IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) & J y^ t/.x f/- 1.0 ^i^ I.I 2.5 2.2 IL25 HH 1.4 in 1.6 Photographic _Sciences Corporalion .4 v ■'Q V <> ^ i» 5^" i. ■^" >J^ 23 west MAIN STRFCT WiBSTER.N.Y. MS80 (716) 873-4503 d w CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreprcduction^t / Inetitut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1981 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has atifempted to obtain the best original copy available for filnning. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D n n D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couieur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endummagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculAe I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque □ Coloured maps/ Cartes giogrephiques en couieur n ^ D Coloured init (i.e. othes- than biuo or black)/ Encre de couieur (i.e. autre que bieue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couieur Bound with other material/ Reli4 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La roliure serrde peut causer de I'omb.'e ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une rasteuration apparaissent dans le texte. mais, iorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pa^e.^ n'ont pas M6 filmies. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires.- L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemp^aire qu'il lui a «tA possible de se procurer. Les d6tails de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de filmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couieur n n D Pages damaged/ Pages endommagAes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurAes bx/oi* pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dAcolorAes, tachetAes ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6e8 Showthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of prinf varies/ Quality in^gale de I'lmpression Includes supplementary material/ Comprand du materiel ^uppl^mentaire Only edition available/ Seuie 6clition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to ensure the best possible imege/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont At* filmAes A nouveau de fa9on h obtenir la meilleure image possible. Th to P« of fil Oi be th si) ot fir sl< or Th sh Tl wl M dil eo bfl ri{ rei m( This item is filmed at the redirction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au tnux de reduction indiqu* cf-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 28X aox 7 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in iteeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover wh»n appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shaU contain the symbol -^(meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction latios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: 1 2 3 L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grAce d la gAn6rosit6 de: La biblioth^que des Archives publiques du Canada Les images suivantes ont 4t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, comptc> tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim6e sont film^s en commenqant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmis en commenpant pai la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dos symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — c^ signifie "A SUIVRE", lo symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichi, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammos suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 .*r' i*# CABOT'S DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA. THE DATES CONNECTED WITH THE VOYAGE OP THE MATTHEW OF BRISTOL. ! MR. G. E. WEARE'S FURTHER REPLY TO MR. HENRY HARRISSE, Jfejfrinted from Notes and Queries, September 4, 1897. LONDON : PIUVATELY PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1897. /^ 7 7 • I JOHN CABOT AND THE MATTHEW. (8«» S. xi. 601 J xii. 49, 129.) In order to prevent any misanderstanding as to what I baye stated with reference to the publica- tion by me in * Cabot's Discovery of North America/ p. 116, of the extract from the Fust MS. chronicle, I will withdraw the words "com- plete text " (a description originally given by Mb. Habrisse and which I adopted for the sake of oonvenience), and I now say that the extract and the names of the mayors, sheriffs, and bailiffs, as they appear in tho MS. volume of excerpta, were published by me ipsissimis verbU for the first time in June last. I was well acquainted with the extract given in the * Encydop. Britan.,' iv. 360, which differs from the original; e.g., "Bristol" should read "Bristowe,'' '* Matthew'' should read "Mathew," "2d" should read " second »; and the word "of" between the words "6th" and "August," and the word "next" between the words "August" and "following" are omitted. The figures " 1497 " have been interpolated. The entry does not refer, in the truest sense, to the year 1497. In the original the exeerptum is in- cluded, as I have already stated, within the Bristol civic year (t. e., 1496-7), which commenced on 2 29 Sept., 1496, and ended on 28 Sept., 1497. So much for the quibble as to the words *' complete text." Mr. Harrissb has published the extract from the ' Eooyclo'p. Britan/ elsewhere, together with a statement that ** Bristolian MSS. are not always to be trusted." J have ascertained that Mr. Harbisse, prior to the publication by him of the extract, never made any