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KDWARI) (J. roRTEIi [Prkbkntki) at the Octohku Mki-.ting of the Massachi'SETts m i stoh i (■ a i, s()(^ i kt v 1 / CAMBRinCE JOHN W I I- SON AND SON Knibrrsitu ytrss 1897 THE CABOT CELEBRATION AT HALIFAX. ■jt\ At a meeting of the Massachusetts Histohical Society, held in Boston, on Thursday, October 14, 1897, the following paper by the Rev. Edward G. Porter was presented : — At the request of the President, I had the honor to represent the Society as its delegate at the meeting of the Royal Society of Canada, last June. Tiiis meeting was made especially memorable by the observance of two important anniversaries ; namely, the fourth cetitenary of Cabot's landfall, and the Diamond Jubilee of her Majesty Queen Victoria. Tiie Royal Society ordinarily holds its meetings at Ottawa ; but this year Halifax was selected on account of its advanta- geous position upon the seaboard much nearer the scene to be commemorated. The Society had also planned to erect a memorial of Cabot's great achievement ; and as no one spot could be agreed upon as the " land first seen," the committee wisely decided to phice a bronze tablet in the Province IIou.se at Halifax. All the arrangements for the meeting were carried out on a generous scale. The Society invited as its guests delegates from the city of Bristol, the city of Venice, tlie Royal Geo- graphical Society of London, and from several Universities and Historical Societies in Canada and the United States. The government of Nova Scotia and a committee of the citizens of Halifax joined the committee of the Royal Society in extending the courtesies of the occasion. The meeting.s con- tinued from the 21st to the 25th of June, and were generally held ill the Logishitive Council Cliiiml)er of the Provincial IJuildinfj, — ix fnu! stone structure of modest proportions, en- closed in shaded ^Mounds, reniindin<,' one of the older puhlic l)uildinj];s of the mother country, and (|uite as dingy and ven- erable in aj)itearan(;e. T\\v. 22d was given up to the Queen's Jul)il(!e, and tlie 24th to the dedication of the Cabot tablet. Among the papers read befoie the Historical section were three which attracted special attention, as they related to the great discovery. The iirst was by the Hon. John lioyd Thacher, mayor of Albany and author of the recent sumptu- ous volume entitled " 'i'he Continent of America : Its Discovery and liaptism." Mr. Thacher carefully laid out the course of the "Mftthew," following the scanty information furnished by Pasqualigo and Soncino. He imagined a fixed course and a fixed measurement of distance, and was led thereby to favor Labrador, "somewhere near Hudson's straits," as the landfall. " We '<ave picked our way through ice and doubt," he said in concluding, " but one thing is clear : it was an English ship that crossed the ocean ; English feet first trod these northern shores ; English hands planted the familiar ensign and took possession in the name of Henry VH. It matters not whether it was John or Sebastian, whether it was Labrador or New- foundland or Cape Breton. The title to all this goodly terri- tory runs from ocean to ocean. The vision was Cathay ; the reality was America.'' Mr. Thacher exhibited an autograph letter of Henry VII. and other original documents. The next paper on the subject was by Samuel E. Dawson, Lit. D., of Ottawa, whose previous contributions to the Tvans- actions of the Society have been highly valued for the pains- taking research as well as for the calm judicial tone wliich they always exhibit. Dr. Dawson alluded to his monograph of 1804, and said that although it had occasioned considerable comment, he had seen no new arguments against it, — nothing whatever to invalidate his conclusions. There were now, he said, only two advocates for the New- foundland theory (I suppose he meant Judge Prowse and Bishop Howley), and Labrador is put out of court by all Canadians. Most of the earlier writers have steadily confused the two voyages. The first one was not a survey, but only a reconnoissance. He considers the Cosa map of 1500 in part a transcript of the 1497 voyage made by Jolm Cabot himself. Cavo dv YiKjlaterra is Cape Kfxce. This he coiisul<!rs the ciir- iliiial point on whioh the wiiolo doltiite turns Cape IJrcton is the (Javo desciibierfo of Cosa's map, and the I'riiiui I'txtd of the Mappemontle of ir)44. Dr. Dawson acknowledges liis great indelttedness to Har- risse, but cannot follow him in some of his recent con- clusions, as, for example, when he sends Cabot — wlio does not mention ice — up to 63 degrees two weeks before June 24. lie evidently does not know Labrador when he writes of /mrcu- laoH ; for codfish do not arrive at ('ape Chidley till Aut^ust. Harrisse disclaims for Spain any jealousy, but the Bull of Partition jjoints to another conclusion. As to Sebastian Cabot, Dr. Dawson reminds us that the standard of truth in the Renaissance period was not iiigh. VVinsor's Columl)us shows us that. Sebastian should not be dismissed as a liar. We must remember that we have nothing from his own pen. If he was such a fraud as is now claimed by some writers, so were Ferdinand, (^^harles V., and Henry VIII. The Court of Spain had many able sailors who would