Page:History of India Vol 7.djvu/340

 282 APPENDIX I tector " that the trade of India be managed by a United Joint Stock exclusive of all others.' ' Forthwith, on February 10, 1657, Cromwell directed that a committee should sit to draw up a charter, which on October 19th passed the Broad Seal of England. After the Restoration the Company hastened to purge itself of complicity with the Commonwealth, and the document disappeared. A diligent inquiry now leaves no hope that a copy survives in England, Hol- land, or the East. But although the charter has per- ished, I have been able, from contemporary documents, to piece together its main provisions. It ratified the charter of James I with slight modifications, and gave additional privileges. As new coast towns had sprung into vigour, the original three ports (London, Dart- mouth, and Plymouth), from which bullion might be exported, were to be increased to seven. On the other hand, the clauses granting the powers of Law Martial and immunity from customs, tonnage, and poundage, and certain other privileges, were to be omitted, and left to be dealt with by special orders from the Protector, who should also have the right to recall the charter if he saw cause. Cromwell's charter, in fact, combined the substance of the Royal Charter of 1609 with the more continuous government-control provided by the Parliamentary grant of 1650. The Protector promised that his settlement should in the next session be con- firmed by Act of Parliament. Cromwell died the following year before a Parlia- mentary sanction could be obtained, and his charter