and unfamiliar lands. The stream of wealth which flowed into Spain and Portugal from their distant possessions also acted as a powerful stimulus to the policy of adventure. But undoubtedly it was Drake's circumnavigation of the world in 1577 which gave the first direct impulse to the national desire for a "place in the sun," to use a modern phrase. That wonderful achievement, by its incomparable audacity as an essay in seamanship, not less than by its brilliant success as an exercise in the everpopular process of "singeing the Spaniard's beard," had thrilled the imagination of the people to an extraordinary degree. It was the electric spark which set aflame the smouldering ambitions of the nation and brought to life schemes of commercial aggrandisement which had hitherto been mere vague aspirations. It was realized that where Drake and his little handful of men had gone, and where Cavendish had followed, others equally brave and resolute could go. The Eastern seas were wide, the markets there open to all who were adventurous enough to resort to them; the native populations were not unkindly disposed. Nothing, in fact, but the barrier of an insolent claim to monopoly was interposed to the creation of wide and lucrative new openings for trade. The barrier, it is true, was a substantial one—nothing less than the armed might of the two greatest naval powers then existing; but the nation was in the mood to take whatever risks there might be in challenging this powerful combination.
Accurately interpreting the national will Elizabeth issued her defiant replies to the Spanish protests. In burning words she declined to accept the limitations by which his most Catholic Majesty sought to keep English ships from trespassing upon his Eastern preserves. Her
