise subject to frequent gigantic means, and next, by the force of unforeseen circumand violent earthquakes. The town of Lima was almost stances, assumed the form of a sovereign power, while those entirely destroyed on the 20th October, 1687, and again by whom it was directed continued in their individual capaon the 28th October, 1746. In this latter catastrophe the cities to be without power or political influence; thus preport of Callao was inundated by the sea, and the whole po-senting an anomaly without a parallel in the history of the pulation perished. Arequipa has had its share of earth- world. quakes; but the last violent one occurred in 1725. Copiapo was destroyed on the 11th of April, 1819, and again in 1822. By this last earthquake, which happened on the 19th of November, the town of Valparaiso was levelled to the ground. Santiago has suffered largely from the destructive effects of the earthquakes so frequent in Chile: on the 8th of July, 1730, it sustained great damages. But no place in Chile has so frequently been destroyed as Concepcion. It was first destroyed by the united effects of repeated shocks and the inundation of the sea in 1730, and again in the same manner in 1751. After this the town The company was first formed in London in 1599, when its capital, amounting to 30,0007., was divided into 101 shares. At the end of the next year the adventurers obtained a charter from the crown, under which they enjoyed certain privileges, and were formed into a corporation for fifteen years under the title of The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies.' Under this charter the management of the company's affairs was intrusted to 24 members of a committee chosen by the proprietors from among their own body, and this committee was renewed by election every year, The first adventure of the association was commenced in 1601. In the month of May of that year, five ships, with cargoes of merchandise and bullion, sailed from Torbay to India. The result was encouraging, and between 1603 and 1613 eight other voyages were performed, all of which were highly profitable, with the exception of the one undertaken in the year 1607. In the other years the clear profits of the trade varied from 100 to 200 per cent. upon the capital employed. At this time the trading of the company was not confined to the joint stock of the corporation, but other adventurers were admitted, who subscribed the sums required to complete the lading of the ships, and received back the amount, together with their share of the profits, at the termination of every voyage. firmed, and the further authority was given to make peace or war with or against any princes and people not being Christians;' and to seize all unlicensed persons (Europeans) who should be found within the limits to which its trade extended, and to send them to England. The settlement at Madras, on the Coromandel coast, was made about 1648, to facilitate the investments in piece-goods, then a chief object in the trade with India; and in 1668 the Company obtained a further settlement on the western coast of the peninsula by the cession in its favour of the Island of Bombay, made by Charles II., into whose hands it had come as part of the marriage portion of the Princess Catherine of Portugal. Bombay had been in possession of the English government during only a very few years, and its cession to The charter of the company was renewed for an indefi- the Company was only made because the expense which it nite period in 1609, subject to dissolution on the part of the occasioned was far beyond the revenue which it could be government upon giving three years' notice to that effect. made to produce to the crown. The grant declares that In 1611 the company obtained permission from the Mogul the island is to be held of the king in free and common to establish factories at Surat, Ahmedabad, Cambaya, and soccage, as of the manor of East Greenwich, on the payGoga, in consideration of which permission it agreed to payment of the annual rent of 10%. in gold on the 30th of to that sovereign an export duty upon all its shipments at September in each year.' At the same time the Company the rate of 3 per cent. was authorized to exercise all the powers necessary for the defence and government of the island. After 1612 subscriptions were no longer taken from individuals in aid of the joint-stock capital, which was raised to 420,000%, and in 1617-18 a new fund of 1,600,000l. was sub-into hostile collision with any of the native powers of India scribed. This last capital, although managed by the same directors, was kept wholly distinct from the former stock, and the profits resulting from it were separately accounted for to the subscribers. The functions of government were first exercised by the company in 1624, when authority was given to it by the king to punish its servants abroad either by civil or by martial law, and this authority was unlimited in extent, embracing even the power of taking life. Under the peculiar circumstances of the case the granting of such a power might perhaps be necessary in order to prevent the grossest disorder in distant settlements, where no authority more regular was established; but this necessity proves only the impropriety on the part of the government of permitting the formation of settlements without at the same time making provision for the regular administration of justice. The success which attended its commercial operations naturally induced a desire for their extension. In 1632 a third capital, amounting to 420,700., was raised, and its management, although confided to the same directors, was also kept distinct from that of the first and second subscriptions. There is some obscurity in the early annals of the company, which makes it uncertain whether the capitals here severally mentioned were considered as permanent investments or were returned to the subscribers at the termination of each different adventure. A rival association, formed in 1636, succeeded in obtaining from the king, who accepted a share in the