340
IILSTOJIV OF INDIA.
[Book H.
A,i). io»6. island in the moutii of tlie Ganges. Could such an acquisition be made, fortifi- cations were to be immediately commenced. Such was the dubious position of the Company's establishments in Bengal when Charles II. died
OHAPTEK Yll,
Marked change in the Company's policy on the accession of James II. — Hostile preparations — War
with the Mogul — Disastrous results.
Change in the Com- pany's policy.
Company claim to be indepen- dent in power.
HE Duke of York, now James II., had been a considerable shareholder in the Company, and was understood to be willing to employ all the power and influence of the crown in their favour. A new course of prosperity was hence anticipated, and it soon became apparent that the moderation and caution hitherto manifested were no longer deemed necessary. The interlopers were henceforth to be proceeded against with a rigour which, while admitted to be most desirable, had previously been deemed impolitic. In England prosecutions were immediately to be commenced in the Comi, of King's Bench against no fewer than forty-eight individuals, who were charged with violating the Com- pany's exclusive privileges, and several of whom, it was supposed, would be unable to make any effectual defence, because the statements contained in then- petitions to the king were to be laid hold of as admissions of guilt. In India the judge- advocate established at Bombay was furnished with the code of martial law established in the British army, that it might become the rule of his conduct in trying the commanders and officers of the interloping ships ; and the president and council were specially enjoined not to perplex themselves with questions as to the legality of the proceedings, but to be careful in providing that the sen- tences pronounced by the judge should be carried into execution. The Company must have been aware that the outcry which had been raised against them would thus become more clamorous than ever ; but they acted as if they had imbibed the spirit of the last of the Stuarts, and were resolved, if they could not con- ciliate public opinion, to set it at defiance.
In a similar spii'it, the native powers were no longer to be addressed in sub- missive petitions, but given to understand that the Company would henceforth treat with them as an independent power, and when aggrieved would, if neces- sary, compel redress by force of arms. To show that this haughty tone meant as much as it expressed, the Company obtained the king's patent, authorizing them to appoint their president. Sir John Child, " captain-general and admiral of all their forces by sea and land, in the northern parts of India, from Cape
