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promis'd 'em by Edward VI. but he dy- h'd bv Queen Mary, in 1 5 5 5 - B y thls
return, (elicited Letters Patent to fecure to thcmfclves the Commerce of Raffia, for which they had form d an Allo- cation.
The Chatter was _ ins, was firft difpatch «
Charter, the Affociation was declar'd a Body Politick, under the Name of the Company of Merchants Adventurers of England, for the Difcovery of Lands, Territories, I/lands, te.unk.mwn, or unfrequented. Their Privileges were to to have a Governor, 4 Confuls, and 24 Affiftants, for their Commerce ; for their Policy, to make Laws, .nflift Penal- ties, fend out Ships to make Difcovenes, take Poffcffion ot 'em in the King's Name, fet up the Banner-Royal of Eng- land, plant thlm 5 and, laftly, the exclufive Privilege o trading [to Archangel, and other Parts of Mufcoiiy, not yet frequented by the Engtyh. ; ,,,
This Charter, not being fufficiently guarded, was confirm a bv Parliament in the eighth Year of Queen Elizabeth ; wherein 'twas enatted, that in regard the former Name was too lone they fhould now be call'd the Company of EngUJ/J Merchants for difiovering ne-mTrades ; under which Name, they fhould be capable of acquiring and holding all kinds of Lands Manors, Rents, igc. not exceeding 100 Marks per Annum, and not held of her Majefty. That no part ot the Continent, Illand, Harbour, tSc. not known or frequent- ed before the firft Enterprife of the Merchants of their Com- pany, fituate to the North, or North- Weft, or North-Baft of Loudon ; nor any part of the Continent, Illand, t§c, under the Obedience of the Emperor of Raffia, or in the Coun- tries of Armenia, Media, Hircauia, Perfia, or the Cafpian Sea ; lh.aU be vifited by any Subjeas of England, to exer- cife any Commerce, without the Confent of the faid Compa- ny, on Pain of Confiscation. The faid Company fhall ufe no' Ships in her new Commerce, but thofe of the Nation ; nor tranfport any Cloths, Serges, or other Woollen Stuffs, till they have been dyed and prefs'd. That in cafe the Com-
pany difcontinue of it
.. felf to unload Commodities in the Road of the Abbey of S. Nicholas in Ruffia, or Tome other Port on the North Coafts of Ruffia, for the Space ot three Years ; that the other Subjefls of England fhall be allow'd to traffick to Narva, while the faid Company difcontinues its Commerce into Ruffia ; only ufing Englijh Veffels.
This Company fubfifted with Reputation almoft a whole Century ; till the Time of the Civil Wars. 'Tis faid, the Czar hearing of the Murder of King Charles, order'd all the Engliffi in his States to be expell'd ; which the Dutch taking the advantage of, fettled in their room. After the Reftoration, the Remains of the Company re-eftablifh'd part of their Commerce at Archangel, but never with the fame Succefs as before ; the Ruffians being now well accuf- tom'd to the Hutch Merchants and Merchandizes.
This Company fubfifts ftill, nearly on the Foot of that of Hamburgh, and the Northern and I'ltrky Companies, i. e. each Member thereof trafficks for himfelf, and on his own bottom ; only paying a Duty of 12 or 15 Pounds Sterling, befide fome other Dues impos'd from time to time for the Occafions of the Company and the Commerce in general.
North Sea Company, or, as fome, more agreeably to its Charter, call it, Eajl-land Country, is eftablifh'd on the Foot of that of Hamburgh; from whence it appears to have been difmembci'd.
Its Charter is dated in the Tear 1579. By the firft Ar- ticle the Company is erecled into a Body Politick, under the Title of the Company of Merchants of the Eafi ; to of Englijbmen, all real Merchants, who have es the Bufinefs thereof, and traffick 'd thro' the Sound, before the Year 1568, into Norway, Sweden, 'Poland, Livonia, Pruffia, Pomerania, &c. as alfo Revel, Coningsberg, Dant- zic, ' Copenhagen, te. excepting Narva, Mufcovy, and its Dependencies. Moft of the following Articles grant 'em the ufual Prerogatives of fuch Companies ; as a Seal, Gover- nor, Courts, Laws, &c.
The Privileges peculiar to this Company, are, That none fhall be admitted a Member, who is already a Member of any other Company ; nor any Retail-dealer at all. That noMerchant qualify 'd, be admitted without paying 6 Pounds r; Shillings 6 Pence. That a Member of another Company, defiring to renounce the Privileges thereof, and to be receiv'd into that of the Eaft-, fhall be admitted gratis : provided he procures the fame Favour for a Merchant of the Eaft, willing to fill his Place. That the Merchant-Adventurers who never dealt in the Eaft, in the Places exprefs'd in the Charter, may be receiv'd as Members of the Company on paying 40 Marks : That notwithftanding this Union of the Adventurers of Eng- land, with the Company of the Eafl, each fhall retain its Rights and Privileges. That they fhall export no Cloths but what are dy'd and prefs'd ; except 100 Pieces pier Ann. which are allow'd 'em gratis.
