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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. ty errata Bd to int ne pelure, i9on d 32X i ^^iPfpgti'IMM Ml "W" ■- - ^,Tfwwfli-«Ry?i!*^;-ia(i|^w; . e ^* I If H ^m* mm John and Sebastian Cabot, A FOUR HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL OF THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. Harry Hakes, M. D. MEMBER OF THE WYOMING HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, &C., 4C. Read before the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, June 24th, 1897. Prepared at the request of and pubiisi cd by the Society. WILKES-BARRfe, PENN'A. 1897. ■•% ^r. :i!-Mi^^-. ■"■WBUfc ■« ,-a^i\^fi oilMf,.. ^tetMPMaaMWVMMHMM John and Sebastian Cabot, a four hun[)rei)th anniversary memorial of the discovery of america. Hakky Hakhs, M. D. SIKMIII'.U 111' IHK WVOMIM. M IS I 1 IK ll'AI. VSI) l.KDI.I M ,ir.\(. SOLI I-. 1 S , nil'. lllsroKHAI, Slie'lKlV Ol- I'KNSSM.VKNIA, ,tC., .tC. Run 111 iiiui Mil Wvo.Misi. llisnuuiM. ami (Iiih.oi.uai. Sociktv. ■ ) k' i -.-Id. J I M-, J^lll. 1S97. Prepared at the request ot and published b\- the Society, 1/ wii.kks-iiakkk, rr.NN a. i;i(>7. 19^^ K. I!. VOKUV, rUlMl.K, WI1.KBS-BARKK. •f'-. ty "liiiii . I --^-»^ ■ ^fw,'^,::,W"- JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT. KKAi" liiiMKK iin; wvoMiMi in>ri>Ric Ai, ,\ND (;k()i,i>i;icai. socikiv, IIV IIAKKV HAKI'.S, M. n., Ii'Ni: 24, 1S97. >^A. Mr. Pfisidcuf, LadiL's and Geiit/cmen : Patriotism is a seiitiinent, a clis|)(isiti(>n of the licart, and fiiids many and widel)- diffurciit modes of exemplification and expression, as slioutin;^, rini^in;^ bells, fwhv^ car.non, processions, fastin;;- and prayer, music, raisiiiLj monuments, and ercctin;^ arches, &c. The celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the ileclaration • '" American independence, and the world's fair at Chicaojo, commemorative of tlie four hundredth anniversarj- of the discovery of America b\- Columbus, as well as the recent dedication of the tomb of General Grant, and the erecti(Mi of a beautiful equestrian statue of Geort^e Wash- in;4ton, were acts indicative of a noble patriotism. Not- withstanding the history of the world shows a ^reat pre- ponderance of military hcro-worshi[), rather than tributes to the ^rand heroes and leaders in the domain of ideas, yet there is much to encourage the thousrht that the ;;rade of learnin;::, of civilisation, of philosophy and religious ethics now foreshadowed, to distinguished the past from the future, will more and more predominate, to determine that the world's greater heroes arc those whose labors culminate in producing the greatest degree of universal peace and happi- ness without bloodshed and terror. In this brief paper it is as impossible as unnecessary, and out of place, to attempt to produce a polished literary gem. History, however, is more than a mere chronological state- meat of facts. In its broader conception it must embrace ^immM^im the philosopln- or ideas which constitute the ^rouiul work upon whicli all facts arc based. In otlier words, theory must precede action. John Cabot, ceti.ainly, and Sebastian Cabot, pussibl)-, were the first Kuropeans to discover the American continent and make record and carto;4ra|)liica! reproenlation of the same, preserving to all posterity the time, pi. ice and circumstance of their discov.-r\-. To tlie present time the American peo- ple have neglected to place oi".- stone ..i)oi\ another desii^ncd to memorialize those men, or to express ;^ratitiide for tlie geographical discovery, which either made our grer.t nation a possibility, or an accomplished fact. While we claim for the Cabots the distinguished lionor of the first view of the American continent, technically, and in fact, we do not pre- sume to nanic them as the discoverers of America, in the largest and more just st.