Page:Early English adventurers in the East (1917).djvu/41

 and this stuffy little alley will always be a hallowed spot to all Britons who find inspiration in the memories of the past. The beginnings of this enterprise had a strangely modern character. Just as to-day when some great national effort is to be made the initial step is a meeting of personages of influence presided over by the Lord Mayor, so on a late September day in 1599 a gathering of leading merchants and men of light and leading in Court circles assembled in Founder's Hall, with the chief magistrate of the year—Sir Stephen Soame—in the chair, to give public sanction to the project for establishing trade relations with the East. Zeal for the undertaking must have run high, for the subscription list which emanated from the meeting reached a total of £30,000—a very large sum for those none too affluent times. Subsequently the amount was raised to £72,000.

With this solid backing the adventurers approached Elizabeth with a formal application for a charter of incorporation. George, Earl of Cumberland, headed the signatories to the petition, who were 215 in number and included, in addition to many influential merchants, a substantial body of noblemen and personages of distinction in the public life of the country. The Queen, whose spirit of adventure was still active in spite of advancing years and infirmities, had no difficulty in acceding to a request so thoroughly in harmony with the traditions of her reign. On January 24, 1600, letters patent were issued to "the Governor and Company of the Merchants of London trading to the East Indies" authorizing them to carry on their operations, and approving their choice of James Lancaster to act as their "Governor and General" in the