SURRENDER, OF THE CHARTER OF THE LEVANT COMPANY.
Connected with the above changes was the surrender of the charter of the Levant Company. That company was established by royal charter in the reign of James the First, when considerable privileges were bestowed upon it. Thus they were allowed to appoint all the consuls in the seaports in the Levant; to levy duties on all English ships for the maintenance of their consuls; and to exercise a certain jurisdiction within the territories of the Ottoman Porte. These powers and trusts had been exercised by the servants of the company with general fidelity for two centuries; but, considering the state of the countries in which the company’s consuls resided, in apolitical point of view, it was now deemed expedient that the public servants of this country in Turkey should hold their appointments from the crown. A meeting of the company was called in consequence of a communication from the ministers; and Lord Grenville, the governor, having proposed the surrender of their charter, the company acceded to it; and an act of parliament was subsequently passed for carrying that surrender into effect.