ship; and a charter of incorporation granted to the East India Company, which opened the first chapter of the history of the British Empire in India.
One of the results of Elizabethan exploration and discovery was the extension of British commerce in all directions, to the remotest parts of the earth. Almost every important voyage of discovery led to the establishment of a lucrative trade, and was,therefore, of lasting benefit to mankind. Another result was, in the highest degree, to stimulate an enthusiastic feeling of patriotism which no difficulties or hardships could daunt and no disaster could quench. But the greatest result of all was the creation of an admirable training-ground for the Royal Navy; so that. when the day of imminent peril came, the great queen's explorers and discoverers saved her throne and her country.
