Page:A Collection of Charters and Statutes relating to the East India Company.pdf/23

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Charter of King William III.
xv

vice: of; the Crown of England; as Members: of the same Society; An Account thereof to be delivered yearly, in to the Privy Council on Oath;and that the Directors of the the said English Company trading to the East Indies, and their Successors; for the The being, do and shall give in, and deliver unto us, our Heirs and Successors; in our Privy Council, yearly and every Year; in the Month of October, a true Account or Inventory fairly written and signed by Two or more of the Directors of the said Company for the Time being; containing the Nature, Quantity, Quality, Value, and prime Costs of all such Goods, of the Growth, Product; or Manufacture, of this our Kingdom of England, as in the last preceding Year have been exported by the said Company, together with the Place, Town, or Port, from whence the said Goods were exported to the East Indies; and that Oath be made of the Truth of such Account or Inventory, by the proper Officers or Servants of the said English Company trading to the East Indies, who shall keep their. Books for the Entry of Goods outwards, to the best of their Knowledge; and that none of the said Goods or Commodities, so exported shall be again landed in, our Kingdom of England, Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or be carried to any Country or Place, but unto the East Indies, or some Place within the Limits afore-mentioned: The Company to furnish a Proposition of 500 tons of Saltpetre yearly.Provided also, and it is Our further Will and Pleasure, and We do hereby, for Us, Our: Heirs and Successors,.order and appoint, and the said English Company, trading to the East Indies, doth hereby covenant, promise, and grant, to and with Us, Our Heirs and Successors, that the said English Company; trading to the East Indies and their Successors, shall yearly and every Year from the Feast of Saint Michael, the Archangel, One Thousand and Seven Hundred, during the Continuance of their said Trade to the East Indies, by Virtue of the said Act of Parliament, or of these.Presents, furnish, sell, or deliver unto the Officers of the Ordnance of Us, Our Heirs and Successors, or to such Person, or Persons, as We, Our Heirs or Successors, shall in that Behalf direct or appoint, to Our and their own Use, within the City of London, or Ten Miles thereof, such Proportion of good, clean, and Merchantable Saltpetre, as is herein after-mentioned, when and as the same shall be required, by the Master, Lieutenant, or other chief Officer or Officers, of or belonging to the Ordnance of Us, Our Heirs or Successors, or by such other Person of Persons, as We, Our Heirs or Successors, shall from Time to Time appoint, by Notice in Writing, to be left at the principal Office of the said Company; We, Our Heirs and Successors, paying to the said Company, and their Successors, or to their Treasurer, for the Time being; for the Use, and Account of the said Company; the prime Cost thereof, with the Freight, Duties, and other Charges thereupon to be ascertained, from Time to Time, by the Oath of Three or more of the Directors of the said Company, if required; which said Proportion of Saltpetre, so to be furnished by the said Company, shall, from Time to Time, be ascertained and determined in Manner following; that is to say, as the Sum of Two Millions reckoned in Money, is to Five Hundred Tons of Saltpetre in the Whole, so the Sum or Value which the said Company may, by Virtue of the said Act, or of these Presents, trade for in any one Year, shall be to the particular Quantity or Proportion of Saltpetre which the said Company, shall be obliged to furnish, for the Service of Us, Our, Heirs and Successors, as aforesaid, within or for every such Year respectively; which Proportion of Saltpetre is the same which the said Company, as Members of the said General Society, ought to furnish for their Proportion, pursant to a Clause for furnishing of Saltpetre, contained in the aforesaid Charter of the said General Society.

The Company to have the same Allowances on Payment of Customs, as were made to the Old Company.And We do hereby, for Us, Our Heirs and Successors (for the Encouragement of the said Company to carry on, the said Trade by a Joint Stock, and for their greater Inducement to make present Payment of their, Customs) condescend, declare, and agree, to and with the said Company, and their Successors, that they shall have and enjoy, and shall have made to them all and every the several, Allowances, and Discounts, in the Customs of the Goods and Merchandizes, by them. to be imported into this Our Kingdom as the present Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the, East Indies, have held and enjoyed, and now do hold and enjoy, by Virtue of a certain Clause, in our Charter of Regulation, granted to the same Company, dated the Twenty-eighth of September, One thousand six hundred and ninety-four.

To maintain a Minister and Schoolmaster, at St Helena; and Ministers at their Factories in India.And We do, hereby further will and appoint, That the said Company, hereby established, and. their Successors, shall constantly maintain a Minister and School Master, in the Island of Saint Helena, when the said Island shall come into the Hands or Possession of the same Company; and also One Minister in every Garrison and superior Factory, which the same Company. or their Successors shall have in the said, East Indies, or other the Parts within the Limits aforesaid; and shall also in such Garrison and Factories, respectively provide, or set apart; a decent and convenient Place for Divine Service only; and a Chaplain on every Ship of 500 Tons; and shall also take a Chaplain on board every Ship, which shall be sent by the same Company to the said. East Indies, or other the Parts. within-the Limits aforesaid, which shall be of the Burthen of Five hundred Tons, or upwards, for such Voyage, the Salary of which Chaplain, shall commence from the Time that such Ship shall depart from England By when, Ministers to be approvedAnd more over, that no such Minister shall be sent by the same Company, to the said East Indies, or otherthe