adventure, a license to trade with India, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the chartered body, of whose rights this was deemed an infringement. Promises indeed were given that the license should be withdrawn, but these promises were never fulfilled, and after carrying on their trade for several years in a spirit of rivalry which was fatal to their prosperity, the two bodies united in 1650, and thenceforward carried on their operations under the title of The United Joint Stock. Two years after this arrangement was made the Company obtained from the Mogul, through the influence of a medical gentleman, Mr. Boughton, who had performed some cures at the Imperial Court, the grant of a license for carrying on an unlimited trade throughout the province of Bengal without payment of duties: for this privilege the very inadequate payment of 3000 rupees (3751.) was made by the Company. The first occasion on which the Company was brought occurred in the beginning of 1664, when Sevajee, the founder of the Maharatta States, found occasion, in the prosecution of his plans, to attack the city of Surat. On this occasion the native inhabitants fled; but the members of the British factory, aided by the crews of the ships in the harbour, made a successful resistance, and forced Sevajee to retire. To show his satisfaction at the conduct of the Europeans upon this occasion, the Mogul accompanied the expression of his thanks with an extension of the trading privileges enjoyed by the Company. Another attack made upon Surat by the Maharattas in 1670 was repelled with equal success. The right given to the Company by the charter of 1661 of seizing unlicensed persons within the limits above mentioned, and sending them to England, was soon exercised in a manner which produced a very serious dispute, in 1666, between the two houses of parliament. A merchant, named Skinner, had gone in a ship loaded with merchandise to the Island of Barella, off the north-east coast of Sumatra, which he had bought from the king of Jambee, and upon which he had made a settlement. His ship and the island, with all the property thereon, were seized by the Company, upon which Mr. Skinner made complaint to the government, and by his importunities caused the matter to be referred first to a committeee of the privy council, and next to the House of Peers. It is difficult to understand the grounds for this last proceeding, or how the House of Peers could act judicially upon any case not brought before them by appeal from a court of law. Having awarded a compen sation of 5000l. to Mr. Skinner for his losses, the affair was taken up by the House of Commons, who sent Mr. Skinner to the Tower, and passed a resolution declaring that any person who should proceed to execute the decision of the House of Lords was a betrayer of the rights and liberties of the Commons of England, and an infringer of the privileges of their house. These contentions proceeded to such a height, and were renewed so often, that the king adjourned the parliament in consequence seven times before he was able to induce the houses, by personal interference and persuasion used to influential members of both, to erase from their journals all their votes and resolutions relating to the subject. Mr. Skinner ultimately failed to procure any redress or compensation for his losses. For several years following the junction with the Merchant Adventurers the trade of the Company was carried on un Some proprietors of the Company's stock becoming dis-interrupted by any serious rivalry, and with considerable satisfied with the management of the directors, obtained from Cromwell in 1655 permission to send trading vessels to India, and nominated a committee of management from their own body, for which they assumed the title of The Merchant Adventurers.' The evils to both parties of this rivalship soon became apparent, and in about two years from the commencement of their operations the Merchant Adventurers threw their separate funds into the general stock under the management of the directors. On this occasion a new subscription was raised to the amount of 786,000l. In April, 1661, a new charter was granted to the Company, in which all its former privileges were con success. Sir Josiah Child, who was one of the directors of the Company, in his Discourses on Trade, published in 1667, represents that trade as the most beneficial branch of English commerce, employing from 25 to 30 sail of the finest merchant ships in the kingdom, each manned with from 60 to 100 seamen,* and supplying us with saltpetre, pepper, indigo, calicoes, and drugs, besides materials for export to Turkey, France, Spain, Italy, and Guinea, To show how imperfectly these matters were understood at that time, it may be mentioned that in a tract published in 1615, entitled The Trade's Increase, and which was greatly esteemed, complaint is made of the decay of the English navigation, which is ascribed to the great consumption of mariners in the East India trade. without which a profitable trade with those countries could | capital, which formed part of that of 'The General Society, That part of this arrangement which provided for the A new charter, to have effect for twenty-one years, was independent management of the affairs of each company in granted in 1693, in which it was stipulated that the joint- India during seven years was the occasion of many serious stock of the Company, then 756,000l., should be raised to disagreements, which however gave place to a feeling of 1,500,000, and that every year the corporation should ex- common danger. The necessities of the government induced port British produce and manufactures to the value of it to call upon the Company for a loan of 1,200,000l. without 100,000l. at least. The power of the crown to grant the interest, and it was impossible for it to raise the necessary exclusive privileges given by this charter was questioned funds unless their disputes were previously settled, while by the House of Commons, which passed a declaratory re- there was danger lest some other