The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-04-29
sOME NEW BOOKS.

made in North America during the last decade
OF tho hfteenth century by John and Sebastian
Cabot attracted very little attention on the part
OF Contemporary Enslishmen. and that sc-
cordingiy the hfe and achievements OF the
ekasr navigator ere involved In much obecur-
ity. Tho portion OF Sebastians career which
was passed in tho service OF the Emperor
Charles V. and the part which he SUBJ
ssauently took In promoting the voynge Of
Willoughby and Chancellor arc sufficiently well
known. But for light upon his earlier years.
and especially for oil details relating to the
dates, circumstances and results OF tho voy
ages upon which he accompanied his
father. We must turn TO scattered allu
sions In the writings Of Spanish. Flor
sntine and Venetian contemporaries. for
the English narratives purporting to slu-
cidate the subject were penned many years
after the events. and may all apparently be
traced to single questionable authority. Who
waA John Cabot At what date and under
what circumstances did he reach the shores OF
North American Was the voyage repeated.
what was the extent OF his discoveries. and
how were his services remunerstsd BY tho Eng
iish CROWN An attempt is made to answer
these questions by An Investigation OF many
unpublished documents in q monograph enti-
tied Jean ct Sebdstie,s Cabot par HENRY HAIR
nfssE which forms one Of the latest volumes
published at Paris By Ernest Lsroux In tho
Rscueii de Voyages ct de Documents pour
servir . rhistoire de Ia Geographic"
In two official documents Henry VII refers
to John Cabot as Venetian. and the Venetians
themselves insist that the navigator was one
Of their own countrymen and native Of Chi
oggla. On the other hand. old English chron-
iclers declare that Sebastian. the son. was an
Englishman. born At Bristol. and from their
language It u inferred that the father must
t~~- l1 Lad, -, In. md ha
wore not actually born within the four seas.
But Stow speaks OF Sebastian rs e Genos's
son." and. although Stow was not born until
more than thirty years after tho discovery OF
America, he turns out to have been right. for
il results from Mr.. Harrisses researches
that John Cabot. like Columbus. was q
Gsnosss by birth. The strong st evidence
on this point Is furnished by two dispatches in
tho archives Of Simancas. written in 1893 by
one Puebla and by Pedro de Aya!a. diplomatic
agents OF Ferdinand the Catholic in London
both Of whom. in announcing the voyage OF
discovery promoted by Henry VII. describe
the Admiral as otro Genoves como Colon"
But although Cabot was a compatriot OF Column
bus he is not improperly designated rs Vene-
tian in the English archives. for such he was
by adoption. In this monograph Mr.. Harrisse
publishes the text OF the naturalization papers
by which, on the 2Sth Of March. l476 the Vene-
tian Senate conferred upon John Cabot the full
privileges Of citizenship In consideration OF
his having dwslt for the fifteen years required
by law within the territories Of the republic.
Tho birthplace Of Sebastian Cabot has also
been the SUBJECT of dispute. for he seems to
have himself told two different stories. Richard
Eden. in book published in 1855 while Ssbas-
tian was alive and living in LONDON. asserts
that Sebastian Cabot told mo tina. he was
born at Bristol but that at the age of no
was carried by his father to Venice whence.
after a number of years. he returned with his
family to England" On the other hand. when
Sebastian was Grand Pilot OF Charles v, he
assured Contarini. the Ambassador OF the
Signory whose confidence he desired to win.
that he was born at Venice or the two contra
dictofy declarations Mr.. Harrisse makes 1t
manifest that the latter was the true one. An
examination Of the letters patent granted on
March 5. 1896 by Henry VII. to John Cabot and
his three sons shows that each Of the latter
must have been at the time more than 81.
since the privileges were conceded. not Jointly.
but severally and were OF kind that could
not be exercised by English law unless the
grantee had attained his majority. Sebastian
Cabot must therefore have been born before
March 1S 1475. and. his fathers natural
ization papers prove that the family resided in
Venetian territory for the fifteen consecutive
years preceding 1915. he could not have been
born At Bristol
by prosecuting equally vig;lant and patient
inquiries in English. Spanish and Italian
archives. Mr.. Harrisse has arrived at definite
and trustworthy conclusions touching other
controversial points in the traditions relating
to the elder Cabot He fixes for example. the
date Of the first voyage not in 1894. to which
some patriotic Era.iishmen would willingly
push 1t back. but in 1897. and he adduces
strong reasons for believing that. on this voy-
aga at all events Cabot did not sight New
foundiand or Cape Breton or Prince Edwards
Island. but touched tho continent many de-
grees further NORTH on that part Of the coast
which from u very early period OF American
discovery has been known as Labrador. He
demonstrates that tho second voyage took
place In 149S. but that OF its results nothing is
known with certainty. He admits. however.
that the chart OF Juan de la Cosa. on which
English flags are dotted over the North Ameri-
can coast to an ex.en. wholly Incompatible
with what Is known Of the voyage OF li97. may
lss regarded as confirming the boast made by
Sebastian Cabot many years afterward. touch
ing the extent OF the American ssacoast which
he and his father had explored. Mr.. Harrisse
submits. however. that IL. in 1893. the Cabots
had really surveyed the shores OF the New Con-
tnent from Labrador TO Georgia. the silence OF
English writer's on q subject OF such surpass-
As to the alleged third voyage Mr.. Harrisse
shows that this rests only on an inference
drawn from a quotation from Fabian. intro
ducci BY Stow and Hakluyt in their chronicles
II III. late given by Hakiuyt in his edition of
1892 be the correct one. the supposed third
voyage o! Cabot is apochryphal. for il would
coincide with the probable return Of the mari
ners from the second expedition. H. on the
other hand, slows date Is the right one. Mr.
Harrisse considers that a third voyage must be
held t. have taken place. In this case how
ever. Cabot must have undertaken the voyage
not by virtue OF special privileges granted 10
himself. bu, for the account Of private persons.
This seems clear from the letters patsn, grant
d IN the year mentioned by Stow 10 certain
merchants and capitalists OF Bristol. anon:
whose names that OF the Cabots does no, figure
The general effect OF these inquiries Is to
produce the conviction that the i'm rortance
and extent OF John Cabot's inquiries have been