"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-lived.