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.