This Charter was confirm'd by Charles II. in 1661, with this Addition ; That no Perfon of what Quality foever, liv- ing in London, fhould be admitted a Member unlets he were free of the City.
confift exercis'd
T'tirby Company, or Levant Company. This Company is eftablifh'd on the Foot of the Hamburgh Company, i. f . there is no common Fund, wherein the Adventurers depofit their Stock, to make one fingle Commerce ; but the Corn, merce thither is free, each Member trafficking for himfelf; but obferving, withai, the Rules and Orders of the Compa- ny ; and contributing, occafionally, towards the common Expences.
This flourifhing Body had its rife under Queen Elizabeth • James I- confirm'd its Charter in 1606; adding new Privi- leges. During the Civil Wars, there happening fome Inno- vations in the Governmenr of the Company, many Perfons having been admitted Members, not qualified by the Char- ters of Queen Elizabeth and King James, or that did not conform to the Regulations prefcrib'd ; Charles II. upon his Reftoration, endeavonr'd to fet it upon its antient Bafis : to which End, he gave 'em a Charter, containing not only a Confirmation of their old one, but alfo feveral new Articles of Reformation.
By this, the Company is erecfed into a Body Politick, ca- pable of making Laws, S$c. under the Title of the Compa- ny of Merchants of England trading to the Seas of the Le- vant. The Number of Members is not limited but is ordi- narily about three hundred. The principal Qualification requir'd, is, that the Candidate be a wholefale Merchant, either by Family, or by ferving an Apprenticefhip of feven Years. Thofe under 1 5 Years of Age, pay 2 5 /. Sterl. at their Admiffion ; thofe above, twice as much. Each makes Oath, at his entrance, not to fend any Merchandizes to the Levant, but on his own account ; and not to confign 'em to any but the Companies Agents, or Factors. The Company governs it felf by a plurality of Voices.
It has a Courr, or Board at London, compos'd of aGover. nor, Sub-Governor, and twelve Directors, or Affiftants; who are all actually to live in London, or the Suburbs. They have alfo a Deputy-Governor, in every City, and Port, where there are any Members of the Company. This Affembly at London fends out the Veffels, regulates the Tarif for the Price at v/hich the European Merchandizes fent to the Levant are to be fold ; and for the Quality of thofe rerurn'd. It raifes Taxes on Merchandizes, ro defray Impofirions, and the common Expences of the Company ; prefents the Embaffador which the King is to keep at the Porr, elecls two Confuls for Smyrna and Constantinople, &c One of the beft Regulations of the Company, is, not to leave the Confuls, or even Embaffador, to fix the Impofitions on Veffels for defraying the common Expences ; (a thing fatal to the Companies of moft other Nations) but to allow a Pen- fion to the Embaffador and Confuls, and even to the chief Officers ; as Chancellor, Secretary, Chaplain, Interpreters, and Janifaries ; rhat there mayn't be any Pretence for their raifing any Sum at all on the Merchants or Merchandizes : 'Tis true, the Embaffador and Conful may act alone on thefe occafions ; but the Penfion being allow'd 'em on condi- tion of declining 'em, they chufe rather to fit ftill.
In extraordinary Cafes, the Confuls, and even Embaffador himfelf, have recourfe to two Deputies of the Company, re- siding in the Levant : or, if rhe Affair be very important, affemble the whole Nation. Here are regulated the Prefents to be given, the Voyages to be made, and every thing to be deliberated : and on the Refolutions here taken, the De- puties appoint the Treafurer to furnifh the Monies, &c. re- quir'd. The ordinary Commerce of this Company, employs from 20 to 25 Veffels, of between 25 and 30 Pieces of Cannon.
The Merchandizes exported thither, are Cloths of all Kinds and Colours, Pewter, Lead, Pepper, Cochineal, and a great deal of Silver, which they take up at Cadix : The Returns are in raw Silk, Galls, Camelots, Wools, Cottons, Maroquins, Allies for making Glafs and Soap, and feveral Gums and medicinal Drugs.
The Commerce of this Company to Smima, Constantino- ple, and Scandaroon, is not efteem'd much lefs confiderable than that of the Eafl-India Company ; but is, doubtlefs, much more advantageous to England ; in regard, ir takes off much more of rhe Engliffi Manufactures than the other, which is chiefly carried on in Money.
The Places referv'd for the Commerce of this Company, are all the States of Venice, in the Gulf of Venice ; the State of Ragufa ; all the States of the Grand Seignior, and
the Ports of the Levant and Mediterranean; excepting
Car-
thagena, Alicant, "Barcelona, Valencia, Marfeilles, f onion., Genoa, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, Palermo, Meffina, Mal- ta, Majorca, Minorca, and Corfica ; and other Places on the Coafts of France, Spain, and Italy.
South-Sea Company. Many take this Company, efta- blifh'd towards the Clofe of the XVIIth Century, to have been originally intended, rather as a Political Contrivance for raifing a Fund of Money, to ferve in the preffing Af- fairs of the State, than as a real Eftablifhment tor the fake of Commerce. For the Nation being exhaufted of Money by the
