Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/317

 THE CENTRAL BOARD OF THE COMPANY 253 usually took over (under the direction of the company) the factors and property of the preceding venture; and the company thus acted as a link between the new group and its predecessor. The confusion of interests which arose out of this system will hereafter appear. In the earlier stages of its history, the company or central board of management not only invested the capital raised for each separate venture, and conducted its business, but also appointed its servants. It handed over the agents in the East from their original group of employers to succeeding groups. A permanent body of English factors and employees in India thus devel- oped and gave rise to many questions, such as private trade, which the company strictly forbade from the out- set, and licensed trade, by which it allowed its servants to take a share in the ventures of the separate voyages. In its attitude to its servants, the East India Company preserved the domestic responsibilities of the mediaeval master-craftsman to his apprentices and men under his roof. At each factory the staff lived in one house, ate at the same table, met together for daily prayers, and had to be in by a certain hour at night. The early records are full of pious maxims and instructions as to brotherly conduct, " no brabbles," cleanliness of person, respect to superior officers and " the preacher," the care of health, and penalties for blasphemy or breaches of family morals. Gaming and dicing are strictly forbidden; excessive drinking and banquet- ing are denounced. A single quotation from a strictly business letter,