Originally there existed two English East India Companies, the oldest of which was incorporated in 1579. In the year 1600 they amalgamated, and received a charter from Queen Elizabeth. At the same time they assumed the title of the 'United East India Company,' and as a trade-mark, a heart with two transverse bars, bearing in the four divisions thus formed the letters V. E. I. C. [Illustration: V E I C] This trade-mark had acquired such a well-merited reputation at Canton, that it was considered unnecessary to examine any package of merchandise that bore it. A simple exhibition of musters was made, when transactions were concluded, and the original packages forwarded unopened to all parts of the Empire. The Company's vessels first arrived at Canton between 1650 and 1660, and tea was first used in England in 1666. By the Chinese the Company was known as Kung-Se, the characters signify 'United Affairs.' By the Canton community its representatives collectively were universally referred to as 'The Factory.' They were much more numerous than the members of any other establishment. In 1825, the 'Factory' consisted of Sir James Urmston, chief; Messrs. W. H. C. Plowden, Marjoribanks, and J. F. Davis, of whom two, with the chief, formed a select committee; of writers (as usually called) there were about twenty; an inspector of teas, Mr. Reeves; chaplain, the Rev. R. H. Vachell; surgeons, Pierson and Colledge; and an interpreter, the Rev. Dr. Robert Morrison. The 'Factory' entertained with unbounded hospitality and in a princely style. Their dining-room was of vast dimensions, opening upon the terrace overlooking the river. On the left was a library, amply stocked, the librarian of which was Dr. Pierson; on the right a billiard room. At one extremity of the dining-room was a life-size portrait of George IV. in royal robes, with crown and sceptre, the same that had been taken by the Embassy of Lord Amherst to Pekin, offered to and refused by the Emperor Keen-Lung, and brought to Canton overland. Opposite to it hung a smaller full-length portrait of Lord Amherst. From the ceiling depended a row of huge chandeliers, with wax lights, the table bore candelabra, reflecting a choice service amidst quantities of silver plate.