436 EARL Y EUR OPE AN SETTLEMENTS.

pany was formed by the union of the French East and West India , Senegal , and China Companies, under the name of ‘ThePerpetual Company of the Indies,’ in 1719. The exclusiveprivileges of this Company were, by the French king’s decree,suspended in 1769; and the Company was finally abolishedby the National Assemby in 1790.

French Dumas and Dupleix , who were successively governors of thesions 63 ' French factories and possessions in India , first conceived theidea of founding an Indian Empire upon the ruins of theMughal dynasty; and for a time the French nation success-fully contended with the English for the supremacy in theEast . The French Settlements in India are still five innumber, with an area of 203 square miles, and a population of282,923 souls in 1891. The brilliant history of our great nationalrivals is summarized under the article French Possessions inThe Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. iv. (2nd edition).

Danish The first Danish East India Company was formed in 1612,Company ; anc j ^g seconc j j n 1670. The Settlements of Tranquebar andSerampur were both founded in 1616, and acquired by theEnglish by purchase from Denmark in 1845. Other Danish Settlements on the mainland of India were Porto Novo ; withEddova and Holcheri on the Malabar coast. The CompanyScotch; started by the Scotch in 1695 may be regarded as havingbeen still-born. The ‘Royal Company of the PhilippineSpanish ; Islands, ’ incorporated by the King of Spain in 1733, had littleto do with India proper.

German, Of more importance was ‘The Ostend Company,’ incor-Company P orate d by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1722 j 1 its factors andagents being chiefly persons who had served in the Dutch andEnglish Companies. This enterprise forms the subject ofCarlyle ’s ‘ Third Shadow Hunt ’ of the Emperor Karl vi. 2‘The Kaiser’s Imperial Ostend East India Company, whichconvulsed the diplomatic mind for seven years to come, andDescribed made Europe lurch from side to side in a terrific manner,by Carlyle . prove d a mere paper Company; never sent ships, only pro-duced Diplomacies , and “ had the honour to be.” ’ Carlyle ’spicturesque paragraphs do not disclose the facts. The OstendCompany formed the one great attempt of the German Empire ,then with Austria at its head, to secure a share of the Indian

1 The deed of institution is dated 17th December 1722.

2 History of Friedrich II. of Prussia , called Frederick the Greats byThomas Carlyle , vol. i. pp. 555~557 (3rd ed., 1S59).

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