Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/364

 •i-^O inSTOKY OF INDIA. [B^jok I!

•^■P- ^''""- the real fault was not in those who complained, hut in the government wlio made it necessary. At all events, there was nothing in the conduct of the so-called mutineers to justify the sentence which condemned three of them to death, and which was actually carried into effect in the wise of one of them This first exercise of martial law in name of the Company took place on 21.>t October, 1 674<. Captain Shaxton, the worst culprit, if there was one, was next tried, and found guilty on several charges, but his station, though it only aggravated his offence, protected him, and he was sent to England to ht dealt with as might there be deemed proper. Principle of The most memorable event in the history of the Company in 1 676 was the

seuiority _ _ _ i *'

estabusiied. formal adoption of the principle of seniority as the rule of succession to offices of trust and emolument. In the letter of the court to the presidency of Surat the mode in which the principle was to be applied is thas stated: — 'For the advancement of our apprentices, we direct that, after they have serv^ed for the first five yeares, they shall have £10 per annum for the two last yeares; and having served these two yeares, to be entertayned, one yeare longer, as Titers, and have writers' sallary ; and having served that yeare, to enter into the degi-ee of factors, which otherwise would have been ten yeares. And knowing that a distinction of titles is in many respects necessary, we do order, that when apprentices have served their times, they be styled vjriters; and when writer.^ have served their times, they be styled factors ; and factors hadng served their times, to be styled merchants ; and merchants having served their times, to be styled senior merchants." By this an-angement many disputes as to advance- ment were obviated, and much discontent in consequence suppressed ; but the principle of seniority, except in mere matters of routine, when the most ordinary qualifications combined with a sufficient amount of practice may suffice, is 'iciou.'i in the extreme, because it removes all stimulus to exertion, and makes no accomit of either ability or industry. It is rather singular that in lajdng down this rule the court saw the necessity of departing from it in one very important particular, by holding out a kind of premium to military talent, enjoining all their civil servants "to apply themselves to acquire a knowledge of military discipline, that, in the event, either of any sudden attack, or of being found better qualified for military than for civil duties, they might receive com- missions, and have the pay of military officers, till the pleasure of the court should be known." Rival In the course of the war carried on between the Moguls and the Mahrattas,

Bombiiy°by the Siddec had made himself master of Henery in the same way as Sevajee had ■vn!i sfvtjee ^^ Kenucry ; and thus by the negligent and irresolute conduct which the local authorities had pursued, Bombay was exposed to a double danger, and its pros- perity was seriously interrupted. The court at home, gi-eatly perplexed at the threatening aspect of affairs, seem not to have been equal to the emergency, and disregarding the dangei" of being ousted altogether, kept insisting on a number