had the backing which had made the success of the rivals of France. He therefore, to insure them against the losses which unless provided for might dishearten the proprietors, conceded to the Company an advance of three millions of francs, and charged the State with all the losses it might suffer during the first ten years of its existence. In order, moreover, to induce the nobility to participate in the scheme, Louis XIV, at the instance of his minister, issued an edict declaring that it was not derogatory to the nobility to take part in commerce with the Indies. That, moreover, he might the more certainly obtain the necessary subscriptions, Colbert inserted a clause in the articles by which foreigners were invited to subscribe to the funds of the Company, and were promised letters of naturalisation, free of any formality, provided that any of them should subscribe to the extent of ten thousand francs. Another clause provided that the directors of the Company should be chosen exclusively from the mercantile class, inclusive of foreign merchants, on the conditions regarding the latter, that their money-interest in the Company should be considerable, and that they and their families should reside in France. The statutes of the Company are forty-seven in number. They assure to the Company full power and jurisdiction over Madagascar and all the territories its servants might conquer or occupy, and they contain a promise to defend those places against a foreign enemy with all the force of France. The ordinance was dated August, 1664, and was
