ENGLISH FACTORY AT BATAVIA ABOLISHED 153

Their position was indeed an impossible one, and the Company at home, sick of King Charles's fair words, realized this fact. In November, 1626, it pro- posed to abolish its factory at Batavia and to establish one under the protection of the King of Bantam. In JAVANESE PRINCES. January, 1628, these orders reached Batavia, and the English, putting the relics of their property on board ship, sailed to Bantam, where they were welcomed by the native prince. The sad fortunes of our Bantam factory, its repeated reduction by the London Company to a subordinate post, its blockades by the Dutch, and the gradual but sure withdrawal of its trade to our