058 Transcription - St Helena Letters from England 1754-1761.docx

St Helena Letters from England 1754-1761

Introduction: This is the seventh volume in the series St Helena Letters from England. It includes incoming official correspondence from the East India Company in London to the island’s Governor and Council, conveying directives on government, defence, trade, staffing and supplies. The letters were usually read in consultation and copied or abstracted into the records.

Exact copies of every letter printed in this volume also appear in the first section of the eighth volume in this series, St Helena Letters from England 1754–1777, the only difference between them being the number of pages required, which varies according to whether the handwriting is more expansive or more compact. Unlike the later volume, the last letter in this volume is incomplete.

Source: Images of the original records can be viewed on the British Library’s website: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP1364-1-3-8.

Text Transcription This transcription was produced by AI from handwritten document images held on the British Library's website, at about thirty pages per hour. Given the limitations described below, the text should be regarded as unreliable and used only as a search-and-find shortcut: once a relevant section has been located, it must always be checked against the source image via the hyperlinked Film Numbers listed in the main transcription table below.

Three specific problems affected the work. First, AI tends to prioritise meaning and readability at the expense of fidelity to the original, with a strong disposition to normalise spellings, expand abbreviations, and adjust grammar. It is particularly weak with unfamiliar surnames, and scrawled signatures often resist accurate transcription entirely. Transcriptions by eye of documents spanning four centuries have also shown that a single surname could be written in a wide variety of ways: the Crowie family name appears under six different spellings, and the Isaacs family name under sixteen. Searches for surnames are therefore hindered both by genuine variations in the originals and by mistranscriptions introduced by AI, and for this reason are best run phonetically. Second, the AI struggled with the late secretary hand, the script commonly used from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, in which the letter S appears in a form closely resembling a trailing L. Third, occasional passages in these volumes are written in a hand so obscure or poorly formed as to be difficult to read even by eye, sometimes compounded by heavy ink bleed-through from the reverse side or by the loss of sections of pages.

To mitigate these difficulties, a strict protocol was applied to each image, requiring the AI to rely solely on clearly visible ink strokes and to flag any uncertain reading, thereby reducing the risk of inferred or invented text. Two conventions are used. [...] marks text that could not be read with confidence; this may represent a single unreadable word, a full sentence, or occasionally an entire paragraph. Square brackets around letters or words indicate a conjectural reading supplied by the transcriber: brackets around a whole word, for example [Bazett], mean the entire word was unclear and a probable reading has been supplied, while brackets around individual letters within an otherwise readable word, for example B[a]z[e]tt, mean only those specific letters were unclear in the source and the unbracketed letters were legibly present.

Text Loss: The early pages suffer from significant bleeding of ink from the verso. Many paragraph numbers are also obscured by extensive notes made in the left margins

Referencing Text Locations: A dual numbering system has been adopted, combining the British Library film number with the manuscript’s original page number. These are presented in the format: British Library Film No. / Document Page No.

Pagination: The pagination is unconventional, appearing sequentially only at the bottom left of each verso (left-hand) page, while the recto (right-hand) pages are left unmarked. In other words, each side of the page has the same number. This pagination system has therefore been ignored. The first records appear on Film No. 6, so this is taken as being the first page. The page numbering is then assumed to continue through to the end of the volume.

Dates: The letters in this volume are usually dated at their conclusion. The earliest correspondence is from 18 December 1760, while the final letter is undated due to missing last pages. However, since this last letter is also available in full in the eleventh volume in this series, St Helena Letters from England 1754–1777, it is known to be dated 3 February 1762. As such, the title of this volume is a little inaccurate.

All these letters were sent to England during the administration of Charles Hutchinson (1747-1764).

AI Generated Summary

Introduction

This account consolidates a continuous run of general letters between the Court of Directors of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies and the Governor and Council of St Helena, from the Council’s letter of 28 November 1754 to the letters closing at London in 1761. It is overwhelmingly the voice of the Court, instructing and correcting, so the island appears as the object of orders; the Council’s own letters survive only as they are answered. [Film No. 6–7, 56–57, 106–153]

The years are dominated by war with France, moving from an undeclared state of seizure to open declaration on 18 May 1756 and thence through the Seven Years War to the turning tide of 1760 and 1761. Almost every theme, from gunpowder to the drilling of planters and the routing of ships under convoy, bends around that conflict, played out against the loss and recovery of Calcutta, Lally and D’Aché’s Carnatic campaign and the naval struggle for the eastern trade. The record shows a small, remote and poorly defended island hurriedly made ready for a war fought thousands of miles from its shores. [Film No. 32, 40, 72, 104–105, 141–144]

Being official correspondence, the source serves the Company as an institution and is far less forthcoming about the soldiers, planters and slaves, who appear as numbers, problems or instruments. The narrative arranges the material by theme and reads it against its grain, noting where the evidence is thin and where wider knowledge of the Company and the war illuminates a single letter. [Film No. 6, 40, 56, 89, 106–153]

Governance and Administration

A Governor and Council answerable to the Court of Directors governed the island, and the letter closing at London on 27 November 1754 ranged from the disposal of ships to the reprimand of a single planter. Yet only the men on the spot could judge particular questions, so government rested on a negotiation between London’s will and local knowledge; in its letter of 7 December 1759 the Court continued to the Council full power to raise new defensive works, reserving only the approval of conduct it could not direct in time. [Film No. 12, 17, 113]

Where the full body could not be had, the Council acted by its major part. The form appointing a judge advocate in 1755 repeatedly used that phrase, since members died, sailed or fell sick and no appointment could wait on a full complement rarely to be had. [Film No. 21]

Misconduct was managed by watching and, where needed, removal. In its letter of 27 November 1754 the Court directed the Council to keep a constant eye on Benjamin Mason, a planter judged factious after imposing a false account of cattle for slaughter, and to report on him. By 1756 this had hardened into a general power to send home any person who disobeyed orders, so expulsion became the standard sanction for insubordination. [Film No. 12, 48]

Confidential war business passed through a Secret Committee whose orders bound as if signed by the whole Court. By 1756 the Committee of Secrecy, six directors of whom any three formed a quorum, would send the Governor his instructions in the present dangerous conjuncture, its members named season by season, with note that William Mabbott had quitted the direction. In the letter of about mid-1760 the Court named Laurence Sulivan, chairman, Thomas Rous, deputy chairman, and John Boyd, Christopher Burrow and Peter Godfrey, three forming a quorum, and required all persons to obey; the letter of 1761 shows Charles Cutts in place of Godfrey. Such concentration suited the secrecy and speed war demanded. [Film No. 7, 41, 55, 122–123, 144]

The Court came to treat the island’s offices as fixed establishments, and the settled Governor was Charles Hutchinson, in whom it placed repeated trust. A letter of 3 February 1758 recorded its displeasure that the Lieutenant Governor took every opportunity of making Hutchinson uneasy, and commanded the deputy to behave in a becoming and friendly manner, harmony between senior officers being essential to good government. [Film No. 76]

That friction became a crisis. By a letter of 8 November 1758 the Council had examined the Lieutenant Governor John Adamson and found he had behaved very unbecomingly towards the Governor; worse, Adamson and Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick had employed one Mr Richards to draw plans of the works and fortifications, including a draught of an attack on the town and castle, without the Governor’s knowledge. Judging this a breach of discipline productive of the most prejudicial consequences, the Court unanimously resolved that Adamson, Kirkpatrick and Richards be dismissed and sent home, grounding this in the necessity of supporting the Governor’s authority in time of war. That the danger came from its own senior servants only sharpened it. [Film No. 94–95]

Filling the vacancy proved troublesome. A letter of 8 November 1758 appointed Nicholas Dunbar Lieutenant Governor, second in council and overseer of the plantations, at a salary of £250 0s 0d with diet money of £100 0s 0d, the house in the valley, the rooms at Longwood and the use of some Company slaves, every term recited as his predecessors had held it. Dunbar never took up the post: a letter of 23 March 1758/9 records that he held a commission in his Majesty’s service and could not obtain leave to resign it, so the Court named John Skottowe in his place on the same terms, a serving Crown officer being unable to hold a Crown commission and a Company governorship at once. [Film No. 97, 100]

The Council was enlarged in the same years. A letter of 23 January 1758/9 noted the board had consisted of only three, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant John Clark, and added Matthew Stirling to the civil list with a further £30 a year on his £20 salary. The reconstituted board of Hutchinson, Skottowe, Clark and Stirling held office by commission under the Company’s seal, carried on the Delaware in 1759. The Governor was to manage affairs with the others’ advice and, if equally divided, hold the casting vote, the order of naming fixing succession and seniority should death or absence thin the board. [Film No. 98, 101]

A standing order of 14 January 1761 required every covenanted servant, from the Governor to the lowest, to give twelve months’ notice before leaving, and all others a month, with departure barred until accounts were settled and debts paid, each intended departure advertised in the most public places. Control of exit became the lever enforcing every obligation before a person passed beyond reach. [Film No. 139–140]

The letter of 31 December 1760 carried a constitutional duty. On the death of George II, who died suddenly on 25 October 1760, the Court transmitted the proclamation of George III, enclosing the exact form and Secretary Pitt’s letter of 29 October 1760 requiring the like proclamation throughout the Company’s eastern jurisdiction. The island was to proclaim the new king in the same words as every place under British authority, the Court acting here as an arm of government that left no room for local variation. [Film No. 136–138]

Beyond St Helena the Court reshaped its eastern government. The letter of about mid-1760 recorded that it had ended Sumatra’s dependence on Fort St George and placed Fort Marlborough under its own Governor, President and council, with a royal charter preparing to constitute civil and criminal courts and a court of requests, the island to address the new presidency accordingly. This elevation of Bencoolen matched the growth of the Company’s affairs. [Film No. 133]

Military Affairs and Defence

Defence is the most urgent and continuous concern, tracking relations with France closely. As early as 27 November 1754 the Court linked the fortifications to a possible rupture, pressing the Council to keep every work in respectable condition, since a declaration of war would at once make the island and its shipping a target and repairs left undone in peace could not be made good once hostilities began. [Film No. 14]

The Crown’s direct involvement appears in the squadron sent east under Rear Admiral Charles Watson. By the letter of late 1754 His Majesty had ordered a body of land forces, Colonel John Aldercron’s regiment of foot of 815 men and a detachment of 78 from the Royal Regiment of Artillery, to the Coromandel coast, marking the escalation of the Carnatic struggle into a matter of national arms. The correspondence prescribed the exact honours St Helena was to pay, 15 guns for the Admiral and 13 for a Commodore, each returned gun for gun. [Film No. 8, 9]

The small garrison served as its own labour force. Lacking hired hands and repeatedly disappointed of the slaves promised from Fort St George, the island could raise its batteries, barracks and hospital only by turning soldiers into builders, the Court authorising additional pay or provisions for such labour. This improvisation recurs across the seasons and exposes the fragility of a defence resting on a handful of soldiers doing double duty. [Film No. 14, 32, 46]

As the crisis deepened, instructions grew specific. In its letter of 12 October 1755 the Court ordered the Council to complete the fortifications, erect additional batteries and put the island in the best posture of defence at once, singling out the battery at Bank’s as much out of repair, and requiring the exactest discipline and the arming of the planters. It was alarmed to learn only belatedly of a deficiency in the military stores received by the Dragon, such a gap left unreported being perilous when surprise attack was the danger to be guarded against. [Film No. 31, 32]

With the declaration of war on 18 May 1756 defence became a settled programme. The Court recommended attending to the fortifications, the discipline of the garrison and the forming of the planters into proper parties kept in constant exercise, the regular garrison being too small to hold the island without an armed and drilled militia of the whole free population. Recruitment stayed a chronic difficulty, the Court doubting in 1756 whether it could raise even 60 recruits, since army and navy competed for the same men. [Film No. 40, 47]

Manpower stayed the first concern. By a letter of December 1757 the Court had resolved to add about 80 recruits, procured with great difficulty, bringing the garrison above 400 men and, it deemed, able to resist such force as the enemy might send. It confirmed the liberty to appoint the officers really requisite, preferring this to forming a new company, the artillery drawn from the existing companies. The reinforcement continued, a letter of 8 November 1758 sending about 20 recruits by the Earl of Holderness and a further 10 by the Delaware, so that none intended for the west coast were to be detained. [Film No. 67–68, 82, 95]

Beyond the garrison the Court looked to the planters as a militia. By December 1757 it trusted that, their property lying at stake, they were officered and regularly trained to yield effectual assistance, a regular garrison being hard to reinforce in wartime. It trusted too that the slaves, from whom the least might be expected, were kept in a posture to yield all the service required. [Film No. 68]

Fear of espionage ran through the orders. A letter of December 1757 commanded that no person take plans of the fortifications or any place of offence or defence without the Governor’s leave, and that private plans be collected into official custody; the same fear underlay the dismissals of Adamson and Kirkpatrick, and a letter of 23 January 1758/9 directed a strict enquiry whether they or Richards retained any drafts. The anxiety reached ordinary movement, the December 1757 letter approving standing orders of 13 December and 3 January for the coming in of all boats and slaves on alarms, preventing fires on the hills or near the sea at night and keeping improper persons from the battery at Sandy Bay, since a night light could guide a hostile ship. [Film No. 67, 98]

Supplying the means of defence was a running theme. By a letter of about 1757 the Court sent 100 barrels of gunpowder despite the hazard of lading so much, enjoining frequent surveys and proper stowage lest it decay and destroy its own magazine, and sent the 10,000 sandbags desired, though cheaper had from India. By 1758 the powder proved surplus, and a letter of 8 November 1758 directed the excess to Fort Marlborough. The defences drew steady attention, a letter of 6 February 1759/60 approving a bombproof magazine at Rupert’s and progress on another at the fort, securing the powder against bombardment. [Film No. 64–65, 82, 119]

Ordnance was managed for accountability and current practice. The letter of 7 December 1759 struck the platform beds ordered for the howitzers, no longer used in the King’s service since the piece fired from its carriage, and directed the Company’s marks engraved on the barrels, locks and bayonets of small arms and each piece numbered, so a weapon lost, stolen or sold could be traced; the remaining brass field pieces and howitzers followed on the Royal Duke when not ready for the Triton. The same letter overrode the island’s plea that it could spare no gunpowder for Fort Marlborough, holding a return of 11 April showing upwards of 670 barrels in store, and compelled the transfer. [Film No. 111, 120]

Discipline was enforced without regard to rank. The letter of 7 December 1759 approved the confinement and suspension of Lieutenant Samuel Bree for neglecting to report Thomas Dunn, a soldier who had grossly insulted him on guard, the fault lying in breaking the procedure rather than suffering the insult. The letter of about mid-1760 commended the fine on Daniel Fowkes for insulting the commander of the militia’s flying party during a double alarm for sixteen ships, indiscipline being gravest when danger was highest. To reward officers, the December 1759 letter made the four first lieutenants of the four infantry companies captains at 10s a day each in full for diet and house rent, from the arrival of the Triton. [Film No. 113, 115, 131]

The Court submitted reluctantly to unauthorised spending. The Council had added an extraordinary sergeant and corporal to each company beyond permission, but with the enemy in sight and the measure argued in the consultation of 12 February 1759/60 it absorbed the charge, wartime danger overriding its rule on prior sanction. It pressed for frequent strict surveys of the fortifications, stores and gunpowder, treating readiness as constant upkeep. [Film No. 115, 132]

The war reached the island directly. A letter carried by the Triton in 1759 recorded three French ships, the Achilles of 64 guns, the Syren of 32 and the Zephyr of 30, cruising to windward from 5 March to 23 May 1759, having come from Brest by way of the Cape of Good Hope; the estate had been particularly, yet ineffectually, threatened, and the Court lodged standing power in a secret committee of three to order the defence of shipping and estate. The island answered with its own initiative, a longboat fitted out under Richard Bendy to warn returning ships, though it fell into enemy hands on 16 April 1759. The Court judged the means highly commendable though the object failed, and the French commodore exchanged the prisoners, except Bendy and a privateersman, against others Captain Hume had received aboard the Fox at Bengal. [Film No. 104–105]

The threatened invasion of Britain raised the danger again. The letter of 7 December 1759 explained it had drained recruits from distant garrisons, the Crown’s levies having first call, so the Court promised only its best endeavours, thirty recruits nonetheless coming by the ship then sailing. It managed its scarce soldiers as a mobile resource: the letter of 6 February 1759/60 allowed the island to detain Bengal-bound recruits who could be prevailed on to stay, counted against the next season’s list, and the letter of about mid-1760 repeated the arrangement, sending any surplus beyond the thirty wanted on to other settlements. [Film No. 106, 113, 121, 133]

Judiciary, Crime and Punishment

A substantial body of the correspondence concerns military justice, driven by the approach of war. A private company had no inherent power to try men under military law, and the civil courts could not deal with mutiny or desertion, so until Parliament acted the garrison’s discipline rested on uncertain ground. The Court obtained an Act of Parliament, in the twenty-ninth year of George the Second, for punishing mutiny, desertion and other offences by its troops at St Helena, forwarding it with the Articles of War established by the Crown. [Film No. 18]

The shipping season shaped even this. The Act passed so late in the session that the ship sailed before the Royal Assent, and rather than lose a year the Court forwarded it as it stood, trusting the Assent would follow, as the letter closing on 27 November 1755 records. [Film No. 18]

The new code was introduced with careful scruple. In 1755 the Council was to publish the Act by reading it before the garrison under arms, fixing the moment from which every man was held to the Articles, and each soldier was then asked whether he would continue in the service subject to them for his contracted time, his answer entered, since men had enlisted under an older civil arrangement. By 1756 the Court reasoned that the soldiers, having heard the Articles and continued to receive pay, were completely enlisted and liable under the Act. [Film No. 19, 49]

The forms of 1755 kept ultimate power in civil hands through a two-stage structure. A court martial of a president and not less than four other commissioned officers could pronounce sentence, but none was executed or made public until confirmed by the Governor and Council. The judge advocate was to record whatever made for the prisoner as well as against him, most carefully where life was at stake, and to set down the court’s reasons, the apparatus supplying exact wording for conviction, acquittal and the article breached, as a template for a bench that met rarely and lacked a trained lawyer. [Film No. 22, 23, 24]

The Court hedged this authority with oversight, insisting the Council keep strictly to the Act and transmit copies of all court-martial proceedings home. By 1755 it was satisfied the garrison had agreed to continue under the Articles and pressed for as much lenity as the service would admit, wary that harsh usage might drive men to desert. The office of judge advocate went to Mr Richard Beale, confirmed by 1756 an allowance of £40 0s 0d a year. [Film No. 20, 33, 34, 48]

Justice was otherwise built case by case. A letter of about 1757 met a suspected murder, the loss of a black man from a fishing boat thought killed by those with him, by directing the Council to examine the island’s records for precedents, and ordered that any person convicted of murder suffer the most severe punishment due so heinous a crime, the generality reflecting the limits of governing justice four months away. [Film No. 65, 66]

The island’s limited capacity threw hard cases back on home. A letter of about 1758/9 gave leave, meanwhile, to send to England any person too dangerous to keep, with a full account, and named William Cooksey, a soldier proved guilty of embezzling the Company’s flour. The island had repeatedly asked to be satisfied it held ample powers to punish criminals, and the letter of 1761 answered formally, transmitting its counsel’s directions in a separate letter kept free of other business so it might be produced before the criminal courts as clean evidence of jurisdiction, hoping to see the powers discharged with justice tempered by mercy. [Film No. 93, 152]

Trade discipline was enforced through shipboard authority. A letter of 23 March 1758/9 recorded unlicensed goods aboard the Delaware belonging to Captain James Quallett, dismissed from command as a just example to deter others, Captain William Larkins appointed in his place. Larkins was directed to search at delivery and enter in his journal an exact account of the quantity, quality, mark, number and value of any contraband, the marks tracing each parcel to its owner. The letter of 1761 questioned how John Melody could be styled a deserter from the snow Mercury when under the island’s power and the vessel still there, yet held that a true breach of contract forfeited even his wages. [Film No. 102–103, 147]

The Court also watched the island’s ordinary order. In its letter of 27 November 1754 it took up the clandestine retailing of liquor, a liberty to buy drink from ships turned unlicensed trade feeding drunkenness among slaves and free people alike, directing sale be confined to licensed houses with such penalties as the Council thought reasonable. The concern endured, the letter of about mid-1760 endorsing fines on William Hayes and Thomas Harper for debauching the Company’s military and slaves by unlicensed sale of strong liquors. [Film No. 13, 131]

Disorderly young men troubled the Court. In 1755 it met the Council’s account of thefts and mischiefs by a set of young fellows who associated with the blacks not by harsher punishments but by removal, directing that any irreclaimable be shipped off at the first opportunity, the real threat lying in the alliance between unruly whites and the slaves. [Film No. 31]

Manipulating information about supply was itself an offence. In its letter of 17 November 1756 the Court wished the Council had discovered the person, said to belong to the island, who had spread aboard His Majesty’s ship the Hampshire a report that there was plenty of cattle for slaughter if the Council would permit its sale, such a rumour undermining the regulation of the herd and stirring discontent among crews. [Film No. 52]

Serious offenders drew open detestation and estates close attention. The letter of about mid-1760 looked with detestation on the villainous incendiary Thomas Byrne, commending his removal, and noted the fine on Mr Law for the unprovoked abuse of William Moore. The letter of 7 December 1759 policed the estate of the deceased John Morgan, whose two soldier executors acknowledged that a general bequest to them was a drafting error and renounced any claim to the rest, protecting any valid later will. The same letter dismissed Mr Adamson for embezzling and selling furniture and old iron and, more gravely, for letting copies of the Court’s registers and consultations pass out of hand without authority, a worse failing than the theft; from it the Court built a standing rule that every holder of Company property sign a matching inventory kept by both sides, the letter of 6 February 1759/60 recording the papers recovered from Adamson’s widow. [Film No. 113–114, 119, 131]

Settlement, Land and Agriculture

The Company shaped the island’s agriculture to provision the fleet. In its letter of 27 November 1754 the Court reported sending a parcel of fruit trees and undertook to do so yearly, directing that once its own plantations were stocked the rest be distributed among planters with gardens, so the homeward shipping might be better supplied. The provision continued into later seasons, a deliberate programme of horticulture aimed at passing ships. [Film No. 11, 12, 38]

Cultivation met a persistent natural adversary. In a letter of about 1755 the Court expressed sorrow at the great damage the young trees suffered in the Long Wood from rats and mice, offering any assistance from England to destroy them, a reminder that the island’s efforts against a barren soil were fought against pests too. [Film No. 34]

As the war drew on, the health of herds and crops became a strategic anxiety. The letter of 7 December 1759 recorded unease that the country and cattle were not in the condition earlier reported, for want of rain, a drought threatening the meat and produce the calling ships depended on, which is why the Court pressed steadily for the increase of stock. The letter of about mid-1760 noted the unfavourable weather and relief at recovery, and the letter of 1761 was eased that an inflammatory disorder afflicting the island in July had not proved mortal, declaring the health, plenty and prosperity of the island points the Court always delighted to be assured of. [Film No. 112, 130, 143]

A protracted exchange concerned cattle disease and its cause. The letter of 1761 recorded that a sample of the grass called canary, sent only by the captured Ajax, never reached the Court, which insisted such material particulars travel by at least two conveyances. Though proper judges found the grass harmless, the Court thought it right to eradicate it while suspicion remained, enclosing a known inoffensive sample from the Isle of Thanet for comparison and asking that island grass in seed be sent by different opportunities. When the island’s own resources broke down it reached nearer, the letter of 1761 endorsing a recruit of cattle from the Cape of Good Hope given the decrease of stock from disorders and the unusually small bread, urging the method be repeated until want was no longer feared. [Film No. 152–153]

Local ordinances regulated land and stock. The letter of about mid-1760 endorsed rules concerning the black cattle, the number of horses and who might keep them, the suppression of trespass, the forbidding of cattle on particular spots at certain periods and measures against the sale of stolen goods, the Governor and Council legislating much as a municipal authority, their by-laws gaining force from the Court’s approval. [Film No. 131]

Supply and Provisioning

St Helena could neither feed nor arm itself, and supply is among the densest themes. It depended on an annual store ship, and the letter of 27 November 1754 took the exceptional step of setting apart a whole vessel, the Exeter, to carry timber and materials for the barracks and hospital, warning this was not to be expected again, the ordinary practice being one ship for both St Helena and the west coast of Sumatra. [Film No. 9, 10]

Competing demands on the cattle expose a real tension. Captain Oliver’s Grantham had taken 31 head weighing 10,229 pounds, which the Council warned could not be afforded yearly without risking its own charter ships or the market, and the Court left apportionment to the Council so that every ship had a reasonable proportion. The herd’s reservation for Company shipping made the drain by foreign vessels a grievance, brought to a head when, in the 1755 correspondence, the French vessel called the East India Company carried off no fewer than 25 head and a proportionable quantity of other livestock, more than any Company ship that season save the Exeter, an abuse of the refreshment allowed in amity on the eve of open war. [Film No. 12, 13, 28]

War reshaped provisioning toward overstocking. In its letter of 12 October 1755 the Court sent larger proportions of flour, beef and pork than asked, judging hostilities would swell the ships and men passing through and make resupply less certain, and attended to the demand for salt provisions. Wood was as pressing a scarcity: by 1756 the Council warned the shipping’s demand for fuel would exhaust the island of wood, and the Court shifted the burden onto the ships, inserting a clause in every commander’s instructions to lay in fuel and live provisions in India for the whole homeward voyage, with a margin for an extraordinary stay. [Film No. 29, 51]

The want of small craft was met from the passing fleet. Boats were indispensable for watering and working cargo yet hard to send out whole, so the Court gave standing permission to buy them from any commander who could spare one, approving in 1756 Captain Glover’s longboat and, earlier, other captains’ craft, and expected commanders who borrowed the island’s longboats to repair the damage or be charged. [Film No. 28, 45]

Feeding the island stayed poised between local plenty and dependence on home. A letter of about 1757 welcomed the thriving stock, pastures and plantations against a standing worry over salt provisions and flour. The staple supply was considerable, a letter of about November 1758 setting the season’s principal articles by the Earl of Holderness and Delaware at about 90 tons of beef and pork, 400 barrels or 70 tons of flour, 75 barrels of gunpowder and 10 chaldrons of coal. Yet distance hobbled supply, the same letter providing against the previous year’s indents, the current not having arrived, so the Court often guessed at needs from stale requests. [Film No. 61, 81]

The Court brought empiricism to victualling across long hot voyages. A letter of about November 1758 directed that Irish beef for the Delaware be expended before the English and the Council report precisely how it kept, making the island a testing ground for future sourcing. Weighing the flour caused friction, a letter of about 1758/9 examining a complaint of a deficiency of 14 hundredweight, 2 quarters, 22 pounds in the flour sent by the Egmont, and of its bad quality; unable to account for the shortfall, the Court directed flour be weighed cask by cask before the ship’s purser and any deficiency certified, defending its long-standing contractor. [Film No. 81, 90–91]

When shortage threatened, the island drew on passing traffic. A letter of about 1757 recommended applying to homeward commanders for whatever they could spare at reasonable rates, and a letter of 13 February 1758/9 pressed the same for beef and pork when room could hardly be found on the Company’s ships, the Delaware being so laden she could take them only after her bulky articles were cleared. A small standing arrangement of about 1758/9 let the Council demand a bale of coffee yearly from any Company Mocha ship, taking care to give receipts. [Film No. 63, 92, 101]

The last seasons show a perishable reserve managed against a long passage. The letter of 7 December 1759 put 150 casks each of beef and pork aboard with 100 casks more of flour than asked, directing the oldest used first since several ships might draw on the magazine. A full storehouse became an instrument of economy, the letter of about mid-1760 sending no salt provisions on account of the large remains and urging the old stock be run down by supplying passing ships, Company and foreign. A letter of 1761 itemised 20 tons of flour, English and Irish beef and pork, and 20 tons of Purbeck stone. [Film No. 110, 128, 149]

Communication lag worked steadily against supply. The letter of 6 February 1759/60 noted goods shipped before the island’s indent arrived, so it received too much of some articles while its requests waited a season, and a letter of 1761 found it had indented for far more than needed because its account of remains was months out of date and omitted goods already landed, ordering the reckoning reformed. Cargo space was a constant constraint, the same February 1759/60 letter recording 145 barrels of flour taken out of the Royal Duke, being too deeply laden, so a promised surplus became a shortfall of 45 barrels, arranged to follow on the Prince Henry. [Film No. 121, 130, 150]

The Court protected breeding stock and steered the island toward controlled sources. The letter of about mid-1760 enjoined commanders to supply themselves with livestock in India for the homeward voyage so the island’s animals might increase, and the letter of 1761 repeated it and extended it to fuel, sending coals for the island’s dearth of wood. The mid-1760 letter also questioned dependence on private rice, the island’s figures showing wide price swings, and pressed it to indent from Bengal; the end of direct west-coast sailings, noted on 7 December 1759, meant sugar must come through Fort St George, the China trade taking priority. [Film No. 110, 127, 128, 129, 146, 151]

Trade and Shipping

The island’s importance lay in its place on the sea road home, and the correspondence is full of shipping. Each season the Court set out the names, tonnages, commanders and stations of the East Indiamen, tracing trading circuits: a ship for the Coast and China touched the Coromandel coast before Canton, one for the Coast and Bay served that coast and then the Bay of Bengal, and a Madeira ship loaded wine outward, spreading one voyage across several markets. [Film No. 6, 7, 26]

A striking uniformity in the tonnages rewards attention, for the record treats it as deliberate understatement. Vessel after vessel is rated at 499 tons. Ships of 500 tons or above had to carry a chaplain and bore heavier charges, larger crews or stricter manning, so owners registered greater ships at 499 to fall just below the line; the genuinely smaller Delaware at 425 tons, Royal Duke at 490 and Portfield at 400 were entered at their real figures. Against this the Pitt, at her true 600 tons with 50 guns and 250 men, stands out because reserved for some undisclosed service of force. [Film No. 6, 26, 58, 107, 123–124]

War drew the Company into owning ships of force. A letter of about 1757 recorded a three-deck ship of 400 tons building for its own service, to mount 24 guns and be named the Admiral Watson after the admiral commanding in the East, and a letter of about November 1758 added the Royal George, newly built, of 400 tons, 80 men and 20 guns, marking how far the conflict pushed a company that ordinarily hired its shipping toward a private navy. Even so, the Admiral Watson was worked into trade, a letter of 3 February 1758 recording she would go first to Gombroon with woollen goods, then to Bombay, earning her keep as a trader before her naval duties. [Film No. 58, 73, 75, 79]

Her chief employment was carrying intelligence, showing how war elevated communication. Principally an advice vessel, her destination left open, she might return from Bombay or another presidency, since her movement followed the flow of news, and a letter of about November 1758 likewise reserved the packet and the Syren and Diligent sloops for whatever services arose. Speed was prized above freight, the letter of 7 December 1759 fitting out the Syren snow, about 100 tons and 26 men under Captain Thomas Warner, purely to carry early advices; yet speed could be defeated, the letter of 1761 showing the snow London held at Spithead until 18 November 1760 by contrary winds and want of convoy. [Film No. 59, 75, 79, 107, 145]

Shipping was managed for dispatch, since time in port cost money and, in war, risked a season. The Court pressed the Council to unload within charter-party time and protest formally against any dilatory commander, grounding a claim of damages. Its diversion of the China ship Griffin to call first at St Helena with military stores in 1755, at the risk of her Canton season, shows it bending its most time-sensitive voyage to the island’s defence while pressing for diligence in unloading. Saleable ballast solved a recurring delay: in 1756 it permitted Captain Hinde of the Onslow to carry about 40 tons of flint to sell in China, trimming the ship and removing any pretext of a want of dead weight. [Film No. 27, 44]

The pressure to discharge grew sharper as charges rose. The letter of about mid-1760 urged clearing the Prince Henry within her time, both for her early arrival at Canton and to avoid the increased wartime demurrage, and the letter of 1761 fixed the limit at ten working days, accepting the island’s reasons for a single day’s delay on that ship. A companion letter records freight raised to forty shillings a ton and wartime demurrage to a penny a day, where it had stood at ninepence. [Film No. 124, 126, 146]

The Company still reached for new markets. In 1756 the Court sent the Onslow, after delivering her cargo, on to Batavia and then Limpo in China, pursuing a trade it had much at heart. Limpo, or Ningpo, offered an alternative to the crowded Canton trade, and the island was made permanent custodian of a hand-to-hand correspondence, each returning Limpo ship leaving a letter for the next outward vessel. [Film No. 43, 52, 53]

War drew the shipping into Crown service on a growing scale. The letter of about mid-1760 recorded that the tonnage demanded for naval victualling and stores for the King’s ships and troops in India obliged the Court to hire three large ships, the Chesterfield and Norfolk of 600 tons and the General Lawrence of 650 tons, for one voyage out, and an earlier letter of about early 1760 the purchase of the 850-ton Earl Temple to carry the soldiers designed for India, the chartered Indiamen being too small. The Company treated its own ships as movable assets, keeping the Admiral Watson and Earl Temple in India an extra year or disposing of them there, while the Pitt, sent out rated as a man of war, had not answered and was returned to mercantile footing. [Film No. 118, 124]

The homeward passage was the moment of greatest danger, and convoy the answer. A letter of 3 November 1756 gave particular thanks to Captain O’Brien for convoying five ships safely home, a lone Indiaman being easy prey in war. The perils are vivid for 1758: a letter of 8 November 1758 traced a convoy that left St Helena under the Colchester and met a hard gale on 8 October which scattered them, the Caernarvon falling in with a French squadron returning from Quebec and taken by a 64-gun ship, then retaken by the Somerset of Admiral Boscawen’s squadron returning from Louisbourg and carried safe to Milford Haven, its fate turning on the Atlantic campaigns. [Film No. 57, 84]

The wider scattering is set out in a letter of about 1758/9. Of 11 ships that sailed under the Colchester on 16 July 1758, all but the Caernarvon and Falmouth reached Cork and Kinsale on 25 October, the Falmouth arriving at Greenock in a sickly, distressed condition on 6 November, and the York stranded and wrecked near the mouth of the Shannon, her crew saved but two bales of Surat goods lost. Convoy guarded against the enemy but not the weather. The Falmouth’s state points to a cost in men, a long passage breeding scurvy and fever, which gives point to the Court’s repeated stress, in a letter of about 1758, that the island’s principal use was to refresh the homeward shipping. [Film No. 86–87, 89]

Convoy reshaped the homeward passage into a managed movement. The letter of about mid-1760 recorded sixteen vessels coming home together under Admiral Brereton’s orders with the Rippon and Colchester as escort, the island’s road serving as an assembly point. Dispersal reached into government, a letter of about 1758/9 recording ships driven to Irish and Scottish ports kept aboard the account books needed in London, so the Court directed book packets be forwarded from the first port of arrival. The loss of the Ajax, taken on 5 March 1760/61 by the French Protée fifteen leagues off Scilly, proved the danger, though Captain Maitland had commendably destroyed his packets. [Film No. 88, 122, 141]

Timely arrival mattered beyond cargo, since the great packets carried the account books on which oversight depended. In 1756 the Court admitted the want of those packets had laid it under many difficulties, a season without them leaving the Directors unable to audit their eastern establishments, and it pressed for greater precision in the abstracts of returning cargoes and for the packets sent up under a trusty person from the first British or Irish port. The later consignments read as a yearly deployment plan, the letter of 1761 showing a heavy clustering of Madeira calls across the outbound fleet, so that island served the outward passage as St Helena served the homeward, staggered departures from late January to late March spacing the sailings. [Film No. 41, 42, 107, 123, 144–145]

Slavery and Coerced Labour

The island’s works and much of its labour depended on slaves, drafted from the Company’s other eastern settlements. In the 1755 letters the Court noted the President and Council of Fort St George had been ordered to supply about 30 Coffree slaves and had promised compliance, directing the Council to enforce the former orders. Coffree, or Kaffir, slaves were Africans shipped east through the Company’s Indian ports. That dependence proved fragile: in 1756 the Court was sorry Fort St George could not after all supply the 30 slaves, leaving no alternative but to continue employing the soldiery on the fortifications, their reluctance bought with additional pay. [Film No. 29, 46]

Slaves appear too as instruments of the Company’s works and figures in its social anxieties. When an extraordinary shower of rain on 28 July 1756 damaged the fortifications, the Court approved turning the island’s whole strength to repairs, employing the soldiers with as many Company slaves as could be spared. The clandestine liquor trade of 1755 was said to work to the great prejudice of both blacks and whites, and the thefts of young white men who associated with the slaves drew concern, the danger lying in the alliance between disorderly free men and the slaves. [Film No. 13, 31, 50]

Slaves were woven into the establishment as an ordinary perquisite of office, the Lieutenant Governor’s terms reciting the use of some Company slaves as earlier holders had been indulged. The defensive orders show them both relied on and distrusted, the December 1757 letter approving standing orders for the coming in of all boats and slaves on alarms and trusting the slaves, from whom the least might be expected, were kept in a posture to yield all service in case of attack. Building the fortifications drew on slave labour supplemented by soldiers, the same letter permitting the Court’s soldiery on the works at reasonable rates when the slaves’ labour was insufficient. [Film No. 67–68, 97, 100]

The wish to supply slaves collided with the island’s use for transportation. A letter of about 1757 forbade the further transport of malefactors and dissolute persons from India, so far as that did not prevent supplying as many useful slaves as could be procured, the Court drawing a line between the persons it excluded and the slaves it sought. The Madagascar voyages of the Diligent and Prince Henry sloops, noted in the mid-1760 letter for the purchase of slaves for Fort Marlborough, show that traffic recorded as a routine item alongside tea and textiles. [Film No. 66, 123, 131–132]

The last seasons record the Company’s slaves as property to be recovered, moved and disciplined, value rather than justice governing. The letter of 6 February 1759/60 directed enquiry into the concealment and elopement of the Company’s slave Essex aboard the Bombay Castle, that anyone who aided him be made sensible of the offence, and that he be returned, the mid-1760 letter recording Essex sent back on the Admiral Watson. Two runaways make the calculation of worth explicit: Grewer, a coffree deserted on the Hector, was returned despite having been punished, precisely because, bred a mason, he must be very serviceable, and on his contrition was promised no correction for the desertion. That leniency was later judged a mistake, the letter of 1761 finding the mercy misapplied and apt to breed further desertion. [Film No. 120, 134, 153]

Bonded labour moved between settlements by need, the mid-1760 letter conveying slaves skilled in rough stone from St Helena to Fort Marlborough, which had represented how serviceable such men would prove. Desertion by way of the ships was a mounting problem, the harbour proving the weak point for holding slaves and soldiers alike; the mid-1760 letter called for sentinels at the water side, permits for any soldier or slave going off and a muster on return, and a companion letter of 1761 set the scheme out in detail. The Court distinguished its own property from private owners’: a letter of 1761 recorded the privately owned slave Dolphin, secreted aboard the Tilbury, returned at the ship’s expense, but warned careless owners could not expect such trouble again, and its claim proved ineffectual when a soldier and a coffree who stowed away on the King’s ship Yarmouth were absorbed into the fleet. [Film No. 132, 134–135]

The Court weighed even the method of punishment as cold policy. The mid-1760 letter asked whether the frequent severe corporal punishments on slaves rendered them more obdurate, and whether imprisonment on scanty diet might answer better except for flagrant crimes, treating discipline as a problem of preserving value rather than a question of humanity. [Film No. 131–132]

Finance, Currencies and Accounting

The Company’s accounts formed a single ledger across the world, sums passing between St Helena and London without money crossing the sea. A share of a deceased father’s estate, due to a granddaughter on the island, was paid into the island’s cash and answered by the Court against its account current, so a legacy of £122 13s 0¾ d moved between the two ends of the voyage through the books alone. [Film No. 12]

The control of bullion in transit is a constant refrain. Treasure consigned east was the working capital for eastern goods, chests passing through St Helena for Fort Marlborough; the Council could break into it only under real necessity, chest by chest and never beyond one in the whole, every chest reported at once to Fort Marlborough. The Court judged from the island’s cash returns how much it would need, directing that no treasure be touched when the balance was good, and matched coin to need, a letter of 3 February 1758 marking the chests the Council might open as SH 341 and 342, of the proper species for the island. [Film No. 11, 29, 36, 54, 76]

The Court distinguished accommodating the Crown from serving foreigners. A letter of about 1757 approved charging no premium on the £500 0s 0d lent to his Majesty’s ship Colchester, the public service having a concern, yet pressed that such loans be avoided to spare the Company’s low cash, and held that cash to foreign ships be charged constantly at 30 per cent. Cash supply followed the same principle of spreading risk, a letter of about 1757 sending two chests of treasure by one ship with two more from the west-coast consignment only in real want, so no more specie was exposed at sea than need required. [Film No. 63, 69–70]

Bills of exchange demanded exactness the island did not always supply. A letter of about 1757 condemned drawing bills at less sight than 90 days and forbade it, and objected to bills payable to whoever paid in the cash, a covert manner inviting fraud, insisting bills name the true owner. The perils of careless paper are set out for 1758, a letter of about 1758/9 cataloguing discrepancies between the same letters sent by the Colchester and Prince Edward, with paragraphs omitted, a bill to Archibald Grant entered as £600 0s 0d in one and £620 0s 0d in the other, and a bill to George Cuming as £300 0s 0d against £350 0s 0d. The duplicating meant to guard against loss introduced contradiction, and the Court blamed the Council’s secretary, warning he would be thought unfit for that or any station if such marks continued. [Film No. 70, 96–97]

The settlement of the late Governor Goodwin’s estate, across the 1754 and 1755 letters, shows the rule for an insolvent account. Goodwin had defrauded the Company in the island’s rents and estates, and named creditors pressed claims years after his death, from Captain Steuart owed over £60 to planters owed smaller sums. The admitted debts of over £254 exceeded the balance of some £140 the estate owed the Company, so no creditor was paid in full and each got a rateable proportion, the distribution completed across two continents, most paid at St Helena while Captain Hunter’s proportion of £24 10s 9d was answered to his executrix in London. [Film No. 15, 16, 34]

The bond binding junior servants appears in the requirement of sureties at home. Appointed a writer for five years, Mr Charles Steward had to find two persons in England to stand surety in the sum of £500 0s 0d before confirmation, a guarantee against embezzlement by a clerk employed thousands of miles away; by 1755 neither Steward nor William Wrangham had produced their sureties. Safeguards surrounded a lost bill too, the Court requiring security, an indemnity and the surrender of the surviving third bill before it would pay Lieutenant Scott the £30 0s 0d his wife’s bills represented, lest the debt be claimed twice. [Film No. 14, 34, 35]

Defective accounting could obscure profit and loss. A letter of about 1758/9 recorded puzzlement at a reported loss of £85 11s 5½ d on beef and pork sold to the garrison under prime cost, when the quantities and prices delivered nowhere appeared, and pressed for a full accounting. Incomplete records could stall even a small settlement between the two companies, a letter of 6 February 1759/60 recording a delay in repaying the £9 9s 0d advanced to French prisoners on the Worcester, Prince George and Bombay Castle, because the lists gave the men by surname only when their Christian names and family were needed to recover the sum from the French Company. [Film No. 92, 120]

The Court guarded its specie as capital and steered cash needs toward bills. The letter of 7 December 1759 permitted one or two chests but urged forbearance without evident necessity, and a following letter pressed the point after Captain Mears paid the island £1,000 without taking its drafts. This hardened into settled instruction, the letters of about mid-1760 and 1761 advising the island to leave consigned treasure aboard under a St Helena bill of lading and forward it to the supercargoes at Canton to buy tea, raising its own cash by drafts on London, since idle bullion earned nothing while the same chests served the investment. [Film No. 110, 116, 128, 149–150]

The Court policed its bills with continuing care. The letter of 7 December 1759 flagged as very irregular the endorsement of £10 off a bill for £115 from Fort St George, payable to Edward Biggs, and a following letter directed even a deposited sum be settled by conditional bills against surrender of the island’s receipt. Careful audit governed writing-off losses, the mid-1760 letter allowing £120 19s 8d struck for furniture, boats and other perishable articles and the 1761 letter a discharge of £67 18s 1d for leakage and casualties, both allowed because the annual storehouse inspection kept deficiencies honest. The Court watched how the island bought too, querying an unexplained difference in the cost of two parcels of rice from Captains Kidderman and Evans, and directing in 1761 that salt provisions from homeward commanders be bought by weight rather than by the piece. [Film No. 115–116, 119, 129, 130, 151–152]

Economy

The war at home shaped supply at the furthest station. A letter of about 1757 recorded flour generally prohibited from export, lifted only by a special exception in the Company’s favour by Act of Parliament, so St Helena’s bread depended not only on harvest and shipping but on an Act carving out its right to the flour. The exemption bound the island’s paperwork to the state, a letter of about 1757 requiring documents in triplicate for the officers of the Crown and a letter of about 1758 a certificate for the flour landed in a form supplied by his Majesty’s Customs. [Film No. 63, 64, 83, 91]

Ceremony was economised under the powder shortage. A letter of about 1758/9 recorded new regulations that commanders make no salutes with guns beyond those prescribed, saluting otherwise with cheers after the practice of the navy, sparing the powder the war made precious. Prudent policy had unintended effects, candidly recognised: a letter of about 1757 reasoned the island’s surprising demand for sugar and candy arose from the Court’s own earlier warning not to rely on a single west-coast ship, so the Council now over-ordered. [Film No. 64, 88]

The island was a node in a connected eastern economy. The mid-1760 letter records three sets of mill stones for grinding sugar canes, bought at Canton in 1759 for the manufactory at Fort Marlborough and amounting to 250 taels, routed through St Helena on the Walpole and Egmont for the west coast, a Bencoolen manufactory drawing its stones from China by way of an Atlantic island. The Court used its settlements to test materials, the same letter sending pitch already preferred in the King’s service and asking whether it answered better than before, and the 1761 letter declining to condemn its flour contractors, men of established character, without samples of the faulty part, and relaying a supplier’s assurance that new tiles were soft by nature and would harden. [Film No. 128–129, 150–151]

Perishable and prize goods were turned to what value they could yield. The letter of 7 December 1759 directed goods liable to decay put up to public sale after a strict survey, and a companion letter records 1,600 gallons of French prize brandy shipped for the island’s use, the mid-1760 letter answering a complaint that the prize brandy was too dear by relying on care against leakage so it might yield at least invoice price. [Film No. 110–111, 129]

The Wider War and the Eastern Trade

The Company’s private interest merged almost wholly with national policy. A letter of about 1757 recorded its direct application to his Majesty’s ministers for warships to reinforce the eastern fleet, weighing the request against the general service of the nation, and the Crown answered on a major scale: his Majesty assisted with a battalion of 1,035 men under Lieutenant Colonel William Draper for Fort St George, and a letter of about 1758/9 added a squadron of the line headed by a 74-gun ship with a further battalion of about 1,000 men for Bengal. The King now sent ships and soldiers on a scale that made the eastern war an object of national strategy. [Film No. 72, 78, 87]

The Company assembled a detailed picture of enemy movements. A letter of about 1758 tracked a French fleet of 11 ships gathering at the Brazils, watched from the neutral Portuguese anchorage of Ilha Grande, and a letter of about 1758/9 refined the count to 12 ships under Monsieur Delaguille, named one by one down to the distinction between men of war and Company vessels, the South Atlantic ports giving advance warning of reinforcements. The naval turn is plainly recorded, a letter of about 1758 satisfied that by the superior force of the British navy the force of France was greatly reduced and confined to its ports, its commerce at the lowest ebb, its only serious remaining effort by sea directed at the East Indies. [Film No. 77–79, 88–89]

Bengal loomed large. A letter of about 1757 recorded a government for Bengal, the presidency to rotate among four men, each holding the chair four months in turn; wider knowledge shows this followed the loss and recovery of Calcutta, an experiment the demands of war and conquest would soon prove unworkable, and the Expedition packet sent with urgent orders was itself taken by a French privateer. The Company cultivated the naval commanders on whom its fortunes rested, a letter of 23 December 1757 preparing elaborate instructions for honouring Vice Admiral Watson should he touch at St Helena and recording a vote of thanks by the General Court of Proprietors to Watson and Vice Admiral Pocock. [Film No. 57, 72, 73]

The commerce war can be followed in the Court’s notation of captures. The letter of 7 December 1759 recorded the Duc de Choiseul taken on 27 March 1759 by the King’s ship Windsor, with 60 tons of gunpowder aboard, and observed how a ship pierced for 74 guns yet mounting only 26 looked more formidable on paper than in action, the notation telling the island how heavily each French Indiaman was armed. A letter of 1761 catalogues later prizes, the Warwick, Berlin, Subtile and Boulogne among them, the war strangling the French line to the Isles of France and Bourbon. The 7 December 1759 letter also reported the French had bound Dutch, Danish and Swedish masters on their honour to shun St Helena and withhold news, on the false pretence of a blockade. [Film No. 106–107, 142]

The tide turned decisively. The letter of 1761 reported the defeat and dispersal of the enemy’s fleet by Sir Edward Hawke, ending the projected invasion that had drained recruits and dictated convoy, and the surrender of Pondicherry, the principal French settlement in India, carried home by the King’s ship Liverpool, with the Court’s formal thanks to Admirals Stevens and Cornish, Colonels Coote and Monson and Mr Pigot, to be conveyed at St Helena should they pass through. The Court noted the French had abandoned the Company’s settlements on the west coast of Sumatra. [Film No. 141–144]

Peace and war were pursued together as the period closed. The letter of 1761 recorded overtures toward a congress at Augsburg and an exchange of ministers, yet negotiations broke off without slackening military pressure, as the conquest of Belle Île showed. The Court committed valuable China ships to Sumatra on the mere presumption that Fort Marlborough had been retaken, and moved to obtain satisfaction against the Count d’Estaing for breaking the parole he had given on the Coromandel coast. [Film No. 142–143]

Social Order and Personalities

The correspondence brings individuals into view through their conduct. Benjamin Mason, a planter, emerges in 1754 as a marked man, reprimanded for a false account of cattle for slaughter and represented as factious, ready to revive discontent among the planters. Thomas Greentree, by contrast, was permitted to remain, having expressed his sense of the Court’s favour and promised circumspect behaviour, a glimpse of the Court’s power to grant or withhold residence. [Film No. 12]

Several servants fell foul of the Court and were ordered home. The late surgeon Samuel Falconer made his departure a matter of frivolous pretences, and in 1756 the Court positively required him aboard the first ship. The surgeon Inglis had drawn such general resentment that the Court thought him worthless, and his replacement Mr Robert Barclay, surgeon of the Warren, stayed only on the security of confirmation. Mr Mowatt was suspended and permitted to return, and the mason Mark Hawkins dismissed for idleness, negligence and drinking. [Film No. 47, 48, 50]

Faithful service earned provision. In 1755 the Court granted Lieutenant Thomas Easthope an allowance of 2s 6d a day for life, from his discharge as first lieutenant, so long service carried an expectation of maintenance. Internal advancement was settled policy, the Court preferring to commission men who had served on the spot, so Richard Beale, years a cadet, rose to judge advocate and was recommended for a lieutenancy. Small human traffic runs through too, Mrs Deborah Ewing permitted passage on the Onslow to join her husband Thomas Ewing, the Company’s carpenter at St Helena. [Film No. 37, 49, 55]

The island served as permanent exile for the troublesome. A letter of about 1757 refused to let Naquedah Pohallum defend himself against his servants’ reports or return to the west coast, directing he be secured closely and watched lest he execute the rash purpose he had threatened. A darker episode exposes the collision between transportation and professed humanity: a letter of about 1757 recorded that five delinquents sent from Anjengo at the King of Travancore’s instance put a rash period to their lives, and rather than confront whether harsh treatment drove them to it the Court preferred to attribute their deaths to the false maxims of their own country, yet forbade further such transport and urged survivors be won to contentment. [Film No. 66–67]

Servants’ careers show how the establishment was filled. A letter of about 1758/9 recorded the advancement of Charles Gising from corporal, marked fit for a commission, and the entry of Solomon St Maurice as a cadet at sergeant’s pay to be tried for promotion. Not all prospered: a letter of 3 February 1758 freed the Council to send home its late gardener James Sherridan, whose dismissal it judged right, and recorded the entertainment of James Townshend, a mason skilled in rough wall work and quarrying, at £6 10s 0d a month with a gratuity of £5 0s 0d to fit him out, such craft being scarce. [Film No. 75–76, 82–83]

Hospitality to the navy and foreign travellers was a recognised charge, balanced against economy. A letter of about November 1758 sent claret for the Governor to entertain the captains of the King’s ships, to be used frugally although genteelly. A letter of about 1758/9 left the Council free to compliment foreign gentlemen of station by salute, yet held firm to the order that no foreigner view the country or fortifications, courtesy and security kept apart. [Film No. 82, 93–94]

The Court recognised service and relieved misfortune, always with an eye to precedent and cost. The letter of 6 February 1759/60 granted the widow of the late John Goodwin a pension of £50 a year from Christmas 1759, for his long service and the sudden death that left her poor, the pension a discretionary reward for loyalty. Relief of disabled soldiers came with disclaimer, the mid-1760 letter allowing Corporal Austin on the loss of his sight but stating no funds were appropriated for such cases, and similarly hedging a paid furlough to Captain Onesiphorus Beale for his health. [Film No. 120, 133–134]

The Court kept clerical and military functions apart, especially after records leaked through Adamson. The letter of 7 December 1759 judged Thomas Dunn, who had insulted the officer of the guard, improper for the secretary’s office, and a following letter allowed a youth from the inhabitants as writer while entirely disapproving of soldiers there, the bond of £500 required of the writer David Alcock, with two sureties, showing the security demanded. Richard Bendy, entrusted with the longboat to warn ships of the French cruisers in 1759, was taken and released on parole, coming home on the Prince Henry, and the mid-1760 letter paid him his agreed sum and a present of fifty guineas for the extraordinary expenses his capture caused, his crew made whole and William Keeling restored to his rank with backdated pay. [Film No. 113, 115, 117, 126, 132, 140]

The Adamson affair casts the longest shadow, the letter of 7 December 1759 condemning him for embezzling furniture and old iron and, more seriously, for letting copies of the Court’s registers pass out of hand without authority, graver than the theft. Against him stands Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick, dismissed over the drawn plans but found blameless, whom the same letter reinstated with rank restored, pay backdated to his dismissal and £100 for his passage. The masters of the island’s craft appear as men whose contentment the Court secured, the letter of 1761 granting Peter Fea, master of the Fly cutter, 6s a day for necessary time on shore, and permitting with regret Captain Harrold’s resignation of the Mercury on grounds of health, Mr John Merryweather appointed in his room. [Film No. 113–114, 147–148]

Distant enterprise briefly made the island a base for imperial astronomy. The mid-1760 letter recorded four gentlemen sent to observe the transit of Venus on 6 June 1761, two of them, the Reverend Nevil Maskelyne and Robert Waddington, taking passage to St Helena, accommodated at the Company’s expense, the island advancing them sums against drafts on the treasurer of the Royal Society, not exceeding £190 to the former and £30 to the latter. The remoteness that made the island valuable for refreshment made it valuable for observations needing a spread of points across the globe. [Film No. 135–136]

Conclusion

Taken together, these seven years show a small dependent island drawn tight into the machinery of a global company and a national war. From late 1754 to the close of 1761 almost every strand, the fortifications and courts martial, the overstocking of provisions and arming of planters, the routing of ships under convoy and the fast packet carrying news east, converges first on the movement to the open war declared on 18 May 1756, then on the long struggle at sea ending with Hawke’s victory and the fall of Pondicherry. St Helena mattered to London as a fortified refreshment station on the road home, governed in minute detail yet always at the mercy of a correspondence that took months to cross the sea. [Film No. 40, 43, 104–105, 141–144]

The evidence must be read for what it leaves out. It is the Company’s own account of its own management, anxious to be seen governing wisely, and much of it concerns the flow of paper, bills, receipts, certificates and account books, and the difficulty of keeping it exact across an ocean. The soldiers who dug the works, the planters watched for discontent and above all the slaves drafted from Fort St George appear only as instruments or problems, their voices absent, the treatment of Essex, Grewer and Dolphin exposing a calculus in which a man’s skill might buy mercy and his desertion was weighed as the loss of an asset. [Film No. 46, 52, 90–91, 96–97, 134–135]

Yet a coherent picture emerges. The dismissals of 1758 show a Court prepared to uphold the Governor’s authority; the provisioning correspondence a careful, empirical management under real constraint; and the intelligence on French squadrons a company gathering the knowledge on which its survival depended. Above all, these years mark the point at which the defence of the Company’s trade passed decisively into the hands of the Crown, so a small island in the South Atlantic took its place in a war fought across the whole globe. Read against its grain, the correspondence remains a rich witness to how a remote outpost was held, supplied and defended in the mid-eighteenth century. [Film No. 78, 87, 95, 104, 106–153]

