English Colonization And Empire

lack of mariners to man their little ships. There can be no doubt that in many minds the aim was for Gold: but somehow the gold-yearning of an early period hardly carries with it the sordid associations of later times. When a man takes his life in his hand, and sallies forth with all his wits on the qui vive, and all his courage required, even the pursuit of gold has some nobility about it; and when his life is risked not only in stormy wind and tempest, but also in conflicts with savages in unknown lands, and in still greater jeopardies from jealous and angry rivals, we feel that we must allow him some claim upon our capacity for admiration. In England, too, we find that gold had far less share inthe attraction than it had in Spain. We can best describe our aim as Trade: the acquisition of bounties of Nature not bestowed on our own land, in exchange for products of our own industrious people. In looking at the great expansion of trade in the new era we must note tha... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.