of vital importance not only to Russia, but also to the Balkan States and to the neighbouring European powers. The occupation of Egypt by Great Britain, the Russo-Turkish War of 1878, the proclamation of Bulgaria's independence, the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria in 1908, all contributed to the complication of the Eastern Question. This complication was further increased by Italy's occupation of Tripoli in 1911, by the Balkan Wars (1912-3), and by the construction of the Bagdad Railway with the aid of German capital. It is no exaggeration to say that the Eastern Question was one of the causes which led to the outbreak of the European War of 1914. The Peace Treaties of Versailles, Sèvres, and St. Germain have not yet settled the Eastern Question, and the peace in the Near East is still a problem which occupies the attention of European diplomatists.—Bibliography: W. A. Phillips, Modern Europe; R. W. Seton Watson, The Rise of Nationality in the Balkans.
Eastern Rumelia. See Bulgaria.
Easter Term, one of the four regular terms of the courts of common law in England, beginning on the 19th April, and continuing till the middle or end of May.—In Oxford University, a term beginning 13th April, ending 27th May; in Cambridge, beginning 18th April, and ending 24th June.
East India Company, a great English company, originally simply a trading association, which played an important part in the history of Hindustan. It was formed in 1599 in London, with a subscribed capital of about £30,000, for the purpose of trade with the East Indies. A charter was granted to it by Queen Elizabeth on 31st December, 1600, for fifteen years, renewable for a similar period. In this charter the Company is styled, "The Governor and Company of the Merchants of London trading into the East Indies". The first voyages resulted in large profits. In 1609 the charter was renewed by James I, and made perpetual, reserving power to the Crown to recall it at three years' notice. Additional power was granted to the Company of seizing and confiscating ships and goods of contraband traders, either in the British dominions or in any of the places where they were authorized to trade. Among the motives which had induced the Company to press for this renewal of their charter was the necessity they had experienced from the jealousy of the Dutch and Portuguese to send out vessels fitted not only for trade, but for defence and indeed attack. Accordingly Captain Best, who commanded the eighth expedition, attacked four Portuguese war galleons, convoying 200 sail of merchantmen, off Surat, and gained a complete victory, which so impressed the Great Mogul that he immediately made a treaty with Captain Best, giving the English full liberty to trade in his dominions. This treaty was concluded on 6th Feb., 1613. It was followed at once by a resolution of the Company to trade on a joint-stock. £429,000 was raised as capital, and apportioned in fitting out four voyages for 1613, 1614, 1615, 1617. In 1617 and 1618 the Company was so enlarged as to include 954 proprietors, while a new joint-stock of £1,600,000 was subscribed. In 1619 a treaty was made with the Dutch, by which the two companies were to work in harmony for twenty years; but in 1629 the Dutch massacred the leading members of the English factory at Amboyna. In the feeble reigns of James and Charles I, however, the outrage remained unredressed, and the English Company, ill supported by the Crown, was often reduced to great straits. Their trade, impeded by the Dutch, became unprofitable, and, to add to their difficulties, Charles I in 1635 gave a licence to a rival company. At length, under Cromwell, the Company received a new charter. A territorial footing had been acquired in Madras in 1640, to which settlement was given the control of all the factories in Bengal and the Coromandel coast, the Supreme Council in India still remaining at Surat. A new charter, granted by Charles II in 1660, enlarged the powers of the Company, giving it political and judicial authority in the factories and colonies established by it, with the right to appoint governors. On the Revolution of 1688 the Company was involved in new difficulties, and in 1692 the Commons presented an address to the Crown praying for their dissolution. At this time, by an accidental failure to pay a tax upon their stock, the Company formally forfeited their charter, and were compelled to accept its renewal with the important proviso of a reservation to the Crown of the right to alter or modify its conditions. The maximum stock to be held by any individual was fixed at £10,000, every £1000 of which was to give a vote, while the right of membership was thrown open to all British subjects. The Scottish Parliament also sanctioned a company, but a war with Spain and the bitter opposition of the English Parliament made difficulties under which this company succumbed. Meantime the misconduct of the English company had so strengthened its enemies that, in spite of all its opposition, a resolution in favour of the formation of a new company passed the House of Commons on 4th May, 1698, and this company was actually constituted by Act 9 William III cap. xliv. This Act provided for the extinction of the old company, but an amalgamation was eventually arranged in 1708. The possessions of the old company at the time of amalgamation, upon which the valuation of £330,000 was placed
