Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- PREFACE
- CHAPTER I THE INDIA HOUSE
- CHAPTER II BRITISH INDIA
- CHAPTER III TRADE TO THE EAST
- CHAPTER IV THE EASTERN SEAS
- CHAPTER V EAST INDIAMEN
- CHAPTER VI THE SHIPPING INTEREST
- CHAPTER VII THE MARITIME SERVICE
- CHAPTER VIII THE VOYAGE
- CHAPTER IX PASSENGERS
- CHAPTER X NAVAL PROTECTION
- CHAPTER XI THE COUNTRY TRADE
- CHAPTER XII THE END OF MONOPOLY
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
- I General Map
- II Chart of Winds
- Plate section
CHAPTER I - THE INDIA HOUSE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- PREFACE
- CHAPTER I THE INDIA HOUSE
- CHAPTER II BRITISH INDIA
- CHAPTER III TRADE TO THE EAST
- CHAPTER IV THE EASTERN SEAS
- CHAPTER V EAST INDIAMEN
- CHAPTER VI THE SHIPPING INTEREST
- CHAPTER VII THE MARITIME SERVICE
- CHAPTER VIII THE VOYAGE
- CHAPTER IX PASSENGERS
- CHAPTER X NAVAL PROTECTION
- CHAPTER XI THE COUNTRY TRADE
- CHAPTER XII THE END OF MONOPOLY
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
- I General Map
- II Chart of Winds
- Plate section
Summary
The new India House, which was opened in April 1800, was an austere building, severely classical, stone built and plain; but it was not entirely unadorned. The façade was relieved by pilasters and crowned by a pediment; and the pediment contained figures in high relief, much admired at the time, which were supposed to indicate the nature of the business transacted within. Even had this masterpiece survived, which it has not, it is doubtful whether the casual observer would have grasped the point of the allegory. A point, however, there was, as the following quotation will show:
DESCRIPTION OF THE PEDIMENT
Commerce, represented by Mercury, attended by Navigation, and followed by Tritons on Sea Horses, is introducing Asia to Britannia, at whose Feet She pours out her Treasures. The King is holding the Shield of Protection over the Head of Britannia and of Liberty, who is embraced by Her—By the Side of His Majesty sits Order, attended by Religion and Justice. In the Back Ground is the City Barge etc. near to which stand Industry and Integrity—The Thames fills the Angle to the Right Hand, and the Ganges the Angle towards the East.
One is loath to spoil the effect of such a description. Yet, here is an epitome of nineteenth-century England, firmly carved on the walls of Leadenhall Street almost before the century had begun. With the exception, perhaps, of the Tritons on Sea Horses, every figure was significant, prophetic and unconsciously revealing.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Trade in the Eastern Seas 1793–1813 , pp. 1 - 28Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1937