Film No.	Page No.	OCR Transcription	Modern Interpretation and analysis
1		EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St Helena - Letters from England 1754 - 1761 Photographer Aidan Plato Date photographed 12th may 2022 Additional comments
2		Book cover
3		WARNING. A poisonous solution containing mercuric chloride has been used in the repair and binding of this volume.
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6	1	Our Governor and Council at St Helena Our Letter to you last Season went by the Ship Grantham, under date of the 28 of November 1734, we have the satisfaction to find it came safe to your hands, and that the Ship after having delivered the Consignments intended for the Service of the Island, was forwarded to her Destined Port Fort Marlborough. The several Letters received from you this year, are of the 3d of December last, the 13 of January the 21 of February, the 20 24, 26 and 31 of March, the 1 of April the 7 of May, and the 23 of the same Month, the 15 and 16 of July. We have the pleasure of acquainting you, that all the Ships expected this Season are safely arrived, except the Dragon from Fort Marlborough which we hope to hear news of every Hour, for the times of their respective Arrivals, as well as the times when our several Ships sailed, We refer you to the accompanying List. The Names and Stations of the Ships we have taken into our Service this Season are as follows, viz Ships Ton Commanders Consignments Drake 499 Benjamin Fisher Earl of Holderness 499 Matthew Bourne For China directly Prince George 499 Philip Sodrell, Bencoolen and China Margin Notes: Letter sent by Grantham Letters received Ships safely Arrived Ships taken up	The Council's letter to the Court last season went by the ship Grantham, under date of 28 November 1754. The Council had the satisfaction of learning it reached the Court safely, and that the ship, after delivering the consignments meant for the service of the island, went forward to her destined port of Fort Marlborough. 2: The several letters received from the Court this year were dated 3 December last, 13 January, 21 February, 20, 24, 26 and 31 March, 1 April, 7 and 23 May and 15 and 26 July. 3: The Council was glad to report that all the ships expected this season had arrived safely, except the Dragon from Fort Marlborough, whose news it hoped to hear at any hour. For the times of each ship's arrival, and the times when the island's several ships sailed, the Council referred the Court to the accompanying list. 4: The names and stations of the ships taken into the island's service this season were as follows: Drake, 499 tons, Captain Benjamin Fisher, for China directly Earl of Holdernesse, 499 tons, Captain Matthew Faunt, for China directly The Prince George, of 499 tons, Captain Philip Jodrell, was bound for Bencoolen and China. Interpretations The tonnage of 499 entered against each of the three East Indiamen was almost certainly a deliberate understatement rather than a true measurement. Ships rated at 500 tons or above were required to carry a chaplain by statute and were liable to heavier charges, so owners commonly registered vessels of greater burthen at 499 tons to fall just below the threshold. The uniform figure across three separate ships confirms that this was a convention of the trade, not a coincidence of build. The distinction drawn between ships bound for China directly and the Prince George, bound for Bencoolen and China, reflected the Company's practice of combining voyages. A ship sent to Bencoolen, the Company's pepper settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, would discharge stores and take in pepper there before proceeding to Canton to complete her lading with tea and chinaware, whereas a direct China ship carried bullion and a light outward cargo straight to Canton to secure an early place in the season's loading.
7	2	Bombay Castle 499 Thomas Browne Rhoda 499 John McNamara Prince of Wales 499 William Peers Coast and China Exeter 499 William Fernell St Helena & Bencoolen Hardwicke 499 John Sampson Madeira & Coast & Bay Eastcourt 499 Arthur Evans Duke of Dorset 499 Bernard Forrester Coast and Bay Edgecote 499 John Pearse Stretham 499 Charles Mason Bombay Houghton 499 Richard Walpole Such Orders as shall be given by Roger Drake, Richard Chauncy, William Mabbott, and Jones Raymond Esquires who are our present Secret Committee are to be duly attended and observed by the Governor, or whoever else they may concern. Since the Departure of the Grantham, with our beforementioned Letter, His Majesty has been most graciously pleased to order a Squadron of his Ships, with a Body of Land Forces on board, to proceed to the Coast of Choromandel to protect the Company in their Commerce, and their just Rights and Privileges, the said Squadron consists of the undernamed Ships commanded by Charles Watson Esquire Rear Admiral of the Blue viz Ship Commanders Guns Kent Henry Speke Sixty four Cumberland George Pocock Sixty Six Tyger Thomas Latham Sixty Salisbury Thomas Knowle Fifty Margin Notes: Secret Committee Squadron of his Majestys Ships sent to India	Bombay Castle, 499 tons, Thomas Browne, Coast and China Rhoda, 499 tons, John Macnamara, Coast and China Prince of Wales, 499 tons, William Peck, Coast and China The Exeter, of 499 tons, William Fernell, was bound for St Helena and Bencoolen. Hardwicke, 499 tons, John Samson, Madeira, Coast and Bay Eastcourt, 499 tons, Arthur Evans, Coast and Bay The Duke of Dorset, of 499 tons, Bernard Forrester, was bound for the Coast and Bay. Edgcote, 499 tons, John Pearse, Coast and Bay Stretham, 499 tons, Charles Mason, Bombay Houghton, 499 tons, Richard Walpole, Bombay 5: Whatever orders the present Secret Committee should give, being Roger Drake, Richard Chauncey, William Mabbott and Jones Raymond Esquires, were to be carefully followed and observed by the Governor, or whoever else they might name. 6: Since the Grantham left with the letter mentioned above, His Majesty had been graciously pleased to order a squadron of his ships, carrying a body of land forces aboard, to proceed to the Coromandel coast to protect the Company in its commerce and in its just rights and privileges. That squadron was made up of the ships named below, commanded by Charles Watson Esquire, Rear Admiral of the Blue. Kent, sixty-four guns, Henry Speke Cumberland, sixty-six guns, George Pocock Tyger, sixty guns, Thomas Latham Salisbury, fifty guns, Thomas Knowle Interpretations The stations entered against these ships describe the ports and coasts each was to trade at rather than her destination alone. Coast and China meant a vessel would touch on the Coromandel coast of India before going on to Canton, Coast and Bay meant the Coromandel coast and then the Bay of Bengal, and Madeira, Coast and Bay marked a ship calling first at Madeira for wine before the eastern legs. These were the standard trading circuits by which the Company spread one voyage across several markets. The squadron under Rear Admiral Charles Watson represented the Crown's direct military commitment to the Company's position in India. The land forces carried aboard, sent to the Coromandel coast to protect the Company's commerce and privileges, marked the escalation of the Anglo-French struggle in the Carnatic into a matter of national arms rather than the Company's own troops alone. Watson's squadron would go on to serve in the operations against the French in Bengal in the years that followed.
8	3	Bridgwater William Martin Twenty four Sloop King Fisher Best Mihell The Body of Land Forces His Majesty was most graciously pleased to grant to us, as beforementioned, consisted of Colonel John Aldercrons Regiment of Foot of eight hundred and fifteen Men Officers included, and a Detachment from the Royal Regiment of Artillery of Seventy eight Men, likewise Officers included. As the Men of War could not carry that whole Body of Troops, we were under the Necessity of employing three of our own Ships as Transports. Viz the Kent, London and Britannia. In our last Letter you were acquainted those three Ships were Destined for Bombay, we are now to inform you that we took up and sent to Bombay in lieu of them the Ships Ships Ton Men Guns Commanders Prince Henry 499 99 26 Thomas Best Warwick 499 99 26 Nicholas Webb Shaftesbury 499 99 26 William Boohey We likewise Freighted the Old Hardwick, for the run to Bombay, Commanded by Captain Samuel Hough, which Ship not being intended to return back to Europe, was to be disposed of in India Three of the Men of War and our three Transport Ships sailed from Ireland the end of March, but his Majestys Ships the Cumberland and Tyger did not sail from Plymouth until the 7 of May, owing to the Bristol and Eagles having been Margin Notes: Colonel John Aldercrons Regiment sent to India three of the Companys Ships sent to carry the Troops Ships taken up Old Hardwick sent to Bombay Men of War sailed in March	The Bridgwater, twenty-four guns, was commanded by William Martin. The sloop King Fisher was commanded by Best Mihell. 7: The body of land forces His Majesty was pleased to grant, as mentioned above, consisted of Colonel John Aldercron's regiment of foot of eight hundred and fifteen men, officers included, and a detachment from the Royal Regiment of Artillery of seventy-eight men, officers likewise included. 8: Since the men of war could not carry that whole body of troops, the Council was obliged to employ three of the island's own ships as transports, being the Kent, the London and the Britannia. 9: The Council's last letter told the Court that those three ships were destined for Bombay. It now reported that in their place it had taken up and sent to Bombay the following ships: Prince Henry, 499 tons, 99 men, 26 guns, Thomas Best Warwick, 499 tons, 99 men, 26 guns, Nicholas Webb Shaftesbury, 499 tons, 99 men, 26 guns, William Bockey 10: The Council also freighted the old Hardwicke for the run to Bombay, commanded by Captain Samuel Hough. That ship, not being meant to return to Europe, was to be disposed of in India. 11: Three of the men of war and the island's three transport ships sailed from Ireland at the end of March. His Majesty's ships Cumberland and Tyger did not sail from Plymouth until 7 May, owing to the Bristol and Eagle having been disabled. Interpretations The three ships pressed into service as transports, the Kent, London and Britannia, had originally been entered for Bombay, so their diversion to carry Colonel Aldercron's regiment forced the Council to charter fresh vessels to fill the Bombay run. The Prince Henry, Warwick and Shaftesbury, each uniformly rated at 499 tons, 99 men and 26 guns, show the Company drawing on a reserve of nearly identical East Indiamen to make good the gap at short notice. The freighting of the old Hardwicke for a single run to Bombay, with no intention that she return to Europe, points to a vessel at the end of her working life. Rather than send her home to be broken up, the Company found her a final voyage carrying troops or stores, then arranged for her sale or disposal in India, where an aged hull still fetched a price for the country trade.
9	4	disabled in bad Weather on the Coast of Ireland which two Ships were originally part of the Squadron, and on occasion of this Accident were replaced by the Cumberland and Tyger As it is probable the said Men of War may touch at St Helena, when they return home, you are, upon the Arrival of Admiral Watson, to Salute him with Sixteen Guns, which he will return Gun for Gun, and in case the Commodore, who wears a distinguishing Pennant, shall arrive without the Admiral he is to be Saluted with Thirteen Guns, who will likewise return Gun for Gun, and you are to pay to the Admiral all the Honors due to his Rank, and behave to him with great regard and Friendship, You are likewise to behave with all Due Civility and Respect to the several Commanders belonging to his Majesty, Squadron, and you are to give them as well as the Admiral all necessary Help and Assistance In Order the more effectually to comply with your Indent this year, and to send you the Timbers, and as many of the Materials for Building the Barrack and Hospital as possible, we have entirely appropriated the Exeter for those purposes, and have accordingly filled her with them, agreeable to the enclosed Invoice and Bill of Lading, The remaining materials will be sent you next year The said Ship Exeter is to proceed to Fort Marlborough, on the West Coast of Sumatra, as soon as she has delivered her Cargo to you, which you must be particularly carefull to see Delivered within the Charterparty time, and then give the Commander Orders to make the best of his way to Fort Marlborough aforesaid, agreeable to the Instructions we have given for that purpose. Margin Notes: Orders to Salute the Men of War due respect to be paid to the Commanders Indent complyed with Exeter to be despatched in her Cargo to Fort Marlborough	Those two ships, the Bristol and the Eagle, disabled in bad weather on the coast of Ireland, had originally formed part of the squadron, and on the occasion of that accident were replaced by the Cumberland and Tyger. 12: Since it was probable the men of war might touch at St Helena on their voyage home, the Governor was to salute the Admiral, on the arrival of Admiral Watson, with fifteen guns, which he would return gun for gun. Should the Commodore, wearing a distinguishing pennant, arrive without the Admiral, he was to be saluted with thirteen guns, and would likewise return gun for gun. The Governor was to pay the Admiral all the honours due to his rank, to behave toward him with great regard and friendship, and to show the same civility and respect to the several commanders belonging to His Majesty's squadron, giving them, as well as the Admiral, all necessary help and assistance. 13: To comply more effectually with the island's indent this year, and to send home the timbers and as many of the materials for building the barracks and hospital as possible, the Court had entirely set apart the Exeter for those purposes and had filled her accordingly, in keeping with the enclosed invoice and bill of lading. The remaining materials would be sent the following year. 14: The Exeter was to proceed to Fort Marlborough on the west coast of Sumatra as soon as she had delivered her cargo, which the Council was to be particularly careful to see delivered within the charter-party time. The Council was then to order the commander to make the best of his way to Fort Marlborough, in keeping with the instructions given for that purpose. Interpretations The graduated salute, fifteen guns for the Admiral and thirteen for a Commodore wearing a distinguishing pennant, followed the strict naval convention by which the number of guns marked an officer's precise rank. The requirement that each salute be returned gun for gun reflected the equality of honour observed between a King's flag officer and a fortified station, an exact protocol that governed every meeting between the navy and the Company's establishments. The setting apart of a whole ship, the Exeter, to carry timber and building materials for the barracks and hospital shows the scale of the construction under way at St Helena and the island's dependence on imported material. Lacking any usable timber of its own, the island could raise permanent military and medical buildings only as fast as the Company shipped the necessary stores from England, the work spread across more than one season because a single vessel could not carry it all.
10	5	As we have filled this Ship, as beforementioned with Stores for you, We have laden on the Prince George one of the Ships bound to China, the several Consignments necessary for our Settlements on the West Coast. 16 We must do you the Justice to acknowledge, that you have carefully attended to our Directions for collecting Intelligence upon the Arrival of Shiping, and communicating the same to us, you have hitherto done it to our satisfaction and we make no doubt of a continuance of your care. 17 As we have, as is beforementioned, appropriated, this Ship to carry the several Goods, Stores, and Materials, for the Service of our Island St Helena, it has given us the opportunity of every fully complying with your Indents, as will appear upon a Reference to the Invoice and Bill of Lading, But we must here acquaint you, that you are not to expect a continuation of this method, it being our Intention, that one Ship only, as usual shall serve next Season, to carry the Consignments intended for our Settlements, on the West Coast of Sumatra, as well as those to St Helena 18 By this Conveyance, you will receive Six thirty two pounders Cannon, with Twenty rounds of Shot, to replace those you sent us, by the Walpole, as useless, which compleats your Indent for that Article, You will also receive four Iron Carriages made compleat for them, and Two wooden ones, with Iron Trucks, such as are made use of for the Service of the Government 19 Due regard has been had to a proper Sortment of Fish Hooks, agreeable to your Indent, and the Samples Margin Notes: 15 Prince George sent to the west Coast Intelligence satisfactory not to expect two Ships to be continued Six Cannon sent proper Sort of Fish Hooks sent	15: Since the Exeter had been filled with stores for the island, as mentioned above, the Court had laden on the Prince George, one of the ships bound for China, the several consignments needed for the settlements on the west coast. 16: The Court acknowledged that the Council had carefully followed its directions for collecting intelligence on the arrival of shipping and communicating the same, had done so to its satisfaction so far, and it had no doubt the care would continue. 7: Since the Court had set apart the Exeter to carry the several goods, stores and materials for the service of St Helena, it had been given the opportunity of fully complying with the island's indents, as would appear on reference to the invoice and bill of lading. The Court warned, however, that this method was not to be expected to continue, its intention being that one ship only, as usual, should serve the following season to carry both the consignments meant for the settlements on the west coast of Sumatra and those for St Helena. 18: By this conveyance the Council would receive six thirty-two-pounder cannon, with twenty rounds of shot, to replace those sent by the Walpole as useless, which completed the indent for that article. It would also receive four iron carriages made complete for them, and two wooden ones, with iron trucks such as were used for the service of the government. 19: Due regard had been had to a proper assortment of fish hooks, in keeping with the indent, and the samples sent. Interpretations The Court's warning that a single ship, and not two, would serve the following season marked the limit of an unusual concession. Setting apart the Exeter wholly for St Helena had let the Court meet the island's full indent at once, but the ordinary practice was for one vessel to carry the consignments for both St Helena and the west coast of Sumatra together, so the island could not count on the same generous provision again. The replacement of six thirty-two-pounders condemned as useless, sent out earlier in the Walpole, shows the difficulty of maintaining heavy ordnance at a remote station. A thirty-two-pounder was among the largest guns mounted in coastal fortification, and the supply of the guns themselves along with iron carriages, wooden carriages and iron trucks reflects that every part of a gun's mounting had to come from England, since the island could not found or fit such equipment for itself.
11	6	sent us in your Packet by the Boscawen. 20 We have consigned to the Deputy Governor and Council at Fort Marlborough by this Ship, Twenty Chests of Treasure, and by our Observation of the state of your Cash, we imagine you will have occasion for no part of it, it must all be continued on board accordingly, unless, contrary to our expectations it may happen otherways, and then if you are under a real necessity, you may Detain one Chest, or so much thereof, as may be wanted, forwarding the rest to Fort Marlborough, with due notice of what you shall so Detain. 21 You must continue to write to our several Settlements in India, for the Sortments of Goods, and Stores you shall want from each of them respectively, and in particular as you prefer the Fort Marlborough Sugar to the Bengall, being both better and cheaper, you must Indent for the Quantity wanted from the former place, and Discontinue your Indents for that Article to Bengall 22 We have given Directions to the Supra Cargos of the Ships Drake, and Warren and the Prince George and Rhoda to provide and Lade on board those four Ships, the whole Quantity of China Goods you have Indented for, you will therefore receive nothing from the other Ships from China. 23 We now Send you a parcel of Fruit Tree and shall continue so to Do, from year to year, when our own Plantations are sufficiently Stocked with them we would have you Distribute the rest among such of the Planters, as have Gardens of their own, to the Intent, that our homeward bound Shipping may Margin Notes: No Cash to be taken out of the Exeter without a real necessity must Write to Bencoolen for Sugar China Goods to be sent only upon four Ships Fruit Tree sent	The samples were sent in the packet by the Boscawen. 20: The Court had consigned to the Deputy Governor and Council at Fort Marlborough, by this ship, twenty chests of treasure. From its observation of the state of the island's cash, it imagined the Council would have occasion for no part of it, and it was all to be kept on board accordingly, unless, contrary to expectation, matters fell out otherwise. In that case, should the Council be under a real necessity, it might detain one chest, or so much of it as was wanted, forwarding the rest to Fort Marlborough with due notice of what it so detained. 21: The Council was to continue writing to the several settlements in India for the assortments of goods and stores it would need from each of them. In particular, since it preferred the Fort Marlborough sugar to the Bengal, both being better and cheaper, it was to indent for the quantity wanted from the former place and discontinue its indents for that article to Bengal. 22: The Court had directed the supercargoes of the ships Drake and Warren and the Prince George and Rhoda to provide and lade aboard those four ships the whole quantity of China goods indented for. The Council would therefore receive nothing from the other ships from China. 23: The Court was now sending a parcel of fruit trees and would continue to do so from year to year. When the Court's own plantations were sufficiently stocked with them, the Council was to distribute the rest among such of the planters as had gardens of their own, so that the homeward-bound shipping might be supplied. Interpretations The handling of the twenty chests of treasure shows the tight control the Court kept over bullion in transit. The specie was consigned to Fort Marlborough, not to St Helena, and the Council was permitted to break into it only under a real necessity and only chest by chest, with immediate notice of what it took. Treasure moving east was the Company's working capital for buying eastern goods, and the Court judged from the island's cash returns exactly how much, if any, St Helena was likely to need. The direction to indent for sugar from Fort Marlborough rather than Bengal reveals the Company weighing its own sources of supply against each other on grounds of both quality and price. Fort Marlborough, the pepper settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, evidently produced or shipped sugar the Council reckoned superior and cheaper than the Bengal article, and the Court accordingly redirected the island's standing order to the better source rather than let it continue from habit.
12	7	be the more plentifully supplied with the produce of them. 24 It is a pleasure to us, to observe that the Regulations made for supplying the Shiping and Market with Provisions, have been very properly carried into Execution and seem to operate entirely to our Satisfaction. 25 We observe Thomas Greentree, expressed his sence of our favour, in permitting him to remain on the Island, and promised to be very circumspect in his behaviour for the future, We must observe further, that in your Consultation of the 4 of February last, Benjamin Mason a Planter was properly reprimanded for his Indeavouring to inforce upon you a False Account of Cattle for Slaughter, and as he is there represented to be of a Factious Disposition, and seemed ready to revive Discontent among the Planters, you must have a Constant Eye upon his Behaviour, and give us an Account thereof, that we may give such Orders with regard to him, as may be for the Common Benefit 26 As you have Wrote off in your Books to Account Current London the sum of one hundred and twenty two Pounds, thirteen Shillings, and three farthings, which was paid into our Cash by Mr Thomas French for the them made by Mr James Du Bois for a Share of his late Fathers Personal Estate, in right of his Child who is a Grand Daughter of the late, Mrs French, we have accordingly paid the same. 27 We observe what you say with regard to Captain Oliver of the Grantham, the last years Stores Ship, acquiring a large a Number of Cattle, as Thirty one amounting in weight to Margin Notes: Regulations of the Beef approved Greentree & Mason taken notice of Mr Du Bois Money paid Observed that of the Grantham	The homeward-bound shipping might thereby be more plentifully supplied with the produce of the fruit trees. 24: The Court was pleased to observe that the regulations made for supplying the shipping and market with provisions had been very properly carried into execution, and seemed to operate entirely to its satisfaction. 25: The Court noted that Thomas Greentree had expressed his sense of its favour in permitting him to remain on the island, and had promised to be very circumspect in his behaviour for the future. It observed further that, in the Council's consultation of 4 February last, Benjamin Mason, a planter, had been properly reprimanded for endeavouring to impose a false account of cattle for slaughter upon the Council, and that he was there represented to be of a factious disposition and seemed ready to revive discontent among the planters. The Council was to keep a constant eye upon his behaviour and give the Court an account of it, so that it might give such orders regarding him as might be for the common benefit. 26: Since the Council had entered in its books to account current at London the sum of £122 13s 0¾d, which was paid into the island's cash by Mr Thomas French for the sum made by Mr James Du Bois for a share of his late father's personal estate, in right of his child who was a granddaughter of the late Mr French, the Court had accordingly paid the same. The Court noted what the Council said regarding Captain Oliver of the Grantham, the previous year's stores ship, requiring a large number of cattle, thirty-one amounting in weight to a figure carried forward. Interpretations The instruction to keep a constant eye on Benjamin Mason reveals how the Court managed dissent at a distance. It could not observe the man itself, so it relied on the Council to watch a planter judged factious, report on him, and await orders framed to serve the common benefit. The concern behind it was that a single discontented planter, dealing in false cattle accounts, might stir the wider body of planters whose provisioning of the shipping the island depended on, so behaviour that touched the beef supply drew particular vigilance. The payment made through Mr Thomas French shows the Company's books serving as a channel of private remittance across the world. A share of a deceased father's estate, due to a granddaughter on the island, was paid into the island's cash locally and answered by the Court in London against its account current, so a family legacy could pass between St Helena and England through the Company's accounts without any money physically crossing the sea.
13	8	Ten thousand two hundred and twenty nine pounds, and as you represent it to be a Quantity the Island cannot afford every year to one Ship, without running the risque of some of our Cattle Ships wanting, and your falling short at the Market We leave it to your Discretion, to regulate the quantity of Cattle every Ship is to have, for the future, in such a manner, as shall best answer our general Intention of supplying the Market, and that every Ship which calls at the Island, may have a reasonable proportion. 28 We are informed that a very bad use has been made of the Liberty we have given to the Inhabitants to purchase what Liquors they please, out of our Ships, by retailing them in a Clandestine manner, in many parts of the Island, to the great Prejudice of both Blacks and Whites, as the Vice of Drunkenness is apparently, and greatly encreased thereby of late; Our only intention in granting the said Liberty to the Inhabitants was, that they might be furnished with Liquors from time to time for the use of themselves and their families only, and therefore we do Empower and Direct you to take such Measures, as you shall think proper to prevent the retailing of Spirituous Liquors, excepting at the Licenced Houses, and even at those Houses, you must take particular care, that Drinking to Excess be Discouraged, and Prevented and we further empower you to lay such Penalties on Offenders, as you shall think reasonable 29 We observe several Parts of the Fortifications and Works have suffered considerably from the great Torrents of Water Margin Notes: took a large quantity of Beef left to the Govr General to regulate Bad use being made of the liberty given to the Inhabitants purchasing liquor none to retail Spirituous liquors but the Licenced Houses.	The 31 cattle amounted in weight to 10,229 pounds. Since the Council represented this to be a quantity the island could not afford every year to one ship, without running the risk of some of the island's own charter ships falling short, or of the market itself falling short, the Court left it to the Council's discretion to regulate the quantity of cattle each ship was to have for the future. This was to be done in such a manner as would best answer the general intention of supplying the market, and so that every ship calling at the island might have a reasonable proportion. 28: The Court had been informed that very bad use had been made of the liberty given to the inhabitants to purchase what liquors they pleased out of the ships, by their retailing them in a clandestine manner in many parts of the island, to the great prejudice of both blacks and whites, the vice of drunkenness being plainly and greatly increased thereby of late. Its only intention in granting that liberty had been that the inhabitants might be supplied with liquors from time to time for the use of themselves and their families only. The Court therefore empowered and directed the Council to take such measures as it thought proper to prevent the retailing of spirituous liquors except at the licensed houses. Even at those houses the Council was to take particular care that drinking to excess was discouraged, and it was further empowered to lay such penalties on offenders as it thought reasonable. 29: The Court observed that several parts of the fortifications and works had suffered considerably from the great torrents of water pouring down. Interpretations The Court's decision to leave the regulation of cattle to the Council's discretion reveals the balance the island had to strike between competing demands on a limited stock. A single ship taking 31 head at over 10,000 pounds weight threatened both the reserve held for the island's own chartered vessels and the general market that supplied every passing ship. Rather than fix a rule from London, the Court trusted the Council on the spot to apportion cattle so that no one ship exhausted what all of them needed. The order against the clandestine retailing of liquor shows the Company acting as the moral and social authority over the island's whole population. What had been permitted as a private convenience, letting inhabitants buy drink from the ships for their own households, had turned into an unlicensed liquor trade that fed drunkenness among slaves and free people alike. By confining sale to the licensed houses and empowering the Council to set penalties, the Court sought to keep both the revenue and the order of a company town under its own control.
14	9	pouring upon them, occasioned by Voilent Rains, we observe likewise that you immediately ordered them to be Repaired, and for the greater Expedition employed many of the Soldiery thereon with an Additional Pay for their Assistance, we entirely approve of the same, And we recommend it to you, to take the utmost care that all the Fortifications on the Island, be kept in the most respectable Condition, this recommendation is more particularly necessary at this time, that you may be prepared to Baffle any Attempts upon the Island, if the present Differences between the English and French should unhappily terminate in a Rupture between the Two Nations 30 And here we think, it necessary as a further Security to the Island and the Shiping that may be riding in the road to Positively direct, that from this time forward you observe it as a standing Order, that no Ship whatsoever, either English or Foreign be suffered for Menders point, and come into the Road in the Night time 31 As Mr Thomas Franck's Resignation of our Service makes it necessary to appoint another Covenant Servant, and as you have recommended Mr Charles Steward for that purpose, as being well Instructed in Accompts and Waiting, and deserving of our favour, We have accordingly chosen him a Writer for the term of five Years, to commence from the time you first employed him you must acquaint him, that he must get Two Persons to give Security for him here in England, in the sum of Five hundred pounds, and you are to cause him to Execute the enclosed Covenants, which done Margin Notes: Soldiers employed about the Fortifications approved of no Ship to come in the Road in the Night time Mr Charles Steward appointed Writer	This damage to the fortifications was caused by violent rains. The Court observed that the Council had immediately ordered the works to be repaired, and that for greater speed it had employed many of the soldiers on them, with an additional day's pay for their assistance. The Court entirely approved of this, and recommended that the Council take the utmost care to keep all the fortifications on the island in the most respectable condition. This recommendation was the more necessary at that time, so that the Council might be prepared to baffle any attempt upon the island, should the present differences between the English and French unhappily end in a rupture between the two nations. 30: As a further security to the island, and to the shipping that might be riding in the road, the Court thought it necessary to direct that from that time forward the Council observe it as a standing order that no ship whatsoever, either English or foreign, should be allowed to pass Munden's Point and come into the road in the night time. 31: Since Mr Thomas French's resignation from the Court's service made it necessary to appoint another covenant servant, and since the Council had recommended Mr Charles Steward for that purpose, as being well instructed in accounts and writing and deserving of the Court's favour, the Court had accordingly chosen him a writer for the term of five years, to commence from the time the Council first employed him. The Council was to acquaint him that he must get two persons to give security for him in England, in the sum of £500 0s 0d, and was to cause him to execute the enclosed covenants. Interpretations The Court's linking of the fortifications to a possible rupture between the English and French shows how closely St Helena's defensive works tracked the state of European diplomacy. The island had no immediate enemy, yet the Court pressed to keep every fortification in respectable condition precisely because a declaration of war would at once make the island and the shipping in its road a target, and repairs left undone in peace could not be made good once hostilities began. The requirement that Charles Steward find two sureties in England for £500 0s 0d before taking up a writer's place reveals the system of bonded service that bound the Company's junior servants. A young man appointed on the island still could not be confirmed until persons at home stood surety for his honesty in a substantial sum, so that the Company held a financial guarantee against embezzlement or default by a clerk it employed thousands of miles from London.
15	10	you are to return to us by the next opportunity 32 You are not to suffer our late Surgeon Mr Falconer to continue any longer on the Island, than is absolutely necessary for the adjusting his Accounts with the Inhabitants 33 We have sent you by this Ship, Ten Recruits for your military Service, whose names are mentioned in the enclosed List 34 This Ship likewise carries about Fifty Soldiers, who are intended for our Service on the West Coast, you are therefore, upon an Account whatsoever, to Detain any of them at St Helena 35 An Act having passed in the last Sessions of Parliament for empowering the Company to hold Courts Martial in the East Indies, and at St Helena, which being after the Departure of the Grantham last Season, we therefore now Send you a separate Packet, containing the necessary Powers and Instructions, together with a Letter of Directions dated this Day for carrying the same into Execution, to all which you are particularly referred 36 You have, in your Letter of the 13 of July last given us a full and satisfactory Account of the several Claims and Demands upon the Estate of the late Governor Goodwin, together with your opinion upon every one of them, by your said Letter, we find the Claims to be as follows viz Captain Meardses Forty four pounds, three shillings, and three pence, Richard Gurling Thirtytwo pounds three shillings and nine pence half penny, Matthew Gurling Ten pounds fifteen shillings and eight pence, Francis Wrangham one hundred and thirteen pounds eleven shillings and five pence half Margin Notes: Mr Falconer need not stay longer upon the Island than necessary none of the Soldiers Aboard to be detained separate Packet relating to Courts Martial Yor Govr Goodwins Account taken notice of	Once these covenants were executed, the Council was to return them by the next opportunity. 32: The Council was not to allow the Court's late surgeon, Mr Falconer, to continue any longer on the island than was absolutely necessary for the adjusting of his accounts with the inhabitants. 33: The Court had sent, by this ship, 10 recruits for the island's military service, whose names were given in the enclosed list. 34: This ship likewise carried about 50 soldiers meant for the Court's service on the west coast. The Council was therefore not, on any account whatsoever, to detain any of them at St Helena. 35: An Act having passed in the last session of Parliament for empowering the Company to hold courts martial in the East Indies and at St Helena, which came after the departure of the Grantham last season, the Court now sent a separate packet containing the necessary powers and instructions, together with a letter of directions dated that day for carrying the same into execution, to all of which the Council was particularly referred. 36: In its letter of 13 July last the Council had given a full and satisfactory account of the several claims and demands upon the estate of the late Governor Goodwin, together with its opinion upon every one of them. From that letter the Court found the claims to be as follows: Captain Steuart, £64 3s 3d Richard Gurling, £32 3s 9½d Matthew Purling, £10 15s 8d Francis Wrangham, £133 11s 5½d Interpretations The Act empowering the Company to hold courts martial in the East Indies and at St Helena marked a decisive extension of the Company's legal authority in step with the coming war. Until this statute the island's garrison could be disciplined only by the ordinary civil courts, ill suited to military offences, and the grant of formal court-martial powers, sent out with a separate packet of instructions, gave the Company the machinery to try and punish its soldiers under military law just as the Crown's forces were being committed to India. The itemised claims upon the late Governor Goodwin's estate show the long reckoning that followed his exposure for defrauding the Company. Named creditors, from a captain owed over £60 to planters owed smaller sums, pressed their demands against the estate years after his death, and the Council's task of examining each claim and giving its opinion reflects the care needed to settle the tangled accounts of a governor found to have dealt irregularly in the island's rents and estates.
16	11	penny, Richard Beele two pounds twelve shillings and six pence, John Doveton six pounds seventeen shilling and a half penny James Richardson two pounds nineteen shillings and six pence and the Heirs of Eleanor Worrall Forty one pounds twelve shillings and two pence; amounting together to the sum of Two hundred and fifty four pounds, fifteen shillings and four pence half penny, all which after a due examination you admit as just Debts on the said Estate, and as there appears by your last General Books ending the 11 of October 1753, to be a Ballance of one hundred and forty one pounds, ten shillings, and eleven pence half penny, due for the Company to the said Governor Goodwin Estate, We are come to a resolution to Divide among the several Claimants beforementioned, the said sum of one hundred and forty one pounds ten shillings and eleven pence half penny, in proportion to their said respective Claims, you are therefore hereby Directed to pay accordingly to all the several Claimants or their Representatives at St Helena, their proper proportions, excepting only the proportion of the late Captain Hunter's Demand, which we intend to pay to his Representatives now in England, You must take Discharges in full of all Demands from the several Claimants, upon your paying them, and you are to carry the several Sums to the Credit of Governor Goodwins Estate. 37 On the application of William Moore late a Serjeant in our Forces at St Helena, we have given him liberty to return on the Exeter, and remain there, until he has adjusted his Depending Concerns, on the finishing of which Margin Notes: directed to pay Goodwins Goodwins Creditors Wm Moore	The remaining claims upon the estate were as follows: Richard Beale, £2 12s 6d John Doveton, £6 17s 0½d James Richardson, £2 19s 6d Heirs of Eleanor Worrall, £41 12s 2d Together these claims amounted to the sum of £254 15s 4½d, all of which, after due examination, the Council admitted as just debts on the estate. As it then appeared by the island's last general books, ending 11 October 1753, there was a balance of £140 10s 11½d due to the Company from Governor Goodwin's estate. The Court had come to a resolution to divide that sum of £140 10s 11½d among the several claimants, in proportion to their respective claims. The Council was therefore directed to pay accordingly to all the several claimants, or their representatives, at St Helena, their proper proportions, excepting only the proportion of the late Captain Hunter's demand, which the Court meant to pay to his representatives now in England. On paying them, the Council was to take discharges in full of all demands from the several claimants, and was to carry the several sums to the debit of Governor Goodwin's estate. 37: On the application of William Moore, late a sergeant in the Court's forces at St Helena, the Court had given him liberty to return on the Exeter and remain there until he had adjusted his depending concerns. Interpretations The Court's method of settling Governor Goodwin's estate reveals the strict principle that governed an insolvent account. The admitted debts of over £254 exceeded the £140 balance the estate owed the Company, so no creditor could be paid in full. Rather than favour any one, the Court ordered each claimant paid a proportion of his claim out of the available balance, the standard rule by which a deficient estate was rateably divided among those with a just demand upon it. The single exception made for Captain Hunter's demand, reserved to be paid to his representatives in England rather than at St Helena, shows the Company routing each payment to wherever the creditor could be found. Most claimants were on the island and were paid there against discharges, but where a creditor's heirs were in England the Court settled with them directly in London, keeping the whole distribution within its own books across the two ends of the voyage.
17	12	he is to repair back again to England We are London Your Loving Friends 27 November 1754 Signed R. Drake Richard Chauncy M. Mabbott P. Godfrey John Payne W. Willy Stephen Law Charles Gough Nich. Linwood Wm Crabb Boulton W. Wilberford Junr Charles Cutts Rob. Jones Wm Barwell	On the finishing of these concerns, William Moore was to repair back again to England. The letter closed at London on 27 November 1754, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Roger Drake, Richard Chauncey, William Mabbott, D. Godfrey, John Payne, W. Willy, Stephen Law, Charles Gough, Nicholas Linwood, William Crabb Boulton, W. Wilberforce junior, Charles Cutts, Robert Jones and William Barwell.
18	13	Our Governor and Council at St Helena As we are obliged to keep a Military Force at the Companys Settlements in the East Indies and at the Island of St Helena, and as it is necessary, that such forces should be kept under proper Order, and Discipline, and there being some Doubt as to the Companys power to exercise Martial Law in the time of Peace, We have obtained an Act of Parliament, for punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and other offences committed by the Troops, in our pay at St Helena, and his Majesty, in consequence of the Act, has established certain Articles of War The Act passed so late in the last Sessions, that our Ship, was dispatched for St Helena, before it had received the Royal Assent 3 We now Send you The printed Act of Parliament, with the Articles of War The Court of Directors Commission authorizing you to appoint Courts Martial The form of appointing a Person to officiate as Judge Advocate Instructions for the proceedings of the Judge Advocate Form of proceedings at a Court Martial As the Act takes place from the time of the Publication you are, with the first convenient opportunity after be receipt of it, To cause it to be published, and for that purpose Margin Notes: Act of Parliament obtained for exercising martial Law The Act dispatched before the Act was past Instructions &ca Act to be published	Since the Court was obliged to keep a military force at the Company's settlements in the East Indies and at the island of St Helena, and since it was necessary that such forces be kept under proper order and discipline, and there being some doubt as to the Company's power to exercise martial law in time of peace, the Court had obtained an Act of Parliament for punishing mutiny, desertion and other offences committed by the troops in its pay at St Helena. His Majesty, in consequence of the Act, had established certain Articles of War. The Act passed so late in the last session that the ship was dispatched for St Helena before it had received the Royal Assent. 3: The Court now sent the following: 1: The printed Act of Parliament, with the Articles of War. 2: The Court of Directors' commission authorising the Council to appoint courts martial. 3: The form of appointing a person to officiate as judge advocate. 4: Instructions for the proceedings of the judge advocate. 5: The form of proceedings at a court martial. 4: Since the Act took effect from the time of its publication, the Council was, with the first convenient opportunity after receiving it, to cause it to be published. Interpretations The doubt over the Company's power to exercise martial law in time of peace lay at the root of this whole grant. A private trading company had no inherent authority to try men under military law, and the ordinary civil courts could not deal properly with mutiny or desertion, so until Parliament acted the discipline of the garrison rested on uncertain ground. The Act, the Articles of War established by the Crown, and the accompanying commission and forms together supplied the legal foundation the Company had previously lacked for punishing its soldiers. The detail that the Act passed too late to receive the Royal Assent before the ship sailed shows the pressure of the shipping season upon the Company's business. A vessel bound for St Helena could not wait on the final stages of legislation, so the Court forwarded the measure as it stood, trusting the Assent would follow, rather than lose a whole year in transmitting to the island a power made newly urgent by the approach of war.
19	14	and to make it as notorious as possible, Our Governor and Council should assemble themselves together, with our whole Military force under Arms, or so many as can be spared from Duty, And the Act of Parliament, and Articles of War should be publickly read before them. 5 After the Act and Articles are published, you must as soon as you conveniently can, cause the Forces in our pay to be mustered, and the Articles of War to be read over to them, and they must severally, be asked, if they are willing to continue in the Companys Service, Subject to the Articles of War, for the remainder of the time they have contracted for, such as do not consent be Dismissed the Service, and an Entry must be made of the names of such, as shall be willing to continue, and of those that desire to be Discharged 6 If any of those who take their discharge, shall afterwards incline to inlist again, the Articles of War must be read to such person, and his consent and submission to them had, and an Entry made thereof, and the same method must be observed with respect to such Recruits or other forces, as we do now, or may hereafter send you 7 The appointment of Courts Martial is in our Governor and Councils, or any part of them, who, as often as there shall be occasion, are to dignify their pleasure to the Judge Advocate, either in writing, or by word of mouth to summon a Court Martial, to meet at such time and place, as shall be thought proper 8 These Instructions together with the Act of Parliament, and Articles of War, we now send you we have Margin Notes: the Military to be Assembled the Soldiers to be severally asked if they are willing to continue in the Service Articles of War to be read to those that Inlist Govr Council to appoint Courts martial	To make the publication as widely known as possible, the Governor and Council were to assemble themselves together, with the whole military force under arms, or as many as could be spared from duty, and the Act of Parliament and Articles of War were to be publicly read before them. 5: After the Act and Articles were published, the Council was, as soon as it conveniently could, to cause the forces in the Court's pay to be mustered, and the Articles of War to be read over to them. The soldiers were then each to be asked whether they were willing to continue in the Company's service, subject to the Articles of War, for the remainder of the time they had contracted for. Such as were not willing were not to be dismissed the service, and an entry was to be made of the names of those who would continue, and of those who wished to be discharged. 6: If any of those who took their discharge should afterwards incline to enlist again, the Articles of War were to be read to that person, and his consent and submission to them entered. The same method was to be observed with respect to any recruits or other forces the Court might then or thereafter send. 7: The appointment of courts martial rested with the Governor and Council, or any part of them, who, as often as there was occasion, were at their pleasure to signify, either in writing or by word of mouth, to the judge advocate to summon a court martial, to meet at such time and place as was thought proper. 8: These instructions, together with the Act of Parliament and Articles of War, the Court now sent. Interpretations The ceremony of reading the Act before the assembled garrison under arms served a purpose beyond mere announcement. Military law bound a soldier only once he had notice of it, so the public reading, with the whole force drawn up to witness it, fixed the moment from which every man could be held to the Articles of War and left none able to plead ignorance of the discipline he now served under. The requirement that each soldier be asked whether he would continue under the Articles of War reveals a careful legal scruple in imposing the new code. Men had originally enlisted under the older civil arrangement, so the Court could not simply subject them to martial law without their consent for the remainder of their contracted time. The entry of each man's answer, and the reading of the Articles afresh to any who re-enlisted, ensured that every soldier's submission to military law rested on a recorded and individual agreement.
20	15	be sufficient, to enable you to put the Act in Execution, And we particularly recommend it to you always to take care that you strictly and exactly keep to the Act of Parliament and Articles of War, and by no means to exceed the power thereby given 9 And we direct you to transmit Copies of the Proceedings of all Courts Martial, and of all other your Transactions in consequence of this Act of Parliament and Articles of War, and of these our Instructions We are London Your loving Friends 27 November 1755 Signed R. Drake Rich. Chauncy M. Mabbott P. Godfrey John Payne W. Willy Stephen Law Cha. Gough Nich. Linwood W. Crabb Boulton W. Wilberforce Junr Charles Cutts Rob. Jones Wm Barwell Margin Notes: the Act of Parliament to be strictly complyed with Copies of Courts Martial to be sent to England	These instructions were sufficient to enable the Council to put the Act into execution. The Court particularly recommended that the Council always take care to keep strictly and exactly to the Act of Parliament and Articles of War, and by no means to exceed the power thereby given. 9: The Court further directed the Council to transmit to England copies of the proceedings of all courts martial, and of all its other transactions carried out in consequence of the Act of Parliament, the Articles of War and these instructions. The letter closed at London on 27 November 1755, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Roger Drake, Richard Chauncey, William Mabbott, D. Godfrey, John Payne, W. Willy, Stephen Law, Charles Gough, Nicholas Linwood, William Crabb Boulton, W. Wilberforce junior, Charles Cutts, Robert Jones and William Barwell. Interpretations The Court's insistence that the Council keep strictly to the Act and by no means exceed the power granted marks the limit it set on a dangerous authority. Martial law placed the lives and liberty of the garrison in the Council's hands, and the Company, wary of abuse and of overstepping what Parliament had allowed, hedged the grant with a requirement that every court martial be reported home, so that the exercise of the power could be checked in London against the terms on which it had been given.
21	16	Form of an Appointment of a Judge Advocate To A. B. By Virtue of the Power and Authority given to us the Governor and Council at the Island of St Helena by the Court of Directors of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, We do hereby appoint you the said During our pleasure, and during the pleasure of the said Companys Governor and Council at St Helena, for the Time being, or the major part of them, to act as Judge Advocate at all Courts Martial, and on all other Occasions, as you shall for that purpose be required by the said Governor and Council for the time being, or the major part of them, Given under our Hands this Day of in the year of his Majestys Reign.	This was the form of an appointment of a judge advocate, addressed to A. B. Under the power and authority given to the Governor and Council at the island of St Helena by the Court of Directors of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, the Governor and Council appointed the person named to act as judge advocate at all courts martial, and on all other occasions as might for that purpose be required by the Governor and Council for the time being, or the major part of them. The appointment was to run during the pleasure of the Company, and during the pleasure of its Governor and Council at St Helena for the time being, or the major part of them. It was given under their hands, with blank spaces left for the day, the month and the year of His Majesty's reign. Interpretations The repeated qualification that the Governor and Council might act by their major part reveals how the machinery of military justice was fitted to a small and shifting establishment. Members died, sailed or fell sick, so an appointment or a summons could not depend on the whole body being present. By allowing a majority to exercise the power, the form ensured the courts martial could still be constituted even when the Council was reduced, a practical necessity at a station where its full complement was rarely to be had.
22	17	Instructions to the Person officiating as Judge Advocate When the Court is met, which is to consist of a President being not under the Degree of a Lieutenant, and not less than four other Officers, none of them under the Degree of a commissioned Officer, you are to administer to the members the following Oaths, which you will find in the printed Articles of War Fo 33 Beginning in both with the President whom (as a Token of particular Respect) you are to swear singly, and then you may proceed to swear the other Members by as many at once as may be convenient You are then yourself to take an Oath which the President is to Administer, in the Words prescribed in the Articles of War Fo 35 You are also to administer an Oath to every Person who hath any Thing to give in Evidence for or against the Prisoner You are to take particular Care to record all Evidence that shall be given, and what is offered by the Prisoner in his own Defence, observing in your minutes and especially in all Cases of that great Weight where Life is concerned what may make for the Prisoner, as well as what is urged against him. For Instance, in cases of Desertion, you are to write down the Time when the person received Pay as a Soldier what Time he Deserted, and where he was when taken as a Deserter, and any other Things you shall find material And if at any time the Court shall think fit for Margin Notes: See Art 2	These were the instructions to the person officiating as judge advocate. When the court was met, which was to consist of a president being not under the degree of a lieutenant, and not less than four other officers, none of them under the degree of a commissioned officer, the judge advocate was to administer to the members the following oaths, which he would find in the printed Articles of War, at number 33. He was to begin in both with the president, whom, as a token of particular respect, he was to swear singly, and might then proceed to swear the other members by as many at once as was convenient. The judge advocate was then himself to take an oath, which the president was to administer, in the words prescribed in the Articles of War, at number 35. He was also to administer an oath to every person who had anything to give in evidence for or against the prisoner. He was to take particular care to record all evidence that was given, and whatever was offered by the prisoner in his own defence, observing in his minutes, and especially in all cases of that great weight where life was concerned, whatever might make for the prisoner as well as whatever was urged against him. For instance, in cases of desertion, he was to write down the time when the person received pay as a soldier, at what time he deserted, where he was when taken as a deserter, and any other things he found material. If at any time the court thought fit, the matter was to be brought under its consideration. Interpretations The order of swearing, with the president sworn singly as a token of particular respect and the other members then in convenient batches, shows how a formal hierarchy of rank was written into the very ritual of the court. The distinction was not idle ceremony but a mark of the president's standing as head of the tribunal, observed before any business began, while the practical allowance to swear the rest together kept the proceedings from being needlessly drawn out. The direction that the judge advocate record whatever made for the prisoner as well as against him, most carefully in cases where life was at stake, reveals the protective function of the office within a system otherwise weighted toward the prosecution. As the officer who kept the minutes, the judge advocate was charged to preserve the accused's defence and the exact facts on which guilt turned, such as the precise dates and circumstances in a desertion, so that a man's life did not rest on a partial or careless record of his trial.
23	18	consideration of any alleviating circumstances) to mitigate the Punishment Due to the Letter of the Martial Law (i.e. in such Cases where a discretional Power is vested in the Court) you are to record the Reasons that moved the Court thereto in a very particular manner, that the Person or Persons to whom the Return is to be made may be thereby enabled to judge of the Fact with Certainty; and you are also to be exact in taking the Particulars of the Sentence. When all this is done, You are to draw out in a fair Character, a Draft of the Proceedings, as near as the Circumstances will admit in the following Terms; which is to be signed by the President, and to be transmitted to the Governor and Council for the Time being for their approbation, And where the Sentence is confirmed by the Governor and Council or major part of them You are to express their Approbation of the Sentence; which Sentence is not to be executed nor made public till Duly confirmed by the Governor and Council or the major part of them As to any other Matters that may occur, you are to have regard to the Act of Parliament of the 27 Geo 2 and the Articles of War annexed thereto At a General Court Martial held at the Day of by Virtue of an Order from Present	This consideration of any alleviating circumstances was to mitigate the punishment due to the setter of the martial proof. In such cases where a discretional power was vested in the court, the judge advocate was to record the reasons that moved the court thereto in a very particular manner, so that the person or persons to whom the return was to be made might thereby be enabled to judge of the fact with certainty. He was also to be exact in taking the particulars of the sentence. When all this was done, the judge advocate was to draw out in a fair character a draft of the proceedings, as near as the circumstances would admit, in the following terms. That draft was to be signed by the president and transmitted to the Governor and Council for the time being for their approbation. Where the sentence was confirmed by the Governor and Council, or the major part of them, the judge advocate was to express their approbation of the sentence. That sentence was not to be executed nor made public until it was duly confirmed by the Governor and Council, or the major part of them. As to any other matters that might occur, the judge advocate was to have regard to the Act of Parliament of the twenty-ninth year of George the Second and the Articles of War annexed thereto. This was the form of proceedings at a general court martial, held at a place and on a day left blank, by virtue of an authority whose recital broke off with the president. Interpretations The requirement that the court's reasons be recorded in a very particular manner wherever it exercised a discretional power reveals the check built into the two-stage structure of military justice. The court that heard a case did not itself carry out its sentence, which passed to the Governor and Council for confirmation, so the reviewing authority needed the full grounds of any discretionary decision set down before it, in order to judge the matter with certainty rather than rubber-stamp a bare verdict. The rule that no sentence was to be executed or made public until the Governor and Council confirmed it marks the deliberate separation of judgment from punishment. The soldiers who sat as a court martial could find guilt and pronounce a sentence, but the power to inflict it was reserved to the island's civil authority, so that the ultimate decision over a man's life or liberty stayed in the hands of the Company's standing government rather than the temporary tribunal of his fellow officers.
24	19	Presedentnt Captain A. B. \| President 1 \| 2 3 \| 4 5 \| 6 7 \| 8 The Court being duly sworn, the Prisoner A. B. of was brought before the Court. The Evidence against him is as follows. C. D. deposeth upon Oath &c Then the Prisoners Defence and the Deposition of each Witness in his behalf is to be here inserted The Court having heard, and examined the Information brought against the Prisoner, together with what he had to offer in his own Defence. Is of Opinion That A. B. private Soldier of Company or Troop is guilty of the Desertion laid to his Charge, and has therefore adjudged that he suffer for the same. Or naming the Article upon which the Prisoner was convicted) Is guilty of laid to his Charge, in breach of Article of War of Section, and doth therefore adjudge, Or thus as the Case may be. That the said A. B. is not guilty of the Charge brought against him, and therefore the Court doth acquit him. Margin Notes: These Figures shew the Order of Precedency and accused of	The form set out those present, with Captain A. B. named as president at the head, and below him eight further places for the members, numbered in sequence from 1 to 8. These figures showed the order of precedency among the officers of the court, the member numbered 1 ranking next after the president and each following number standing lower in seniority down to 8. The court being duly sworn, the prisoner, A. B. of a place left blank, was brought before it, accused of an offence left blank. The evidence against him was to follow, C. D. deposing upon oath. Then the prisoner's defence and the deposition of each witness in his behalf was to be inserted. The court, having heard and examined the information brought against the prisoner, together with what he had to offer in his own defence, was of opinion that A. B., private soldier of a named company or troop, was guilty of the desertion laid to his charge, and was therefore adjudged to suffer a penalty left blank for the same. Alternatively, naming the article upon which the prisoner was convicted, it might find that he was guilty of an offence left blank, laid to his charge, in breach of a named Article of War and section, and did therefore adjudge accordingly. Or thus, as the case might be, that A. B. was not guilty of the charge brought against him, and therefore the court did acquit him. Interpretations The provision of alternative forms of verdict, one naming desertion specifically and another left open for any offence in breach of a numbered Article of War, shows the document serving as a working template for a court that would meet rarely and might lack legal expertise. By supplying the exact wording for conviction, for acquittal and for citing the precise article breached, the Court equipped the island's officers to frame a legally sound sentence without a trained lawyer among them, the printed model standing in for the professional knowledge such a bench would not possess.
25	20	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Since the Departure of the Exeter last Year with our General Letter of the 27 of November 1754 & a separate Letter of the same date, containing Directions for carrying into Execution the Act of Parliament for empowering the Company to hold Courts Martial in the East Indies, & at St Helena, We have received your several Letters of the 7 Decr 1754, of the 7, 18, 19, 23 & 28 of March 1755, the 2, 14, 18, 20 & 29 of April the 5, 10, & 29 of June, the 27 of July & the 3 of August following) 2 We have been extreamly happy this Season in the safe Arrival of the number of Ships from the several parts of the East Indies, which are mentioned in the accompanying List. 3 Besides the Ships mentioned in our Letter by the Exeter as taken up for the Companys Service that Season, We Freighted the Doddington James Samson Commander for the Coast & Bay, to stay in India, We likewise fitted out our Ship the Dragon Michael Morgan Commander, & Consigned her to Bombay, where she is to be disposed of, unless the President & Council may think it more for the Companys Service to make use of her on any extraordinary occasion, in which case considering the present Situation of affairs, it is not unlikely but that she may return again to England. 4 The Times of the Departure of our several Ships last Season are inserted in the beforementioned List. Margin Notes: Letters sent by Exeter Letters received Ships arrived safe Doddington & Dragon freighted for India Ships departure last Season	1: Since the Exeter left last year, carrying the Council's general letter of 27 November 1754 and a separate letter of the same date containing directions for carrying into execution the Act of Parliament for empowering the Company to hold courts martial in the East Indies and at St Helena, the Council had received the Court's several letters of 7 December 1754, of 7, 18, 19, 23 and 28 March 1755, of 2, 14, 18, 20 and 29 April, of 5, 10 and 29 June, of 27 July and of 3 August following. 2: The Council had been extremely happy this season in the safe arrival of the number of ships from the several parts of the East Indies, which were named in the accompanying list. 3: Besides the ships named in the Council's letter by the Exeter as taken up for the Company's service that season, the Council had freighted the Doddington, James Samson commander, for the Coast and Bay, to stay on in India. It had likewise fitted out the island's ship the Dragon, Michael Morgan commander, and consigned her to Bombay, where she was to be disposed of, unless the President and Council should think it more for the Company's service to make use of her on any extraordinary occasion. In that case, considering the present situation of affairs, it was not unlikely that she might return again to England. 4: The times of the departure of the island's several ships last season were given in the list mentioned above. Interpretations The freighting of the Doddington to remain in India, rather than return home, and the consignment of the Dragon to Bombay for disposal there both show the Company redistributing its shipping to meet the demands of the eastern trade and the coming war. Vessels were not simply run out and back but assigned to whichever coast or station needed them, an ageing or surplus ship kept in Indian waters or sold off locally instead of being sailed home empty. The Council's remark that, given the present situation of affairs, the Dragon might yet return to England reflects how the threat of war with France hung over every routine disposition. A ship marked for sale in Bombay in ordinary times might instead be retained for some extraordinary service, so even a decision to dispose of an old vessel was left open against the possibility that hostilities would suddenly make every hull worth keeping.
26	21	5 The Ships taken up for the Companys Service this Season are as follows viz Ships Tons Commanders Consignments Harcourt 499 William Webber For China directly Griffin 499 Thomas Dethick St Helena & Limpo Caernarvon 499 Norton Hutchinson Stormont 499 Josiah Hindman Godolphin 499 William Hutchinson Fort St George and China Suffolk 499 William Wilson Oxford 499 Thomas Stevens St Helena & Bencoolen Chesterfield 499 Edwin Carter Walpole 499 Francis Fowler Coast and Bay Delawar 425 Thomas Winter Marlborough 499 Alexander McCleod Madeira Hector 499 John Williams Persia & Bombay Clinton 499 John Nanfan Royal Duke 400 George Cuming Bombay Portfield 400 Carteret Leigest 6 Such Orders, Directions & Instructions as shall be given by the Secret Committee for the time being, must be strictly attended to & Executed by the Governor or whoever else they are directed to. The Gentlemen who compose that Committee this present Season, are Roger Drake, Peter Godfrey, Christopher Burrow, John Payne and Jones Raymond Esqrs 7 Being desirous to forward all, or as large a Part of the Materials, for Building the Hospital & Barracks as possible & likewise to comply with your Indents, particularly that for Margin Notes: Ships taken up Secret Committee the Griffin freighted	5: The ships taken up for the Company's service this season were as follows: Harcourt, 499 tons, William Webber, for China directly Griffin, 499 tons, Thomas Dethick, St Helena and Bencoolen The Caernarvon, of 499 tons, Norton Hutchinson, the Stormont, of 499 tons, Josiah Hindman, and the Godolphin, of 499 tons, William Hutchinson, were all bound for Fort St George and China. Suffolk, 499 tons, William Wilson, Fort St George and China Oxford, 499 tons, Thomas Stevens, St Helena and Bencoolen The Chesterfield, of 499 tons, Edwin Carter, the Walpole, of 499 tons, Francis Fowler, and the Delaware, of 425 tons, Thomas Winter, were all bound for the Coast and Bay. Marlborough, 499 tons, Alexander McCleod, Madeira Hector, 499 tons, John Williams, Persia and Bombay The Clinton, of 499 tons, John Nanfan, the Royal Duke, of 490 tons, George Cuming, and the Portfield, of 400 tons, Carteret Leigeps, were all bound for Bombay. 6: Whatever orders, directions and instructions should be given by the Secret Committee for the time being were to be strictly followed and executed by the Governor, or whoever else they were directed to. The gentlemen who composed that Committee this present season were Roger Drake, Peter Godfrey, Christopher Burrow, John Payne and Jones Raymond Esquires. 7: The Court, being desirous to forward all, or as large a part as possible, of the materials for building the hospital and barracks, and likewise to comply with the island's indents, particularly that for ammunition. Interpretations The consignments entered against each ship trace the network of trading circuits the Company worked across the eastern seas. A vessel marked for Fort St George and China would call on the Coromandel coast before Canton, one for Persia and Bombay served the Gulf trade in tandem with the west coast of India, and a ship for Madeira loaded wine on the outward passage. The uniform rating of most vessels at 499 tons, several points below the true burthen, again reflects the owners' practice of registering just under the 500-ton line that carried extra statutory charges. The three ships entered below that figure, the Delaware at 425 tons, the Royal Duke at 490 and the Portfield at 400, stand out precisely because most of the fleet was pinned at 499. Where a genuinely smaller vessel was taken up, her real tonnage was set down without adjustment, which shows that the repeated 499 was a deliberate convention for the larger ships rather than a true measurement, applied only where it served to keep a big ship just under the threshold.
27	22	Ammunition, & all kinds of Military Stores, We have besides the usual Storeship, fixed upon the Griffin one of Our China Ships to proceed first to St Helena, with as considerable a Part of the said Materials, Stores & other useful Articles as she can take in, The particulars of all which will appear by the inclosed Invoice & Bill of Lading, The remainder will be sent in the Oxford, or as much thereof as can be laden consistent with the room necessary to be reserved for the Consignments to the West Coast. 8 As the Griffin proceeds to China upon a particular Scheme which may be defeated if she does not arrive there as early as the Season will permit, You must therefore use the utmost diligence in unloading her, that she may proceed on her Voyage without loss of time & if possible within the Charterparty time, You must give the Commander Orders to make the best of his way to China agreeable to the Instructions he has received from us & from the Secret Committee 9 Should you find the Commander Dilatory or not sufficiently expeditious in getting out to Sea, you are to Protest against him & the Owners of the Ship for the Damage & detriment such Delay may be the occasion of to the Company 10 We intend to dispatch, the Oxford, the beginning of December, & as after the Consignments to you are delivered, she is to proceed to the West Coast, We give you this previous notice, that you may have every thing in readiness to forward her Dispatch accordingly within the usual Charterparty time 11 We cannot take upon us to say what Quantity of Fresh Provisions any of his Majestys returning Ships may want Margin Notes: the Griffin to proceed for China to protest against the Commander the Oxford to be dispatched in December	Being desirous to forward as much as possible of the ammunition and all kinds of military stores, the Court had, besides the usual store ship, fixed upon the Griffin, one of the China ships, to proceed first to St Helena, carrying as considerable a quantity of the materials, stores and other useful articles as she could take in. The particulars of all these would appear by the enclosed invoice and bill of lading. The remainder would be sent in the Oxford, or as much of it as could be laden consistent with the room that had to be reserved for the consignments to the west coast. 8: Since the Griffin proceeded to China upon a particular scheme, which might be defeated if she did not arrive there as early as the season would permit, the Council was to use the utmost diligence in unloading her, so that she might proceed on her voyage without loss of time, and if possible within the charter-party time. The Council was to give the commander orders to make the best of his way to China, in keeping with the instructions he had received from the Court and from the Secret Committee. 9: Should the Council find the commander delatory, or not sufficiently expeditious in getting out to sea, it was to protest against him and the owners of the ship for the damage and detriment such delay might occasion to the Company. 10: The Court meant to dispatch the Oxford the beginning of December, and, after the consignments to the island were delivered, she was to proceed to the west coast. The Court gave this previous notice so that the Council might have everything in readiness to forward her dispatch accordingly within the usual charter-party time. 11: The Court could not take upon itself to say what quantity of fresh provisions any of His Majesty's returning ships might want. Interpretations The diversion of the Griffin, a China ship, to call first at St Helena laden with military stores shows the Company bending its most time-sensitive voyage to the island's defensive needs. A China ship had to reach Canton early to secure her tea cargo within the season, yet the urgency of arming St Helena against a French war justified the risk, and the Court hedged it by pressing the Council to unload her with the utmost diligence so that the detour cost her as little of the season as possible. The instruction to protest formally against a dilatory commander and the ship's owners reveals the legal mechanism by which the Company enforced dispatch against its own hired captains. A protest laid the ground for a claim of damages, so a commander who lingered in the road knew that any delay attributable to him could be charged against his owners, a financial lever that gave the Council's demand for speed the force of a contractual penalty rather than a mere request.
28	23	in need of, but in order that they as well as our own Ships may have as plentiful a supply, as the Stock upon the Island can allow of, you must not suffer any Foreign Ship to be resupplied with more than shall appear to be absolutely necessary, & here we cannot but observe that these French Ships called the East India Company, carried off no less than twenty five Head of Cattle (& if we are rightly informed a proportionable Quantity of other Live Stock) when at the same time it appears no one Ship of the Season belonging to us the Exeter excepted had near that Quantity. 12 You did right in demanding & receiving from these beforementioned French Ship such of his Majestys British Subjects, whom you were informed were on board, & at the same time it was but Justice to comply with the Commanders Requisition, to have an Exchange of Man for Man out of the French discovered on board our Ships then in the Road 13 It is but reasonable, that the Commanders of our Ships who, for want of proper Boats of their own, make use of Our Long Boats for Watering & other heavy Work, should if they have time give an effectual Repair for the Damage they suffer at least, but if that cannot be done, you must Charge, their Accounts with such a Sum as you shall judge reasonable, as well for the use of Our Boats, as the Wear & Tear of them, We have frequently given you liberty to buy proper Boats of the Commanders of the returning Ships & we would accordingly have you buy them whenever they are wanted, as it is difficult to supply you from hence. 14 As we find you have a considerable Ballance of Cash Margin Notes: His Majestys Ships to be supplyed French Ships has too many Cattle demanding the British Subjects approved Commanders of Ships to pay for their use of Long Boats	His Majesty's returning ships might stand in need of fresh provisions, but in order that they, as well as the Court's own ships, might have as plentiful a supply as the stock upon the island could allow, the Council was not to suffer any foreign ship to be resupplied with more than appeared to be absolutely necessary. On this point the Court could not but observe that the French ship called the East India Company had carried off no less than 25 head of cattle, and, if it was rightly informed, a proportionable quantity of other live stock, when at the same time it appeared that no ship of the season belonging to the Court, the Exeter excepted, had anything near that quantity. 12: The Council had done right in demanding and receiving from that French ship such of His Majesty's British subjects as it was informed were on board. At the same time, it was but justice to comply with the commander's requisition, and to have an exchange man for man out of the French discovered on board the Court's ships then in the road. 13: It was but reasonable that the commanders of the Court's ships, who, for want of proper boats of their own, made use of the island's longboats for watering and other heavy work, should, if they had time, give an effectual repair for the damage they occasioned to them, at least. If that could not be done, the Council was to charge their accounts with such a sum as it judged reasonable, as well for the use of the boats as for the wear and tear of them. The Court had frequently given the Council liberty to buy proper boats from the commanders of the returning ships, and it would accordingly have the Council buy them whenever they were wanted, since it was difficult to supply the island from England. 14: Since the Court found the island had a considerable balance of cash. Interpretations The Court's complaint that the French East India Company had carried off 25 head of cattle, more than any of the Court's own ships that season save the Exeter, exposes the tension between hospitality to foreign vessels and the island's limited stock. St Helena's cattle were reserved first for the Company's own shipping, so a rival East India ship drawing so heavily on the herd struck the Court as an abuse of the refreshment allowed in amity, and it pressed the Council to hold foreign supply to what was strictly necessary. The reciprocal exchange of British subjects for Frenchmen, man for man, between the island and the French ship shows a settled convention for handling each nation's stray seamen on the eve of open war. Britons found aboard the French vessel were reclaimed, but justice required that Frenchmen discovered on the Court's ships be handed over in equal number, a balanced trade that let each side recover its own men without either being able to strip the other of hands.
29	24	Cash in your hands, you will not for the present, at least, want a supply, You are therefore not to take any Treasure out of this Ship the Griffin, & no more out of the Oxford on her Arrival, than shall be absolutely necessary. 15 By this Ship & the Oxford you will find your Indent for Stores & other Articles as fully complied with, as the Stowage in the said Ships will admit of, & as the Demand for Flower Beef & Pork must be, in the present conjuncture very considerable We therefore send you larger Proportions than you write for. 16 Your Military Indents will likewise be fully complied with, in proper Proportions by each Ship & all or as many of the Timbers, Deals, & other Materials for Building the Barracks & Hospital, will be laden on the two Ships as they can Stow. 17 We shall give the necessary Directions to the Supra Cargoes of the China Ships to comply with your Indent for the China Ware & the other Articles desired from Canton. 18 We would have you renew your Indents for Sugar from the West Coast, & we shall send particular Directions to Our Servants there, to comply therewith, in any Quantity you shall yearly write for. 19 The President & Council of Fort St George have been ordered to supply you with Coffree Slaves, & in their Letter of the 10 of Novr last, they have promised a punctual compliance therewith, but as you have not yet received them you must, in your next application, remind them of the necessity you are under for about Thirty Slaves, & we will inforce our former Orders for their supplying you by the first opportunity. Margin Notes: No Cash to be taken out of the Griffin Indent very fully complied with. Military Indents complied with Indent for Tea &ca complied with. To Indent for Sugar from the West Coast. To be supplyed with 30 Slaves	With this balance of cash in the island's hands, the Council would not, for the present at least, want a supply. It was therefore not to take any treasure out of the Griffin, and no more out of the Oxford on her arrival than was absolutely necessary. 15: By this ship and the Oxford the Council would find its indent for stores and other articles as fully complied with as the stowage in those ships would admit. Since the demand for flour, beef and pork must, in the present conjuncture, be very considerable, the Court sent larger proportions than the Council had written for. 16: The island's military indents would likewise be fully complied with, in proper proportions by each ship. All, or as many as they could stow, of the timbers, deals and other materials for building the barracks and hospital would be laden on the two ships. 17: The Court would give the necessary directions to the supercargoes of the China ships to comply with the island's indent for chinaware and the other articles desired from Canton. 18: The Court wished the Council to renew its indents for sugar from the west coast, and it would send particular directions to its servants there to comply, in whatever quantity the Council should yearly write for. 19: The President and Council of Fort St George had been ordered to supply the island with Coffree slaves, and in their letter of 10 November last they had promised a punctual compliance. Since the Council had not yet received them, it was, on its next application, to remind them of the necessity it was under for about 30 slaves, and the Court would enforce its former orders for their supplying the island by the first opportunity. Interpretations The Court's decision to send larger proportions of flour, beef and pork than the island had asked for, on account of the present conjuncture, shows the approach of war reshaping even routine provisioning. With hostilities likely to swell the number of ships and men passing through St Helena, and to make resupply from home less certain, the Court judged it prudent to overstock the island's staple provisions rather than hold strictly to the quantities the Council had indented for in quieter expectation. The reliance on Fort St George to supply about 30 Coffree slaves reveals how St Helena drew its bonded labour from the Company's other eastern settlements rather than the open market. Coffree, or Kaffir, slaves were Africans shipped east through the Company's Indian ports, and the island's works depended on such drafts being sent on from Madras, so that a promise unfulfilled left the Council pressing both the sister presidency and the Court to make good a labour force it could not raise for itself.
30	25	20 You must likewise apply to the President & Council of Fort St George, for the Diaper table Cloth & Napkins you Indent for, as you may be supplied by them with those Articles upon more reasonable Terms than from hence. 21 The Twenty five Musquets which you call Pattern Arms were inserted in the Exeters Invoice by mistake, they being intended only for Exercising the Soldiers aboard &, consequently should have been forwarded for that purpose to the West Coast as the greater part of the Soldiers on that Ship proceeded thither. 22 As you intimate the said Twenty five Musquets were too long for our Soldiery, it has been a sufficient hint for our ordering the two hundred & fifty you Indent for, to be made four Inches shorter, & as we are fully satisfyed Wooden Rammers are better than Iron, we have ordered them to be fitted up accordingly 23 All your useless small Arms & unserviceable Cannon must be sent to England, instead of forwarding them to India to be disposed of at Batavia as proposed by you, but previously to your sending them on board any of our Ships you must procure a Promise from the Commander to bring them Freight free 24 We have touched the Materials to be provided for Building a New Crane, according to your Plan & Indent by the Winchelsea, in order to send as many of them by the Oxford as can be procured by the time of her departure & she can take in, You were to blame in not advising us sooner, of so necessary a Work that we might have had time to prevent the disappointments you will certainly meet with, in not receiving, the whole this Season. Margin Notes: must Write to the President of Fort St George for Table Cloth &ca Pattern Arms inserted by mistake Musquets to be made shorter Old Cannon &ca to be sent to England Part of the Materials sent for Building a Crane	20: The Council was likewise to apply to the President and Council of Fort St George for the diapers, tablecloths and napkins it had indented for, since it might be supplied by them with those articles upon more reasonable terms than from England. 21: The 25 muskets which the Council called pattern arms had been entered in the Exeter's invoice by mistake, they being intended only for exercising the soldiers aboard, and consequently should have been forwarded for that purpose to the west coast, since the greater part of the soldiers on that ship proceeded thither. 22: Since the Council intimated that those 25 muskets were too long for the island's soldiery, this had been a sufficient hint for the Court's ordering the 250 the Council indented for to be made four inches shorter. Being fully satisfied that wooden rammers were better than iron, the Court had ordered them to be fitted up accordingly. 23: All the island's useless small arms and unserviceable cannon were to be sent to England, instead of forwarding them to India to be disposed of at Batavia, as the Council had proposed. Before sending them aboard any of the Court's ships, however, the Council was to procure a promise from the commander to bring them freight free. 24: The Court had touched the materials to be provided for building a new crane, according to the Council's plan and indent, by the Winchelsea, in order to send as many of them by the Oxford as could be procured by the time of her departure and as she could take in. The Council was to blame for not advising the Court sooner of so necessary a work, so that it might have had time to prevent the disappointments the Council would certainly meet with in not receiving the whole this season. Interpretations The correction of the muskets, ordered four inches shorter with wooden rammers instead of iron, shows the Court adapting a standard weapon to the particular soldiery of the island. The pattern arms sent out had proved too long for the men who were to carry them, and the Court's willingness to alter the length and fittings of 250 stand of arms reflects a practical responsiveness to a complaint from the garrison, the wooden rammer preferred as less liable than iron to damage or misfire. The insistence that even useless arms and unserviceable cannon be shipped home to England, rather than disposed of nearer at Batavia, and only ever carried freight free, reveals the Company's tight accounting of its ordnance. Condemned weapons still represented recoverable metal and Company property, so the Court would not have them sold off in the East, and it refused to pay carriage on its own scrap, requiring each commander to undertake to bring it home at no charge as a condition of loading it.
31	26	25 We are much concerned at what you write with regard to the frequent Mischiefs & Thefts committed in many parts of the Island, by a Sett of Young Fellows who associate with the Blacks, but we do not (at present at least) think proper to supply for Powers for inflicting severer Punishments on Offenders than you are at present authorized to do, but if any of the said Young Fellows prove irreclaimable, take the first opportunity of sending them off the Island. 26 We have inspected the List you refer to for the manner in which each person has supplied the Market, our Own & Foreign Ships with Cattle, it in general meets with our approbation & the same method & care must be steadily pursued, but you must observe what we have said in the beginning of this Letter, not to suffer any Foreign Ship to have a larger supply than shall be absolutely necessary 27 Upon inspecting the State of the Military Stores remaining, received by the Dragon we could not help being surprized that you had not before apprized us of what were wanting, especially, considering the Critical Situation of Affairs between the British & French Nations for a considerable time past, the great Importance of preserving this Island from an Invasion by a Surprise, & as you know our constant Intention of having it always kept in a defensible Condition, Our principal design therefore in sending you two Ships, & one of them thus early is as we have before informed you, to supply you with all the necessary Military Stores and seventy Recruits for the Garrison, forty of which proceed, in the Griffin as by the Margin Notes: Young Fellows who associate with the Blacks to be sent off the Island. List of Cattle Killed, approved The Island to be always kept in a defensible Condition 40 Recruits sent by Griffin.	25: The Court was much concerned at what the Council wrote regarding the frequent mischiefs and thefts committed in many parts of the island by a set of young fellows who associated with the blacks. It did not, at present at least, think it proper to apply for powers for inflicting severer punishments on offenders than the Council was at present authorised to do. If, however, any of those young fellows proved irreclaimable, the Council was to take the first opportunity of sending them off the island. 26: The Court had inspected the list the Council referred to, showing the manner in which each person had supplied the market, the Court's own ships and foreign ships with cattle. It generally met with the Court's approbation, and the same method and care were to be steadily pursued. The Council was, however, to observe what the Court had said at the beginning of the letter, not to suffer any foreign ship to have a larger supply than was absolutely necessary. 27: On inspecting the state of the military stores remaining, received by the Dragon, the Court could not help being surprised that the Council had not before apprised it of what was wanting, especially considering the critical situation of affairs between the British and French nations for a considerable time past, and the great importance of preserving the island from an invasion by surprise. As the Council knew, it was the Court's constant intention to have the island always kept in a defensible condition. Its principal design, therefore, in sending two ships, one of them early, as it had already told the Council, was to supply the island with all the necessary military stores and 70 recruits for the garrison, 40 of whom proceeded in the Griffin. Interpretations The Court's refusal to seek harsher punishments while ordering irreclaimable offenders shipped off the island reveals a deliberate choice of policy over the young men consorting with the slaves. Rather than escalate the severity of the criminal law, the Court preferred simple removal of the incorrigible, treating the mischief less as a matter for the gallows or the lash than for ridding the small community of its worst members, whose real danger lay in the alliance between disorderly whites and the enslaved population. The Court's surprise that the Council had not sooner reported the deficiency in military stores exposes the peril of slow communication in a worsening international crisis. With war between Britain and France long threatening, the island's defensibility depended on London knowing its wants in time to ship them out, and a shortfall left unreported until the stores arrived by the Dragon meant the Court learned of the gap only when it was almost too late to fill it against the danger of a surprise attack.