association might be formed solution to the effect that it is the right of all Englishmen which should take advantage of the wants of the governto trade to the East Indies, or any part of the world, unless ment to obtain privileges at the expense of the existing prohibited by act of parliament. To obtain a charter thus corporation. Under this feeling, both parties agreed to at variance with the feelings of the people, it is known that refer their differences to the arbitration of Lord Godolphin, bribery to a great extent was practised. The books of the then lord high treasurer of England, whose award, dated Company, which were examined by order of the House of in September, 1708, was made the foundation of the Act, Commons, proved, indeed, that such practices were by no 6 Anne, chap. 17, which is the foundation of the privileges means new; that for many years bribes had been regularly long enjoyed by the United East India Company. Under given to men in power; and that in the year in which the this act, the Company advanced the sum required charter was obtained nearly 90,000l. was distributed in this (1,200,0007.) without interest, to government. This sum, manner. The Duke of Leeds, who was charged with re- added to the former loan of 2,000,000l. at 8l. per cent., ceiving 5000l., was impeached by the Commons; and it is made the debt of the government 3,200,000l., and the insaid that the prorogation of parliament which occurred im-terest equal to 57. per cent. upon the whole sum. The charter mediately afterwards was caused by the tracing of the sum which under the old indenture might have been terminated of 10,000l. to a much higher quarter. in 1711, was continued until the expiration of a notice of three years, which could not be given earlier than March, 1726, and further until the money borrowed by the government should be repaid. The Company was empowered to add the 1,200,000l. to its capital, and to raise 1,500,000l. either by bonds under its common seal or by contributions from its members. As might be expected, the resolution of the House of Commons just recited, unnoticed as it was on the part of the crown, acted as an encouragement to new adventurers, many of whom, acting individually, began to trade with India; but a still more formidable rival arose in a powerful association of merchants, whose means enabled them to outbid the old Company for the favour of the government. The necessities of the crown being at that time great, the Company offered as the price of the confirmation of its charter the loan of 700,000l., at 4 per cent. interest; but the associated merchants offering to lend 2,000,000l. at 8 per cent. interest, this offer was preferred, and an act was passed incorporating the association by the name of 'The General Society,' and authorizing the subscribers to trade with India, each one to the amount of his subscription, while such as desired to trade in combination might do so to the amount of their aggregate subscriptions. The old Company was allowed to trade for three years, and further to subscribe towards the stock of the General Society, of which latter privilege it availed itself to the amount of 315,000. Those members of the General Society who preferred to trade upon a joint-stock soon after obtained another charter of incorporation, under the title of The English Company trading to the East Indies.' Their subscribed Having thus briefly sketched the history of the various bodies which, after successive unions and arrangements, came, in 1708, to form the body which has since performed so important a part in the history of the world under the title of the United East India Company, it is necessary now to give some account of its constitution and government, and to trace that part of its history which has carried it from conquest to conquest, and made it in fact one of the greatest sovereign powers of the present times. The capital stock of the Company, which, in 1708, amounted to £3,200,000 was increased, under successive acts of parliament, as follows In 1786 1794 800,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 Making its present capital £6,000,000 Upon which sum dividends are paid: the later subscrip- The home government of the Company consists of- 3rd. The Board of Control, the origin and functions of which body will be hereafter explained. renewed for twenty years, but received some important modifications, the trade to the whole of the Company's territories and to India generally being thrown open to British subjects under certain regulations; the trade between the United Kingdom and China was still reserved as a monopoly in the hands of the East India Company. It was also provided by the act of 1813 that the territorial and commercial accounts of the Company should be kept and arranged so as to exhibit the receipts and expenditure of each The Court of Proprietors elect the directors of the Com- branch distinctly from those of the other branch. These pany, declare the amount of dividend, and make bye-laws, accounts, made out in forms approved by government, the which are binding upon the directors for the management directors are obliged to lay before both houses of parliaof the Company in all respects which are not especially ment in the month of May in every year, made up accord regulated by act of parliament. The votes of the pro-ing to the latest advices that shall have been received, and prietors are given according to the amount of stock which with as much accuracy as the nature of the case will admit.' they possess. The lowest sum which entitles a proprietor to In imposing this obligation upon the directors, it would vote is 1000%. of stock; 3000%. stock entitles to two votes; almost appear that the legislature must have had in view 6000l. to three votes; and 10,000l. to four votes, which is the course which, twenty years later, on the next occasion the largest number of votes that can be given by any one of renewing the charter, was actually pursued. The act proprietor. At the time of the last parliamentary inquiry of 1833, by which the