he days of Drake. But the old desire for trade remained as strong as
ever. It would be a great boon to have English markets in the New World,
as well as in the Old, to which merchants might send their wares, and
from which might be drawn in bulk, the raw stuffs that were needed
at home. The idea of a surplus population persisted; England of five
million souls still thought that she was crowded and that it would
be well to have a land of younger sons, a land of promise for all not
abundantly provided for at home. It were surely well, for mere pride's
sake, to have due lot and part in the great New World! And wealth like
that which Spain had found was a dazzle and a lure. "Why, man, all their
dripping-pans are pure gold, and all the chains with which they chain up
their streets are massy gold; all the prisoners they take are fettered
in gold; and for rubies and diamonds they go forth on holidays and
gather 'em by the seashore!" So the comedy of "Eastward Ho!" seen on the
London stage in 1605--"Eastward Ho!" because yet they thought of America
as on the road around to China.

In this year Captain George Weymouth sailed across the sea and spent
a summer month in North Virginia--later, New England. Weymouth had
powerful backers, and with him sailed old adventurers who had been
with Raleigh. Coming home to England with five Indians in his company,
Weymouth and his voyage gave to public interest the needed fillip
towards action. Here was the peace with Spain, and here was the new
interest in Virginia. "Go to!" said Mother England. "It is time to place
our children in the world!"

The old adventurers of the day of Sir Humphrey Gilbert had acted as
individuals. Soon was to come in the idea of cooperative action--the
idea of the joint-stock company, acting under the open permission of the
Crown, attended by the interest and favor of numbers of the people, and
giving to private initiative and personal ambition, a public tone.
Some men of foresight would have had Crown and Country themselves the
adventurers, superseding any smaller bodies. But for the moment the
fortunes of Virginia were furthered by a group within the great group,
by a joint-stock company, a corporation.

In 1600 had come into being the East India Company, prototype of many
companies to follow. Now, six years later, there arose under one royal
charter two companies, generally known as the London and the Plymouth.
The first colony planted by the latter was short-