32	27	enclosed List, & likewise to inform you that Hostilitys are commenced between the two Nations in America, that a great number of French Ships have been already & are continued to be taken in Europe by our men of War, but none of them have been condemnd nor have any Commissions been issued for Privateers or any Letters of Mart yet Granted here, there is no Account that the French have as yet issued Letters of Mart or Reprizals, nor have they taken any British Ship that we know of, except the Blandford Man of War of Twenty Guns, which has been since restored by order of the Court of France, as yet there has been no Declaration of War, made by either Nation, under this Situation of affairs therefore, it is of the utmost consequence, to set about and Compleat whatever may be wanting in all the Fortifications upon the Island, to Erect additional Batteries wherever you shall judge they may be useful, & in general to put the Island in the best posture of defence, which you are hereby Ordered to set about immediately & as you will be in want of hands, we empower you to give the Soldiers such Encouragement, to assist in carrying on the Works, not only the Fortifications, but those necessary ones likewise the Barracks, as you shall judge reasonable, either by an addition to their usual Pay, or an Allowance of Provisions out of our Stores, And here we must recommend to your particular Attention the Battery of Bankses, which you represent to be much out of Repair. 28 You must likewise keep up the exactest Discipline among the Soldiery, that they may be expert in their Exercises & ready upon any Alarm to repair to, & do their Duty wherever they shall be wanted, The Planters must likewise be Armed & in Margin Notes: Hostilitys commenced To Erect additional Batterys. Planters to be Armed.	The remaining 30 recruits proceeded in the enclosed list. The Court likewise informed the Council that hostilities had commenced between the two nations in America, that a great number of French ships had already been, and were still being, taken in Europe by the Court's men of war, but that none of them had been condemned, nor had any commissions been issued for privateers or any letters of marque yet granted at home. There was no account that the French had as yet issued letters of marque or reprisals, nor had they taken any British ship the Court knew of, except the Blandford man of war of 20 guns, which had since been restored by order of the Court of France. As yet no declaration of war had been made by either nation. Under this situation of affairs, it was of the utmost consequence to set about and complete whatever might be wanting in all the fortifications upon the island, to erect additional batteries wherever the Council judged they might be useful, and in general to put the island in the best posture of defence. The Council was hereby ordered to set about this at once. Since it would be in want of hands, the Court empowered it to give the soldiers such encouragement to assist in carrying on the works, not only the fortifications but the barracks and other necessary ones likewise, as it judged reasonable, either by an addition to their usual pay or an allowance of provisions out of the Court's stores. The Court recommended to the Council's particular attention the battery at Bank's, which it represented to be much out of repair. 28: The Council was likewise to keep up the exactest discipline among the soldiery, so that they might be expert in their exercises and ready upon any alarm to repair to their posts and do their duty wherever they were wanted. The planters must likewise be armed, and kept in constant readiness. Interpretations The Court's careful catalogue of what had and had not yet happened between the two nations, ships taken but none condemned, no letters of marque issued, no declaration of war, the one captured man of war already restored, marks the peculiar legal limbo of 1755. Hostilities had begun in America and at sea, yet without a formal declaration the ordinary machinery of prize law and privateering remained suspended, so the Court set down the exact state of affairs to guide a Council that had to prepare for war while technically still at peace. The authority to reward soldiers with extra pay or provisions for labouring on the fortifications reveals how a small garrison had to double as its own workforce. Lacking enough hired hands to raise batteries and barracks quickly, the island could only turn its soldiers to construction by offering inducements beyond their military pay, so the same men who manned the guns also built the works, their willingness to dig bought with money or an allowance from the Company's stores.
33	28	constant readiness to Protect & defend their own & our Property against any Attack of the French. 29 Our intention in sending you Directions last year not to suffer any Ships, either our own or Foreign to pass Mundens Point in the night time, was clearly to prevent the Danger of being surprized by Ships getting into the Road at that time, but as you think it will be more effectial not to suffer any to pass Banksis We acquiesce therewith, as you on the Spot must be the best judges our meaning in general being, that all proper measures should be pursued, which tend to the security of the Island. 30 We send you by this Ship the Griffin about forty Recruits for our Garrison, & intend to send you about thirty more by the Oxford 31 We are very well pleased, that the generality of the Military agreed to continue in our Service subject to the Articles of War, made in consequence of the Act of Parliament for Punishing mutiny & desertion & other Offences committed by our Troops, We are satisfyed of the great Utility of the said Act, if properly carried into Execution, & with as much Lenity as the nature of the Service will admit of, You must continue therefore to forward to us from time to time the Proceedings of your several Courts Martial, for our Inspection, in the same manner as have received by the Colchester & Prince Henry. 32 You may add an additional Drummer to each Company if you think it necessary. 33 We approve of your sending Muster Rolls of the Military apart from the Lists of our Civil Servants, in Margin Notes: Ships in the night not to pass Banksis 40 Recruits sent. Articles of War. Drummers may be added Muster Rolls	The planters were to be kept in constant readiness to protect and defend their own and the Court's property against any attack by the French. 29: The Court's intention, in sending its directions the previous year not to suffer any ships, either its own or foreign, to pass Munden's Point in the night time, was clearly to prevent the danger of being surprised by ships getting into the road at that time. Since the Council thought it would be more effectual not to suffer any to pass Bank's, the Court acquiesced, as the Council on the spot must be the best judge. Its meaning in general was that all proper measures should be pursued which tended to the security of the island. 30: The Court sent, by the Griffin, about 40 recruits for the garrison, and meant to send about 30 more by the Oxford. 31: The Court was very well pleased that the generality of the soldiery had agreed to continue in the Court's service, subject to the Articles of War made in consequence of the Act of Parliament for punishing mutiny, desertion and other offences committed by the troops. Being satisfied of the great utility of the Articles, if properly carried into execution and with as much lenity as the nature of the service would admit, the Council was to continue forwarding from time to time the proceedings of its several courts martial, for the Court's inspection, in the same manner as it had received them by the Colchester and Prince Henry. 32: The Council might add an additional drummer to each company if it thought it necessary. 33: The Court approved of the Council's sending muster rolls of the soldiery apart from the lists of the Court's civil servants. Interpretations The Court's ready deference to the Council's judgment on where to stop ships at night, Bank's rather than Munden's Point, shows the practical limit of governing a distant island from London. The Court could set the general aim, the security of the road against a surprise entry after dark, but it recognised that only the men on the spot could know which headland gave the better command of the approach, so it yielded the specific measure to their local knowledge while holding to the underlying purpose. The Court's satisfaction that the discipline of the garrison be tempered with as much lenity as the service would admit reveals a deliberate restraint in wielding the new power of martial law. The Articles of War gave the island severe sanctions, yet the Court, wary that harsh usage might drive men to desert or refuse re-enlistment, pressed for a mild application and required every court martial's proceedings sent home, so that the exercise of military justice stayed both moderate and open to review in London.
34	29	the manner it is done by the Prince Henry, this method must therefore be continued for the future. 34 We are willing that Mr Richard Beale whom you have appointed Judge Advocate should have an allowance adequate to his trouble in that Post, but as we cannot be judges thereof, We shall leave it to you, to make him a reasonable allowance acquainting us in your next advices, what that allowance is for our Confirmation 35 We are sorry to observe the great damage the young Trees suffer in the Longwood, from the great number of Rats & Mice, if you can point out any Assistance that we can give you from hence to destroy them, we shall readily comply therewith. 36 You have returned to us the Covenants executed by William Wrangham & Charles Steward Writers, but no Persons have yet appeared as Securitys for them, They must therefore write again to their Friends to give the usual Security, without further Delay 37 We have inspected the rectifyd Account of the Distribution of the late Governor Goodwins Money, amounting to £141.10.11½, as mentioned in your Letter of the 5 of June last, & find it right & distributed agreeable to our Orders, We have paid to Mrs Rebecca Hunter Executrix of Capt David Hunter deceased the Sum of £24.10.9, being the Proportion of the Deceased's Claim on Govr Goodwins Estate, You have done wright therefore, in directing it to be wrote off to Account Current London. 38 Lieut James Scott not being able to produce either of the two Bills of Exchange drawn by you on the 15 October 1750 Margin Notes: Mr R. Beale appointed Judge Advocate Rats in the Longwood Messrs Wrangham & Steward to give Security. Govr Goodwins Money.	This method, done in the manner of the Prince Henry, was therefore to be continued for the future. 34: The Court was willing that Mr Richard Beale, whom the Council had appointed judge advocate, should have an allowance adequate to his trouble in that post. Since it could not itself be the judge of what that should be, it left the matter to the Council to make him a reasonable allowance, acquainting the Court in its next advices what that allowance was, for its confirmation. 35: The Court was sorry to observe the great damage the young trees suffered in the Long Wood from the great number of rats and mice. If the Council could point out any assistance the Court could give it from England to destroy them, it would readily comply. 36: The Council had returned the covenants executed by William Wrangham and Charles Steward, writers, but no persons had yet appeared as sureties for them. They must therefore write again to their friends to give the usual security, without further delay. 37: The Court had inspected the certified account of the distribution of the late Governor Goodwin's money, amounting to £141 10s 11½d, as mentioned in the Council's letter of 5 June last, and found it right and distributed in keeping with its orders. It had paid to Mrs Rebecca Hunter, executrix of Captain David Hunter deceased, the sum of £24 10s 9d, being the proportion of the deceased's claim on Governor Goodwin's estate. The Council had done right, therefore, in directing it to be carried to account current at London. 38: Lieutenant James Scott, not being able to produce either of the two bills of exchange drawn by the Council on 15 October 1750. Interpretations The Court's refusal to fix the judge advocate's allowance itself, leaving it to the Council to set a reasonable sum subject to later confirmation, reflects the difficulty of pricing a new office at a distance. Only the Council could weigh the actual trouble the post entailed on the island, so the Court delegated the initial judgment while reserving the final approval, the standard division by which local knowledge set a figure and London retained the power to sanction it. The payment to Captain Hunter's executrix in London, completing the rateable division of Governor Goodwin's estate begun on the island, shows the Company's books closing a settlement across two continents. The proportion due to a deceased creditor's estate was answered not at St Helena but to his executrix at home, carried to account current, so that the whole distribution of a defrauding governor's assets among his creditors was reconciled through the Company's accounts wherever each claimant or heir happened to be.
35	30	for £30, in favour of his Wife Mrs Martha Scott, We have upon his earnest application, notwithstanding, paid him the said Sum of £30, on his giving Security for delivering up the said Bill, or one of them properly endorsed, & for indemnifying the Company in the mean time, & it appearing that the third Bill is still in your hands, you are to cause Mrs Scott, to whose Order the Bill is payable, to endorse the same to be paid to her Husband & then you are to transmit it so endorsed to us, however you are to keep an authentick Copy of the Bill & endorsement thereon, for future satisfaction, if there should be occasion 39 After having shipped one hundred & fifty, Barrels of Gun Powder on board the Griffin in part of your Military Indent We were acquainted by Capt Dethick, that there was not room for the Ships Powder by thirty Barrels, which put us under the necessity of consenting that he might have thirty of ours, & as his Owners have paid us for the same here, You are accordingly to let him retain thirty Barrels out of the one hundred & fifty now Invoiced, which we will replace by the Oxford. We are London Your Loving Friends 16 Octr 1755 Signed R. Drake L. Sulivan P. Godfrey Rob. Jones John Payne John Dorrien Nath. Newnham junr Hen. Savage Henry Plant Charles Chambers Whichcott Turner Timothy Tullie John Boyd Maxim Western Margin Notes: Mr Scott paid £30. The third Bill to be sent. Capt Dethick to have 30 Barrels of Gun Powder.	Those bills, drawn for £30 0s 0d in favour of his wife Mrs Martha Scott, could not be produced by Lieutenant James Scott. Upon his earnest application, the Court had nevertheless paid him the sum of £30 0s 0d, on his giving security for delivering up the bill, or one of them, properly endorsed, and for indemnifying the Company in the meantime. Since it appeared that the third bill was still in the Council's hands, it was to cause Mrs Scott, to whose order the bill was payable, to endorse the same to be paid to her husband. The Council was then to transmit it so endorsed to the Court, and was also to keep an authentic copy of the bill and the endorsement thereon, for its own satisfaction should there be occasion. 39: After having shipped 150 barrels of gunpowder aboard the Griffin, in part of the island's military indent, the Court had been acquainted by Captain Dethick that there was not room for the ship's own powder by 30 barrels. This put the Court under the necessity of consenting that he might have 30 of the island's, and, since his owners had paid the Court for the same at home, the Council was accordingly to let him have them, retaining 30 barrels out of the 150 invoiced, which the Court would replace by the Oxford. The letter closed at London on 12 October 1755, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Roger Drake, L. Sulivan, Robert Jones, John Dorrien, Henry Savage, Charles Chambers, Timothy Tullie, Maxim Western, Peter Godfrey, John Payne, Nathaniel Newnham junior, Henry Bland, Wichcott Turner and John Boyd. Interpretations The elaborate safeguards around Lieutenant Scott's missing bills reveal how the Company protected itself against paying the same debt twice. A bill of exchange was drawn in several parts, any one of which could be presented for payment, so paying a man who had lost his copies risked a later demand on one that surfaced elsewhere. By requiring security, an indemnity and the surrender of the surviving third bill properly endorsed, the Court closed off every avenue by which the £30 0s 0d might be claimed again. The arrangement over the 30 barrels of gunpowder shows the Company balancing the island's defensive supply against the working needs of its own ship. The Griffin could not stow both her own powder and the full 150 barrels indented for the garrison, so the Court let her captain take 30 of the island's, already paid for by his owners, and undertook to make good the shortfall by the next ship, so that neither the vessel went short at sea nor the island lost its supply, only its timing.
36	31	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 We writ to you very fully by the Griffin under date of the 16 Octr a Duplicate of which Letter you will now receive by the Oxford 2 The Griffin in Company with the Delawar Sailed from Spithead on the last day of October, having been retored so long by contrary Winds, waiting for Convoy & other unavoidable Incidents, however we hope she will have discharged her Consignments to you, & proceeded on her Voyage to China long before this reaches you 3 By this Ship the Oxford you will receive as many of the remaining Stores provided for the Service of our Island as she could possibly take in, for the particulars & Amount whereof We refer you to the accompanying Invoice, & Bill of Lading 4 We have reason to believe you will have no occasion to make use of any of the Treasure consigned to Fort Marlborough but if you are really in want of any, you may detain so much as shall be necessary not exceeding one Chest, taking care to advise our Servants upon the West Coast of the exact Quantity you shall so detain 5 As we gave you previous notice of the Time we intended to dispatch the Oxford, We make no doubt you will be so ready to receive her Cargo a Shore, that she may prosecute her Voyage without loosing time, this we earnestly recommend to your care Margin Notes: Letter sent by Griffin Griffin & Delawar Sailed in October Stores sent by Oxford Leave to detain one Chest of Treasure. Oxford to be unloaded as soon as possible.	1: The Court had written very fully to the Council by the Griffin, under date of 12 October. It would now receive a duplicate of that letter by the Oxford. 2: The Griffin, in company with the Delaware, had sailed from Spithead on the last day of October, having been detained so long by contrary winds, waiting for convoy, and by other unavoidable incidents. The Court hoped, however, that she would have discharged her consignments to the island, and proceeded on her voyage to China, long before this letter reached the Council. 3: By this ship, the Oxford, the Council would receive as many of the remaining stores provided for the service of the island as she could possibly take in. For the particulars, and the amount, the Court referred the Council to the accompanying invoice and bill of lading. 4: The Court had reason to believe the Council would have no occasion to make use of any of the treasure consigned to Fort Marlborough. If, however, it was really in want of any, it might detain so much as was necessary, not exceeding one chest, taking care to advise the Court's servants upon the west coast of the exact quantity it so detained. 5: Since the Court had given the Council previous notice of the time it intended to dispatch the Oxford, it had no doubt the Council would be so ready to receive her cargo ashore that she might prosecute her voyage without losing time. This the Court earnestly recommended to the Council. Interpretations The dispatch of a duplicate letter by the Oxford, repeating in full what had already gone by the Griffin, shows the routine redundancy built into correspondence carried across the ocean. A single ship might be lost, delayed or driven off her course, so the Court habitually sent the same instructions by more than one vessel, ensuring that the loss of any one bottom would not leave the island ignorant of its orders for a whole season. The strict ceiling of a single chest on any treasure the Council might detain, coupled with the requirement to notify Fort Marlborough of the exact amount, reveals the tight accounting that governed bullion consigned onward. The specie belonged to the west coast settlement, not to St Helena, so the island could break into it only in real want and only within a fixed limit, and every chest taken had to be reported at once so that Fort Marlborough's accounts and the Company's books stayed exactly reconciled.
37	32	& Attention as her early Arrival upon the West Coast will be of great importance to the Company, The Commander must have Orders as soon as the Cargo is delivered to make the best of his way to his consignd Port agreeable to our Instructions & those of the Secret Committee. 6 The Stone Work for your intended new Crane is all Shippd on the Oxford, but we much doubt whether she will be able to take in the Wood Work part of it, if therefore you do not find all or any part of it included in the Invoice you will know the reason & must not expect it until next Season 7 In consideration of the long & faithful Services of Lieut Thomas Easthope, We do agree to allow him two Shillings & sixpence a Day for his life, to commence from the Day you discharge him from his Post of first Lieutenant of one of our Companys, which you are hereby directed to do, as soon after the receipt of this as you think fit, & as his discharge will, occasion a Vacancy, you are further directed to give a Commission to Mr Henry Bazett to be second Lieutenant in one of the Companys who is well recommended by you for that Station. 8 The Right Honble the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty will order a Convoy for the Homeward bound Shipping at St Helena the ensuing Season of which the Secret Committee will particularly apprize the Governor and give him the necessary directions. Margin Notes: Stone Work for the Crane Sent. Lieut Thos Easthope Superannuated. Mr Henry Bazett appointed Lieutenant Convoy for the Shipping.	The Council's care and attention in this were the more important, since the Oxford's early arrival upon the west coast would be of great importance to the Company. The commander was to have orders, as soon as the cargo was delivered, to make the best of his way to his consigned port, in keeping with the Court's instructions and those of the Secret Committee. 6: The stone work for the island's intended new crane was all shipped on the Oxford, but the Court much doubted whether she would be able to take in the wooden part of it. If, therefore, the Council did not find all or any part of it entered in the invoice, it would know the reason, and must not expect it until the next season. 7: In consideration of the long and faithful services of Lieutenant Thomas Easthope, the Court agreed to allow him two shillings and sixpence a day for his life, to commence from the day the Council discharged him from his post of first lieutenant of one of the companies. The Council was hereby directed to do this as soon after receiving the letter as it thought fit. Since his discharge would occasion a vacancy, the Council was further directed to give a commission to Mr Henry Bazett to be second lieutenant in one of the companies, he being well recommended by the Council for that station. 8: The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty would order a convoy for the homeward-bound shipping at St Helena the ensuing season. The Secret Committee would particularly apprise the Governor of this, and give him the necessary directions. Interpretations The life pension of half a crown a day granted to Lieutenant Easthope reveals the Company acting as a provider for its worn-out servants in the manner of a state. An officer who had served long and faithfully but could no longer bear arms was not simply discharged into destitution but pensioned for life, the allowance beginning precisely on the day of his discharge, so that faithful service carried an expectation of maintenance that helped bind men to a career in the Company's forces. The promise of an Admiralty convoy for the homeward ships marks the passage of the island's trade under naval protection as war approached. In peacetime the Company's ships sailed home at their own risk, but with French cruisers and privateers threatening the sea lanes, the Crown's warships were now to gather and escort the returning fleet from St Helena, the arrangement handled through the Secret Committee as a matter too sensitive for the ordinary open correspondence.
38	33	9 You will receive a Chest of Fruit Trees to be disposed of in the manner directed in our advices last Season 10 In our Letter by the Griffin, We gave you a General View of the Situation of affairs between the British & French Nations, We have only to add thereto, that Hostilitys are carried on with Vigour in America, that our Men of War in Europe take all the French Ships they meet with, of which great numbers now lay in the several Ports of his Majestys Dominions but none are yet condemned, No Declaration of War is made by either Nation, No Commissions for Privateers or Letters of Marque have been granted or issued here, & so far from any being issued by the French Court, all British Merchant Ships, are suffered to go in and out of their Ports, without Molestation, However the French continue to exert themselves in increasing with the utmost diligence, both their Land and Sea Armaments and have drawn down a great number of their Forces to their Coasts & it is generally, believed are meditating some Grand effort, on the other hand the most vigorous measures are taken in England to be prepared against all manner of Attempts, and it is with great pleasure the whole Nation sees the Parliament most heartily concurs therein with his Majesty, This being the present situation of affairs you must carefully observe the Directions we gave in our beforementioned Letter by the Griffin, to be in a proper Margin Notes: Fruit Trees. Hostilitys carried on. The French meditating a Grand Effort.	9: The Council would receive a chest of fruit trees, to be disposed of in the manner directed in the Court's advices last season. 10: In its letter by the Griffin the Court had given the Council a general view of the situation of affairs between the British and French nations. It had only to add that hostilities were carried on with vigour in America, and that the Court's men of war in Europe took all the French ships they met with, of which great numbers now lay in the ports of His Majesty's dominions, but none were yet condemned. No declaration of war had been made by either nation. No commissions for privateers or letters of marque had been granted or issued at home, and, so far from any being issued by the French Court, all British merchant ships were suffered to go in and out of the French ports without molestation. The French, however, continued to exert themselves in increasing both their land and sea armaments with the utmost diligence, and had drawn down a great number of their forces to their coasts. It was generally believed they were meditating some grand effort. On the other hand, the most vigorous measures were being taken in England to be prepared against all manner of attempts, and it was with great pleasure that the whole nation saw Parliament most heartily concur in this with His Majesty. This being the present situation of affairs, the Council was carefully to observe the directions the Court had given in its letter by the Griffin, to keep the island in a proper posture of defence. Interpretations The strange picture of an undeclared war, French ships seized and held uncondemned in British ports while British merchantmen still traded freely in and out of French harbours, captures the peculiar suspension of 1755. Without a formal declaration neither prize law nor privateering could operate, so captured vessels could not be condemned as lawful prize, and the ordinary commerce of both nations carried on even as their fleets and armies massed, a state of affairs the Court set out plainly so the Council could grasp the danger behind the outward calm. The Court's satisfaction that the whole nation saw Parliament concur with the King reveals how far the coming conflict was understood as a national rather than a merely dynastic or commercial cause. The Company's own fortunes in the East hung on the outcome, and the Court took evident reassurance from the unity of Crown and Parliament at home, on which the vigorous preparations, and ultimately the naval protection of its own trade, would depend.
39	34	Posture to Defend the Island, in case the French shall make any attempts against it. We are London Your Loving Friends 3 Decr 1755 Signed R. Drake P. Godfrey John Payne Nath. Newnham junr R. Beele Charles Chambers Thos Phipps Thos Rous Wm Crabb Boulton Henry Plant Rob. Jones Hen. Savage Timothy Tullie John Manship Chas Gough John Dorrien Laur. Sulivan Maxim. Western Christ. Burroe	This posture of defence was to enable the island to defend itself, in case the French should make any attempts against it. The letter closed at London on 3 December 1755, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Roger Drake, Peter Godfrey, John Payne, Nathaniel Newnham junior, Robert Bootle, Charles Chambers, Thomas Phipps, Thomas Snow, William Crabb Boulton, Henry Bland, Robert Jones, Henry Savage, Timothy Tullie, John Manship, Charles Gough, John Dorrien, Laurence Sulivan, Maxim Western and Christopher Burrow.
40	35	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Our General Letters to you last Season went by the Griffin & Oxford, that by the first named Ship was dated the 16 Octr 1755 & by the other the 3 of Decr following & we have the satisfaction of being informed that the said Ships arrived in safety, although the Oxford was very late. 2 We have received this Season your General Letters of the 10 of March the 10 & 15 of April the 8 & 23 of May, the 15 & 24 of June & the 21 August last. 3 In our Advices beforementioned you were in general apprized of the Situation of affairs between the British & French Nations, which was such as in all probability would draw on an open War, the Even has proved so, as you will observe by the accompaying Declarations His Majesty having proclaimed War against France on the 18 of May last, which was likewise done soon after by the French King against his Majesty 4 On this important Even we most earnestly recommend it to you, to exert yourselves in putting the Island in the best posture of defence, as well with regard to the Fortifications the exact Discipline of the Garrison, the forming the Planters into proper Partys & keeping them in constant Exercise, to be ready whenever there may be occasion for them, but also in general doing whatever you shall judge necessary, for the security of the Island & the Shipping, which are at any time in the Road in case of being Attackt by the Enemy Margin Notes: Letters sent by Griffin & Oxford. Letters Received War Declared The Island to be put in the best posture of Defence	1: The Council's general letters to the Court last season went by the Griffin and Oxford. That by the first-named ship was dated 12 October 1755, and that by the other 3 December following. The Court had the satisfaction of learning that both ships arrived in safety, although the Oxford was very late. 2: The Court had received this season the Council's general letters of 11 March, of 10 and 15 April, of 8 and 23 May, of 15 and 24 June, and of 21 August last. 3: In its advices mentioned above the Council had in general been apprised of the situation of affairs between the British and French nations, which was such as in all probability would draw on an open war. The event had proved so, as the Council would observe by the accompanying declarations, His Majesty having proclaimed war against France on 18 May last, which was likewise done soon after by the French King against His Majesty. 4: On this important event the Court most earnestly recommended that the Council exert itself in putting the island in the best posture of defence, as well with regard to the fortifications, the exact discipline of the garrison and the forming of the planters into proper parties and keeping them in constant exercise, to be ready whenever there might be occasion for them, as also in general in doing whatever it judged necessary for the security of the island and the shipping, which might at any time be in the road, in case of being attacked by the enemy. Interpretations The formal proclamations of war on 18 May 1756, first by Britain and soon after by France, mark the moment the long suspension of the previous year finally ended. The undeclared hostilities that had left ships uncondemned and merchants trading freely now gave way to open war, and the Court forwarded the actual declarations to the island so the Council would hold the legal proof that the state of affairs it had been preparing for had at last arrived. The Court's grouping of the planters into proper parties kept in constant exercise reveals how the island's defence rested on turning its whole free population into a militia. The regular garrison was too small to hold St Helena alone, so the planters had to be organised, armed and drilled as an auxiliary force, their readiness maintained by continual training so that the civilian inhabitants could stand to the works alongside the soldiers the moment an enemy appeared off the road.
41	36	5 And as in the present dangerous Conjuncture, the Committee of Secrecy for the time being will send the necessary Instructions to the Governor, or whoever else they shall think proper, the Orders and directions therein, are to have the same regard paid to them, as if they were signed by the Court of Directors, The Gentlemen who compose that Committee this present Season are Peter Godfrey, John Payne, Christopher Burrow, Roger Drake, William Mabbott & Jones Raymond Esqrs, any three of whom are a Quorum. 6 You have in general given us a good Account of the Intelligence collected upon the arrival of the returning Shipping is at all times material, but much more so at this Juncture, We shall therefore expect a continuance of this Practice, & you must let no Ship come from the Island without sending a Letter notwithstanding she proceeds in Company, with others to prevent the disappointments &c which we have experienced in two or three instances this Season, occasioned by some Ships arriving before those on which you sent your Packets, your Letters are generally short & therefore this will not be found a difficult Task, We must likewise recommend it to you to be more explicit in your abstracts of the Cargos of our returning Shipping especially of those from the Coast & Bay, by being particular in descriabing the several Species of Goods which you will easily collect from the Copies of the Bills of Lading, to be produced to you by the Commanders 7 You must give directions to the Commanders of each Ship to send up your Packets, under the care of a trusty person to the East India House from the first Port he shall arrive at in great Britain or Ireland, & you are to give the like Directions for Margin Notes: Secret Committee Letters to be sent on every Ship. Abstracts Packets to be sent to the India House	5: In the present dangerous conjuncture, the Committee of Secrecy for the time being would send the necessary instructions to the Governor, or whoever else it thought proper. The orders and directions therein were to have the same regard paid to them as if they were signed by the Court of Directors. The gentlemen who composed that Committee this present season were Peter Godfrey, John Payne, Christopher Burrow, Roger Drake, William Mabbott and Jones Raymond Esquires, any three of whom were a quorum. 6: The Council had in general given a good account of the intelligence collected on the arrival of the returning shipping. Such intelligence was at all times material, but much more so at this juncture, and the Court would therefore expect a continuance of the practice. It was to let no ship come from the island without sending a letter. Notwithstanding this, since the ships proceeded in company with others to prevent the disappointments experienced in two or three instances this season, occasioned by some ships arriving before those on which the Council had sent its packets, the Council's letters were generally short, and this would therefore not be found a difficult task. The Court likewise recommended that the Council be more explicit in its abstracts of the cargoes of the returning shipping, especially of those from the Coast and Bay, by being particular in describing the several species of goods, which it would easily collect from the copies of the bills of lading, to be produced by the commanders. 7: The Council was to give directions to the commanders of each ship to send its packets, under the care of a trusty person, to the East India House from the first port he should arrive at in Great Britain or Ireland. The Council was to give the like directions for the ships. Interpretations The instruction that the Secret Committee's orders carry the same authority as if signed by the whole Court of Directors reveals the wartime concentration of power into a small, confidential body. Open correspondence could be intercepted and the full Court was too large for sensitive matters, so a committee of six, three of them a quorum, was empowered to direct the island's Governor with the force of the Directors themselves, a streamlined channel suited to the secrecy and speed that war demanded. The Court's insistence that no ship leave the island without a letter, even when the news was slight, shows how the flow of intelligence itself had become a strategic asset. In wartime the movements of shipping, the goods carried and the sightings reported by passing vessels all mattered to the Company and the state, so the Council was to write by every bottom, sending the same word by several ships in company so that the loss or overtaking of any one did not deprive London of information it now needed continuously.
42	37	his sending up all the Indian Packets (those large ones only excepted which contain the Books of our Settlements, the want of which packets this Season have laid us under many difficulties 8 We have been very fortunate hitherto in the Arrival of our Shipping this Season although in general very late, We enclose a List of them in which are mentioned the different Ports they arrived at previous to their Arrival in the Downs, We likewise now send you a List containing the time of the Departure of the several Ships of last Season, since the date of that you received last from us 9 We have taken into our Service this Season sixteen Ships whose Names & Destinations are as follows viz Ships Tons Commanders Onslow 499 James Hinde St Helena & China Boston 499 Francis Harris Sandwich 499 John Roiling China Directly Boscawen 499 Benjn Braund Tavistock 499 Benjn Jenkins Norfolk 499 Simson Bonham Fort St George & China Princess Augusta 499 Thos Baddison Falmouth 499 James Dale St Helena & Bencoolen Warwick 499 Nicholas Webb Madeira & Coast & Bay Rochester 499 John Tredd Grantham 499 John Oliver Fox 499 Alexn Hume Coast and Bay Worcester 499 Edward Rademan Prince Edward 499 James Haldane Persia & Bombay Hawke 499 Richd Drake John Foot Bombay Margin Notes: Ships arrived Ships taken up	These directions applied to the sending up of all the Indian packets, the large ones only excepted, which contained the books of the Court's settlements. The want of those packets this season had laid the Court under many difficulties. 8: The Court had been very fortunate so far in the arrival of its shipping this season, although in general very late. It enclosed a list of the ships, in which were mentioned the different ports each had arrived at before reaching the Downs. It likewise sent a list containing the times of the departure of the several ships of last season, since the Council had received the date of that of the season before from the Court. 9: The Court had taken into its service this season 16 ships, whose names and destinations were as follows: Onslow, 499 tons, Thomas Hinde, St Helena and China Boston, 499 tons, Francis Harris, China directly Sandwich, 499 tons, John Pusling, China directly The Boscawen, of 499 tons, Benjamin Braund, the Tavistock, of 499 tons, Benjamin Jenkins, the Norfolk, of 499 tons, Simon Bonham, and the Princess Augusta, of 499 tons, Thomas Baddison, were all bound for Fort St George and China. Falmouth, 499 tons, James Dale, St Helena and Bencoolen Warwick, 499 tons, Nicholas Webb, Madeira, Coast and Bay The Rochester, of 499 tons, John Tredd, the Grantham, of 499 tons, John Oliver, the Fox, of 499 tons, Alexander Hume, and the Worcester, of 499 tons, Edward Ademan, were all bound for the Coast and Bay. Prince Edward, 499 tons, James Haldane, Persia and Bombay The Hawke, of 499 tons, Richard Drake, and a further ship under John Foot were bound for Bombay. Interpretations The Court's admission that the want of the large packets containing its settlements' account books had laid it under many difficulties reveals how the whole system of oversight depended on the safe and timely arrival of those records. The Company governed its distant factories through the annual books, and a season in which they failed to come home left the Directors unable to audit, reconcile or judge the state of their eastern establishments, so their loss was felt as a real embarrassment to the management of the trade. The three vessels entered simply as bound for Bombay, closing a list otherwise dense with the mixed circuits of Coast, Bay and China, point to the Gulf and west coast trade sustained even in wartime. Bombay was the Company's chief western presidency, and ships assigned there carried the traffic of the Persian and Arabian trade, so the continued dispatch of a group of Bombay ships shows the Company holding its whole eastern network together despite the outbreak of open war.
43	38	10 Upon the War, being declared against France We immediately purchased a Vessel to carry the necessary Orders thereupon to our Settlements in the East Indies, she is called the Prince Henry Packet is Commanded by Capt John Mumford & Sailed from the Downes on the 5 of August, should she touch at St Helena in her return from India, You must send by her all necessary Intelligence, the Governor must do the same with regard to what may be of a Secret Nature in an address to the Secret Committee for the being. 11 We last Season consigned two Ships to St Helena, in order to send the Materials for Building your Hospital & Barracks, a sufficient supply of Stores & necessarys, & it being of great importance to comply as fully as possible with your Indents this year, & to Recruit your Garrison with as many Men as can be conveniently Transported, We intend this Season likewise to send you two Ships viz the Onslow by which you will receive this Letter, & the Falmouth which will be Dispatcht about the middle of December, This Ship the Onslow will bring all the Recruits, together with as large a part of the Stores & necessarys as she has room for, The particulars of which will appear in the accompanying Invoice & Bill of Lading the remainder will be laden on the Falmouth. 12 The Onslow is as soon as she has delivered her Cargo designed for St Helena, to proceed to Batavia & from thence to Limpo in China to prosecute a Scheme we have much at Heart, we mean the establishing a Trade in that place & as Margin Notes: a Vessel sent to India Two Ships to be sent. The Onslow to be dispatched as soon as possible.	10: On the war being declared against France, the Court immediately purchased a vessel to carry the necessary orders thereupon to its settlements in the East Indies. She was called the Prince Henry, packet, commanded by Captain John Mumford, and had sailed from the Downs on 5 August. Should she touch at St Helena on her return from India, the Council was to send by her all necessary intelligence, and the Governor was to do the same with regard to whatever might be of a secret nature, in an address to the Secret Committee for the time being. 11: The Court had last season consigned two ships to St Helena, in order to send the materials for building the hospital and barracks, a sufficient supply of stores and necessaries. Since it was of great importance to comply as fully as possible with the island's indents this year, and to recruit the garrison with as many men as could conveniently be transported, the Court intended this season likewise to send two ships. These were the Onslow, by which the Council would receive this letter, and the Falmouth, which would be dispatched about the middle of December. The Onslow would bring all the recruits, together with as large a part of the stores and necessaries as she had room for. For the particulars, the Court referred the Council to the accompanying invoice and bill of lading. The remainder would be laden on the Falmouth. 12: The Onslow, as soon as she had delivered her cargo designed for St Helena, was to proceed to Batavia, and from thence to Limpo in China, to prosecute a scheme the Court had much at heart, meaning the establishing of a trade at that place. Interpretations The immediate purchase of a fast packet, the Prince Henry, to carry orders east the moment war was declared shows the Company treating the swift transmission of instructions as a first priority of the conflict. Its distant settlements had to learn of the war and receive their directions as quickly as possible, so rather than wait on the ordinary shipping the Court bought a vessel expressly to run the news out, the Governor charged to reserve anything secret for the confidential channel of the Committee. The dispatch of the Onslow onward to Limpo, in pursuit of a scheme to establish a trade there that the Court had much at heart, reveals the Company still reaching to open new markets even as war broke over the existing ones. Limpo, or Ningpo, offered an alternative to the crowded Canton trade, and the Court's willingness to send a ship on such a venture in the midst of hostilities shows commercial ambition running alongside the urgent business of defence.
44	39	her early arrival there is of the greatest consequence, We most earnestly recommend it to you not only to give the utmost assistance in your Powers to unload her in the Charterparty time, but to see likewise that the Commander uses the greatest diligence to the same purpose, in failure whereof you are to protest against him, & his Owners for all Losses which may accrue to the Company from his delay, We must here acquaint you, that in order to obviate the loss of time which frequently happens by Ships taking in Ballast at St Helena, We have permitted Capt Hinde to carry out about Forty Tons of Flint to be disposed off in China, this is intimated that you may make the proper use of the information, if you find the Commander makes any Stay longer than is absolutely necessary, under a pretence of wanting more Dead Weight 13 As the Falmouths Departure from hence will be later than We could have wished & being to proceed to the West Coast of Sumatra with the Annual Supplys for our Settlements there You must take care to be prepared to give her likewise the Quickest Dispatch 14 The Commanders of both the said Ships must have their Dispatches within their Charterparty time, as we make no doubt of their being then entirely delivered, & they are each of them to be directed therein, to make the best of their way on their respective Voyages, agreeable to Our Orders & the Instructions they receive from the Secret Committee 15 We approve of your Conduct in preventing the Dutch Ship mentioned in your Letter of the 8 of May, coming Margin Notes: The Falmouth to have the Quickest Dispatch. Both Ships to be dispatch'd within the Charterparty	The Onslow's early arrival at Limpo was of the greatest consequence. The Court most earnestly recommended that the Council not only give the utmost assistance in its power to unload her within the charter-party time, but likewise see that the commander used the greatest diligence to the same purpose. Should he fail, the Council was to protest against him and his owners for all losses the Company might sustain from his delay. The Court further acquainted the Council that, in order to prevent the loss of time which frequently happened by ships taking in ballast at St Helena, it had permitted Captain Hinde to carry out about 40 tons of flint, to be disposed of in China. This was intimated so that the Council might make the proper use of the information, should it find the commander making any stay longer than was absolutely necessary, under a pretence of wanting more dead weight. 13: Since the Falmouth's departure from England would be later than the Court could have wished, and since she was to proceed to the west coast of Sumatra with the annual supplies for the settlements there, the Council was to take care to be prepared to give her the quickest dispatch. 14: The commanders of both ships were to have their dispatches within the charter-party time, the Court having no doubt of their cargoes being then entirely delivered. Each of them was directed to make the best of his way on his respective voyage, in keeping with the Court's orders and the instructions received from the Secret Committee. 15: The Court approved of the Council's conduct in preventing the Dutch ship mentioned in its letter of 8 May from coming into the road. Interpretations The provision of flint as saleable ballast for the Onslow reveals an ingenious solution to a recurring cause of delay. Ships needed heavy cargo low in the hold to sail safely, and a vessel light on dead weight might linger at St Helena taking in stone, so by loading flint the Court both trimmed the ship and gave her a commodity to sell in China, removing any pretext for delay and turning necessary ballast into a small article of trade. The Court's warning that a commander might feign a want of dead weight to justify lingering exposes the constant suspicion under which the Company held its hired captains. Time in port cost the Company money and, in wartime, risked the loss of the season, so the Court armed the Council with the knowledge that the ballast question was already settled, stripping away an excuse a captain might otherwise use to stay in the road longer than his owners' or his own convenience required.
45	40	into the Road in the Night contrary to the notice the Governor required to the Commander of her, Your Vigilance in this Instance was extreamly right, & We make no doubt of a continuance of it, especially in the present Circumstance of a French War 16 Whenever you want a Boat or Boats you have had & shall continue to have our permission for buying them upon the best Terms you can of any of the Commanders of our Shipping who can spare them, for this reason we approve of your purchasing Capt Glovers Long Boat 17 Whatever relates to the Convoy for our returning Ships the next Season & their Security in General will be communicated to the Governor by our Secret Committee 18 Upon comparing the Invoice of this Ship & that you will receive by the Falmouth, with your Indents you will find we have very fully complied with them 19 We have likewise given the necessary Directions to the Supra Cargos of the China Ships going out this Season to provide all the Articles your Indent for from thence, which will be laden in proportions on the several Ships 20 The sending you a Pipe of Madera Wine every other year by the Ship, that touches at that Island is impracticable but in order to comply with your request, you will receive half a Pipe by this Ship & the other half by the Falmouth both Bottled off & Packed in Chests 21 Agreable to your request, We now send you the several Books mentioned in the List transmitted to us in the Packet by the Bombay Castle Margin Notes: Ships not to come into the Road in the night Liberty for buying Boats. Convoy of the returning Ships Indents fully completed with Indents for Sea &c completed with. Madeira Wine sent. Books sent	This Dutch ship had come into the road in the night, contrary to the notice the Governor had given to her commander. The Council's vigilance in this instance was extremely right, and the Court had no doubt of its continuance, especially in the present circumstance of a French war. 16: Whenever the Council wanted a boat or boats, it had, and would continue to have, the Court's permission for buying them upon the best terms it could from any of the commanders of the Court's shipping who could spare them. For this reason the Court approved of the Council's purchasing Captain Glover's longboat. 17: Whatever related to the convoy for the Court's returning ships the next season, and their security in general, would be communicated to the Governor by the Secret Committee. 18: On comparing the invoice of this ship, and that the Council would receive by the Falmouth, with its indents, the Council would find them very fully complied with. 19: The Court had likewise given the necessary directions to the supercargoes of the China ships going out this season to provide all the articles the Council indented for from thence, which would be laden in proportions on the several ships. 20: The sending of a pipe of Madeira wine every year by the ship that touched at that island being impracticable, but in order to comply with the Council's request, the Council would receive half a pipe by this ship, and the other half by the Falmouth, both bottled off and packed in chests. 21: In keeping with the Council's request, the Court now sent the several books mentioned in the list transmitted to it in the packet by the Bombay Castle. Interpretations The Court's standing permission for the Council to buy boats from any commander who could spare one reveals how the island met a persistent shortage through the passing shipping rather than through supply from home. Boats were indispensable for watering ships and working cargo in the road, yet difficult to send out whole from England, so the Company let the Council purchase them opportunistically from its own captains, treating the fleet itself as a floating source of the small craft the island could not otherwise obtain. The awkward compromise over the Madeira wine, half a pipe by each of two ships because a full pipe by the annual Madeira ship was impracticable, shows the Company bending to accommodate a modest request from its servants despite the difficulty. Bottling and packing the wine in chests to divide it between two vessels was more troublesome than shipping a single cask, but the Court preferred the extra trouble to disappointing the Council, a small mark of the reciprocity that oiled the relationship between London and its distant officers.
46	41	22 We are sorry to acquaint you, that the President & Council at Fort St George, inform us they cannot supply you with the thirty Coffra Men Slaves we had given them directions to send to St Helena, We are sensible this will be a great disappointment & in some degree retard the carrying on the Works, the only method to supply the want of Slaves is to continue to employ the Military on the Fortifications & Works untill they are in all respects put in a proper Condition for an effectual Defence against any Attack, & in order thereto, We shall leave it to your discretion to give them all fitting encouragement by Additional Pay, or in any other shape you shall think will make them go to Work with Alacrity & Chearfulness 23 We hope the Deputy Governor & Council at Fort Marlborough will every year be able to supply you with a good Quantity of Sugar You must therefore every Season make the necessary Indents, but we must caution you at the same time not entirely torely upon a single Ship, the arrival of which from common Accidents & the Chance of War may be precarious, therefore it will be prudent to continue your Indents for proportions of that Article from Bengall & China, the latter of which we shall give directions for, agreable to the Indents you transmit to us 24 You are not upon any Account whatsoever to take any of the Treasure out of the Onslow, but if upon the arrival of the Falmouth you shall want a supply, you are to detain out of that Ship what may be necessary, not exceeding one Chest in the whole of which you are to give due Notice, the Deputy Governor & Council at Fort Marlborough as the whole Quantity will be consigned to them. Margin Notes: Slaves cannot be sent. Indents for Sugar to be continued No Treasure to be taken out of the Onslow	22: The Court was sorry to acquaint the Council that the President and Council at Fort St George informed it that they could not supply the island with the 30 Coffree slaves the Court had directed them to send to St Helena. The Court was sensible this would be a great disappointment, and would in some degree retard the carrying on of the works. The only method to supply the want of slaves was to continue to employ the soldiery on the fortifications and works until they were in all respects put in a proper condition for an effectual defence against any attack. In order thereto, the Court left it to the Council's discretion to give the soldiers all fitting encouragement, by additional pay or in any other shape it thought would make them go to work with alacrity and cheerfulness. 23: The Court hoped the Deputy Governor and Council at Fort Marlborough would every year be able to supply the island with a good quantity of sugar. The Council was therefore every season to make the necessary indent, but the Court cautioned it at the same time not to rely entirely upon a single ship, the arrival of which, from common accidents and the chance of war, might be precarious. It would therefore be prudent to continue its indents for proportions of that article from Bengal and China, the latter of which the Court would give directions for, in keeping with the indents the Council transmitted. 24: The Council was not, upon any account whatsoever, to take any of the treasure out of the Onslow. If, however, on the arrival of the Falmouth, it should want a supply, it was to detain out of that ship what might be necessary, not exceeding one chest in the whole. Of this it was to give due notice to the Deputy Governor and Council at Fort Marlborough, as the whole quantity would be consigned to them. Interpretations The failure of Fort St George to send the promised slaves, and the Court's fallback of working the garrison itself, exposes the fragility of an island economy dependent on labour drafted from other settlements. When the sister presidency could not spare the men, St Helena had no alternative source, so its defensive works could advance only by turning soldiers into labourers, their reluctance to be bought with extra pay, a standing improvisation whenever the promised bonded workforce failed to arrive. The caution against relying on a single ship for the island's sugar, spreading the indent across Fort Marlborough, Bengal and China, reveals the Company applying a deliberate strategy of diversified supply against the hazards of war. A lone vessel might be taken, wrecked or delayed, so rather than trust the whole of a needed commodity to one bottom, the Court had the island draw proportions from several sources, so that the loss of any one shipment would not leave it wholly without.
47	42	25 We send no Bouget Barrels this Season as it appears by the Account of Remains that there were sixtyfive in the Stores. 26 The Intent of having Accounts of Remains of Goods & Stores transmitted to us, is to give an exact View of what may be really necessary to send you, together with the Sortments, sizes & Natures &ca, but as your Accounts are in several instances deficient herein, we recommend it to you to give the necessary directions that they may for the future be drawn up with more precission We shall only mention a few, to shew you what we mean viz There are inserted in your last Accounts 148 Yards of Broad Cloth, 11 Yards of Camblet, & 80 Yards of Shalloon, but the Colour not taken notice off, 135 Gun Carriages are inserted as Compleat but the Nature of them is not described, or whether any & what Number are Mounted, 274 Rammer Heads, 104 Cartridge Cases & some Gunners Ladles, their Natures are not described & the sizes of the former are omitted 27 Our Intention is to send you by this Ship Sixty Recruits for your Garrison, but whether we shall be able to raise so many is doubtful, We must refer you therefore to the accompanying List both for the Number & their Names. 28 The directions we gave last Year, & what is mentioned in the begining of this Letter will be sufficient for your compleating the Fortifications & Works, with the utmost diligence & We have the satisfaction of being strongly assured in your late Letters that we may depend upon your best endeavours for the Security of the Island in every respect Margin Notes: No Bouget Barrels sent Account of Stores & Remains to be more particular Sixty Recruits intended to be sent. Fortifications to be compleated	25: The Court sent no budge barrels this season, since it appeared by the account of remains that there were 65 in the stores. 26: The intent of having accounts of the remains of goods and stores transmitted to it was to give an exact view of what might be really necessary to send the island, together with the sorts, sizes and natures of them. Since the Council's accounts were in several instances deficient in this, the Court recommended that it give the necessary directions that they might in future be drawn up with more precision. The Court would mention only a few instances to show the Council what it meant. There were entered in the last accounts 148 yards of broadcloth, 11 yards of camlet and 80 yards of shalloon, but their colour was not taken notice of. There were 135 gun carriages entered as complete, but their nature was not described, nor whether any, and what number, were mounted. There were 274 rammer heads, 104 cartridge cases and some gunners ladles, but their natures were not described, and the sizes of the former were omitted. 27: The Court's intention was to send, by this ship, 60 recruits for the garrison, but whether it would be able to raise so many was doubtful. It referred the Council to the accompanying list, both for the number and their names. 28: The directions the Court gave the previous year, and what was mentioned at the beginning of this letter, would be sufficient for the Council's completing the fortifications and works with the utmost diligence. The Court had the satisfaction of being strongly assured, in the Council's late letters, that it might depend upon the Council's best endeavours for the security of the island in every respect. Interpretations The Court's detailed complaint about the imprecision of the stores accounts reveals how far effective supply depended on the exactness of the returns. Without the colour of cloth, the nature and mounting of gun carriages, or the sizes of rammer heads, London could not know what to send, so a vague account risked shipping the wrong article across the world, and the Court pressed for precision precisely because the whole indent system turned on the accuracy of what the island reported it held. The Court's own uncertainty over whether it could raise even 60 recruits exposes the strain that war placed on manpower at home. With the army and navy competing for men, the Company could not be sure of filling its garrisons, so its stated intention was hedged with doubt, and the island was warned to expect whatever the accompanying list actually showed rather than the number the Court had hoped to send, a candid admission of the limits of recruitment in wartime.
48	43	29 As you have given it as your Opinion that £40 a Year is a reasonable allowance to be given to Mr Richard Beale for doing the Duty of Judge Advocate We confirm that allowance 30 We have no objection to your confirming Solomon Jacobs in the Post of Adjutant, upon the suspension & coming away of Mr Mowatt, if you are satisfied of his Ability & fitness for the Post. 31 Mr Mowatts behaviour was such, according to your Representation, as we think justly drew on him a suspension, as he could be of no further Service to us upon the Island you did right in permitting him to return to England, & indeed if he had signifyed an intention to have continued, it would not have been proper to have suffered it. And for the future We give you leave to send to England, if you think fit, any Person or Persons who shall in such manner disobey your Orders. 32 It was highly, improper that your Surgeon Inglis should continue any longer upon the Island, for whatever Skill he might have in his profession, the general Presentment against him for his late behaviour would have rendered it of little use, Upon his coming away therefore as likewise his Mate Mr Evans You inform us that Mr Rob: Barclay Surgeon of the Ship Warren at your Request consented to stay in the room of Mr Inglis, if he could be certain of being confirmed & recommending him as a Sober, Diligent Man & perfectly well Qualifyed in all respects to discharge every part of the Duty We do accordingly agree & direct that Mr Barclay be established principal Surgeon of our Island at the usual Salary & Allowance. Margin Notes: £40 a year Allowed the Judge Advocate Mr S. Jacobs appointed Adjutant Mr Mowatts suspension approved Mr Robert Barclay appointed Surgeon	29: Since the Council had given it as its opinion that £40 0s 0d a year was a reasonable allowance to be given to Mr Richard Beale for doing the duty of judge advocate, the Court confirmed that allowance. 30: The Court had no objection to the Council's confirming Solomon Jacobs in the post of adjutant, upon the suspension and coming away of Mr Mowatt, if it was satisfied of his ability and fitness for the post. 31: Mr Mowatt's behaviour was such, according to the Council's representation, as the Court thought justly drew on him a suspension. Since he could be of no further service upon the island, the Council did right in permitting him to return to England, and indeed, if he had signified an intention to have continued, it would not have been proper to have suffered it. For the future the Court gave the Council leave to send to England, if it thought fit, any person or persons who should in such manner disobey its orders. 32: It was highly improper that the Council's surgeon Inglis should continue any longer upon the island, for, whatever skill he might have in his profession, the general resentment against him for his late behaviour would have rendered it of little use. Upon his coming away, therefore, as likewise his mate Mr Evans, the Council informed the Court that Mr Robert Barclay, surgeon of the ship Warren, at its request consented to stay in the room of Mr Inglis, if he could be certain of being confirmed. The Council recommended him as a sober, diligent man, perfectly well qualified in all respects to discharge every part of the duty. The Court accordingly agreed and directed that Mr Barclay be established principal surgeon of the island, at the usual salary and allowance. Interpretations The Court's grant of general leave to ship home any person who disobeyed the Council's orders reveals removal from the island emerging as the standard sanction against troublesome servants. Rather than devise punishments for insubordination on the spot, the Court armed the Council with the power simply to send offenders back to England, treating expulsion from the small and vital community as the most effective discipline, since a man who could be of no further use was better gone than retained. The manner of Surgeon Inglis's replacement shows how heavily the usefulness of a public officer depended on the community's regard for him. Whatever his professional skill, the general resentment against Inglis rendered him worthless to the island, so his skill could not save him, and the Council recruited his successor from a passing ship, the surgeon of the Warren persuaded to stay only on the security of confirmation, again drawing a key servant from the fleet rather than from home.
49	44	33 We give you liberty to fix upon a proper Person for a Surgeons Mate out of any of your returning Ships, & if you approve of him, & he is willing to serve in that Capacity, to settle on him the usual Salary & allowances. 34 In answer to the 31 Paragraph of your Letter dated the 10 of last April, The Act of Parliament takes effect from the Publication of it in the Island & the 13 Sect of the Articles of War ordains that they shall be read & Published once in every two Months, & as the directions of the Act & Articles of War have been exactly pursued, & the Soldiers have continued to receive their Pay, We think they are compleatly Listed & in case of misbehaviour are liable to be proceeded against and punished in such manner as is prescribed by the Act and Articles 35 Agreable to your recommendations We have permitted Mrs Deborah Lieing to proceed to her Husband Thomas Lieing the Companys Carpenter at St Helena & she will accordingly take her Passage on the Onslow. 36 Since Writing the forgoing your General Letter of the 21 of August last by his Majestys Ship the Hampshire came to hand some parts whereof we shall now take notice off & shall reply to the rest by the Falmouth, first informing you that the Hampshire, with the Ships Duke of Dorset, St George, Pelham, Stretham, & Exeter, under her Convoy got safely to the River Shannon near Limerick of the 27 of last Month, the occasion of their putting in there was on Account of the St Georges springing a Leak, & being in danger of losing her Rudder Margin Notes: a Surgeons Mate to be got out of the returning Ships Act of Parliament Mrs Lieing proceeds on the Onslow Letter of his Majestys Ship the Hampshire received.	33: The Court gave the Council liberty to fix upon a proper person for a surgeon's mate out of any of the returning ships. If it approved of him, and he was willing to serve in that capacity, it was to settle on him the usual salary and allowances. 34: In answer to the 31st paragraph of the Council's letter dated 10 April last, the Act of Parliament took effect from the publication of it on the island. The 1st section of the Articles of War ordained that they should be read and published once in every twelve months. Since the directions of the Act and Articles of War had been exactly pursued, and the soldiers had continued to receive their pay, the Court thought they were completely enlisted, and, in case of misbehaviour, liable to be proceeded against and punished in such manner as was prescribed by the Act and Articles. 35: In keeping with the Council's recommendations, the Court had permitted Mrs Deborah Ewing to proceed to her husband Thomas Ewing, the Company's carpenter at St Helena. She would accordingly take her passage on the Onslow. 36: Since writing the foregoing, the Council's general letter of 21 August last, which came by His Majesty's ship the Hampshire, had come to hand. The Court would now take notice of some parts of it, and would reply to the rest by the Falmouth, first informing the Council that the Hampshire, with the ships Duke of Dorset, St George, Pelham, Stretham and Exeter under her convoy, had got safely to the river Shannon near Limerick on 27 last month. The occasion of their putting in there was on account of the St George's springing a leak and being in danger of losing her rudder. Interpretations The Court's reasoning that the soldiers, having been paid and had the Articles read to them, were completely enlisted reveals the legal significance attached to those two acts. Continued acceptance of pay under a published code amounted to consent to be bound by it, so the Court could treat the whole garrison as fully subject to military law and liable to court martial, the combination of publication and payment supplying the enlistment that made the discipline enforceable against every man. The convoy's diversion into the Shannon on account of a single leaking ship shows the discipline of wartime sailing, where a fleet moved at the pace of its weakest vessel. Ships now travelled together under naval escort for safety against the enemy, so when the St George sprang a leak the whole convoy put in with her rather than press on and leave her exposed, the protection of the group bought at the cost of the delay her damage imposed on all.
50	45	37 We shall endeavour to send you on the Falmouth a Mason, in the room of Mark Hawkins, whom you have dismissed as being from his Idleness, Negligence & Drinking unfit for further Service 38 We send you by this Ship as many Recruits for your Garrison as we can possibly raise, Your Request for adding a Lieutenant more to each Company will be considered, & your directions thereupon sent by the Falmouth 39 You may Debit upon your Books the Settlement at Fort Marlborough for all expences you may be at on Account of Noquedah Potrallum, the Mallay Man Transported from thence to St Helena, by order of the Deputy Governor & Council. 40 We observe that the Damages arising from an extraordinary Shower of Rain on the 28 of July, had prevented your carrying on any other Work than repairing the Fortifications, it was right to turn your whole Strength to that very material Object, by employing the Soldiers therein with as many of our Slaves as could be spared. 41 We shall endeavour to find out in what Ship your late Carpenters Mate Thomas Eastwood make his Escape & if we find it was done with the consent or connivance of the Captain or Officers, a due resentment shall be Shewn, in order to prevent such desertions in future. 42 In answer to your request to have a Surgeons Mate sent you from England, you will observe that we have given you liberty in the 33 Par to intertain one out of any of the returning Ships & this method we are still of opinion is the best & therefore shall not send one from hence. Margin Notes: a Mason to be sent. Recruits to be sent. Fort Marlbro to be Debited Fortifications Thos Eastwood a Surgeons Mate will not be sent from England	37: The Court would endeavour to send, by the Falmouth, a mason in the room of Mark Hawkins, whom the Council had dismissed as being, from his idleness, negligence and drinking, unfit for further service. 38: The Court sent, by this ship, as many recruits for the garrison as it could possibly raise. The Council's request for adding a lieutenant more to each company would be considered, and its directions thereupon sent by the Falmouth. 39: The Council might debit upon its books the settlement at Fort Marlborough for all expenses it might be at on account of Naquedah Pohallum, the Malay man transported from Bencoolen to St Helena by order of the Deputy Governor and Council. 40: The Court observed that the damages arising from an extraordinary shower of rain on 28 July had prevented the Council from carrying on any other work than repairing the fortifications. It was right to turn the island's whole strength to that very material object, by employing the soldiers on it, with as many of the Court's slaves as could be spared. 41: The Court would endeavour to find out in what ship the island's late carpenter's mate Thomas Eastwood made his escape. If it found it was done with the consent or connivance of the captain or officers, a due resentment would be shown, in order to prevent such desertions in future. 42: In answer to the Council's request to have a surgeon's mate sent from England, the Court had, as the Council would observe, given it liberty in the 33rd paragraph to entertain one out of any of the returning ships. Being still of opinion that this method was the best, the Court would not send one from England. Interpretations The Court's charging of Naquedah Pohallum's whole expense back to Fort Marlborough shows the strict principle that the settlement which created a burden bore its cost. The Malay had been transported to St Helena by order of Fort Marlborough, so the island, though it kept and maintained him, was to debit the west coast for every charge, the Company's internal accounts ensuring that no station paid for a problem another had sent it. The Court's preference for recruiting a surgeon's mate from the passing ships over sending one from England reveals a settled practice of staffing the island's minor offices from the human traffic of the fleet. A man already in the East, willing to stay, cost nothing to transport and could be had at once, whereas one sent from home took a passage and a season to arrive, so the Court repeatedly directed the Council to draw such subordinate servants from the returning ships rather than the source at home.
51	46	43 To prevent as much as possible the Demands of our Shipping for Fewell, which you say if continued will exhaust the Island of Wood, so as not to leave a sufficient Quantity for the Consumption of the Inhabitants, We have this Season inserted a Clause in every Commanders Instructions & shall continue it in future to direct that they supply themselves before their Departure from India with as much Fewel, as will serve for their homeward bound Voyage, allowing for an extraordinary stay at St Helena or elsewhere, We have given the same Instructions with regard to their laying in a sufficient Stock of Sea provisions to prevent their distressing you likewise in this particular. 44 We shall pay a due regard to your additional Indent and in particular for the Salt Provisions, which latter we are sensible will be much wanted, upon reference to the Invoices of this Ship and that intended by the Falmouth you will observe how far we have been or shall be able to supply you. 45 We shall not be able to send the Oak Timber intended for St his Majestys Ship Hampshire, you are therefore to make use of the Timber, Plank &co sent by this Ship and the Falmouth, for the Repairs of the Fortifications till We can supply you by the next years Ship, with Materials for the other Buildings. Margin Notes: Ships to supply themselves with Fewel before they leave India. additional Indent complied with. Timber sent & Plank to be made use of in repairing the Fortifications	43: To prevent as much as possible the demands of the shipping for fuel, which the Council said, if continued, would exhaust the island of wood, so as not to leave a sufficient quantity for the consumption of the inhabitants, the Court had this season inserted a clause in every commander's instructions, and would continue it in future, directing that they supply themselves, before their departure from India, with as much fuel as would serve for their homeward-bound voyage, allowing for an extraordinary stay at St Helena or elsewhere. The Court had given the same instructions with regard to their laying in a sufficient stock of live provisions, to prevent their distressing the Council likewise in this particular. 44: The Court would pay due regard to the Council's additional indent, and in particular for the salt provisions, which latter it was sensible would be much wanted. Upon reference to the invoices of this ship, and that intended by the Falmouth, the Council would observe how far the Court had been, or should be, able to supply it. 45: The Court would not be able to send the oak timber indented for by His Majesty's ship Hampshire. The Council was therefore to make use of the timber, plank and other materials sent by this ship and the Falmouth, for the repairs of the fortifications, until the Court could supply it by the next year's ship with materials for the other buildings. Interpretations The clause requiring every commander to lay in fuel and provisions in India for the whole homeward voyage reveals the Company protecting the island's scarce resources by shifting the burden onto the ships themselves. St Helena's wood was too limited to feed the galleys of every passing vessel, so rather than let the fleet strip the island, the Court obliged each captain to victual and fuel his ship before leaving India, with a margin for delay, turning a standing instruction into a shield for the inhabitants' own supply. The Court's inability to send the oak timber the island had asked for, forcing repairs to be made with whatever plank and materials came to hand, exposes the competition for timber that wartime demand created at home. Oak was the prime material for both ships and fortifications, and with the navy and the Company drawing heavily upon it, the island could not be fully supplied, so its works had to be patched with substitutes and the fuller provision deferred to a later season.
52	47	46 You took a very proper measure to obviate the bad effects which might have been the consequence of a Report on board his Majestys Ship the Hampshire, that there was plenty of Cattle upon the Island for Slaughter, if you would permit them to be Sold, And we could have wished you had found out the Person who you say belonged to the Island, and was the Author of that Report, in order for your shewing a resentment suitable to the Malice and Falsity of it. 47 We have given repeated Orders for your sending to England our late Surgeon Samuel Falconer, we find he evades leaving the Island under frivolous pretences, altho he has been indulged with a sufficient time to settle his private Affairs, We therefore positively order that you obledge him to return to England upon the first Ship that Sails after your Receipt of this Letter 48 If the Earl of Holderness has been at St Helena it is likely a Letter may be left with you for the Supra Cargos of this Ship, or at least you may, in concersation, have gathered something material for Blounts information, you are therefore to deliver such Letter, or communicate such conversation to that Gentleman accordingly, And as it is very probable We may continue the method of ordering the Limpo Ships to call at St Helena Outward bound, you must observe it as a standing Rule to call upon the Supra Cargos of the returning Limpo Ships every Season to lodge with you a Letter to be delivered to the Supra Cargos of such Outward bound Ship, wherein there are to give a Margin Notes: Report on board the Hampshire Mr S. Falconer to be sent to England. The Supra Cargos of the returning Limpo Ships to leave a Letter	46: The Council took a very proper measure to obviate the bad effects which might have been the consequence of a report on board His Majesty's ship the Hampshire, that there was plenty of cattle upon the island for slaughter, if the Council would permit them to be sold. The Court could have wished the Council had found out the person who, it said, belonged to the island and was the author of that report, in order that it might show a resentment suitable to the malice and falsity of it. 47: The Court had given repeated orders for the Council's sending to England its late surgeon Samuel Falconer. It found he made leaving the island a matter of frivolous pretences, although he had been indulged with sufficient time to settle his private affairs. The Court therefore positively ordered that the Council oblige him to return to England upon the first ship that sailed after receiving this letter. 48: If the Earl of Holderness had been at St Helena, it was likely a letter might be left with the Council for the supercargoes of this ship, or at least, in conversation, it might have gathered something material for Blount's information. The Council was therefore to deliver such a letter, or communicate such conversation, to that gentleman accordingly. Since it was very probable the Court would continue the method of ordering the Limpo ship to call at St Helena outward bound, the Council was to observe it as a standing rule to call upon the supercargoes of the returning Limpo ships every season to lodge with it a letter, to be delivered to the supercargoes of such outward-bound ship, wherein they were to give a summary. Interpretations The Court's wish that the author of the false cattle report be found out and punished reveals how seriously it treated the manipulation of intelligence that touched the island's provisioning. A rumour that cattle were plentiful and merely withheld from sale could undermine the Council's careful regulation of the herd and stir discontent among ships' crews, so the Court sought to make an example of whoever spread it, treating a malicious falsehood about supply as an offence deserving open resentment. The establishment of the returning Limpo ships as a standing relay, each leaving a letter for the next outward-bound vessel, shows the Company building a self-sustaining channel of commercial intelligence through St Helena. The new trade at Limpo depended on each season's ship briefing the next, and the island's position on the sea road made it the natural exchange point, so the Council was made the permanent custodian of a hand-to-hand correspondence that kept the venture informed across the years.
53	48	Summary Account of their Transactions, together with all such information as may be useful and necessary for their future Proceedings. We are London Your loving friends 17 November 1756 Signed P. Godfrey John Payne J. Raymond M. Impey Maxim. Western Stephen Law Henry Savage Lau. Sulivan Henry Plant Charles Chambers John Dorrien Timothy Tullie Wm Crabb Boulton Thos Rous Rob. Jones Christ. Burrow	In that letter the supercargoes were to give a summary account of their transactions, together with all such information as might be useful and necessary for their future proceedings. The letter closed at London on 17 November 1756, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Peter Godfrey, John Payne, Jones Raymond, Miles Impey, Maxim Western, Stephen Law, Henry Savage, Laurence Sulivan, Henry Bland, Charles Chambers, John Dorrien, Timothy Tullie, William Crabb Boulton, Thomas Rous, Robert Jones and Christopher Burrow.
54	49	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 The Ship Onslow which carried our last Letter, under date of the 17 of November, sailed from Spithead on the 3 of December, with a fine gale of Wind, which continued so long as We hope to hear will be the occasion of her arrival at St Helena in good time for delivering her Cargo and proceeding on her destined Voyage for China, By this Ship the Falmouth you will receive a Duplicate of the said Letter. 2 Besides the Ships mentioned in our last Letter, We have taken up the three undermentioned and fixed their Voyages as follows viz Ships Tons Commanders Consignments Elizabeth 499 Robert Burdett Coast and Bay York 499 Peter Lascells Lord Anson 499 Edward Lord Chich Bombay 3 By this Ship the Falmouth we send the Remainder of the Necessarys and Stores intended this Season for Our Island St Helena, as by the Accompanying Invoice and Bill of Lading. 4 You were empowered in our Letter of the 17 of November to detain a part of this Ships Treasure, not exceeding One Chest in the whole, We now confirm the same, and agreeable to what We then directed, you are to give the necessary notice to Our Deputy Governor and Council at Fort Marlborough of the Quantity you shall so detain. Margin Notes: Letter sent by Onslow & Falmouth Ships taken up Falmouth brings the Remainder of the Stores. Liberty given to detain part of this Ships Treasure	1: The ship Onslow, which carried the Court's last letter, under date of 17 November, had sailed from Spithead on 3 December with a fine gale of wind. That gale continued so long that the Court hoped to hear it would be the occasion of her arrival at St Helena in good time for delivering her cargo and proceeding on her destined voyage for China. By this ship, the Falmouth, the Council would receive a duplicate of that letter. 2: Besides the ships mentioned in its last letter, the Court had taken up the three following, and fixed their voyages as follows: Elizabeth, 499 tons, Robert Burdett, Coast and Bay The York, of 499 tons, Peter Lascells, and the Lord Anson, of 499 tons, Edward Lord Chich, were both bound for Bombay. 3: By this ship, the Falmouth, the Court sent the remainder of the necessaries and stores intended this season for the island, as by the accompanying invoice and bill of lading. 4: The Council had been empowered in the Court's letter of 17 November to detain a part of this ship's treasure, not exceeding one chest in the whole. The Court now confirmed the same, and, in keeping with what it had then directed, the Council was to give the necessary notice to the Deputy Governor and Council at Fort Marlborough of the quantity it should so detain. Interpretations The Court's hope that a long-lasting fair gale would bring the Onslow to St Helena in good time captures how completely the whole schedule of a voyage hung on the weather. A ship's early arrival, on which the prosecution of the China trade depended, could not be commanded but only hoped for, so a favourable wind at departure was noted with real satisfaction as the best assurance the Court had that its careful timing would hold. The dispatch of the season's supplies split between the Onslow and the Falmouth, with the second ship carrying the remainder the first could not, shows the Company routinely dividing a single season's provision across two bottoms. No one ship could stow the whole of the stores, recruits and building materials the island needed, and sending them in two vessels also guarded against the loss of everything in a single mishap, the redundancy of shipping matching the redundancy of correspondence.
55	50	5 You must give all possible Assistance for the speedy unloading of that part of the Falmouths Cargo consigned to you, and see that the Commander likewise uses the utmost Dispatch for the same purpose, that he may proceed on his Voyage without loss of time, and you must not fail of giving him his Sailing Orders within the Charterparty time. 6 For what regards the proper measures to be taken for the Security of our homeward bound Shipping, the Governor has the necessary Directions from our Secret Committee by the Onslow, and this Ship, and here it may be necessary to acquaint you, that William Mabbott Esqr One of the Gentlemen mentioned in our last Letter to be of that Committee has since quitted the Direction. 7 The accompanying List, will inform you of the number and the names of the Recruits on this Ship, for the Service of Our Garrison at St Helena, all the rest being destined for our Settlements upon the West Coast of Sumatra, you are on no Account to detain any of them. 8 In answer to the 3 Paragraph of your Letter by His Majestys Ship the Hampshire, We send you this Season as large a proportion of Recruits out of the number raising, for our Settlements in India, as can be possibly spared, If you find it really necessary to encrease your number of Officers but not otherways, We give you leave to add a Lieutenant to each of the Four Companys, to be chosen by you, out of the most promising and best qualified your People upon the Island, And as you have recommended Richard Beale who has carried Arms in Our Service several Years as a Cadet, to be very capable and deserving Margin Notes: Falmouth to be dispatched within the Charterparty Time. the Governor has the orders from the Secret Committee Recruits sent by Falmouth Liberty given to add a Lieutenant to each of the four Companys	5: The Council was to give all possible assistance for the speedy unloading of that part of the Falmouth's cargo consigned to it, and to see that the commander likewise used the utmost dispatch to the same purpose, so that he might proceed on his voyage without loss of time. The Council was not to fail of giving him his sailing orders within the charter-party time. 6: For what regarded the proper measures to be taken for the security of the Court's homeward-bound shipping, the Governor had the necessary directions from the Secret Committee by the Onslow and this ship. Here it might be necessary to acquaint the Council that William Mabbott Esquire, one of the gentlemen mentioned in the Court's last letter to be of that Committee, had since quitted the direction. 7: The accompanying list would inform the Council of the number and the names of the recruits on this ship, for the service of the garrison at St Helena. All the rest were destined for the settlements upon the west coast of Sumatra, and the Council was on no account to detain any of them. 8: In answer to the 3rd paragraph of the Council's letter by His Majesty's ship the Hampshire, the Court sent this season as large a proportion of recruits out of the number raising for its settlements in India as could possibly be spared. If the Council found it really necessary to increase its number of officers, but not otherwise, the Court gave it leave to add a lieutenant to each of the four companies, to be chosen by it out of the most promising and best qualified of its people upon the island. The Council had recommended Richard Beale, who had carried arms in the Court's service several years as a cadet, as being very capable and deserving. Interpretations The careful distinction between recruits for St Helena and the far greater number destined for Sumatra, with a strict order not to detain any of the latter, reveals the island's place as a waypoint in the distribution of manpower across the Company's eastern empire. Soldiers passing through could not be diverted to local need however short-handed the garrison, since each draft was allocated to a particular settlement, and the island's own establishment had to be filled from its own designated portion alone. The Court's permission to raise officers only from the most promising of the island's own people, and only if genuinely necessary, shows a settled policy of internal advancement for the garrison. Rather than ship out fresh officers from home, the Company preferred to commission men who had served on the spot as cadets, so that a proven islander like Richard Beale could rise through the ranks, a practice that both rewarded local service and spared the cost and delay of sending officers from England.
56	51	of that Station, he is to be one of the first you grant a Commission to 9 We have not been able to send you by this Conveyance a Carpenters Mate or a Mason, but the Soldiers in this Ship designed for St Helena having been bred carpenters, Bricklayers and Caulker, you may employ them in the Works, making them the usual Allowance that is given to the other Soldiers, when employed for Our Service, We are Your loving Friends London Signed P. Godfrey 29 December 1756 John Payne R. Drake J. Raymond N. Newnham Junr M. Impey Henry Plant L. Sulivan John Dorrien Rob. Jones Hen. Savage Thos Rous Cha. Gough Timothy Tullie Wm Crabb Boulton Stephen Law Christ. Burrow Charles Chambers John Manship M. Western Margin Notes: Liberty given to employ the Soldiers.	Being deserving of that station, Richard Beale was to be one of the first the Council granted a commission to. 9: The Court had not been able to send, by this conveyance, a carpenter's mate or a mason. Since the soldiers on this ship designed for St Helena had been bred carpenters, bricklayers and caulkers, the Council might employ them in the works, making them the usual allowance given to the other soldiers when employed for the Court's service. The letter closed at London on 29 December 1756, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Peter Godfrey, John Payne, Roger Drake, William Raymond, William Newnham junior, Miles Impey, Henry Bland, Laurence Sulivan, John Dorrien, Robert Jones, Henry Savage, Thomas Rous, Charles Gough, Timothy Tullie, William Crabb Boulton, Stephen Law, Christopher Burrow, Charles Chambers, John Manship and Maxim Western. Interpretations The Court's suggestion that soldiers bred to the building trades be set to the island's works, in the absence of a carpenter's mate or mason it could not spare, reveals how St Helena drew skilled labour from whatever hands the fleet delivered. Recruits with trades were doubly useful at a station always short of artificers, so the same men enlisted to bear arms could raise the fortifications and buildings, their craft rewarded with the extra allowance already paid to soldiers turned labourers, a practical answer to a shortage the Court could not otherwise fill.
57	52	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Since Our last Orders to you dated the 29 Decem 1756 by the Falmouth, We have received your several Letters of the 3 November 1756, 18 February, 11 March, 14 & 30 April, 21 & 23 June, 20 July and 9 August 1757 whereon we shall now give Our Sentiments and Directions, with the necessary Informations for your Government in the Administration of our Affairs. 2 It is with great pleasure we can inform you of the safe Arrival of all our expected Ships this Season from the several Ports of the East Indies, which, with respect to those that had not the benefit of Convoy, is the more agreeable, the present dangerous Situation of Affairs, by the continuance of the War between the British and French Nations being considered, You will be acquainted with the Places and Times of their reaching the different Ports by the enclosed List, Our particular thanks are due to Captain O'Brien, for his great Care and attention to the safety of the Five which came under his Convoy 3 The unhappy Situation of our Concerns in Bengall on the Sloop Syrens coming from thence, requiring the speedy Conveyance of the proper Orders for retrieving them, the Expedition Packet Captain James Barton employed on that Service sailed from the Downs the 14 August, but unhappily falling in with a French Privateer was taken the 29 and carried into Vigo, where Captain Barton and the Vessels Crew, were set at Liberty Margin Notes: Letters received All the expected Ships arrived safe. Expedition Packet, sent to Bengall; taken by the French.	1: Since the Court's last orders, dated 29 December 1756 by the Falmouth, it had received the Council's several letters of 3 November 1756, of 18 February, 11 March, of 1 and 30 April, of 21 and 23 June, of 20 July and of 9 August 1757. It would now give its sentiments and directions, with the necessary information for the Council's government in the administration of the Court's affairs. 2: It was with great pleasure that the Court could inform the Council of the safe arrival of all its expected ships this season from the several ports of the East Indies. This, with respect to those that had not the benefit of convoy, was the more agreeable, the present dangerous situation of affairs, by the continuance of the war between the British and French nations, being considered. The Council would be acquainted with the places and times of their reaching the different ports by the enclosed list. The Court's particular thanks were due to Captain O'Brien for his great care and attention to the safety of the five ships which came under his convoy. 3: The unhappy situation of the Court's concerns in Bengal, on the sloop Syren's coming from thence, required the speedy conveyance of the proper orders for retrieving them. The Expedition packet, Captain James Barton, employed on that service, sailed from the Downs on 14 August, but, unhappily falling in with a French privateer, was taken on the 29th and carried into Vigo, where Captain Barton and the vessel's crew were set at liberty. Interpretations The Court's particular thanks to Captain O'Brien for convoying five ships safely home reveal how far the ordinary trade had come under the discipline of naval escort. In peacetime each ship made her own way, but the war made a lone Indiaman easy prey, so the commanders who shepherded groups of merchantmen through dangerous waters earned formal acknowledgment, the safe arrival of a convoy now counted a service worth recording in the Company's correspondence. The capture of the Expedition packet, sent expressly to carry urgent orders to Bengal, exposes the vulnerability of even the Company's fastest and most vital communications. The unhappy situation in Bengal, the loss of Calcutta, demanded that instructions be rushed out, yet the very vessel bearing them was snapped up by a French privateer within a fortnight, so the war struck not only at trade but at the Company's ability to govern its distant crisis, the news and orders it depended on now liable to be seized in the western approaches.