charter was renewed for twenty into the concerns of the Company, it was stated that the years, takes away from the Company the right of trading number of proprietors entitled to vote was 1976: of this either to its own territories or the dominions of any native number 54 were entitled each to four votes; 50 had each power in India or in China, and throws the whole comthree; 370 had two votes; and 1502 had single votes. pletely open to the enterprise of individual merchants. The progress of the Company's trade at different periods has not been regularly published. The investigations that have been made into its concerns by committees of the houses of parliament, when it has been necessary to renew its charter, have been the means of bringing to light some information upon this subject; but the returns called for on each of these occasions have generally had reference only to the period immediately preceding that in which the inquiry has been made. The committee of secresy which sat in 1773 did indeed call for various statements embracing a considerable period of time; and it is from the report of this committee that the following particulars relating to the trade of the Company, in the forty years between 1732 and 1772, have been obtained. Dividing this term of forty years into decennary periods, the average result in each period was as follows: The Court of Directors consists of 24 proprietors elected out of the general body. The qualification for a seat in the direction is the possession of 20007. stock. Six of the directors go out of office every year; they retire in rotation, so that the term of office for each is four years from the time of election. The directors who vacate their seats may be re-elected, and generally are so, after being out of office for one year. The chairman and deputy chairman are elected from among their own body by the directors, thirteen of whom must be present to form a court. The power of the directors is great: they appoint the governor-general of India and the governors of the several presidencies; but as these appointments are all subject to the approval of the crown, they may be said to rest virtually with the government. The directors have the absolute and uncontrolled power of recalling any of these functionaries. All subordinate appointments are made by the directors, but as a matter of courtesy a certain proportion of this patronage is placed at the disposal of the President of the Board of Control. The Board of Control was established by the act of parliament passed in August, 1784, and which is known as Mr. Pitt's India Bill. This board was originally composed of six privy councillors, nominated by the king; and besides these, the chancellor of the exchequer and the principal secretaries of state are, by virtue of their offices, members of the board. It is no longer necessary to select the members from among privy councillors. In practice the senior member, or president, ordinarily conducts the business, and on rare occasions only calls upon his colleagues for assistance. It is the duty of this board to superintend the territorial or political concerns of the Company; to inspect all letters passing to and from India between the directors and their servants or agents which have any connexion with territorial management or political relations; to alter or amend, or to keep back, the despatches prepared by the directors, and, in urgent cases, to transmit orders to the functionaries in India without the concurrence of the directors. In all cases where the proceedings of the directors have the concurrence of the Board of Control, the court of proprietors has no longer the right of interference. The salaries of the president and other officers of the Board, as well as the general expenses of the establishment, are defrayed by the East India Company. With the powers thus described, the president of the Board of Control has been correctly described as a secretary of state for the affairs of India, governing by means of the court of directors as its instrument in all matters of a political nature,' which, since the last renewal of the charter in 1833, includes all the functions of the company, the right of trading having by that act been taken away. The act 6 Anne, c. 17, already mentioned, conferred upon the company the exclusive privilege, as regarded English subjects, of trading to all places eastward of the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magalhaens; and these privileges, with some unimportant modifications, which it is not necessary to explain, were confirmed by successive acts of parliament, and continued until 1814. By the act 53 Geo. III., c. 155, passed in 1813, the Company's charter was P. C., No. 562. 1733 to 1742 1743.. 1752 1753.. 1762 1763 .. 1772 Average of 40 years. 1733.. 1772 742,285 247,492 989,777 2,171,877 It would appear from this statement that the trade must have been highly advantageous. The average annual profit upon the amount invested, as above shown, amounted, in the first decennary period, to 116 per cent. ; in the second period to 90 per cent.; in the third period to 84 per cent.; in the fourth period to 132 per cent.; and embracing the whole forty years, the gross profit amounted to 1194 per cent. It must be borne in mind, however, that this was gross profit, and that the expenses of carrying on the trade according to the method employed of establishing factories were necessarily very great. In fact, they were such as to absorb the profits and to bring the Company considerably into debt: a result which it would be more correct to attribute to the political character of the Company than to its necessary commercial expenditure. When compared with the commercial dealings of even individual merchants in modern times, the trade of the East India Company, as exhibited above, is insignificant. Small as it was, however, it afterwards experienced a con siderable diminution, and in 1780, the entire value of the exports of goods and bullion amounted to only 401,1667., a large part of which must have consisted of military stores and supplies required by the various factories and establishments of the Company. The commutation plan of Mr. Pitt, under which the duty on tea was reduced to 124 per cent. ad valorem, and which came into effect in September, 1784, caused a considerable augmentation of the Company's outward investments, in order to procure the quantity of tea needed for use in this kingdom. The sales of tea at the India House, which, in the three years preceding the commutation, averaged 5,721,655 lbs., rose in the three following years to the average of 16,054,603 lbs., at which quantity it remained nearly stationary for several years. Notwith standing this circumstance, the value of the exports made VOL. IX.