51 2(14 WEDNESDAY, MARCSI 25. A meeting of the Court of Directors was held this day, Mr. Bonn e/nee-in the Chair, in order to consider of the termt be upon which a re- • could obtain ed from Go- riewal of the Charter of the Company vernment. Some preliminary business occurred with respect to the capture of the ship Ceylon, which clo sed with the regular expression of t he ap probation of the Court, of the defence and of the conduct of all con cerned. The Chairman then adverted to the principal cause for whiele the 'Meeting had been called, professed his intention of laying before the Court several documents connected with the renewal of the Charter, Which it was determined should be printed. • The documents were read, but are too voluminous to give at length, the following is their substancei "It appearsthat Government have receded fromtheir original demand, fie incorporating the Indian army with that of his Majesty, but insist •n the Company admitting the Merchants of Great Britain to a parti • cipetionen the trade with India. Against this the Directois offer nu- Wieroarareoments, from which they deduce, 46 that the opening of the Indian trade to the subjaeitt of Great Britain, could not materially in crease, ether export of the mauufacturers of this country, or its com merce in the productions of India." In taking a view of the political effect that might ensue from the opening of the trade to British subject:, the following ; assage may be considered to comprehend one of the chief considerations by which the Government of this country has hitherto been influenced, in sus taining the system of exclusion to which the Conepany have, from their !original establishment, so • rigidly adhered 4.' 4 But a ivore serious consequence than all these would still remain. A free trade to India Would unavoidably draw after it, the residence of numerous and eaminually increasing Europeans there, whatever prohibitions alight at first he opposed to their settling in the country. When all restraint to the importation of ships and goods are taken off, men must be al lowed to follow their property, and to remain at the place where they land it till they have disposed of it; they must be allowed to navi gate the Indian Seas, and to return to the same place when their busi ness calls them; they will thus insensibly, and with hardly reasonable grounds for opposition, domiciliate themselves, nor would an unsuccess ful trade prevent them, but many would seek to indemnicy themselves on shore, fur the loss of the voyage. The instances of such settlements will be numercus, and it will be impossible fOr any police to follow up the cases of individuals, and continually to exercise a rigorous system of . exclusion. This has not hitherto been done, though attended with cotu paratively little difficulty, and the attempt would soon, under the new order of things, be aba' cloned as hopeless. Cc/on/eat/on must in such 4.o.se.folltnu. Large communities of Europeans will StrUggie 1)1 . popular : new feelings with respect to the Mother Country, new interests and attachmepts, will then spring up ; and in a region so remote, so t ich ard poeideus, and so accustomed to yield to the ascendancy of the Fat ropeen elseracter. the tendency and process qr these things cannot be df- Vile to conceive." The cot respondence cleses with a variety of hints submitted as a bssis for an arrangement to Lord Melville, the President of the Board of Controul, and with Lord Melville's observations upon them.—By these it appears that the main points agreed upon between the parties are— That the China trade should be left upon its present footing—an un restrained intercourse with India to be prevented, and the existing re strictions to be continued, with such alterations as may be necessary in the new system of trade. The whole of the Indian trade to be brought to the port of London, Inc', sold at the'Compeny's sales. Proprietors tobe secured in their dividend of ten and a half per cent. All the surplus funds of the Company to be appropriated to the reduc tion of the debt, till it is reduced in India to ten millious, and the Bond debt at home to three millions. The sums required by the East India Company to liquidise! the debt transferred from India to Europe, and becoming payable in iftl2. and 1813, to he funded by the Minister, the interest ot which shall be re gularly paid into his Majesty's Fxchequer by the Company, together with any such per tentage, for the gradual liquidation of the capital or redemption of the fund, as shall be deemed proper by his Majesty's Ministers Private trade not to be excluded from the Spice Islands. Upon one point the Company and the Government differ. The Company wish that no private ship should les permitted to sail for India except from the port of London. I\he Government see no reason for preventing ships from sailing from other ports ot the United Kingdom." Mr. BOSAN9u ET addressed the Court. He animadverted, with much force,on the extraordinary phenomenon which the East India Company presented—who, not only without assistance from Government, but while actually paying their full proportion towards the support of the State, had become lawgivers to the immense territory of India. He then took a succinct view of the circumstances under which the Charter of 179:3 was grant d, and contended. that when the country contemplated the benefits which had been derived front the exert ors ot the Company, as good cause could be chown tor rausint to afford thcm that assi s tance, Tun NATIONAL REGISTER. the necessity for which arose in a great measure from the expenses that had been incurred for the service of the empire. As proof of this, he ra pidly glanced over the Company's achievements in India. The cm. quest of Mysore—a French army removed from Hyderabad—Scindea and Holkar defeated—Ceylon, Java, and the Moluccas taken. When these conquests were reverted to, the expenditure of the Company could not he a matter of wonder. But had it not been for the high rate of interest in India, their affairs would have beets in a more flourish ing condition ; and means would now be resorted to to prevent the re. currence of that evil. Adverting to the intended extension of the trade, he expressed his fears that it would not realise the hopes which many persons entertained ; and expressed a fervent wish that it rnigl , t be pro secuted by British ships, British sailors, and British capital. He con cluded by observing, that, as the correspondence was very voluminoui, to give Gentlemen an opportunity of fully examining it, he would move -44 That the consideration of the papers laid before the Court be adjourned till Thursday, the 2d of April." After a warm eulogium from Mr. G.Johnstone, on the zeal and talent displayed on the part of/he Managers for the Company, the Court • ad journed to the Rd of April. 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Anti-Jacobin Review, October 1808. sth. A New System of Short Hand. by which more may be written in one hour, than one hour and a half by any other system, by SM11.11:1. RIC li ARD so N,, late Teacher at Cheste r, Liver p ool, &c. Fourth Edition, Bvo. boards, Bs. 6th. A New Introduction to the Italian Method of Book-keeping) by the Rev. R. Toitra.a., corrected by W. Malham, price Is. F""u 1 INDIA HOUSE. MARCH 29. ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES. ' ll . ll ' PICKPOCKETS. —Yesterday, two men of the names cf Carroll and Strutton were brought before the sitting Magistrate, at Guildhall (Sir R. C. (An) charged by Mr. Norris, a surgeon and apothecary, at Bishopsgate, with robbing hint of his watch, on the evening of Tuesby last. the prosecutor was coming down Holborn-hill on the above f evening, when he observed two men (t he p risoners) running v.:ry fast a ter him, when they came up, they hustled him, and one of them seized his watch and ran off. He pursued , and observed the prisoner (Carrot) throw something from him, which afterwards proved to be the watch. Upon the cry of stop thief! the watchman secured him. Another wit tle:s proved, that he saw the prisoner, Strutton, running away, and a watchman found him in a suspicious posture, standing in a door wa y! Carroll in his defence, said it was al l a mistake, for hearing the cry el stop thief ! he joined in the pursuit , and was sto pp ed b y the vtchni3n. Strutton denied any knowledge of the transaction. Ihey were fully committed for trial. -------- DIED, At Glassen,near Cologne, at the alvanced age of 109 years,J. Schiffer; a husbandman ; he led a life of temperance and activity. At Blackheath, ten days after the dec,ase of her yew:l-able husband, Mrs. Blittiaby, aged 76, relict of the Reverend Dr. Burnaby, and heiress of tilt: late J. Edwyn, Esq. of Bcggrave, Leicestershire. On Saturda the gist instant, agel 7'2, E. J. Pine.,;er, Esq. of Bell , Sayagc•yard, y, nvtietv to Fineger, Esq. W e of znarston, \\Tilts. ~~