58	53	For carrying on our Commerce, We have this Season entertained in the Companys Service the following Ships viz Ships Tons Commanders Consignments Hardwicke 499 John Samson Coast & Bay Prince Henry 499 Thomas Best St Helena & Limpo Osterley 499 Frederick Vincent China directly Rhoda 499 John McNemara Silbury 499 Roger Mainwaring Britannia 499 Joh. Blewitt Fort St George and China Winchelsea 499 Thomas Howe Shaftesbury 499 Cornelius Inglis Prince of Wales 499 William Roberts Warren 499 Alphonsus Glover Coast & Bay London 499 Richard Alwright Drake 499 Benjamin Fisher True Briton 425 Thomas Crichton Prince George 499 Lorenzo Collins Bombay Bombay Castle 499 Richard Doveton Egmont 499 John Venner St Helena & Bencoolen 5 The Ship Pitt Ten for 600 Tons to carry 250 Men with 50 Guns Commodore William Wilson Commander is likewise taken up and Consigned to Fort St George, as you will observe this is a Ship of Force, the Secret Committee will inform the Governor what further Service she is designed for besides her Employment in the Mercantile way. 6 We are also building and nearly compleated four Out Service, a three Deck Ship of 400 Tons Burthen to mount 24 Guns and carry Men answerable, she will be named the Admiral Watson Margin Notes: Ships taken up. Ship Pitt also taken up And a new Ship named the Admiral Watson	For carrying on its commerce, the Court had this season entertained in the Company's service the following ships: Hardwicke, 499 tons, John Samson, Coast and Bay Prince Henry, 499 tons, Thomas Best, St Helena and Limpo Osterley, 499 tons, Frederick Vincent, China directly The Rhoda, of 499 tons, John McNemara, the Silbury, of 499 tons, Roger Mainwaring, the Britannia, of 499 tons, John Blewitt, the Winchelsea, of 499 tons, Thomas Howe, the Shaftesbury, of 499 tons, Cornelius Inglis, and the Prince of Wales, of 499 tons, William Roberts, were all bound for Fort St George and China. Warren, 499 tons, Alphonsus Glover, Coast and Bay London, 499 tons, Richard Alwright, Coast and Bay The Drake, of 499 tons, Benjamin Fisher, the True Briton, of 425 tons, Thomas Crichton, the Prince George, of 499 tons, Lorenzo Collins, and the Bombay Castle, of 499 tons, Richard Doveton, were all bound for Bombay. Egmont, 499 tons, John Venner, St Helena and Bencoolen 5: The ship Pitt, of 600 tons, to carry 250 men with 50 guns, Commodore William Wilson commander, was likewise taken up and consigned to Fort St George. As the Council would observe, this was a ship of force, and the Secret Committee would inform the Governor what further service she was designed for besides her employment in the mercantile way. 6: There was also building, and nearly completed, for the Court's own service, a three-deck ship of 400 tons burthen, to mount 24 guns and carry men answerable. She would be named the Admiral Watson. Interpretations The Pitt, entered at her true burthen of 600 tons with a heavy armament of 50 guns and 250 men, stands apart from the fleet of vessels pinned at 499. Where the ordinary Indiamen were registered just under the 500-ton line to avoid statutory charges, a ship openly rated at 600 and reserved for some undisclosed service of force shows the Company arming a powerful vessel for the war, her real size declared precisely because she was meant to fight as well as trade. The Company's building of its own ship of force, the Admiral Watson, reveals a departure from its usual reliance on chartered vessels. The Company ordinarily hired its shipping from private owners, but the demands of the war, and the need for armed ships under its own control, led it to construct a fighting Indiaman of its own, named for the admiral commanding in the East, a mark of how far the conflict had drawn the trading company into naval affairs.
59	54	and is to be Commanded by Captain Cooke being principally intended for an Advice Vessel, her destination & Departure are not yet determined upon. 7 Whatever Orders shall be received by the Governor or any other person from John Payne, Laurence Sulivan, Peter Godfrey, Christopher Burrow and Jones Raymond Esqrs the Secret Committee for this Year, or any three of them, for the Security of the Island and Safety of Our Shipping are to meet with the strictest Attention and due Obedience. 8 The full and particular Intelligence regarding Our own as well as Foreign Ships, conveyed to us in your Correspondence this Year merits Commendation, and as you seem so well convinced of the importance of such Accounts by the earliest and securest means, it appears unnecessary to repeat the Injunctions given for their continuance 9 In order to supply you with Stores, agreable to your Indents, as far as they can properly be complied with, and the Number of Recruits procurable for the Garrison, the Ships Prince Henry and Egmont are this Season Consigned to the Island, the former is, from the Motives you were, last Year apprized of by the Onslow, ordered in the same manner to Limpo, the Directions then prescribed, as to the latter must be punctually followed with respect to the Prince Henry, whose Outset being later, there will be the greater necessity in forwarding her dispatch with all Expedition to Batavia in the way to her consigned Port, and it must be your care to make the Ship and Commander answerable for the least Delay 10 The Dispatch of the Egmont with the other part of the Margin Notes: Orders from the Secret Committee to be strictly obeyed. All Intelligence to be sent by the first opportunity Ships Prince Henry and Egmont consigned to the Island	The Admiral Watson was to be commanded by Captain Cooke, and, being principally intended for an advice vessel, her destination and departure were not yet determined. 7: Whatever orders should be received by the Governor, or any other person, from John Payne, Laurence Sulivan, Peter Godfrey, Christopher Burrow and Jones Raymond Esquires, the Secret Committee for this year, or any three of them, for the security of the island and the safety of the Court's shipping, were to meet with the strictest attention and due obedience. 8: The full and particular intelligence regarding the Court's own as well as foreign ships, conveyed to it in the Council's correspondence this year, merited commendation. Since the Council seemed so well convinced of the importance of such accounts by the earliest and securest means, it appeared unnecessary to repeat the injunctions given for their continuance. 9: In order to supply the island with stores, in keeping with its indents as far as they could properly be complied with, and the number of recruits procurable for the garrison, the ships Prince Henry and Egmont were this season consigned to the island. The former was, from the motives the Council was apprised of the previous year, ordered in the same manner to Limpo, the directions then prescribed to be punctually followed. The latter must be punctually followed with respect to the Prince Henry, whose outset being later, there would be the greater necessity of forwarding her dispatch with all expedition to Batavia on the way to her consigned port. It must be the Council's care to make the ship and commander answerable for the least delay. 10: The dispatch of the Egmont, with the other part of the island's stores. Interpretations The building of a ship expressly as an advice vessel, whose very destination was left open, reveals how the war had made the swift and secure carriage of intelligence a service in its own right. An advice ship existed to run news and orders rather than cargo, and the Company's readiness to keep one in hand, ready to be sent wherever events required, shows communication itself elevated to a strategic function alongside trade and defence. The concentration of authority in a Secret Committee whose written orders bound the Governor as absolutely as the full Court's continued the wartime streamlining of command. Sensitive matters of the island's security and the fleet's safety could not pass through open channels or await the whole body of Directors, so a small committee, three of them sufficient, was empowered to direct the Governor with unquestioning obedience, the confidential handling of war business kept apart from the ordinary general letters.
60	55	Islands Stores being fixed for the latter end of the next Month, and her timely arrival on the West Coast of much Importance, as well in point of the Stores she carrys as that she may seasonably, and without risk be dispatched home, renders your disembarking the supplys she brings, and charging the Commander with his Sailing Orders, for Fort Marlborough within Charterparty time, a measure you are by no means to fail in, and which may more readily be done, from being thus early apprized hereof 11 Messrs George Mandevile and William Mackenzie Supra Cargos of this Ship, are on her arrival, to have the Letter left by Messrs Fitzhugh and Toren for them as Supra Cargos of the expected Ships for Limpo, and as any Ships from that Port shall touch at St Helena, you are, in our Name, to remind their Supra Cargos of leaving in your hands the most Explicit Accounts regarding their Transactions for the Information of such Persons to whom the management of our Affairs in that part of China may hereafter be committed, your being sensible of the Utility of this Order will engage your constant Attention thereto and leave us no room for a Repetition 12 Supposing the purchase you made of Capt William Hutchinson of a Long Boat for our Service with its Sails and Furniture as immediately necessary, and that the Cost was moderate there is no objection thereto, yet you are to take it with you as formerly enjoined that such Ships for whom our Boats are employed must repair the Damages it is observed they frequently meet with, and allow an equitable consideration for their Service, imagining that must be the case when some of them have no Long Boats as you hint, we also acquiesce in Margin Notes: Ship Egmont to be dispatched within the Charterparty Time. The returning Supra Cargos from Limpo to leave Letters Commanders of Ships to pay for the use of Boats	The dispatch of the Egmont, with the other part of the island's stores, being fixed for the latter end of the next month, and her timely arrival on the west coast of much importance, as well in point of the stores she carried as that she might seasonably, and without risk, be dispatched home, the Council was to lose no time in disembarking the supplies she brought, and in charging the commander with his sailing orders for Fort Marlborough within the charter-party time. This was a measure the Council was by no means to fail in, and which might the more readily be done from its being thus early apprised of it. 11: Messrs George Mandeville and William Mackenzie, supercargoes of this ship, were, on their arrival, to have the letter left by Messrs Fitzhugh and Soren for them, as supercargoes of the expected ship for Sumatra. As any ships from that port should touch at St Helena, the Council was, in the Court's name, to remind their supercargoes of leaving in its hands the most explicit accounts regarding their transactions, for the information of such persons to whom the management of the Court's affairs in that part of China might hereafter be committed. The Council's being sensible of the utility of this order would engage its constant attention thereto, and leave no room for a repetition. 12: Supposing the purchase the Council made from Captain William Hutchinson of a longboat for the Court's service, with its sails and furniture, was immediately necessary, and that the cost was moderate, there was no objection thereto. Since the Council had formerly been enjoined that such ships for whom its boats were employed must repair the damages they frequently met with, and allow an equitable consideration for their service, and imagining that must be the case where some of the ships had no longboat, as the Council had hinted, the Court also acquiesced. Interpretations The passing of explicit trading accounts from one ship's supercargoes to the next, lodged at St Helena as a standing relay, shows the Company building institutional memory into a distant and experimental commerce. The management of its affairs at Limpo would fall to different men each season, so the requirement that each set of supercargoes leave a full record for their successors ensured that hard-won knowledge of the new trade was preserved and handed on, the island serving as the fixed point through which the continuity was maintained. The Court's insistence that ships borrowing the island's boats both repair the damage and pay an equitable consideration reveals the careful accounting applied even to neighbourly assistance. A boat lent for watering was subject to wear and mishap, and the Company would not have the island bear that cost for another's benefit, so it fixed the principle that use of the island's craft carried both a duty of repair and a charge, turning an act of help into a properly reckoned transaction.
61	56	your buying a proper Boat of Captain O'Brien for the Governor visiting the Fortifications in, and the rather considering the importance of the use it is designed for. 13 The Shipping in general which came to the Island seem to have been largely supplied with Fresh Provisions, it will be very agreeable to find the favorable Season you enjoyed on the last Ships departure may put it into your power to do the same next year, the thriving State of Our own Stock, Pastures and Plantations is not unnoticed and afford a happy Prospect in this interesting Concern, for so far as depends on us, your want of Salt Provisions & Flour shall be removed, and the Commanders of our Outward bound Ships are this Season directed to provide themselves so sufficiently with Live Stock on their return, that they may not put you to any distress. 14 Your Letter of the 18 February last in its Duplicate reached us the 5 June following, but the Original by the Sophia Magdelena came not till the 15 August, We cannot Account for such behavier of the Danes, and having last year intimated the loss of a Letter [...] entrusted to them by you, it is proper to take and send us Receipts for the Packets transmitted by Foreign Ships, that we may be enabled to make a more particular demand of them, as no opportunity should be omitted of giving us the needful advices that may be safely conveyed by such Ships. 15 It surprized us to find the Prince Henry Packet had been at the Island, and as it appears by Capt Mumfords Letter that he put in for Water & to refresh the Crew, We suppose his Stay with you for Ten days, was necessary or that if you had found any needless delay on his part he would have received a suitable Admonition thereupon. Margin Notes: Ships well supplied Commanders to supply themselves with Live Stock in India Receipts to be taken for all Packets sent by Foreign Ships Prince Henry Packet touched at the Island	The Court also acquiesced in the Council's buying a proper boat from Captain O'Brien, for the Governor's visiting the fortifications in, and the rather considering the importance of the use it was designed for. 13: The shipping in general which came to the island seemed to have been largely supplied with fresh provisions. It would be very agreeable to find that the favourable season the Council enjoyed at the last ships' departure might put it into its power to do the same the following year. The thriving state of the Court's own stock, pastures and plantations was not unnoticed, and afforded a happy prospect in this interesting concern. So far as depended on the Court, the island's want of salt provisions and flour would be removed, and the commanders of the Court's outward-bound ships were this season directed to provide themselves so sufficiently with live stock on their return that they might not put the Council to any distress. 14: The Council's letter of 18 February last, in its duplicate, reached the Court on 5 June following, but the original, by the Sophia Magdalena, came not till 15 August. The Court could not account for such behaviour of the Danes. Having last year intimated the loss of a letter entrusted to them by the Council, it was proper to take, and send, receipts for the packets transmitted by foreign ships, so that it might be enabled to make a more particular demand of them, since no opportunity should be omitted of giving the Court the needful advices that might be safely conveyed by such ships. 15: It surprised the Court to find the Prince Henry packet had been at the island. Since it appeared by Captain Mumford's letter that he put in for water and to refresh the crew, the Court supposed his stay with the Council for 10 days was necessary, or that, if it had found any needless delay on his part, he would have received a suitable admonition thereupon. Interpretations The Court's evident relief at the thriving state of the island's stock and plantations, set against its standing anxiety over salt provisions and flour, reveals how precariously St Helena balanced between self-sufficiency and dependence. Fresh meat the island could raise, and a good season eased the strain, but staples like flour and salt provisions still had to come from home or be laid in by the ships themselves, so the Court both welcomed the local plenty and continued to guard against the shortfalls the island could not make good alone. The unreliability of the Danes in carrying the Council's letters, one lost the year before and another long delayed, exposes the risk of entrusting correspondence to foreign ships even as necessity required it. In wartime a neutral bottom might carry a packet more safely past the enemy, yet the Company had no hold over a foreign captain's diligence, so the Court fell back on taking receipts, the only means of fixing responsibility and pressing a claim when letters entrusted to strangers went astray.
62	57	16 That other Commanders may be deterred from clandestinely bringing our Servants and Soldiers from the Island, We have given Captain Alwright a particular Mark of Our Resentment, though it does not appear the Carpenters Mate was on board the London with his privity, We would have some more effectual measures pursued than have hitherto been followed, for preventing our People leaving you, the Commanders too should be informed before they quit the Shore, that we can allow of no excuse in this behalf; And as we find a Soldier deserted on the Hampshire, you must, when any of his Majestys Ships are in the Road, acquaint the Captains with the prejudices we sustain in such respect, and with our hopes that they will forbid their Officers receiving or conniving, at the Escape of any of Our Dependants. 17 The Indents made this Season have been duly regarded, and will be complied with by this Ship and the Egmont, the proportion put on board the former, the accompanying, Invoice and Bill of Lading, will particularly show. 18 Although it has been so frequently recommended that the most exact description should be given of the different Articles which may be necessary, yet the Sorts or Numbers of the Canvas & Osnabrigs written for are omitted 19 The Six pieces of Oak of Twenty four Feet long, and two feet Diameter, Indented for are of such extraordinary Dimensions as not to be readily procurable, besides the difficultys that would arise in the Conveyance of them, makes it proper that We should be informed of the uses they are intended for, and whether other Timber of less Dimensions may not answer your Purposes. Margin Notes: Effectual Measures to be taken to hinder the Soldiers from Deserting Indents complyed with Canvas Indented for not discribed Six pieces of Oak not sent.	16: So that other commanders might be deterred from clandestinely bringing the Court's servants and soldiers from the island, the Court had given Captain Alwright a particular mark of its resentment, though it did not appear the carpenter's mate was on board the London with his privity. The Court wished some more effectual measures pursued than had hitherto been followed, for preventing its people leaving the island. The commanders too should be informed, before they quit the shore, that the Court could allow of no excuse in this behalf. Since it found a soldier had deserted on the Hampshire, the Council was, when any of His Majesty's ships were in the road, to acquaint the captains with the prejudices the Court sustained in such respect, and with its hopes that they would forbid their officers receiving, or conniving at, the escape of any of its dependants. 17: The indents made this season had been duly regarded, and would be complied with by this ship and the Egmont. For the proportion put on board the former, the accompanying invoice and bill of lading would particularly show. 18: Although it had been so frequently recommended that the most exact description should be given of the different articles which might be necessary, yet the sorts and numbers of the canvas and osnaburgs written for were omitted. 19: The six pieces of oak, of 24 feet long and two feet diameter, indented for, were of such extraordinary dimensions as not to be readily procurable. Besides the difficulties that would arise in the conveyance of them, this made it proper that the Court should be informed of the uses they were intended for, and whether other timber of less dimensions might not answer the Council's purposes. Interpretations The Court's frustration at the continued desertion of its servants aboard both Company and King's ships reveals the constant leakage of manpower that a garrison on a waypoint suffered. Every passing vessel offered an escape, and the Court could punish only the commanders it caught conniving, so it pressed the Council to warn each captain in turn, treating the loss of soldiers and skilled men as a standing grievance that the ordinary discipline of the island could not by itself prevent. The Court's refusal to send the oversized oak without first knowing its intended use exposes the practical limits that distance and scarcity placed on the island's requests. Timber of such extraordinary dimensions was hard to find and harder to ship, so rather than fill the order blindly the Court queried whether smaller pieces would serve, a reminder that an indent framed at St Helena had to be justified against the real difficulty of procuring and conveying so unusual an article across the world.
63	58	20 In compliance with your large Demand for Cash and to avoid the Risk of the whole by one Conveyance only, two Chests of Treasure are sent by this Ship, the other two Chests should, you be in real want of so much, are to be taken from the West Coast Consignment by the Egmont, giving Advice thereof to our Settlement there accordingly; the Chests by the latter, which contains the small Mony that is inconvenient to you, are distinguished by the Word Estimates being cut thereon, so that you will be easily enabled to pitch upon what is most preferable, On this occasion we must express Our reliance on your utmost care and Œconomy, in disbursment thereof for the Companys Service, always remembring the Annual heavy Charge of the Island to us. 21 The ample supply of Salt Provisions and Flour wherewith you will be furnished this Season must remove all apprehensions in those respects, yet to avoid the disagreeable consequences arising from scarcity, the most prudent precautions on your part will doubtlessly be exerted, & for the proper and necessary maintenance of our numeros Garrison and Defendants, should the remotest prospect of want present itself, the expedient formerly practised, of having recourse to the Commanders of our homeward Shipping, for all such Articles as they can possibly spare for your Relief at the most reasonable Rates, is a Step that will in the first place occur, and we recommend to your practice. 22 Flour being at this time generally Prohibited as to it's exportation, though with an exception in the Companys favor by an Act passed last Sessions of Parliament inclosed, it is Margin Notes: Cash sent by Prince Henry & Egmont Salt provisions & Flour sent Liberty given to buy of the Commanders homeward-bound. Flour Prohibited	20: In compliance with the Council's large demand for cash, and to avoid the risk of the whole by one conveyance only, two chests of treasure were sent by this ship. The other two chests, should the Council be in real want of so much, were to be taken from the west coast consignment by the Egmont, giving advice thereof to the Court's settlement there accordingly. The chests by the Egmont, which contained the small money that was inconvenient for the Council, were distinguished by the word Estimates being cut thereon, so that the Council would be easily enabled to pitch upon what was most preferable. On this occasion the Court must express its reliance on the Council's utmost care and economy in disbursement thereof for the Company's service, always remembering the annual heavy charge of the island to the Court. 21: The ample supply of salt provisions and flour with which the Council would be furnished this season must remove all apprehensions in those respects. Yet, to avoid the disagreeable consequences arising from scarcity, the most prudent precautions on the Council's part would doubtless be exerted, for the proper and necessary maintenance of the Court's numerous garrison and dependants. Should the remotest prospect of want present itself, the expedient formerly practised, of having recourse to the commanders of the Court's homeward shipping for all such articles as they could possibly spare for the Council's relief at the most reasonable rates, was a step that would in the first place occur, and the Court recommended it to the Council's practice. 22: Flour being at this time generally prohibited as to its exportation, though with an exception in the Company's favour by an Act passed last session of Parliament enclosed. Interpretations The division of the treasure between two ships, with a further reserve to be drawn only in real want, reveals the Company applying its principle of spreading risk to bullion just as to stores and letters. Cash was the most tempting prize an enemy could take, so rather than trust the whole demand to one bottom the Court split it, and made the balance conditional, so that no more specie was exposed at sea than the island's genuine need required. The general prohibition on exporting flour, lifted only by a special exception in the Company's favour, shows how the demands of the war at home reached out to shape supply at the furthest station. Grain was controlled in Britain to secure the domestic and military need, yet the Company obtained a statutory exemption to victual its distant settlements, so that St Helena's bread depended not only on the harvest and the shipping but on an Act of Parliament carving out its right to the flour it could not do without.
64	59	very necessary that you should, and we enjoin your strictest Obedience thereto, and that you do minutely conform yourselves in returning to us the necessary Documents in Triplicate for the satisfaction of the Officers of the Crown, and in discharge of the Security given on this occasion, according to the accompanying paper of Instructions for your Conduct therein. 23 The Indian Stores and those from China indented for will be provided, in all probability according to your Demands for them made since the date of your Letter of the 23 June, the prosperos Turn Our affairs in Bengall have taken, make the Additional supply of Rice and Paddy from the other Capital Settlements needless, indeed the very large Quantity of Sugar and Candy requested has excited Our surprize, and can be accounted for, as far as appears to us, by no other reason than the Caution given last year for your not fixing your Dependance for the former Article solely on the West Coast, by the precarious Conveyance of a Single Ship whereof only half the Quantitys are ordered from China 24 For your most Vigoros Defence of the Island in case of its Attack by the Enemy, the Ten thousand Sand bags desired will be sent, although we think you may be cheaper and equally as well supplied with this Article from our Indian Settlements, you will therefore guide yourselves accordingly when there may be occasion for such like Particulars. 25 Notwithstanding the hazard Our Ships are exposed to from lading on them such large Quantities of Gunpowder, One hundred Barrels will be sent in consequence of the want you have signified to us thereof, so much depends on the Good condition of this Margin Notes: Documents in Triplicate to be returned Indian Indents complied with Large Quantitys of Sugar & Candy Indented for Ten thousand Sand bags sent, to write in future to India for them One hundred Barrels Gun Powder sent	It was very necessary that the Council should conform, and the Court enjoined its strictest obedience thereto, and that it minutely conform itself in returning the necessary documents in triplicate, for the satisfaction of the officers of the Crown, and in discharge of the security given on this occasion, according to the accompanying paper of instructions for its conduct therein. 23: The Indian stores, and those from China, indented for would in all probability be provided in keeping with the Council's demands for them, made since the date of its letter of 24 June. The prosperous turn the Court's affairs in Bengal had taken made the additional supply of rice and paddy from the other capital settlements needless. Indeed, the very large quantity of sugar and candy requested had excited the Court's surprise, and could be accounted for, so far as appeared to it, by no other reason than the caution given the previous year for the Council's not fixing its dependence for the former article solely on the west coast, by the precarious conveyance of a single ship, whereof only half the quantity was ordered from China. 24: For the most vigorous defence of the island, in case of its attack by the enemy, the 10,000 sandbags desired would be sent, although the Court thought the Council might be cheaper and equally well supplied with this article from its Indian settlements. The Council was therefore to guide itself accordingly when there might be occasion for such like particulars. 25: Notwithstanding the hazard the Court's ships were exposed to from lading on them such large quantities of gunpowder, 100 barrels would be sent, in consequence of the want the Council had signified thereof. So much depended on the good condition of this article. Interpretations The requirement that documents be returned in triplicate for the satisfaction of the officers of the Crown reveals how far the Company's wartime affairs had become entangled with the machinery of the state. Security had been given to Crown officers under the flour exemption and other arrangements, so the Council's paperwork now had to answer not only to the Company but to government officials, the triplicate returns a mark of the accountability the Company owed the Crown for the privileges it enjoyed. The Court's reasoning that the island's surprising demand for sugar and candy arose from its own earlier warning to spread supply exposes an unintended consequence of prudent policy. Having told the Council not to rely on a single ship from the west coast, the Court found the island now over-ordering to hedge against that risk, a candid recognition that its counsel of caution had itself inflated the indent, and a reminder that instructions given at a distance could produce effects their authors had not foreseen.
65	60	Article that we doubt not of your Attention, by causing frequent Surveys and properly Stowing it, to see that it is constantly in the most Serviceable State, The other parts of your Military demands will meet with due consideration, and the Invoices will show in what manner they are complied with. 26 Besides the necessary Cloathing for our Troops now in Garrison, what the Recruits designed for it this Season will want is likewise intended to be conveyed to you for their use. 27 Even at the time of Shipping the Materials on the Exeter designed for the construction of the Hospital merely on Account of the particulars, without their value, from the circumstances then occuring, was with difficulty procured, to remove the loss you are at We shall endeavor to enclose herewith, a more precise One but failing therein it will be proper you should with the Assistance of the ablest Workmen at hand, by an Appraisment, fix thereon the most equitable Rates that they may be accordingly brought to Account on Our Books. 28 The Amount of the Twenty six hundred weight of Junk you were supplied with by Capt O'Brien will be accounted for with, the proper Officers on his Majestys part here, to whom you have left the Adjustment of the Price, which tho perhaps trivial had better been avoided. 29 The Suspicion intimated in your Letter under the 3 November on the loss of a Black Man out of a Fishing Boat that he was murdered by those that were with him, & the Directions requested on that head, make our Injunctions requisit, that you diligently examine the Records of the Island for precedents in the like Cases, communicating to us the result of your Search with Margin Notes: Military Indent complied with. Cloathing sent for the additional Troops Price to be fixed to the Materials for an Hospital Junk bought of Captain O'Brien Records of the Island to be examined & to be sent to England	The Court doubted not of the Council's attention to the gunpowder, by causing frequent surveys and properly stowing it, to see that it was constantly in the most serviceable state. The other parts of the island's military demands would meet with due consideration, and the invoices would show in what manner they were complied with. 26: Besides the necessary clothing for the troops now in garrison, whatever the recruits designed for it this season would want was likewise intended to be conveyed to the Council for their use. 27: Even at the time of shipping the materials on the Exeter, designed for the construction of the hospital, the particulars merely, without their value, were with difficulty procured, from the circumstances then occurring. To remove the loss the Council was at, the Court would endeavour to enclose a more precise account. That failing, it would be proper the Council should, with the assistance of the ablest workmen at hand, by an appraisement fixed thereon at the most equitable rates, bring them accordingly to account on the Court's books. 28: The amount of the 26 hundredweight of junk the Council was supplied with by Captain O'Brien would be accounted for with the proper officers on His Majesty's part here, to whom the Council had left the adjustment of the price. This, though perhaps trivial, had better been avoided. 29: The suspicion intimated in the Council's letter under the 3rd November, on the loss of a black man out of a fishing boat that he was murdered by those that were with him, and the directions requested on that head, made the Court's injunctions requisite that the Council diligently examine the records of the island for precedents in the like cases, communicating to the Court the result of its search. Interpretations The Court's insistence on frequent surveys and proper stowage of the gunpowder reveals how a commodity essential to defence was also the most perishable and dangerous in store. Powder decayed if ill kept and could destroy the magazine that held it, so its condition demanded constant vigilance, the Court treating the maintenance of the island's powder in serviceable state as a duty as important as its supply, since a defence resting on spoiled powder was no defence at all. The Court's direction that a suspected murder among fishermen be met by a search of the island's own records for precedents reveals how justice at St Helena was built up case by case from its accumulated practice. Lacking a settled body of law for every circumstance, the Council governed by reference to how like cases had been handled before, so the Court required its records searched and the result reported, the island's past decisions serving as the guide for its present ones.
66	61	the usual methods of proceeding, that we may give you more particular Orders for the effectual Punishment of such Malefactors, it is in the mean time necessary generally to Order that in case any of them shall be Convicted of Murder the most severe Punishment due to so heinous a Crime, be according to the best of your Judgment, inflicted on the Offenders. 30 Sensible of the Reasonableness of your Observations, on the Transport of Malefactors and dissolute Persons from India to the Island, with the bad consequences that may arise therefrom, We have forbid the repetition of this practice in all our Settlements, so far as that it may not prevent their supplying you with as many useful Slaves as can be procured agreeable to your repeated Recommendations, We hope it might rather be from prejudices imbibed from the false Maxims of their Country that Five of the Delinquents conveyed to you from Anjengo at the King of Travencore's Instance put so rash a Period to their Lives than from Impatience of too severe treatment from those under whose care they were placed, which a little Caution, it may be thought would have prevented; from the Degree of life these Persons were in, we would have the Survivors treated with humanity, and if possible won to a Contentment with their Situation. 31 Noquedah Pohallum's appearance here to Justify himself on the Representations made of his Behavior by Our Servants on the West Coast cannot be admitted, any more than his return thither, whereby Our Servants might be exposed in revenge to greater Troubles than, he has formerly occasioned, his Inclination privately to withdraw himself obliges us to insist on your continuing to secure him while any Ships remain in the Road, as well as at Margin Notes: No Malefactors to be transported to the Island Pohallum to be confined on the sailing of all Ships	On learning the usual methods of proceeding, the Court might give the Council more particular orders for the effectual punishment of such malefactors. In the meantime, it was necessary generally to order that, in case any of them should be convicted of murder, the most severe punishment due to so heinous a crime be inflicted on the offenders, according to the best of the Council's judgment. 30: Being sensible of the reasonableness of the Council's observations on the transport of malefactors and dissolute persons from India to the island, with the bad consequences that might arise therefrom, the Court had forbidden the repetition of this practice in all its settlements, so far as that it might not prevent their supplying the island with as many useful slaves as could be procured, in keeping with the Council's repeated recommendations. The Court hoped it might rather be from prejudices imbibed from the false maxims of their country that five of the delinquents conveyed to the island from Anjengo, at the King of Travancore's instance, put so rash a period to their lives, than from impatience of too severe treatment from those under whose care they were placed, which a little caution, it might be thought, would have prevented. From the degree of life these persons were in, the Court would have the survivors treated with humanity, and if possible won to a contentment with their situation. 31: Naquedah Pohallum's appearance, to justify himself on the representations made of his behaviour by the Court's servants on the west coast, could not be admitted, any more than his return thither, whereby the Court's servants might be exposed in revenge to greater troubles than his conduct had formerly occasioned. His inclination privately to withdraw himself obliged the Court to insist on the Council's continuing to secure him while any ships remained in the road, as well as at all other times. Interpretations The Court's response to the suicide of five men sent from Anjengo reveals a collision between the Company's use of the island as a place of transportation and the humanity it professed toward those it confined. Rather than confront the possibility that harsh treatment drove the men to kill themselves, the Court preferred to attribute their deaths to the false maxims of their own country, yet it forbade the further transport of such people and urged that survivors be won to contentment, an uneasy mixture of self-exculpation and genuine concern. The Court's refusal to let Naquedah Pohallum defend himself or return to the west coast exposes how the island served as a place of permanent exile for those the Company found troublesome elsewhere. His guilt was assumed from his servants' reports, and his very wish to leave was treated as reason to confine him more closely, so that a man sent to St Helena to be rid of him could be held there indefinitely, the island's remoteness making it a prison from which there was no appeal and no release.
67	62	all times to keep a Watchful Eye on him, in prevention of the Execution of the rash purpose he had threatened, We were in hopes the Allowance made, and a treatment with some share of Courtesy on your parts, might have reconciled him to his present Circumstances, which we shall not yet entirely give up, Capt O'Brien has given us many more Instances of his regard for the Company than that of delivering up this Unfortunate Person to you again from on board his Majestys Ship Colchester. 32 It is our express Commands that no Person or Persons whatsoever be permitted to take plans of the Fortifications, Works or any other place or places of Offence or Defence upon the Island, without the leave of you the Governor & Council, and you are to make a strict Enquiry for such as are in the hands of other Persons, and collect and keep them safely together in your joint Custody. 33 The Orders issued the 13 December, and 3 January for the coming in of all Boats and Blacks on Alarms, for preventing the making of Fires on the Hills or near the Sea in the night Time, & the resort of improper Persons within the Battery at Sandy Bay as bespeaking your Cautions for the Islands Safety, are approved of. 34 We shall depend on the Promises made in the 5 and 29 Paragraphs of your Letter of the 11 March for puting the Fortifications in repair, and keeping them so, which you will the more readily be able to fulfil, from the Permission given of employing Our Soldiery therein at the most Reasonable Rates, when the Labor of the Blacks is insufficient. 35 On due Consideration of the Strength of our Garrison we have resolved to add about Eighty Recruits to it, which considering Margin Notes: No Persons to take plans of the Works Orders not to make fires nor the Blacks approved Fortifications to be kept in repair, Liberty to hire the Soldiers	At all times the Council was to keep a watchful eye on Naquedah Pohallum, in prevention of the execution of the rash purpose he had threatened. The Court was inclined to think the allowance made, and a treatment with some share of courtesy on the Council's part, might have reconciled him to his present circumstances, which it would not yet entirely give up. Captain O'Brien had given the Court many more instances of his regard for the Company than that of delivering up this unfortunate person to the Council again from on board His Majesty's ship Colchester. 32: It was the Court's express command that no person or persons whatsoever be permitted to take plans of the fortifications, works or any other place or places of offence or defence upon the island, without the leave of the Governor and Council. The Council was to make a strict enquiry for such as were in the hands of other persons, and collect and keep them safely together in its joint custody. 33: The orders issued on 13 December, and 3 January, for the coming in of all boats and blacks on alarms, for preventing the making of fires on the hills or near the sea in the night time, and the resort of improper persons within the battery at Sandy Bay, as bespeaking the Council's cautions for the island's safety, were approved of. 34: The Court would depend on the promises made in the 5th and 29th paragraphs of the Council's letter of 11 March, for putting the fortifications in repair, and keeping them so. This the Council would the more readily be able to fulfil, from the permission given of employing the Court's soldiery therein at the most reasonable rates, when the labour of the blacks was insufficient. 35: On due consideration of the strength of the garrison, the Court had resolved to add about 80 recruits to it. Interpretations The express command that no plans of the fortifications be taken without the Governor's leave, and that any in private hands be collected into official custody, reveals the Company's fear of espionage as war raised the danger of attack. A drawing of the island's defences was intelligence an enemy could use, so the Court sought to bring every such plan under control, treating knowledge of the works as a secret to be guarded as closely as the works themselves. The concern that fires on the hills or near the sea at night, and the movement of improper persons about the batteries, be prevented shows how a fortified island had to guard against signalling and infiltration from within. A light shown at night could guide or warn a hostile ship, and unauthorised persons near the guns posed a risk of sabotage or intelligence, so the Council's standing orders reached beyond the enemy at sea to the ordinary inhabitants whose movements might, wittingly or not, betray the island's security.
68	63	the great demand for Men for his Majestys Service & for our Settlements in India, have been with great difficulty procured, & cannot but deem the Island as sufficiently able with that Addition to maintain itself and resist the Attack of such Force as the Enemy, were they so inclined, might be presumed to send against you; the List of those Recruits is enclosed 36 Upon your receiving this Reinforcement; from the Accounts before us, it appears the Garrison will consist of more than Four hundred Men, it will be your care to see they are properly commanded, to that end we confirm the Liberty given you last Year to appoint a fitting Number of Officers really requisit for the Service, preferring this measure as equally beneficial rather than to what we conveive a more expensive One, the forming a new Company, The Artillery must be supplied from the other Companys. 37 Besides this respectable Corps of Troops under the Command of select Commission and well approved Non Commission Officers always kept under the exactest Discipline, and ready for immediate Service, We trust from the property of the Planters and Inhabitants which would lay at Stake in case of an attempt on the Island, for the most Effectual Assistance from them as a Militia, that they are accordingly Officerd and regularly trained as you advise for that purpose, not doubting withal but that the Blacks, from whom the least might be expected, are likewise kept in a Posture to yield all the Service that could possibly be required from them on such a Circumstance of Affairs. 38 All Deserters from Our Settlements in India are, agreeable to the 42 Paragraph of Our Letter of the 7 December 1752 to be detained for Our Service with you, and not sent back to be tried, the providing Margin Notes: Eighty Recruits sent Liberty given to add Lieutenants the Planters to be officerd & regularly trained Deserters from India to be detained	These 80 recruits, considering the great demand for men for His Majesty's service and for the settlements in India, had been procured with great difficulty. The Court could not but deem the island sufficiently able, with that addition, to maintain itself and resist the attack of such force as the enemy, were they so inclined, might be presumed to send against it. The list of those recruits was enclosed. 36: On the Council's receiving this reinforcement, it appeared from the accounts before the Court that the garrison would consist of more than 400 men. It would be the Council's care to see they were properly commanded. To that end the Court confirmed the liberty given the previous year to appoint a fitting number of officers really requisite for the service, preferring this measure as equally beneficial rather than a more expensive one, the forming of a new company. The artillery must be supplied from the other companies. 37: Besides this respectable corps of troops, under the command of select commission and well approved non-commission officers, always kept under the exactest discipline and ready for immediate service, the Court trusted, from the property of the planters and inhabitants which would lie at stake in case of an attempt on the island, that for the most effectual assistance from them as a militia, they were accordingly officered and regularly trained, as the Council had advised for that purpose. It did not doubt withal that the blacks, from whom the least might be expected, were likewise kept in a posture to yield all the service that could possibly be required from them on such a circumstance of affairs. 38: All deserters from the Court's settlements in India were, in keeping with the 42nd paragraph of its letter of 7 December 1752, to be detained for the Court's service with the Council, and not sent back to be tried. Interpretations The Court's reasoning that the planters would fight because their own property lay at stake reveals the calculation behind organising the inhabitants as a militia. A regular garrison could be reinforced only with difficulty in wartime, so the island's defence rested also on arming men who had a personal interest in resisting an enemy, the Company trusting that the threat to their homes and lands would make the planters reliable auxiliaries in a way that pay alone could not guarantee. The policy of detaining deserters from the Indian settlements for service at St Helena rather than returning them for trial shows the Company turning even its own runaways to account in a time of manpower shortage. A deserter sent back faced punishment and was lost to the service, whereas one kept at the island filled a place in the garrison, so the Company preferred to absorb such men where they were needed most, its need for soldiers overriding the ordinary demand that desertion be punished.
69	64	of Recruits for those parts is so expensive that we would have the strictest Search of all homeward bound Ships continued for recovering them, and if practicable prolonging the Term of their Servitude, that they may be deterred from this detrimental Practice, for the same reasons your Conduct as to the Five Recruits which left the Chesterfield at Madagascar Outward bound, and were brought to you on the Denham, meets with Our Approval. 39 The Recruits raised for the West Coast will be sent on the Egmont, wherefore considering the large Supply this Ship brings up with the propriety of putting Our Settlements there at this time in the best Condition for defending themselves we expect you will not break in upon their Number, without giving us the most convincing Reasons, & the absolute Necessity of your so doing. 40 Let Lieutenant Hay be informed some late exceptionable behavior of his has not escaped Our notice, and that we hope his future Conduct will be such, as not to draw upon him a Censure which may be very disagreeable to him 41 We cannot suppose it was entirely on the Urgency of the Case, that you supplyed his Majestys Ship Colchester with so considerable a Sum as Five hundred Pounds, when our Cash was but low, how just soever the expectations of a Consideration, on account of the Risk arising from the Conveyance of mony to you, might be, yet as the public Service had a Concern in this transaction, your charging no Premium thereon was right, and you will do well in forbearing it on such a future occasion, with this recommendation that you are to be as sparing as possible of such Supplys hereafter, and even avoiding them entirely if it can be done with any Grace, for an adequate compensation is and has Margin Notes: Recruits for the West Coast not to be detained without good Reasons Lieut Hay reprimanded No Premium to be charged to his Majestys Ships	Since the providing of recruits for those parts was so expensive, the Court would have the strictest search of all homeward-bound ships continued for recovering them, and, if practicable, the term of their servitude prolonged, so that they might be deterred from this detrimental practice. For the same reasons the Council's conduct, as to the five recruits which left the Chesterfield at Madagascar outward bound, and were brought to the island on the Denham, met with the Court's approval. 39: The recruits raised for the west coast would be sent on the Egmont. Considering the large supply this ship brought, together with the propriety of putting the Court's settlements there in the best condition for defending themselves at this time, the Court expected the Council would not break in upon their number, without giving the most convincing reasons of the absolute necessity of its so doing. 40: Lieutenant Hay was to be informed that some late exceptionable behaviour of his had not escaped the Court's notice, and that it hoped his future conduct would be such as not to draw upon him a censure which might be very disagreeable to him. 41: The Court could but suppose it was entirely on the urgency of the case that the Council supplied His Majesty's ship Colchester with so considerable a sum as £500 0s 0d, when its cash was but low. However just the expectations of a consideration might be, on account of the risk arising from the conveyance of money to the island, yet, as the public service had a concern in this transaction, the Council's charging no premium thereon was right. It would do well in forbearing it on such a future occasion, with this recommendation that it be as sparing as possible of such supplies hereafter, and even avoiding them entirely if it could be done with any grace, for an adequate compensation was, and had been. Interpretations The Court's approval of recovering deserting recruits and prolonging their servitude reveals how the expense of raising men in wartime hardened the Company's treatment of those who ran. Recruits were costly and scarce, so a man who deserted was not simply written off but hunted through the homeward ships and, if retaken, punished with extended service, the lengthening of his bondage serving both to reclaim the investment and to warn others against the same attempt. The Court's careful approval of the Council's charging no premium on the £500 0s 0d lent to a King's ship, coupled with its wish that such loans be avoided in future, exposes the tension between accommodating the Crown and guarding the Company's own funds. Advancing money at risk to a warship served the public interest, so no charge could decently be made, yet the Company disliked depleting its low cash without compensation, and so pressed the Council to help the navy as sparingly as it gracefully could.
70	65	been given and taken between the Crown and Company on such circumstances in India; these intimations are by no means to be construed to extend to the waving any Allowance for Supplys of Cash to Foreign Ships who are constantly to be charged after the rate of Thirty pCent according to former Orders. 42 The New Practice set up of drawing Bills at less sight than ninety Days, besides its being a bad Precedent We cannot but, from several motives, condemn, and is excuseable only for the reasons you have advanced, its continuance therefore is positively forbid, if such as are in want of Draughts prefer the taking them on private People to the more certain Channel of Our Cash, they have the Option, It is necessary on this point to remark that the method you pursue of making your Draughts payable to those you receive the Cash from is disagreeable, as this Covert manner of drawing cannot answer any good purposes but may be productive of Inconveniencies, we would therefore have them made payable to those here whose property the mony really is, or who are intended to receive it on Account of such as do not reside in England, for We cannot answer for false payments that may ensue from the Ignorance often experienced of the Firm of the Endorsers of such Bills and whom we cannot have recourse to for greater certainty. 43 We do not approve of the Entertainment of Thomas Dunn a Recruit for assisting, in the Business of the Secretarys Office at Twenty pounds a year Salary, as the Six Covenard Servants below the Council are sufficient for the Dispatch of Our Business without a very laborios Attendance and puting us to this extraordinary Charge. Margin Notes: Foreign Ships to be charged Thirty pCent. Bills not to be drawn for less than ninety Days sight. Bills to be made payable to those who are to receive the Mony in England The Six Covenant Servants to do the Business	An adequate compensation had been given and taken between the Crown and Company on such circumstances in India. These intimations were by no means to be construed to extend to the waiving of any allowance for supplies of cash to foreign ships, who were constantly to be charged after the rate of 30 per cent, in keeping with former orders. 42: The new practice set up of drawing bills at less sight than 90 days, besides its being a bad precedent, the Court could not but, from several motives, condemn. It was excusable only for the reasons the Council had advanced, and its continuance was therefore positively forbidden. If such as were in want of drafts preferred the taking them on private people to the more certain channel of the Court's cash, they had the option. It was necessary on this point to remark that the method the Council pursued, of making its drafts payable to those it received the cash from, was disagreeable, as this covert manner of drawing could not answer any good purposes, but might be productive of inconveniences. The Court would therefore have them made payable to those here whose property the money really was, or who were intended to receive it on account of such as did not reside in England. The Court could not answer for false payments that might ensue from the ignorance often experienced of the firm of the endorsers of such bills, whom it could not have recourse to for greater certainty. 43: The Court did not approve of the entertainment of Thomas Dann, a recruit, for assisting in the business of the secretary's office, at £20 0s 0d a year salary, since the six covenant servants below the Council were sufficient for the dispatch of the Court's business, without a very laborious attendance and putting it to this extraordinary charge. Interpretations The high fixed charge of 30 per cent on cash supplied to foreign ships, held apart from the courtesies extended to the Crown, reveals the Company treating advances to foreigners as a straightforward commercial transaction rather than an act of amity. A foreign captain in want of money paid dearly for it, the rate reflecting both the risk and the Company's monopoly position as the only source of specie at the island, so that supplying strangers was a source of profit where supplying the King's ships was a matter of duty. The Court's objection to bills drawn payable to whoever paid in the cash exposes the danger that lax paper created for a company settling accounts across the world. A bill made out to the wrong party, or endorsed by a hand the Court could not verify, invited fraudulent payment in London, so the Court insisted that bills name the true owner of the money, protecting itself against false claims by ensuring that every draft could be traced to a person it could hold answerable.
71	66	your buying a proper Boat of Captain O'Brien for the Governor visiting the Fortifications in, and the rather considering the importance of the use it is designed for. 13 The Shipping in general which came to the Island seem to have been largely supplied with Fresh Provisions, it will be very agreeable to find the favorable Season you enjoyed on the last Ships departure may put it into your power to do the same next year, the thriving State of Our own Stock, Pastures and Plantations is not unnoticed and afford a happy Prospect in this interesting Concern, for so far as depends on us, your want of Salt Provisions & Flour shall be removed, and the Commanders of our Outward bound Ships are this Season directed to provide themselves so sufficiently with Live Stock on their return, that they may not put you to any distress. 14 Your Letter of the 18 February last in it's Duplicate reached us the 5 June following, but the Original by the Sophia Magdelena came not till the 15 August, We cannot Account for such behavior of the Danes, and having last year intimated the loss of a Letter [...] entrusted to them by you, it is proper to take and send us Receipts for the Packets transmitted by Foreign Ships, that we may be enabled to make a more particular demand of them, as no opportunity should be omitted of giving us the needful advices that may be safely conveyed by such Ships. 15 It surprized us to find the Prince Henry Packet had been at the Island, and as it appears by Capt Mumfords Letter that he put in for Water & to refresh the Crew, We suppose his Stay with you for Ten days, was necessary or that if you had found any needless delay on his part he would have received a suitable Admonition thereupon. Margin Notes: Ships well supplied Commanders to supply themselves with Live Stock in India Receipts to be taken for all Packets sent by Foreign Ships Prince Henry Packet touched at the Island	Observing the Council's care and economy, the Court had no objection to its buying a proper boat from Captain O'Brien, for the Governor's visiting the fortifications in, and the rather considering the importance of the use it was designed for. 13: The shipping in general which came to the island seemed to have been largely supplied with fresh provisions. It would be very agreeable to find that the favourable season the Council enjoyed at the last ships' departure might put it into its power to do the same the following year. The thriving state of the Court's own stock, pastures and plantations was not unnoticed, and afforded a happy prospect in this interesting concern. So far as depended on the Court, the island's want of salt provisions and flour would be removed, and the commanders of the Court's outward-bound ships were this season directed to provide themselves so sufficiently with live stock on their return that they might not put the Council to any distress. 14: The Council's letter of 18 February last, in its duplicate, reached the Court on 5 June following, but the original, by the Sophia Magdalena, came not till 15 August. The Court could not account for such behaviour of the Danes. Having last year intimated the loss of a letter entrusted to them by the Council, it was proper to take, and send, receipts for the packets transmitted by foreign ships, so that it might be enabled to make a more particular demand of them, since no opportunity should be omitted of giving the Court the needful advices that might be safely conveyed by such ships. 15: It surprised the Court to find the Prince Henry packet had been at the island. Since it appeared by Captain Mumford's letter that he put in for water and to refresh the crew, the Court supposed his stay with the Council for 10 days was necessary, or that, if it had found any needless delay on his part, he would have received a suitable admonition thereupon.
72	67	the following Persons, the Four first of whom are, in the order they are named for four Months each to have an alternate Rotation as President and Governor viz William Watts Esqr Charles Manningham Esqr Richard Becher Esqr John Zephaniah Holwell Esqr Major James Kirkpatrick to remain in this Station Mr Paul Richard Pearkes Mr William Frankland Mr Matthew Collet Mr William Mackett Mr Peter Amyatt Mr Thomas Boddam, and Mr Richard Court 48 It is necessary you should be informed that the War between Great Britain and France, continues with great Warmth, your utmost care and Caution for the Security and Defence of the Island as well as the safety of the Shipping were therefore never more requisit than at this Juncture; the more particular Information and Directions to be given on those Points falling within the Department of the Secret Committee they will be communicated to the Governor from those Gentlemen 49 His Majestys has been graciously pleased to assist the Company with a Batallion of His Troops of One thousand and thirty five Men Officers included, under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel William Draper, they will proceed accordingly to Fort St George on the Ships of this Season for the Protection of Our affairs and Settlements there. Margin Notes: Governor & Councellors of Bengall Directions for the Security of the Island & Shipping will be sent to the Governor Kings Troops sent to India	The Court had appointed the following persons as Governor and Councillors of Bengal, the four first of whom were, in the order they were named, for four months each to have an alternate rotation as President and Governor: 1: William Watts Esquire 2: Charles Manningham Esquire 3: Richard Becher Esquire 4: John Zephaniah Holwell Esquire 5: Major James Kirkpatrick, to remain in this station 6: Mr Paul Richard Pearkes 7: Mr William Frankland 8: Mr Matthew Collet 9: Mr William Mackett 10: Mr Peter Amyatt 11: Mr Thomas Boddam, and 12: Mr Richard Court 48: It was necessary the Council should be informed that the war between Great Britain and France continued with great warmth. Its utmost care and caution for the security and defence of the island, as well as the safety of the shipping, were therefore never more requisite than at this juncture. The more particular information and directions to be given on those points, falling within the department of the Secret Committee, would be communicated to the Governor from those gentlemen. 49: His Majesty had been graciously pleased to assist the Company with a battalion of his troops, of 1,035 men, officers included, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Draper. They would proceed accordingly to Fort St George, on the ships of this season, for the protection of the Court's affairs and settlements there. Interpretations The scheme of rotating the presidency of Bengal among four men, each holding the chair for four months in turn, reveals an unusual experiment in dividing supreme authority at a moment of crisis. Bengal had just been convulsed by the loss and recovery of Calcutta, and rather than trust the reconstituted government to a single head, the Court spread it among four, an arrangement that shared the burden and the risk but that would soon prove unworkable in the concentrated demands of war and conquest. The dispatch of a full battalion of King's troops under Colonel Draper marks the deepening of the Crown's direct military commitment to the Company's cause in India. Where earlier the Company had leaned on its own forces and occasional naval help, the sending of over a thousand regular soldiers to Fort St George shows the defence of the Company's settlements passing decisively into the hands of the national army, the war in India now fought with the Crown's men as well as its ships.
73	68	50 We have found it necessary this Season to add some New Clauses to Our Commanders Instructions relating to the Packets and Letters they are entrusted with, and their Conveyance on the Ships Arrival to us, Copy of those Clauses are enclosed, and as the Commanders of our returning Ships are not apprized of them, You are to give them Transcripts thereof, and acquaint them we expect a punctual Compliance with the Directions therein contained. 51 If Vice Admiral Watson should call at St Helena on his return to England you are to inform him, That we have been favored with his Letter from Fort William under Date of the 24 February 1757, to which we have not replied, as it is very uncertain whether an Answer could come to his hands, however in case he calls at St Helena you are to wait upon him, and in Our Name assure him that we have the highest Sense of his great and good Services to the Company in India and make him the Tenders of our most Greatful Acknowledgments for the same. 52 You are to shew him all the Honors due to his Rank and great Merit, and Accommodate him during his Stay in the best, and most agreeable manner you can. 53 Since writing thus far we are to inform you that at a General Court of the Proprietors of the East India Company held on the 21 Instant the following Resolution was Unanimosly Agreed to viz "Resolved that the Thanks of this General Court be given to Vice "Admiral Watson, and to Vice Admiral Pocock for their "Eminent and Signal Services to this Company Margin Notes: New Clauses Added to the Commanders Instructions Admiral Watsons Letter received Admiral Watson to have all due Honors Thanks of the Proprietors to be given to Admirals Watson and Pocock.	50: The Court had found it necessary this season to add some new clauses to its commanders' instructions, relating to the packets and letters they were entrusted with, and their conveyance on the ships' arrival to the Court. A copy of those clauses was enclosed. Since the commanders of the returning ships were not apprised of them, the Council was to give them transcripts thereof, and to acquaint them that the Court expected a punctual compliance with the directions therein contained. 51: If Vice Admiral Watson should call at St Helena on his return to England, the Council was to inform him that the Court had been favoured with his letter from Fort William, under date of 24 February 1757, to which it had not replied, as it was very uncertain whether an answer could come to his hands. However, in case he called at St Helena, the Council was to wait upon him, and in the Court's name assure him that it had the highest sense of his great and good services to the Company in India, and make him the tender of its most grateful acknowledgments for the same. 52: The Council was to show him all the honours due to his rank and great merit, and accommodate him during his stay in the best and most agreeable manner it could. 53: Since writing thus far, the Court informed the Council that at a General Court of the Proprietors of the East India Company, held on the 21st instant, the following resolution was unanimously agreed to: that the thanks of the General Court be given to Vice Admiral Watson, and to Vice Admiral Pocock, for their eminent and signal services to the Company. Interpretations The Court's elaborate instructions for honouring Admiral Watson should he touch at St Helena reveal how the Company cultivated the naval commanders on whom its fortunes in India now depended. Watson had led the force that recovered Calcutta, and the Company, unable even to be sure a letter would reach him, prepared its thanks to be delivered in person at the island, treating the goodwill of the admiral as an asset worth securing through every courtesy the Council could show. The formal vote of thanks to Watson and Pocock by the General Court of Proprietors shows the shareholders themselves acknowledging how far the Company's commercial survival had come to rest on the King's navy. The proprietors, whose concern was profit, publicly honoured two royal admirals for services in India, a recognition that the trade could no longer be defended by the Company alone and that its interests were now bound up with the fortunes of British arms.
74	69	54 If those Gentlemen call at St Helena on their Return to England you are to inform them of the said Resolution, and at the same time let them know how much pleasure it gives us to transmit so agreeable a Testimony of their great Merit London We are 23 December 1757 Your Loving Friends Signed John Payne Lau. Sulivan P. Godfrey J. Raymond Christr Burrow Henry Plant Thos Phipps Thos Rous Geo Dudley Maxim Western Charles Chambers Rob Jones Hen Hadley John Manship Timothy Tullie Cha. Gough John Dorrien Margin Notes: Admirals Watson & Pocock.	54: If those gentlemen called at St Helena on their return to England, the Council was to inform them of the resolution, and at the same time let them know how much pleasure it gave the Court to transmit so agreeable a testimony of their great merit. The letter closed at London on 23 December 1757, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by John Payne, Laurence Sulivan, Peter Godfrey, Jones Raymond, Christopher Burrow, Henry Bland, Thomas Phipps, Thomas Rous, George Dudley, Maxim Western, Charles Chambers, Robert Jones, Henry Hadley, John Manship, Timothy Tullie, Charles Gough and John Dorrien.
75	70	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Our last General Letter under date of the 23 December 1757 went by the Prince Henry which Ship sailed from Spithead on the 2 we now send a Duplicate thereof by this Ship the Egmont, and you will receive a Copy by his Majestys Ship. 2 We refer you to the accompanying List for the time of the departure of the Companys several Ships since the date of our abovementiond Letter. 3 We said in our last Letter the destination of our own Ship the Admiral Watson was not determined, we are now to inform you, that She proceeds first to Gambroon with a Cargo of Woolen Goods, from thence She is to go to Bombay, and be under the Orders of the Governor and Council for her future proceedure, and as one principal Service expected from her will be the bringing us advices, we cannot say whether She will be dispatched home directly from Bombay, or from either of our other Presidencies. 4 This Ship the Egmont brings you the remainder of the Stores provided for the Service of the Island, the particulars of which will appear by the accompanying Invoice and Bill of Lading, you are agreeable to the Injunctions in our last Letter to use the utmost Expedition is unloading them, that the Commander may have his dispatches for Fort Marlborough delivered to him within the Charterparty time without fail. 5 You were advised by the Prince Henry that we had consigned to you on that Ship two Chests of Treasure, and that if you were in real want of more, you might take also not exceeding two Chests out of what is consigned to Fort Marlborough on this Ship, whatever you take out in consequence of this liberty, you must give due notice thereof to the Deputy Governor and Council of that Settlement. 6 Having sent you a sufficient number of Recruits in the Prince Henry you are not to take one out of those by this Ship, who are all intended for the West Coast, where they are much wanted. 7 Your late Gardener James Sherridan has applyed to us by Petition Margin Notes: Letter sent by the Prince Henry Duplicate by the Egmont & the his Majestys Ship the Colchester reference to the List for the Time of the Departure of Ships Destination and go of our own Ship the Admiral Watson Ship Egmont brings remainder of Stores her to be dispatched Liberty to take two Chests of Treasure out of the Egmont Not to detain any of the recruits by the Egmont	1: The Court's last general letter, under date of 23 December 1757, went by the Prince Henry, which ship sailed from Spithead on the 2nd. It now sent a duplicate thereof by this ship, the Egmont, and the Council would receive a copy by His Majesty's ship the Colchester. 2: The Court referred the Council to the accompanying list for the time of the departure of the Company's several ships since the date of its letter mentioned above. 3: The Court had said in its last letter that the destination of its own ship, the Admiral Watson, was not determined. It now informed the Council that she proceeded first to Gombroon with a cargo of woollen goods. From thence she was to go to Bombay, and be under the orders of the Governor and Council for her future proceedings. Since one principal service expected from her would be the bringing of advices, the Court could not say whether she would be dispatched home directly from Bombay, or from either of its other presidencies. 4: This ship, the Egmont, brought the Council the remainder of the stores provided for the service of the island. The particulars would appear by the accompanying invoice and bill of lading. In keeping with the injunctions in its last letter, the Council was to use the utmost expedition in unloading them, so that the commander might have his dispatches for Fort Marlborough delivered to him within the charter-party time, without fail. 5: The Council had been advised, by the Prince Henry, that the Court had consigned two chests of treasure on that ship, and that, if it was in real want of more, it might take also, not exceeding two chests, out of what was consigned to Fort Marlborough on this ship. Whatever it took out, in consequence of that liberty, it was to give due notice thereof to the Deputy Governor and Council of that settlement. 6: Having sent the Council a sufficient number of recruits in the Prince Henry, it was not to take any out of those by this ship, who were all intended for the west coast, where they were much wanted. 7: The Council's late gardener, James Sherridan, had applied to the Court by petition. Interpretations The employment of the Admiral Watson to carry woollen goods to Gombroon before passing to Bombay reveals how even a ship built for the war was worked into the ordinary channels of the eastern trade. Gombroon, the Company's factory on the Persian Gulf, took English woollens in exchange for the goods of Persia, so the Company's own fighting Indiaman earned her keep as a trader on the outward leg before taking up the naval and advice duties that were her real purpose. The uncertainty over whether the Admiral Watson would return from Bombay or another presidency, tied to her role as a bringer of advices, shows how the movement of a communications ship was governed by the unpredictable flow of news rather than a fixed route. Built to carry intelligence, she had to remain at the disposal of the Indian governments, ready to sail from wherever the most urgent despatches required, her homeward passage left open precisely because its timing depended on events not yet known.
76	71	to be reinstated in his Employment, but being satisfyed from the account you give of him, that his Dismission was a right measure, and his continuance upon the Island can be of no Service to us, you are at liberty to send him to England when ever you think fit. 8 We have entertained James Townshend a Mason who understands rough Wall Work, cutting of Stone, and Working in a Quarry, to serve the Company at St Helena at the rate of six pounds ten Shillings pMonth to commence on his arrival in the Ship Egmont which is for Salary and all other allowances whatsoever, And as an Encouragement we have given him five pounds by way of Gratuity to fit him out. 9 The two Chests of Treasure, which you are at liberty under the circumstances mentioned in the 20 Parragraph of our last by the Prince Henry to take out of this Ship are marked SH 341 and 2 being of the proper Species for the Island and if Landed give Our Servants on the West Coast advice accordingly. 10 By several Reports which have reached us, We have great reason to to believe, supposing what has been alledged to be true, That the Lieutenant Governor takes all opportunities, of making the Governor uneasy, as Mr Hutchinson stands high in our esteem, and such Conduct may in the end be greatly Prejudicial to the Company, as well as irksome to him, We do expect and direct that the Lieutenant Governor do Behave to the Governor for the future in a becoming and Friendly manner as he Values our favour. London We are the 8 February 1758 Your Loving Friends Timothy Tullie John Payne John Dorrien Lau. Sulivan Charles Chambers P. Godfrey G. Stevens J. Raymond Henry Plant M. Impey Hen. Hadley Thos Phipps Maxim. Western Christo. Burrow John Raymond Geo. Dudley Cha. Gough James Creed Rob. Jones John Manship Henry Savage Margin Notes: James Sherridan late Gardener his dismission approved and may be sent to England James Townshend entertained Mason Chests of Treasure marked for the use of the Island SH 341 & 2 the Lieutenant Governor to behave well to the Governor	James Sherridan had applied to be reinstated in his employment, but, being satisfied from the account the Council gave that his dismissal was a right measure, and that his continuance upon the island could be of no service, the Court left the Council at liberty to send him to England whenever it thought fit. 8: The Court had entertained James Townshend, a mason who understood rough wall work, cutting of stone and working in a quarry, to serve the Company at St Helena at the rate of £6 10s 0d a month, to commence on his arrival in the ship Egmont, which was for salary and all other allowances whatsoever. As an encouragement, the Court had given him £5 0s 0d by way of gratuity to fit him out. 9: The two chests of treasure, which the Council was at liberty, under the circumstances mentioned in the 20th paragraph of the Court's last letter by the Prince Henry, to take out of this ship, were marked SH 341 and 2, being of the proper species for the island. If landed, the Council was to give the Court's servants on the west coast advice accordingly. 10: By several reports which had reached the Court, it had great reason to believe, supposing what had been alleged to be true, that the Lieutenant Governor took all opportunities of making the Governor uneasy. Since Mr Hutchinson stood high in the Court's esteem, and such conduct might in the end be greatly prejudicial to the Company, as well as irksome to him, the Court expected and directed that the Lieutenant Governor behave to the Governor for the future in a becoming and friendly manner, as he valued the Court's favour. The letter closed at London on 3 February 1758, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Timothy Tullie, John Dorrien, Charles Chambers, George Stevens, Henry Bland, Maxim Western, John Raymond, Charles Gough, John Payne, Laurence Sulivan, Peter Godfrey, Jones Raymond, Miles Impey, Thomas Phipps, Christopher Burrow, George Dudley, James Creed, Robert Jones, John Manship and Henry Savage. Interpretations The particular marking of the treasure chests, SH 341 and 342, as being of the proper species for the island reveals the precision with which specie was matched to local need. Different coins served different markets, and only certain species passed current or suited the island's accounts, so the Court identified by mark exactly which chests St Helena might open, ensuring that the money detained was of a kind the island could actually use rather than bullion destined for another trade. The Court's intervention in the friction between the Governor and his deputy exposes how personal discord among its senior servants threatened the good government of a small settlement. With authority shared between two men, a deputy who worked to unsettle his superior could paralyse the administration, so the Court, valuing Hutchinson and fearing the harm such conduct might do, stepped in to command civility, treating harmony between its officers as essential to the Company's interest as any material supply.
77	72	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Our last Letters went by the Prince Henry, Egmont, and his Majestys Ship Colchester, under dates of the 23 of December 1757 and the 8 February following, Since which, your several undermentioned Letters are come to hand viz, of the 1 of December 1757 by the Walpole on the 27 February 1758, 24 February 1758 by the Prince Henry the 21 of May, the 30 of March and 16 of April by Lieutenant Blomer the 17 August, Our expected Ships not being yet arrived, those are the only Letters We have yet received. 2 As this Ship the Earl of Holderness is at the time of writing this Letter near upon her Dispatch, we now give you some Directions and Informations, which are more immediately necessary, should our Shipping arrive before We close it, we shall make such Additions as time will admit of; and for whatever shall appear further necessary we must refer you to our intended Letter by the Delawar. 3 The War with France is still continued with great vigour, and we have the pleasure of informing you, that by the steady Conduct of our Government, and the Superior Force and Success of the British Navy, That of France is greatly reduced, and the remainder in a great measure confined to their Ports, their Commerce likewise at the lowest Ebb, the only Efforts of consequence the French make by Sea seem to be most intent upon are in the East Indies, where also we flatter ourselves from the early intelligence which all Our Settlements have had of the Naval and Land Forces, under the Command of Margin Notes: Letters sent Letters received some directions given &ca War vigorously continued France greatly reduced by sea The French seem to bend their greatest Force against the Settlements in the East Indies.	1: The Court's last letters went by the Prince Henry, the Egmont and His Majesty's ship Colchester, under dates of 23 December 1757 and 8 February following. Since then the Council's several letters had come to hand, being that of 1 December 1757 by the Walpole on 27 February 1758, that of 24 February 1758, those of 24 May, of 30 March and of 16 April by the Prince Henry, and that of 17 August by Lieutenant Blomer. The Court's expected ships not being yet arrived, these were the only letters it had yet received. 2: Since this ship, the Earl of Holderness, was at the time of writing this letter near upon her dispatch, the Court now gave the Council some directions and information which were more immediately necessary. Should its shipping arrive before it closed the letter, it would make such additions as time would admit. For whatever should appear further necessary, the Court referred the Council to its intended letter by the Delaware. 3: The war with France was still continued with great vigour. The Court had the pleasure of informing the Council that, by the steady conduct of its government, and the superior force and success of the British navy, the force of France was greatly reduced, and the remainder in a great measure confined to their ports. Their commerce was likewise at the lowest ebb, and the only efforts of consequence the French made by sea seemed to be most intent upon the East Indies, where also the Court flattered itself, from the early intelligence which all its settlements had had, of the naval and land forces under the command of Monsieur. Interpretations The Court's satisfaction at the confinement of the French navy to its ports and the collapse of French commerce reveals how far the naval war had turned in Britain's favour by 1758. Command of the sea was the foundation on which the Company's whole eastern trade rested, and the reduction of the enemy's fleet meant not only safer passages home but the strangling of France's ability to reinforce or supply its own settlements, the maritime struggle shaping the fate of the trade more than any action on land. The observation that France's only serious remaining effort by sea was directed at the East Indies shows the Company recognising that its own theatre had become the decisive one. With the enemy driven from the wider ocean, the contest narrowed to India, where French naval and land forces still threatened the Company's settlements, so the war that had begun as a general European conflict was concentrating precisely upon the region on which the Company's fortunes depended.
78	73	Monsr D'Aché and Lally and the great Loss as we have been informed those Forces have met with by Sickness, they will make no great Impression, We have lately received intelligence from Ilha Grande at the Brazils that in the Month of May last, Four large French Ships were at that place, being part of a Fleet of Eleven which sailed together from France, and that the said Four Ships were then waiting for the remaining Seven, in order to proceed in Company to the East Indies, whether they had any or what number of Land Forces on board we are not informed, nor whether any other French Ships sailed last Season for India. 4 We have made Applications to his Majestys Ministers for some Ships to proceed to the East Indies, to reinforce the Fleet now there, and we flatter ourselves from the favourable Reception we met with, Our Request will be complyed with, as far as may be consistent with the General Service of the Nation in the other parts of the World. 5 We have so often and pressingly recommend your being on your Guard, that we need only refer you for the same to our several Letters since the Commencement of the War, and we shall rest assured that there will be no Care wanting on your parts to defend our Island and the Companys Shipping in the most effectual manner against any Attempts of the Enemy 6 Whatever informations and directions may be further necessary for the Security of our Island & Shipping, will be communicated by the Secret Committee hereafter named, to our Governor and in particular as to the Convoy which is to proceed from hence to take Care of our next Seasons returning Shipping 7 We have taken into the Companys Service this Season Twenty one Ships and Stationed them in the following manner viz Ships Tons Commanders Duke of Dorset 499 Bernard Forrester Coast & Bay Earl of Holderness 499 Robert Brooke St Helena & Bencoolen Delawar 499 James Zwallet Margin Notes: Intelligence received from the Brazels &ca Application made for a reinforcement for the East Indies &ca The Island & Shipping to be taken the greatest care of against any Attempts of the Enemy Informations &ca to be communicated by the Secret Committee Ships taken up	The forces under Monsieur D'Aché and Lally, and the great loss the Court had been informed those forces met with by sickness, would make no great impression. The Court had lately received intelligence from Ilha Grande at the Brazils that, in the month of May last, four large French ships were at that place, being part of a fleet of 11 which sailed together from France, and that those four ships were then waiting for the remaining seven, in order to proceed in company to the East Indies. Whether they had any, or what number of, land forces on board, the Court was not informed, nor whether any other French ships sailed last season for India. 4: The Court had made applications to His Majesty's ministers for some ships to proceed to the East Indies, to reinforce the fleet now there. It flattered itself, from the favourable reception it met with, that its request would be complied with, as far as might be consistent with the general service of the nation in the other parts of the world. 5: The Court had so often and pressingly recommended the Council's being on its guard that it need only refer it to its several letters since the commencement of the war. It rested assured there would be nothing wanting on the Council's part to defend the island and the Company's shipping in the most effectual manner against any attempts of the enemy. 6: Whatever information and directions might be further necessary for the security of the island and shipping would be communicated by the Secret Committee hereafter named to the Governor, and in particular as to the convoy which was to proceed from the island to take care of the Court's next season's returning shipping. 7: The Court had taken into the Company's service this season 21 ships, and stationed them in the following manner: Duke of Dorset, 499 tons, Bernard Forrester, Coast and Bay The Earl of Holderness, of 499 tons, Robert Brooke, and the Delaware, of 499 tons, James Qwallet, were both bound for St Helena and Bencoolen. Interpretations The Court's tracking of a French fleet of 11 ships gathering at the Brazils, watched from the neutral Portuguese anchorage of Ilha Grande, reveals how the Company assembled a picture of enemy movements from intelligence collected across the whole span of the ocean. The South Atlantic ports on the route to India were natural points of observation, and word of French squadrons massing there gave the Company and the state advance warning of the reinforcements bound for the eastern war. The Company's direct application to the King's ministers for warships to reinforce the eastern fleet shows how completely its private interests had merged with national policy by 1758. A trading company petitioning the government for naval force, and weighing its request against the general service of the nation elsewhere, marks the point at which the defence of the Company's settlements had become a charge upon the Crown, the war in India fought with royal ships sought through the ordinary channels of state.
79	74	Ships Tons Commanders Consignment Essex 499 George Jackson Valentine 499 William Fernell Pocock 499 Thomas Debieke Fort St George and China Denham 499 William Tryon Suffolk 499 Richard Lewin Oxford 499 William Webber Junr Walpole 499 Francis Fowler Canton Hector 499 John Williams Edgecote 499 John Pearce Limpo Chesterfield 499 Edwin Carter Calcutta 499 George Willson Madeira New Ship 499 George Lindsay Coast and Bay Stormont 499 Henry Fletcher Harcourt 499 William Webber Clinton 499 John Nanfan Griffin 499 Thomas Dethick Bombay Godolphin 499 William Hutchinson Houghton 499 Charles Newton 8 Besides the beforementioned Ships on Freight, We shall send to India this Season the Ship Royal George; which We have lately built on the Companys Account, Burthen Four hundred Tons, carrying 80 Men, and 20 Guns. 9 We have it also in our Intentions to send to India the Prince Henry Packet, and the Syren, and Diligent Sloops, or some of them to such Places, and on such Services, as circumstances and the Situation of Affairs may render necessary, the latter of which is now under dispatch for Bombay. 10 By the beforegoing List you will observe that in order the more fully to supply you with Stores, and Necessarys, as well as to Margin Notes: Ships taken up Royal George sent to India Sloops likewise sent	The remaining ships taken up for the Company's service were as follows: Essex, 499 tons, George Jackson, Fort St George and China Valentine, 499 tons, William Fernell, Fort St George and China Pocock, 499 tons, Thomas Debuke, Fort St George and China Denham, 499 tons, William Tryon, Fort St George and China Suffolk, 499 tons, Richard Lewin, Fort St George and China Oxford, 499 tons, William Webber junior, Fort St George and China Walpole, 499 tons, Francis Fowler, Canton Hector, 499 tons, John Williams, Canton Edgcote, 499 tons, John Pearce, Limpo Chesterfield, 499 tons, Edwin Carter, Limpo Calcutta, 499 tons, George Willson, Madeira New Ship, 499 tons, George Lindsay, Coast and Bay Stormont, 499 tons, Henry Fletcher, Coast and Bay Harcourt, 499 tons, William Webber, Bombay Clinton, 499 tons, John Nanfan, Bombay Griffin, 499 tons, Thomas Dethick, Bombay Godolphin, 499 tons, William Hutchinson, Bombay Houghton, 499 tons, Charles Newton, Bombay 8: Besides the ships mentioned above on freight, the Court would send to India this season the ship Royal George, which it had lately built on the Company's account, of 400 tons burthen, carrying 80 men and 20 guns. 9: The Court also intended to send to India the Prince Henry packet, and the Syren and Diligent sloops, or some of them, to such places, and on such services, as circumstances and the situation of affairs might render necessary. The latter of these was now under dispatch for Bombay. 10: By the foregoing list, the Council would observe that, in order the more fully to supply it with stores and necessaries, as well as to divide the risk. Interpretations The dispatch of the newly built Royal George, a second armed ship on the Company's own account after the Admiral Watson, confirms the Company's turn toward owning fighting vessels of its own rather than relying wholly on chartered merchantmen. The pressures of the war made ships of force under direct Company control increasingly necessary, and the building of a small armed Indiaman named for the King reflects how the trading company had been drawn into maintaining what amounted to a private navy alongside the Crown's. The reservation of the packet and sloops for whatever services circumstances might require reveals the premium the war placed on fast, flexible vessels held ready for contingency. Unlike the great Indiamen locked to their trading stations, these small craft could be sent wherever an emergency of intelligence or dispatch arose, so the Company kept them uncommitted, their employment left to be settled by the unfolding situation rather than fixed in advance like the freighted ships.
