In tracing these causes, it is hardly necessary to go further back than the period of the Company's history immediately preceding the war of 1780. The accidental calamities of that war brought it to the brink of ruin, and its importance in the past transactions of the country being borne in mind, a general concern existed in Holland for its preservation, and for the restoration and maintenance of its credit. With the view of affording it the most effective and beneficial assistance, inquiries were set on foot, not only to discover some temporary means of relief, but to provide a more permanent remedy for threatened decline. It is impossible to ascertain what might have been the result of the measures which were then in contemplation, as the convulsed state of Europe, and especially of Holland, subsequently to this period, left no room for their operation, and did not even admit of making the experiment of their efficiency. The free intercourse of the mother country with her colonies was interrupted; the trade was thrown into the hands of neutrals; several possessions were lost for the want of due protection, and those which remained were left to support or defend themselves in the best way they could, without any assistance or reinforcement from home. For ten years preceding the year 1780, the average annual sales of the Company amounted to upwards of twenty millions of guilders, which was considerably more than in former years, and the prices of the different articles were nearly the same as they had been from the years 1648 to 1657, when the sales only amounted on an average to about eight millions a year; it was therefore clear, that the decline of the Company was not to be attributed to the decrease of trade. On an examination of the Indian books, it was found, that from the year 1613 to 1696, the profits in India, though moderate, had always kept equal pace with the profits in Europe. ------------------------+------------+------------+------------ From | To | To | To 1613 | 1653. | 1663. | 1673. ------------------------+------------+------------+------------ | Guilders. | Guilders. | Guilders. The total profits were | 101,704,417| 142,663,776| 206,072,335 Expences | 76,177,755| 117,616,961| 161,271,745 ------------------------+------------+------------+------------ Nett Profits | 25,526,662| 25,046,315| 44,330,590 ------------------------+------------+------------+------------