attempt to examine the MS. from which it was taken, although the same might have been seen and examined in Bristol. In the circumstances, is it right to condemn a document on the ground that it was forged by Ohatterton without making any attempt to obtain evidence to prove the charge f In * Cabot's Dis- covery of North America,' pp. 116-22, I have given the ercerptum together with a history of the MS. chronicle without comment, and I fail to see what other course was open to me. The extracts from the Bowleian letters which Mr. Harkisse, who does not give his authority, probably found in * The Works of Thomas Ohatterton,' by G. Gregory, D.D., have no bearing on the suggestion that Ohatterton forged a MS. chronicle which was written in a clear, unmistakable, sixteenth cen- tury style of handwriting. Many of Ohatterton's forgeries are written in a style which may be described as all their own — a kind of spurious handwriting, consisting of mixed ancient alphabets, including some letters which bear no resemblance to any ancient alphabet in particular, palpable forgeries, which, owing to their quaint, antiquated appearance, were calculated to deceive ordinary persons, but which no person versed in palaeography could possibly mistake for the style of sixteenth cen- tury penmanship. I venture to add, for the espe- cial benefit of Mr. Harrissb, that, so far as he is personally oonoerned, any eodeavoar to enlighten me as to the Ghatterton or Bowleian MSS. would be just as profitable a labour as if, e.g,^ he had been engaged in '* sending ooals to Newcastle." Not only have I a very large oolleotion of books, tracts, &c., relating to matters which come under the desoiiription " Ohattertoniana," but, from time to time, I have had the benefit of the advice and assistance — which I have much appreciated — of men who have spent many years of their lives in a study of the productions of Ghatterton 's pen. I have neyer met with any document in Ghatteiton's handwriting which bears any resemblance to the ordinary and well-known style of writing of the latter part of the sixteenth century. The fact that ^he event recorded in the Fust MS. chronicle includes a reference to the word "America " clearly points out the probability — the name ''America" having become known, and Bristol being among the ports of England to which the information as to the name would probably have been conveyed at an^ early period — that the writer of the chronicle edited the items found by him in the writing of an earlier chronicler ; a careful study of other MS. ohronicles, including Ricart's calendar, in which the writers have csed previously written annals or notes of events, induces me to favour this view. Mr. Harrissb says: "To my mind the entry about Gabot's voyage is so framed and worded as to convey the belief that it was originally penned in 1497." Had Mb. Harrisse made the slightest attempt to inquire as to the usual, almost stereo- typed form adopted by annalists or chroniclers of events relating to the city and county of Bristol —and we must not forget that prior to the puh- lioation of Barrett's 'History of Bristol' (1789) the various events were found in MS. annals or chronicles only — he would have paused before futting in print such a misleading statement, f necessaryi I could give quotations from a number of chronicles, together with the present location of each chronicle, in which the entries of events — extending over several centuries — com- mence in similar form to those which appear in the excerpta from the Fust MS. chronicle. Bnt I will confine myself to a Bristol chronicle (generally called Bicart's Calendar) which has been printed by the Oamden Society. The title is " The Maire of Bristol is [nc] Ealendar, by Robert Bicart, Town Olerk of Bristol, 18 Edward IV. Edited by Lucy Toulmin Smith." The first entry of certain his- torical events commences with ''This yere," and refers to an event under date " m^lxxxyiijo. W. mf. scdo." The subsequent entries almost invari- ably commence with "This yere/ or " And this yere," or "In this yere," or "This Maior," or « This yeare," or " In this yeere/' many of which entries relate to events which happened long before Eicart's time. And I should not, I think, omit to state that a considerable number of the entries are recorded between the names of the " Maiores," " Vicecomes," '' Ballivi," in the same way as the entries are recorded in the MS. Fust chronicle, the titles of the corporation officials appearing in the last-named chronicle in English instead of in Latin. Here, again, we are afforded an insight into the value of the "impressions" of a man'a mind when we are dealing with a matter of great historical interest. Mr. Harrisss baa quoted from some Dotes made by tbe late Mr. Qeorge Pryoe, a former Bristol librarian, whom, with a view to enhance the yaloe of a statement which I shall presently deal with, he has twice dabbed "the learned." " Drowning men catch at straws,'' and Mr. Har- risss, when brought to bay and asked to give proof in support of his allegation that the Fust MS. chronicle was forged by Ohatterton, does not hesitate to avail himself of the blandishments of a special pleader. Inasmuch as no person who well knew the highly respected and worthy librarian, who was unable to read a considerable portion of the books placed in his charge— the whole library, in Mr. Pryce's time, consisted of a comparatively small number of MS. and printed works, including