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 THE COMPANY'S UNION WITH COURTEN'S ASSOCIATION 267 liament, and on January 31, 1650, the House of Com- mons resolved: " That the trade to the East Indies should be carried on by one Company, and with one Joint Stock, and the management thereof to be under such regulations as the Parliament shall think fit, and that the East India Company should proceed upon the articles of agreement made between them and the Assada Merchants on November 21, 1649, until fur- ther orders from the Parliament." This coalition of the rival bodies under a Parliamentary sanction formed the basis on which the India trade continued until Cromwell's charter toward the close of the Common- wealth. At first all was concord. The day after the Par- liamentary vote, the two associations proposed to form a " United Joint Stock," which should take over the factories in India, and continue to trade for three years. But in vain the Company's beadle went round to the freemen with the subscription book. Money would not come in, and extraordinary methods were employed to raise capital. The Company sent letters to thirteen of the port-towns of England inviting them to join; and blank subscription books, with a preamble setting forth the nature of the adventure, were humbly laid before the Parliament and Council of State. The members of these honourable bodies would not venture a penny; and even the offer of the freedom of the Company, once so valued, failed to tempt the. general public. The thir- teen port-towns were equally unresponsive. The gov- ernor had to announce that replies had been received