in 1700, included a large number of places in India, a footing having been by this time acquired in each of the three presidencies, besides possessions in Persia, Cochin-China, and Sumatra. The dividends of the Company rose rapidly after the amalgamation, and finally settled at 8 per cent; and it procured without difficulty, at various periods, a prolongation of its exclusive privileges until 1780, still with three years' notice. In the meantime the French possessions had, as well as the English, been growing in power and importance in the East, and on the outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession in 1741 commenced those struggles (Clive being the first great English leader) by which a mercantile company was led on to establish British supremacy over nearly the whole of India. In 1766 the right of the Company to acquire territorial possessions formed a subject of parliamentary inquiry; and the question of the political rights of the Company being thus opened up, the ministry began to act on their view of it by sending out a Crown plenipotentiary to India. A regulating Act was passed in 1773 remodelling the powers of the Company, and placing it completely under the control of Parliament, providing for the establishment by the Crown of courts of judicature in India. The charter, which expired in 1780, was renewed till 1791. The Renewal Act provided that the Company, which was already bound to submit to the Government all dispatches received from India, should submit for approval all dispatches proposed to be transmitted thither. In 1784 another Act established a board, afterwards known as the Board of Control, to superintend, direct, and control all acts, operations, and concerns relating to the civil and military government or revenues of India. The board was to consist of a principal Secretary of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and four Privy Councillors nominated by the Crown. The directors of the Company were bound to submit all their papers except those referring to commercial matters to this board, and obey its instructions. From this time the political power of the Company was little more than nominal. While the right of nominating the servants of the Company was still left to the directors, the absolute right of recall was vested in the Crown. A subsequent Declaratory Bill regulated the power of the Board of Control to send out troops at the expense of the Company. In 1813 the charter was renewed on condition that the right of exclusive trade should be restricted to China, while the India trade should be thrown open to all British subjects. A Church establishment for India was also provided by this Act. The appointment of governors-general, governors, and commanders-in-chief was no longer to be valid without the direct sanction of the Crown. The renewal of the Company's charter in 1834 took place amid continued opposition to their mercantile, and even to their legislative privileges. It continued them in all their possessions except the Island of St. Helena, put an end to the exclusive right of trade with China, and enacted that the Company should with all convenient speed close their commercial business, and make sale of all their property not retained for Government purposes; all their other property was to be held in trust for the Crown, which was to take over their debts and guarantee their dividend out of the revenues of India. The stock was valued at £6,000,000, which was to bear interest at 10 per cent, and be redeemable after 30th April, 1874, on payment of £12,000,000. The Company was now fairly in liquidation, and on the outbreak of the mutiny of 1857 it was felt indispensable to vest the government of India directly in the Crown, and this was accordingly done in 1858. Henceforth the Company existed only for the purpose of receiving payment of its capital, and of the dividends due upon capital until its repayment.—Bibliography: J. Bruce, Annals of the East India Company; Sir W. W. Hunter, History of British India; W. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Trade in Modern Times; J. Macpherson, The History and Management of the East India Company; W. Foster and F. C. Danvers, Letters received by the East India Company from its Servants in the East (6 vols.).
East Indies, the name loosely applied to Hindustan, the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and a portion of the Eastern Archipelago, but excluding the Philippine Islands, New Guinea, and Australia.
Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock, English painter, president of the Royal Academy, born at Plymouth 17th Nov., 1793, died at Pisa 23rd Dec., 1865. He studied at the Royal Academy, London, and at Paris. In 1817 he visited Italy and Greece, and painted besides other pictures his Pilgrims arriving in Sight of Rome. In 1830 he was elected member of the Royal Academy, and in 1850 became its president, receiving at the same time the honour of knighthood. From 1843 to 1847 he was keeper of the National Gallery, of which he was afterwards director for
about ten years. Sir Charles is also known as a writer on art by his Materials for a History of Oil-painting. Among his most noteworthy pictures are: Lord Byron's Dream (in the Tate Gallery), Greek Fugitives, Escape of the Carrara Family, Christ blessing Little Children, Christ lamenting over Jerusalem.
East London, a seaport on the east coast of Cape Province, at the mouth of the Buffalo River, now an important outlet for the produce of this region, connected by railway with Cape Town. Pop. 20,867.