surely have detected gross falsehood in a foreigner like Sebastian. We must concede him the first place in nautical matters. lie would be justified by his Spanish position in suppressing cer- tain facts. His first duty was to his own master. He was a scientific theorist, but not an impostor. A poem upon Cabot was read by Mr. W. Wilfred Campl)ell. The last paper was by the President of the Society, Arch- bisliop O'Brien. It was an elaborate study, illustrated by diagrams, and presenting some novel features. Pas(jualigo, he said, gives us the distance sailed, — seven hundred leagues. Soncino gives the direction taken. These two data, however, do not suffice, for they will apply to Labrador, Newfoundland, (U" (^ape Breton. But, happily, Soncino supplies another point which has been overlooked. He says that Cabot "passed con- siderably the country of Tanais," that is, evidently its latitude, according to the early custom of locating unknown shores by comparing them with well-kn(»wn places in the old world. The "country of Tanais" is the area included within the great bend of the river Don, between the AOth and the 48th degrees. Bristol is about 51 degrees. So Cabot must have sailed south of the latitude of Tanais. This gives us a third known quantity, which enables us to solve the problem. We ^ must, therefore, exclude Labrador, Cape St. John, and l?ona- vista. Tlie only | laeo fulfilling all the conditions is Capo lireton Island, (Mtlier on the Atlantic Coast, or, more likely, within the (iulf, southward of Cape North, near Mt. Squirrel. In this case Cabot did not see Cape Race, but passed south and west of it, and came toward Prince Edward Island, and could easily have coasted the gulf in nine days. The Micmacs — traces of whom he found — fished in the G ulf and never went out upon the ocean. The "seven cities" were at Chateau Harboi', which has the ap[)earanee of being fortified. The President then took up the second voyage, and handled the Cosa map in a very bold and ingenious manner. It has been generally taken for granted that Cabot's charts have been lost ; but let us examine the Cosa map. It is admitted by all that the northern portion is founded upon information derived from Cabot himself. The work is evidently made up of two pieces. We can find the scale on which the portion covered by the Spanish Hag is drawn. This scale does not fit the coast line covered by the English flag. We infer, therefore, that Cosa copied that part from another man's work. Happily for us, he did not attempt to reduce it to his own scale. Can we then discover the scale of Cabot's shore line? We must dis- tinguish between the chart and the map. Only the chart is .Cabot's. The most southern of the English fiags would be near Cape Henry. Cavo descuhierto is the cape first made — the landfall, that is. Cape Breton Island, in latitude 4G°30'. The distance between these two points — 3| inches — is ten degrees. i.'his gives us the scale of Cabot's chart ; namely, | of an inch to a degree. This clue restores Cabot's chart to its proper position. Hut we see a distortion in Cosa's map. Cabot sur- veyed the coast from north to south. Hence Cavo iV Vn;ila- terra cannot be Cape Race. Cosa, in joining Cabot's chart to his own, made it run east and west. This explains the fruit- less attempts of modern scholars to understand it. It ex- jdains also why Cosa's map was never reproduced, but was quickly laid aside. Yet it has preserved to us Cabot's chart unmarred. The Archbishop saw that this position was radical and called for further proof. Accordingly he went into an exhaustive argument to justify his statements. Ajjplying his scale, he found Cavo cC Ynglaterra to be Cape Chidley ; Cavo de Jorge^ Cape Race — fittingly named after En<'Iaii(l',s patron saint; V. t'rnli' is the (Jreen or Grass Island of to-day ; JxI'i </(■ In Trenidnt is Oi^na lAk — ('od Island — in ">7 '40', with three remarkable hills. Tlu; small island near the second (lag is in 48 .")0', and must he Salile Island. Other places are identilied after the same fasliion ; and the author seems to have convinced himself, if not others, that this is a chart of the wliole coast-line from Caj)e Henry to the north of Iludsoi-'s Hay. lie finds another proof in the names on the chart, wliieh hear marks of ("osa's classical condensation from Cabot's rough English phrases, according to the rules of the time. Tlie writer thinks he has reason for believing that Jolin Cabot did not die during the second voyage, but returned unsuccessful, and dropped out of sight, as indeed Sebastian did for several years. Men forgot the achievements of the father, hearing so much afterward of the son who gained a European rei)Utation. In the eyes of the commercial world the father liad failed. Some day, in the crypt, or amid the other dark nooks of St. Mary Kedcliffe at Bristol, a slab will yet be found which will tell us when and how John Cabot died. The crowning feature of the ( ccasion was the unveiling of the tablet at the Province House on the afternoon of the 24th. The inscription, which was carefully prepared by Messrs. Bourinot and Dawson, does not commit the Society to any one of the theories as to the landfall. Through the kindness of E. (Jilpin, Escp, F. U S. C, one of the