80	75	divide the Risk, Two Ships are destined for the Island St Helena viz the Earl of Holderness and the Delawar; by the Former you will receive this Letter, together with the several particulars Consigned to you Specified in the accompanying Invoice and Bill of Lading; the Delawar will be dispatched from hence about the middle of December, with the Remainder of the Stores and Necessarys, Both these Ships are as soon as they have delivered their Cargoes consigned to St Helena to proceed to the West Coast of Sumatra. 11 We have thought proper to order the Limpo Ships this Season to proceed directly to that Port, without calling at St Helena, which we particularly take notice of that you may not be in expectation of any other Ships this Season, than the Earl of Holderness and Delawar. 12 We have made the necessary Dispositions for giving an Early Dispatch to all our Ships this Season, according to their several Destinations, and unless unforeseen Impediments arise, We have good reason to hope our intentions will meet with Success. 13 You are to give the utmost assistance for unloading the Earl of Holderness, that She may prosecute her Voyage to the West Coast without Loss of Time, and you are to give the Commander Orders accordingly to make the best of his way to Fort Marlborough, which we recommend it to you to do within the Charterparty time. 14 The like must be done with respect to the Delawar, We give you this previous notice, that as soon as She appears, you may be in all respects ready to unload, and dispatch her accordingly. 15 The arrival and departure of the Companys Shipping will as usual be sent you in Lists Certifyed by our Secretary, to which therefore you are referred. 16 The Gentlemen whom we have appointed to be our Committee of Secrecy this Season are Laurence Sulivan Esqr the present Chairman of the Court of Directors Roger Drake Esqr Deputy Christopher Burrow Margin Notes: Two Ships sent to St Helena viz Limpo Ships not to touch at St Helena Ships early dispatched &c The Holderness to be dispatched as soon as possible &c the Delawar List of Ships to be sent by the Secretary Secret Committee	The Court had, in order the more fully to supply the Council and to divide the risk, destined two ships for the island, the Earl of Holderness and the Delaware. By the former the Council would receive this letter, together with the several particulars consigned to it, specified in the accompanying invoice and bill of lading. The Delaware would be dispatched from England about the middle of December, with the remainder of the stores and necessaries. Both these ships were, as soon as they had delivered their cargoes consigned to St Helena, to proceed to the west coast of Sumatra. 11: The Court had thought proper to order the Limpo ships this season to proceed directly to that port, without calling at St Helena. It particularly took notice of this, so that the Council might not be in expectation of any other ships this season than the Earl of Holderness and Delaware. 12: The Court had made the necessary dispositions for giving an early dispatch to all its ships this season, according to their several destinations. Unless unforeseen impediments arose, it had good reason to hope its intentions would meet with success. 13: The Council was to give the utmost assistance for unloading the Earl of Holderness, so that she might prosecute her voyage to the west coast without loss of time. It was to give the commander orders accordingly to make the best of his way to Fort Marlborough, which the Court recommended it to do within the charter-party time. 14: The like must be done with respect to the Delaware. The Court gave the Council this previous notice, so that, as soon as she appeared, it might be in all respects ready to unload and dispatch her accordingly. 15: The arrival and departure of the Company's shipping would, as usual, be sent to the Council in lists certified by its secretary, to which it was therefore referred. 16: The gentlemen whom the Court had appointed to be its Committee of Secrecy this season were Laurence Sulivan Esquire, the present chairman of the Court of Directors, Roger Drake Esquire, deputy, Christopher Burrow and Nathaniel. Interpretations The Court's decision to route the Limpo ships directly to their port without calling at St Helena, and its care to warn the Council so that it expected no other vessels, reveals how tightly the island's provisioning was tied to the precise disposition of the season's shipping. Every ship that passed was a potential source of stores, news and carriage, so a change that reduced the island's expected traffic had to be announced in advance, lest the Council count on supplies or letters from ships that would never appear. The continued concentration of authority in the Committee of Secrecy, headed by the chairman and deputy chairman of the Directors themselves, shows the wartime governance of the Company's most sensitive affairs settling at the very top of its hierarchy. The routing of shipping, the arrangement of convoys and the security of the settlements had become matters handled by the Company's principal officers in confidence, the ordinary machinery of the full Court reserved for the open business of the general letters.
81	76	Nathaniel Newnham and Henry Plant Esqrs Three of whom are a Quorum, The instructions and directions the said Committee may judge proper to send, are to be strictly observed and complyed with, by our Governor and by all and every other Person or Persons, to whom they shall or may be directed. 17 In supplying you with Stores and Necessarys this Season, for want of your Indents, we have been under the necessity of making use in a great measure of Those received from you the former Season, which were pretty fully complyed with, by the Ships Prince Henry and Egmont, and We propose to do the same by the Ships Earl of Holderness, and Delawar, the principal Articles will consist of about Ninety Tons of Beef and Pork, Four hundred Barrels or Seventy Tons of Flour, Seventy five Barrels of Gunpowder, and Ten Chaldron of Coals, the various other Necessaries and Stores will as before observed be pretty near the same which were sent last year both in Quantities, and Qualities, if upon Perusal of your Indents we shall make any Alteration or Additions, they will be taken notice of in the following part of this Letter or That we shall send you by the Delawar, we refer you to this Ships Invoice enclosed for the particulars of her Cargo, upon comparing of which, with what we have advised you as above, you may form a Judgement of what you may further expect by the Delawar. 18 The Beef and Pork, by this Ship amounts to about Twenty Eight Tons and was as usual killed in England, the fifty eight Tons intended to be sent on the Delawar, will be received from Ireland, and although we are very well assured it will be near, if altogether as good as the English, yet we would have it expended first; and you must give us a very particular Account how it proves and as Used; that we may know in what manner it will be best to make a Provision for the following Season 19 As we apprehend the Seventy five Barrels of Gunpowder you will received by the Holderness and Delawar, to be much more than will Margin Notes: obliged to send the use of the last years Indents for want of the present years Stores &ca sent, a particular Account to be given of the Irish Provision	The Committee of Secrecy further comprised Nathaniel Newnham and Henry Bland Esquires, any three of whom were a quorum. The instructions and directions that Committee might judge proper to send were to be strictly observed and complied with by the Governor, and by all and every other person or persons to whom they should or might be directed. 17: In supplying the Council with stores and necessaries this season, for want of its indents, the Court had been under the necessity of making use, in a great measure, of those received from it the former season, which were pretty fully complied with by the ships Prince Henry and Egmont. The Court proposed to do the same by the ships Earl of Holderness and Delaware. The principal articles would consist of about 90 tons of beef and pork, 400 barrels or 70 tons of flour, 75 barrels of gunpowder, and 10 chaldrons of coal. The various other necessaries and stores would, as before observed, be pretty near the same as were sent last year, both in quantities and qualities. If, upon perusal of the Council's indents, the Court should make any alteration or additions, they would be taken notice of in the following part of this letter, or the Court would send them by the Delaware. It referred the Council to this ship's invoice, enclosed, for the particulars of her cargo, upon comparing of which with what it had advised as above, the Council might form a judgment of what it might further expect by the Delaware. 18: The beef and pork, by this ship, amounted to about 28 tons, and was, as usual, killed in England. The 58 tons intended to be sent on the Delaware would be received from Ireland. Although the Court was very well assured it would be near, if altogether as good as the English, yet it would have it expended first. The Council was to give a very particular account how it proved, and how it lasted, so that the Court might know in what manner it would be best to make a provision for the following season. 19: Since the Court apprehended the 75 barrels of gunpowder the Council would receive by the Holderness and Delaware to be much more than would be needed. Interpretations The Court's necessity of supplying the island against the previous year's indents, the current ones not having arrived, exposes the lag that distance imposed on the whole system of provisioning. A year's delay in correspondence meant the Court often had to guess at the island's needs from stale requests, so it fell back on repeating the last known order, a rough expedient that kept the supplies flowing but risked sending either too much or too little of what the island actually wanted. The instruction to expend the Irish beef before the English, and to report precisely how it kept, reveals the careful empiricism the Company brought to the problem of victualling across long voyages and hot latitudes. Salt provisions could spoil, and the relative keeping quality of meat from different sources was a practical question of real importance, so the Court turned the island into a testing ground, its report on how the Irish beef lasted to guide the sourcing of future supplies.
82	77	be necessary for the Service of the Island, considering what you have on hand, if you find upon a careful examination, That to be the Case, you must forward what you can spare to Fort Marlborough, where it may be very acceptable. 20 The Governor having intimated the necessity of having some Claret to treat the Captains of his Majestys Ships with, either those appointed to Convoy home the Companys Ships, or such as may call at the Island, in their return from India, We send two Chests by this Ship, and shall send two more by the Delawar, and shall depend upon its being used frugally although Genteely 21 You will observe, by the Earl of Holderness's Invoice, We have consigned to you Two Chests of Treasure, this we apprehend you will certainly have occasion for, and for that reason have particularly consigned them, If you should want any more, you may upon the arrival of the Delawar detain any Quantity out of the Twenty Chests which will be consigned to the Deputy Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough, by that Ship, not exceeding in the whole two Chests, if you are under the necessity of making use of this liberty, you are to give the Commander a Receipt for the same, and send and exact account of what you so detain to our said Deputy Governor & Council. 22 We now send you about Twenty Recruits by the Earl of Holderness, which in addition to Those We sent last Year, will we apprehend sufficiently strengthen your Garrison; however we shall send you a further Reinforcement by the Delawar, if upon the Receipt of your Letters we find you are in want of it 23 The Governor having taken notice that Charles Gising a Corporal has behaved very well in the Garrison, and is a fit Person to have a Commission, we suppose in Consequence of the Liberty given you last, and the preceeding Seasons, he has been accordingly preferred, if not you may give him a Lieutenants Commission whenever you think fit. 24 We have entertained Solomon St Maurice, and send him by the Earl of Holderness, to serve as a Cadet in our Garrison of St Helena, at Serjeants Pay, to commence from his arrival, and if he behaves well, he is to Margin Notes: Gun Powder to be forwed to Fort Marlborough if it can be spared Claret sent Two Chests of Treasure sent Twenty Recruits sent Supposed that Charles Gising has been appointed a Lieutenant Solon St Maurice entertained as a Cadet	Since the gunpowder was more than would be necessary for the service of the island, considering what the Council had on hand, if it found upon a careful examination that to be the case, it was to forward what it could spare to Fort Marlborough, where it might be very acceptable. 20: The Governor having intimated the necessity of having some claret to treat the captains of His Majesty's ships with, either those appointed to convoy home the Company's ships, or such as might call at the island on their return from India, the Court sent two chests by this ship, and would send two more by the Delaware. It would depend upon their being used frugally, although genteelly. 21: The Council would observe, by the Earl of Holderness's invoice, that the Court had consigned to it two chests of treasure. This it apprehended the Council would certainly have occasion for, and for that reason had particularly consigned them. If it should want any more, it might, upon the arrival of the Delaware, detain any quantity out of the 20 chests which would be consigned to the Deputy Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough by that ship, not exceeding in the whole two chests. If it was under the necessity of making use of this liberty, it was to give the commander a receipt for the same, and send an exact account of what it so detained to the Deputy Governor and Council. 22: The Court now sent about 20 recruits by the Earl of Holderness, which, in addition to those it sent last year, would, it apprehended, sufficiently strengthen the garrison. However, it would send a further reinforcement by the Delaware, if, upon receipt of the Council's letters, it found the Council in want of it. 23: The Governor having taken notice that Charles Gising, a corporal, had behaved very well in the garrison, and was a fit person to have a commission, the Court supposed, in consequence of the liberty given the previous and preceding seasons, he had been accordingly preferred. If not, the Council might give him a lieutenant's commission whenever it thought fit. 24: The Court had entertained Solomon St Maurice, to serve as a cadet in the garrison of St Helena, and sent him by the Earl of Holderness at a sergeant's pay, to commence from his arrival. If he behaved well, he was to be advanced. Interpretations The sending of claret expressly for the Governor to entertain the captains of the King's ships, with the injunction that it be used frugally although genteelly, reveals how hospitality to the navy had become a recognised charge upon the Company. Cultivating the officers who convoyed its trade and called at the island was worth the cost of a few chests of wine, yet the Company watched even this expense, wanting the courtesy maintained without extravagance, the balance between generosity and economy struck to the very cask. The advancement of Charles Gising from corporal and the entry of Solomon St Maurice as a cadet at sergeant's pay show the two routes by which the island's officer corps was filled and renewed. A deserving man already serving could rise through merit, while a new cadet was placed at a rank above the common soldier to be tried for a commission, so the garrison drew its future officers both from proven internal promotion and from fresh entrants set on a path to advancement.
83	78	be promoted to a second Lieutinants Commission on the first Vacancy, which shall happen after his arrival, and after Charles Gising has been advanced, who is to have the preferrence as mentioned in the preceding Paragraph. 25 It is of great Consequence, and at this Time in particular that we should have the earliest information of all Passengers who come upon our returning Ships from India; It is true you are very punctual in entering their Names upon your Consultation Books, but as you have many opportunitys of sending Letters when those Books cannot accompany them, which has been lately the Case, and we in consequence entirely ignorant as to the Passengers on board the Marlbro, altho by your Letter of the 16 of April it appears She arrived at St Helena so long ago as the 10 of that Month; It must be a Rule therefore with you in future, to send us in every Letter the Names of all Passengers from India not only in our own Ships, but also such as take passage on any Foreign Ships, which may happen to touch at St Helena, and thereby come to your knowledge; We mean all such as have been employed by the Company, lived under their Protection, or had any Connections with them 26 You are to govern yourselves in returning to us a Certificate agreeable to the enclosed Form, for the Flour, landed from the Holderness, as well Private Trade, as what we send you, according to the Directions given last Year, in respect to that Shipped on board the Prince Henry and Egmont. 27 Since writing the beforegoing we received on the second instant the most agreeable News of the arrival of the following Ships at Corke, on the 25 of last Month, under Convoy of his Majestys Ship Colchester after a tedious Passage from St Helena viz the Royal Duke, Warwick, Sandwich, Triton, Prss Augusta, Elizabeth and Onslow. Margin Notes: Names of the Passengers to be sent by every opportunity &ca Certificate of St Iron to be sent Ships arrived at Cork.	Solomon St Maurice was to be promoted to a second lieutenant's commission on the first vacancy that should happen after his arrival, and after Charles Gising had been advanced, who was to have the preference as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. 25: It was of great consequence, and at this time in particular, that the Court should have the earliest information of all passengers who came upon its returning ships from India. It was true the Council was very punctual in entering their names upon its consultation books, but since it had many opportunities of sending letters when those books could not accompany them, which had lately been the case, the Court was in consequence entirely ignorant as to the passengers on board the Marlborough, although by the Council's letter of 16 April it appeared she arrived at St Helena so long ago as the 10th of that month. It must be a rule, therefore, with the Council in future to send the Court, in every letter, the names of all passengers from India, not only in its own ships, but also such as took passage on any foreign ships which might happen to touch at St Helena, and thereby come to its knowledge. The Court meant all such as had been employed by the Company, lived under its protection, or had any connections with it. 26: The Council was to govern itself in returning a certificate, in keeping with the enclosed form, for the flour landed from the Holderness, as well as private trade, as what the Court sent it, according to the directions given last year, in respect to that shipped on board the Prince Henry and Egmont. 27: Since writing the foregoing, the Court received on the 2nd instant the most agreeable news of the arrival of the following ships at the Cape, on the 25th of last month, under convoy of His Majesty's ship the Colchester, after a tedious passage from St Helena: the Royal Duke, Warwick, Sandwich, Triton, Princess Augusta, Elizabeth and Onslow. Interpretations The Court's insistence on receiving the names of all passengers, including those on foreign ships, reveals how closely it sought to track the movement of everyone connected with the Company in a time of war. A person employed by, protected by or linked to the Company was a matter of concern wherever he travelled, and the practice of sending letters ahead of the consultation books had left the Court ignorant of who was aboard its own ships, a gap in surveillance it moved to close by requiring passenger names in every letter. The certificate required for the flour, tying it to the private trade and the directions of the previous year, shows the accountability the Company owed for the statutory exemption that let it export grain at all. Since flour left England only by special leave against the general prohibition, its landing had to be formally certified, the paperwork proving to the authorities at home that the exempted grain reached its authorised destination rather than being diverted to unlicensed sale.
84	79	28 Those Ships lost Company of the Marlborough; Norfolk, Falmouth and Caernarvon on the 8 of October in a hard Gale of Wind at Night, but we have the pleasure of informing you, that the two first got safe into Kinsale Harbour on the same day, the Colchester and the Ships with her reached Corke. 29 The Falmouth has not been heard of since her beforementioned Seperation. 30 The Caernarvon unluckily fell in with the French Squadron returning from Quebec, and was taken by a Sixty four Gun Ship belonging thereto, but we have the great Satisfaction of acquainting you that She was retaken by the Somerset, one of Admiral Boscawen's Squadron, which was also on its return from Louisbourgh and is now safe at Anchor in Milford Haven, We hope the Company will be no otherways Sufferers by this Accident, than allowing the Customary Salvage. 31 Captain O'Bryen acquainting us, the St Helena Packet was too large to send up by his Lieutenant, and having received your Consultation Book only, with a Few Papers from the Royal Duke, not one of your Letters by any of the beforementioned Ships are come to hand 32 The not receiving your Packets as beforementioned is so great a Disappointment, that to prevent such another in future, ye must give Directions that upon the arrival of our Shipping in any Ports of Great Britain or Ireland, the Commanders are carefully to attend to, and comply with their Instructions from the Court of Directors on this Head, and you must order them in particular, to forward the St Helena Packets 33 On the 3 instant we received Information by a Ship arrived at Bristol, that the Lord Anson, York, and Prince Edward, were met on the 25 of October about twenty six Leagues distance from Cape Clear in Ireland at that time all well. London 8 Novr 1758 We are Your Loving Friends Lau. Sulivan R. Drake Margin Notes: Ships lost Company &ca Caernarvon taken & retaken Packet too large to be sent by the Lieut Not receiving the Packets a great disappointment Information of three of the Companys Ships &ca	28: Those ships lost company of the Marlborough, Norfolk, Falmouth and Caernarvon on the 8th of October in a hard gale of wind at night. The Court had the pleasure, however, of informing the Council that the two first got safe into Kinsale harbour on the same day, and the Colchester and the ships with her reached Cork. 29: The Falmouth had not been heard of since her separation mentioned above. 30: The Caernarvon unluckily fell in with the French squadron returning from Quebec, and was taken by a 64-gun ship belonging thereto. The Court had the great satisfaction, however, of acquainting the Council that she was retaken by the Somerset, one of Admiral Boscawen's squadron, which was also on its return from Louisbourg, and was now safe at anchor in Milford Haven. The Court hoped the Company would be no otherwise a sufferer by this accident than allowing the customary salvage. 31: Captain O'Brien acquainting the Court that the St Helena packet was too large to send up by his lieutenant, and having received the Council's consultation book only, with a few papers from the Royal Duke, not one of the Council's letters by any of the ships mentioned above had come to hand. 32: The Court's not receiving the Council's packets, as before observed, was so great a disappointment that, to prevent such another in future, it had given directions that, upon the arrival of its shipping in any ports of Great Britain or Ireland, the commanders were carefully to attend to, and comply with, their instructions from the Court of Directors on this head. The Council was to order them in particular to forward the St Helena packets. 33: On the 3rd instant the Court received information, by a ship arrived at Bristol, that the Lord Anson, York and Prince Edward were met on the 25th of October about 26 leagues distance from Cape Clear in Ireland, at that time all well. The letter closed at London on 8 November 1758, subscribed by the Court as the Council's loving friends, and signed by Laurence Sulivan, Roger Drake. Interpretations The capture and swift recapture of the Caernarvon by a warship of Boscawen's squadron returning from Louisbourg reveals how the fortunes of the Company's ships were now bound up with the wider movements of the war across the Atlantic. A homeward Indiaman fell prey to a French squadron coming from Quebec and was rescued by a British one coming from the siege of Louisbourg, so the fate of a single trading vessel turned on the great campaigns being fought thousands of miles from her own route, the salvage the only cost of a loss narrowly averted. The repeated failure of the Council's letters to reach London, a packet too large to be sent up and the rest never delivered, exposes how fragile the Company's lines of communication remained even late in the war. The Court governed by correspondence, yet found itself entirely without the island's letters for a whole arrival, so it moved to bind its commanders more strictly to forwarding the packets, the reliable carriage of paper proving as hard to secure as the safe passage of the ships that bore it.
85	80	R. Drake Thomas Rous James Creed Hen. Savage Fredk Pigou John Dorrien Cha. Cutts Wm Crabb Boulton Thomas Phipps Henry Plant Henry Hadley John Manship Timothy Tullie George Dudley J. Rooke G. Stevens John Harrison John Raymond J. Browne William Barwell	The letter was further signed by Roger Drake, Thomas Rous, James Creed, Henry Savage, Frederick Pigou, John Dorrien, Charles Cutts, William Crabb Boulton, Thomas Phipps, Henry Bland, Henry Hadley, John Manship, Timothy Tullie, George Dudley, George Rooke, George Stevens, John Harrison, John Raymond, John Browne and William Barwell.
86	81	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Since the Date of our Letter by the Earl of Holderness, your Letters of the 16 July and 19 of August are come to hand, on which We shall take this opportunity, of making such Remarks as may appear necessary, as well as to communicate some further Informations and Directions 2 We gave you a General Account by way of Supplement to our last Letter of the arrival of some, and hearing of others of our returning Ships, We are now more particularly to inform you that his Majestys Ship the Colchester, which left your Island on the 16 July with the following Ships under his Convoy Viz The Marlborough, Warwicke, Elizabeth, Norfolk Princess Augusta, Falmouth, Caernarvon, Royal Duke, Onslow Sandwich and Triton, after a very tedious passage, met with a hard Gale of Wind on the 8 of October, which was the occasion of a Seperation of some of them, however all except the Caernarvon & Falmouth, happily got safe to Corke and Kinsale in Ireland, on the 25 of the same Month. 3 The Caernarvon unluckily fell in with a French Squadron returning from Quebec, and was taken; but We have the pleasure of informing you, that She was retaken by the Somerset one of Admiral Boscawens Squadron which was also on its return from Louisbourgh, and was carried safely to Milford Haven. 4 The Falmouth in a Sickly distressed condition, arrived at Greenock near Glascow in Scotland, on the 6 of November. 5 Of the Ships Prince Edward, Lord Anson, York, which sailed from St Helena on the 20 August, the two first got safe to Limerick in the River Shannon in Ireland on the 2 of November; but the York was unfortunately Margin Notes: Letters received Account of the Ships arrival &ca Caernarvon Taken Falmouth Sickly York Lost	1: Since the date of the Court's letter by the Earl of Holderness, the Council's letters of 16 July and 19 August had come to hand. The Court would take this opportunity of making such remarks as might appear necessary, as well as to communicate some further information and directions. 2: The Court had given the Council a general account, by way of supplement to its last letter, of the arrival of some, and hearing of others, of its returning ships. It was now more particularly to inform the Council that His Majesty's ship the Colchester, which left the island on the 16th July with the following ships under her convoy, being the Marlborough, Warwick, Elizabeth, Norfolk, Princess Augusta, Falmouth, Caernarvon, Royal Duke, Onslow, Sandwich and Triton, after a very tedious passage, met with a hard gale of wind on the 8th of October, which was the occasion of a separation of some of them. However, all except the Caernarvon and Falmouth happily got safe to Cork and Kinsale in Ireland on the 25th of the same month. 3: The Caernarvon unluckily fell in with a French squadron returning from Quebec, and was taken. The Court had the pleasure, however, of informing the Council that she was retaken by the Somerset, one of Admiral Boscawen's squadron, which was also on its return from Louisbourg, and was carried safely to Milford Haven. 4: The Falmouth, in a sickly, distressed condition, arrived at Greenock near Glasgow in Scotland on the 6th of November. 5: Of the ships Prince Edward, Lord Anson and York, which sailed from St Helena on the 20th August, the two first got safe to Limerick, in the river Shannon in Ireland, on the 2nd of November. The York was unfortunately stranded. Interpretations The scattering of a convoy of 11 ships by a single October gale, and the varied fates that followed, some safe in Ireland, one taken and retaken, one limping into Scotland sickly and one stranded, reveals how precarious the homeward passage remained despite the protection of naval escort. Convoy guarded against the enemy but not against the weather, and a hard gale could undo in a night the order the warship imposed, so the ships that had sailed together arrived, if at all, dispersed across the western coasts by hundreds of miles. The arrival of the Falmouth in a sickly and distressed condition points to the toll that a long and tedious passage took upon the men aboard as much as the ships. Scurvy and fever bred on a slow voyage, and a vessel might reach port safe in her hull yet broken in her crew, so the Company's losses were counted not only in ships taken or wrecked but in the health of the seamen worn down by the very length of the passage the war and weather imposed.
87	82	stranded and wrecked near the Mouth of that River, the Crew were all saved, except a few Bales of Twist Goods, and some other Goods of little value, is entirely lost 6 It has been extremly unfortunate to the Company that the arrival of their Ships at the several beforementioned places should be so very late in the Season, and that this Circumstance should still be rendered more disagreeable, by their long detention their for Convoy, and other incidents, as the times of their arrival in England, must from their respective situations be different. We refer you therefore to the accompanying Lists for an Information in this particular. 7 His Majesty has been most graciously pleased to order the following named Ships to proceed to the East Indies to reinforce the Squadron there, and it is proposed that they should leave England about the middle of February, when our Coast and Bay Ships will proceed with them viz Ships Guns Lenox 74 Duke of Acquitan 64 York 60 Falmouth 50 8 It has pleased his Majesty also to assist the Company with a Battalion of Land Forces, consisting of about one thousand Men, including Officers, to be employed in Bengal, about two hundred of them will take passage on the Men of War, and the Rest are proceed on our own Ships 9 The better to accommodate so considerable a Body of Men, as also to find a passage for the Recruits for our own Forces We do in addition to the Ships mentioned in our last Letter, employ the Companys own Vessel the Prince Henry Packet, and we shall be under the necessity likewise of taking up a Ship to proceed to India and be disposed of there, on a Plan similar to those whereon the Hardwick, and Doddington were entertaind in the Years 1754 and 1755. Margin Notes: Very unfortunate to the Company that their Ships arrived so late &ca His Majestys Ships sent to the East Indies Land Forces sent to India Prince Henry Packet & another Ship taken up &ca	The York was stranded and wrecked near the mouth of that river. The crew were all saved, except that two bales of Surat goods, and some other goods of little value, were entirely lost. 6: It had been extremely unfortunate to the Company that the arrival of its ships at the several places mentioned above should be so very late in the season, and that this circumstance should still be rendered more disagreeable by their long detention there for convoy, and other incidents. The times of their arrival in England must, from their respective situations, be different. The Court therefore referred the Council to the accompanying list for information in this particular. 7: His Majesty had been most graciously pleased to order the following named ships to proceed to the East Indies to reinforce the squadron there. It was proposed that they should leave England about the middle of February, when the Court's Coast and Bay ships would proceed with them: Lenox, 74 guns Duke of Aquitaine, 64 guns York, 60 guns Falmouth, 50 guns 8: It had pleased His Majesty also to assist the Company with a battalion of land forces, consisting of about 1,000 men, including officers, to be employed in Bengal. About 200 of them would take passage on the men of war, and the rest were to proceed on the Court's own ships. 9: The better to accommodate so considerable a body of men, as also to find a passage for the recruits for the Court's own forces, the Court would, in addition to the ships mentioned in its last letter, employ the Company's own vessel the Prince Henry packet. It would be under the necessity likewise of taking up a ship to proceed to India and be disposed of there, on a plan similar to those whereon the Hardwicke and Doddington were entertained in the years 1754 and 1755. Interpretations The dispatch of a squadron of the line, headed by a 74-gun ship, together with a fresh battalion of land forces for Bengal, marks the full commitment of the Crown's regular power to the eastern war by 1759. Where the Company had once defended its settlements with its own modest forces, the King now sent ships and soldiers on a scale suited to a major theatre, the reinforcement of the Indian squadron and the garrisoning of Bengal become objects of national strategy carried on the Company's own ships alongside the navy's. The taking up of an extra ship to be sold in India once she had carried her troops, on the model of the Hardwicke and Doddington years before, shows the Company adapting a settled expedient to the swollen demands of moving men east. A vessel chartered for a single outward run and then disposed of locally spared the cost of a return voyage in ballast, so the Company reached back to a proven arrangement to lift the surge of soldiers the war now required it to transport.
88	83	10 There are many Difficultys occur to prevent our Ships coming to their Moorings in the Thames from Ireland, Scotland or where ever else they go to after they leave St Helena; and as in consequence of our orders as they now stand the Book Packets are to be kept on board until they get to their aforesaid Moorings, by which means we are deprived of making use in time of many material Books necessary to be inspected before the dispatch of our Shipping for India which is the Case this year, very particularly, to remedy therefore this great inconvenience in future; you must so long as the War continues, signify to every Commander before he leaves the Island, that he sends to us the Book Packets as well as all the other Packets he is entrusted with from our Servants in India; and by you from the first Port he arrives at whether in England, Scotland, or Ireland, with the Care and precautions mentioned in our instructions to them 11 In order to prevent a needless expence of Powder, on board the Ships in the Companys Service; We have made some new regulations, by which the Commanders are allowed to make no other Salutes with Guns, than those therein mentioned, upon all other occasions, they are to salute with Cheers according to their own discretion, and the present Rules of the Navy, We now transmit you for your information; a Printed Copy of the said Regulations 12 You were acquainted by our last Letter, that Eleven Ships sailed from France for the East Indies, and that part of them had called at the Brazils in May last, We have since been informed by Letter dated Rio Janeiro the 30 June following, that the said Fleet consisted of twelve Ships viz three Men of War from Sixty to Seventy Guns each, Seven Companys Ships laden with Goods for their Islands, and one for China; carrying from Eighteen to Thirty Guns each, also two others their Names unknown; Supposd also to belong to the Company, the whole under the Command of Mr Delaguile Chef D'Escadre the following ten Ships Margin Notes: the Commanders to have orders to send all Packets from the first Port they arrive at &ca New regulations made with regard to Salutes Eleven French Ships sailed for the East Indies	10: Many difficulties occurred to prevent the Court's ships coming to their moorings in the Thames from Ireland, Scotland or wherever else they went to after they left St Helena. In consequence, as its orders then stood, the book packets were to be kept on board until they got to those moorings, by which means the Court was deprived of making use, in time, of many material books necessary to be inspected before the dispatch of its shipping for India, which was the case this year very particularly. To remedy this great inconvenience in future, the Council was, so long as the war continued, to signify to every commander before he left the island that he was to send the Court the book packets, as well as all the other packets he was entrusted with from the Court's servants in India, and by the Council, from the first port he arrived at, whether in England, Scotland or Ireland, with the care and precautions mentioned in the Court's instructions to them. 11: In order to prevent a needless expense of powder aboard the ships in the Company's service, the Court had made some new regulations, by which the commanders were allowed to make no other salutes with guns than those therein mentioned. Upon all other occasions, they were to salute with cheers, according to their own discretion and the present rules of the navy. The Court now transmitted, for the Council's information, a printed copy of those regulations. 12: The Council had been acquainted by the Court's last letter that 11 ships sailed from France for the East Indies, and that part of them had called at the Brazils in May last. The Court had since been informed, by a letter dated Rio de Janeiro 30th June following, that the fleet consisted of 12 ships, being three men of war from 60 to 70 guns each, seven Company's ships laden with goods for their islands, and one for China, carrying from 18 to 30 guns each, also two others, their names unknown, supposed also to belong to the Company, the whole under the command of Monsieur Delaguille, Chef d'Escadre. The following 10 ships. Interpretations The order that book packets be forwarded from the first port of arrival rather than carried on to the Thames reveals how the dispersal of the convoys by weather had disrupted the very machinery of the Company's government. The account books from India had to be inspected before the next fleet could be dispatched, yet ships scattered to Irish and Scottish ports kept those books aboard for weeks, so the Court changed its standing rule to have the records sent overland at once, the timely arrival of paper made a casualty of the wartime sailing that landed ships wherever the gale drove them. The substitution of cheers for gun salutes on all but the prescribed occasions shows the Company economising even on ceremony under the pressure of the powder shortage. Saluting with guns consumed powder that the war made scarce and precious, so the Company followed the navy's own practice of manning the yards and cheering instead, preserving the courtesies of the sea while sparing the very commodity on which the defence of its ships and settlements depended.
89	84	called at Rio Janeiro, and Isla Grande in a sickly condition viz Men of War Companys Ships Le Mentor Le Comte de Argenson L'Actif Le Bourbon Le Lustre Neptune L'Elephant La Fortune La Balaine La Fidelle the three last named Companys Ships were sailed before the date of the said Letter; but the Men of War and the other four were then there 13 We are not informed whether the said Ships had any Land Forces on board, and from the silence of the beforementioned Letter in this particular we are induced to hope they had not any considerable Number at least, not enough to give any uneasy apprehensions if our Settlements in India have been so happy with the assistance of his Majestys Forces to make a good stand against those under the Command of Mr Lally. 14 We are ignorant of what Ships, and Force, the French have sent, or design to send for, India this Season; but We flatter ourselves from the present low Condition of that Nation; that neither can be considerable, however you must be constantly on your Guard, that you may be ready in all events, to defend the Island, if they should send any of their Force that way 15 It gives us pleasure to observe, that you have been able to supply all the late homeward bound Shipping with good refreshment, and as this is the principal use of the Island, we are persuaded you are so fully sensible thereof, that we need only remind you of making the proper use of good Seasons, and to take the utmost Care of your Live Stock, that it may be properly proportioned to answer the demands of our homeward bound Shipping, from one Season to another. Margin Notes: Not informed whether they had any Land Forces on board Ignorant of what Force the French have sent to India &ca pleased to hear of all the Ships being supplied with fresh Provisions &ca	These 10 ships called at Rio de Janeiro and Ilha Grande in a sickly condition: Men of war: Le Mentor L'Actif Le Lustre Company's ships: Le Comte de Argenson Le Bourbon Neptune L'Elephant La Fortune La Balaine La Fidelle The three last-named Company's ships were sailed before the date of that letter, but the men of war and the other four were then there. 13: The Court was not informed whether those ships had any land forces on board. From the silence of the letter mentioned above in this particular, it was induced to hope they had not any considerable number, at least not enough to give any uneasy apprehensions, if the Court's settlements in India had been so happy, with the assistance of His Majesty's forces, as to make a good stand against those under the command of Monsieur Lally. 14: The Court was ignorant of what ships and force the French had sent, or designed to send, for India this season. It flattered itself, however, from the present low condition of that nation, that neither could be considerable. The Council must, however, be constantly on its guard, so that it might be ready in all events to defend the island, should they send any of their force that way. 15: It gave the Court pleasure to observe that the Council had been able to supply all the late homeward-bound shipping with good refreshment. Since this was the principal use of the island, the Court was persuaded the Council was so fully sensible thereof that it need only remind it of making the proper use of good seasons, and of taking the utmost care of its live stock, so that it might be properly proportioned to answer the demands of the Court's homeward-bound shipping from one season to another. Interpretations The Court's tracking of the French fleet by name, ship by ship, down to the distinction between men of war and Company vessels and which had already sailed, reveals the detailed intelligence the Company assembled on the enemy's naval strength bound for India. The neutral Brazilian ports where the French put in sickly were the very places British intelligence could observe them, so a full roster of the hostile squadron reached London from Rio, giving the Company a precise measure of the force it had to expect against its eastern settlements. The Court's reminder that the principal use of the island was to refresh the homeward shipping, and its stress on husbanding the live stock across seasons, reveals how St Helena's whole value was understood in terms of a single strategic function. The island justified its cost not by any trade or produce of its own but by its power to revive the crews and replenish the provisions of the passing fleet, so the careful management of its cattle from one year to the next was, in the Court's eyes, the very purpose for which the settlement existed.
90	85	16 You were acquainted in our last Letter, that for want of your Indents we had been under the necessity of making use in a great measure, of those received from you the former Season; Your Indents being since come to hand, We do by the Delawar make the provision of the several Articles desired correspond with them as nearly as Time; and the Room for them in the said Ship can admit of which will more particularly appear on the Reference to the Invoice by that Ship, as also to the Invoice already sent by the Earl of Holderness 17 When you form your Indents in future; you must have your account of Remains before you, and Indent for no more than one years Consumption, That we received by the Prince Edward, was without date tho we suppose it is to be formed in Consultation of the 26 June last, We are at a loss to know whether the Stores you received by the Prince Henry were looked on as an addition to your Remains, which are brought up to the 11 of that Month. 18 We have made a strict enquiry into the Complaint you make of the Deficiency of 14, 2, 22 in the weight of the Flour sent you by the Egmont, as also of the badness thereof, and the insufficiency of that by the Prince Henry, with respect to the First, We find there is not particular Care taken in weighing the Flour; that it is almost impossible to commit any mistake therein, We are therefore quite at a loss to account for the deficiency mentioned, however that we may for the future be able to detect any defraud or rectify a mistake; you must weigh the whole Quantity of Flour we send you in the presence of the Purser; or other proper Officer of the Ship, and if any Deficiency appears, you are to certify the number of each Cask wherein any, and what short weight shall be found, As to the Quality the Person of whom we bought and indeed with whom we have dealt in this Article for many Years past, has assured us, that the very best that could be procured at that Time, was put up under his own immediate inspection; and has promised that his utmost care shall be used to prevent any Complaint in future; you must therefore give us a very Margin Notes: Stores sent from you &ca Indent without a Date &ca Inquiry made about the Flour &ca Flour to be all weyghed	16: The Council had been acquainted, in the Court's last letter, that for want of its indents the Court had been under the necessity of making use, in a great measure, of those received from it the former season. The Council's indents having since come to hand, the Court had, by the Delaware, made the provision of the several articles desired correspond with them as nearly as time, and the room for them in that ship, could admit. This would more particularly appear on reference to the invoice by that ship, as also to the invoice already sent by the Earl of Holderness. 17: When the Council formed its indents in future, it must have its account of remains before it, and indent for no more than one year's consumption. That which the Court received by the Prince Edward was without date, though it supposed it to be formed in consultation of the 26th June last. The Court was at a loss to know whether the stores the Council received by the Prince Henry were looked on as an addition to its remains, which were brought up to the 11th of that month. 18: The Court had made a strict enquiry into the complaint the Council made of the deficiency of 14 hundredweight, 2 quarters, 22 pounds in the weight of the flour sent by the Egmont, as also of the badness thereof, and the indifference of that by the Prince Henry. With respect to the first, it found there was not particular care taken in weighing the flour, and that it was almost impossible to commit any mistake therein. It was therefore quite at a loss to account for the deficiency mentioned. However, so that it might for the future be able to detect any fraud or rectify a mistake, the Council was to weigh the whole quantity of flour the Court sent it in the presence of the purser, or other proper officer of the ship, and, if any deficiency appeared, it was to certify the number of each cask wherein any, and what, short weight should be found. As to the quality, the person of whom the Court bought, and indeed with whom it had dealt in this article for many years past, had assured it that the very best that could be procured at that time was put up under his own immediate inspection, and had promised that his utmost care should be used to prevent any complaint in future. Interpretations The Court's insistence that flour be weighed cask by cask in the presence of the ship's purser, with any shortfall certified, reveals the difficulty of proving fraud or error across the length of a voyage. A deficiency found at St Helena might have arisen in England, at sea or on the island, so the Court fixed a procedure to pin the loss to a particular cask at the moment of landing, the formal certificate the only means of distinguishing dishonest short measure from honest waste or mistake when the parties stood half a world apart. The Court's defence of its flour contractor, resting on many years of dealing and the supplier's own assurance, exposes how far the Company's provisioning relied on trusted long-standing relationships rather than open competition. Faced with a complaint of bad flour, the Court weighed the island's word against the reputation of a man it had bought from for years, preferring to seek better procedures for the future than to abandon a supplier whose established trust was itself a kind of security in a trade conducted at a distance.
91	86	particular Account of the Quality of the Flour; we send you this Season; and if there is any fault to be found therewith, you must distinguish in a particular manner, the Nature of such fault, that we may obtain satisfaction here; and prevent the like in future. 19 We received three Receipts of the same Tenour for the Flour landed out of the Prince Henry, which, you inadvertently sent by the Colchester, instead of three different conveyances, as they ought to have been, The dates to all of them being omitted, altho very necessary to be inserted, When we writ to you by the Prince Henry as we then observed, we expected to send you a paper of instructions for forming a certificate as to the Landing the said Flour, but as before the dispatch of that Ship, our Secretary received from the Officers of his Majestys Customs, the very form of the certificate to be given on the Occasion; a Copy whereof being transmitted by the Prince Henry made the sending any other instructions entirely unnecessary; and therefore no omission as you apprehend. 20 If the Delawar cannot bring you the Quantity of Timber you desire in your Letter of 16 of August, to make a New Drawbridge in the Room of the old one; you inform us to be almost decayed, you'll way depend upon receiving it the next Season 21 As you have, been disappointed of the Table Linnen your was to have received from Madrass, we send by the Delawar agreeable to your request, the Quantity ordered in your Indent 22 We shall agreeable to your request, give Directions to our Servants in India to send you Wax Candles of a better Sort, than those you have lately received, as We shall likewise to the President and Council of Fort St George, to take the utmost Care that the Rice to be sent you from hence, is the best they can procure, but we shall expect at the same time that you are no way deficient in making the proper Representations to our Servants in India, of these particulars. Margin Notes: Receipts for Flour &ca but all of one date &ca Timber for a Draw Bridge to be sent Table Linen sent Directions given to the President &ca to send better Wax Candles & Rice	The Council was to give the Court a very particular account of the quality of the flour it sent this season. If any fault was to be found therewith, it was to distinguish in a particular manner the nature of such fault, so that the Court might obtain satisfaction at home, and prevent the like in future. 19: The Court received three receipts of the same tenour for the flour landed out of the Prince Henry, which the Council inadvertently sent by the Colchester, instead of by three different conveyances, as they ought to have been. The dates of all of them were omitted, although very necessary to be inserted. When the Court wrote by the Prince Henry, as was then observed, it expected to send the Council a paper of instructions for forming a certificate as to the landing of the flour. Since, however, before the dispatch of that ship, its secretary received from the officers of His Majesty's Customs the very form of the certificate to be given on the occasion, a copy whereof being transmitted by the Prince Henry made the sending of any other instructions entirely unnecessary, there was therefore no omission, as the Council apprehended. 20: If the Delaware could not bring the Council the quantity of timber it desired, in its letter of 16th August, to make a new drawbridge in the room of the old one, which it informed the Court was almost decayed, it would in a great measure depend upon receiving it the next season. 21: Since the Council had been disappointed of the table linen it was to have received from Madras, the Court sent by the Delaware, in keeping with its request, the quantity ordered in its indent. 22: The Court would, in keeping with the Council's request, give directions to its servants in India to send it wax candles of a better sort than those it had lately received, as it would likewise to the President and Council of Fort St George to take the utmost care that the rice to be sent from thence was the best they could procure. It expected, at the same time, that the Council would be no way deficient in making the proper representations to the Court's servants in India of these particulars. Interpretations The importance attached to certifying the exact nature of any fault in the flour reveals how the island's reports served as evidence in a chain of accountability reaching back to the London contractor. A general complaint was useless, but a precise account of what was wrong let the Court obtain redress at home and press its supplier to improve, so the Council's careful description of any defect became the instrument by which quality was enforced across the whole length of the supply line. The confusion over the flour receipts, three of the same tenour sent together and all undated when they should have gone by separate ships and borne their dates, exposes how much the Company's system of proof depended on the correct handling of routine paper. The receipts existed to satisfy the Crown's customs officers that exempted grain reached its destination, so an error in their form or conveyance threatened the very documentation on which the flour exemption rested, a reminder that clerical precision was itself a part of the machinery of supply.
92	87	23 In answer to your Request for our Supra Cargos in Mocha to put on board one Bale of Coffee yearly for the use of St Helena; We do hereby authorize and impower you, to demand, and receive, from the Captains of any of our Moha Ships a Bale of Coffee, whenever it is wanted, taking care to give Receipts for the same. 24 You will observe in our Letter in the Earl of Holderness, We have anticipated the Request made in your Letter of the 16 of August, by consigning to you Two Chests of Treasure by the said Ship; and allowing you to detain two Chests more out of that designed for Fort Marlborough by the Delawar; but this last liberty you must use with discretion, by stopping no more than you have really occasion for; after making an allowance for the money which may be paid into Cash for Bills of Exchange upon us. 25 We observe by your Books ending October 1757 that a Loss of £85:11:5/2 is said to have arisen by selling Beef and Pork to the Garrison under prime Cost, By the Storekeepers Collections, it appears that some part of the Beef and Pork was sold to the Companys Servants at Ten pCent advance and some part to the Planters at Twenty five pCent; But the Quantity and Price of that delivered to the Garrison does no where appear, so that we cannot comprehend how any such Loss should arise; To remedy this for the future; you must put a Valuation on the Issues and Remains of the above and all other Provisions and Stores and also specifie the Particulars delivered for the use of the Garrison; that your Entrys of Profit and Loss may be properly examined 26 Being thus at a Loss to know what Quantitys and at what Rates, the Garrison is supplied with Salt Provisions, out of the Companys Stores, we cannot yet cannot determine whether it is reasonable or not, to comply with your Request in your Letter of the 19 of August, for indulging the Officers and Gentlemen in our Service, with what they want for their own use (at the Rice the Garrison pays for it, which by our Letter of the 10 of December 1743 ought to be at prime cost; especially as you do not mention how, and how many those Officers and Margin Notes: Power given to take a Bale of Coffee Two Chests of Treasure sent Reserve a Loss upon Beef & Pork &ca Cannot yet comply with the request for indulging our Servants &ca the Garrison pays for it, which by our Letter of the Provision at 2d p piece	23: In answer to the Council's request, for the Court's supercargoes in Mocha to put on board one bale of coffee yearly for the use of St Helena, the Court hereby authorised and empowered it to demand and receive, from the captains of any of its Mocha ships, a bale of coffee whenever it was wanted, taking care to give receipts for the same. 24: The Council would observe, in the Court's letter by the Earl of Holderness, that it had anticipated the request made in the Council's letter of 16th August, by consigning two chests of treasure by that ship, and allowing it to detain two chests more out of that designed for Fort Marlborough by the Delaware. This last liberty, however, it must use with discretion, by stopping no more than it had really occasion for, after making an allowance for the money which might be paid into cash for bills of exchange upon the Court. 25: The Court observed, by the Council's books ending October 1757, that a loss of £85 11s 5½d was said to have arisen by selling beef and pork to the garrison under prime cost. By the storekeeper's collections, it appeared that some part of the beef and pork was sold to the Company's servants at 10 per cent advance, and some part to the planters at 25 per cent. But the quantity and price of that delivered to the garrison nowhere appeared, so the Court could not comprehend how any such loss should arise. To remedy this for the future, the Council was to put a valuation on the issues and remains of the above, and all other provisions and stores, and also specify the particulars delivered for the use of the garrison, so that its entry of profit and loss might be properly examined. 26: Being thus at a loss to know what quantities, and at what rates, the garrison was supplied with salt provisions out of the Company's stores, the Court could not yet determine whether it was reasonable or not to comply with the Council's request, in its letter of 19th August, for indulging the officers and gentlemen in the Court's service with what they wanted for their own use at the price the garrison paid for it, which, by the Court's letter of 10th December 1742, was bought to be at prime cost, especially as the Council did not mention the price, and honorary those officers and gentlemen. Interpretations The Court's inability to understand a reported loss on beef sold to the garrison, because the quantities and prices were nowhere set down, reveals how defective accounting could obscure the very profit and loss the Company sought to control. Sales to different classes at different rates, servants at one advance and planters at another, meant that without a valuation of what the garrison received the books could not be read, so the Court pressed for a full accounting before it could judge whether the island's dealings in provisions were sound. The Court's refusal to grant the officers salt provisions at the garrison's price until it knew that price exposes the caution with which it extended even small privileges to its servants. A concession that seemed a modest courtesy could, if the underlying cost were unknown, mask a real loss to the Company, so the Court withheld its decision until the accounts were clear, unwilling to indulge its officers with cheap provisions until it could measure exactly what the indulgence would cost.
93	88	Gentlemen are; and with what Quantitys they want to be indulged, on all which we expect you will fully explain yourselves, before we give any directions on that part of your said Letter. 27 As you have only Indented for Eight Barrels of Gunpowder the Twenty five Barrels by the Delawar are Consigned to Fort Marlbro where it is much wanted; for which Reason if you have more in your Stores than you really may have occasion for, we would have you agreeable to our Recommendation in last Letter, forward what you can spare to that Settlement 28 The late arrival of our Shipping, and the short time we have in consequence thereof to prepare for the dispatch of many important affairs, before the departure of the Ships for India; prevents our looking into the affair of punishing Criminals at St Helena; but We hope by next Season, be able to send you some instructions thereon, in the mean time you have our leave to send as Prisoners to England, upon any of our Ships any Person or Persons, who have been, or shall be found guilty of such Offences, as shall render them unfit, or unsafe to be continued on the Island, sending with them a full, and authentick account of their Crimes they are charged with, and the proceedings thereon; as well for your justification; as our Information, William Cooksey the Soldier proved guilty of Embezzling the Companys Flour; is one of those who ought, and must be sent off the Island. 29 In answer to that part of your Letter of the 16 July, wherein you say Foreign Gentlemen of Station, who have lately been at St Helena seemed to be displeased at their not having some Compliments paid them, and requesting Directions whether you should shew any, we do not find you are any where forbid making Compliments to such Foreign Gentlemen, either as to Salutes, or in any other way that their Stations may Claim, or deserve Margin Notes: Twenty five Barrels of Gun Powder to be forwarded to Fort Marlbro Not Time yet to look into the affair of punishing Criminals &ca All Persons to be sent off the Island that are unfit &ca	The Court further needed to know with what quantities those officers and gentlemen wanted to be indulged. On all this it expected the Council would fully explain itself before it gave any directions on that part of the Council's letter. 27: Since the Council had only indented for eight barrels of gunpowder, the 25 barrels by the Delaware were consigned to Fort Marlborough, where it was much wanted. For which reason, if the Council had more in its stores than it really might have occasion for, the Court would have it, in keeping with its recommendation in the last letter, forward what it could spare to that settlement. 28: The late arrival of the Court's shipping, and the short time it had in consequence thereof to prepare for the dispatch of many important affairs before the departure of the ships for India, prevented its looking into the affair of punishing criminals at St Helena. It hoped, however, by next season to be able to send the Council some instructions thereon. In the meantime, the Council had the Court's leave to send prisoners to England, upon any of its ships, any person or persons who had been, or should be, found guilty of such offences as should render them unfit or unsafe to be continued on the island. It was to send with them a full and authentic account of the crimes they were charged with, and the proceedings thereon, as well for the Council's justification as for the Court's information. William Cooksey, the soldier proved guilty of embezzling the Company's flour, was one of those who ought, and must, be sent off the island. 29: In answer to that part of the Council's letter of 16th July, wherein it said foreign gentlemen of station, who had lately been at St Helena, seemed to be displeased at their not having some compliments paid them, and requesting directions whether it should show any, the Court did not find the Council was anywhere forbidden to make compliments to such foreign gentlemen, either as to salutes, or in any other way that their stations might claim or deserve. Interpretations The Court's leave to ship criminals to England, pending fuller instructions on punishment, reveals how the island's limited judicial capacity threw the hardest cases back upon the authority at home. St Helena could try and punish ordinary offences, but a man too dangerous to keep and whose case exceeded the island's means was best removed, so the Court authorised transportation as an interim measure, requiring a full record of the crime both to justify the Council's action and to inform its own eventual judgment. The Court's ruling that nothing forbade the paying of compliments to foreign gentlemen of station reveals the diplomatic delicacy of the island's position on a sea road used by every nation's ships. Slighting a person of rank aboard a foreign vessel might give offence with consequences beyond the island, so the Court left the Council free to extend salutes and courtesies as station demanded, the goodwill of foreign travellers worth cultivating even in wartime, when a courtesy cost little and an insult might cost much.
94	89	and we shall accordingly leave it to your own discretion, to make the necessary Compliments in future, But this however is by no means intended to break into that Revived standing order in our Letter of the 29 of November 1751, That no Foreigner of any Quality, whatsoever, be permitted to see the Country, altho in Company with the Governor, or any of our Servants, and that Care be taken that they be prevented as much as possible, from viewing and making remarks upon the Fortifications 30 We observe by your Letter of the 16 July that upon the Resignation of Charles Steward, you have entertained Richard Law as Writer in the Secretary Office; if you are satisfied he is properly qualifyed for that Station, We do agree to your said Choice; and that his time of Service commence from the day you appointed him (which by the way is not mentioned in your Letter; or our Consultation) and he is accordingly to execute the Covenants sent by the Delawar. 31 It appearing by your Consultations that William Wrangham having served his five Years as Writer and commenced Factor; he is to execute fresh Covenants likewise sent by the Delawar. 32 The Covenants executed both by Wrangham and Law, are to be returned to us, and they are to write to their Friends in England; to give the usual Security for them; the first under the Penalty of one thousand pounds, and Law five hundred pounds 33 Having set apart a Day on purpose to Examine into the Conduct and Behaviour of our Lieutenant Governor John Adamson; we entered upon it with the greatest Candour, and should have been extremly glad to have found that such, as would have intitled him to our favour; but on such Examination It evidently appearing, that Mr Adamson has behaved in a very unbecoming manner towards the Governor in so much that he has represented it was not in his power to live with Mr Adamson as he could wish to do with a Person in his Post; & it further appearing that Mr Adamson and Lieut Thomas Kirkpatrick had employed one Mr Richards to draw for them Plans and Prospects of several of the Works and Fortifications on this Island particularly for the latter a Draught for Margin Notes: leave to Compliment Foreign Gentlemen &ca Richard Law Entertained &ca Wrangham to commence Factor Covenants sent Mr Adamson Mr Kirkpatrick & Mr Richards discussed &ca	The Court would accordingly leave it to the Council's own discretion to make the necessary compliments in future. This, however, was by no means intended to break into the revived standing order in the Court's letter of 29th November 1751, that no foreigner of any quality whatsoever be permitted to see the country, although in company with the Governor or any of the Court's servants, and that care be taken that they be prevented, as much as possible, from viewing and making remarks upon the fortifications. 30: The Court observed, by the Council's letter of 16th July, that upon the resignation of Charles Steward it had entertained Richard Law as writer in the secretary's office. If the Council was satisfied he was properly qualified for that station, the Court agreed to its choice, and that his time of service commence from the day it appointed him, which by the way was not mentioned in its letter or its consultation. He was accordingly to execute the covenants sent by the Delaware. 31: It appearing, by the Council's consultations, that William Wrangham, having served his five years as writer, commenced factor, he was to execute fresh covenants likewise sent by the Delaware. 32: The covenants executed both by Wrangham and Law were to be returned to the Court, and they were to write to their friends in England to give the usual security for them, the first under the penalty of £1,000 0s 0d, and Law £500 0s 0d. 33: Having set apart a day on purpose to examine into the conduct and behaviour of the Lieutenant Governor John Adamson, the Council entered upon it with the greatest candour, and should have been extremely glad to have found them such as would have entitled him to the Court's favour. But on such examination, it evidently appearing that Mr Adamson had behaved in a very unbecoming manner towards the Governor, in so much that he had represented it was not in his power to live with Mr Adamson as he could wish to do with a person in his post, and it further appearing that Mr Adamson and Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick had employed one Mr Richards to draw for them plans and prospects of several of the works and fortifications on the island, particularly the latter a draught. Interpretations The revived standing order barring foreigners from viewing the country or the fortifications, held firm even as the Court relaxed its rule on compliments, reveals how the island balanced courtesy against security. A person of foreign station might be honoured with salutes and civilities, yet on no account shown the works or allowed to survey the defences, so the Company drew a sharp line between the outward forms of hospitality and any access to the intelligence an enemy could turn against the island in war. The gravity attached to Adamson and Kirkpatrick having plans of the fortifications drawn reveals how the making of such drawings was viewed as a serious breach precisely because it created the very intelligence the Company laboured to deny to foreigners. That the Court's own senior servants should have commissioned surveys of the works touched the heart of its security concern, so the matter was examined with the same seriousness as the discord between the Governor and his deputy, unauthorised knowledge of the defences being dangerous in any hands.
95	90	the Attack of the Town and Castle, and that the same had been done without the Knowledge, or Consent of the Governor, in Breach of the Rules of Military Discipline; as well as their Duty to the Company, and might be productive of the most prejudicial Consequences. and the Court being fully satisfied of Mr Hutchinsons due Administration of the Authority committed to him; and considering the necessity of supporting thereof, as well as for the maintaining proper order and Discipline in the Government of the Island on which its preservation depends more especially in this Time of War; and in order to discountenance and prevent such unbecoming and undue Practices in future; it was unanimously Resolved that Mr John Adamson Lieutenant Governor of the Island of St Helena be immediately dismissed the Companys Service; and be sent home upon one of the Ships of the same Season; wherein this Resolution for his Dismission shall be received 34 It was also Unanimously Resolved that Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick be immediately dismissed the Companys Service; and sent home from St Helena on the first Ship, that shall leave the Island. after the Receipt of this Resolution; and it was further ordered that William Richards be also dismissed, and sent home in like manner, by the first Ship. 35 These our Resolutions and Order, are to take place immediately upon the Receipt of this Letter; and the several Persons before mentiond are from that instant dismissed the Companys Service; and are accordingly to be sent home in the manner directed 36 Agreeable to what we mentioned the Delawar will bring you about ten more Recruits, and as these in addition to the Twenty sent in the Earl of Holderness, will sufficiently strengthen Our Garrison; you are not to detain any of those therefore intended for the West Coast by the Delawar. 37 It is highly necessary that the utmost exactness should be observed in adversing the several Sums of money paid into our Cash, and that your Margin Notes: Mr Adamson to be sent Home Mr Kirkpatrick to be sent Home & Richards Do Ten Recruits sent	This draught was of the attack of the town and castle, and the same had been done without the knowledge or consent of the Governor, in breach of the rules of military discipline, as well as their duty to the Company, and might be productive of the most prejudicial consequences. The Court being fully satisfied of Mr Hutchinson's due administration of the authority committed to him, and considering the necessity of supporting it, as well as maintaining proper order and discipline in the government of the island, on which its preservation depended, more especially in this time of war, and in order to discountenance and prevent such unbecoming and undue practices in future, it was unanimously resolved that Mr John Adamson, Lieutenant Governor of the island of St Helena, be immediately dismissed the Company's service, and be sent home upon one of the ships of the same season wherein this resolution for his dismissal should be received. 34: It was also unanimously resolved that Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick be immediately dismissed the Company's service, and sent home from St Helena on the first ship that should leave the island after receiving this resolution. It was further ordered that William Richards be also dismissed, and sent home in like manner, by the first ship. 35: These resolutions and orders were to take place immediately upon the receipt of this letter. The several persons mentioned above were, from that instant, dismissed the Company's service, and were accordingly to be sent home in the manner directed. 36: In keeping with what the Court mentioned, the Delaware would bring the Council about 10 more recruits. Since these, in addition to the 20 sent by the Earl of Holderness, would sufficiently strengthen the garrison, the Council was not to detain any of those intended for the west coast by the Delaware. 37: It was highly necessary that the utmost exactness be observed in advising the several sums of money paid into the Court's cash. Interpretations The Court's severe response, the summary dismissal of a Lieutenant Governor and two others for drawing an attack plan of the town and castle, reveals how gravely it treated any breach of military discipline in wartime. That the drawings depicted an assault on the island's own defences, made secretly and without the Governor's knowledge, could hardly be more alarming when a French attack was feared, so the Court acted at once and unanimously, treating the unauthorised survey as a danger to the island's very preservation that no rank could excuse. The Court's explicit grounding of the dismissals in the necessity of supporting the Governor's authority reveals how the discipline of a remote settlement rested on the visible backing of the government at home. A Lieutenant Governor who worked against his superior and flouted his authority undermined the whole chain of command on which the island's order depended, so the Court removed him decisively, making an example that affirmed the Governor's power precisely because, in a distant and vulnerable place, that power could not be allowed to be questioned.
96	91	Cash Accounts Consultations & Letters should agree with each other; and with the Bills, but We are sorry to observe this is not the Case in those now before us, which we shall point out to you, that such mistakes may be avoided and more Care taken in future; and in order thereto, We must observe that the Original of your Letter dated 16 July 1758 came by the Colchester, and the Duplicate by the Prince Edward, but it so happened that the Duplicate was received by us the first. 38 Do The 35 Paragraph in the Letter p Colchester relating to the time and manner, in which you intended drawing your Bills of Exchange in is entirly omitted in That by the Prince Edward. 39 Do The 5 first Bills mentioned in the Prince Edwards Letter, are left out in the Colchesters 40 Do The Bill advised by the Prince Edward as granted Archibald Grant, and payable to John Calcraft for Six hundred pounds, appeared by the Bill itself the Consultations, and Cash Account, to be Six hundred and twenty pounds 41 Do The Bill advised in the Prince Edwards Letter, to be granted and payable to George Cuming for three hundred Pounds, appeared by the Bill and by the Colchesters Letter, Consultations, and Cash Account to be three hundred and fifty pounds. 42 Do The Bill for fifty pounds, advised in the Prince Edwards Letter to be granted Matthew Bazett, and payable to himself appeared by the Bill itself the Colchesters Letter and Consultations, to be payable to Captain Charles Foulis and received of Matthew Bazett. 43 Do The Bill for One hundred and ten pounds advised by the Prince Edward, as granted John Adamson payable to himself by the Bill Colchesters Letter and Consultations appeared to be payable to Wm John Andrews, received of John Adamson. Margin Notes: mistakes about Bills of Exchange &ca	The cash accounts, consultations and letters should agree with each other, and with the bills. The Court was sorry to observe this was not the case in those now before it, which it would point out to the Council, so that such mistakes might be avoided and more care taken in future. In order thereto, the Court observed that the original of the Council's letter dated 16th July 1758 came by the Colchester, and the duplicate by the Prince Edward, but it so happened that the duplicate was received first. 38: The 35th paragraph in the Colchester's letter, relating to the time and manner in which the Council intended drawing its bills of exchange, was entirely omitted in that by the Prince Edward. 39: The five first bills mentioned in the Prince Edward's letter were left out in the Colchester's. 40: The bill advised by the Prince Edward as granted to Archibald Grant, and payable to John Calcraft, for £600 0s 0d, appeared by the bill itself, the consultations and cash account, to be £620 0s 0d. 41: The bill advised in the Prince Edward's letter, to be granted and payable to George Cuming for £300 0s 0d, appeared by the bill, and by the Colchester's letter, consultations and cash account, to be £350 0s 0d. 42: The bill for £50 0s 0d, advised in the Prince Edward's letter to be granted to Matthew Bazett, and payable to himself, appeared by the bill itself, the Colchester's letter and consultations, to be payable to Captain Charles Foulis, and received of Matthew Bazett. 43: The bill for £110 0s 0d, advised by the Prince Edward as granted to John Adamson, payable to himself, by the bill, the Colchester's letter and consultations, appeared to be payable to William John Andrews, received of John Adamson. Interpretations The catalogue of discrepancies between the same letters sent by two ships reveals how the Company's practice of duplicating correspondence, meant to guard against loss, itself introduced the risk of contradiction. When a clerk copied a letter for a second conveyance, an omitted paragraph or an altered figure could make the two versions disagree, so the very redundancy that protected against a ship's loss demanded exact copying, since the Court read whichever arrived first and had to reconcile it against the other. The precise mismatches in the bills of exchange, sums differing by £20 or £50 and payees named differently in letter and bill, expose how errors in financial paper threatened the integrity of accounts settled across the world. A bill honoured in London had to match the advice sent from the island, so a discrepancy between the letter, the consultation and the bill itself could produce a wrong or disputed payment, the Court's meticulous listing of each variance reflecting how a single misdescribed bill could unbalance the reckoning between the island and home.
97	92	44 Do One of the Bills said in the Colchesters Letter to be granted to James Hawker, for One hundred and Fifty pounds, appears by the Prince Edwards Letter, and the Bill itself to be but One hundred and twenty pounds 45 Do To these Mistakes we must add that your Consultation under date of the 1 July entered in the Set received by the Colchester, was left out in that received by the Prince Edward 46 Do The Affair of drawing and advising Bills, comes within so narrow a Compass, that we are surprized that such a String of Mistakes should escape your Notice in your Situation of Governor and Council, but much more so at the Carelessness and inattention of your Secretary from whom they must have taken rise; and you must let him know that we shall think him unfit for that, or any other Station, if we find any further such marks of his Carelessness 47 In Order to fill up the Vacancy occasioned by the dismission of Mr Adamson, as beforementioned, We have chosen, and do hereby constitute and appoint Nicholas Dunbar Esqr to be Lieutenant Governor of Our Island St Helena; also second in Council and Overseer of our Plantations with the same Appointments as were enjoyed by the late Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson Vizt For Salary two hundred and fifty pounds, and Diet money one hundred pounds a year, both to commence upon his Arrival, He is to be accommodated with regard to his Appartments both in the House in the Valley, and the Rooms in the Longwood, in all respects the same as Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson were, and to have the use of some of our Slaves in the same manner those two Gentlemen were indulged. 48 In Case of the Death or Absence of Charles Hutchinson Esqr our said Lieutenant Governor Nicholas Dunbar, is to succeed as provisional Governor, until Our further pleasure is known. 49 The Council at St Helena having for some Years past consisted only Margin Notes: Mistakes &ca Mr Dunbar appointed Lt Govr &ca 2nd to Succeed &ca	44: One of the bills, said in the Colchester's letter to be granted to James Hawker for £150 0s 0d, appeared, by the Prince Edward's letter and the bill itself, to be but £120 0s 0d. 45: To these mistakes the Court must add that the Council's consultation, under date of the 1st July, entered in the set received by the Colchester, was left out in that received by the Prince Edward. 46: The affair of drawing and advising bills came within so narrow a compass that the Court was surprised such a string of mistakes should escape the Council's notice, in its situation of Governor and Council, but much more so at the carelessness and inattention of its secretary, from whom they must have taken rise. The Council was to let him know that the Court would think him unfit for that, or any other station, if it found any further such marks of his carelessness. 47: In order to fill up the vacancy occasioned by the dismissal of Mr Adamson, as mentioned above, the Court had chosen, and hereby constituted and appointed, Nicholas Dunbar Esquire to be Lieutenant Governor of the island of St Helena, also second in Council and overseer of the Court's plantations, with the same appointments as were enjoyed by the late Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson, being for salary £250 0s 0d, and diet money £100 0s 0d a year, both to commence upon his arrival. He was to be accommodated, with regard to his apartments, both in the house in the valley and the rooms in the Long Wood, in all respects the same as Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson were, and to have the use of some of the Court's slaves in the same manner those two gentlemen were indulged. 48: In case of the death or absence of Charles Hutchinson Esquire, the Lieutenant Governor Nicholas Dunbar was to succeed as provisional Governor, until the Court's further pleasure was known. 49: The Council at St Helena having for some years past consisted only. Interpretations The Court's placing of the blame for the string of errors squarely on the secretary, with an explicit threat to his career, reveals how the integrity of the whole correspondence depended on the diligence of a single clerk. The Governor and Council bore responsibility, but the mistakes took rise in the secretary's careless copying, so the Court reached past the governing body to the officer whose exactness underpinned every letter, bill and account, treating clerical reliability as a qualification for office that its absence would forfeit. The immediate appointment of Dunbar to fill Adamson's place, stepping into the same salary, apartments and use of slaves, shows how completely the offices of the island were defined as fixed establishments rather than personal grants. The dismissed man's whole position, its pay, its lodgings in valley and Long Wood, and its perquisites, passed intact to his successor, so that the removal of an individual left the structure of the government untouched, the office enduring while its holder was simply exchanged.
98	93	only of three Persons Vizt the Governor Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant John Clark, We have thought it necessary to add one of our Servants in the Civil List thereto, and we do hereby accordingly appoint and direct that Mr Matthew Pirling do take his Seat at the Council board, upon the Receipt of this Letter; From which time he is to receive in addition to his present Salary of Twenty pounds, the further Sum of Thirty pounds a Year in Consideration of his Services as one of the Council, and Mr Pirling on his Admission to the Board, is immediately to take the usual Oath of Fidelity to the Company. 50 Charles Hutchinson Esqr as Governor and Chief in Council, is to act in and manage all the Company's Affairs, by and with the advice and Concurrence of the Deputy Governor Nicholas Dunbar Lieuten and John Clark, and Mr Matthew Pirling aforesaid, who are hereby appointed and directed to be of Council, in the Order they are named, and in Case they shall at any time or times be equally divided in Opinion, Our Governor is to have the Casting or determining Vote. 51 We take the Opportunity of sending this Letter by his Majestys Ship the Falkland, on which We proposed Mr Dunbar should have taken his passage; but it not being possible for him to get ready for that Ship in time, he will proceed in the Delawar which will soon be ready for her Dispatches 52 It being highly improper as well as dangerous in this Time of War in particular, that any Draughts or Plans of the Fortifications and Works should be suffered to be brought away from the Island, you are to make this the strictest Enquiry whether Mr Adamson, Lieutenant Kirkpatrick, or Rd Peirce have any still remaining in their Custody, and you are to detain all such you may find giving us a particular Description of them in your next Letter. London 23d January 1759 We are Your Loving Friends Lau Sulivan Christr Burrow N. Newnham Junr Margin Notes: Council appointed & ca Do Letter sent No Plans to be brought from the Island & ca	The council at St Helena had for some years past consisted of only three persons, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant John Clark. The Court thought it necessary to add one of the Company's servants to the civil list there, and now appointed and directed that Mr Matthew Stirling take his seat at the council board on receipt of this letter. From that time he was to receive, on top of his present salary of £20, a further £30 a year in consideration of his services as one of the council. On his admission to the board Stirling was at once to take the usual oath of fidelity to the Company. 50: Charles Hitchins, as Governor and chief in council, was to act in and manage all the Company's affairs by and with the advice and agreement of the Deputy Governor Nicholas Dunbar, Lieutenant John Clark and Mr Matthew Stirling, who were appointed and directed to be of council in the order named. Should they at any time be equally divided in opinion, the Governor was to have the casting or deciding vote. 51: The Court took the opportunity of sending this letter by his Majesty's ship the Falkland, on which it had proposed Mr Dunbar should take his passage. Since he could not get ready for that ship in time, he would proceed in the Delaware, which would soon be ready for her dispatches. 52: It being highly improper and dangerous in this time of war that any drafts or plans of the fortifications and works should be allowed to be carried away from the island, the Court directed the Governor and Council to make strict enquiry whether Mr Adamson, Lieutenant Kirkpatrick or Mr Richards had any still remaining in their custody. All such were to be detained, and the Governor and Council might set out a full description of them in their next letter. London, 23 January 1759. The Court subscribed itself their loving friends, Laurence Sulivan, Christopher Burrow and N. Newnham junior. Interpretations The £30 addition raised Stirling to a councillor's pay while his underlying £20 salary continued as a separate head, so his total of £50 rested on two distinct grants rather than a single revised figure. Company practice treated a seat at the board as an office carrying its own consideration, added to whatever the servant already drew, which is why the letter set the council payment apart from the salary it supplemented rather than restating the whole as one sum. The casting vote given to Hitchins turned a four-man board into one that could always reach a decision. With an even number of councillors a tie was possible on any question, and the deciding vote lodged with the Governor ensured the chair could break a deadlock, keeping executive control in one pair of hands rather than letting a split council stall the Company's business. The order of naming carried legal weight, not mere courtesy. Precedence on the list fixed the line of succession and the seniority by which the board would be counted, so the sequence Dunbar, Clark, Stirling settled who ranked where should death or absence thin the council, the same principle by which Dunbar had already been placed to succeed to the acting governorship. The recall of the fortification plans shows the wartime concern that a description of St Helena's defences might reach an enemy. The island's value lay in its harbour as a call for homeward East India shipping, and detailed drawings of its works in hostile hands could guide an attack, so the Court moved to gather every copy held by former servants and account for each by a written description. Speculations The Court had arranged Dunbar's passage on the Falkland and could have held him back to sail on that named ship, yet when he could not make her ready in time it switched him to the Delaware rather than let his departure wait for the next suitable man-of-war. The detail that the Falkland would not delay for him shows the Court treating his arrival at St Helena as the pressing thing and the particular vessel as interchangeable, choosing the sooner-ready ship over the one already assigned so the new Lieutenant Governor should reach his post without a season's delay.
99	94	Henry Plant James Creed John Manship John Boyd John Raymond Thomas Phipps Chas Cutts Thos Rous Henry Savage Geo Dudley G Rooke John Dorrien J Browne G Stevens John Harrison Timothy Tullie Fredk Pigou H Crabb Boulton	The letter was signed by the following members of the Court: Henry Plant James Creed John Manship John Boyd John Raymond Thomas Phipps Charles Cutts Thomas Rous Henry Savage George Dudley G. Rooke John Dorrien J. Browne G. Stevens John Harrison Timothy Tullie Frederick Pigou H. Combe Coulson
100	95	Our Governor and Council of St Helena. 1 We writ to you by his Majestys Ship the Falkland, under date of the 23 of January last a Duplicate whereof We now send by the Delawar 2 In that Letter you were informed We had appointed Nicholas Dunbar Esqr to be Lieutenant Governor of our Island St Helena, in the Room of Mr Adamson, dismissed from the Company Service, We are now to acquaint you, that Mr Dunbar having a Commission in his Majestys Service, and upon his Application could not obtain leave to give it up, he has been under the necessity of resigning the beforementioned Station of Lieutenant Governor of St Helena; and We do accordingly hereby revoke and make Void our said Appointment 3 In order to fill up the Vacancy occasioned by the Dismission of Mr Adamson, and Resignation of Mr Dunbar as beforementiond, We have chosen and do hereby constitute and appoint John Skottowe Esqr Lieutenant Governor of the Companys Island St Helena; also second in Council and Overseer of the Plantations, with the same appointments as were enjoyed by the late Mr Hunter, and Mr Adamson viz for Salary Two hundred and fifty pounds, and diet money one hundred pounds a year, both to commence upon his arrival, he is to be accommodated with regard to his Appointments both in the House in the Vally, and the Rooms in the Longwood in all respects the same as Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson were, and to have the use of some of our Slaves in the same manner, as those two Gentlemen were indulged. 4 In case of the death or Absence of Charles Hutchinson Esqr our said Margin Notes: Letters sent Mr Dunbars appointment made void Mr Skottowe appointed Lt Govr Do	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: The Court wrote by his Majesty's ship the Falkland under date of 23 January last, and now sent a duplicate by the Delaware. 2: That letter had informed the Governor and Council that the Court had appointed Nicholas Dunbar to be Lieutenant Governor of the island of St Helena in the room of Mr Adamson, dismissed from the Company's service. The Court now acquainted them that Dunbar held a commission in his Majesty's service and, on applying, could not obtain leave to give it up. He had therefore been obliged to resign the post of Lieutenant Governor of St Helena, and the Court accordingly revoked and made void that appointment. 3: To fill the vacancy left by the dismissal of Mr Adamson and the resignation of Mr Dunbar, the Court had chosen and now appointed John Skottowe to be Lieutenant Governor of the Company's island of St Helena, second in council and overseer of the plantations, with the same terms the late Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson had held. His salary was set at £250 and his diet money at £100 a year, both to begin on his arrival. He was to be housed in the same way as Mr Hunter and Mr Adamson, with the house in the valley and the rooms at Longwood, and to have the use of some of the Company's slaves in the same manner those two men had been allowed. 4: Should Charles Hitchins die or be absent, the Court's Lieutenant Governor Interpretations The whole reshuffle turned on a rule the Company could not override, that a serving officer of the Crown could not hold a Crown commission and a Company governorship at once. Dunbar's inability to obtain leave to surrender his military commission voided an appointment already made and dispatched, forcing the Court to name a third man to a post it had settled twice within weeks, which is why this letter revokes a grant its own earlier letters had constituted under seal. The terms attached to the office stayed fixed while the holder changed, the £250 salary, the £100 diet money, the valley house, the Longwood rooms and the use of Company slaves passing unchanged from Hunter to Adamson to the intended Dunbar and now to Skottowe. The Court was filling a defined place on the establishment rather than negotiating with an individual, so the emoluments were recited afresh each time as the settled appurtenances of the second seat in council. Speculations The Court could have waited to hear whether Dunbar might yet be released from his Crown commission before unmaking his appointment, since the answer was not finally closed until he applied. Instead it revoked the grant outright and named Skottowe in the same letter, choosing certainty over the delay of a further exchange at four months' sailing distance. The recital that Dunbar could not obtain leave shows the Court preferring to settle the succession on a man who was free to serve rather than leave St Helena's second office hanging on a permission that might never come.