very tmny Latin worka— would feel justified in bestowing each a desoriptioc upon him, I am bound to presume that this is an impretsion (we know that some of our good friends are very im- pressionable, but why do they rush headlong into print?) which rests on no foundation whatever. Mr. Harrisss has been misled by a statement — which is merely an impresnon I — of ** the learned " Mr. Pryce, in which Ohatterton's name has been erroneously associated with certain MSS. (*N. & Q.,' 2^ S. V. 154). The discussion originated through the discovery by Mr. Lucas of what was supposed to he *'aa unpublished MS. of the late Rev. S. Seyer," relating to the birthplace of Sebastian, the son of John Oabot. It really consisted of an extract from Richard Eden's work * The Decades of the Newe Worlde,' &o., published in 1555. As many of your readers are well aware, against a statement made by Ramusio, historian and secretary to the Oounoil of Ten of Venice, as to Sebastian Oabot'a birthplace, Eden has pnt & marginal note to the effeot that Sebastian Cabot told him (Eden) that he (Oabot) was '* borne in Brystowe." (I am not making this quotation for the pnrpose of a dis- cussion as to where Sebastian Oabot was born ; for the present, at any rate, the discuBsion must be oonfiued to Mr. HARRisss^b point that the MS. chronicle is a Ohatterton forgery.) Mr. Lucas, having mad.* what he honestly believed to be an impoitant discovery, sought for information. "Tho learned " Mr. Pryce thereupon suggested that Mr. Seyer's papers included some information derived from writings which he regarded as "exceedingly mischievous, so far at least as they refer to Bristol, and deserving to be classed with the forgeries of Ohatterton, who, in fact, I have no doubt, was the author of many of them.'' This attack on Mr. Seyer^s ability to distinguish between the true and the false in historical researches is scarcely worthy of attention, but it may serve to point out the necessity of caution to those who, without any researches, postulate theories or *' impressions ** on the slightest provocation. Mr. Pryce, in ignorance alike of the fact that Seyer had copied from Eden's work, and that between 1831 and the date of h!s (Mr. Pryoe's) statement the excerptum from Eden had appeared in at least six different publications., actually had the hardihood to suggest that it was a Ohatterton forgery. Thus was foisted upon Ohatter- ton a reputed forgery consisting of MS. notes which Seyer had taken from a work printed nearly two centuries before the unfortunate boy's birth I The way in which Mr. Pryoe's statement has been brought into the discussion smacks of the method punned by a oertain Mr. Weller, who, in a memo- rable trial, began to tell the jary what "the soldier eaid/' Unlets Mr. Harbissb is in a position to Srove that Pryoe was ever afforded a view oi the IS. Fast ohronicle, we are justified in applying to Pryoe's statement the words of the impartial iudge who dealt with Mr. Weller's statement, "It'^s not evidence,'' either for or against the authenticity of the chronicle. Having exhaustively dealt with the Pryoe-Ohatterton episode, I will proceed to demolish the argument as to the entry in the (London) MS. chronicle, which Mr. Harrissb quotes from Hakluyt, by remarking that it refers exclusively to the second voyage of Jokin Oabot in 1498, and in no way applies to the voyage of the Matthew in 1497 :— " In the 18 yere of King Henrie the VII., 1498. This yere the king caused to man and ▼ictuall a ahippe at Brl-towe to learch for an Ilande Which ship, thus manned and victualled at the king's cost, divers merchants of London ventured in her email 8toj.*e8, being in her, as chief patrone, the said Venetian. And in the companie of the said shippe sailed also out of Bristowe, three or foure small ships, fraught with sleight and grosae merohandices, as course cloth, caps, laces, points, and other trifles, and so departed from Bristom in the heain. mng of May; of whom in this Maior's [William Purchas Maior of London] time returned no tidings." ' As an example, whether of the sophistry of the special pleaderj or of the way in which a certain class of historians, who sometimes pose as the only persons who know anything about the Boientifico-historical method of dealing with docu- mentary evidence in historical matters, occasionally endeavour to obfuscate the facts, this reference to the (London) MS. chronicle will be hard to beat. In the circumatanceB, I venture to aflSrm that, bo 8 far, the MS. Fust ohroniole has not been proTed to be a Ohatterton forgery. We may well pause here for the purpose of making a note of admiration of those transcendental qualities, probably attributed to oelesdal interposition, which some at least of the modern *' Inspired " historians quite conscien- tiously believe themselves exclusively endowed with. But the ^* common or garden sort" of historian must, I fear, be a little bit puzzled at times by the fallacious mode of argument resorted to by these peculiarly gifted writers ; in all pio- bability these ** Sir Oracles ** fancy themselves in possession of so much bright and dazzling glory as to justify them in their belief that all lesser his- torical luminations should be snuffed out when thoy — the infallible ones in historical researches — condescend to describCj in eloquent and touching terms and with characteristic modesty, the sub- limity of their own qualitcations as historians G. E. Wearb. Weston^super'Mare. ■