Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 45
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Previous | Next

Page 67
________________ APRIL, 1916) SOME ANGLO-INDIAN WORTHIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 53 in a letter from the Court of the 16th December 1675, the 27th paragraph of which bestowed the following powers upon the Agent and Council at Fort St. George 10 : "Though Wee have not thought fitt to Authorize Our Agent and councell to putt any person out of Councell that Wee have appointed of the Councell, Yet in case any of our Councell should prove unfaithfull to Us, either in discovering of Our Affaires to Our Enemies, or otherwise conspire against Us to defraud or betrav Us, or become guilty of any fact accounted criminall, as Murder, Theft, Rape, Blasphemy, or the Like, In such cases the matter plainely appearing to Our Agent and Councell, or the more part of them, they may and ought to suspend such person from the Councell, or put him in Prison acoording to the Nature of the Offence." In .1677, the Council at Kasimbazar took advantage of this paragraph to call a consultation, on the 17th August, 11 when Matthias Vincent, Edward Littleton and Richnrd Edwards, « Well considering the 27th Paragraffe of the Honble. Companies Letter, it was resolved that a coinplaint should be made and charge drawne up and sent to the Cheife and Councell of the Bay against James Hardinge, a younge man in this Factory of very dangerous and horribly blasphemous principles, as denying the persons of the Father and the Spiritt in the Godhead, as alsoe the [im] mortallity of the Soule, and sundry other wicked tenets, which he had often vented here and endeavoured to draw others to, often declaring an implicite faith in and blind adherence to whatever hath been declared and owned by one Ludowycke Muggleton, 12 a notorious and abominable hereticke spraunge up in our dayes, as the record of our times and his owne bookes Sufficiently declare, and to desire and presse the removall hence and sendinge home the vaid James Hardinge, according to the orders of the Honble. Company in the aforesaid paragraffe of their letter, he beinge alsoe a person of very littlo use and Service in our Honble. Masters affaires, of whome we cannot give any of those commendable and required Caracters of “Dilligent, Faithfull and Able," but the Contrary. All which wee reffered to the Cheife to draw up and to insert such other particulars as might be necessary to inske knowne unto the Chiefe and Councell.” Vincent's categorical complaint against Harding does not exist. Before it reached Balasor, and even before the holding of the Consultation noted above, Walter Clavell had fallen & victim to the epidemio which carried off nearly all the Company's servants there. Vincent was hurriedly summoned to take Clavell's place, and Littleton, who succeeded him at Kasimbazar, left Harding alone, until an act of direct disobedience caused a second complaint of his comduct to be sent to Balasor. The details are given in the Kasimbazar Diary of the 1st November 167713 "There wanting a Copy of an Apendix to our Generall Books to bee transmitted to our Honble. Masters this year, James Harding was by Edward Littleton sent for, and beinge Come, the said apendix was tendred to him and 10 Letter Book, Vol. V. pp. 285-296, 11 Factory Records, Kasimbazar, Vol. I. 12 Ludowioke Muggleton (1609-1698), an English seotarian, was the son of a farrier, but was bred up as a tailor. He began to have revelations in 1651, and proclaimed himself and his cousin as the two witnesses of revelation XL 3. An exposition of their doctrines was published in 1656 under the title of The Divino Looking-Glass. In 1653 Muggleton was imprisoned for blasphemy. In 1667 he was tried and convicted for the same offence, and was fined £500. He escaped further imprisonment and lived to be nearly ninety. His collected works were published in 1756. The Muggletonions survived as u saat until about 1846. (See the art. in the Encycl. Brit. 11th ed.). 13 Factory Records, Kasimbazar, Vol. I.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380