101	96	Lieutenant Governor John Skottowe, is to succeed as Provisional Governor until Our further pleasure is known. 5 Charles Hutchinson Esqr as Governor, and Chief in Council is to act and manage all the Company's affairs by, and with the advice and concurrence of the Deputy Governor John Skottow Lieutenant John Clark, and Mr Matthew Pirling, mentioned in our Letter of the 23d January, who are hereby appointed and directed to be of Council in the order they are named, and in Case they should at any time be equally divided in Opinion, Our Governor is to have the Casting or Determining Vote. 6 Our said Lieutenant Governor Mr Skottowe, takes his passage on the Ship Delawar, by which Ship we now send a Commission under the Seal of the Company, constituting the Governor and Council in the manner we have mentioned 7 The Delawar being greatly lumbered it has taken more time than We apprehend to clear her of some bulky Articles to enable her to take in the Beef and Pork intended for your Island, and we are even now uncertain whether the whole Quantity intended can be recieved on board, but as we are unwilling to defer signing the Dispatches any longer, Our Secretary will write to you if any thing occurs on this Head necessary for your Information 8 It is very difficult to find Room on our Ships for the Provisions and Stores necessary for the supply of the Island, as you will observe is particularly the Case this Season; We therefore recommend it to you, to apply to the Commanders of all our homeward bound Shipping to supply you with any kind of Provisions and Stores, they can Spare, especially Beef and Pork and you are to adjust the Prices with the Commanders, at the most equitable and reasonable Rates. London 13 Feby 1759 We are Your Loving Friends Timothy Tullie Fredk Pigou John Boyd Lau Sulivan John Dorrien G Stevens Thomas Phipps Christr Burrow Wm Hesley Henry Savage N Newnham Junr Henry Plant Geo Dudley John Harrison John Manship James Creed H Crabb Boulton G Rooke Thomas Rous Margin Notes: Council appointed & ca Commission sent Beef & Pork to be sent in the Delawar & ca recommended to purchase Provisions from the Ships	Should that contingency arise, Lieutenant Governor John Skottowe was to succeed as acting governor until the Court's further pleasure was known. 5: Charles Hitchins, as Governor and chief in council, was to act in and manage all the Company's affairs by and with the advice and agreement of the Deputy Governor John Skottowe, Lieutenant John Clark and Mr Matthew Stirling, named in the Court's letter of 23 January, who were appointed and directed to be of council in the order named. Should they at any time be equally divided in opinion, the Governor was to have the casting or deciding vote. 6: The Lieutenant Governor Mr Skottowe took his passage on the Delaware, by which ship the Court now sent a commission under the seal of the Company, constituting the Governor and Council in the manner already described. 7: The Delaware being heavily laden, clearing her of some bulky articles had taken more time than expected, so that she could take in the beef and pork intended for the island. Whether the whole quantity meant for St Helena could be got on board was still uncertain, but the Court was unwilling to hold back the dispatches any longer. The secretary would write should anything arise on this matter needing the island's information. 8: Room could hardly be found on the Company's ships for the provisions and stores needed to supply the island, and this season it was especially so. The Court therefore recommended that the Governor and Council apply to the commanders of all the Company's homeward-bound shipping to supply whatever provisions and stores they could spare, above all beef and pork. Prices were to be settled with the commanders at the most equitable and reasonable rates. London, 13 February 1759. The Court subscribed itself their loving friends, Timothy Tullie, John Dorrien, William Hasley, George Dudley, W. Combe Coulson, Frederick Pigou, G. Stevens, Henry Savage, John Harrison, G. Rooke, John Boyd, Thomas Phipps, N. Newnham junior, John Manship, Thomas Rous, Laurence Sulivan, Christopher Burrow, Henry Plant and James Creed. Interpretations The dispatch of a fresh commission under the Company's seal shows that a change in the council's composition required a formal instrument, not merely a letter of instruction. The seal gave the new arrangement its legal authority, so the reconstituted board of Hitchins, Skottowe, Clark and Stirling held office by a sealed grant rather than by the correspondence that described it, the commission travelling on the same Delaware that carried the new Lieutenant Governor to take up his place. The difficulty over the beef and pork points to the competition for cargo space on East India shipping, where salted provisions for a way-station ranked below the freight the ships were built to carry. A vessel outbound from London was loaded for trade and could spare room for the island's supply only after her bulky articles were cleared, so St Helena's food security depended on whatever tonnage was left once the Company's commercial lading was stowed. The instruction to buy from homeward-bound commanders reveals how the island drew its provisions from the traffic passing its own road. Ships returning from India and China called at St Helena for water and refreshment, and their commanders carried stores that could be diverted to the settlement, so the Governor and Council were to treat every homeward caller as a potential supplier and bargain for its surplus at a fair price. Speculations The Court was unwilling to hold the dispatches while the Delaware was cleared enough to take the full quantity of beef and pork, and chose instead to sign and send them with the provisioning still unsettled. The admission that it remained uncertain whether the whole intended quantity could be shipped shows a deliberate preference for getting the commission and the new Lieutenant Governor away without further delay, accepting an incomplete victualling over a later sailing, with the shortfall to be made good by buying from homeward ships once Skottowe reached the island.
102	97	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 In our Letter of the 13th of last Month, We acquainted you that the Delawar was so greatly lumbered that we were uncertain whether she would be able to take in the Beef and Pork, intended for your Island, We have since found that this was owing to a great Quantity of Goods being carried on board in Private Trade without our Licence; and upon rummaging and unloading the Ship the same has been discovered seized, and taken out on the Companys Account; and has thereby given us the opportunity of lading the whole Cargo who intended except a few Deals, Staves and other particulars of little Consequence. 2 The said unlicenced Goods appearing to be the property of Captain James Quallet, We have found it necessary in order to shew a just and proper Resentment against him and to deter others from being guilty of such Practices in future, to dismiss him from the Command of the Ship Delaware, and We have appointed Captain William Larkins to succeed him, who is now accordingly proceeds the Voyage as Commander 3 As it is apprehended there may still remain on board some unlicenced Goods, our Secretary has Signified by Our directions to Captain Larkins, that it is our positive and express orders, when he is delivering the Companys Cargo consigned to St Helena, and Fort Marlborough, to be very careful and attentive, to discover any illicit Goods, that may be concealed in the Delawar, and if he finds any either belonging to the said late Commander Capt Quallett, or any other Person, or Persons whatsoever, to deliver the same to you, or the Deputy Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough, at which soever place, the same is discovered and he is to enter upon his Journals, an exact and true Account of his proceedings in this Branch, with the particulars of all the Goods found, and delivered to you or at Fort Marlbro as aforesaid, but for your better information we enclose a Copy of our Secretarys Letter Margin Notes: Private Trade on board the Delawar the reason of her being so greatly lumbered Capt Quallet dismissed the Companys Service Capt Larkins to search for illicit Trade & ca Copy of the Secrys Letter sent	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: The Court's letter of 13 last month had told the Governor and Council that the Delaware was so heavily laden it was uncertain whether she could take in the beef and pork intended for the island. The Court had since found this was owing to a large quantity of goods carried on board in private trade without its licence. On rummaging and unloading the ship those goods had been discovered, seized and taken out on the Company's account, which gave the opportunity of stowing the whole cargo intended, except a few deals, staves and other items of little consequence. 2: The unlicensed goods appearing to belong to Captain James Quallett, the Court found it necessary, to make a just and proper example of him and to deter others from such practices in future, to dismiss him from command of the Delaware. The Court appointed Captain William Larkins to succeed him, who would accordingly proceed on the voyage as commander. 3: Since some unlicensed goods might still remain on board, the secretary had signified by the Court's direction to Captain Larkins that it was the Court's positive and express order, when he delivered the Company's cargo consigned to St Helena and Fort Marlborough, to be very careful and attentive in discovering any illicit goods concealed in the Delaware. Should he find any belonging to the late commander Captain Quallett or to any other person, he was to deliver them to the Governor and Council, or to the Deputy Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough, at whichever place they were discovered. He was to enter in his journals an exact and true account of his proceedings in this matter, with particulars of all the goods found and delivered at St Helena or Fort Marlborough. For the island's better information the Court enclosed a copy of the secretary's letter. Interpretations The seizure shows how the Company defended its trading monopoly against its own captains. Private trade carried without licence competed with the Company's business and here had physically crowded out the provisions the island depended on, so the goods were condemned to the Company's account and the offending commander removed, the discovery turning a supply problem into an enforcement action against illicit freight. The dismissal of Quallett and immediate substitution of Larkins reveals the disciplinary weight the Court placed on making an example. Rather than fine the captain or dock his allowance, it stripped him of a valuable command mid-voyage, a punishment meant as much to warn every other commander as to penalise the man, the letter saying plainly that deterrence of others was the object. The instruction to search at the point of delivery and to record every find in the ship's journal built a paper trail for later reckoning. By requiring Larkins to enter an exact account and hand any contraband to the council at St Helena or Fort Marlborough, the Court created evidence that could be checked against the cargo and used to pursue the owners, turning the routine act of unloading into an audit of who had smuggled what. Speculations The Court could have let Quallett complete the voyage under warning, since Larkins had to be found and installed at short notice and a change of commander mid-passage carried its own risk. Instead it removed him outright and named a successor in the same letter, choosing the disruption of a new captain over leaving a proven smuggler in charge of the Company's cargo. The stated aim of deterring others shows the Court judging the example worth more than the convenience of keeping the sitting commander, and willing to unsettle the Delaware's command to make the point stick.
103	98	4 We would have you give Captain Larkins all the assistance in your power, in making of a discovery of any illicit Goods, and what shall be discovered and received by you, must be disposed of, or expended on the Company Account as forfeited Goods, and you are to give us a full, true, and exact Account of the Quantity Quality, Mark Number, and Value of every Articles, together with such other particulars, which may be necessary for our Information London 23 March We are 1759 Your Loving Friends Lau Sulivan Thos Rous Chris Burrow Henry Plant Thos Phipps Chas Cutts John Dorrien John Raymond Henry Savage Geo Dudley G Stevens G Rooke John Manship Fredk Pigou Timothy Tullie Wm Hesley H Crabb Boulton John Harrison Margin Notes: Capt Larkins to be assisted in making the discovery of illicit Goods & ca	4: The Governor and Council were to give Captain Larkins all the assistance in their power in discovering any illicit goods. Whatever was discovered and received by them was to be disposed of, or entered on the Company's account, as forfeited goods. They were to send the Court a full, true and exact account of the quantity, quality, mark, number and value of every article, together with any other particulars needed for the Court's information. London, 23 March 1759. The Court subscribed itself their loving friends, Laurence Sulivan, Thomas Rous, Christopher Burrow, Henry Plant, Thomas Phipps, Charles Cutts, John Dorrien, John Raymond, Henry Savage, George Dudley, G. Stevens, G. Rooke, John Manship, Frederick Pigou, Timothy Tullie, William Hadley, W. Crabb Boulton and John Harrison. Interpretations The demand for mark and number alongside quantity, quality and value shows the account was meant to identify each parcel's owner, not merely to value the forfeiture. Merchants marked their bales and cases with distinguishing devices, so recording the marks let the Court trace seized goods back to the individuals who had shipped them, turning the inventory into evidence for pursuing the smugglers behind the Delaware's illicit cargo. The direction to dispose of the goods or carry them to the Company's account as forfeited fixed the legal character of the seizure. Once condemned, private property became Company property, and the Governor and Council held it not as custodians of the owners' goods but as agents realising a forfeiture, the proceeds owed to the Company rather than to whoever had shipped the contraband.
104	99	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 By the safe arrival with you of our ships the Earl of Holdernesse and Delawar, Our several Letters of last Season were duly received except the Duplicates of them which were sent on his Majestys Ship the Falkland Captain Drake, who making the Island the 13th May last, fell in with three French Cruizers about 15 Leagues distant from it, and was chased by them, after exchanging some Shot with the largest, and Captain Drake apprehensive for the safety of the Kings Ship; against such superiour Force, as well as doubtful whether the Island might not be in the Enemys Possession; bore away from thence the 16th of May, and arrived at Portsmouth the 2 August last, when he returned to Us the aforementioned Duplicates 2 Your Letters of the 23 of March 15th July 8th and 19th August and 8th of September last, having several reached Us, with a seperate one from the Governor dated the said 15th of July, the requisite remarks thereon with the proper Informations for your observance, will be given in the Course of this Letter by the Triton 3 We have for the present year appointed Peter Godfrey Esqr Chairman of the Court of Directors John Boyd Esqr Deputy Chairman, Henry Crabb Boulton and Charles Cutts Esqr Our Secret Committee You are to obey the Orders and instructions that those Gentlemen, or any three of them shall think necessary, to give for the Security, and Preservation of Our Shipping and Estate, which has lately been so particularly yet ineffectually threatned in your Quarter 4 This leads us to inform you that the three French Ships which cruized to Windward of the Island from the 5th March to the 23d of May following were the Achilles of 64 Guns, the Syren of 32, the Zephyr of 30 Guns they arrived from Brest at the Cape of Good Hope the 17th January and sailed Margin Notes: Letters sent Falkland return to Europe & ca Letters received Secret Committee appointed Account given of the three Cruizers	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: The safe arrival of the Company's ships the Earl of Holdernesse and Delaware had brought in the Court's several letters of last season, except the duplicates sent on his Majesty's ship the Falkland, Captain Drake. Making the island on 13 May last, the Falkland fell in with three French cruisers about 15 leagues off and was chased by them. After exchanging some shot with the largest, and being anxious for the safety of the King's ship against so superior a force and doubtful whether the island might not be in enemy hands, Captain Drake bore away on 16 May and reached Portsmouth on 2 August last, when he returned the duplicates. 2: The Governor and Council's letters of 23 March, 15 July, 8 and 19 August and 8 September last had several reached the Court, with a separate one from the Governor dated 15 July. The requisite remarks on them, with the proper information for the island's guidance, would be given in the course of this letter by the Triton. 3: For the present year the Court had appointed Peter Godfrey chairman of the Court of Directors, John Boyd deputy chairman, and Henry Crabb Boulton and Charles Cutts to the secret committee. The Governor and Council were to obey the orders and instructions that these gentlemen, or any three of them, should think necessary to give for the security and preservation of the Company's shipping and estate, which had lately been so particularly yet ineffectually threatened at St Helena. 4: This led the Court to inform the Governor and Council that the three French ships which had cruised to windward of the island from 5 March to 23 May following were the Achilles of 64 guns, the Syren of 32 and the Zephyr of 30 guns. They had arrived from Brest at the Cape of Good Hope on 17 January and sailed thence Interpretations The loss of the duplicates shows the double-dispatch system working as designed even in failure. The Court sent each season's orders twice by different ships precisely so that one carrier's misadventure would not sever communication, and here the originals reached St Helena aboard the Company's own vessels while the Falkland's duplicates came home unopened, the redundancy preserving the correspondence though the King's ship was driven off before she could land them. The standing power lodged in the secret committee reveals how the Company concentrated wartime decisions in a few hands. Rather than await the full Court's deliberation at four months' remove, three named directors could issue binding orders for the defence of shipping and estate, and the Governor and Council were bound in advance to obey them, giving the island a rapid chain of command for a threat that ordinary correspondence was too slow to meet. The precise identification of the French squadron by name, gun and movement shows the intelligence value the Court placed on tracking enemy force. Knowing the Achilles, Syren and Zephyr had come from Brest by way of the Cape let the Company gauge the strength ranged against its homeward trade and the route by which it had arrived, information the island needed to judge the danger to shipping calling at its road. Speculations Captain Drake could have pressed on to land the duplicates at St Helena, his errand being to deliver them, yet faced with three cruisers and unable to tell whether the island had already fallen he bore away and carried the papers back to England. The detail that he doubted whether St Helena might be in enemy possession shows the choice turning on that uncertainty, Drake preferring to preserve the King's ship against a superior force over completing a delivery that might have run her under the guns of a captured port.
105	100	thence for their Station the 19th of February last, Our four early China Ships the Prince Henry, Hawke, Osterly and Tavistock saw, and were Chased by them from the 4th to the 6th of May, when by bearing away in the Night, they happily escaped, the Boscawen, and Fox, on the 15th of the same Month also fell in with them, and the next Day as fortunately got clear; these Ships put for the Bay of all Saints, where the former arrived the 24th May and the two latter the 6th June; and on the 9th following to our great misfortune came in there also the Enemys above three Ships, who seem intent in not quitting their Views on our Six Ships in the Bay, under this unfavourable situation Mr George Best the fourth Mate of the Prince Henry, with five Hands was dispatched in that Ships Long Boat the 5th July to give us an Account of it, the Crew having undergone great hardships left, and sunk the Boat, and were received on board the new York Sloop about 130 Leagues to the Westward of Cape Clear; that Sloop arrived at Belfast the 7th of October and Mr Best with his advices here, the 15th immediately whereupon the proper measures were pursued for extricating Our Ships from the Danger with which they are at present threatned. 5 The Long Boat which you fitted out under Mr Richard Bendys Command for cruizing to Windward, and giving Notice to our returning Ships of the hazard they were exposed to, fell into the Enemys hands the 16th April, and it is to be observed that though the End was not answered with the proposed success, yet the means were highly commendable and prudent The French Commodore had exchanged the Prisoners except Mr Bendys and a private Man; against others whom Captain Hume had received on board the Fox at Bengal. 6 The Crews of these three French Ships, We are given to understand were at the time of leaving their Station extreemly sickly in great want of salt Provisions, and all necessarys, and were reduced to an allowance of a Quart of Water a Man ẞ Day, these difficulties with the miscarriage Margin Notes: Six of the Companys Ships came at the Brazils & ca Mr Best sent to England in a Longboat & ca The Long Boat fitted out at St Helena taken & ca The Crews of the French Ships Sickly & ca	The three French ships had sailed for their station on 19 February last. The Company's four early China ships, the Prince Henry, Hawke, Osterley and Tavistock, saw them and were chased from 4 to 6 May, escaping happily by bearing away in the night. The Boscawen and Fox fell in with them on 15 May and got clear the next day. These ships put for the Bay of All Saints, where the first arrived on 24 May and the two latter on 6 June. On 9 June the enemy's three ships came in there also, seeming intent on not quitting their designs on the Company's six ships in the bay. In this unfavourable situation Mr George Best, fourth mate of the Prince Henry, was dispatched with five hands in that ship's longboat on 5 July to bring the Court an account of the matter. The crew, having undergone great hardships, lost and sank the boat and were received on board the New York sloop about 130 leagues west of Cape Clear. That sloop reached Belfast on 7 October, and Best delivered his advices to the Court on the 15th, whereupon the proper measures were at once pursued to extricate the Company's ships from the danger threatening them. 5: The longboat fitted out at St Helena under Mr Richard Bendy's command, to cruise to windward and warn the Company's returning ships of the hazard they faced, fell into the enemy's hands on 16 April. Though the object was not answered with the intended success, the means were highly commendable and prudent. The French commodore had exchanged the prisoners, except Mr Bendy and a privateersman, against others whom Captain Hume had received on board the Fox at Bengal. 6: The crews of the three French ships were, the Court understood, extremely sickly on leaving their station, in great want of salt provisions and all necessaries, and reduced to an allowance of a quart of water a man a day. These difficulties, with the miscarriage Interpretations The whole account traces how the Company learned of a threat half a world away and acted on it. Intelligence of the six ships trapped at the Bay of All Saints reached London only because a fourth mate crossed the Atlantic in an open longboat and survived a shipwreck to deliver it, the Court then setting relief in train the very day his advices arrived, which shows how far the defence of the homeward trade depended on the chance survival of a single messenger. Bendy's captured longboat illustrates the early-warning screen the island threw out for its returning fleets. A small craft was fitted at St Helena to patrol to windward and signal approaching Indiamen of the cruisers lying in wait, an expedient the Court judged sound even though the boat was taken, since the practice of warning ships before they blundered into the enemy was worth the risk of losing the picket. The report of the French crews' sickness and their quart-a-day water ration reveals the intelligence the Company gathered on enemy endurance. The state of an opposing squadron's health and supply told the Court how long the cruisers could keep the sea, so the detail was not incidental colour but a gauge of when the blockade of its ships might lift of its own accord. Speculations The trapped commanders at the Bay of All Saints could have kept all their men aboard against the enemy watching the bay, yet they chose to detach six of their own into a single longboat and send it across the open Atlantic to carry word home. The great hardships and the sinking of the boat show how desperate that expedient was, the masters judging that a warning reaching London mattered more than the hands it cost, and preferring to gamble six lives on an ocean crossing over waiting passively for the French to force the issue in the bay.
106	101	of their Enterprize; will We hope discourage their Repetition of it. It is necessary before We leave this Subject, to inform you that they visited all Ships Dutch, Danes, and Swedes, which they met with; and obliged them on their Word of Honour, under pretence of the Islands being blocked up, not to touch at it, or give you any information or Assistance. 7 It is material that you should be acquainted of the War being still carried on with great Vigour, in all parts and that it hath pleased God to bless His Majestys Arms with Signal Success, this has induced the Enemy to adopt a most desperate Scheme for the Execution of which they are bent on employing their utmost Efforts as their only method for retrieving the Reputation of their Arms, and the valuable acquisitions made from them by this Nation, It is an invasion of his Majestys Kingdoms they meditate, the great preparations for defeating the Enemys Designs, as well as to annoy them in every accessible Quarter, has found such full Employ for his Majestys Naval, and Land Forces, as to engage them almost wholly on this National object. The Levies for the Kings Troops are so numerous, and made with such Diligence and Attention by every practicable method, which can be suggested though great Numbers are still wanted, that we apprehend the utmost difficulties in procuring Recruits for our Own Settlements, however you may be assured of our best endeavours to supply you, with the Number You have advized to be wanting. 8 Besides the French Ships for India which We gave you Notice of in our Letter of the 23 of January last, about the 22 of March following the undermentioned Ships belonging to the Company Sailed from Port L'Orient for Pondicherry Le Massac pierced for 74 Guns mounted 26....12ers Le Duc De Charlos 60 24 Compagne de Indes 54 24 St Lue 24 18 The Duc De Charlos was taken the 27th March by his Majestys Ship Margin Notes: The French Ships examined the Foreign Ships & ca War still carried on with great Vigor & ca Great difficulties apprehended in getting Recruits French Ships sent to the East Indies	These difficulties, with the miscarriage of their enterprise, would, the Court hoped, discourage any repetition of it. Before leaving the subject the Court thought it material to add that the French had visited all Dutch, Danish and Swedish ships they met, and obliged them on their word of honour, on the pretence that the islands were blockaded, neither to touch there nor to give the Company any information or assistance. 7: The Governor and Council should know that the war was still carried on with great vigour in all parts, and that it had pleased God to bless his Majesty's arms with signal success. This had driven the enemy to a most desperate scheme, on which they were bent, straining every effort as their only means of retrieving the reputation of their arms and the valuable acquisitions this nation had made from them. What they meditated was an invasion of his Majesty's kingdoms. The great preparations for defeating the enemy's designs, and for harassing them in every accessible quarter, had found such full employ for his Majesty's naval and land forces as to engage them almost wholly on this national object. The levies for the King's troops were so numerous, and made with such diligence and by every practicable method, that great numbers were still wanting. The Court therefore expected the utmost difficulty in procuring recruits for the Company's own settlements. The Governor and Council might nonetheless rely on the Court's best endeavours to supply them with the number they had advised to be wanting. 8: Besides the French ships for India of which the Court had given notice in its letter of 23 January last, about 22 March following the ships below, belonging to their Company, sailed from Port L'Orient for Pondicherry. Le Massac, pierced for 74 guns, mounted 26, 12-pounders Le Duc de Choiseul, 60, mounted 24 Compagnie des Indes, 54, mounted 24 St Luc, 24, mounted 18 The Duc de Choiseul was taken on 27 March by his Majesty's ship Windsor. Interpretations The French move against neutral shipping shows commerce war waged through coercion as much as capture. By binding Dutch, Danish and Swedish masters on their honour to shun St Helena and withhold news, the enemy tried to isolate the island without firing on ships they had no right to seize, the false claim of a blockade serving to cut off the settlement's intelligence and supply from the neutral traffic that might otherwise have relieved it. The warning about recruits reveals how a threatened invasion of Britain drained men from the Company's distant garrisons. The Crown's levies had first call on available manpower, so the same national emergency that filled the King's regiments left the East India settlements short, and the Court could promise only its best efforts rather than the numbers St Helena had asked for, the island's defence competing directly with the defence of the home kingdoms. The distinction between a ship pierced for 74 guns and mounting only 26 exposed the true fighting strength behind a nominal rate. A vessel bored for more ports than she carried guns looked more formidable on paper than in action, so the Court's precise notation of pierced-for against mounted told the island how heavily each French Indiaman was actually armed, information that mattered for judging the danger to shipping in eastern waters. Speculations The Court could have passed over the neutral ships' undertaking as a detail of no use to St Helena, yet it set it down expressly so the Governor and Council would understand why help might not come from that quarter. Choosing to record the enemy's false blockade claim shows the Court preferring to arm the island with the reason for the neutrals' silence over leaving it to wonder, so that no Dutch, Danish or Swedish refusal of aid would be mistaken for anything but French coercion.
107	102	Windsor, her Cargo consisted of 60 Tons of Gun Powder; and other Stores. it does not appear that they had any Soldiers on board, but that the Crews of the three first, amounted to about 300 hundred Men each, and of the last to about 200. We are not apprized of any, or what Force, they have since sent or intend for the East Indies this Season; but their present Circumstances give us room to hope, they will fall greatly short in point of Strength, and Numbers to their former Armaments, and We confide in your Active and Resolute opposition, of all attempts they may make against you 9 The Ships taken up for Our Service this Season are Ships Tons Commanders Consigned to The Onslow 499 Thomas Hinde Coast and Bay Triton 499 Francis Harris St Helena and China Warwick 499 James Dewar Caernarvon 499 Nnton Hutchinson Fort St George & China Princess Augusta 499 Thomas Waddison Norfolk 499 Peason Bonham Duke of Richmond 499 Benjamin Godfrey Bencolen & China Royal Duke 499 Peter Pigou St Helena & Coast & Bay Latham 499 Lord Mansfield 499 Alexr Macleod Falmouth 499 James Dale Coast & Bay Prince Edward 499 James Haldane 499 Peter Lascelles Lord Anson 499 Edw Lord Chick Bombay Neptune 499 John Purling Sandwich 499 Andrew Quick 10 We also fitted out the Syren Snow, Burthen about 100 Tons carrying 26 Men; Captain Thomas Warner Commander for the Expedition conveyance of Early Advices to our Presidencies, on the performance thereof, and arrival at Bombay She is to be disposed of in such manner as shall appear most for the Companys interest Margin Notes: One of the French Ships taken by the Windsor & ca Ships taken up Syren Snow sent to Bombay	The Windsor took her, and her cargo consisted of 60 tons of gunpowder and other stores. The French appeared to have carried no soldiers on board, but the crews of the first three ships amounted to about 300 men each and that of the last to about 200. The Court was not informed of any further force the enemy had since sent or intended for the East Indies this season, but their present circumstances gave room to hope it would fall greatly short in strength and numbers of their former armaments. The Court relied on the island's active and resolute opposition to any attempt made against it. 9: The ships taken up for the Company's service this season were as follows. The Onslow, 499 tons, Thomas Hinde, consigned to Coast and Bay Triton, 499 tons, Francis Harris, consigned to St Helena and China Warwick, 499 tons, James Dewar Caernarvon, 499 tons, Newton Hutchinson, consigned to Fort St George and China Princess Augusta, 499 tons, Thomas Waddison Norfolk, 499 tons, Josson Bonham, consigned to Bencoolen and China Duke of Richmond, 499 tons, Benjamin Godfrey, consigned to Bencoolen and China Royal Duke, 499 tons, Peter Tigou, consigned to St Helena and Coast and Bay Latham, 499 tons Lord Mansfield, 499 tons, Alexander Macleod, consigned to Coast and Bay Falmouth, 499 tons, James Dale, consigned to Coast and Bay Prince Edward, 499 tons, James Haldane, consigned to Coast and Bay [...], 499 tons, Peter Lascelles, consigned to Coast and Bay Lord Anson, 499 tons, Edward Lord Chick, consigned to Bombay Neptune, 499 tons, John Durling, consigned to Bombay Sandwich, 499 tons, Andrew Quick, consigned to Bombay 10: The Court had also fitted out the Syren snow, of about 100 tons burden, carrying 26 men, Captain Thomas Warner commander, for the speedy conveyance of early advices to the Company's presidencies. On performing that service and arriving at Bombay she was to be disposed of in whatever manner should appear most for the Company's interest. Interpretations The uniform tonnage entered against every ship marks a legal fiction rather than a true measure. A vessel rated at 499 tons fell just under the 500-ton line at which heavier duties, larger crews or stricter manning rules took effect, so builders and owners registered Indiamen at this figure by convention, the repetition down the whole list showing the rate was a category for charter and regulation, not the actual burden of each hull. The consignment of each ship to a named destination reveals how the season's shipping was allotted across the Company's trade. Ships were directed to Coast and Bay for Madras and Bengal, to China for the tea traffic, or to Bombay and Bencoolen, so the schedule was in effect the year's deployment plan, fixing which vessels would call at St Helena on their appointed routes and when the island might expect them. The dispatch of the Syren snow as a fast advice-boat shows the premium the Company placed on speed of intelligence in wartime. A small, lightly manned craft carried nothing but news, running ahead of the laden Indiamen to warn the presidencies, and her disposal at Bombay once her errand was done shows she was fitted for the message rather than the cargo, an investment in early word rather than freight. Speculations The Court could have kept the Syren on the establishment as a permanent dispatch vessel once she reached the East, yet it directed that she be disposed of at Bombay in whatever way best served the Company's interest. The instruction to sell or reassign her on arrival shows the Court treating the fast passage of advices as the whole object and the snow herself as expendable after, preferring to realise her value at the far end over the cost of maintaining a standing express boat with no further errand.
108	103	Our Ship the Admiral Watson is also preparing for the Sea, of whose destination you will hereafter be informed in our subsequent Letters of this Season 12 The Times of the departure of Ships employed this, and the former Season and of the arrival of such as have or shall come in will be imparted to you in Lists to accompany our Packets, whereto you are of Course referred for the needful information 13 That your demands for Stores and other Articles This Year, may be fully complied with, We have consigned to you the Triton; and Royal Duke. You are to be diligent in discharging them within the Stipulated time; that they may prosecute their Voyages as expeditiously as possible, the former for Canton in China, and the Royal Duke for the Coast and Bay, and on their having deliverd their Goods consigned to you, the Commanders are to receive your sailing Orders accordingly. We hope to dispatch the latter by the middle of January. 14 You will observe by the Charterparties of the above two Ships, that We have come to a New Agreement this Season with the Owners for the Adjustment of and Payment for damages and Goods lost and undelivered, and that the amount of such damages and short Delivery, are not to be paid to Our Agents abroad, but by the Owners in London on demand, upon our producing a true Account of the Adjustment thereof by those to whom the Goods were consigned, although the Ships may be lost, or not return hither. And it is further agreed that the Owners shall not be charged with any Sum for Goods damaged, but such as shall by the Condition, of Appearance of the Package, or by some other Reasonable Proof appear to be Ship damage 15 You are accordingly in adjusting the Accounts of Damage, and Short Delivery, which the Consignments to St Helena may be Subject to, to be particularly careful in describing every Circumstance, for our information; as well as the Owners Satisfaction; by paying a Strict regard to the Letter, and meaning of the Clauses in Charterparty, on this point. And the Owners being accountable to Us, whether the Ship returns in safety, or not; You are, besides Margin Notes: Admiral Watson to be sent to India List of Ships to be sent in in the Packet Two Ships sent to St Helena this Season & ca New agreement with the Owners & ca a particular Account of Goods damaged & ca	11: The Company's ship the Admiral Watson was also preparing for sea, and the island would be told her destination in the Court's later letters of this season. 12: The times of departure of the ships employed this season and the former, and of the arrival of such as had come in or should come in, would be sent to the island in lists to accompany the Court's packets, to which the Governor and Council were referred for the needful information. 13: So that the island's demands for stores and other articles might be fully complied with this year, the Court had consigned to it the Triton and Royal Duke. The Governor and Council were to be diligent in discharging them within the stipulated time, so they might prosecute their voyages as speedily as possible, the Triton for Canton in China and the Royal Duke for the Coast and Bay. On delivering their goods the commanders were to receive their sailing orders accordingly. The Court hoped to dispatch the Royal Duke by the middle of January. 14: The charter parties of these two ships would show that the Court had come to a new agreement this season with the owners for settling and paying for damages and goods lost or undelivered. The amount of such damages and short delivery was not to be paid to the Company's agents abroad, but by the owners in London on demand, on production of a true account of the settlement made by those to whom the goods were consigned, even though the ship might be lost or never return. It was further agreed that the owners should be charged with no sum for damaged goods, except such as should appear to be ship damage by the condition or appearance of the package or by some other reasonable proof. 15: In settling the accounts of damage and short delivery to which consignments to St Helena might be subject, the Governor and Council were to be particularly careful in describing every circumstance, for the Court's information and the owners' satisfaction. They were to pay strict regard to the letter and meaning of the clauses in the charter party on this point. Since the owners were accountable to the Court whether the ship returned safely or not, the Governor and Council were besides Interpretations The new agreement moved the point of settlement for lost and damaged goods from the Company's agents abroad to the owners in London. Under the old arrangement claims were paid at the far end of the voyage, but the change made the London owners answerable on demand against a certified account, so the Company recovered from the shipowners at home rather than through its distant servants, tightening control over who bore the cost of goods that never arrived. The stipulation that owners paid even where the ship was lost or never returned shifted a real risk onto them. A vessel that sank still generated a liability for the goods she had failed to deliver, recoverable in London regardless of the hull's fate, so the owners could no longer escape a short-delivery claim by pointing to the loss of the ship itself, the obligation surviving the voyage that created it. The limit that owners answered only for damage shown to be ship damage protected them from claims for goods spoiled by other causes. By tying liability to the condition or appearance of the package or other reasonable proof, the agreement drew a line between harm done in carriage and harm from the nature of the goods, which is why the Court pressed the island to describe every circumstance of a damaged consignment so the cause could be fixed. Speculations The Court could have gone on settling damage claims through its agents abroad, the established practice, yet it negotiated a new agreement placing payment on the London owners against a certified account. The provision that the owners answered even for a ship lost or not returned shows the Court preferring to fix liability at home where it could enforce it, over leaving recovery to depend on distant servants and the uncertain fate of the vessel, and accepting the burden of documenting every claim precisely as the price of that surer redress.
109	104	the Account which is always to be sent by the Ship concerned, to forward two others by the next seperate Conveyance; drawn out at the time in the like manner, and firmed by the same Persons as the first, that they may to all intents and purposes be considerd as originals 16 There is also another new Clause added whereby We engage to pay the Owners for the passage of such Persons, who shall be ordered on board the Ships by the Companys Agents, at any of their Settlements, estimating the Foreign Currency at the Rate allowed in Exchange to the Companys Covenant Servants, Wherefore in the Shipping of each such Passenger by your Order, or before the Ships Departure from St Helena, You are to pay the Commanders five pounds a head, observing that no allowance is to be made, for such Seamen, or other Persons, who by Virtue of an Agreement in Charterparty, shall be put on board, to make up the Ships Compliment of Men, or for such Passenger whom it is also agreed shall be brought home; without any allowance to be made for the same 17 The Owners of the Triton; at their particular desire; have a Liberty by Charterparty to pay the value of their Damage or Deficiencies at the Port of Delivery if demanded, therefore the Clause in that Ships Charterparty, to which a particular Attention is to be had, must govern in this Case. 18 The Owners of the Shipping employed in our Service complaining they have frequently been obliged to pay Wages to Persons, who have been ordered on board as passengers, only under pretence of their having assisted in navigating the Ships, when it has appeared they have scarcely been engaged in any part of the Ships Business, in order to prevent any demands of this kind in future; You are hereby directed to cause each Passenger you order, or permit to proceed to England, on any of our Ships, to sign an Instrument before he embarks, that he will not demand any Wages for the Voyage home, and you are to transmit the Instrument in the Packet of the same Ship, wherein the Passenger concerned proceeds. Margin Notes: Another new Clause added to the Charterparty & ca £5 a head to be paid the Commanders Owners of the Triton liberty to pay & ca Owners complain of paying Wages to Persons who have been ordered on board as Passengers & ca	The account, always to be sent by the ship concerned, was to be followed by two others drawn out at the time in the same manner and signed by the same persons as the first, so that they might to all intents and purposes be considered originals. 16: Another new clause had been added, by which the Court engaged to pay the owners for the passage of any persons ordered on board the ships by the Company's agents at any of its settlements, estimating the foreign currency at the rate allowed in the Company's covenant to its servants. When any such passenger was shipped by the island's order, before the ship left St Helena the Governor and Council were to pay the commander £5 a head. No allowance was to be made for seamen or others put on board under an agreement in the charter party to make up the ship's complement of men, or for passengers who were also agreed to be brought home without any allowance for the same. 17: The owners of the Triton, at their particular desire, had liberty by charter party to pay the value of their damages or deficiencies at the port of delivery if demanded. The clause in that ship's charter party, to which particular attention was to be given, would therefore govern in her case. 18: The owners of the shipping employed in the Company's service complained that they had frequently been obliged to pay wages to persons ordered on board as passengers, only on the pretence of their having assisted in navigating the ships, when it appeared they had scarcely been engaged in any part of the ship's business. To prevent any such demands in future, the Governor and Council were directed to have each passenger they ordered or allowed to proceed to England on any Company ship sign an instrument before embarking, undertaking to demand no wages for the voyage home. The instrument was to be sent home in the packet of the same ship on which the passenger sailed. Interpretations The triple copies of the account, each signed as an original and sent by separate conveyance, guarded a financial record against loss at sea. With one copy travelling on the ship concerned and two more following by other passages, a claim could still be proved in London though any single carrier was taken or wrecked, the redundancy applying to the paperwork of settlement the same principle the Company used for its correspondence. The £5 head charge and its exclusions drew a sharp line between passengers the owners must be paid for and those they carried under their existing bargain. Men shipped to complete the crew, or passengers the charter already required to be brought home free, fell outside the payment, so the allowance answered only for extra persons the Company's agents put aboard beyond the contracted complement, the currency conversion clause ensuring the sum held its value wherever the passenger embarked. The signed undertaking against wage claims closed a loophole the shipowners had complained of. Passengers had been extracting pay by claiming to have worked the ship when they had done little, so requiring each to renounce wages in writing before sailing, with the instrument sent home for proof, converted an oral dispute into a documented waiver, protecting the owners from demands dressed up as seamen's earnings. Speculations The Court could have met the owners' complaint by simply forbidding passengers to claim wages, yet it chose to require a signed instrument from each before embarking and to have it sent home in the same ship's packet. Demanding a written waiver rather than resting on a general rule shows the Court preferring documented proof it could produce against any later demand, over a prohibition that would leave each disputed claim to be argued on the passenger's word, and accepting the clerical burden of an instrument per passenger as the price of shutting the question in advance.
110	105	19 The intelligence and advices with respect to our Shipping and Affairs in general communicated in your Letters have been very full, and explicit, except in the omission in your Letter of the 8th of August, of the Passengers on board four Ships this which the Admiral Watson left at the Island, and those on that Ship, We shall however rely on your continuing to give us the most particular and early information of all Occurrences 20 You will observe from the disposition of our Tonnage this Season, that no Ship will be dispatched directly home from the West Coast for the future, the produce thereof being assigned for the carrying on our China Trade, Which We mention, that You may take the necessary measures for the Islands being furnished by the way of Fort St George, or Elsewhere, with the Quantity of Sugar of the West Coast produce, which it may stand in need of, Our China Supracargoes will have the necessary orders for supplying your demand from thence 21 A Standing Permission has been granted for supplying this Island with the Boats which may be really requisite, for its use, from the returning Ships, and We take it for granted you will accordingly repair your loss of that, which was sent to cruize to Windward and taken by the French 22 Notwithstanding the restriction in our Letter of the 15th of October 1749 if upon the arrival of any of our returning Supra Cargoes with you a neutral Ship or Ships, shall beat the Island, We have permitted one, or two, to proceed on such Ship or Ships to the Ports they are designed for in Europe, and from thence make the best of their way hither, to give us and early Account of their proceedings that We may be timely enabled to form our instructions, and Dispatches for the Ships of the following Season. 23 Our Intentions are by this Ship, and the Royal Duke; to put your Storehouse in a condition to answer all exigencies, with this view, We have put on board them of Beef and Pork, One hundred and fifty Casks each, as several Ships may arrive with you next Season; but remember That which has been longest on hand be first used, and for the same Reason; One hundred Casks of Flowr more than you intended for, As you have been disappointed of the usual Supplies of Arrack by some of Margin Notes: The intelligence given Satisfaction 8 to be continued No Ships to be sent directly home from the West Coast & ca long Boats to be bought of the same Some of the Supra Cargoes permitted to take Passage on board of Neutral Ships Provisions sent & ca	19: The intelligence and advices about the Company's shipping and affairs in general, sent in the island's letters, had been very full and explicit, except for the omission in the letter of 8 August of the passengers on board the four ships the Admiral Watson left at the island and those on that ship. The Court would nonetheless rely on the Governor and Council to continue giving the most particular and early information of all occurrences. 20: The Governor and Council would see from the disposition of the Court's tonnage this season that no ship would in future be sent directly home from the west coast, its produce being assigned to carry on the China trade. So the island might take the necessary measures to be supplied by way of Fort St George or elsewhere with the quantity of sugar of the west coast produce it might need. The Court's supercargoes in China would have the necessary orders to supply that demand from thence. 21: A standing permission had been granted to supply the island with such boats as might really be needed for its use from the returning ships. The Court took it for granted the Governor and Council would accordingly repair their loss of the boat sent to cruise to windward and taken by the French. 22: Notwithstanding the restriction in the Court's letter of 15 October 1749, should any of the Company's returning supercargoes arrive at the island in a neutral ship or ships, the Court had permitted one or two to proceed on such ships to the ports in Europe they were designed for, and thence make the best of their way home. This was so the Court might have early account of their proceedings, and be timely enabled to form its instructions and dispatches for the ships of the following season. 23: The Court's intention by this ship, and the Royal Duke, was to put the island's storehouses in a condition to answer every need. To that end it had put on board 150 casks each of beef and pork, since several ships might arrive with the island next season. That which had been longest on hand was to be used first, and for the same reason 100 casks more of flour than the island had asked for. Since the island had been disappointed of its usual supplies of arrack by some Interpretations The end of direct sailings from the west coast shows the China trade taking priority over the older homeward route. The produce of the western settlements was now needed to fund the purchase of tea at Canton rather than to freight ships home, so St Helena had to draw its sugar through Fort St George instead, the change in shipping policy reaching down to alter how a way-station on the Atlantic obtained a single commodity. The standing permission to replace boats from returning ships gave the island a self-repairing supply of small craft. Rather than await a purpose-sent replacement for the picket lost to the French, the Governor and Council could take what they needed from any homeward Indiaman, so the loss of a cruising boat need not leave the island short while a request crossed to London and back. The relaxation of the 1749 restriction to let supercargoes travel home on neutral ships reveals how the Court valued early commercial intelligence over its own rule. A returning supercargo carried a season's account of the China trade, and getting that report to London ahead of the fleet let the Court frame the next year's instructions in good time, a benefit judged worth breaching the standing bar on servants taking passage in foreign bottoms. The instruction to issue the oldest provisions first shows the routine management of a perishable reserve. Salt beef, pork and flour held in the island's storehouses spoiled with age, so rotating the stock by consuming the longest-held casks before the newly landed ones guarded against waste, a matter of ordinary stores discipline given force by the number of ships expected to draw on the magazine. Speculations The Court had bound its returning supercargoes by the restriction of 15 October 1749 and could have held them to it, yet it now permitted one or two to come home on neutral ships against that standing rule. The stated reason, that early account of their proceedings would let the Court frame next season's instructions in time, shows it preferring the value of prompt intelligence over the consistency of its own order, and willing to make a named exception rather than wait for the season's fleet to bring the supercargoes and their reports together.
111	106	the homeward bound Ships not touching at the Island, We have Ordered Sixteen hundred Gallons of French prize Brandy, to be shipped on the Triton, & Royal Duke for your use. 24 That part of your Indent for Gunners, and Garrison Stores, We hope will be fully Complied with, having given the necessary Directions to that end, excepting for the Platform Beds for the Howitzers, these are never used in his Majestys Service, the Howitzer being always fired from its Carriag 25 We have likewise ordered the Provisions of the other Articles nearly agreeably to your Indent, the Invoices and Bills of Lading in the respective Packets of the two Ships, will afford you a more particular Account of the whole Consignment to you 26 The Timber, and Plank, for the Construction of a New Drawbridge with some Deals, which were returned from the Ship Delaware, are now directed to be sent you on the Triton 27 The small Arms intended for Our several Settlements are ordered to have the Companys Marks engraved on the Barrels, Locks and Bayonets, and the pieces to be numbered in future. 28 Although you had before given us reason to expect You might have spared some Gunpowder for the Service of Fort Marlborough, yet as you assure us under the 8th of August, that you had not more than would Compleat the Garrison, with the usual necessary rounds, which on the 11th of Aprel last We find to be upwards of Six hundred and seventy Barrels, We cannot be Agree in your forbearing to have sent any thither 29 For the same Reasons which were intimated last Year, Four Chests of Claret will be sent in equal proportions by the Triton, and Royal Duke; the the recommendations then given are urged to your observance in respect to this Quantity. 30 All Goods liable to become of no value, by decay or damage, should be put up to public Sale for the most they will Yield, a strict Survey being Margin Notes: French Brandy sent Gunners and Garrison Stores sent Other Stores sent & ca Timber sent for a New Draw Bridge Small arms sent & ca Satisfied that no Gun Powder was sent to Fort Marlborough Claret sent	Since the homeward-bound ships had not touched at the island, the Court had ordered 1,600 gallons of French prize brandy to be shipped on the Triton and Royal Duke for the island's use. 24: The part of the island's indent for gunners' and garrison stores would, the Court hoped, be fully complied with, the necessary directions having been given, except for the platform beds for the howitzers. These were no longer used in his Majesty's service, the howitzer being always fired from its carriage. 25: The Court had likewise ordered the provisions of the other articles nearly agreeable to the indent. The invoices and bills of lading in the respective packets of the two ships would give a more particular account of the whole consignment. 26: The timber and plank for building a new drawbridge, with some deals returned from the ship Delaware, were now directed to be sent on the Triton. 27: The small arms intended for the Company's several settlements were ordered to have the Company's marks engraved on the barrels, locks and bayonets, and the pieces to be numbered in future. 28: Although the island had before given the Court reason to expect it might have spared some gunpowder for Fort Marlborough's service, its letter of 8 August assured the Court it had no more than would complete the garrison with the usual necessary rounds. That stock, on 11 April last, the Court found to be upwards of 670 barrels, so it could not agree to the island forbearing to send any thither. 29: For the same reasons intimated last year, four chests of claret would be sent in equal proportions by the Triton and Royal Duke. The recommendations then given were pressed on the Governor and Council's observance as to this quantity. 30: All goods liable to become of no value through decay or damage should be put up to public sale for the most they would yield, a strict survey being first Interpretations The howitzer platform beds show the Court correcting the island's requisition against current military practice. The island had ordered a fitting that had gone out of use, since the howitzer was now fired from its carriage rather than a fixed bed, so the Court struck the item and explained why, the exchange revealing how ordnance methods had moved on faster than the distant garrison's standing lists. The engraving of the Company's marks and the numbering of every piece built a system of accountability for weapons. Marked barrels, locks and bayonets could be identified as Company property and traced if lost, stolen or sold, so the order turned each firearm into a registered article, tightening control over the arms distributed across scattered settlements where informal disposal was otherwise hard to detect. The gunpowder dispute exposes the Court checking a subordinate's plea against its own records. The island claimed it could spare none, but the Court held a return showing upwards of 670 barrels in store on 11 April, so it overrode the refusal on the strength of the figure, an instance of the central body using written stock accounts to discipline a settlement's account of its own resources. The direction to sell decaying goods by public sale after survey shows the Company salvaging value from stock it could not preserve. Rather than let perishable articles waste to nothing, a survey fixed their condition and a public auction realised what the market would give, converting goods otherwise lost into cash and setting an official record of their state before disposal. Speculations The island had claimed it could spare no gunpowder for Fort Marlborough, and the Court could have accepted that assurance from the men on the spot. Instead it set the plea against its own return of 11 April showing upwards of 670 barrels and refused to let the island withhold a supply. The choice to govern by the recorded figure over the local judgement shows the Court trusting its stock account against the settlement's word, and preferring to compel the transfer rather than leave Fort Marlborough short on the strength of a claim the numbers did not bear out.
112	107	previously made, and you thoroughly satisfied by a faithful Report thereof, that they are in a perishable Condition; if such should really be the Case of the Camblet mentioned in your Letter of the 15th of July, it is left to you to act accordingly 31 The Prohibition of the exportation of Corn Flour, and other Articles, being taken off in the last Session of Parliament, it will needless for you to transmit to us the like Certificates, in respect to the Flour now consigned to you, which we have for two Years past directed to be sent 32 That you may furnish our Cash with a Sum adequate to your real Occasions only, We permit you take one or two Chests of Treasure out of this Ship, but it is hoped one will be sufficient, and that you will forbear taking even that, without an evident necessity, You are to give the Commander a Reciept for what shall be delivered, and to transmit the proper advices thereof to Our Council in China 33 For Reasons given in the 21th Paragraph of your Letter of the 8th of August, We admit for the present, continuance to the Civil and Military Officers of this Indulgence You last Year granted them, in receiving Beef and Pork from Our Stores at Two shillings a Piece, being the same Rate whereat it is delivered to the Soldiers, provided it may be made appear to you, that what is issued shall be for their own use only, and depending on your Care, that the Loss which shall be thereby occasioned, may be fully repaired by the gain which you describe arises on the Article of Flour. 34 We are uneasy at understanding from your Letter of the 8th of August, that the Country and Cattle, for want of Rain were not in that Condition your preceeding advices had represented them; it is to be hoped a more favourable Season ensued, whereby the Plantations and Pastures recovered their former flourishing Situation, the Importance of the Object to that Island always excites us to share with you in a Concern for the failure of the Seasons, though We were well assured of your promoting according to our repeated Recommendations, as far as in you lays, the increase of Stock of all kinds for the mutual Benefit of all concerned in furnishing the Shipping, which have recours to you for Refreshments. Margin Notes: Damaged Goods to be Sold & ca No Certificates of Flour to be sent Permitted to take two Chests of Treasure Salt Provisions to be served out of the Stores at 2/ a Piece & ca The Country & ca were in a bad condition & ca	A strict survey being first made, and the Governor and Council thoroughly satisfied by a faithful report that the goods were in a perishable condition. Should this be the case with the camlet mentioned in the island's letter of 15 July, it was left to the Governor and Council to act accordingly. 31: The prohibition on exporting corn, flour and other articles having been taken off in the last session of Parliament, it would be needless for the island to send home the like certificates for the flour now consigned to it, which the Court had for two years past directed to be sent. 32: So the island might supply the Company's cash with a sum adequate only to its real occasions, the Court permitted it to take one or two chests of treasure out of this ship, though one, it was hoped, would suffice. The Governor and Council were to forbear taking even that without evident necessity. They were to give the commander a receipt for what should be delivered, and to send the proper advices of it to the Company's council in China. 33: For the reasons given in the 21st paragraph of the island's letter of 8 August, the Court admitted for the present the continuance to the civil and military officers of the indulgence granted them last year, of receiving beef and pork from the Company's stores at 2s a piece, the same rate at which it was delivered to the soldiers. This was provided it could be shown that what was issued was for their own use only, and depending on the Governor and Council's care that the loss so caused might be fully repaired by the gain arising on the article of flour. 34: The Court was uneasy to learn from the island's letter of 8 August that the country and cattle, for want of rain, were not in the condition its earlier advices had reported. A more favourable season had, it was hoped, since ensued, restoring the plantations and pastures to their former flourishing state. The importance of the island always moved the Court to share the island's concern at the failure of the seasons, though it was well assured of the Governor and Council promoting, as far as in them lay, the increase of stock of all kinds. This was for the mutual benefit of all concerned in furnishing the shipping which had recourse to the island for refreshments. Interpretations The lifting of the corn prohibition removed a piece of paperwork the island had carried for two years. Export of grain from Britain had required certificates while the ban was in force, so with Parliament repealing it the flour now sent needed no such documents, the change in home legislation directly ending an administrative burden at a settlement thousands of miles away. The tight control over drawing treasure shows the Company guarding its specie against unnecessary use. Chests of bullion were the means of buying goods in the East, so the island was to take only what real necessity required, give a receipt and advise the China council, keeping the movement of treasure documented and answerable rather than let a remote settlement draw on it freely. The subsidised meat for the officers reveals a controlled privilege balanced against a compensating gain. Civil and military officers were allowed beef and pork at the soldiers' rate, a concession that cost the Company on those articles, but only on condition the loss was recouped from the profit on flour, so the indulgence was permitted as part of a wider reckoning rather than as an unconditional benefit, and guarded against abuse by the requirement that the meat serve the officers' own use alone. The concern over rain and cattle exposes how the island's whole value rested on its pastures. St Helena existed to refresh the Company's shipping, and a failed season that thinned the herds threatened the meat and produce the calling ships depended on, so a drought was not a local misfortune but a strategic one, which is why the Court pressed so steadily for the increase of stock of every kind. Speculations The Court could have withdrawn the officers' cheap meat once it saw the concession ran the Company at a loss on beef and pork, yet it continued the indulgence for the present on the strength of the island's argument in its 8 August letter. The condition that the loss be repaired by the gain on flour shows the Court preferring to preserve the officers' privilege by tying it to a compensating profit, over cancelling it outright, and treating the two articles as a single account so a benefit worth keeping could be paid for from within the stores rather than abandoned.
113	108	35 The two Soldiers Legatees and Executors to John Bourgan, who formerly renounced their Title to any other of their Effects of the deceased, than he should die possessed of on the Island acknowledging that the General Bequest to them John Bourgan was a Misunderstanding in the Writer of the Will, and that it was not the Testators intention, to invalidate any former Will, appear if the deceased had After his death to have acted a Generous part and to be Worthy encouragement 36 Considering how particularly the Enemy appears to have fixed their attention towards our Estate in your parts, taking all the precautions that can be possibly thought of for rendering their attempts ineffectual are none more than ever necessary, the full Power you have been invested with for an Effective Detention of, or additions of new Works still subsists, and We do rely under a good part, we no doubt, of your continuance of that Commendable Activity and Vigilance of Defence, which was exercised while you were alarmed by the French Cruizers, and it seems would have actuated you in making the most Vigorous defence, in case the Island, or Shipping in the Road, had been attacked by them 37 This Ship according to your demands will bring you Thirty Recruits for the Service of the Garrison, the enclosed List will give you the further particulars concerning them. 38 We look upon the maintenance of a strict Military Discipline in the present Conjuncture; as indespensibly requisite, and that an infraction of, should pass unnoticed, Wherefore We cannot but applaud your just Consure and Suspension for two Months, from his Pay and Duty of Lieutenant Samuel Bruce, for his great neglect of Yode Orders in not conforming, and repeating Thomas Dunn a Soldier for grossly insulting him when he was Officer on Guard, and We hope this example will have its Effect, but it is further to be observed, that from the face of your Consultation, if this Dunn was the Marshe seems to have been a very improper one for an Employ in your Secretarys Office. Margin Notes: Legatees to John Bourgan Act a generous part & ca The Island to be kept in a good posture of Defence new Works Erected if necessary & ca 30 Recruits sent A strict Military Discipline to be kept & ca	35: The two soldiers who were legatees and executors to John Morgan had formerly renounced any claim to the rest of the deceased's effects, should he die possessed of any on the island. They now acknowledged that the general bequest to them was a misunderstanding in the writing of the will, and that no invalidating of any later will should appear if the deceased had after his death. The Court held that these men had acted a generous part and were worthy of encouragement. 36: Considering how particularly the enemy appeared to have fixed their attention on the Company's estate at St Helena, taking every precaution that could be thought of to render their attempts ineffectual was more than ever necessary. The full power the Governor and Council had been invested with, for an effective defence, should additions of new works still be found needed, was continued to them. The Court had no doubt of their continuing that commendable activity and vigilance which they had shown while alarmed by the French cruisers, and which, it seemed, would have moved them to the most vigorous defence had the island or the shipping in the road been attacked. 37: This ship, according to the island's demands, would bring 30 recruits for the service of the garrison. The enclosed list would give further particulars concerning them. 38: The Court looked on the maintenance of a strict military discipline in the present conjuncture as indispensably necessary, and would not fail to approve the island's just conduct should any infraction of it occur. It therefore approved the confinement and suspension for two months from his pay and duty of Lieutenant Samuel Bree, for his great neglect of good order in not conforming to and reporting to Thomas Dunn, a soldier, for grossly insulting him when he was officer on guard. The Court hoped this example would have its effect. It was further to be observed that, from the face of the island's own consultation, this Dunn, who seemed to have been the marshal, was a very improper man for employment in the secretary's office. Interpretations The executors' renunciation shows the Court policing the administration of a dead man's estate against a drafting error. A general bequest wrongly worded in John Morgan's will could have carried more of his property to the two soldiers than intended, so their acknowledgement that it was a mistake protected any valid later will, and the Court's praise marked its interest in seeing estates on the island settled honestly rather than exploited through a slip of the pen. The continued grant of full defensive powers reveals how far the Court devolved wartime authority to men on the spot. Building new works and mounting a defence could not wait on orders from London at four months' distance, so the Governor and Council held standing power to act as the threat required, the Court reserving to itself only the approval of a conduct it could not direct in time. The Bree case exposes the chain of discipline the Court expected to hold even against rank. A lieutenant who failed to deal with a soldier's insult while officer of the guard, and who neglected to report it, was himself confined and docked, so the fault lay not in suffering the insult but in breaking the procedure for handling it, the punishment enforcing that an officer's duty ran to upholding the forms of discipline regardless of the offender's station. Speculations The island had employed Thomas Dunn in the secretary's office while he also served as marshal, and the Court could have let the two roles stand together. Instead, reading the island's own account of Dunn insulting the officer of the guard, it judged him unfit for the secretarial post and said so. The choice to draw a conclusion about his employment from the discipline record shows the Court treating conduct in one capacity as disqualifying in another, preferring to strip an unsuitable man from a position of trust over leaving him there once his character had shown itself on the page.
114	109	39 Beside the motives which required Mr Adamsons dismission, his behaviour mentioned in your Letter of the 8th of August, confirms how unworthy he was of that Station he held in our Service; his requiring Copys of Our Letters and Consultations in the manner related and denial of his having them, though unjustifiably, was by no means to be compared with that offensive Embezzlement and Sale of some Furniture, and old Iron, Our property he should have been obliged to have produced the Papers, and paid for the other Articles, What is further to be remarked on this disagreeable Subject, is the impropriety of suffering Copys of Our Registers, to go abroad, without the privity of the Council, or the Governors Orders, and that there seems an Omission in the Officer with is how the Account rendred, of what Furniture, or other particulars Mr Adams on was entrusted with, belonging to us, and these would have been more certainly secured by Inventories mutually signed, and held by each Party, and these in future it must be a constant Rule with you, to exchange with such as hold any part of our property. 40 Convinced of the good Character; and valuable Services Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick has rendered us, as well as of his being entirely blameless in respect of the Plans he had proved to be drawn of the Works of that Island We have at the Governors instance, thought proper to replace Mr Kirkpatrick, and do accordingly direct that he be restored to his Rank, and Station, in our Military Service, on your Establishment; that his pay and allowances be continued to him from the Time of his dismission; and that on his arrival with you, he be paid one hundred pounds to defray the Charges of his repairing hither, and return to his Post, which We have ordered him to make on the Triton, And We further direct that Lieutenant Kirkpatrick, on the Death or Absence of Lieutenant John Clarke, do succeed in the Council, and be stationed next, under Mr Matthew Pirling Margin Notes: Mr Adamsons behavior censured all Persons intrusted with the Companys property to Sign Invent & ca Mr Kirkpatrick replaced & ca And to Succeed to the Council & ca	39: Besides the reasons that had required Mr Adamson's dismissal, his behaviour mentioned in the island's letter of 8 August confirmed how unworthy he was of the post he had held in the Company's service. His demanding copies of the Court's letters and consultations in the manner related, and his denial of having them, though quite unjustifiable, was by no means to be compared with his offensive embezzlement and sale of some furniture and old iron, the Company's property. He should have been obliged to produce the papers and to pay for the other articles. What was further to be remarked on this disagreeable subject was the impropriety of allowing copies of the Court's registers to go abroad without the privacy of the council or the Governor's orders. There seemed also an omission in the officer with whom the account rested, of what furniture or other particulars Mr Adamson was entrusted with belonging to the Company. These would have been more certainly secured by inventories mutually signed and held by each party. For the future it was to be a constant rule with the island to exchange such an inventory with any person who held any part of the Company's property. 40: Convinced of the good character and valuable services Lieutenant Thomas Kirkpatrick had rendered the Company, and of his being entirely blameless in respect of the plans he had proved to have been drawn of the island's works, the Court had at the Governor's instance thought proper to reinstate him. It accordingly directed that he be restored to his rank and station in the Company's military service on the establishment, that his pay and allowances be continued to him from the time of his dismissal, and that on his arrival with the island he be paid £100 to defray the charges of his coming out and returning to his post, which the Court had ordered him to make on the Prince [...]. The Court further directed that, on the death or absence of Lieutenant John Clark, Kirkpatrick should succeed in the council and be stationed next under Mr Matthew Stirling. Interpretations The Adamson case sets a straightforward theft of Company property beside a breach of information security, and treats the second as the graver institutional failing. Selling furniture and old iron was a matter to be made good in cash, but letting copies of the Court's registers and consultations pass out of hand without the council's authority exposed the Company's confidential correspondence, so the remedy was not merely restitution but a new standing rule on how records and goods alike were to be safeguarded. The signed inventory made a rule from the Adamson failure shows the Court building procedure out of a single abuse. Because no mutually held account fixed what furniture Adamson had been entrusted with, his misappropriation was hard to prove, so the Court required that every person holding Company property sign a matching inventory kept by both sides, converting a lesson into a permanent control against the next dishonest servant. Kirkpatrick's reinstatement reveals how the Court corrected an injustice once a man was cleared. He had been dismissed over the drawn plans of the island's works but was found blameless, so the Court restored his rank, backdated his pay to the date of dismissal and funded his return, the full restitution of standing and money showing that a servant wrongly punished was to be made whole rather than merely forgiven. Speculations The Court could have restored Kirkpatrick to his post and let his pay run from his reinstatement, the ordinary course for a man returning to service. Instead it directed that his pay and allowances be continued from the very date of his dismissal and gave him £100 for his passage out and back. The choice to backdate the whole period he had been wrongly out shows the Court treating the dismissal as void rather than merely ended, preferring to erase the loss its own error had caused over simply resuming him, once it was satisfied he had been blameless in the matter of the plans.
115	110	41 Since you had our permission to appoint an additional Lieut to each Company, which to the Time of their departure of the Admiral Watson, had not been made use of. We have observed you have added an extraordinary Sergeant, and Corporal to each of the four Companys, this Charge must be submitted to, in consideration of the necessity of the measure, as represented in your Consultation of the 12th of February, and must have become more requisite on the appearance of the Enemy 42 Under the present Circumstances of the Continuance of the War, and for the Encouragement of the Officers of Our Military, We do constitute the four first Lieutenants of the four Companys of Infantry at our Island St Helena Captains thereof respectively with the pay of Ten Shillings pr day each in full for Diet & House Rent, to commence from the arrival of the Ship Triton at Island, and We do appoint the Governor as usual, to commission them accordingly. 43 On the Representation that your Secretarys Office has now one Person less in it than usual, and that another hand is requisite to carry on the Business there in a correct manner; We permit you to entertain a Youth from among the Inhabitants, of such Capacity and diligence, you shall be well assured as a Writer in that Office, on the usual Terms, for We entirely disapprove of the Soldiery having any thing to do there 44 We shall accept of the apology made by the Secretary, and excuse the mistakes made with regard to the Bills drawn in 1758 depending on a more exact performance of his promises than is instanced in the Non advice in your Letters of a Bill drawn the 16th April last, for One hundred pounds to the order of Henry Hinde 45 The Endorsement of Ten pounds of a Bill for one hundred and fifteen pounds from Fort St George, payable to Edward Biggs was very irregular, which We mention that you may avoid so unprecedented a transaction in future Margin Notes: Observed that a Sergeant & Corporal is added to the four Companys Captains appointed Permission to entertain a Writer Secretarys Apology accepted Endorsement irregular	41: Since the island had the Court's permission to appoint an additional lieutenant to each company, which had not been acted on before the Admiral Watson left, the Court observed that the Governor and Council had added an extraordinary sergeant and corporal to each of the four companies. This charge must be submitted to, given the necessity of the measure as set out in the consultation of 12 February, which must have become more needful on the appearance of the enemy. 42: In the present circumstances of the war's continuance, and to encourage the officers of the Company's military, the Court constituted the four first lieutenants of the four companies of infantry at St Helena captains of those companies respectively, with the pay of 10s a day each in full for diet and house rent, to begin from the arrival of the Triton at the island. The Governor was appointed, as usual, to commission them accordingly. 43: On the representation that the secretary's office now had one person fewer than usual, and that another hand was needed to carry on the business there correctly, the Court permitted the island to take a youth from among the inhabitants, of whose capacity and diligence it should be well assured, as a writer in that office on the usual terms. The Court entirely disapproved of the soldiers having anything to do there. 44: The Court would accept the apology made by the secretary, and excuse the mistakes made over the bills drawn in 1758, depending on a more exact performance of his promises than was instanced in the non-advice, in the island's letters, of a bill drawn on 16 April last for £100 to the order of Henry Hinde. 45: The endorsement of £10 off a bill for £115 from Fort St George, payable to Edward Biggs, was very irregular. The Court mentioned it so the island might avoid so unprecedented a transaction in future. Interpretations The Court's grudging acceptance of the extra sergeants and corporals shows the limits of a distant authority's control over spending it had not sanctioned. The island had gone beyond its permission, adding non-commissioned men to each company, but with the enemy in sight and the measure argued in a recorded consultation the Court had little choice but to absorb the charge, its language marking that it submitted to the cost rather than approving the initiative. The promotion of lieutenants to captains at a fixed 10s a day for diet and house rent reveals how the Company rewarded its officers through consolidated allowances rather than separate grants. The single daily sum covered pay, board and quarters together, so the advance in rank came with a defined all-in rate beginning on a named ship's arrival, tying the reward to the wartime need to keep the garrison's officers content. The bar on soldiers working in the secretary's office draws a firm line between military and clerical functions. Confidential records had already leaked through Adamson, and the Court now insisted the office be staffed by a trustworthy civilian youth rather than soldiers, keeping the handling of the Company's papers away from the garrison and within a controlled civil establishment. The £10 endorsement off a £115 bill exposes the Court policing the integrity of its bills of exchange. Splitting a fixed sum by endorsing part of it away broke the convention that a bill passed whole, so the Court flagged the Fort St George transaction as irregular and unprecedented, guarding the reliability of the paper instruments on which its inter-settlement finance depended. Speculations The Court could have refused the charge for the extra sergeants and corporals the island had added without leave, since they exceeded the permission actually granted. Instead it submitted to the cost, pointing to the necessity argued in the consultation of 12 February and the appearance of the enemy. The choice to absorb unauthorised spending over disallowing it shows the Court letting wartime danger override its own rule on prior sanction, preferring to back the men on the spot who had strengthened the garrison than to penalise a measure that events had proved prudent.
116	111	47 In the instance of Captain Mears paying you One thousand Pounds without receiving your draughts upon Us, for the Amount he had laid himself under difficulties with the Representatives of the deceased Persons, on whose behalf he Acted, wherefore on such an occasion hereafter; if you are, or think you shall be in want of Money, it would please Us better, that you grant Bills for such Sums, than take any Treasure out of the Ships, which touch at the Island outward bound, and with respect to this particular Sum as appears to be deposited at the Risque of the Heirs of the deceased, and expressly for Bills of Exchange We do not see how it can be otherwise Paid, and even the Bills ought to be drawn for payment Conditionally, on his delivering up your Reciept, or the acquittance for the Sum will not be Compleat 48 The three French Cruizers which we informed you had locked up our returning China Ships in the Bay of All Saints, arrived the beginning of November at Brest, having left the Bay and Our Ships there about the middle of August last London 7th Decr 1759 We are Your Loving Friends G Rooke Pr Godfrey Rich Smith John Boyd John Raymond Hh Crabb Boulton Jacob BerangBut Cha Cutts Fredk Pigou Hen Hadley Thos Waters Rich Seward Chris Baron W Thornton J Harrison Geo Dudley Richd Gilbert Fitz Wm Barrington Bourchier Walton John Brown G Stevens John Harrison Margin Notes: Bills to be granted rather than take any Treasure out of the Ships The three Cruizers arrived at Brest	47: In the instance of Captain Mears paying the island £1,000 without receiving its drafts on the Court for the amount, he had laid himself under difficulties with the representatives of the deceased persons on whose behalf he acted. On any such occasion in future, should the Governor and Council be, or think themselves, in want of money, it would please the Court better that they grant bills for such sums than take any treasure out of the ships which touched at the island outward bound. As to this particular sum, which appeared to be deposited at the risk of the heirs of the deceased and expressly for bills of exchange, the Court did not see how it could be otherwise paid. Even the bills ought to be drawn for payment conditionally, on his delivering up the island's receipt, or the acquittance for the sum would not be complete. 48: The three French cruisers which the Court had told the island had locked up the returning China ships in the Bay of All Saints arrived at Brest the beginning of November, having left the bay and the Company's ships there about the middle of August last. London, 7 December 1759. The Court subscribed itself their loving friends, Peter Godfrey, G. Rooke, John Boyd, Richard Smith, Henry Crabb Boulton, John Raymond, Charles Cutts, Jacob Bosanquet, Henry Hadley, Frederick Pigou, Richard Seward, Thomas Waters, W. Thornton, Christopher Burrow, George Dudley, J. Harrison, Fitzwilliam Barrington, Richard Gilbert, John Browne, Bourchier Walton, G. Stevens and John Harrison. Interpretations The Mears case shows the Court steering its cash needs toward bills of exchange rather than the bullion carried on its ships. Drawing treasure from an outward-bound vessel drained the specie meant for trade in the East, so the Court preferred the island to raise money by granting bills payable in London, keeping the ships' silver intact for its commercial purpose while meeting the settlement's occasional wants on paper. The conditional drawing of the bills reveals the care taken to close a transaction cleanly. Money deposited on behalf of dead men's heirs, expressly for bills of exchange, had to be matched by a proper acquittance, so the Court directed that the bills issue only against surrender of the island's receipt, ensuring no gap in the record through which a double claim on the estate might later arise. The French squadron's return to Brest marks the lifting of the threat that had run through the whole letter. The cruisers that had pinned the China ships in the Bay of All Saints quit their station in August and reached Brest by November, so the danger to the homeward trade that had shaped the season's dispositions had, for the present, passed off the Company's routes. Speculations Faced with Mears having advanced £1,000 without taking the island's drafts, the Court could have simply insisted the sum be repaid from treasure aboard the ships, the readiest source of cash on the spot. Instead it directed that future wants be met by granting bills rather than drawing on the ships' bullion, and that even this sum be settled by conditional bills against a receipt. The choice to route the settlement's finance through paper drawn on London over the silver passing through its own harbour shows the Court guarding the trading specie as the first priority, preferring a more cumbersome instrument that preserved the ships' treasure to the easy expedient that would have spent it.
117	112	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 The Ship Triton which sailed from Spithead the 15 December last, carried our Letter to you of the 7th of that Month Triplicate Whereof accompanys this. 2 We informed you in our last, of the arrival of the three French Ships at Brest, which had cruized off the Island, and have since been more certainly acquainted, that they left the Bay of All Saints the 4 September last, it was by five of Our China Ships which sailed from thence the 4th of October following; that We had the pleasure of receiving this Information on their safe arrival at Cork, the 25 and 27 of December the Tavistock, proving leaky, was obliged to seperate from them; and make for Rio de Janeiro, to refit the 9th of October. 3 Mr Richard Bendy with whom you had entrusted the the Command of the Long Boat, for apprizing Our expected Ships of the Designs of the French Cruizers, was released on Parole; and came on the Prince Henry with three of Our Soldiers, and four Men belonging to the Island part of the Boats Crew; the other two Soldiers deserted at the Brazils, We shall endeavour to return these People to you and in that case, transmit Accounts of such of them, whom as you may expect by the Conveyance, wherein they shall repair to the Island, with any other matter that may be requisit for your Information on this Subject 4 Since the date of Our last, We have entertained the Ship Egmont 499 Tons Captn Charles Mears, Commander in Our Service; and stationed her for Bombay. Margin Notes: Letters sent Account of the Cruizers Arrival at Brest China Ships arrive at Ireland Account of Mr Bendy & the Long Boats Crew & ca Ship Egmont taken up	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: The ship Triton, which sailed from Spithead on 15 December last, carried the Court's letter of the 7th of that month, and this was a triplicate of it. 2: The Court had told the island in its last of the arrival at Brest of the three French ships which had cruised off the island, and had since been more certainly informed that they left the Bay of All Saints on 4 September last. It was by five of the Company's China ships, which sailed thence on 4 October following, that the Court had the pleasure of receiving this information on their safe arrival at Cork on 23 and 27 December. The Tavistock, proving leaky, was obliged to separate from them and make for Rio de Janeiro to refit on 9 October. 3: Mr Richard Bendy, whom the island had entrusted with command of the longboat to warn the Company's expected ships of the designs of the French cruisers, had been released on parole. He came home on the Prince Henry with three of the Company's soldiers and four men belonging to the island who were part of the boat's crew. The other two soldiers deserted at the Brazils. The Court would endeavour to return these people to the island, and would then send accounts of any of them the island might expect by the ship on which they should sail, with any other matter needful on the subject. 4: Since the date of its last, the Court had taken up the ship Egmont, of 499 tons, Captain Charles Mears commander, into its service, and stationed her for Bombay. Interpretations The China ships' report from Cork shows how the Company learned the enemy had quit its station only through the safe passage of the very ships that threat had endangered. The squadron's departure from the Bay of All Saints on 4 September was confirmed not by naval intelligence but by the arrival of the fleet it had blockaded, so the Court pieced together the lifting of the danger from the movements of its own homeward trade. The Tavistock's diversion to Rio de Janeiro reveals the hazards of the long homeward run quite apart from the enemy. A ship proving leaky had to break from the protection of the fleet and seek a neutral port to refit, so a defect in a single hull could separate a vessel from her consorts as surely as a French cruiser, exposing her to capture while she made for repair. Bendy's release on parole illustrates the conventions that governed even a commerce war. A captured officer could be freed on his undertaking not to serve again until exchanged, so the man taken with the island's longboat came home a passenger on a Company ship, while the desertion of two soldiers at the Brazils showed the same voyage testing the loyalty of the lower ranks that discipline could not reach at such a distance. Speculations The captain of the Tavistock, finding her leaky, could have kept his place in the fleet for the safety of numbers on a wartime passage and pressed on toward home. Instead he separated on 9 October and bore away alone for Rio de Janeiro to refit. The choice to quit the protection of four consorts for a neutral port shows the master judging the leak the greater danger, preferring to risk a solitary run to the Brazils over carrying a failing hull across the Atlantic in company that could not mend her.
118	113	5 We are also fitting out Our own Ship Admiral Watson, now commanded by Captain Francis Fowler for a Voyage to the East Indies, She will be first consigned to Bengal, and is afterwards to be disposed of in the same manner, as was decided in respect to the Royal George, which was to be employed in the most Effectual manner for Our Service in India; and to be retained in proper Season or to be kept there a Year extraordinary as Circumstances might require. 6 The better to provide for the passage of the large Number of Soldiers designed for India this Season; We have been further obliged to purchase a large Ship, Burthen 850 Tons Captain William Foster, commander which We have named the Earl Temple, and according to Our present Intention, is to remain in India, and be disposed of according to the Plans on which the Hardwicke, and Doddington were engaged 7 This Ship the Royal Duke will bring you, the Remainder of the Stores Provisions, and Necessarys for compleating your Indent; which will appear from the Invoice and Bill of Lading enclosed, it will be a point of great Importance to unload those Articles with the utmost Expedition; and to dispatch the Ship within the Stipulated time; on the accompanying Copy of her Charterparty. 8 You were informed in our Letter by the Triton, that the owners of that Ship, were by a particular Clause in Charterparty, at their Option to pay the value of Damage or Short Delivery of the Consignment to you, the Owners of the Ship Norfolk, have the same Liberty, which We intimate that if any Demands on that Account shall arise on the Stores, which shall be sent to the Island on that Ships Return, you may act conformably, in Case the Commander shall make payment for them on your Demand, and you have Our Licence to do the same in Respect to the other Ships of this Season, whose Commanders may be desirous of paying the same in for Damages or Deficiences, although they are under no express obligation in such respect Margin Notes: Admiral Watson taken up Earl Temple taken up Royal Duke Store Ships Ship Norfolk Owners liberty to pay for Good damaged & ca Licence to do the same in respect to the other Ships	5: The Court was also fitting out its own ship the Admiral Watson, now commanded by Captain Francis Fowler, for a voyage to the East Indies. She would first be consigned to Bengal, and was afterwards to be disposed of in the same manner as had been decided for the Royal George, which was to be employed in the most effectual manner for the Company's service in India, and to be returned in proper season or kept there a year extraordinary as circumstances might require. 6: The better to provide for the passage of the large number of soldiers designed for India this season, the Court had been further obliged to buy a large ship of 850 tons burden, Captain William Foster commander, which it had named the Earl Temple. By its present intention she was to remain in India and be disposed of according to the plans on which the Hardwicke and Doddington were engaged. 7: This ship, the Royal Duke, would bring the remainder of the stores, provisions and necessaries for completing the island's indent, which would appear from the invoice and bill of lading enclosed. It would be of great importance to unload these articles with the utmost dispatch, and to dispatch the ship within the stipulated time set in the accompanying copy of her charter party. 8: The Court had told the island in its letter by the Triton that the owners of that ship were, by a particular clause in the charter party, at their option to pay the value of damage or short delivery of the consignment to the island. The owners of the Norfolk had the same liberty. Should any demand on that account arise on the stores sent to the island on that ship's return, the Governor and Council might act accordingly, in case the commander should make payment for them on their demand. The Court gave them leave to do the same in respect of the other ships of this season, whose commanders might wish to pay for damages or deficiencies, though they were under no express obligation to do so. Interpretations The flexible disposal of the Admiral Watson and Earl Temple shows the Company treating its ships as movable assets to be placed where the eastern trade needed them. Rather than fix a vessel to a set return, the Court let each be kept in India an extra year or sold there as circumstances required, so a ship bought to carry troops out could be turned to whatever service the presidencies wanted once her passengers were landed. The purchase of the 850-ton Earl Temple reveals how the demand to move soldiers to India strained the Company's ordinary shipping. The chartered Indiamen, uniformly rated at 499 tons, could not carry the numbers required, so the Court bought a much larger vessel outright, the size marking the scale of the military reinforcement the war effort in India now demanded. The extension of the damage-payment option across the season's ships shows the Court managing settlement terms ship by ship rather than by a single rule. Where a charter party gave the owners the choice to pay for short delivery at the point of receipt, the island could accept it, and the Court now permitted the same with any commander willing to pay though not bound to, giving the Governor and Council latitude to recover locally when a captain chose to offer. Speculations The Court could have held every ship to the standard arrangement by which damage claims were settled through the owners in London, yet it permitted the island to accept payment on the spot from the commanders of the Norfolk and any other of the season's ships who chose to offer it. The extension of a liberty that bound no one shows the Court preferring to let a willing captain close a short-delivery claim at the point of delivery over forcing every settlement back to London, taking whatever recovery was offered locally rather than insisting on a single channel it had elsewhere been at pains to establish.
