Indian Antiquary Vol 47

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 38

34
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
( FEBRUARY, 1918
colours and subjects of the Empress Queen. For admitting you may have a right to prohibit British subjects from all intercourse with those of Her Imperial Majesty, what right can you have to obstruct or oppose Her Majesty and Her subjects in their peaceful intercourse or licit commerce with those of her allies His Most Serene Majesty of Denmark, and the high and Mighty United States of Holland? Or what right can you claim to seize the property of Her Majesty's subjects, as in the case of the redwood, where ever you find it?
Earnestly desirous on my part of promoting peace and harmony, I have hitherto most cautiously forbore every act that could possibly give the least offence to your Government, and it is a conduct I wish to pursue during the whole period of my short stay in this river. Let me then conjure you, Honble. Sir and Gentlemen, by those ties of humanity which unite Great Nations together in peace and amity, to give such orders to the respective officers of your Government as may in future remove the causes of the complaints I now make, and thereby prevent any possible interruption of the harmony which I hope will long subsist between the August Courts of Vienna and St. James. Chinsura 18th September 1779.
I have the honor to be &c.
(Signed) WILLIAM BOLTS,
Lieut. Col. in the service of their Imperial Majesties. Extract of a General Letter from the Council to the Court of Directors
at Fort William, dated 14 January 1780. 18 We are to inform you that your orders prohibiting your servants and dependants from having any commercial intercourse or connection with Mr Bolts were published immediately on receipt of the General Letter which contained them, and again advertized on the arrival of that gentleman in July last. To Your wishes with respect to this gentleman have been so strictly attended to by us and by the officers of the Nizamut, in consequence of orders from the Nabob to that effect, that he was unable to land any part of the goods imported by his ships, the Joseph and Theresa and Kallowrath, either at Calcutta or any where below it. He addressed repeated letters to us on the subject, but we did not think ourselves at liberty, consistently with your instructions, to return him an answer to either of them. We believe however that his merchandize was received at Chingura and disposed of to the Dutch.
As the President and Council at Bombay had not been equally vigilant to prevent the intercourse of persons under their authority with Mr Bolts, we found that some consignments of goods had been made both by European and Native merchants at that place to individuals here by the ships of Mr. Bolts, which we were induced on their claim to suffer the importation of. Axtract of a General Letter from the Council at Fort William to the
Court of Directors, dated 5 April 1783. 80 With respect to the conduct which we observed towards Mr William Bolts, we were cautiously governed throughout by your orders concerning him, and have regularly reported the particulars of it to you in our General letter of the 14th January 1780. After having been for bid any intercourse with Mr Bolts, and having issued the prohibition of Trade with him generally to all the dependants of this Government by Public Advertisement, it wasno: in our power to acmit of any Goods imported in his name to be passed thro' the Custom House
It is within the memory of some of the Members that a letter of representation was presented from Mr. Bolts on the subject of some redwood belonging to him being detained by the Custom Hour officers, but we did not think ourselves at liberty to receive it.
(To be continued.)
See ante, p. 29.
10 Bengal Letters Receipod, XVIII, 16-17.
Bengal Lettere Roreired, XX (unpaged).