-iise of the phr.ise. That ilistin- guished honor the world has Ujng since accorded to Chris- topher Cobunbus, and their righteous judgment should never again be disi)uted. 1 he discovery and exploration of America camiot be uiulerstcotl by > of Asia. At the time the Ca- bots made iheir first vo)'age of discovery all the knowledge that Euroi)e possessed pertinent to the great problem, was,that Columbus had come upon islands in the Atlantic which he and all others supposed was the continent of Asia, or immedi- ] ate oiitli'iiv^r islaiuls. That disi^dvciy was ni.ulf on the elev- enth clay ofOctober, A.D. 1492. Wlieii Coliinihus letiinied to Spain, in the Spring of 1493, and rc()orttd his discovery, I'opc: y\lexander \'l promptly proceeded to make partition be- tween Spain and I'ortuj^al.oi'allthe re;^M()ns oftlie eartii lying between Western lui-opc and l^astern Asia This decree (technically called a "bnll") jrave all lands discovered, or to be discovered, to the west of a meridian one hundred leagues west of the A/ores and Cape Verde islands to Spain, and all lands eastwa/d of that line to Portug.d. The con- vention of Tordesil.as. June 7, 1494. fixed the line of de- marcation at a meridian 570 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. This was very acceptable to Spain and Portugal, but England recognized no such right or authority w the Papal office. In the meantime the discover)- of Columbus was bruited among the PJiglish people, and at the English court. Both court and people were pricked with enterprise to compete witli Spain for a share of what was to be gained by discoveries at the west. This fact is the proper introduc- tion of the Cabots to our consideration. We need con- stantly to keep before our minds the total ignorance of all parties at that time of the real nature of the discovery of Columbus. Columbus supposed he had reached I'Lastern Asia, and no one then could dispute his claim. No correct conception was i)ossible untii twenty years had passed, and Halboa had, from the height of Darien. discovered ten thou- .sand miles of ocean breadth between the newly discovered lands and Ea.stern Asia. J"hn Cabot, like Columbus, was a native of Genoa. Me late' removed to Venice, and became a citizen of that place. He migrated to England about the year 1490, with his three sons, the second of them being Sebastian, who wa.s 24 or 25 years of age in 1497. The ser\ ices of father and son are so commingled and confused by the chroniclers of their day that it is an impossible task on our part to justly (h'stinguish and iLiJi.y.].ij.j>. 1 * divide the lionors between them. I can find nothing u\nvc suitable with whicli to prehido tlie navit^ation of the Cabots, and tile inspirini^ motives, than tlie statement in after years made to tlie I'ope's ICnvoy in Spain I;y Sei),istian Cabot. Mc says: "When news tliat Don Cliristopher Coloniis (Genoese) had discovered the coasts of India, wliereof was great talk in all the court of King Henry VII, who then reigned, insomuch that .dl men, with great admiration, affirmed it to be a thing more divine than human, to sail by the west into the east, where spices grow, by a map that was never known before. By this fame and report there increased in my heart a great flame of desire to attempt some notable thing." Whether liis father was moved to the same extent anil by the same desire as his son we are not informed. It is known that Sebastian Cabot was well versed in cos- mography, ami on his removal to S[)ain, some time after making his voyages for England, was commissioned pilot- major for Si)ain, an office he held for several years. The Cabots appear to have fully a[)preciated the bearing upon great circle sailing, caused by the shortening of the degrees of longitude ;is we move further north or south from the e([uator. Hearing in mint! that Columbus had sailed nearly i\uc west on the latitude of the Canary islands, discovering land after sailing 53 days and 3200 miles, the Cabots rightly reasoned, that by sailing from Bristol in England, on latitude 53 degrees north, Lhey would come to the coast of Asia, the land tiiat Columl)us was supposed to have discovered, in about two-thirc's of the time, aiul two-thirds of the distance, that characterized the voyage of Columbus. When this plau.siblc theory was by them ex{)lained to King Henry, he quite readily granted a patent to John Cabot and his sons, upon ap[)arcnt liberal terms and conditions, to undertake a westerly voyage