-2 K by the Company in each of the three years which preceded The commencement and early progress of the political the renewal of the charter in 1793 did not exceed one mil- power of the East India Company in India have already been lion. Under the provisions of this new charter, the Com-described. [BENGAL.] It would extend this notice to an pany was bound to provide 3000 tons of shipping every year for the accommodation of private traders, and it is deserving of remark that under this apparently unimportant degree of competition the trade of the Company increased rapidly and greatly. During the last four years of its existence, from 1810-11 to 1813-14, the average annual exports of the Company were— unreasonable length if we attempted to trace the successive wars and conquests which mark the annals of the Company; this, indeed, is the less needed because of the notices given in our account of the various provinces and states of India in which that information necessarily finds a place. All that it appears requisite to give under this head will be found in the following chronological table of the acquisitions of the British in India, in which are stated the powers from whom the territory has, from time to time, been acquired. 1759 Masulipatam, &c. 2,145,365 To the three Presidencies, Bata- Total On the occasion of the next renewal of its charter, viz. in 1814, the Company was obliged to make a further cession of its exclusive privileges, and stipulating only for the continuance of its inonopoly in the importation of tea into this country, to allow the unrestricted intercourse of British merchants with the whole of its Indian possessions. Under these circumstances the Company found it impossible to enter into competition with private traders, whose business was conducted with greater vigilance and economy than was possible on the part of a great company; its exports of merchandise to India fell off during the ten years from 600,0007. in 1814-15 to 275,0007. in 1823-24, and to 73,000l. in the following year, after which all such exportation of merchandise to India on the part of the Company may be said to have ceased. The shipments to China were still continued, and large quantities of stores were also sent to India for the supply of the army and other public establishments. It will be seen from the following statement of the value of exports from this country from 1814 to 1832 to all places eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, except China, in which the shipments of the Company (which include stores) are distinguished from those of private traders, that while the trade of the Company was thus falling off, that of private merchants was carried to an amount much greater than had existed during the monopoly of the Company. 1757 Twenty-four Pergunnahs 1760 Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong Company's Jaghire, near Madras 1766 Northern Circars Vizier of Oude The Peishwa Rajah of Berar The Guicowar It has always been felt to be highly anomalous that an association of individuals, the subjects of a sovereign state, should wage wars, make conquests, and hold possession of territory in foreign countries, independent of the government to which they owe allegiance. At a very early period of the Company's territorial acquisitions, this feeling was acted upon by parliament. By the act 7 Geo. III., c. 57 (1767), it was provided, that the Company should be allowed to retain possession of the lands it had acquired in India for two years, in consideration of an annual payment to the country of 400,000l. This term was extended by the 9 Geo. III., c. 24, to February, 1774. The sums paid to the public under these acts amounted to 2,169,3987. The last of these payments, which should have been made in 1773, was not received until 1775, and could not then have been paid but for the receipt of 1,400,000l. which was lent to the Company by parliament. This loan was afterwards discharged, and the possession of its territory was from year to year continued to the Company until 1781, and was then further continued for a period to terminate upon three years' notice to be given after 1st March, 1791. Under this act the Company paid to the public 400,0007. in satisfaction of all claims then due. In 1793 the same privileges were extended until 1814, the Company engaging to pay to the public the sum of 500,000l. annually, unless prevented by war expenditure; but owing to the contests in which it was engaged throughout that period, two payments of 250,0007. cach, made in 1793 and 1794, were all that the public received under this agreement. The act of 1813, by which the charter was renewed for twenty years from 1814, continued the Company in the possession of its territory, without stipulating for any immediate payment to the public; it provided that the accounts of the Company, both in England and in India, should be so kept as to exhibit the territorial and political, distinct from the commercial, branch of its concerns, the territorial revenue being appropriated strictly to the expenses of government and the repayment of the territorial debt, while the commercial receipts and profits were alone applicable to commercial objects, and to the payment of dividends to the proprietors. The 59th section of the act provided that when the territorial debt should be reduced to 13,000,0007., |