Articles in the diamond pitt category

Brief Historical Relation 1690 Q2

Political and other events

From Luttrell's Brief Historical Relation, a diary of news and current events (BR). These are all from vol. 2 of the 6 volume printed edition.

April 1690

French letters say that their squadron under the command of Mr D'Amfreville returned to Brest the 9th with 5,000 Irish, commanded by lieut. general Macarty; that the count D'Avaux, lieut. general Rose, with several other French officers, returned with them; that it was declared the dauphin should command the army on the Rhine, and under him by the mareschal de Lorge; the army in Flanders to be commanded by the duke of Luxemburgh; the marquesse de Boufflers is to command a body upon the Moselle; the duke de Noailles is to command in Roussillon, and the sieu de Catinat the forces towards Italy. They say that strict orders had been given for raising the ban and arrierban, which …

Brief Historical Relation 1690 Q1

Political and other events

From Luttrell's Brief Historical Relation, a diary of news and current events.

January 1690

Several horse are lately brought to town for the king's service.

The earls of Pembroke and Torrington have each a commission to raise a marine regiment, to consist of 12 companies each, and 200 men in a company, to go on board the fleet. BR 2.1, 1 January 1690

Pembroke is Thomas Herbert (1656 - 1733), 8th earl of Pembroke. MP for Wilton before taking up the peerage. Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, commanded the county militia in putting down Monmouth's rebellion in 1685. First Lord of the Admiralty from 1690 to 1692, also for short periods Lord High Admiral. Negotiator at Ryswick 1697. Lord Privy Seal 1692 - 1699. Lord President of the Council 1699 - 1708. John Locke dedicated his Essay Concerning Human Understanding to him.

Torrington is Arthur Herbert (1648 - 1716), fourth …

Foundation for Empire (2)

The economics of the East India trade

An obvious aspect of mercantile activity, but one which will bear reiteration, is that the faster a merchant's capital is turned over, the smaller the amounts of money capital the merchant must employ. Conversely, the more slowly it is turned over, the larger this portion. The problems of the long-distance overseas trade were different from those in the domestic and European trades. The merchant's capital invested in his activities was employed for a much greater length of time, which increased the farther afield his ventures went. Furthermore, the greater distances put the investments at greater risk. The distances over which mercantile capital was employed thus became the material basis in the period of circulation. Watson 1980, p. 13

Watson defines primary costs as the direct payments made to purchase goods in Asia and bring them to market in London, and secondary costs as …

Foundation for Empire

Ian Bruce Watson's 1980 study Foundation for Empire: English private trade in India 1659 - 1760 is invaluable for researching the milieu of early India merchants like Thomas Pitt. Watson fits his detailed analysis into the broader context of the phenomenon of imperialism.

Empire

Where empire was seen to be the manifestation of a mixture of military might, cultural superiority, humanitarian zeal, and industrial supremacy, which was itself a central component of cultural superiority, theorists of empire began using the term imperialism, under which they subsumed the various component parts in hierarchies which suited their purposes. In effect, the '-ism' was used to explain the 'empire' in one way or another. It was not used to explain why it should have been that an empire could have been gained in the first place. The existence of empire was argued ex post facto, in terms which reflected the dominant political beliefs of …

The case of Sir Basil Firebrace

Source

Pamphlet, A collection of the debates and proceedings in Parliament, in 1694 and 1695. Upon the inquiry into the late briberies and corrupt practices, published anonymously in 1695.

Corrupt MPs

This pamphlet tells the tale of the large-scale corruption practised by the East India Company in the 1680s and 90s. But it opens with a caustic preface reminiscing about the heady days of corrupt Parliamant in the 1670s under Charles II, when MPs were more or less openly treated and paid for their votes:

Then was the time when an hungry Member was sure of a dinner at one or other of the public tables kept about Westminster to feed the betrayers of their country. The Practice was, that besides a dinner, when they had done any eminent piece of service, every one found under his plate such a parcel of guineas as it was thought his day's work …