of discovery. They were to sail from, and return to, the port of Bristol ; must sail under the flag of Englantl, and take possession of all lands discovered for the 1 ^"nk ii i i i iKwJt' JKf lt lU British crcun, aiul n-tiirn onofifth of tlu' pnifits of the expe- dition to the kin^^ 1^'"^ He'iiiy w.is more discreet than the Sjjanish kini;, for he diil nnt bestow upon Cabots tin- title of viceroy over the lands tliey nii^lit discover, as Ferilinand had to Colinnbus. Tlie kiwj; tluis wisely avoiiletl any U'i^mI contest witli the Cnbots or tlieir heirs as to ^^^reat and im- portant rii^dits and prero<^atives. Our subject is pon(ler(»us, in tliat it relates to fjreat men anil {greater events, therefore 1 must deal somewhat by wholesale, for our men are ^'iants in the world's history, and cannot be estimated by or compared with common stand- ards, nor can I now attempt measurements of the earth by inches. Let us for two minutes, in imaLjination, [;o back to our little old red school-house by the country roadside, and refresh our reco. lections in geography. I'lease take seats, facing the north, rit,dit hand east, left hand west, at our backs south, the Eastern hemisphere is at the rii,dit, and the Western at the left. Open your m.ips at the familiar nid representation of the hemispheres of the earth on plane. Now we take a small brush and dip it in the blackest of black ink, indicative of total it,Miorance, and proceed to ob- scure those parts of the earth's surface of which luiropeans had no knowledije, and only t|uite incorrect conception, on the mornintj of the 3d day ol August, A. D. 1492. On that day Columbus sailed on his first and most important voyage to the west. We place our brush a little to the south and west of the southerly extension of Greenland, on the Goth parallel of north latitude, and draw a line east, on that parallel, to the meridian of 25 dctjrees west lon^ntude, and follow that me- ridian to the ecjuator, and blacken the whole of the Western hemisphere west and south of our lines. Now draw a line from the right hand or eastern border of the Eastern hemi- sphere, at latitude 40 degrees north, and draw a straight line to the eipiator to the meridian of longitude 1 10 degrees wmmmi^m m&m cast, and follow the aiuator to the west border of the hem- isphere. Hl.ickcii all south and last of our lines to the niar^jin of tiie hemisphere. Voii now observe that tlie whole of the land of the American continent has dis.ippeared, to- gether with the greater portion of the Atlantic ocean, and the whole of the Pacific ocean ; about one-half of Africa is in mourning, together with Australia, and tlie isl.inds to the east and north and to the south to the south pole. What remains unpainted upon the hemispheres is more of the earth's surface than with which I'airopeans were fairly ,ic- (luaintetl. In all the historical works of Mr. John Fiske, he has done no better service to the present or for future gen- erations than by his persistent insistance of the necessity of our first banishing from our niinds our modern maps, ;is preliminary to a just understanding of the difficulties that beset the early theorists and navigators. An examination of the charts and ma[)s made by them when they attempted to delineate their new di.'icoveries anil connect them to the Eastern and better known hemisphere, will show us at once the difficulties they encountered. At the date last above given, August 31I, i.j^j, there was a single grand geograph- ical problem demanding solution; and that was, " Could Europeans travel to Ivisiern Asia b)' an all water or sailing route ?" There was then two theories. The Portugese had an idea that it might be possible to sail around the south of Afri- ca, and reach the Indian ocean, which was known washed the western shores of India and China, Her daring navi- gators were at that very date, with doubt and trepidation, slowly ploughing the water of the Atlantic southward on the western coast, to ascertain the southern point of Africa, if there was any. At this period Columbus had determined to anticipate the project of Portugal, by a voyage directly westward over the unknown and untraveletl Atlantic, making