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 MERCANTILE RIVALS OF THE COMPANY 179 in Madagascar, but asked for a contract " to transport the Company's pepper and other commodities from thence to England.' ' The Company politely thanked his lordship, said that it had enough ships of its own, and firmly refused a passage for him or his friends. But it was not with noble and princely personages that the Company had mainly to strive. Wealthy mer- chants were now willing to stake their fortunes on breaking down the Company's monopoly, and they found gentlemen about the king's person ready, for a consideration, to gain his Majesty's ear. The most famous of these cabals of the City and Whitehall was Courten's Association; it had lasting consequences on the India trade, and it illustrates the hostile combi- nations to which the Company, as long as it depended on the royal favour, was exposed. The chief actors in the drama were Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pindar, two London merchants, who between them "lent" the king £200,000; and with them was En- dymion Porter, groom of the bedchamber and his Maj- esty's factotum for secret affairs. William Courten started as a plain London trader, the son of a Flemish Protestant clothier who had found refuge in England under Elizabeth and prospered be- neath her protecting rule. William learned business at Haarlem, and began usefully by marrying the deaf and dumb daughter of a Dutch merchant who brought him £60,000. Returning to London, he grew into a great merchant with ships trading to Portugal, the African coast, and the West Indies. He had the distinction in