The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-12-04

his lips. And what was the price he
claimed for his servicesP He asked for
ne private etilolumeht; he sought no
selfish advancement; he simply solicited
that his countrymen, the trades of the
East India Company, might have liberty
to trade free of all duties in Bengal and
establish factories in that pr0vincei
What the Padshah Begun thought Of
all this unromantic request, or whether
she had ever dreamed of any such ro-
mantle termination to the episode, as
the Grand Vizier had vaguely limited at,
history does not say. But Shah Jehan
himself was profoundly impressed with
the magnanimity and unselishness of
the English surgeon, and gave his solemn
word that the most ample privileges and
opportunities for trading should be
granted to the English merchants.
Bronghton had thought the matter
out patiently and carefully, and had de-
cided that the position of favOrite and
son-in-law of the Great Mogul, though
dazzling, was precarious that he should
simply surround himself with unscrupu-
lOus enemies, who would, sooner or
later, effect his murder or his disgrace; {;
and that even those who were his
friends at first would come to regard
him as an upstart and an alien, usurp-
ing the riches and power that should be-
long to one of themselves. 1t would be
wiser to use his great influence over the
MOgul to promote the interests of the
Company, whose servant he was, and
look to the Company for a reward,
which, though less splendid and roman
tic, would be safer and more enduring
So he dismissed the fanciful dreams
L i L.
and chose the humber and more pru-
dent course.
But Shah Jehan would not hear of
Gabriel BroughtOn's going empty-hand-
ed away. He invited him to take up
his abode at the palace as chief court
physician; and this invitation Gabriel
thought it advisable to accept, because
his presence at the Imperial Court
would give him excellent opportunities
for pushing the interests of the Com
pany, besides enabling him to lay the
foundation of q private fortune. Sever
al other successful cures following close
upon that of the Padshah Begun estab-
lished Gabriel BrOughtOn's reputation
and spread his fame far and wide. His
popularity was extraordinary, mainly,
perhaps, because, as he never meddled
with political matters, foreign or do
mestic, no one was jealous of him. How
long he remained at the court of Shah
Jehan is uncertain; but he at any rate
did not leave until he had seen the Mo
gul's promises most amply fulfilled, and
the Company reaping the fruits of these
liberal concessions. The richest prov
ince of India was thrown open to the
English traders, free of all duties and
payments whatsoever, and from the
granting of that extraordinary privilege
the East India Company dated its first
great stride toward the wealth and pow
er which eventually made it the arbiter
of the destinies of India. Historians are
often apt to overlook the small causes
from which great events spring. And
most of the historians of India have
wholly ignored the claim of Gabriel
Boughton to be considered one of the
true founders of the British Empire in
India. A less pubic-spirited or far
| sighted man would have used his inn
mense influence over Shah Jehan for
his own selfish aggrandizement. tits tC
! the undying honor of Gabriel Boughton
! that he did otherwise, and thereby raised
the East India Company from a strug-
Cling body of coast traders into the
richest corporation of merchants in the
world. 1t is this fact, we feel, that rem
ders worthy of more detailed narrative
than we have ever yet seen allotted to i
in any single history, the romantic epi
sOde of the surgeon and the MOgul'i
! dauDhter Cbn7IlbeTS'S Journal