Halifax committee, I have obtained an excellent facsimile of the tablet which I take pleasure in presenting to the Society. It sliows the artistic decorative bt)rder representing the royal arms in the centre, with those of Bristol and Venice on either side, and the good ship sailing away from the old-world port toward the sun, which is setting behind the distant shore. The ceremony of unveiling was worthily performed by his Excellency the CJovernor-(!eneral, who was accoujpanied by Lady Aberdeen and a large nund)er of distinguished guests re})resenting the Army and Navy, the Dominion, the Province, the City, and foreign lands. Among the speakers were the Bristol delegates, Messrs. Barker and Davies, — both of them recent mayors of that city, — United States Coiisul-(Jeneral Ingi'ahara, Mayor Thacher of Albany, and Consul-General 8 SoliniherRo, who represented, he said, the City of Venice, tlie Italian (ieo^'iapliit'al Society, and the Ministry of I'uhlic In- struction. He gave a glowing address (|iiite charauteristic of THIS TAni.F/r IS IN IKiNOl'U OK Till: KAMOl'S NAVIC.ATOU John Cahot Who under .'uitliority of icttt'is-patfint of IIKN'IIV VM dirccliiif^ him "/(> coiii/ior nrcii/ii/ mid poitsc.iii" for K\(iLA\l) all lands he might find "in irhnlirrr pitrl of the irorlil tlii'i/ lie,'' sailed in a BRISTOL Ship TlIK MATTUKW. and first planted the flags of EN(;F.AN1) and VKNICE on the 'Jl'!' of June 14it7 on the north eastern seaboard of NOIITII AMKKICA, and hy iiis discoveries in this and the following year gave to IC\(iLAM) a claim ujion the Continent wliich the coloni/.ing spirit of her sons made good in later times. -i3- -[>- T/ils laldct was p/iireil in llii.t hull bij the Uoyai. Socikty of Canada in JiiNK 1S!»7 when the Bitrrisil Kmi'IUK icas celehralinf/ the sixTlKTil Aunirersnry oflhe Accession of Her Mn/'esli) Qukk.n Victokia during whose hene/icent reifjn the Dnininion o/" Canada has ertende.d from Ike shores first seen In/ Cahot and Enijlish sudors four hundred ifears before to the far l'a>:ifie coast. His Kxcki.i.kncy tiii; ICaim. ok Akkudekn (lonrnor-Geiiend of Camilla. C O'MiuKN, D.l). PiiKS. H.S.C. „,^ iioNouii M. B. Daly [Archuisi.o.. ov Hau.fax] ,j,,,„„„„t Gorernor of Nova Scotia. .7. G. BouKiNor, C. M. G. Hon. Skc. R. S. C. CiTV OF BniSTOL DKLKIiATES Wll.I.lAM ROHKUTS BaUKKK, J. 1*. WlI.MAM HoWKM. DaVIKS, J. 1'. his race. Speaking of the adventurous seamen who had gone fortl) from the Italian maritime republics to conduct distant voyages of discovery, he said, " The Cabotos were like feathers 9 from the winged Lion of St. >riirk," (lyiii<; to tlii'se wehttMii shores, then (hisuhitt', l»nt now swarniin<j witli restless activity. At the eoMclnsidii of his speech tiiree roiisin<^ cheers were given for the King of Italy. Then occurred one of the most touching incidents of tlio dny. A Micmac Indian woman came slowly throngh the crowd, and handed to the (yountcss a dainty basket woven of colored splints, — a line specimen of nalivt^ handicraft. She wore the hrilliant dn'ss of her trihe, with the stiff peaked hood, — a survival, I presume, of the skin costume of her ancestors, which is still retained in northern Labrador. The gift was graciously received amid the api)laus(' of the company ; and several other Indians came up with their chief, Jwli' Noel of Shubenacadie, and \v vr presented by the Archbisliop. The IJluejackets of ^i. Al. S. " Crescent " acted as a guard of honor during the exercises. I ought not to close this report withou*^ alludinn to the social coi li \ies whi^di were extended to us duriuL^ th; whole week, such as the luncheon given by the President of the Society; the steamer excursion jvround the beautiful harbor, given by the government of Nova Scotia ; the brilliant recep- tion by the Lieutenant-(iovernor and Mrs. Daly , and the five- o'clock teas at the villa of Sir Handford Fleming and else- wdiere. The concluding reception was held at the Province House by the Nova Scotia Historical Society. The Royal Society and its guests were also invited to a large meeting in the Opera House in honor of the late Joseph Howe, the eminent statesman, for whom a statue is soon to be pro- vided. The oration was delivered by the Rev. Principal Grant, of Kingston. I should add that the Faculty of Dalhousie University and other citizens of Halifax showed us many personal favors during our visit. The Maine Historical Society — the nearest of all our State societies to the landfall of 1407 — has given another proof of its enterprising spirit by having a Cabot celebration at its June meeting in Brunswick. Papers were read as follows : A Brief RdsuHK^ of Cabot's Voyages, by Hon. J. P. Baxter, of Port- land ; The Old World at the Dawn of Western Discovery, Professor J. W. Black, of Waterville ; The Cartography of the Period, Rev. H. S. Burrage, of Portland ; The Landfall 10 of Cabot, Professor Willia.n Macdonald, of Brunswick ; The Value and Significance of Cabot's Discovery, Professor John S. Sewall, of Bangor. Messrs. Charles C. Smith, Samuel A. Green, George B. Chase, and Edward G. Porter were appointed a Committee to publish a volume of Pepperrell Papers, from the original manuscripts relating to the siege and capture of Louisbourg, in the possession of the Society. li:, I n