On
Enquiring Into The State Of Our Business, And The Health Of Our Factory,
Mr Aldworth Informed Me That Paul
Canning and several others had died;
that Thomas Kerridge had long since been agent in his room at the court
Of the Mogul, and that the factory at Surat now only contained himself
and William Bidulph.
[Footnote 124: Mr Richard Stell, or Steel, had gone to Aleppo, to
recover a debt from a merchant of that city, who had fled to India; and,
following him through Persia, Mr Steel had arrived at Surat. On his
report, the factors at Surat made an experiment to open a trade with
Persia, which will form the subject of a future section of this
chapter. - E.]
In the morning of the 17th, I called a council to advise upon the best
manner of conducting our affairs here, and to consider who might be the
best person to send to Agraas resident. Then entering upon the six
interrogatories, inserted in the second article of our commission, I
required Mr Aldworth to give direct answers to every question. - 1. In
what favour was Paul Canning with the emperor and his council, and how
did he conduct himself at court in the business entrusted to him? He
answered, That on his first arrival at court, he was well respected by
the emperor, till the Jesuits made known that he was a merchant, and not
sent immediately from our king; after which he was neglected, as he
himself complained: and, as for his carriage and behaviour there, so far
as he knew, it was sufficiently good; - 3. Then demanding, whether it
were needful to maintain a resident at court? Mr Aldworth answered, That
it was certainly necessary, as the emperor required that one of our
nation should reside there; and therefore, that the person ought to be a
man of good respect, for preventing and counteracting any injuries that
might be offered by the Jesuits, our determined adversaries; as he might
also be extremely useful in promoting and directing the purchase and
sale of various commodities. - 6. Being questioned as to the expences of
a resident at court? he said, according to the estimate of Paul Canning,
it might be about L300 per annum; but, some time afterwards, his
estimate was found to extend to five, six, and seven hundred pounds a
year. - Being afterwards questioned, Whether he thought it fit that Mr
Edwards should proceed to court under the designation of a merchant,
according to the strict letter of the company's commission? his opinion
was, by the experience of the late Mr Canning, that such a resident
would not be at all respected by the king.
In the morning of the 24th, Coge Nozan came down to the water side, and
rested in my tent till I landed. I repaired to him, accompanied by all
our merchants, and attended by a strong guard, armed with halberts,
muskets, and pikes, having a coach to carry me from the landing place to
the tent.
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