a shorter journey than by the Portugese theory. S[)ain, at the moment, was witnessing his (k:parture in her \ interest. iCmoiK- u.is dii tlu; tiptoe of iwcitcmcnt .iiid liupr- ful expectation. Tlic objective point of eitlier naviv;atic)n was the same; the ostensil)le motives llur same — commerce, trade and h.irter ; hut, in f.ict, as was soon to he manifest, concpiest and phnuler. Down to the first of May, 1497, all that had heeii discovered for .Si)ain by Columbus was Cuba, San Domingo, Jamaica, and half a dozen sm.iUer islands in the immeiliate vicinity. Tluis the problem stood on that day. Listen ; ,1 low mutterin;^ llunider reverijcrates over luirope. It is the threatening ^m-owI of the Ikitish lion ;is he breaks from his l.iir. l[e sniffs the scent i.f lar^^^e ^ame, a continent of royal j^ame. His eyes are balls of fire, iiis claws .IS iron, his jaws set with teeth of steel as he crouches in pre()aration to seize his prey. 1 le brushes aside the Pope's bull. The hull took to the woods or sank beneath the At- lantic's waves as the lion, with a bound, sets his claws in the soil of the American continent, while John Cabot [)lants the royal standard of KiiLjland. June 24, 1497, recallin^^ to us the louLj drawn words of a youthful play, HOLD- FAST- A LL-I-GIVK- YOU. From that June niornintf 1497, I'"ni,danil could m.ike law- ful claim to the whole Aniericm continent, by rii,dit of first discovery. That is horn-book law, sound law, from the hcirinning to the end of the world. The right by first dis- covery e.Ktends to and embraces all land conncctetl by con- tinuity of visible and tan;4i!)le siu-face with the place of discovery. John and Sebastian sailed early in May 1497, in the ship Mathew, with a crew of eij,diteen men. They took a course a little north of west ami discovered land early in the morn- iu}^ of the 24th day of June following, after sailing by their recoiling, 2100 miles. They planted the flag of England upon the land, hut saw no native inhabitants. They dis- covered immense shoals of cod-fish on those coasts, so / MX* IMh 10 dense, that they impeded the sailinjf of tlieir ship. Hy the kilter part of July follovvin<.j the Cabots liad returned to Bristol and made report of their voyat^e. Tlie precise place of their ferra pri))ia visa (laiul first seen) lias nover since been determined, but it is certain that it was in the ret^ion of Newfoundland, most probably at Cape lireton. And it is quite certain that upon that voyaL,^' they did not visit the coast of Labrador as some writers have asserted. Such a claim .irises by commingling or reversing the places of land- ing of the two voyages nnide. King Henry was so well ])]eased with the reports of discovery that he gave John Cabot fifty dollars, wherewith he might take a spree, antl in silken dress show himself to Londoners as tlie great navi- gator who had found, for King Henry, a ."-horter route to Asia than CoKimbus had for Spain. A second and similar patent to the first was granted to the Cabots, and Sebastian Cabot set sail again to renew and extend the d' coveries of the former voyage. He sailed in 149S, this time with five ships. As we have never heard a word again of John Cabot, nor know what became of him, it has bejn surmised that he died before the expedition sailed, but we cannot assert it as a fact. Sebastian Cabot certainly sailed with the fleet, and for aught we know, John also sailed. It seems strange to us that if the son knew what became of his fither, he never alluded to it. Sebastian Cabot completed the second navigation, discovering land, first, on the coast of Labrador. After following the coasts northward to a high degree of latitude, and finding the weather very cold, and the coa.st still trending north, he turr^ed about, following the coast southwardly, we know not precisely iiow fir, but quite certainly not as far as Florida, as some have con':ended. On this voyage native inliabitants were seen on the coasts. Three were captured and taken to England. Bears and otiier animals were seen. Sebas- ' ^ . ' V » ,,r^. .WllPlMWIlMi'illllll^^^ II ti;in C;il)ot made nide cliart I'thc coasts, which in enL;ravc(l form aiul on parchment; aiui oxhide, may -'et be seen — par- ticularly La Cosa's map, I 500, and the Cautiiio map of l 502. Of course Sebastian returned to lMi.