119	114	9 We have to add to the Account given the 7th December last, of the Situation of Public Affairs, that the Defeat and Dispersion of the Fleet by his Majestys Squadron under Sr Edward Hawke, has put an End to their daring Project of an Invasion of these Kingdoms, and that from the superiority of the British Naval Force, there is the greatest Reason to be assured that any such like future attempts will meet with the same fate Some Overtures towards the Appointment of a Congress for treating of a General Peace, have been made, but We are unable to acquaint you, with the Issue thereof at present, however all the contending Powers are still as vigorously engaged in their Preparations, for continuing the War, as if no such Event had happened 10 In remedy of the Inconvenience which the omission of Sending Invoice and Bill of Lading for the Stores consigned to the Island, by the Ship Triton, from Bombay occasioned, you will receive herewith Copy of such an Account of those Articles as have come to your hands 11 We Note a very considerable difference in the Cost of the two Parcels of Rice purchased in Consultations 13th August and 18th September last, of the Captains Kidderman, and Evans, without any Reason assigned for it 12 The Construction of a Bomb Proof Magazine for Powder at Ruperts, and the Progress made in another for the same purpose at the Fort, is new instance of your Attention to the defensive State and Security of the Island, and meets with Our entire approbation 13 Mrs Adamsons has delivered to us the Plans, and Copies of the General Letters and other Papers, which her late Husband had very irregularly possessed himself of, Our last Letter convey the Sentiments entertained on this Subject, And confirm the Directions then given; for how can We be assured into whose hands an improper Margin Notes: Sr Edwd Hawkes Defeats the Enemys Fleet Some Overtures towards appointing a Congress & ca Copy of the Triton Bathons Invoice sent Observed a difference in the price of Rice Approves of making the Magazines Mrs Adamson delivered up to the Company Plans & Copies of General Letters & ca	9: To the account given on 7 December last of the state of public affairs the Court had to add that the defeat and dispersal of the enemy's fleet by his Majesty's squadron under Sir Edward Hawke had put an end to their daring project of an invasion of the kingdoms. From the superiority of the British naval force there was the greatest reason to expect that any such future attempts would meet the same fate. Some overtures toward appointing a congress to treat for a general peace had been made, but the Court could not yet report their outcome. All the contending powers were still as vigorously engaged in their preparations for continuing the war as if no such event had happened. 10: As a remedy for the inconvenience caused by the omission of the invoice and bill of lading for the stores consigned to the island by the Triton from Bombay, the island would receive with this a copy of such an account of those articles as had come to the Court's hands. 11: The Court noted a very considerable difference in the cost of the two parcels of rice bought in the consultations of 13 August and 18 September last, from Captains Kidderman and Evans, without any reason assigned for it. 12: The building of a bombproof magazine for powder at Rupert's, and the progress made on another for the same purpose at the fort, was a fresh instance of the island's attention to its defensive state and security, and met with the Court's entire approval. 13: Mrs Adamson had delivered up to the Court the plans, and copies of the general letters and other papers, which her late husband had very irregularly possessed himself of. The Court's last letter conveyed its sentiments on this subject and confirmed the directions then given. For how could the Court be assured into whose hands an improper Interpretations Hawke's victory removes from the correspondence the invasion threat that had shaped a full season of the Company's planning. The defeat of the French fleet ended the projected descent on Britain, so the danger that had drained recruits from the eastern garrisons and dictated the convoying of homeward ships had, at a stroke, lost its principal edge, though the Court noted the powers still armed as if nothing had changed. The unexplained gap between the two rice purchases shows the Court auditing the island's buying against its own consultations. Two parcels bought weeks apart from different captains at very different prices, with no reason recorded, drew a query from London, the central body using the island's minuted proceedings to catch a discrepancy that the local account had left unjustified. The bombproof magazines mark the island hardening its defences against the very bombardment a besieging squadron would bring. Powder held in an ordinary store could be lost to a single shell, so building proof magazines at Rupert's and the fort secured the garrison's means of resistance, the Court's approval confirming that such permanent works were exactly the initiative it wanted from men on the spot. The recovery of the papers from Mrs Adamson closes the security breach that had run through the previous letter. Her late husband had improperly held the Court's general letters and plans, and their surrender by his widow restored the Company's confidential records, the Court reiterating its directions because the danger lay less in the theft than in never knowing whose hands such documents might have reached. Speculations The Court could have let the difference in the price of the two rice parcels pass as the ordinary variation of a market, since prices moved and no rule had plainly been broken. Instead it singled out the gap between Kidderman's and Evans's parcels and noted that no reason had been assigned. The choice to flag an unexplained cost over accepting it shows the Court holding the island to account for its purchasing, preferring to demand a justification recorded in the consultations to trusting that a considerable difference in price had an innocent cause it need not examine.
120	115	improper Knowledge of Our Affairs may fall from the Private Custody of Our Registers, and what Inconveniences may spring from Our material concerns being thus exposed 14 In Consideration of the Fidelity, and Diligence, with which the late Mr John Goodwin rendered us many years Service at St Helena, and that his removal to Fort Marlborough and Batavia; with his sudden demise, thereafter, had so impaired his Fortune, as occasioned his leaving his Widow in very indifferent Circumstances, We have resolved to allow her a Pension of Fifty pounds a Year, from Christmas last; which you are to pay her Quaterly out of Our Cash 15 On the Bombay Castles arrival here, the proper Enquiry will be made as to the Concealment and Elopement on that Ship, of Our Slave Essex, if thereupon any one shall appear aiding, or privy to his desertion, as you seem to hint; We shall use the means to make them truly sensible of the Offence; and the Man shall if possible be returned to you by the first Opportunity 16 The Lists you enclosed of the French Prisoners on the Worcester; Prince George, and Bombay Castle; describing them by their Surnames only when there Christian ones, and Family ought to have been inserted, has occasioned a Delay in the Repayment of the Nine pounds, nine Shillings you had advanced those People; which We have applied to the French Company for, and they would till the Defect can be repaired, therefore on a like instance occurring; you are in future to be more explicit. 17 The Brass Field Pieces, and the Remainder of the Howitzers with their Carriages, which could not be got ready for the Triton; are finished, and consigned to you on the Royal Duke 18 The two Fire Engines sent hither by the Admiral Watson; are repaired, and now returned to you on the Royal Duke 19 The Sailors Cloaths by this Ship; with what the Triton carried are more than sufficient; to replace what were damaged on board the Delawar; by the Margin Notes: Mrs Goodwin allowed a Pension Enquiry will be made about Essex elopement more explicit with regard to the Names of French Prisoners Field Pieces sent & ca Fire Engines sent	Improper knowledge of the Company's affairs might fall from the private custody of its registers, and what inconvenience might spring from its material concerns being thus exposed. 14: In consideration of the fidelity and diligence with which the late Mr John Goodwin had for many years served the Company at St Helena, and that his removal to Fort Marlborough and Batavia, with his sudden death soon after, had so impaired his fortune as to leave his widow in very poor circumstances, the Court had resolved to allow her a pension of £50 a year from Christmas last, to be paid quarterly out of the Company's cash. 15: On the Bombay Castle's arrival, the proper enquiry would be made into the concealment and elopement on that ship of the Company's slave Essex. Should anyone appear to have aided or been privy to his desertion, as the island seemed to suspect, the Court would use every means to make them truly sensible of the offence. The man would, if possible, be returned to the island by the first opportunity. 16: The lists the island enclosed of the French prisoners on the Worcester, Prince George and Bombay Castle, describing them by their surnames only when their Christian ones and family ought to have been entered, had caused a delay in repaying the £9 9s 0d the island had advanced those people. The Court had applied to the French Company for the sum, and they would wait till the defect could be repaired. Should a like case occur in future, the island was to be more explicit. 17: The brass field pieces and the remainder of the howitzers, with their carriages, which could not be got ready for the Triton, were finished and consigned to the island on the Royal Duke. 18: The two fire engines sent out by the Admiral Watson were repaired and now returned to the island on the Royal Duke. 19: The sailors' clothes by this ship, with what the Triton carried, were more than enough to replace those damaged on board the Delaware. By the Interpretations The Goodwin pension shows the Company recognising a debt of service that outlived the servant. Long and faithful employment, followed by a transfer and sudden death that had wrecked his estate, moved the Court to support his widow from its own cash, so the pension functioned as a discretionary reward for loyalty rather than any contractual entitlement, marking the Company's interest in showing its servants that faithful service would not leave their families destitute. The pursuit of the runaway slave Essex reveals the machinery the Company brought to bear on the desertion of its own human property. The man was to be recovered and returned, and anyone who abetted his escape made sensible of the offence, so the concealment aboard ship was treated as a loss of Company property to be recovered and an offence to be punished, the enquiry awaiting the ship's arrival like any other investigation into missing goods. The delay over the French prisoners' £9 9s 0d exposes how incomplete records could stall even a small inter-company settlement. Recovering the advance from the French Company required each prisoner named in full, and surnames alone left the claim unprovable, so a clerical shortcut on the island held up repayment until the lists could be corrected, the Court pressing for fuller particulars to keep the reckoning between the two companies moving. Speculations The Court could have paid the Goodwin family nothing, since a servant's death abroad created no obligation the Company was bound to meet. Instead it granted the widow £50 a year from its own cash, resting the decision expressly on his years of fidelity and the removal to Fort Marlborough and Batavia that had ruined his fortune. The choice to reward past service with a standing pension over letting the matter close with his death shows the Court treating loyal service as something it would requite beyond the grave, judging the example worth the continuing charge on its funds.
121	116	Invoices of the two first, it will appear that a greater Quantity of several other Stores are sent, than were desired, because they were provided before the Reciept of your Indent by the London, observing than of what Importance an early Information of your wants is towards your being regularly supplied 20 We gave you by the Triton the Number of Recruits represented necessary to Compleat your Garrison, and by this Ship, two others described on the enclosed List are sent, the rest embarked thereon were intended for Bengal, however We do admit of your taking as many of them out, as can be prevailed on to stay at the Island, the Number that shall consent to remain there, will be considered by us, as an Aid of the next Seasons Recruit List, a List of them is put into this Ships Packet, that you may be the more particular in advising our Presidency of Bengal, and returning to us Accounts of such of them as you shall detain, and be sure to forward the List you shall receive from hence in your Packet to the said Presidency by the Royal Duke 21 Since writing the foregoing, it has been found necessary from the Royal Dukes being so deeply laden, and lumbered, to take out of that Ship One hundred and forty five Barrels of Flour, intended for the Island, so that instead of One hundred Barrels more you will receive, forty five less than were Indented for. London 6 February We are 1760 Your Loving Friends. Fredk Pigou Pr Godfrey Richd Smith John Boyd Rich Seward Hh Crabb Boulton John Brown Cha Cutts Bourchier Walton John Harrison Jacob Berangier Hen Hadley Chas Gough G Stevens Cha Waters Geo Dudley Fitz Wm Barrington Chris Baron Richd Gilbert J Harrison Margin Notes: A larger Quantity of Stores sent than Indented for Recruits sent & ca Flour taken out of the Royal Duke	By the invoices of the two first ships it would appear that a greater quantity of several other stores was sent than the island had asked for, because they were provided before the receipt of its indent by the London. The Court observed how important early information of the island's wants was toward its being regularly supplied. 20: The Court had given the island by the Triton the number of recruits reckoned needed to complete its garrison, and by this ship two others described in the enclosed list were sent. The rest embarked on her were intended for Bengal. The Court nonetheless allowed the island to take out as many of them as could be prevailed on to stay. The number that should consent to remain there would be counted as an aid toward next season's recruit list. A list of them was put into this ship's packet, so the island might be the more particular in advising the presidency of Bengal, and in returning accounts of any it should detain. The island was to be sure to forward the list it received to that presidency by the Royal Duke. 21: Since writing the above, the Royal Duke being so deeply laden and lumbered, it had been found necessary to take out of her 145 barrels of flour intended for the island. Instead of 100 barrels more, the island would therefore receive 45 fewer than it had asked for. London, 6 February 1760. The Court subscribed itself their loving friends, Peter Godfrey, Frederick Pigou, John Boyd, Richard Smith, Henry Crabb Boulton, Richard Seward, Charles Cutts, John Browne, John Harrison, Bourchier Walton, Henry Hadley, Jacob Bosanquet, G. Stevens, Charles Gough, George Dudley, Charles Waters, Christopher Burrow, Fitzwilliam Barrington, J. Harrison and Richard Gilbert. Interpretations The oversupply of stores shows how the lag in communication worked against efficient provisioning. The Court had shipped goods before the island's indent reached it, so the settlement received more than it wanted of some articles while its actual requests waited a season, the mismatch driving home the Court's point that only early notice of the island's needs could keep supply matched to demand across so long a passage. The soldiers diverted from Bengal reveal the flexibility the Court allowed in placing scarce manpower. Recruits shipped for one destination could be retained at another if they consented, so the island might strengthen its garrison from men passing through, and any it kept would be credited against its next allocation, the arrangement letting the Court balance the competing demands of St Helena and Bengal from a single body of troops in transit. The last-minute removal of flour exposes again the constant tension between cargo space and provisioning. The Royal Duke was too deeply laden to carry all she was meant to, so 145 barrels came out at the quayside and the island's promised surplus turned into a shortfall, the incident showing how the settlement's supply remained hostage to the tonnage the Company's commercial lading left free. Speculations The Court could have shipped the Bengal-bound recruits straight through, leaving the island's garrison to be filled only from the two men allotted to it. Instead it permitted the Governor and Council to detain as many as could be prevailed on to stay, and to count them against next season's list. The choice to let the island draw on troops meant for Bengal, rather than hold them rigidly to their destination, shows the Court preferring to let need on the spot redirect manpower over enforcing the original allocation, trusting the men's own consent to settle where the reinforcement finally landed.
122	117	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 It is with Satisfaction We observe your Receipt of Our Letters of last Season dated the 7th December 1759 and 6th of February 1760. 2 Since the date of the last it hath pleased God to favour us with the safe return of Twenty one Ships and the Diligent and Prince Henry Packets, Sixteen whereof being those which with the last named Packet left the Island under Admiral Brocks Orders, and with her Rippon and Colchester their appointed Convoy, for further Particulars regarding the arrival and departure, of Shipping in General you will be fully informed from the accompanying List 3 The several Letters We have received from you since the Royal Duke sailed are dated the 26th December 1759, 27th January 28 March 14 April 18th of May and 5th July 1760 the full and particular Intelligence therein communicated to us of our Shipping as well as of material Occurrences in India obliges us to repeat Our Commendations for your attention in this Instance; yet it must withal be remarked you should not have left the Conveyance of your last advices by a single Ship only as you did by the Yarmouth when so many offered as at that time; Duplicates at least should be forwarded and We trust if it may on such another occasion be done without disgust to the Captains of his Majestys Ships, that they may come by one of our own, as the speediest Conveyances from the arrived Ships those sent on the Yarmouth not reaching Us till three days after the Packets by the first Person where brought up hither 4 The Gentlemen appointed of the Secret Committee this Season are Lawrence Sulivan Esqr Chairman of the Court of Directors, Thomas Rous Esqr Deputy Chairman; John Boyd, Christopher Burrow, and Peter Godfrey Esqr three of whom are a Quorum, all orders from the said Committee or the Committee for the Time being, must be duly complied with by all Person or Persons Margin Notes: Letters sent Ships safe arrival Letters received should not have sent the advices upon one Ship & ca Secret Committee	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: The Court observed with satisfaction the island's receipt of its letters of last season, dated 7 December 1759 and 6 February 1760. 2: Since the date of the last it had pleased God to favour the Court with the safe return of 21 ships and the Diligence and Prince Henry packets. Sixteen of these were the ships which, with the last-named packet, left the island under Admiral Brereton's orders, and with the Rippon and Colchester their appointed convoy. For further particulars of the arrival and departure of shipping in general the island would be fully informed by the accompanying list. 3: The several letters the Court had received since the Royal Duke sailed were dated 26 December 1759, 27 January, 28 March, 14 April, 18 May and 5 July 1760. The full and particular intelligence conveyed in them of the Company's shipping and of material occurrences in India obliged the Court to repeat its commendations of the island's attention in this respect. Yet it must be remarked that the Governor and Council should not have sent their last advices by a single ship only, as they did by the Yarmouth, when so many offered at that time. Duplicates at least should be forwarded, and the Court trusted this might on another such occasion be done without giving offence to the captains of his Majesty's ships, so the Court might come by one of its own copies as the speediest conveyance from the ships arrived. Those sent on the Yarmouth did not reach the Court till three days after the packets by the Prince Henry were brought up. 4: The gentlemen appointed of the secret committee this season were Laurence Sulivan, chairman of the Court of Directors, Thomas Rous, deputy chairman, and John Boyd, Christopher Burrow and Peter Godfrey. Three of them were a quorum, and all orders from that committee, or the committee for the time being, must be duly complied with by all persons Interpretations The single-ship dispatch drew a rebuke because it exposed a season's intelligence to one carrier's fate. The Court ran duplicate copies by different ships precisely so that a capture or wreck would not sever its information, so the island's decision to send everything by the Yarmouth when other ships were available broke the redundancy the whole correspondence system depended on, and left the Court's news three days slower than it need have been. The convoy under Admiral Brereton shows how the war reshaped the homeward passage from a matter of individual sailings into a managed movement of ships in company. Sixteen vessels came home together under naval orders with appointed escorts, so the island's road served not just as a refreshment stop but as an assembly point where Indiamen gathered for protected passage, the Company's trade folded into the Navy's convoy discipline. The standing authority of the secret committee, three of five forming a quorum, reveals the Company's mechanism for binding wartime decisions on distant servants. A small group could issue orders that all persons were required to obey, so the island held a defined chain of command for urgent matters, the quorum rule ensuring the committee could act even when its full number was not present. Speculations The island could have forwarded its last advices as it did, entrusting them wholly to the Yarmouth, a single sound ship then at hand. The Court's remark that so many ships offered at that time shows a real alternative was open, and it pressed the island to send duplicates by separate carriers even at the risk of imposing on the captains of the King's ships. The choice the Court urged, spreading the correspondence across several bottoms over trusting one, reflects its judgement that the speed and security of its intelligence outweighed the awkwardness of pressing naval commanders to carry its packets.
123	118	to whom they shall be addressed 5 We have taken up the following Ships for the Companys Service this Season; their Consignments and proposed time of Departure being as undermentioned. Hawke 499 George Kent Coast and Bay Prince Henry 499 Charles Haggis St Helena & China Pitt 600 Joseph Jackson Fort St George & China Worcester 499 Richard Hall Osterly 499 Frederick Vincent Bencoolen & China Prince George 499 Andrew Ross Plassey 499 James Ward Warren 499 Alphonsus Glover Fox 499 Alexander Hume Coast & Bay Earl of Holdernesse 499 Robert Brock Boscawen 499 Benjamin Braund New Ship 499 Arthur Evans Calcutta 499 George Willson Bombay New Ship 499 Thomas Chrichton New Ship 499 Nathaniel Tanner the wonder dispatch the end of Jany the end of Feby the end of March 6 Our own Ship the Royal George whereof Captain Nicholas Skottowe is the Commander, proceeds first to China on a particular Service; and is then designed for Fort St George, for the Time of her sailing hence you are referred to the List of the departure and arrival of Shipping enclosed, which will be the end of January. 7 The same List will also inform you, when the Diligent and Prince Henry Sloops belonging to the Company shall proceed on their Voyages to Madagascar, for the purchase of Slaves for the Service of Fort Marlborough; when they are afterwards to be employed by the Governor and Council there Margin Notes: Ships taken up Royal George taken up Diligent & Prince Henry taken up	All persons to whom the committee's orders should be addressed were bound to comply with them. 5: The Court had taken up the following ships for the Company's service this season, their consignments and proposed time of departure being as set out below. Hawke, 499 tons, George Kent, consigned to Coast and Bay, to be dispatched The Prince Henry, of 499 tons, Charles Haggis, was consigned to St Helena and China. Pitt, 600 tons, Joseph Jackson, consigned to Fort St George and China Worcester, 499 tons, Richard Hall, consigned to Bencoolen and China, by the end of January Osterley, 499 tons, Frederick Vincent, consigned to Bencoolen and China The Prince George, of 499 tons, Andrew Ross, was consigned to Bencoolen and China. Plassey, 499 tons, James Ward, consigned to Coast and Bay Warren, 499 tons, Alphonsus Glover, consigned to Coast and Bay, by the end of February Fox, 499 tons, Alexander Hume, consigned to Coast and Bay Earl of Holdernesse, 499 tons, Robert Brook, consigned to Coast and Bay Boscawen, 499 tons, Benjamin Braund, consigned to Coast and Bay New Ship, 499 tons, Arthur Evans, consigned to Coast and Bay Calcutta, 499 tons, George Wilson, consigned to Bombay, by the end of March New Ship, 499 tons, Thomas Crichton, consigned to Bombay New Ship, 499 tons, Nathaniel Tanner, consigned to Bombay 6: The Company's own ship the Royal George, of which Captain Nicholas Skottowe was commander, proceeded first to China on a particular service, and was then designed for Fort St George. For the time of her sailing the island was referred to the enclosed list of the departure and arrival of shipping, which would be the end of January. 7: The same list would also inform the island when the Diligent and Prince Henry sloops belonging to the Company should proceed on their voyages to Madagascar, for the purchase of slaves for the service of Fort Marlborough, when they were afterwards to be employed by the Governor and Council there. Interpretations The uniform 499-ton rating across almost the whole list marks the same chartering convention seen in earlier seasons, the figure set just below the 500-ton threshold that triggered heavier obligations, so the tonnage recorded was a category for contract rather than a true measure of each hull. The two exceptions, the Pitt at 600 tons and the Royal George as the Company's own ship, stand out precisely because they fall outside the standard charter class. The consignments read as the season's deployment of the Company's trade, ships directed to Coast and Bay for Madras and Bengal, to China for the tea traffic by way of Bencoolen, and to Bombay, the schedule fixing which vessels would touch at St Helena and roughly when. The staggered departure dates by the end of January, February and March show the Court spacing its sailings across the season rather than dispatching the whole fleet at once. The Madagascar voyages of the Diligent and Prince Henry sloops expose the slave trade that underpinned labour at the Company's eastern settlements. Fort Marlborough at Bencoolen drew its bonded workforce from Madagascar, so the Company fitted small vessels expressly to buy slaves and carry them east, the traffic recorded here as a routine item of the season's shipping alongside tea and textiles. Speculations This passage is a shipping schedule and a statement of routine dispositions, carrying no decision in which an obvious course was passed over for a less obvious one, so no speculation arises from it.
124	119	8 On account of the very Quantity of Tonnage required for sending the Consignments to our several Settlements, and for the Conveyance of the very great Tonnage demanded for Naval Victualling and other Stores for the use of his Majestys Ships and Troops in India, We have been obliged to hire three large Ships, to be employed on a Voyage to India only, and on delivery of their Cargos there to be disposed of in the manner the Hardwicke formerly was the Named Burthens and Destination of these Ships are as follows viz. Chesterfield 600 Capt Norfolk 600 James McConchie Coast & Bay Genl Laurence 650 William Scott Bombay 9 As the Ship Pitt does not answer the expectations We formed of her when She first proceeded to India in the Capacity of a Man of War, She is now upon the same footing as one of our other Mercantile Ships. 10 This Letter is Conveyed to you by the Ship Prince Henry consigned with Stores for the use of the Island, and to be afterwards dispatched for China, We expect as it is a material Service at your Hands that the Ship is discharged of the Consignments to you with all possible Expedition; and within the limited time; and although there is no exception to your accustomary practice herein yet you will observe the necessity of the Injunction not only from the Importancy of Prince Henrys early arrival at Canton; but that the encreased Demorage, We are subject to in this time of War, may be avoided, and it will be well that you urge the Commander not to lose any time at this Island, after he is in possession of your dispatches. 11 The Charterparty of the Ship Prince Henry, which you will receive herewith shews that the Clause that was introduced last Season is continued this, with respect to the Adjustment and Payment for damages and Goods lost and undelivered, to which you are particularly to attend, by the said Clause it is agreed that the amount of such damages and short Delivery shall not be paid and made Good in India, but shall be paid by the Owners to the Company in London upon Margin Notes: Three more Ships taken up Ship Pitt & ca Ship Prince Henry to be despatched as soon as possible & ca Clause in the Charter Party continued	8: On account of the great quantity of tonnage required for sending the consignments to the Company's several settlements, and for conveying the very great tonnage demanded for naval victualling and other stores for the use of his Majesty's ships and troops in India, the Court had been obliged to hire three large ships to be employed on a voyage to India only. On delivery of their cargoes there they were to be disposed of in the manner the Hardwicke formerly was. The named burdens and destination of these ships were as follows. Chesterfield, 600 tons, [...], consigned to Coast and Bay Norfolk, 600 tons, James McConchie, consigned to Coast and Bay General Lawrence, 650 tons, William Scott, consigned to Bombay 9: As the ship Pitt did not answer the expectations the Court had formed of her when she first proceeded to India as a man of war, she was now on the same footing as one of the Company's other mercantile ships. 10: This letter was conveyed by the ship Prince Henry, consigned with stores for the island's use and to be afterwards dispatched for China. The Court expected, as a material service, that the ship be discharged of her consignments with all possible dispatch and within the limited time. Though there was no exception to the island's customary practice in this, the Court pointed out the need for the injunction, not only from the importance of the Prince Henry's early arrival at Canton, but because the increased demurrage the Company was subject to in this time of war might thereby be avoided. It would be well that the island urge the commander not to lose any time there once he had the dispatches. 11: The charter party of the ship Prince Henry, which the island would receive with this, showed that the clause introduced last season was continued, respecting the settlement and payment for damaged and undelivered goods, to which the Governor and Council were particularly to attend. By that clause it was agreed that the amount of such damages and short delivery should not be paid and made good in India, but should be paid by the owners to the Company in London on demand. Interpretations The scale of tonnage devoted to naval victualling shows how far the Company's shipping had been drawn into supporting the Crown's war in India. Beyond its own consignments, the Court had to move great quantities of provisions and stores for the King's ships and troops, so it hired large vessels for the single passage out, the military burden competing directly with the commercial trade for the hulls available. The Pitt's demotion from man of war to ordinary trader records a failed experiment in arming an Indiaman for fighting. She had gone out rated as a warship but had not answered expectations, so she was returned to mercantile footing, the reversal showing that fitting a merchant hull for a naval role was not always worth the cost, and that the Company would drop the pretension once proved unfounded. The pressure to clear the Prince Henry quickly exposes demurrage as a real charge that war had sharpened. A ship kept beyond her allotted lading time cost the Company money, and wartime conditions had raised that penalty, so speed in unloading at St Helena was not mere efficiency but a direct saving, the early arrival at Canton for the tea season adding a further commercial reason to hurry her through. Speculations This passage is largely a shipping schedule with routine instructions, but the treatment of the Pitt shows a real choice. The Court could have persisted with her as an armed man of war, having fitted her for that role, yet on finding she did not answer expectations it returned her to the same footing as an ordinary trading ship. The decision to abandon the naval character over continuing an investment already made shows the Court preferring to cut a disappointing experiment and recover her value in trade, rather than keep a merchant hull in a fighting role she had failed to fill.
125	120	demand, upon their producing the Owners a True Account of the adjustment in India of such Loss or damaged, although the Ship shall or may happen to be lost before her arrival at, or shall not return in Safty to the Port of London it is thereby agreed also that the Owners shall not be charged with any them of Money in respect of Goods damaged, either in the outward or homeward bound Voyage, but such as shall by the Condition and appearance thereof or by some other Reasonable Proof appear to be Ship Damage. 12 We must observe to you that the Owners have made very different constructions of the Words Ship Damage, beforementioned to what We could ever imagined by confining it to its limited Sense; the Words signify, whereas it is our Opinion when the said Words were introduced they meant all damage whatsoever which Goods reciev actually on board without distinction, whether it proceeded from bad Weather or any other accidents, We should have set this matter Right in the Charterpartys of the Present Season; but Owners positively insisting on the said Words being Continued, and it being too late for us to help Ourselves, We have with great reluctancy been obliged to acquiesce 13 Although We shall not give up this Point to the Owners even as the Words at present Stand, yet it shews the Necessity of your being very particular and careful in describing and ascertaining how and in what manner the Damages and short deliverys beforementioned appear, together with every Circumstance which may tend to assist us in forming a Judgment thereon; this you are without fail to conform to in order for our adjusting the same with the Owners, And if any Disputes arise with the Commanders of the returning Ships on this Subject it will be Right not accept short payment of them for damage or deficiency, notwithstanding what was said in our Letters to you by the Triton and Royal Duke 14 The other parts of the Charterparty are nearly the same, excepting that the Owners have encreased upon Us the Freight at the Rate of Sorty Margin Notes: Agreement between the Company & Owners Owners make a different construction of the Words Ship Damage & ca Must be very particular in describing the Damage & Short delivery & ca Freight encreased	The sum was payable on the owners producing a true account of the settlement made in India of such loss or damage, even though the ship should be lost before her arrival, or should not return safely to the port of London. It was further agreed that the owners should not be charged with any sum for goods damaged, whether on the outward or homeward voyage, except such as by their condition and appearance, or by some other reasonable proof, appeared to be ship damage. 12: The Court had to observe that the owners had put a very different construction on the words ship damage from what it had ever imagined, confining them to their narrow sense. In the Court's opinion, when those words were introduced they meant all damage whatsoever which goods actually received on board, without distinction, whether it came from bad weather or any other accident. The Court would have set the matter right in the charter parties of the present season, but the owners positively insisted on those words being continued, and it being too late to help itself, the Court had with great reluctance been obliged to agree. 13: Though the Court would not give up the point to the owners even as the words at present stood, this showed the necessity of the Governor and Council being very particular and careful in describing and ascertaining how and in what manner the damages and short deliveries appeared, together with every circumstance that might help the Court form a judgement. This the island was to conform to without fail, so the Court might settle the matter with the owners. Should any disputes arise with the commanders of the returning ships on this subject, it would be right not to accept short payment from them for damage or deficiency, notwithstanding what was said in the Court's letters by the Triton and Royal Duke. 14: The other parts of the charter party were nearly the same, except that the owners had raised the freight on the Court to the rate of forty Interpretations The dispute over the words ship damage exposes how much financial weight two words in a contract could carry. The Court read the phrase broadly, to cover any harm goods suffered on board from whatever cause, while the owners confined it narrowly, so the difference decided who bore the loss on spoiled cargo across a whole season's shipping, a question of definition worth pursuing though the Court had to yield the wording for now. The Court's reluctant surrender shows the limits of even a powerful body's bargaining when time ran against it. The owners insisted on keeping the disputed words and the season was too far advanced to fight, so the Court signed under protest, its record of the reluctance preserving the point for a later contest rather than conceding the principle, a distinction between accepting the language and accepting the interpretation. The reversal of the earlier instruction reveals how the London dispute reached down to govern conduct at the island. Having told the island by the Triton and Royal Duke that it might accept payment from commanders for damage, the Court now directed the opposite, so as not to prejudice its stand against the owners, the settlement's dealings with individual captains subordinated to the larger legal contest being fought at home. Speculations The Court could have signed the season's charter parties and let the broad reading of ship damage rest, accepting the owners' narrow construction in practice to keep matters simple. Instead it recorded that it did not give up the point even as the words stood, and reversed its earlier permission so the island would not accept short payments that might weaken its position. The choice to keep a losing argument alive for future settlement over conceding it outright shows the Court preferring to preserve the principle at the cost of consistency, treating the present submission as tactical rather than final.
126	121	shillings a Ton and a Penny a day pr Ton Demorage which in Time of War has been always until this Season been Stipulated at Ninepence a Ton. 15 You are at no Time to put Us to any expence for the passage Accommodations and Diet at the Captains Table of any Persons you may order on board Our ships, the Passage Money of five pounds pr Head which We have ordered to be paid, is merely intended for the benefit of our Invalid Military beneath the Ranks of Commissioned Officers, who are quite incapable of working their Way home; Our only inducement to this Caution is that you may avoid laying us under a Charge on such Account, as has unnecessarily and improperly been done for some of the Kings Officers ordered on board the Bombay Castle from Bengal. 16 We have to add to the Information We gave you as to the Ship Earl Temple, that if She should not be necessarily employed on other Service; Our Agents at Bombay where directed to send her in a proper Season to Canton; in a posture of receiving a Cargo, and at the same time to serve as Convoy for Our Ships from thence in the manner as was formerly intended for the Pitt 17 We have paid Mr Richard Bendy whom you appointed to command the Long Boat fitted out to give intelligence to the Ships you expected in 1759 of the French Cruizers the Sum agreed for, and made him a Present of Fifty Guineas for his Extraordinary expences arising from the misfortune of his Captier by the Enemy 18 John Chillingworth, and Thomas Smith, two of the Boats Crew have ban also paid their full stipulated Wages from the 2d April 1759, to the 27th March last, We have from that Time provided for them in our Warehouses, and intended to return them to you at our Charge, if they had not been unwilling to proceed, however they have no further demands on us for their Services 19 William Keeling another of the Boats Crew has been paid £26.12.6 in full for his Services, and having engaged himself in the Kings Service is under the necessity of remaining here. Margin Notes: The Company not to be at the expence of any Person Passage except the £5 & ca Earl Temple to be sent to China & ca Mr Bendy given £50 Long Boats Crew paid & ca	The freight was raised to forty shillings a ton and a penny a day for demurrage, which in time of war had always until this season been fixed at ninepence a ton. 15: The Governor and Council were at no time to put the Court to any expense for the passage, accommodation and diet at the captain's table of any persons they might order on board the Company's ships. The passage money of £5 a head the Court had ordered to be paid was meant only for the benefit of its invalid soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers, who were quite unable to work their way home. The Court's only reason for this caution was that the island might avoid laying it under a charge such as had unnecessarily and improperly been incurred for some of the King's officers ordered on board the Bombay Castle from Bengal. 16: To the information already given about the ship Earl Temple, the Court added that, should she not be needed on other service, its agents at Bombay were directed to send her in proper season to Canton to take in a cargo, and at the same time to serve as convoy for the Company's ships from thence, as was formerly intended for the Pitt. 17: The Court had paid Mr Richard Bendy, whom the island appointed to command the longboat fitted out to warn the ships expected in 1759 of the French cruisers, the sum agreed for that service. It had also made him a present of fifty guineas for his extraordinary expenses arising from the misfortune of his capture by the enemy. 18: John Chillingworth and Thomas Smith, two of the boat's crew, had also been paid their full stipulated wages from 2 April 1759 to 27 March last. The Court had from that time provided for them in its warehouses, and intended to return them to the island at its own charge had they not been unwilling to proceed. They had no further demands on the Court for their services. 19: William Keeling, another of the boat's crew, had been paid £26 12s 6d in full for his services. Having engaged himself in the King's service, he was obliged to remain there. Interpretations The sharp rise in freight and demurrage records how war inflated the cost of shipping. The rate the owners charged had climbed to forty shillings a ton, and wartime demurrage, long held at ninepence, now stood at a penny a day, so the Company paid dearer both to carry its goods and to keep a ship in port, the increases marking the leverage the shipowners held when hulls were scarce and risks high. The tight limit on passage charges shows the Court closing off an avenue of unauthorised expense. The £5 head money was meant only for disabled soldiers who could not work their passage, not for King's officers who could, so the Court drew a firm line after the Bombay Castle had carried royal officers at Company cost, guarding its funds against charges that its own liberality might otherwise invite. The generous treatment of Bendy and his crew reveals how the Company requited service that ended in misfortune. Bendy received not only his agreed pay but fifty guineas for the expenses his capture had caused, and his men their full wages with keep in the warehouses, so those who had risked and lost the longboat on the island's warning errand were made whole and more, the Company marking that a servant taken in its service would not be left to bear the cost. Speculations The Court owed Bendy no more than the sum agreed for commanding the longboat, his capture being a hazard of the service. Yet it added a present of fifty guineas expressly for the extraordinary expenses his imprisonment had caused him. The choice to compensate a loss beyond the contract over settling merely what was stipulated shows the Court treating capture in its service as something it would make good, judging that a man ruined by an errand it had set should be relieved rather than left to absorb the misfortune himself.
127	122	20 We have likewise paid Captain Hume of the Fox, five pounds Eight shillings, and Sixpence, for Richard Smith; and Two pounds Six Shillings and Sixpence for Thomas Thomson; Two others of the Long Boat Mariners exchanged by the Captain, for two French prisoners he had on board at the Brazils, for necessarys he had furnished them with; no other Charges have been made Good by us for these two Persons, and being uncertain how they have disposed of themselves or what their intentions are, no further Information can be given, concerning them; nor as they have never to our knowledge appeared, can We say anything of the other five persons, who composed the Swifts Long Boats Crew. 21 That the Demands of the Homeward bound Ships for Live Stock as well as Fersell may be reduced within the narrowest Compass, for those Islands recovery of itself by the encrease of those Articles, the Commanders are still enjoined to supply themselves in India with sufficient Stocks for their homeward bound Voyage, and extraordinary Stay with you. 22 According to yours desire in the Letter of the 18th of May a Long Boat framed will be sent by this Ship to be put together after its arrival and observing you purchased one of Captain Kaster the 5th July last for Twenty pounds no distress on this Account will any longer exist, however it will be incumbent upon you whenever they are employed on other than Our own Service to take care that any damage they may then receive is made Good to us, and an Equivalent paid for such Services by those in whose Employ they may be engaged, the Sloops Mast You desire is likewise sent 23 The Indents We have received from you this Season will by the Prince Henry be in General Complied with; the Particulars you will be acquainted with, from the enclosed Invoice and Bill of Lading; and shall rely on your accustomary Economy and Care, in the Management and disposal thereof for use and Sale. Margin Notes: Capt Hume paid for two of the Long Boat Crew & ca The Commanders to supply themselves in India & ca A Long Boat framed sent & ca a Sloops Mast sent Stores sent	20: The Court had likewise paid Captain Hume of the Fox £5 8s 6d for Richard Smith and £2 6s 6d for Thomas Thomson, two more of the longboat mariners whom the captain had exchanged for two French prisoners he had on board at the Brazils, for necessaries he had furnished them with. No other charges had been made good for these two men. Being uncertain how they had disposed of themselves or what their intentions were, no further information could be given about them. Nor, as the other five who made up the Swift's longboat crew had never to the Court's knowledge appeared, could anything be said of them. 21: So that the demands of the homeward-bound ships for livestock, and for Fort St George, might be reduced within the narrowest compass, for the island's own recovery by the increase of those articles, the commanders were still enjoined to supply themselves in India with sufficient stocks for their homeward voyage and any extraordinary stay at the island. 22: According to the island's desire in its letter of 18 May, a longboat framed would be sent by this ship, to be put together after its arrival. Observing that the island had bought one of Captain Carter on 5 July last for £20, no distress on this account would any longer exist. It would nonetheless be incumbent on the Governor and Council, whenever these boats were employed on other than the Company's own service, to see that any damage they then received was made good, and an equivalent paid for such service by those in whose employ they were engaged. The sloop's mast the island desired was likewise sent. 23: The indents the Court had received this season would in general be complied with by the Prince Henry. The particulars the island would learn from the enclosed invoice and bill of lading. The Court would rely on the Governor and Council's customary economy and care in the management and disposal of the stores for use and sale. Interpretations The instruction to have ships victual in India rather than at St Helena shows the Court protecting the island's breeding stock from the drain of passing traffic. Every homeward Indiaman that took on livestock and provisions at the island depleted the very herds meant to sustain the settlement, so requiring commanders to supply themselves in the East before the last leg let St Helena's animals increase, treating the island's recovery as worth the shift of burden onto the ships. The framed longboat sent out in pieces reveals a practical answer to the loss and expense of small craft. Rather than sail a boat the whole way or leave the island short, the Company shipped one ready to assemble on arrival, so the settlement could replace its cruising and working boats efficiently, the same need that had run through several seasons met here by prefabrication. The condition on hiring out the boats exposes the Company guarding its property when lent to others. Where a boat was used on service other than the Company's own, the hirer was to bear any damage and pay an equivalent for the use, so the Governor and Council held the craft as Company assets to be accounted for, not free to be worn out in outside employ without compensation. Speculations This passage is largely routine, settling accounts and forwarding stores, but the arrangement over livestock shows a real choice. The Court could have let the homeward ships continue to provision at St Helena, the natural last watering place before the Atlantic crossing, yet it directed commanders to load sufficient stocks in India instead, expressly to spare the island's herds for their own increase. The decision to push the victualling burden back onto the ships over letting them draw on the nearer source shows the Court prizing the settlement's long-term recovery above the convenience of provisioning at the final port of call.
128	123	24 And although We consign two Chests of Treasure to you by this Ship, We are willing to hope you are able, from the money which shall offer for Bills to be drawn upon us to supply yourselves sufficiently with Cash for the ensuing Season; it is recommended to you on such prospect not to take those two Chests of Treasure out of the Ship if you can well avoid it, but continue the same on board writing them, the St Helena Bill of Lading, and consigning them to Our Supra Cargoes in China; where if your Conveniency will permit they may be well employed for our Service. 25 Your demands for the several Articles wanting from China being communicated to Our Agents there; with Directions for furnishing the same accordingly, We hope they will be recieved safely in the proper Season 26 No Salt Provisions are consigned to you this Season on Account of the large remains you are possessed of, which will require great Care, for their preservation; and an attention that those which have been longest in Store be first expended besides it will be an object well worth your consideration to determine in what degree the Ample Stock on hand may relieve you in the issues of Fresh Provisions by promoting the Consumption and delivery of the former to as large an extent as possible to our own, and Foreign Ships that the Expence of Fresh Stock may be proportionably lessened. 27 Recourse must be had to our other Presidencies for Sugar; or such other Articles as you were customarily furnished with from Fort Marlborough; from the Circumstance of our ordering no Ship to be directly returned to us in 1762 from the West Coast 28 Agreeable to the Practice for some years past in this time of War, when his Majestys Ships of War may be expected at the Island, We send four Chests of Claret for the Entertainment of those Gentlemen at the Governors Table 29 It appearing to us from diary of Our Supra Cargoes of Council at Canton in 1759, that they purchased three Setts of Mill Stones for grinding Sugar Canes for the use of the Manufactory at Fort Marlborough amounting Margin Notes: Two Chests of Treasure consigned & ca Goods from China No Salt Provisions sent & ca Goods from Fort Marlbro must be sent for from the other Settlemts Claret sent	24: Though the Court consigned two chests of treasure to the island by this ship, it hoped the Governor and Council might be able, from the money that should offer for bills to be drawn on the Court, to supply themselves sufficiently with cash for the ensuing season. It recommended that, on such a prospect, they not take those two chests out of the ship if they could well avoid it, but continue them on board under a St Helena bill of lading and consign them to the Company's supercargoes in China. There, if convenient, they might be well employed for the Company's service. 25: The island's demands for the several articles wanted from China had been passed to the Company's agents there, with directions to furnish them accordingly. The Court hoped they would be received safely in their proper season. 26: No salt provisions were consigned to the island this season, on account of the large remains it held, which would require great care for their preservation, and attention that those longest in store be first used. Besides, it would be an object well worth the island's consideration to determine how far the ample stock on hand might relieve it in the issue of fresh provisions, by promoting the consumption and delivery of the former as largely as possible to the Company's own and foreign ships, so the expense of fresh stock might be proportionably lessened. 27: Recourse must be had to the Company's other presidencies for sugar, or such other articles as the island was customarily furnished with from Fort Marlborough, from the Court's having ordered no ship to be directly returned to it from the west coast in 1762. 28: Agreeable to the practice for some years past in this time of war, when his Majesty's ships of war might be expected at the island, the Court sent four chests of claret for the entertainment of those gentlemen at the Governor's table. 29: It appearing from the diary of the Company's supercargoes of council at Canton in 1759 that they had bought three sets of mill stones for grinding sugar canes for the use of the manufactory at Fort Marlborough, amounting Interpretations The advice to leave the treasure aboard shows the Court steering specie toward where it earned most. Bullion sent to St Helena sat idle unless the island truly needed cash, whereas the same chests carried on to the supercargoes at Canton could buy tea, so the Court preferred the island to raise its money by bills drawn on London and let the silver flow to the China investment, treating the settlement's cash needs and the trade's capital as a single balance. The withholding of salt provisions turns a full storehouse into an instrument of economy. With ample salt meat already held, the Court wanted the old stock run down by supplying passing ships, both the Company's own and foreign vessels, so that fresh provisions need not be issued so freely, the management of the reserve aimed at cutting the standing cost of victualling the island's traffic. The claret for the Governor's table records the semi-official hospitality the war imposed on the island. Naval officers whose ships called for convoy or refreshment were entertained at Company expense, so the Court shipped wine expressly for the purpose, treating the courtesy shown to the King's officers as a recognised charge of maintaining good relations with the Navy that protected its trade. The mill stones for Fort Marlborough expose the reach of the Company's supply network, drawing on Canton to equip a sugar works at Bencoolen. A manufactory needed grinding stones that were bought in China and routed through the Company's shipping, so the supercargoes' purchase served an industrial need at a distant settlement, the whole eastern establishment provisioning itself across thousands of miles through a single connected trade. Speculations The Court could have let the island land its two chests of treasure in the ordinary way, giving the Governor and Council a ready store of cash for the season. Instead it advised them to leave the chests aboard for Canton and raise their money by bills drawn on London, if the prospect of such bills allowed. The choice to route the silver on to the China investment over securing the island's convenience shows the Court valuing the employment of its specie in trade above the settlement's ease, preferring that bullion buy tea rather than sit unused in a St Helena strongroom.
129	124	amounting Tales 777 250. One Set whereof was sent to that Settlement by the way of Bengal and the two directed to be shipped for St Helena on the Walpole & Duke in order to be conveyed from thence to the West Coast for anything before us at present. We are ignorant whether these Stones came to your hands, yet should it have proved so, We would have you Ship them by setts by the two first occasions which may hereafter offer either to Fort Marlborough directly, and if none presents thither, to any one of the three other Presidencies, accompanying them with Invoice and Bill of Lading and the necessaray advices 30 In answer to yours observation that the prize Brandy sent last Season is too dear for a Quick and profitable Sale, We can only say that We shall rely on your Care for our suffering as little as possibleby Leakage, and that it may yield Us at last Invoice price. 31 The same sort of Pitch that We send you this Year is used in his Majestys Service preferable to any other, We direct you do signify to us whether it answers better than any hitherto sent 32 The thirty pieces of Riga Timber which yours press yourselves in so much want of and could not be sent on the Royal Duke comes to you in this Ship. 33 The one hundred and forty five Barrels of Flowr which; you were advised there was a necessity of taking out of the Ship Royal Duke, you will receive by the Prince Henry, as part of the Quantity ordered in Compliance with your Indent, this Parcel is distinguished from the other part now sent, that you may receive, on inspection whether it may not be prudent to expend it before, what has since been provided 34 When there is such a difference as you mention in the Cost of Rice it ought by all means on the prospect of a want to be purchased from such as are able to furnish it at the lowest Rates, but would it not be best to avoid any dependance on Private Purchases, by indenting suitably for this Article from Bengal. Margin Notes: Setts of Mill Stones from China no notice taken of them & ca Prize Brandy too Dear & ca A new sort of Pitch sent Riga Timber sent Flour Rice to be purchased at the lowest Rates	The three sets of mill stones amounted to 250 taels. One set was sent to Fort Marlborough by way of Bengal, and the other two were directed to be shipped for St Helena on the Walpole and Egmont, to be conveyed thence to the west coast for anything the Court knew at present. The Court was ignorant whether these stones had reached the island, yet should that prove so, the Governor and Council were to ship them by sets by the two first opportunities offering either to Fort Marlborough directly, or, if none presented thither, to any one of the three other presidencies, sending with them the invoice, bill of lading and necessary advices. 30: In answer to the island's observation that the prize brandy sent last season was too dear for a quick and profitable sale, the Court could only say that it would rely on the Governor and Council's care to suffer as little as possible by leakage, and that it might yield at least invoice price. 31: The same sort of pitch the Court sent this year was used in his Majesty's service, preferable to any other. The Court directed the island to signify whether it answered better than any sent before. 32: The thirty pieces of Riga timber which the island pressed for, being much wanted and unable to be sent on the Royal Duke, came by this ship. 33: The 145 barrels of flour which the island was told it had been necessary to take out of the Royal Duke would come by the Prince Henry, as part of the quantity ordered in compliance with the indent. This parcel was distinguished from the other part sent, so the island might judge on inspection whether it might be prudent to use it before what had since been provided. 34: Where there was such a difference in the cost of rice as the island mentioned, it ought by all means, on the prospect of a want, to be bought from such as were able to furnish it at the lowest rates. Would it not, however, be best to avoid any dependence on private purchases by indenting suitably for the article from Bengal. Interpretations The routing of the mill stones through St Helena shows the island serving as a transshipment point in the Company's eastern network. Stones bought at Canton for the sugar works at Bencoolen were sent first to the Atlantic island and then forwarded to the west coast, so St Helena functioned not only as a refreshment station but as a relay in a supply chain that crossed the whole eastern trade, holding goods until an onward passage offered. The instruction on the pitch reveals the Company using its distant settlements to test materials for quality. A pitch already preferred in naval service was sent for trial, and the island was to report whether it outperformed earlier supplies, so the settlement fed practical assessment back to London, the Court refining its procurement by the experience of those who used the stores. The advice to indent for rice from Bengal exposes the Court steering the island away from an unreliable market toward a controlled source. Private purchases varied wildly in price, as the island's own figures showed, so ordering rice through Bengal on a proper requisition promised steadier supply at known cost, the Court preferring the security of its own channels to the chances of buying from whoever offered. Speculations The Court could have simply told the island to buy rice wherever it was cheapest whenever a shortage threatened, meeting each want as it arose. Instead it questioned whether dependence on private purchases was wise at all, and pressed the island to indent for the article from Bengal. The choice to favour a standing requisition through the Company's own presidency over ad hoc buying on a fluctuating market shows the Court preferring predictable supply from a controlled source, treating the wide swings in private prices the island had reported as reason to route the trade through channels it governed.
130	125	35 Upon a strict Survey here of the Ten Axel Trees for Gun Carriages sent on the Triton and returned on Account of their being Rent so as to be deemed by that Ships and our Carpenters unfit for Service; Seven of them haing by the proof Master of the Ordnance and our own Surveyer, been reported good and serviceable, are now sent Back, and although the three others are not judged entirely unfit for Service, yet being looked on as not good enough for your purpose; New ones are provided in their Room, yet We must observe that even these three, had they been hooped at the Ends of the Arms as intended, would have been serviceable many Years 36 We are content with your writing off the Books the Sum of £120.19.8 for several particulars of Household Furniture, Boats and other Articles as these same must from their Nature be subject to decay and Breakage; for the same Reason We acquiesce in your Issues of one hundred and twelve new Blankets for the use of your Garrison depending on your Care and Economy that this Practice may be as rare as Circumstances shall allow. 37 The Accounts that in Course of the former part of last Season; We received of the unfavourable Weather you sustained, excited our Sincere Concern; which however was in a great measure dispelled by the happier Prospect of a more favourably Season communicated in your latter Advices, Which We trust you have been blessed with so your Wishes, that the Soil and Cattle may have been recovered and encreased in a proportion suitable to your Occasions, and the demand for Provisions; this We apprehend from the directions continued to be given to Our Commanders, as before signified will be so moderate as to put the Island in a Condition to enlarge its Stock in such a manner, that though We hope you may not experience them, yet that you will in some degree be prepared against such unfavourably Seasons. 38 These several Rules laid down in Consultation for preventing the baneful use of spirituous Liquors, and restraining excessive drinking, for forbidding Horses grazing on the Companys Waste Lands to the prejudice of the Margin Notes: the three not so bad as represented Content with writing off the Books £120.19.8 & ca Concerned to hear of the unfavourable Seasons & ca	35: On a strict survey of the ten axletrees for gun carriages sent on the Triton and returned as bent and so deemed by that ship and the Company's carpenter unfit for service, seven had by the proof master of the ordnance and the Court's own surveyor been reported good and serviceable, and were now sent back. Though the other three were not judged entirely unfit, they were looked on as not good enough for the island's purpose, so new ones were provided in their room. The Court had to observe that even these three, had they been hooped at the ends of the arms as intended, would have been serviceable many years. 36: The Court was content with the island writing off the books the sum of £120 19s 8d for several particulars of household furniture, boats and other articles which must from their nature be subject to decay and breakage. For the same reason it agreed to the issue of 112 blankets for the use of the garrison, depending on the island's care and economy that the practice might be as rare as circumstances should allow. 37: The accounts received in the course of the former part of last season, of the unfavourable weather the island had suffered, excited the Court's sincere concern. This was in great measure dispelled by the happier prospect of a more favourable season conveyed in the island's later advices, which the Court trusted the Governor and Council had been blessed with according to their wish, so the soil and cattle might be recovered and increased in a proportion suitable to their occasions and the demand for provisions. The Court apprehended from the directions continued to be given to the commanders, as before signified, this would be so moderate as to put the island in a condition to enlarge its stock in such a manner that, though it hoped the island might not experience such seasons again, it would in some degree be prepared against them. 38: The several rules laid down in consultation, for preventing the baneful use of spirituous liquors and restraining excessive drinking, for forbidding horses grazing on the Company's waste lands to the prejudice of the Interpretations The axletree dispute shows the Court checking the island's rejection of stores against expert opinion at home. The island and its carpenter had condemned all ten as bent, but the proof master of the ordnance and the Court's surveyor passed seven as sound, so the central body overrode the local judgement on the strength of specialist inspection, marking that a settlement's condemnation of Company goods would be tested before it was accepted. The observation about hooping the axletrees reveals the Court identifying a preventable failure in how equipment was used. Even the three lesser pieces would have lasted years if bound with iron hoops at the ends as intended, so the fault lay partly in the island neglecting a protective fitting, the Court using the return of the stores to instruct on their proper maintenance rather than merely replace them. The write-off and the blankets expose the routine accounting for goods that wore out in service. Furniture, boats and bedding decayed by their nature, so the Court allowed the island to strike £120 19s 8d from its books and issue fresh blankets, but coupled the permission with a call for economy, treating the loss of perishable stores as unavoidable yet still to be kept within bounds by careful management. Speculations Faced with the island's blanket condemnation of all ten axletrees as bent and unfit, the Court could have accepted the verdict of the men who would use them and simply replaced the lot. Instead it put the returned pieces to the proof master of the ordnance and its own surveyor, who passed seven as serviceable and sent them back. The choice to submit the island's judgement to expert re-examination over taking it at face value shows the Court unwilling to write off sound equipment on a local say-so, preferring an independent test that recovered most of the stores the settlement had rejected.
131	126	Black Cattle, for regulating the number of Horses, and what Persons shall be entitled to keep them; for suppressing trespass by Cattle, and prohibiting their passage on particular Spots at Certain Seasons, also for preventing the sale and purchases of Stolen Goods, appearing very wholesome, and calculated to remove those Evils you for prevention were subject to from ill disposed Persons, cannot but meet with our approval, and We doubt not but that from their due Execution the good Consequences which were proposed will ensue, It was also well done to enforce their due obedience to such Rules, by the Fines you commendably laid on William Hayes, and Thomas Harper for their debauching Our Military, and Blacks, by the unlicenced Sales of strong Liquors. 39 Among the Delinquents whom with you have been perplexed, We cannot but with detestation look upon that Villainous Incendiary Thomas Byrne, and commend you for sending him off the Island as soon as possible 40 It would have been but a very faint Execution of Our repeated and strenuous directions for preserving the strictest Military discipline in time of War, unobservedly to have passed the Offence of Daniel Fecther for his insult to the Commander of and undue attendancy with the Best Flying Party of the Militia, on a Double Alarm for Sixteen Ships from your well time Conduct and Fine of this Man, the best Effects may be expected in the Behaviour of all Persons in that Corps, of such Importancy to the safety of the Island and the Inhabitants property 41 On this Subject We cannot but note the Fine levied for the unprovoked abuse of William Moore by Mr Law from whose Station a more becoming behaviour might have been expected and which it will rest with you in future to enforce 42 From the many instances of the desertion of Slaves, may it not be inferred that the frequent severe Corporal Punishments inflicted on; render them more obdurate, if it shall appear us, on due consideration and from good Policy, that Imprisonment with scanty Diet, or any other Chastisement Margin Notes: The several Rules laid down in Consultation for prevention the bad use of spirituous Liquors & ca approved of Common did in sending Byrne off the Island Feuthers fine approved Mr Laws fine approved Slaves desertion taken notice	The rules laid down in consultation also concerned the black cattle, regulating the number of horses and what persons should be entitled to keep them, suppressing trespass by cattle and forbidding their passage on particular spots at certain seasons, and preventing the sale and purchase of stolen goods. These appeared very wholesome and calculated to remove the evils the island was subject to from ill-disposed persons, and could not but meet the Court's approval. The Court did not doubt that from their due execution the good consequences proposed would follow. It was also well done to enforce obedience to such rules by the fines commendably laid on William Hayes and Thomas Harper for debauching the Company's military and blacks by the unlicensed sale of strong liquors. 39: Among the delinquents the island had been perplexed with, the Court looked with detestation on that villainous incendiary Thomas Byrne, and commended the Governor and Council for sending him off the island as soon as possible. 40: It would have been a very faint execution of the Court's repeated and strenuous directions for preserving the strictest military discipline in time of war to have passed over unnoticed the offence of Daniel Fowkes, for his insult to the commander of, and undue attendance with, the field flying party of the militia, on a double alarm for sixteen ships. From the island's good conduct and fine in this matter the best effects might be expected in the behaviour of all persons in that corps, of such importance to the safety of the island and the inhabitants' property. 41: On this subject the Court had to note the fine laid for the unprovoked abuse of William Moore by Mr Law, from whose station a more becoming behaviour might have been expected, and which it would rest with the Governor and Council in future to enforce. 42: From the many instances of the desertion of slaves, might it not be inferred that the frequent severe corporal punishments inflicted on them rendered them more obdurate, if it should appear so, on due consideration and from good policy, that imprisonment with scanty diet, or any other Interpretations The cluster of local ordinances shows the island governing daily life through a body of by-laws the Court reviewed and endorsed. Rules on horses, cattle trespass, seasonal grazing and the receiving of stolen goods regulated the settlement's small economy and public order, so the Governor and Council legislated for the community much as a municipal authority would, their measures gaining force from the Court's approval at a distance. The fines for unlicensed liquor selling expose drink as a recognised threat to garrison discipline. Selling strong liquor to soldiers and slaves outside the licensed trade was treated as debauching them, so Hayes and Harper were penalised not merely for unlicensed trade but for undermining the order of the military, the Court linking the control of drink directly to the reliability of the island's defence. The Fowkes case reveals how seriously the militia's discipline was taken when the island stood on alarm. An insult to the commander of the flying party during a double alarm for sixteen ships struck at the corps on which the settlement's safety depended, so the fine marked that indiscipline in the defensive force was a matter of the gravest concern precisely when the danger was highest. The question about punishing runaway slaves exposes the Court weighing the management of its human property as a matter of cold policy. Severe corporal punishment seemed to harden rather than deter, so the Court raised whether confinement on short rations might answer better, treating the discipline of slaves as a problem of finding the method that best preserved their value and obedience. Speculations The Court could have let its standing insistence on the harshest military discipline carry through to the treatment of runaway slaves, applying severe corporal punishment as the obvious deterrent. Instead it questioned whether frequent floggings made the slaves more obdurate, and asked whether imprisonment on scanty diet might serve better. The choice to reconsider the customary severity over simply enforcing it shows the Court reasoning from policy toward whatever method best secured obedience, treating the many desertions as evidence that the accustomed punishment was defeating its own purpose.
132	127	Chastisement less disgustful to humanity, except for flagrant Crimes, may be attended with as good an Effect, it might well be worth trial 43 As We do not find that anything material appears before Us in respect to your Fortifications, it gives us Satisfaction of supposing, they are in a proper State, observing that for their Continuance in such posture and to present all unnecessary Expence, by the seasonable repair of their Defects, it is not to be doubted but that frequent and strict Surveys are made thereof, for though We hope you will not be put to the Trial, yet it is of the last necessity that they should be ever in the best Condition to answer the designed end of their Construction, in the Resistancy of all Attacks that may be made on them, It is also equally important, that all Our Garrisons Stores and particularly the Gunpowder, do frequently undergo the like Scrutinies, and that every Article thereof be disposed in such proper and distinct order that no Confusion or Perplexity may ensue, should you ever be obliged to withstand an Enemy. 44 On a Representation from Fort Marlborough how serviceable some People experienced in Building with Rough Stone will prove there, We would have some of Our Slaves who are skilled in this Branch conveyed thither, when an opportunity offers if you have any such to spare 45 Your appointments of Mr Matthew Bazett to be Secretary, and David Alcock a Writer, with fixing Mr Francis Wrangham as a Factor, are agreeably low, it will be your care to see that the attention of these Persons to our Business is constant and adequate to the appointments made their for it, Covenants is come herewith to be executed by the Writer, and returned for whose faithful performance thereof two Persons are to be named to us for executing a Bond wherein five hundreds pounds Penalty 46 Observing from the Extension of our affairs the encrease of Business and considering the extraordinary attention which the Concours of a large number of Our Ships with you, at the same period must occasion; particularly in the Governors Department, you are therefore permitted to take from among Margin Notes: The Fortifications supposed to be in a proper state of Defence & ca Stone Layers to be sent to Fort Marlbro if can be spared Mess Bazett Alcock & Wrangham appointments agreeable & ca The Govr permitted to Entertain two Writers	Any other chastisement less disgustful to humanity, except for flagrant crimes, might be attended with as good an effect, and it might well be worth trial. 43: As nothing material appeared in respect to the fortifications, it gave the Court satisfaction to suppose them in a proper state. It observed that, for their continuance in such a posture and to prevent all unnecessary expense by the seasonable repair of their defects, frequent and strict surveys should be made of them. Though the Court hoped they would not be put to the trial, it was of the last necessity that they be always in the best condition to answer the designed end of their construction in resisting all attacks. It was equally important that all the garrison stores, and particularly the gunpowder, undergo the like scrutinies, and that every article be kept in such proper and distinct order that no confusion might ensue should the island ever be obliged to withstand an enemy. 44: On a representation from Fort Marlborough of how serviceable people experienced in building with rough stone would prove there, the Court would have some of its slaves skilled in this branch conveyed thither when an opportunity offered, if the island had any such to spare. 45: The island's appointments of Mr Matthew Bazett to be secretary and David Alcock a writer, with fixing Mr Francis Wrangham as a factor, were agreeable to the Court. It would rest with the Governor and Council to see that the attention of these persons to the Company's business was constant and adequate to the appointments made them for it. Covenants came herewith to be executed by the writer, and returned. For his faithful performance two persons were to be named to the Court, for executing a bond with him under a penalty of £500. 46: Observing from the extension of its affairs the increase of business, and considering the extraordinary attention which the concourse of a large number of the Company's ships at the island at the same time must occasion, particularly in the Governor's department, the Court permitted the Governor and Council to take from among Interpretations The insistence on frequent surveys of the works and stores shows the Court treating defensive readiness as a matter of constant upkeep rather than occasional effort. Fortifications decayed and stores fell into disorder unless regularly inspected, so the Court pressed for strict scrutiny in peace so that nothing would fail in war, the ordering of the gunpowder in particular marking that a magazine confused when an attack came was as dangerous as no magazine at all. The transfer of stone-skilled slaves to Fort Marlborough exposes how the Company moved its bonded labour between settlements according to need. Bencoolen wanted men experienced in building with rough stone, and St Helena held slaves with that skill, so the Court arranged to convey them east, treating skilled human property as a resource to be allocated across the eastern establishment like any other. The bond required of the new writer reveals the financial security the Company demanded of those handling its business. Beyond the covenant of service, two sureties had to join Alcock in a bond of £500, so his faithful performance was guaranteed by others who stood to lose if he failed, the Company protecting itself against the dishonesty of a junior servant by making his conduct a liability shared with men of substance.
133	128	the Planters Familys or others, two such Capables well deserving youths as the Governor shall fix upon, to be entertained Writers on the usual Terms, and these are intended as assistants to him. 47 We have thought proper to annul the dependency of Sumatra on Fort St George, and have placed Fort Marlborough and its Subordinates under the direction and Management of a Governor and President and Council, consisting of the same Persons who were before charged with the trust of Our affaires in like manner and with as full powers and Authority as any of our other Presidencies, In Consequence whereof a Royal Charter is now preparing to be sent thither for constituting Courts Civil and Criminal, with a Court of Requests which will be transmitted this Season; You will hereupon conform and address yourselves to the new established Presidency accordingly. 48 We have appointed Major General Stringer Lawrence; Commander in Chief of all the Companys Forces in the East Indies, he will proceed to his post on one of the Latter Ships bound for the Coast and Bay this Season 49 By this Ship We shall endeavour to furnish you with the thirty Recruits advised to be wanting; for compleating your Garrison, List thereof will be inclosed for your information of the necessary Particulars concerning them; if these should exceed your occasions by relisting more of those, whose contracted time is on the point of Expiration; it will be well done by the most Convenient opportunity to convey to any of our Settlements, or even such who refuse to relist with you, if they are able Men and it can be done on reasonably Terms. 50 For Reasons assigned in favour of Captain Onesiphorus Beale; We acquiesce in the permission granted him of repairing hither; under the continuance of his pay for recovery of his Health, the rarer such practices shall be the Better, trusting as his Brother Officers has promised to keep up his Duty in his Absence; no extraordinary Charge will arise from the Margin Notes: Fort Marlbro made a Presidency & ca General Lawrence appointed Comdr in Chief Recruits sent Acquiesce in the permission granted Capt Beale	The Governor and Council might take from among the planters' families or others two capable and deserving youths, as the Governor should fix upon, to be entertained writers on the usual terms and intended as assistants to him. 47: The Court had thought proper to end the dependence of Sumatra on Fort St George, and had placed Fort Marlborough and its subordinates under the direction and management of a Governor and President and council, consisting of the very persons before charged with the trust of its affairs, in the same manner and with as full powers and authority as any of its other presidencies. In consequence a royal charter was now preparing, to be sent thither for constituting courts civil and criminal, with a court of requests, which would be transmitted this season. The island was to conform and address itself to the newly established presidency accordingly. 48: The Court had appointed Major General Stringer Lawrence commander in chief of all the Company's forces in the East Indies. He would proceed to his post on one of the latter ships bound for the Coast and Bay this season. 49: By this ship the Court would endeavour to furnish the island with the 30 recruits reckoned wanting to complete its garrison. A list of them would be enclosed for the island's information. Should they exceed the island's occasions by enlisting more than the 30 whose contracted time was on the point of expiring, it would be well done to convey the surplus by the most convenient opportunity to any of the Company's settlements, or even such as refused to re-enlist at the island, if they were able men and it could be done on reasonable terms. 50: For the reasons assigned in favour of Captain Onesiphorus Beale, the Court acquiesced in the permission granted him of coming home, with the continuance of his pay for the recovery of his health, the rarer such practices should be the better. Trusting, as his brother officers had promised to do his duty in his absence, that no extraordinary charge would arise from the furlough, Interpretations The elevation of Fort Marlborough to a full presidency shows the Company restructuring its eastern government to match the growth of its affairs. Cutting Sumatra's dependence on Fort St George and giving Bencoolen its own Governor, council and courts placed it on a level with the other presidencies, so the settlement gained the standing and legal machinery to govern itself directly rather than through a distant superior, the royal charter supplying the authority for courts civil and criminal. The disposal of surplus recruits reveals how the Company treated enlisted men as a mobile resource across its settlements. Soldiers beyond the island's need, or those declining to re-enlist there, could be sent on to other stations if able and cheaply moved, so manpower shipped for one garrison served the wider establishment, the Court managing its scattered forces as a single pool rather than fixing men to a single posting. Beale's paid furlough exposes the discretion the Company exercised over an officer's health against the cost to its funds. Allowing a captain home on continued pay set a precedent it wished to keep rare, so the concession was hedged with the assurance that his brother officers would cover his duty and no extra charge arise, the Court granting the indulgence while guarding against it becoming a habit that others might claim.
134	129	furlough you have indulged him with; We are from the Character you give this Officer concerned to inform you he died the 5th of December, from which time his pay is to ceasy, and you will supply his Post on receipt whereof with a Capable, and deserving Person 51 In Commiseration of Corporal Austins Misfortune, by the loss of Sight an allowance is made him, although We have no Funds peculiar to the Relief of such unhappy People, as has been in some places mistakenly conceived, and is intimated to you; that they may be aware of apprehending themselves entitled to universal Bounties for the Grant whereof no Sums are appropriated 52 Our Slaves Essex who deserted from the Island on the Bombay Castle, was sent on board the Admiral Watson; with directions to Captain Fowler for dropping him with you on that Ships return homeward. 53 Another of our Coffrees who deserted from the Island and came hither on the Hector named Grewer; is returned to you on this Ship, this Slave appears to have been punished for an Offence he committed, yet being bred a Mason must be very serviceable to you; which induced us notwithstanding the fault to send him back, as he appeared when before us struck with Contrition, and on his assurances of Future good behaviour We have promised he shall not be corrected for this Desertion. 54 A Soldier of your Garrison and another Coffree who had secreted themselves on board his Majestys Ship Yarmouth, and were discovered after Ship left the Island, on her arrival here, being sent on board the Princess Royal Ship of War at the Nore, were detained and We suppose are since disposed of in the Fleet, for the Kings Service as Our Claim of them was ineffectual 55 This Desertion is an Evil which seems encreasing, and demands your attention for preventing the Inconveniences, and expence it carries with it, We would therefore have you fix upon such Regulations as may probably put an end thereto, by placing Centinels at the Water side; forbidding any Soldiers or Margin Notes: The Post to be filled up Notice taken of Corporal Austins misfortune & ca Essex to be left upon the Admiral Watson Arrival Grewer returned & ca A Soldier & Black detained on board the Princess Royal	From the character the island gave this officer, the Court was concerned to learn that he died on 5 December, from which time his pay was to cease. The Governor and Council were to fill his post on receipt of this with a capable and deserving person. 51: In commiseration of Corporal Austin's misfortune in the loss of his sight, an allowance was made him, though the Court had no funds set apart for the relief of such unhappy people, as had in some places been mistakenly conceived. It was intimated to the island that they might be aware of apprehending themselves entitled to unusual bounties for the grant of which no sums were appropriated. 52: The Company's slave Essex, who deserted from the island on the Bombay Castle, was sent on board the Admiral Watson, with directions to the captain for dropping him with the island on that ship's return homeward. 53: Another of the Company's coffrees, who deserted from the island and came hither on the Hector, named Grewer, was returned to the island on this ship. This slave appeared to have been punished for an offence he committed, yet, being bred a mason, must be very serviceable to the island, which induced the Court to send him back notwithstanding the fault. As he appeared struck with contrition when before the Court, and on his assurances of future good behaviour, it had promised he should not be corrected for this desertion. 54: A soldier of the island's garrison, and another coffree, who had secreted themselves on board his Majesty's ship Yarmouth and were discovered after the ship left the island, were on her arrival sent on board the Princess Royal ship of war at the Nore. There they were detained, and the Court supposed they were since disposed of in the fleet for the King's service, as its claim to them was ineffectual. 55: This desertion was an evil which seemed increasing, and demanded the island's attention for preventing the inconvenience and expense it carried with it. The Court would therefore have the Governor and Council fix on such regulations as might probably put an end to it, by placing sentinels at the water side, forbidding any soldiers or Interpretations The corporal's allowance drew a careful disclaimer because the Court feared setting a precedent it had not funded. A blind soldier was relieved out of compassion, but the Court was at pains to say no money was appropriated for such cases, so the grant would not be read as an entitlement others might claim, the charity extended as discretion rather than as any established right to a pension for disability. The contrasting fates of the two runaway slaves expose value rather than justice as the Company's governing consideration. Essex was simply returned, while Grewer, a trained mason, was sent back with a promise of no punishment precisely because his skill made him worth keeping content, so the Company weighed the usefulness of each man against his offence, forgiving the desertion of the one whose labour it could least afford to lose. The loss of the soldier and coffree to the Navy reveals the limits of the Company's authority against the Crown's. Men who stowed away on a King's ship and were absorbed into the fleet could not be recovered, the Company's claim proving ineffectual, so the Royal Navy's need for hands overrode the Company's property in its slave and its soldier alike, a jurisdictional reality the Court could only note and accept. The mounting desertion by way of the ships in the road shows the island's harbour as the weak point in holding both slaves and soldiers. The very traffic that gave St Helena its purpose offered a constant route of escape, so the Court called for sentinels at the water side and rules to close it, the increase in flight forcing a tightening of control at the point where the settlement met the sea. Speculations The Court could have sent the runaway mason Grewer back to face the same punishment as any deserting slave, consistency with its treatment of Essex pointing that way. Instead it promised he should not be corrected for the desertion, resting the decision expressly on his value as a trained mason and his show of contrition before the Court. The choice to forgive the offence over enforcing the usual discipline shows the Company subordinating punishment to the preservation of a skilled man's usefulness, treating the labour it stood to lose as worth more than the example a flogging would set.
