i6oi.
The Spani-ards sentHome in En-glish Ship-ping*
1601.Camden.Harris’j Col.Vol. I. p.57.& seq.
The Esta-llisiment osan East-In-dia Trade.
Privilegesgranted bythe Stteen.
7he first Un-dertakers.
Contents ofthe Privi-lege.
Eliz. Naval lE&peititidtos, &c. ©f the Eiiglisli,
" Peace ensued;The Conditions where- tf sage into Spain, where arriving in,r of are extant. They were furnished " Englijh Vessels, the Ships returned" with Ships and secured of their Pas- " back for England,
CHAP. LXV.
The Establishment of the first East-India Company, with the first Voyage forAccount of that Company, under the Command of Capt. James Lancaster.
COWARDS the Conclusion ofthe Year 1600. Queen Elizabeth,for the Encrease of Trade, theGlory of England, and the Im-provement of Navigation, was pleasedto erect: an East-India-Company, endow-ed with great Privileges.
W e have these Privileges at large inHarris^ Collection; But they are tooextensive to find Place here, I "shalltherefore only hint at some of the Headsof them.
The first Petitioners for this Estab-lishment, to whom likewise the Privi-lege was granted, were Sir John Hart,of London, Knight; Sir John ' Spencer,ot London, Knight; Sir Edward Michel-burn, Knight; William Candijh, Esq;Paul Banning, Robert Lee, LeonardHoliday, John Wats, . John More, Ed-ward Holmden, Robert Hampfion, ThomasSmith, and Thomas Cambell, Citizens andAldermen of London, and upwards- oftwo Hundred Persons more, named byName in that Privilege. -
They were formed into a Body Cor-porate and Politick, in Deed and inName, by the Title of the Governourand Company of Merchants, of London,trading into the East-Indies. They wereallowed a common Seal, with Powerto change or alter it at Pleasure. Thefirst Governour and four-and twentyDirectors were nominated in the Privi-lege, and Power vested in the Companyto elect a Deputy-Governour, as like-wise to elect a Governour, Deputy-Go-vernour, and four and twenty Directors,yearly, for the future. The Freedomwas granted to them and their Succes-sors, and their Sons, when arrived tothe Age of one and twenty, and to their.Apprentices, Factors and Servants em-,ployed by them, for the Space of FifteenYears, freely to traffick, and use theTrade of Merchandize by Sea, in, andby such Ways and Passages, alreadyfound out, or discovered, or hereafterto be found out and discovered, as they
should esteem and take to be 'fittest, in-to, and from the East-Indies, into theCountries, and Parts of Asta and Afri-ca ; And into, and from all the Isiands,Ports, Havens, Cities, Creeks, Towns,and Places of Asta, Africa, and Ame-rica, or any of them beyond the Capeof Good Hope, to the Streight of Magel-lan, where any Trade or 'Traffick ofMerchandize may be used, or had, to,and from every 'of them, in such Order,Manner, Form, Liberty, and Condi-tion, as they themselves should, -fromTime to Time, agree upon.
They were allowed the Authority-ofmaking reasonable By-Laws; As like-wise to punish Offenders, either in Bodyor Purse, provided it were not contraryto the Laws of England. Their out-ward-bound Goods were allowed Cu-stom-free for the first four Voyages;And afterwards the Custom of all Goodsexported, which should miscarry, to beallowed in other Goods afterwards ship-ped. For the Customs and Subsidies onimported Goods, they were allowed sixMonths Credit for one Half, and twelveMonths for the other Half, with a free; Re-exportation for thirteen Months.They were allowed to export everyVoyage the Value of thirty ThousandPound foreign Coin or Bullion, provid-ed six Thousand Pounds were recoinedin Her Majesty’s Mint.
Six Ships and six Pinnaces, with fiveHundred Mariners, were allowed to besent yearly to the East-Indies, any Re-straint notwithstanding, except whenthe Royal Navy was going out, andShips and Mariners were wanting.
All other Her-Majesty’s Subjectswere, by this Privilege, excluded fromTrading into those Parts, under severalPenalties, without the Assent and Li-cence of the Company. They were al-lowed the Liberty of admitting othersinto this Freedom. The Company wasobliged to bring in, after every Voyagereturned, within six Months, as great a
Quantity