<;land without having found the land of jierfumes and spiciis which Spain, I'ort- Mtral and lui^land were so anxiously seekin;^, or a sailing; route through the American continent by which he mi^ht sail to lands further west, (or as we understand it now, to Asia.) l^ut Cabot at the time believed the land to be Asia, thouLjh not so rich a portion as he had expected and desired. The final outcome of the Cabot voyaijes, we state in a few words. The only immediate resuts were to incite other navi^iitors to ;^o to the same regions for cargoes of codfish, and to renew the search for an all water route somewhere through the lands discovered, to the richer land, supposed to lie to the west. Their navigations were folowed by Fro- bisluT, Kut, Grube, I ludson, Baffin, Drake and many others. In my "Discovery of America," published in 1893, in the early chapters will be fnund an ei)itome of early American navigators, and their relative claims to priority of discover)-, to which I make neither additions or subtractions. As be- tween John and .Sebastian Cabot ; we may say that John was master of the first expedition, and that Sebastian ma\' or may not have accompanied his father. It a[)i)ears more than probable that he did. Sebastian certainly saiieil and reported the second expedition, and that his father was not in that voyage, but probably had died Iiefore the expedition sailed. If not so, and he did embark, a serious duty de- volved upon his son, on the return of the expedition, to account for the loss of his father. As this was not done or required, the inference is irresistable that John was not in that expedition. Neitlier of the voyages appear to ha\-e profited either the Cabots or the king a dollar. Mainly what we learn of the Cabots' voyages is from friendly and gos- siping letters, written by foreigners in luigland, to friends and acquaintances in Italy, Spain and Pi>rtui;al. Those letters have no official authority, but contain ihe common talk' of tin; people in roLj.ird of the current news of the ex- pedition of the Cabots. l)urin^i,r the eighty years, succeeilin^ the discoveries of the Cabots, Eni;land nii^ht lawfuUv have claimed the lands and regions of this discovery, by ri^ht of discovery. England, however, neviT attemj)ted to tak-e permanent possession of !;cr American discoveries, until the reign of Queen I'^lizabeth, and in the meantime other nations had visited the lands, which tended to obscure and somewhat obliterate the luiglish title thereto. However, in 1607 she took p(Xssession on llie coast of Virginia, for the puri)ose of colonization, which was followed in 1630, by the pilgrims of the Mayflower, taking possession at Plymouth, on the coast of Massachusetts. England, then as ever since, never re- linquished voluntarily any right once acquired to an acre of land in an)- part of the world. Thus it was 110 years from the discovery of Cabots, to the first attempt made by I'jigland to make a permanent settlement of her American disccweries. Of course the pioneer settlers were English stock, and brought with them English language, English laws, luiglish customs, and above all, in power and precious utility, the spirit of [)olitical independence, and in a full meas- ure the spirit of religious liberty. The very soil of America seemed exactly and providentially adapted to the germi- nation and growth of the spiritual seed sown, so dear to our fiirefathers and so precious to us, their descendants. Had our region of North America been colonized by Portugal, Erance, Italy or Spain, the great nation of the United States of America would never have been born. In recollection of their mother country, there is but little wontler that t)ur early settlers named the new possession ".Vew England." Do you query what this country would have been or would be, under the aus[)ices of Portugal or Siiain ? If so, •^.V".~Iv-»i..