135	130	Blacks to go off without a permit, and under the Charge of a Proper Officer, who should not suffer them to board the Ship, unless it is immediately necessary that a List be taken of such as go off, who should be mustered on their return when any one being missing it should be instantly repaired, and means follow for a Recovery besides none of these People should go off without the strictest Precautions, or if it can be prevented not at all, when the Ships are on their departure; You on the Spot will see with greater perspicuity what may seem the most effectual Remedy, and improve upon our intimations accordingly. As to our own Commanders the reminding each of them of the Penalty they expose themselves to, by bringing away those People, may have a good Effect. 56 A Slave named Dolphin the property of a private Person on the Island, who had secreted himself on board the Tilbury is at the expence of the owners of that Ship now returned, hereupon let the Inhabitants be informed, that if they are not careful to restrain their Blacks from going off to the Shipping, it must not be expected We shall put ourselves to the inconveniences their Elopement occasion. 57 His Majesty having been graciously pleased to encourage the making observation on the Transit of the Planet Venus over the Suns Disk on the 6th of June next, and proper Persons being engaged by the Royal Society for the purpose; Two of them Mr Charles Mason, and Mr Jeremiah Dixon proceed to Fort Marlborough on his Majestys Ship Seahorse; and the other Two the Revd Mr Nevil Maskelyne, and Mr Robert Waddington; take passage on the Prince Henry to St Helena. As this is done to make some improvements in Astronomy, which will be of general Utility; the two last named Gentlemen are upon their arrival and during their Stay at the Island to be accommodated by you, in a suitable manner, with Diet and Appartments at the Companys expence, Margin Notes: all methods must be used to prevent Desertion & ca a Slave returned to Inhabitants to be informed & ca Four Gentlemen sent to make Observations on the Transit of Venus & ca	The regulations were to forbid any soldiers or blacks going off without a permit, and under the charge of a proper officer who should not suffer them to board the ships unless immediately necessary. A list was to be taken of those who went off, who should be mustered on their return, so that when any one was missing it might be instantly reported and means followed for a recovery. Besides, none of these people should go off without the strictest precautions, or, if it could be prevented, not at all when the ships were on their departure. The Governor and Council on the spot would see with greater particularity what might seem the most effectual remedy, and improve on the Court's hints accordingly. As to the Company's own commanders, reminding each of them of the penalty they exposed themselves to by bringing away these people might have a good effect. 56: A slave named Dolphin, the property of a private person on the island, who had secreted himself on board the Tilbury, was at the expense of the owners of that ship now returned. The inhabitants were to be informed that if they were not careful to restrain their blacks from going off to the shipping, it must not be expected the Court would put itself to the inconvenience their elopement occasioned. 57: His Majesty having been graciously pleased to encourage the making of observation on the transit of the planet Venus over the sun's disk on 6 June next, and proper persons being engaged by the Royal Society for the purpose, four gentlemen were sent to make observations. Two of them, Mr Charles Mason and Mr Jeremiah Dixon, proceeded to Fort Marlborough on his Majesty's ship Seahorse. The other two, the Reverend Mr Nevil Maskelyne and Mr Robert Waddington, took passage on the Prince Henry to St Helena. As this was to make some improvements in astronomy which would be of general utility, the two last-named gentlemen were on their arrival, and during their stay at the island, to be accommodated in a suitable manner with diet and apartments at the Company's expense. Interpretations The detailed muster scheme shows the Court converting a vague concern into a system of counted accountability. A permit to go off, an officer in charge, a list taken and a muster on return meant every absence could be detected at once and pursued, so the control of desertion rested on documentation and headcount rather than mere prohibition, the same reliance on written record the Company brought to its stores and accounts applied now to human movement. The return of the privately owned slave Dolphin at the ship's expense, coupled with a warning, exposes the limits of the Court's willingness to bear others' losses. It recovered the man but told the inhabitants plainly that careless owners could not expect such trouble taken again, so the Company drew a line between its own property, which it would pursue, and private slaves, whose masters must guard them or suffer the loss themselves. The transit of Venus expedition reveals the Company's shipping and settlements pressed into the service of imperial science. St Helena and Fort Marlborough offered southern observing stations the Royal Society needed, so the Court carried the astronomers and housed them at its own charge, the island's remoteness that made it valuable for refreshment making it equally valuable for observations that required a spread of points across the globe. Speculations This passage largely conveys instructions and arrangements without a decision in which an obvious course was passed over, and the accommodation of the astronomers followed directly from royal encouragement of the observations. No speculation arises from it.
136	131	and you are to give them all the assistance as to Materials, Workmen and whatever else the Service they are employed upon may require; and when they are ready to depart, You are also at our expence to provide them with a Passage on board one of the returning Ships for England, and you are to serve the Commanders of those Ships, whereon they shall be appointed to proceed, with Orders for receiving them accordingly, you are also on the return and arrival with you of Messrs Mason and Dixon, to entertain and provide for them, with the same Civility at our Charge. 58 You are on the Application of Messrs Maskelyne and Waddington to advance them such Sums as they shall have occasion for, not exceeding one hundred and Ninety pounds to the former; and thirty Pounds to the latter, on their Draughts upon the Treasurer of the Royal Society, payably to us for the sums so advanced, which the Society have undertaken to discharge, if they do not exceed the aforesaid respective Sums 59 We gave some Directions last Season by Our Secretary to the Presidency of Fort St George, by his Majestys Ship Chatham, on this Subject, to be communicated to all Our other Settlements, and We now enclose the Copy thereof for your information and observance; that if you have any Persons properly qualified for such undertaking, they may act accordingly and notwithstanding the arrival of the said two Gentlemen; it is expected they do contribute their assistance, in the best manner they are able. 60 We take this first occasion of informing You, that it having pleased Almighty God, to call to his Mercy Our late Sovereign Lord King George the second of Blessed Memory, who deceased suddenly on the 25th of October last, Orders were immediately given for proclaiming his present Majesty George the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and so forth; which was accordingly performed with the usual Solemnitys the next Day in the Cities Margin Notes: all the assistance they require to be given them & ca Money to be advanced them & ca Directions given last Season by the Secretary, a Copy sent & ca The Majesty King George the Second his Death & ca	The Governor and Council were to give the astronomers all the assistance as to materials, workmen and whatever else the service they were employed upon might require. When they were ready to depart, the island was also at the Court's expense to provide them with a passage on board one of the returning ships for England. The commanders of those ships would be appointed to proceed with orders for receiving them accordingly. On the return and arrival of Mr Mason and Mr Dixon, the island was likewise to entertain and provide for them with the same civility at the Court's charge. 58: On the application of Mr Maskelyne and Mr Waddington, the island was to advance them such sums as they should have occasion for, not exceeding £190 to the former and £30 to the latter, on their drafts upon the treasurer of the Royal Society, payable to the Court for the sums so advanced, which the Society had undertaken to discharge if they did not exceed those respective sums. 59: The Court had given some directions last season by its secretary to the presidency of Fort St George, by his Majesty's ship Chatham, on this subject, to be communicated to all its settlements. It now enclosed a copy for the island's information and observance, so that if it had any persons properly qualified for such an undertaking, they might act accordingly. Notwithstanding the arrival of the two gentlemen, it was expected the island contribute its assistance in the best manner it was able. 60: The Court took this first occasion of informing the island that, it having pleased Almighty God to call to his mercy the late sovereign Lord King George the Second of blessed memory, who died suddenly on 25 October last, orders were immediately given for proclaiming his present Majesty George the Third, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith and so forth. This was accordingly performed with the usual solemnities the next day in the cities Interpretations The full support given to the astronomers shows the Company treating a scientific errand as a charge it would carry from first landing to final return. Materials, workmen, lodging, diet and a homeward passage were all provided at Company expense, so the island functioned as a fully equipped base for the observation, the Court underwriting an undertaking of the Royal Society as though it were its own business because the prestige and utility attached to it. The advances against Royal Society drafts reveal the credit machinery that let the expedition operate far from its funders. The astronomers could draw cash at the island up to fixed limits, repaid in London by the Society, so the Company's financial reach across the world served as the means by which a scientific body extended money to its men at a remote station, the bills of exchange doing for the observers what they did for the Company's own trade. The proclamation of George the Third records how a distant commercial settlement was bound into the constitutional life of the realm. The death of one king and accession of another required formal proclamation even at St Helena, so the Court transmitted the event with its titles intact, the island expected to perform the same solemnities as the cities of Britain, its remoteness not exempting it from the acts that marked the continuity of the Crown.
137	132	of London and Westminster; amidst the Universal Acclamations of his Majestys Subjects, Orders Were also given for making the like Proclamation in all parts of his Majestys Kingdoms, which has been accordingly done in all the places where Notice of this Event has reached 61 On the 29th of October last, the Right Honorable Mr Secretary Pitt transmitted to us some printed Copies of the Proclamation for proclaiming his Royal Majesty King George the Third, and signifys to us in a Letter dated that day that We should cause like proclamation to be forthwith proclaimed and publish in the several Governments within the Company Jurisdiction in the East Indies, with the Solemnities, and Ceremonies, usually and accustomed on such an occasion; and for our Information enclosed a Draught of the Form of the Proclamation to be used, A Copy of Mr Secretary Pitts Letter, as also of the said Form, accompanies this for your better guidance 62 You are therefore immediately on receipt hereof, to cause His Majesty King George the Third, to be proclaimed at St Helena with all the due Solemnity, and expressions of Loyalty and Duty, becoming so important an occasion 63 We have lately received the disagreeable Account from the Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough, and Mr Herbert at Batavia, by a Dutch Ship, that two French Men of War, were on the West Coast of Samatra in February last, those advices leave us in a State of uncertainty as to the consequences of the Enemys Attempt upon our Settlements there; but presume We are in possession of Fort Marlborough at least, though We suppose you will be fully informed of the Event before the receipt hereof, if it should it not Margin Notes: His Majesty King George the Third Proclaimed Directions given thereupon & ca His Majesty King George the Third to be Proclaimed Some Account reced of the French being upon the West Coast & ca	The proclamation was performed in the cities of London and Westminster amidst the universal acclamations of his Majesty's subjects. Orders were also given for making the like proclamation in all parts of his Majesty's kingdoms, which had been accordingly done in all the places where notice of the event had reached. 61: On 29 October last the Right Honourable Mr Secretary Pitt transmitted to the Court some printed copies of the proclamation for proclaiming his royal Majesty King George the Third. He signified in a letter of that day that the Court should cause the like proclamation to be forthwith made and published in the several governments within the Company's jurisdiction in the East Indies, with the solemnities and ceremonies usually accustomed on such an occasion. For the Court's information he enclosed a draft of the form of the proclamation to be used. A copy of Mr Secretary Pitt's letter, as also of that form, accompanied this for the island's better guidance. 62: The island was therefore, immediately on receipt of this, to cause his Majesty King George the Third to be proclaimed at St Helena with all due solemnity and expressions of loyalty and duty becoming so important an occasion. 63: The Court had lately received the disagreeable account from the Governor and Council of Fort Marlborough, and Mr Herbert at Batavia, by a Dutch ship, that two French men of war were on the west coast of Sumatra in February last. Those advices left the Court in a state of uncertainty as to the consequences of the enemy's attempt upon its settlements there. It presumed it was in possession of Fort Marlborough at least, though it supposed the island would be fully informed of the event before the receipt of this, should it not Interpretations The relay of the proclamation through Secretary Pitt shows the accession reaching the Company's territories as a direct instruction of state. The Crown's own minister transmitted the form and required it published throughout the Company's eastern jurisdiction, so the Court acted here not as a trading body but as an arm of government, carrying the constitutional act of proclaiming a new king to settlements that lay within its charge yet remained subject to the realm. The enclosure of the exact form to be used reveals the concern that so solemn an act be performed uniformly across scattered stations. A prescribed text and prescribed ceremonies left no room for local variation in a matter touching loyalty to the Crown, so the Court sent the pattern to be followed precisely, ensuring St Helena proclaimed George the Third in the same words and with the same solemnity as every other place under British authority. The news of French warships off Sumatra exposes how slowly and indirectly the Company learned the fate of its own settlements in war. Word of the February threat reached London through a Dutch ship by way of Batavia, leaving the Court uncertain months later whether Fort Marlborough still held, so the whole eastern establishment depended on chance carriers and neutral shipping for intelligence that could decide the security of its possessions.
138	133	not have proved so You will make the proper use of this Information We are. London 31st Decr 1760 Your Loving Friends Lau Sulivan Thos Rous Pr Godfrey George Amyand Chas Cutts John Dorrien Fredk Pigou Chas Gough Hh Crabb Boulton G Stevens Geo Dudley John Harrison G Rooke Henry Savage Peter Browne John Raymond Henry Hadley Timothy Tullie Rich Warner Thos Waters	Should it not have proved so, the Governor and Council would make the proper use of this information. London, 31 December 1760. The letter was signed by the following members of the Court, subscribing themselves their loving friends: Laurence Sulivan Thomas Rous Peter Godfrey George Amyand Charles Cutts John Dorrien Frederick Pigou Charles Gough Henry Crabb Boulton G. Stevens George Dudley John Harrison G. Rooke Henry Savage Peter Browne John Raymond Henry Hadley Timothy Tullie Richard Warner Thomas Waters
139	134	Our Governor and Council of St Helena. 1 Our last General Letter to you sent under date of the 31st December by the Ship Prince Henry which sailed from Spithead the Instant and shall now add such further information and directions as appear requisit. 2 Fifty Barrels of Flour that had this Year been provided for you with a design to have been sent on the Prince Henry, were returned from that Ship, which was so fully loaden as not to be in a Condition to receive the same. 3 To prevent any disorder in Our Affairs by any Persons quitting Our Service, without giving timely notice of their intentions, We direct that it be a Standing Order that for the future no Person whatsoever from the Governor to the lowest Covenanted Servant, be permitted, unless by Our especial Leave or Order, to depart the Island without giving Notice of their intention to the Governor and Council at least twelve Months before such Person leaves it, notice of the Board are to give immediate Notice in the most Public Places, in order that every person with whom they have Concerns shall be timely informed to have recourse to them, All other Persons as well in our Service as otherwise; must give at least a Months Notice in the same manner of their intentions of leaving this Island, before their Departure; which you are to take Care is Complied with; that no one may be suffered to retire until he has fully adjusted his Accounts, and paid what shall appear to be due, from him. We now apprise you of this Order, sending you were not informed thereof at the time it was Margin Notes: Letter sent by Ship Prince Henry Fifty Barrels of Flour returned All Persons to give twelve Months Notice before they leave the Island & ca	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: The Court's last general letter to the island went under date of 31 December by the ship Prince Henry, which sailed from Spithead the [...] of that month. The Court would now add such further information and directions as appeared needful. 2: The 50 barrels of flour that had this year been provided for the island, with a design to have been sent on the Prince Henry, were returned from that ship, which was so fully laden as not to be in a condition to receive them. 3: To prevent any disorder in the Company's affairs by persons quitting its service without giving timely notice of their intentions, the Court directed that it be a standing order for the future that no person whatever, from the Governor to the lowest covenanted servant, be permitted, unless by the Court's especial leave or order, to depart the island without giving notice of their intention to the Governor and Council at least twelve months before leaving it. The board was to give immediate notice of it in the most public places, so that every person with whom they had concerns might be timely informed to have recourse to them. All other persons, whether in the Company's service or otherwise, must give at least a month's notice in the same manner of their intention to leave the island before departure. The Governor and Council were to see this complied with, so that no one might be allowed to retire until he had fully settled his accounts and paid what should appear due from him. The Court apprised the island of this order, it not having been informed of it at the time it was Interpretations The twelve-month notice for covenanted servants shows the Court guarding against the sudden loss of men whose departure could leave affairs and debts unsettled. A servant who quit without warning might strand creditors and disrupt the business he handled, so a full year's notice let those with claims come forward and the accounts be closed, the length of the period marking how seriously the Court took the orderly winding-up of a servant's affairs before he could leave. The public notice in the most frequented places reveals the mechanism by which the settlement's small credit economy protected itself. A departing person's intention was to be advertised so that anyone he owed or dealt with could act in time, so the requirement served the community as much as the Company, turning private notice of leaving into public warning that debts must be gathered before the debtor sailed. The bar on retiring until accounts were settled exposes the Court making departure conditional on financial clearance. No one, in the service or out of it, could leave with money owing, so the right to quit the island was tied to discharging every obligation, the settlement using control of exit as the lever to ensure that debts to the Company and to others were paid before a person passed beyond its reach. Speculations This passage sets down a standing order and reports a routine matter of flour returned for want of cargo space, carrying no decision in which an obvious course was visibly passed over for a less obvious one. No speculation arises from it.
140	135	sent to all Our other Settlements 4 Corporal Keeling whom We advised you in Our last had been paid his full Wages for his Services as One of the Crew of the Swift Longboat, was at his desire permitted to return to you on the Prince Henry, having made him a Present of Six Guineas on that Account; he is to preserve the same Rank as would have enjoyed had he continued on this Island, and on his Arrival there the full amount of the Pay due during his Absence is to be made good to him London 14th Janry 1761 We are Your Loving Friends Lau Sulivan Thos Rous Pr Godfrey Chas Cutts John Harrison John Brown Hen Hadley Richd Warner Thos Waters Fredk Pigou Henry Savage Bourchier Walton Richd Smith G Stevens Chas Gough G Rooke Margin Notes: Corporal Keeling given Six Guineas & ca	The order not having been sent to all the Company's other settlements. 4: Corporal Keeling, whom the Court advised the island of in its last, had been paid his full wages for his services as one of the crew of the Swift's longboat. At his desire he was permitted to return to the island on the Prince Henry. Having been made a present of six guineas on that account, he was to keep the same rank he would have enjoyed had he continued on the island, and on his arrival there the full amount of the pay due during his absence was to be made good to him. London, 14 January 1761. The Court subscribed itself their loving friends, Laurence Sulivan, Thomas Rous, Peter Godfrey, Charles Cutts, John Harrison, John Browne, Henry Hadley, Richard Warner, Thomas Waters, Frederick Pigou, Henry Savage, Bourchier Walton, Richard Smith, G. Stevens, Charles Gough and G. Rooke. Interpretations Keeling's restoration to his former rank and backdated pay shows the Company treating service lost through its own errand as time not to be counted against the man. He had been one of the longboat crew taken up on the island's warning mission, so his absence was made whole with the six guineas, his rank preserved and his pay for the whole period paid on arrival, the Court ensuring that a soldier who suffered by an undertaking it had set returned no worse off than had he stayed.
141	136	Our Governor and Council of St Helena 1 Since your receipt of Our last advices dated the 14th January 1761 by the Prince Henry your several Letters have come to hand to hand under dates of the 18 Decr 1760: 24th February 13th and 26 May 29th June 30 July and 9 September 1761 the interesting intelligence therein communicated relating to our Shipping and Indian Affairs demand one General Observation that they justly continue to merit the same applause, which for some time past We have annually expressed thereon 2 Your original Letter of the 18th December 1760 did reach us, the Ajax by which it was conveyed to our great Misfortune being taken on the 6th of March last by the Prothia a French 64 Gun Ship fifteen Leagues distant from Scilly and was thereupon carried into Brest the Commander and Officers soon after regained their Liberty and the Crew in a short space; following were also released Captain Maitland commendably obeying the Orders for his distruction of all the Packets on board on such an unhappy event, We were without your said Letter until its Duplicate came by the Shaftsbury 3 His Majestys Ship the Liverpool which left the Coast of Choromondel the 6th February last charged with the Governments and our advices and did not make the Island arrived at Spithead the 19th July with the first Account of the most agreeable and Important News of the surrender of Pondichery to His Majestys and Companys Arms. 4 His Majestys Ship Lyon arrived at Plymouth sound the 2 of October, being seperated from the Lord Anson in the Night of the 26 of August in a very hard Gale of Wind which last five Hours in the Latitude of 13, 30 No 2 Et from Ferdinando Soronto the Endeavouring Captain Chick advises he used to rejoin his Convoy	To the Governor and Council of St Helena. 1: Since the island's receipt of the Court's last advices, dated 14 January 1761 by the Prince Henry, its several letters had come to hand under dates of 18 December 1760, 24 February, 13 and 26 May, 29 June, 30 July and 9 September 1761. The interesting intelligence in them relating to the Company's shipping and Indian affairs demanded one general observation, that it justly continued to merit the same applause the Court had for some time past annually expressed on it. 2: The island's original letter of 18 December 1760 reached the Court by the Ajax, by which it was conveyed, to its great misfortune the ship being taken on 5 March last by the Protée, a French 64-gun ship, 15 leagues off Scilly, and carried into Brest. The commander and officers soon regained their liberty, and the crew were also released in a short space following. Captain Maitland had commendably obeyed his orders for destroying all the packets on board on such an unhappy event, so the Court was without the island's letter until its duplicate came by the Shaftesbury. 3: His Majesty's ship the Liverpool, which left the coast of Coromandel on 6 February last, charged with the governments' and the Court's advices, made the island and arrived at Spithead on 19 July with the first account of the most agreeable and important news of the surrender of Pondicherry to his Majesty's and the Company's arms. 4: His Majesty's ship Lyon arrived at Plymouth Sound on 2 October, being separated from the Lord Anson in the night of the 26 August in a very hard gale of wind which lasted five hours, in the latitude of 13 degrees 30 minutes north, 2 degrees east from Ferdinando Soronto. Captain Chick advised he used to rejoin his convoy. Interpretations The destruction of the packets aboard the Ajax shows the standing precaution against captured correspondence falling into enemy hands. Captain Maitland's orders required him to destroy all dispatches if taken, so the intelligence they carried was denied to the French even as the ship was lost, the Court relying on duplicates sent by other vessels to recover what the burning had rightly sacrificed, the loss of the paper preferred to its capture. The arrival of the Liverpool with news of Pondicherry marks the strategic turn that the whole run of wartime letters had been building toward. The fall of the principal French settlement in India to British and Company arms shifted the balance in the East decisively, so the ship that carried the first account brought word that the danger which had shaped seasons of convoying and defence was at last breaking in the Company's favour. The precise record of the Lyon's separation from her convoy exposes how weather scattered even protected shipping on the long passage. A five-hour gale parted her from the Lord Anson at a fixed latitude and longitude, so a ship sailing in company for safety could be thrown onto a solitary course by storm alone, the careful noting of position and the captain's intention to rejoin showing how convoy discipline was maintained and reconstructed after the sea had broken it.
142	137	5 The Success that since the date of our last advices has occured to the British Arms in Europe, against the Enemys Marine, wherein our Commerces is more particularly interested consists of the Captures of the Warwick Ship of War mounting 34 pierced for 60 Guns having on board 296 Men whereof 74 were a detachment from the French Kings Troops bound for the Isles of France and Burbon with Provisions Amunition and Stores, this Ship had been one of the Royal Navy of Great Britain and taken at the Commencement of the present War also the Berlin French East India Ship for the Isle of France and Pondicherry manned with 353 Men 93 of them Soldiers in the Companys pay and Loden with Ordnance, Naval Stores Merchandize and 24,000 Dollars was pierced for 64 and mounted 28 Guns the Valiant of the same vize and Force with the Fidelle Frigate of 24 Guns belonging also to the Company sailed from Port L'Orient in Company with the Prize but were not met with Another of the Ships of 600 Tons 22 Guns and 208 Men bound for the Isle of Bourbon with Merchandize and Stores was taken by a Bristol Privateer, likewise the Subtil Frigate of Sixteen Guns and 84 Men homeward bound from Mauritius which She left the 6th of May, has been brought into Plymouth, from the Prisoners of this Vessel intelligence is gained of the great distress Nine of their Ships said to be in those parts are under for Masts and Stores, and of the Island themselves from the great want of Provisions and Necessaries and on the 27th of December last the Bouglonge of 20 Guns and 140 Men of and for Port L'Orient with Coffee and Pepper from Mauritius which She left about the End of September was taken by His Majestys Ship Venus and brought into Plymouth the Count D'Estang was a Passenger on board for whose breach of the parole he gave on the Coast of Choromondel We are taking Measures to obtain Satisfaction but are hitherto Masters of no further intelligence from the Prize 6 For promoting the Re-establishment of the General Tranquility of Europe the several Powers at War did in April last agree to the Assembly of Congress Augsburgh and Named Plenipotentiaries accordingly	5: The success that had since the date of the Court's last advices befallen the British arms in Europe against the enemy's marine, in which the Company's commerce was more particularly interested, consisted of the following captures. The Warwick ship of war, mounting 34 guns and pierced for 60, had on board 206 men, 74 of them a detachment from the French King's troops bound for the Isles of France and Bourbon with provisions, ammunition and stores. This ship had been one of the Royal Navy of Great Britain and taken at the beginning of the present war. Taken also was the Berlin, a French East India ship for the Isle of France and Pondicherry, manned with 353 men, 93 of them soldiers in the French Company's pay, and laden with ordnance, naval stores, merchandise and 24,000 dollars. She was pierced for 64 and mounted 28 guns. The Vaillant of the same size and force, with the Fidèle frigate of 24 guns belonging also to the French Company, sailed from Port L'Orient in company with the prize but were not met with. Another of the ships, of 600 tons, 22 guns and 208 men, bound for the Isle of Bourbon with merchandise and stores, was taken by a Bristol privateer. Likewise the Subtile frigate of 16 guns and 84 men, homeward bound from Mauritius, which she left the 6 May, had been brought into Plymouth. From the prisoners of this vessel intelligence was gained of the great distress at Mauritius. Nine of the French ships were said to be in those parts under repair for masts and stores, and the island itself in great want of provisions and necessaries. On 27 December last the Boulogne of 20 guns and 140 men, of and for Port L'Orient with coffee and pepper from Mauritius, which she left about the end of September, was taken by his Majesty's ship Venus and brought into Plymouth. The Count d'Estaing was a passenger on board, for whose breach of the parole he gave on the coast of Coromandel the Court was taking measures to obtain satisfaction, but was hitherto master of no further intelligence from the prize. 6: For promoting the re-establishment of the general tranquillity of Europe, the several powers at war did in April last agree to the assembly of a congress at Augsburg, and named plenipotentiaries accordingly. Interpretations The catalogue of prizes shows the war at sea turning firmly against the French supply line to their Indian Ocean bases. Ship after ship bound for the Isles of France and Bourbon, or homeward from Mauritius, was taken with troops, ordnance, coffee and specie aboard, so the British and privateer captures were strangling the reinforcement and trade of the enemy's eastern islands, the pattern of seizures marking a commerce war the Company was now plainly winning. The intelligence drawn from prisoners exposes captured crews as a source of strategic knowledge. The men of the Subtile revealed the distress at Mauritius, nine French ships under repair and the island short of provisions, so interrogation of prisoners told the Court the enemy's condition in a theatre it could not directly observe, information that shaped its sense of how far the French power in the East had been reduced. The pursuit of the Count d'Estaing over his broken parole reveals the weight attached to an officer's word even in bitter war. Having given his parole on the Coromandel coast and then sailed as a passenger, he was held to have violated it, so the Court moved to obtain satisfaction, treating the breach of a gentleman's undertaking as a matter to be answered for, the conventions of honour surviving amid the general violence of the conflict.
143	138	accordingly previous thereto it appeared necessary to the Crowns of Great Britain and France to settle Preliminary Articles that a Treaty might more readily concluded between the two Crowns and an Minister was purpose, was reciprocally sent to and received at each Court when after a Course of Negotiation the Proposals of the French proving disagreeable to the British Court its Minister was recalled whereupon that from France returned thither; these measures towards effecting the good work of Peace did not in the least slacken the Operations of War in any part as appears among others in the instance of the important Conquest of Beleisle by His Majestys Arms, nor does there seem any abatement in the Vigour of the proceeding for obliging the Enemy to come to reasonable Terms should the Negotiating for Peace Now broken off be renewed or any clearer Lights present on the State of Public Affairs before the close of this Letter you will find them in the sequal of it 7 We are advised that the French have abandoned Our Settlements upon the West Coast of Sumatra, and there is reason to conclude our Servants have been re-established there either with or without the Assistances of Part of His Majestys Naval Force in Concurrence with our Presidencies agreeable to the Directions conveyed to them last Season but should any unforeseen Accidents have prevented their carrying those orders into Execution We have again enjoined them to proceed on that re- establishment with all possible Expedition applying for the purpose of such aid from the Kings Squadron, as shall be requisite; it is upon the presumption of the success of these Measures for restoring Our Affairs on the Island Sumatra that we have no Alteration in the Consignment thither of three of the Ships of China mentioned in the subsequent List hoping that they may safely import and be provided therewith a Quantity of Pepper for Canton. It is further necessary that you should be informed that on the strictest enquiry into and from the Materials and Persons before Us We have thought proper to reinstate Governor Carter the Council and	Previous to the assembly of the congress, it appeared necessary to the Crowns of Great Britain and France to settle preliminary articles, so that a treaty might more readily be concluded between the two Crowns. A minister was for that purpose reciprocally sent to and received at each court. After a course of negotiation the proposals of the French proved disagreeable to the British Court, and its minister was recalled, whereupon the one from France returned thither. These measures toward effecting the good work of peace did not in the least slacken the operations of war in any part, as appeared among others in the important conquest of Belle Île by his Majesty's arms. Nor did there seem any abatement in the vigour of the proceeding for obliging the enemy to come to reasonable terms. Should the negotiating for peace, now broken off, be renewed, or any clearer lights present on the state of public affairs before the close of this letter, the island would find them in the sequel of it. 7: The Court was advised that the French had abandoned the Company's settlements on the west coast of Sumatra. There was reason to conclude that its servants had been re-established there, either with or without the assistance of part of his Majesty's naval force, in concurrence with the Company's presidencies, agreeable to the directions conveyed to them last season. Should any unforeseen accidents have prevented their carrying those orders into execution, the Court had again enjoined them to proceed on that re-establishment with all possible dispatch, applying for the purpose such aid from the King's squadron as should be needful. It was on the presumption of the success of these measures for restoring the Company's affairs on the island of Sumatra that the Court had no alteration in the consignment thither of three of the China ships mentioned in the following list, hoping they might safely take in and be provided there with a quantity of pepper for Canton. It was further necessary that the island should be informed that, on the strictest enquiry into and from the materials and persons before it, the Court had thought proper to reinstate Governor Carter, the council and Interpretations The failed negotiation shows peace and war pursued together without either yielding to the other. Ministers were exchanged and preliminary articles attempted even as the fighting went on and Belle Île was taken, so the Court recorded that talks broke off without any slackening of military pressure, the two Crowns bargaining and campaigning at once because each meant to force better terms by continuing to win. The consignment of China ships to Sumatra on presumption reveals the Court committing valuable shipping on the strength of an expected recovery. Not yet certain that Fort Marlborough was retaken, it nonetheless directed three tea ships thither for pepper, so the whole China investment rested on the assumption that its servants had re-established the settlement, a commercial gamble that the military situation would prove as favourable as the Court believed. The reinstatement of Governor Carter and his council exposes the Court reconstituting a government after upheaval on strict enquiry. Having examined the materials and persons before it, the Court restored the former administration, so the fate of the men who had held Fort Marlborough turned on a formal review at home, their reinstatement marking that authority at a distant settlement was conferred and confirmed by London's judgement of their conduct.
144	139	and all the Rest of the Companys Servants Civil and Military on the West Coast Establishment who have remained in India and agreed to continue them as such unless from further information there may be good and sufficient reasons to alter our opinion to the Conduct and behaviour of any Persons in particular whereupon suitably directions will be given 8 In gratitude for that most important Service rendered to the Nation and Company by the Capture of Pondichery under date of the 30th September we acknowledge the great Merits of all concerned in that Enterprize directing Our Presidency of Fort St George not only to return our Thanks in general to the Officers, But also of the Private Men of all Forces employed for their respective Services of that momentous and interesting event but in a more particular manner to the Admirals Stevens and Cornish and Colonels Coote and Monson We also gave Mr Pigot our most sencere and hearty Thanks for the great Share they took in contributing towards the Signal Success. If it should so fall out that any of the abovenamed Officers have left India before these Marks of Our gratitude can have been paid them shall, and shall in their return be at the Island we would have you make them acquainted with the high Opinion We entertained of their eminent desert and present them with our thanks in the most respectful and polite manner 9 The Secret Committee for the present Directions is composed of the following Gentlemen Lawrence Sulivan Chairman of the Court Thomas Rous Deputy Chairman John Boyd Christopher Burrow and Charles Cutts Esqr whose Orders and Instructions or of any three of them are to be particularly attended to and observed 10 The undermentioned List contains the Ships taken into Our Service for the ensuing Season the several Parts they are consigned to and the Times proposed for their dispatch if no unforeseen accident prevents the same viz Ships Tons Commanders Consignments, Time proposed for dispatch Tilbury 499 Roger Mainwaring Coast and Bay Dispatched Royal Charlotte 499 John Clements St Helena and China Essex 499 George Jackson Coast and China and to call at Madeira under dispatch	The Court reinstated all the rest of the Company's servants, civil and military, on the west coast establishment who had remained in India, and agreed to continue them as such, unless from further information there might be good and sufficient reasons to alter its opinion of the conduct and behaviour of any persons in particular, whereupon suitable directions would be given. 8: In gratitude for that most important service rendered to the nation and Company by the capture of Pondicherry, under date of 30 September, the Court acknowledged the great merits of all concerned in that enterprise. It directed its presidency of Fort St George to return its thanks, not only in general to the officers but also to the private men of all forces employed, for their respective services in that momentous event. In a more particular manner the Court gave Admirals Stevens and Cornish and Colonels Coote and Monson, and also Mr Pigot, its most sincere and hearty thanks for the great share they took in contributing toward the signal success. Should it fall out that any of these officers had left India before these words of gratitude could be paid them, and should they on their return be at the island, the Governor and Council were to make them acquainted with the high opinion the Court entertained of their eminent desert, and present them with its thanks in the most respectful and polite manner. 9: The secret committee for the present directions was composed of Laurence Sulivan, chairman of the Court, Thomas Rous, deputy chairman, John Boyd, Christopher Burrow and Charles Cutts, whose orders and instructions, or of any three of them, were to be particularly attended to and observed. 10: The following list contained the ships taken into the Company's service for the ensuing season, the several parts they were consigned to, and the times proposed for their dispatch if no unforeseen accident prevented. Tilbury, 499 tons, Roger Mainwaring, consigned to Coast and Bay, dispatched The Royal Charlotte, of 499 tons, John Clements, was consigned to St Helena and China. Essex, 499 tons, George Jackson, consigned to Coast and China and to call at Madeira, under dispatch Interpretations The formal thanks for Pondicherry show the Court binding a military triumph to the wider network of its servants and allies. It reached beyond the commanders to the private men and singled out named admirals, colonels and Mr Pigot, so the acknowledgement functioned as an instrument of morale and obligation across the whole force, the Company recognising that the victory which secured its Indian trade had been won by many hands it wished to keep loyal. The instruction to convey thanks at St Helena should the officers pass through reveals the island's role as a meeting point of the homeward traffic. Officers returning from India would call there, so the Court arranged for its gratitude to reach them by way of the settlement, the island serving as the place where those scattered across the ocean might be found and addressed on their journey home. The consignment of the Essex by way of Madeira exposes the routing of trade through Atlantic islands for provisions and wine. A ship bound for the Coast and China was directed to call at Madeira, so the season's shipping wove together the island stations that supplied the long eastern voyages, St Helena and Madeira alike serving as appointed stops on the routes the Company's commerce followed.
145	140	Tons Commanders Consignments Time proposed for dispatch Houghton 499 Chas Newton Coast and China to call at Madeira Middle of February Grosvenor 499 Watkin Partington call at Madeira Do Harcourt 499 Richard Morrison Do Horsendon 499 William Marter China directly Do Elizabeth 499 George Steward Do Clinton 499 Nathaniel Smith Madeira Coast and Bay dispatched Albion 499 William Larkins China Hardwicke 499 Brooke Samson Walpole 499 Parson Fenner Coast and Bay Drake 499 John Smith 499 Thomas Pearcy Winchelsea 499 Thomas Howe Bombay and Bengal and back to Bombay Factor 499 John Williams Bombay Prince of Wales 499 William Roberts Clive 499 John Allen Do Adm Brocks 499 Thomas Riddell Britannia 499 Thomas Rous Bombay & China beginning of March to call at Madeira the End of March 11 Having refitted our Snow the London for returning that Vessel to its Station on the Coast of Coromondel We dispatched her on the 7th of October last with the advices which was proper our Presidencys should be acquainted previous to the departure of Our Shipping of this Season and had not the want of Convoy and contrary Winds prevented her departure would not have been retarded till the 18th of November last when she left Spithead for Fort St George subject to the Orders of our Governor and Council there 12 A Particular account of the Outset of Our Shipping sailed and designed for the East Indies as well as of the Import thereof, here you will find communicated to you very destinctly in a List signed by Our Secretary in the accompanying Packet 13 As the Ships employed in Our Service this Season are taken up on the same Conditions as those of the last, you will find the	The list of ships taken into the Company's service continued as follows. Houghton, 499 tons, Charles Newton, consigned to Coast and China and to call at Madeira, middle of February Grosvenor, 499 tons, Wathin Partington, to call at Madeira, middle of February Harcourt, 499 tons, Richard Morrison, middle of February Horsendon, 499 tons, William Marter, consigned to China directly, middle of February Elizabeth, 499 tons, George Steward, China directly, middle of February Clinton, 499 tons, Nathaniel Smith, consigned to Madeira, Coast and Bay, dispatched Albion, 499 tons, William Larkins, consigned to China Hardwicke, 499 tons, Brooke Samson Walpole, 499 tons, Parson Fenner, consigned to Coast and Bay Drake, 499 tons, John Smith, consigned to Coast and Bay [...], 499 tons, Thomas Pearce, to call at Madeira, beginning of March Winchelsea, 499 tons, Thomas House, consigned to Bombay and Bengal and back to Bombay, to call at Madeira, beginning of March Factor, 499 tons, John Williams, consigned to Bombay Prince of Wales, 499 tons, William Roberts Clive, 499 tons, John Allen, consigned to Bombay Admiral Brereton, 499 tons, Thomas Riddell, consigned to Bombay, the end of March Britannia, 499 tons, Thomas Rous, consigned to Bombay and China, the end of March 11: Having refitted the Company's snow the London for returning that vessel to its station on the coast of Coromandel, the Court dispatched her on 7 October last with the advices its presidencies ought to have before the departure of the season's shipping. Had it not been for the want of convoy and contrary winds, her departure would not have been retarded till 18 November last, when she left Spithead for Fort St George, subject to the orders of the Governor and Council there. 12: A particular account of the outset of the Company's shipping sailed and designed for the East Indies, as well as of its import, the island would find communicated very distinctly in a list signed by the Court's secretary in the accompanying packet. 13: As the ships employed in the Company's service this season were taken up on the same conditions as those of the last, the island would find the Interpretations The heavy clustering of Madeira calls across the season's fleet shows the island established as a routine watering and victualling stop on the outward passage. Ship after ship bound for China, the Coast or Bombay was directed to touch there, so Madeira served the outbound trade as St Helena served the homeward, the Company weaving its long voyages through the Atlantic islands that offered wine, water and fresh provisions before the deeper reaches of the route. The staggered dispatch dates from the middle of February to the end of March reveal the Court spacing its sailings to manage convoy and season. Ships left in waves rather than together, so the escorting naval force could shepherd them and each reached its destination in proper time for its trade, the scheduling reflecting the discipline that war and the monsoon alike imposed on the timing of departure. The delayed sailing of the snow London exposes how want of convoy governed even a fast advice-boat in wartime. Meant to carry dispatches ahead of the fleet, she was held at Spithead by contrary winds and the lack of escort until November, so the very intelligence she bore was slowed by the conditions that made an escort necessary, the Company's need for speed subordinated to the danger that forbade sailing alone.
146	141	the Charterparty enclosed of this Ship and the Royal Charlottes correspond with that of the Prince Henry which passed through your Hands the last Year wherefore it is needful to bespeak your attention thereto and to what our advices by the last Ship acquainted you with on the subject particularly with respect to short Deliverys and Damages. 14 You will acquit yourselves much to our satisfaction giving this Ship, the quickest dispatch towards delivering your Consignments within the limited Time of Ten working Days being duly sensible of the weight of Demorage advanced Rate with the importance of the Ships early arrival at Canton We therefore persuade ourselves no diligence will be wanting for the furtherance of so material a Service We observe your Reasons of the Prince Henry, incurring one days Demorage only with you and are content with the cause you assign for that 15 We continue to urge it strongly to our Commanders to provide themselves with a sufficiency of Live Stock for their Voyage homeward bound that they may not increase the Difficulties the Island is under for those Articles and more particulary observant of your distress as it appears in the Consultation of the 2d of February last for Fuel it has been enforced to them to supply their Ships with a Quantity that may serve not only for their returning Consumption but to allow for an extraordinary stay with you; this We hope will have all its Effects and free you from future distress for this particular. 16 For the instance of James Bocket a Mariner of the Walpole and of the two Invalids from Bengal both of the Name of William Brown passenger on the Latham and all left with you by the Commanders of those two Ships We remark the trouble and extraordinary Charges thereby incurred which will be charged to those Ships Accounts the Charter Party Covenants with the Owners and Captains and Our Instructions to the Matter are full and plain in regard to the Penalties they expose themselves to by such Practices not only in leaving People with you but in being the means of the Desertion, others from this Island in prevention whereof do you when on the several Ships arrival, You furnish the Commander with the accustomary standing Orders, not fail to inform them, how highly we shall resent their disobedience in these Respects and that we certainly	The charter party enclosed of this ship and the Royal Charlotte corresponded with that of the Prince Henry which passed through the island's hands last year. It was therefore needful to bespeak the island's attention to it, and to what the Court's advices by the last ship acquainted it with on the subject, particularly with respect to short deliveries and damages. 14: The Governor and Council would acquit themselves much to the Court's satisfaction by giving this ship the quickest dispatch toward delivering the consignments within the limited time of ten working days. Being duly sensible of the weight of demurrage at the advanced rate, with the importance of the ship's early arrival at Canton, the Court persuaded itself no diligence would be wanting for the furtherance of so material a service. It observed the island's reasons for the Prince Henry incurring one day's demurrage only, and was content with the cause assigned for it. 15: The Court continued to urge strongly to its commanders that they provide themselves with a sufficiency of livestock for their voyage homeward bound, so they might not increase the difficulties the island was under for those articles, and be more particularly observant of its distress, as appeared in the consultation of 2 February last. For fuel it had been enforced to them to supply their ships with a quantity that might serve not only for their returning consumption but to allow for an extraordinary stay at the island. This the Court hoped would have all its effects and free the island from future distress on this particular. 16: In the instance of James Bocket, a mariner of the Walpole, and of the two invalids from Bengal both of the name of William Brown, passengers on the Latham and all left with the island by the commanders of those two ships, the Court remarked the trouble and extraordinary charges thereby incurred, which would be charged to those ships' accounts. The charter party covenants with the owners and captains, and the Court's instructions on the matter, were full and plain in regard to the penalties they exposed themselves to by such practices, not only in leaving people with the island but in being the means of the desertion of others from it. In prevention of this, the Governor and Council were, on the several ships' arrival, to furnish the commander with the accustomed standing orders. They were not to fail to inform them how highly the Court would resent their disobedience in these respects, and that it certainly would Interpretations The ten-day limit tied to demurrage shows how the Company converted delay directly into money. A ship held beyond her allotted lading time cost the Company at an advanced wartime rate, so speed in unloading at St Helena was a measurable saving, the Court's contentment with a single day's demurrage on the Prince Henry marking that it watched these charges closely and expected the island to keep them to a minimum. The renewed pressure on commanders to victual homeward in India exposes the standing tension between the ships' needs and the island's herds. Every vessel that drew livestock and fuel from the settlement deepened its distress, so the Court enforced that ships carry enough for both the passage home and any extra stay, treating the protection of the island's resources as a duty laid on the commanders rather than a burden the settlement must silently bear. The charges laid on ships for men left behind reveal the Court policing the abandonment of sick and surplus people at the island. Leaving a mariner or invalids there imposed cost and trouble on the settlement and could tempt others to desert, so the expense was charged back to the offending ship and the commanders warned of the penalties, the Company using financial liability to stop its captains from unloading their human problems onto St Helena. Speculations This passage largely repeats standing instructions and settles routine charges, but the treatment of the Prince Henry's demurrage shows a real choice. The Court could have held the island strictly to the letter and questioned the single day's delay, since demurrage at the advanced rate cost it money. Instead it examined the reasons given and accepted the cause assigned. The decision to allow the explanation over enforcing the penalty shows the Court willing to distinguish unavoidable delay from negligence, preferring to credit a reasonable account from the men on the spot rather than treat every day's demurrage as a fault to be charged.
147	142	shall with rigour exact all the Penalties they are liable to for it particularly enjoining them to give the Officers they shall leave in in charge, the strictest Orders to be constantly watchful and Vigilant all Boats coming off to the Ships to be assured when they Depart that none of the Persons who were in them shall be left and secreted on board Captain Haggis his obligation to be accountable for a Seaman left the 27th April with you from the Prince Henry, was regular and will serve for a proper Precedent in all suchlike Cases 17 It does not appear to Us how John Melody should be styled a Deserter from the Snow Mercury, when he was under your power and that Vessel remained at the Island, if he was truely such in breach of Contract so far from being intitled to any allowance during his stay on the Island even his Wages were forfeited. 18 Peter Fea Master of the Fly Cutter having requested an allowance for his expences on Shore while that Vessel continues in the Road or in any Port to which it may in Future be ordered. We do in Consideration of the Reasonableness of such Request and to encourage his best Services in our behalf direct that he be allowed Six Shillings a Day for such Time as he shall Necessarily continue on shore while the Cutter is at that Island or at any other Port expecting he will he will not abuse Our Favour in enhancing the Expence by absenting himself from on board without occasion and if it should appear requisite as he sets forth, We do admit of his Shipping another Seaman to prevent the calling of all Hands upon every Slight Matters when one is taken sick. For the above Reasons and under the like Restrictions the Commander of the Snow Mercury is also to be allowed Six Shillings a day while he is necessarily on Shore at St Helena or elsewhere and the same allowances are to be understood to be assigned to the Respective Masters for the Time being of those Vessels, but no others belonging to them are to form or be encouraged in expectations of any further Considerations than their Pay on such an Account, but let Mr Fea and every one else know that all such Applications are in future to be made to Us through you our Governor and Council	The Court would with rigour exact all the penalties the commanders were liable to for it, particularly enjoining them to give the officers they left in charge the strictest orders to be constantly watchful and vigilant of all boats coming off to the ships. They were to be assured, when they departed, that none of the persons who were in them should be left or secreted on board. Captain Haggis's obligation to be accountable for a seaman left on 27 April with the island from the Prince Henry was regular and would serve as a proper precedent in all such cases. 17: It did not appear to the Court how John Melody should be styled a deserter from the snow Mercury when he was under the island's power and that vessel remained at the island. If he was truly such in breach of contract, then so far from being entitled to any allowance during his stay on the island, even his wages were forfeited. 18: Peter Fea, master of the Fly cutter, having requested an allowance for his expenses on shore while that vessel continued in the road, or in any port to which it might in future be ordered, the Court, considering the reasonableness of the request and to encourage his best services, directed that he be allowed 6s a day for such time as he should necessarily continue on shore while the cutter was at the island or at any other port. It expected he would not abuse the Court's favour in enhancing the expense by absenting himself from on board without occasion. Should it appear needful, as he set forth, the Court admitted of his shipping another seaman, to prevent the calling of all hands upon every slight matter when one was taken sick. For the same reasons and under the like restrictions, the commander of the snow Mercury was also to be allowed 6s a day while he was necessarily on shore at St Helena or elsewhere. The same allowances were to be understood as assigned to the respective masters for the time being of those vessels. No others belonging to them were to form or be encouraged in expectations of any further consideration than their pay on such an account. Mr Fea and every one else were to know that all such applications were in future to be made to the Court through the Governor and Council. Interpretations The precedent set by Captain Haggis's obligation shows the Court building a rule from a single case of a seaman left behind. By making the commander accountable for the man, the Court fixed a pattern for every future instance, so that captains could not shed crew at the island without answering for them, the individual liability serving as the model by which the whole practice would be governed. The Melody case exposes the Court reasoning carefully about what desertion meant when the man and his ship were both still at the island. A seaman could not readily be called a deserter while under the island's power and his vessel in the road, yet if he had truly broken his contract he forfeited even his wages, so the Court distinguished the label from the fact and tied the loss of pay strictly to a real breach rather than a mere absence. The shore allowances for the cutter and snow masters reveal the Court granting a defined privilege while guarding against its abuse. Six shillings a day was allowed for necessary time on shore, but only for genuine occasion, and the concession was confined to the masters alone lest others claim the like, so the Court met a reasonable need while drawing a firm boundary around it, and required all such requests to pass through the Governor and Council in future. Speculations Peter Fea had asked for an allowance to cover his expenses on shore, and the Court could have refused, treating his pay as sufficient and any shore costs as his own affair. Instead it granted 6s a day and even admitted the shipping of an extra seaman to spare the crew being called out for every trifle. The choice to allow the expense and extend it to the Mercury's master over holding the men to their bare wages shows the Court weighing the encouragement of good service against the cost, judging that a reasonable indulgence hedged with restrictions would secure better attendance than a flat denial.
148	143	19 On the representation of the bad State of Health which Captain Harrold has for some time past laboured under We have been induced to Consent to his Resignation of the Command of our Snow Mercury that he may repair hither to seek the means for his recovery although it would have been more agreeable to Us had his Case permitted to have availed ourselves further of his Services in that Station 20 Captain Harrold resigning as above; We do in confidence of a suitable discharge of his Duty appoint Mr John Meryweather to command the Mercury if you shall think deserving thereof on the same Terms his Predecessor enjoyed it do you therefore accordingly invest him with that Post previously administering to him in Council the accustomary Oath for the true and faithful discharge thereof according to the form enclosed. 21 By the Desertion of three Persons from His Majestys Ship Rippon and Yarmouth we incurred an Expence of £12.2.7 for their maintenance while they continued on the Island besides five pounds a Head for their passage hither on the Ajax those People being on that Ships Capture made Prisoners we have been unable to discover how they have been disposed of nor could an enquiry be made till after the Receipt of the Duplicate of your advices which came by the Shaftsbury relative to this transaction when they were dispersed hereby we shall probably be under under the Necessity of putting up with this Loss, but on a like Case, take the Obligations from parties for such expences and if you are obliged to send them away on one of Our Ships let the Commander be instructed to deliver them up to one of his Majestys Naval Officers on his arrival at the first Port here where he may find such taking an acknowledgement of his having so done, and acquainted him with what Sum may be due from them although We shall rather chuse they might under the same Rule be delivered directly by you to some of His Majestys Officers when it is possible, you may see a Ship of War and giving Us the Needful advices thereon 22 You will seriously consider wether it may not be proper occasionally to shift some of Petty Officers and Seamen belonging	19: On the representation of the bad state of health which Captain Harrold had for some time past laboured under, the Court was induced to consent to his resignation of the command of the snow Mercury, so he might come home to seek the means of his recovery. It would have been more agreeable to the Court had his case permitted it to avail itself further of his services in that station. 20: Captain Harrold resigning as above, the Court, in confidence of a suitable discharge of his duty, appointed Mr John Merryweather to command the Mercury, should the island think him deserving of it, on the same terms his predecessor enjoyed. The Governor and Council were accordingly to invest him with that post, first administering to him in council the accustomed oath for the true and faithful discharge of it, according to the form enclosed. 21: By the desertion of three persons from his Majesty's ships Rippon and Yarmouth, the Court incurred an expense of £12 2s 7d for their maintenance while they continued on the island, besides £5 a head for their passage hither on the Ajax. These people were on that ship's capture made prisoners, and the Court had been unable to discover how they had been disposed of. Nor could an enquiry be made till after receipt of the duplicate of the island's advices, which came by the Shaftesbury, relating to this transaction, since they were dispersed by the ship's loss. The Court would probably be under the necessity of putting up with this loss. On a like case, however, it was to take the obligations from the parties for such expenses. Should the island be obliged to send them away on one of the Company's ships, the commander was to be instructed to deliver them up to one of his Majesty's naval officers on his arrival at the first port where he might find such, taking an acknowledgement of his having so done, and acquainting him what sum might be due from them. The Court would rather choose, however, that under the same rule they might be delivered directly by the island to some of his Majesty's officers when possible, should it see a ship of war, giving the needful advices on it. 22: The Governor and Council were seriously to consider whether it might not be proper occasionally to shift some of the petty officers and seamen belonging Interpretations Harrold's permitted resignation shows the Court balancing a servant's health against the loss of an experienced commander. It let him give up the Mercury and come home to recover, while noting it would rather have kept his services, so the concession reflected genuine regard rather than mere formality, the Court treating a sick officer's need to seek a cure as a claim it would honour even at cost to itself. The recovery of maintenance costs through obligations exposes the Court seeking to shift onto the men themselves the expense their desertion caused. Naval deserters who ended up on the island cost money to keep and to carry, so the Court directed that bonds be taken for such charges in future, treating the burden as a debt owed by those who created it rather than a loss the Company must silently absorb. The elaborate arrangements for returning stray naval men reveal the practical difficulty of restoring the Crown's people from a distant settlement. Deserters from King's ships had to be delivered back to naval officers at the first opportunity, with written acknowledgement and a note of what they owed, so the Company acted as a reluctant custodian of the Navy's men, the detailed procedure showing how carefully it documented every such transfer to protect itself against loss and dispute.
149	144	to the Mercury Snow and Fly Cutter whom there may be reason to think uneasy in their Situation, if so, We apprehend you may easily effect it by Exchanging such against some of the Mariners of the homeward bound Shipping under the approbation of the Commanders thereof, and as these may by a Premium more readily engage for a Year or two in the Room of the discharged People, you have Our permission to encourage them by paying the Wages due to such as shall engage from our Ships to the Time of their Entery with you or by giving them such Gratuity as you shall think proper, noting that we are to be furnished in Duplicate with Lists of the Men that shall be exchanged from the Vessels the Wages due to them and whether they have acted commendably or otherwise in obtaining the Men you may be in want of We should rather prefer your doing it from His Majestys than our Ships yet considering this is only a temporary Remedy, we shall it to you to throw out such reasonable Indulgences occasionally to the Hands on board the two Vessels as may make them easy and happy. 23 On a Comparrison of your Indents with the Accounts of Remains therein We find no Charge made of the particulars you received by the Prince Henry such Articles have been provided as appear to us will be fully sufficient for the ensuing Seasons Consumption and until you shall obtain a further Stock by the following Years Ship you will find them specified in the enclosed Invoice and Bill of Lading the Bulk of the present Consignment to you consists of 20 Tons of Flour 40 Puncheons of English Beef 80 Tierces of Irish Beef 330 Tierces of Irish Pork 20 Tons of Purbeck Stone making 82 Tons 24 Your providing a Competency of Cash by draughts upon Us was very agreeable we hope you will be able to supply your occasions for the Current Year in the same manner but least you should be apprehensive of failing therein two Chests of Treasure are now consigned	The Governor and Council were to consider whether it might not be proper occasionally to shift some of the petty officers and seamen belonging to the Mercury snow and Fly cutter, whom there might be reason to think uneasy in their situation. If so, the Court apprehended this might easily be effected by exchanging them against some of the mariners of the homeward-bound shipping, under the approval of their commanders. As these might, by a premium, more readily engage for a year or two in the room of the discharged people, the island had the Court's permission to encourage them, by paying the wages due to such as should engage from the Company's ships to the time of their entry with the island, or by giving them such gratuity as it should think proper. The Court was to be furnished in duplicate with lists of the men exchanged from the vessels, the wages due to them, and whether they had acted commendably or otherwise. In obtaining the men it might want, the Court would rather prefer the island doing it from his Majesty's ships than from its own. Yet considering this was only a temporary remedy, it left it to the Governor and Council to throw out such reasonable indulgences occasionally to the hands on board the two vessels as might make them easy and happy. 23: On a comparison of the island's indents with the accounts of remains, the Court found no charge made of the particulars received by the Prince Henry. Such articles had been provided as appeared would be fully sufficient for the ensuing season's consumption, and until the island should obtain a further stock by the following year's ship. These the island would find specified in the enclosed invoice and bill of lading. The bulk of the present consignment consisted of the following. 20 tons of flour 40 puncheons of English beef 80 tierces of Irish beef, making 82 tons 330 tierces of Irish pork 20 tons of Purbeck stone 24: The island's providing a competency of cash by drafts upon the Court was very agreeable. The Court hoped it might supply its occasions for the current year in the same manner, but lest it should be apprehensive of failing in it, two chests of treasure were now consigned. Interpretations The scheme for exchanging uneasy crew shows the Court managing the contentment of men on its small vessels through the passing traffic of homeward ships. Sailors discontented on the Mercury or Fly could be swapped for mariners from returning Indiamen tempted by a premium, so the constant flow of shipping through the road served as a labour exchange, letting the Company refresh the crews of craft that might otherwise be manned by resentful hands. The preference for drawing men from King's ships rather than the Company's own reveals a concern to keep its own vessels fully manned. Taking seamen off homeward Indiamen would weaken ships the Company needed, so the Court would rather recruit from the Navy's people where possible, protecting its own crews while still supplying the small craft, a calculation of where the loss of a hand could best be borne. The itemised provisions expose the scale and sourcing of the island's staple supply. Beef came from both England and Ireland, pork in bulk from Ireland, and stone from Purbeck, so the settlement drew its meat and building material from particular British sources shipped out together, the tonnage and origins showing how a remote station was victualled and equipped from the home country's produce. The steering of cash needs toward drafts on London, with treasure sent only as a safeguard, shows the Court's continuing preference to keep its specie in trade. Bullion was consigned merely lest the island fear a shortfall, so the settlement was still encouraged to raise money by bills, the two chests a reserve against anxiety rather than the intended means, the Company husbanding its silver for the eastern investment. Speculations This passage largely conveys permissions, a supply schedule and a routine provision of cash, but the arrangement over crewing shows a real choice. The Court could have drawn replacement seamen indifferently from whatever ships lay in the road, its own included, the readiest source of hands. Instead it directed that the island rather take men from his Majesty's ships than from the Company's own. The decision to spare its own crews at the cost of a more roundabout recruitment shows the Court weighing the manning of its Indiamen above convenience, preferring to draw on the Navy's people so its own vessels reached their destinations at full strength.
150	145	consigned to you under the persuasion that if you shall have a Prospect of receiving money sufficient for your use, for Bills upon Us if you will not take this Silver Into Cash, but continue the same or any part of it that you shall not have occasion for, on board the Royal Charlotte in to Our Supra Cargo's in China were it may be more advageously employd for Our Service. 25 We have communicated you occasions for several particulars you Indent for from China to our Agents there with directions for their Compliance therein so that you expectations will be answered by the returning Ships of the Year 1763 if it shall appear necessary to make any alteration in those demands you will apprize the Supra Cargoes on board the Ship thereof that you may be supplied in a manner adequate to your real wants 26 The Indent for Stores is not fully complied with partly from want of Room in this Ship but more so from there appearing large quantities of some Articles on hand to which when those are added which were sent on the Prince Henry there will be more than a sufficiency for one Years Consumption of those particulars species We apprehend you had not the Account of Remains in View upon framing the Indent as the Demand greatly exceed your usual occasions but allowing it was before you it could not indeed have been of much assistance it being brought up only to the 31th March and the Stores by the Prince Henry of Course not included therein although that Ship arrived more than six Weeks before the Date of the Indent you are therefore in future to bring into your Account of Remains such Stores as shall be received prior to the Dates of the Indents. 27 We have been assured by the Barons for many Years contracted with Flour and who are Men of Established Character; that it has been made of the best Wheat that could be procured and that they have constantly endeavoured to avoid every cause of Complaint We wish you had sent Us some Samples of the faulty part of it which you must do in future that a Judgement might have been formed	The two chests were consigned under the persuasion that, should the island have a prospect of receiving money sufficient for its use by bills on the Court, it would not take this silver into cash but continue the same, or any part of it it should not have occasion for, on board the Royal Charlotte to the Company's supercargoes in China, where it might be more advantageously employed for the Company's service. 25: The Court had communicated the island's occasions for several particulars of its indent from China to its agents there, with directions for their compliance, so that its expectations would be answered by the returning ships of the year 1763. Should it appear necessary to make any alteration in those demands, the island was to apprise the supercargoes on board the ship of it, so it might be supplied in a manner adequate to its real wants. 26: The indent for stores was not fully complied with, partly from want of room in this ship, but more from there appearing large quantities of some articles on hand. When those sent on the Prince Henry were added, there would be more than a sufficiency for one year's consumption of those particular species. The Court apprehended the island had not the account of remains in view on framing the indent, as the demand greatly exceeded its usual occasions. Allowing it was before the island, it could not indeed have been of much assistance, being brought up only to 31 March and the stores by the Prince Henry of course not included, though that ship arrived more than six weeks before the date of the indent. The island was therefore in future to bring into its account of remains such stores as should be received prior to the dates of the indents. 27: The Court had been supplied for many years by those contracted with for flour, who were men of established character, that it had been made of the best wheat that could be procured, and that they had constantly endeavoured to avoid every cause of complaint. The Court wished the island had sent it some samples of the faulty part of it, which it must do in future, so that a judgement might be Interpretations The renewed instruction on treasure shows the Court's settled preference for keeping its silver moving toward the China trade. Bullion left idle at St Helena earned nothing, whereas the same chests carried on to the supercargoes at Canton could buy tea, so the island was again pressed to raise its cash by bills and forward the unused silver, the Company treating every strongroom of specie as capital to be employed rather than stored. The overprovision of stores exposes how the lag in the island's own accounts disrupted supply. The settlement had indented for more than it needed because its remains account was months out of date and omitted goods already landed, so the Court both corrected the excess and ordered the accounting reformed, the incident showing how supply across a long passage depended on the island keeping an accurate and current record of what it held. The response to the flour complaint reveals the Court weighing a distant grievance against the standing reputation of its contractors. Men of established character had long supplied good wheat, so the Court would not condemn them on an unsupported complaint and required samples of the faulty flour in future, treating the assessment of quality as a matter for evidence rather than assertion, and protecting reliable suppliers against claims it could not verify. Speculations Faced with the island's complaint about the flour, the Court could have accepted the grievance and pressed its contractors, the natural response to a report of bad supply. Instead it recalled the long good character of the men it dealt with and declined to judge without samples of the faulty part. The choice to require evidence over acting on the complaint alone shows the Court unwilling to condemn trusted suppliers on a distant say-so, preferring to suspend judgement until the fault could be shown rather than take the island's word against a reputation built over years.
151	146	formed of its Qualities with more exactness the best is agred for and every precaution taken for furnishing such and remove your disappointment is so Essential and Article of Life that cannot but claim our particular Attention we will assuredly pursue every measure, for your effectual Redress therein especially as there are no grounds from what you say to apprehend it received any prejudice from its Package or otherwise in the Voyage. 28 The Salt Provisions in both your Indents are ordered also, the principal part of the Articles for the Mercury and Fly the Sails are not sort as the Quantity of Canvas to be consigned to you is supposed sufficient to answer your demands for them. 29 The Spice for the use of the Table will go this Season but you must Indent to India for such as you may want in future. 30 The Wine provided for the Island cannot as you desire be sent in Chests as it makes so considerable a difference in the Tonnage accept the Claret which according to the Former practice comes to you in four Chests for the usual purposes 31 The Gun Carriages consigned to you this Season are made of Oak as desired but it will be impracticable to answer for the Wood being well seasoned unless you give one Years previous Notice of what Carriages you shall be in want of 32 The Coals requested are now sent in relief of your distress for Wood the scarcity whereof We hope will be soon removed by the Commanders observance of Our enforced directions to supply themselves so plentifully as not to call on you for any 33 The Deals and Timber are not provided as they take up so much Tonnage and there great Quantities in Store nor are you furnished with any Tiles for want of Room those sent by the Prince Henry which you complain of were of the best Sort and we have been assured that it is the Property of New Tiles to be soft but that they will grow hard in time. 34 Your purchases of Salt Provisions from the homeward bound Commanders it is observed are made by the piece this should in future	A judgement might be formed of the flour's qualities with more exactness. The best was contracted for, and every precaution taken for furnishing such. To remove the island's disappointment in so essential an article of life, which could not but claim the Court's particular attention, it would assuredly pursue every measure for effectual redress. This was especially so as there was no ground, from what the island said, to apprehend the flour had received any prejudice from its package or otherwise in the voyage. 28: The salt provisions in both the island's indents were ordered, as also the principal part of the articles for the Mercury and Fly. The sails were not sent, as the quantity of canvas to be consigned was supposed sufficient to answer the demands for them. 29: The spices for the use of the table would go this season, but the island must indent to India for such as it might want in future. 30: The wine provided for the island could not, as the island desired, be sent in chests, as it made so considerable a difference in the tonnage. The island was to accept the claret which, according to the former practice, came in four chests for the usual purposes. 31: The gun carriages consigned this season were made of oak as desired, but it would be impracticable to answer for the wood being well seasoned, unless the island gave one year's previous notice of what carriages it should want. 32: The coals requested were now sent in relief of the island's distress for wood. The Court hoped its dearth would soon be removed by the commanders' observance of its enforced directions to supply themselves so plentifully as not to call on the island for any. 33: The deals and timber were not provided, as they took up so much tonnage and there were great quantities in store. Nor was the island furnished with any tiles for want of room, those sent by the Prince Henry, which the island complained of, being of the best sort. The Court had been assured they were the property of new tiles to be soft, but that they would grow hard in time. 34: The island's purchases of salt provisions from the homeward-bound commanders were observed to be made by the piece. This should in future Interpretations The seasoning of gun carriages tied to a year's notice shows how the quality of military stores depended on advance planning across the long supply line. Oak had to be seasoned before use, a process that could not be hurried, so the Court could only guarantee well-seasoned carriages if the island ordered them a year ahead, the lag in supply meaning that readiness had to be provided for long before the need arose. The refusal to ship wine in chests over the tonnage it cost exposes the constant calculation of cargo space against the island's preferences. Casks packed more economically than chests, so the Court held to the cheaper stowage despite the island's wish, the small dispute showing how even the form in which a commodity travelled was governed by the scarcity of room on ships whose freight the Company weighed to the ton. The tiles said to harden with time reveal the Court passing on a supplier's assurance to answer a complaint about quality. The island found the tiles soft, but the Court relayed that new tiles were so by nature and would firm up, so it defended the supply on the maker's word, treating the grievance as a misunderstanding of the material rather than a fault to be remedied, much as it had handled the flour. The observation on buying salt provisions by the piece shows the Court scrutinising the method of the island's purchasing. Buying meat piece by piece from homeward commanders was noted for correction, so the Court watched not only what the island spent but how it bought, the attention marking its concern that provisioning be conducted on terms that served the Company rather than left to loose or costly practice.
152	147	be done by weight that a Judgement may be found whether they are reasonable are not 35 You give a manifest Proof of attention to our Service in the annual appointment of Inspectors of the Storehouse on taking the Account of Remains good Consequences must ensue from a perfect Examination into their Condition in lessening the Losses arising from Wastage and other Causes an Instance thereof appears in the small Quantity of Articles damaged which agreeable to our standing Orders for their Sale yielded £3.18.8 and it is from such Scrutiny that we are the more readily induced to acquiesce in the writing off the deficiences caused by Leakage and various Casualties when it exceeds no uncommon Sum such we find the £61.18.1 which you discharged yourselves of the 3d of November; for the preceeding the Year and for the Equitable Reasons then assigned on that Occasion 36 We have considered the Repreesentations you have from time to time made to be satisfied whether you are invested with ample powers to punish Criminals and as the Peace and good Order of the Island depend thereupon; We have consulted our Kouncil upon that matter and transmit you our Sentiments and Directions founded on their Opinion and Advice in a Seperate Letter which accompanys this for the greater conveniency in Case it may as probably be necessary to produced before the Courts that shall be held on Criminal Cases for their Inspection free and unincumbered from other matters. We hope to see from the upwright and impartial discharge of the Powers you are invested with, That Quiet and Decorum so desirable in all Communities will be restored and maintained in our Island and that Justice will be tempered with Mercy there 37 We do not see a more prudent Measure could have been fixed upon considering the large decrease of Cattle from disorders they have been infected with and the Bread was unusually small than having recourse to the Cape of Good Hope for a Recruit and it will be well to repeat this Method until you procure such supplies as shall leave you under no apprehensions of the Calamities that a want of them may Occasion.	The purchases were in future to be made by weight, so a judgement might be formed whether they were reasonable or not. 35: The island gave a manifest proof of attention to the Company's service in the annual appointment of inspectors of the storehouse on taking the account of remains. Good consequences must follow from a perfect examination into their condition, in lessening the losses arising from wastage and other causes. An instance appeared in the small quantity of articles damaged, which, agreeable to the standing orders for their sale, yielded £3 18s 8d. It was from such scrutiny that the Court was the more readily induced to acquiesce in the writing off of the deficiencies caused by leakage and various casualties, when it exceeded no uncommon sum, such as the £67 18s 1d which the island discharged itself of on 3 November for the preceding year, and for the equitable reasons then assigned on that occasion. 36: The Court had considered the representations the island had from time to time made, to be satisfied whether it was invested with ample powers to punish criminals, since the peace and good order of the island depended on it. It had consulted its council on that matter and transmitted its own sentiments and directions, founded on their opinion and advice, in a separate letter accompanying this. This was for the greater convenience, in case it might probably be necessary to produce it before the courts held on criminal cases, for their inspection free and unencumbered from other matters. The Court hoped to see, from the upright and impartial discharge of the powers the island was invested with, that quiet and decorum so desirable in all communities restored and maintained on the island, and that justice would be tempered with mercy there. 37: The Court did not see a more prudent measure could have been fixed upon, considering the large decrease of cattle from the disorders they had been infected with and the bread being unusually small, than having recourse to the Cape of Good Hope for a recruit. It would be well to repeat this method until the island procured such supplies as should leave it under no apprehension of the calamities that a want of them might occasion. Interpretations The praise for the storehouse inspectors shows the Court valuing internal audit as the means of controlling loss. An annual examination of the stores caught wastage and damage early, so the small sum realised from damaged goods and the modest write-off for leakage were evidence the system worked, the Court linking its willingness to allow deficiencies directly to the scrutiny that kept them honest and within bounds. The separate letter on criminal powers reveals a deliberate care that legal authority be documented for use in court. By setting out the island's powers to punish in an instrument free of other business, the Court ensured it could be produced before the criminal courts as clean evidence of their jurisdiction, treating the definition of judicial authority as something that must be formally provable rather than merely understood. The recourse to the Cape for cattle exposes the island turning to a nearer southern source when its own herds failed. Disease had thinned the stock and the harvest was poor, so drawing a recruit of cattle from the Cape of Good Hope met the shortfall from across the southern ocean, the arrangement showing how the settlement's provisioning reached toward whatever source could relieve it when its own resources broke down. Speculations Considering the cattle lost to disease and the poor harvest, the Court could have relied on the homeward ships and its own recovering herds to make good the island's provisions, the accustomed sources. Instead it endorsed drawing a recruit of cattle from the Cape of Good Hope and urged the method be repeated. The choice to reach to the Cape over waiting on the usual supply shows the Court preferring a surer nearer source in a time of dearth, judging that the risk of famine warranted opening a new line of provisioning rather than trusting the island's own stock to recover in time.
153	148	38 No Judgement can be passed here on the Grass called Canary, a Sample whereof being sent by the Ajax only never reached Us, We should have such material particulars by two Conveyances at least upon consulting with proper Judges it does not appear the Species of Grass called such here has any noxious Qualitys but as there good reasons at first to apprehend the distemper were then effected with took its rise therefrom it was quite right to endeavour to exterpate it Your last Letter gives Us uneasiness to find the Mortality had been great from a Sickness which differing in its appearance; from the Former was thought not be infectious We wish to hear it has proved so and that you have been eased of that inquietide such an Alarming consideration must have excited, you make no further mention of the Grass when We conclude that is out of the Question but to give you all the Satisfaction in our power a Sample of Grass called Canary Yielding the Seed of that Name and deemed quite inoffensive is enclosed in the Packet for a Comparison with That growing on the Island it is produced in great Quantities in the Isle of Thanet and there found from experience never to have any prejudicial Effects on the Cattle there however do you send by different Opportunities some of that which grows on the Island when in seed that we may obtain the opinion of sufficient Judges and convey you their Sentiments thereon 39 The Anxiety given Us in your Discription of the inflamatory disorder wherewith the Islanders have been afflicted in July was removed in a great Degree by the pleasing Information that it did not prove mortal and was abated, supposing as no further mention is made; it had entirely ceased, We cannot be indifferent on the Receipt of such a disagreeable Accounts for the Health, Plenty and Prosperity of the Island and its Inhabitants, are points that always take great Delight in being well assured of 40 The Lenity extended here to Grewer a deserting Slave returned last Season appears from Your Represensitation to have been misapplied and may be productive of bad Consequences We knew he	38: No judgement could be passed on the grass called canary, a sample of which, sent by the Ajax only, never reached the Court. It ought to have such material particulars by two conveyances at least. On consulting with proper judges, it did not appear the species of grass called such had any noxious qualities. Yet as there were good reasons at first to apprehend the distemper the cattle were then affected with took its rise from it, it was quite right to endeavour to eradicate it. The island's last letter gave the Court uneasiness to find the mortality had been great from a sickness which, differing in its appearance from the former, was thought not to be infectious. The Court wished to hear it had proved so, and that the island had been eased of that anxiety such an alarming consideration must have excited. As the island made no further mention of the grass, the Court concluded that was out of the question. But to give it all the satisfaction in the Court's power, a sample of grass called canary, yielding the seed of that name and deemed quite inoffensive, was enclosed in the packet for comparison with that growing on the island. It was produced in great quantities in the Isle of Thanet, and there found from experience never to have any prejudicial effects on the cattle. The island was nonetheless to send by different opportunities some of that which grew on the island, when in seed, so the Court might obtain the opinion of sufficient judges and convey their sentiments on it. 39: The anxiety the island's description of the inflammatory disorder, with which it had been afflicted in July, gave the Court was removed in a great degree by the pleasing information that it did not prove mortal and was abated. Supposing, as no further mention was made of it, that it had entirely ceased, the Court could not be indifferent on receipt of such disagreeable accounts. The health, plenty and prosperity of the island and its inhabitants were points it always took great delight in being well assured of. 40: The lenity extended to Grewer, a deserting slave returned last season, appeared from the island's representations to have been misapplied, and might be productive of bad consequences. The Court knew Interpretations The lost grass sample drives home the Court's insistence on duplicate conveyance for anything material. A single specimen sent by the Ajax perished with the ship's capture, so the investigation into the cattle disease was stalled for want of a second copy, the Court repeating that important particulars must travel by at least two ships, the same redundancy it demanded of its correspondence applied now to physical evidence. The exchange over the canary grass reveals a careful empirical approach to a suspected cause of disease. Though experts found the grass harmless, the Court thought it right to eradicate it while suspicion remained, and sent a known inoffensive sample from the Isle of Thanet for comparison, so the question of what sickened the cattle was pursued by controlled comparison rather than assumption, evidence gathered from both ends before any conclusion was drawn. The reopening of the Grewer case exposes the Court reconsidering its own leniency in the light of the island's report. Having spared the runaway mason to keep him serviceable, it now judged from the island's representations that the mercy had been misapplied and might encourage further desertion, so the Court showed itself willing to reverse a concession once experience suggested it undermined the discipline it needed to maintain. Speculations Told that its lenity to the mason Grewer might be doing harm, the Court could have stood by the concession it had deliberately made the previous season, having weighed his value against his offence. Instead it accepted the island's representation that the mercy had been misapplied and might breed further desertion. The choice to reconsider its own indulgence over defending it shows the Court willing to subordinate a past decision to fresh evidence of its effects, preferring to correct a leniency that threatened discipline rather than hold to it for consistency's sake.
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164	159	EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St Helena - Letters from England 1754 - 1761 Dimensions (height x width x depth) (cm) (h) 38cm x (w) 26cm x (d) 4cm No. written pages: 148 No. blank pages: 8 Spine and cover good condition Inside pages mostly good condition foxing present several torn pages Additional comments Pages are numbers on the bottom Time taken to photograph (hours) 4 hours