-- - il. Those ; common of tllL' cx- liscovcrics aimed the discovery. [)crmHncnt ic reiLjn of itions had somewhat 1 1607 she [)uri)ose of liigrims of I the coast never re- to an acre I I o years t made by American e Knt^lish J, English d precious full meas- )f America he germi- Jear to our nts. Had ' Portugal, ited States L-coIlection ;r that t)ur ngland." e been or n ? If so. 13 look upon a hundred thousand emigrants as they arrive upon our shores, or look at Cuba, or tiic I'hiliiiinc islands, or the ilecadenc(,' of l'(jrtugal, where once originated the enterprises which culminated in the disco\er\- of America, and all our grandeur .is a nation. 1 fmcy I hear you ask: What motives impelled those earl)- navigators aiul exjilorers to make >uch sacrifice of time .uul money, to etnbark upon such uncertain expeditions upon unknown waters :;iid desert wastes; to iniperil their li\-es and fortunes upon such rash ventures; to undergo years of toil, such terrible anxiety and suffering ? With them, as witii men in all ages, G(jid antl Glory took front rank among the motives. Hut strange as it may now seem, it was not the eye or ear's delight onl)-. nor geographic curiosity, that was consulted. The sense of smell commanded a greater attention and was a greater factor in [)rompting the astound- ing enterprise. We are speaking of an age when sanitary science cut no figure in the affairs of life — an age before the ingenius Vankee had made and patented a thousand varieties of toilet s.iap— an age before a gospel of personal and general cleanliness was preached or practiced. Per- fumery, to take the place of soap and water, was in great dcTiiand. Rare, expensive, and loud perfumes, to antagonize and stifle the offcnsiveness of unwashed nature, commanded a premium, ami its extrav.igant use then mdicat'^tl wealth. and the up[)ercrust of fashionable society. In keeping with the ideas of the times, it was the sign and seal of aristocracy, as creditable then as discreditable and unnecessary ni)W, however rank the [)erfume. Spices and perfumes were not indigenous in lunope. Such merchandise came from the extreme and unknown Kast by caravan to Alexandria, in Egypt. The transportation, added to the cost of produc- tion, made such goods enormously expensive. Portugal first — followed by Spain, and lastly by England, all desired a monopoly of that trade. This it was that brought into JtVl».'t4ta.1M« Jfc T "»' II WK .~,'t II m '"■! ■ ■IfeMl -ai»> tlmS» mtm iAt^ V 1/ ) \i ,■ I "4 prominence tlie great navii^ators already mentioned, includ- ing^ the men whose names and exploits we are assembled to honor and commemorate. The people of the United States have j^rown to be a na- tion of the first rank in power, in wealth, in enlightened intelligence, and in prosperity. Our form of government, founded upon the eternal principles of liberty, governed by law, the e(iuality of men and liberty of religious conscience, that we have amply demonstrated the powers of self-govern- ment by the people, without the bunleii of standing armies to keep the peace. We think our forefathers did wisely in divorcing the chm-cii from the state, ;ind that time has now shown the world that peo])le of all manner of religious opin- ions may dwell tog^'ther in i)eace and harmony, and that our system an 1 means of education make strong and secure the family, the church, and the state. In receiving the price- less inheritance, our people mu^t re.ilix.e the solemn and binding obligation which binds us to keep and preserve all our dear institutions, pure and intact, embellished in all their parts and principles, for all succeeding geuirations. And now. imbued with the patriotism that is proper and becoming the occasion, we, without ostentation or pageant, without trumpet, drum or fiddle, in the absence of monu- ment of either stone or brass, devote a passing hour in re- membrance of the men whose names suggest this pleasant duty, and the four hundredth anniversary of their discovery of the land we possess in great peace and abundant pros- perity. t :' \, MHMiHM Li, includ- Miiblcd to ) be a na- lightcned /crnmciit, ,'eiiicd b)- )nsciencc, lf-<];()vcrn- \\<^ armies wisely in ; has now ious opin- and tliat lid secure the i)rice- lemn and •eser\e all in all their iroijer and r pacjeant, of moiui- our in re- is pleasant discovery .iant pros- '