The sun., 1905-08-06

ontinsnts until is4i. a W Nsgoaser rsss
published In that year. ''1 'Ii
Il h interesting also tosconpars what
Mr.. Claiming on tlls one hand and Mr..
Payne on the other have 10 say about ths
first expedition Of Engllshmen. headed by
the old Italian. John Cabot. to the New
World. As Mr.. Payne says, everything
connected with Cabots voyage Is On velopec
in mystery which presents an odd contrast
to the profusion and exaotitude Of detail
which We have concerning the first voyage
OF Columbus. Mr.. Claiming admits that ths
impelling reasons for John ,Csbot's western
voyage toward Cathay have never been
satisfactorily explained. He suggests that
the old Italian navigator, who was born In
Genoa, though naturalized In Venice, may
have talked over the project OF finding
an all sea route to India with Christopher
Columbus, or with Bartholomew, his brother
he may have oonversed with Martin Behaim
when the latter was In the Portuguese serv-
Ice, for Cabot at one time visited Portugal
or he may, independently. have come to
the conclusion that the shores OF Cathay
were not far distan from England, be-
yond Ireland After reoiting that the
usual statement is that the expedition
| OF Cabot, which started in., I4oe or
| l4o7, vas the direct outcome OF the Co.
lumbian discovery. Mr.. Charming admits
that the connecting links are hard to find.
Mr.. Payne seems not to consider such links
worth looking for. After recalling that
in l4e6 Cabot had been employed BY Henry
VII. IN negotiation with the King Of Dem
| mark respecting the Interruptions, which
the merchants OF Bristol had suffered In
their. trade to Iceland, Mr.. Payne dwells
on the abundant evidence that at thia time
the sailors OF Bristol had been for many
Brazil" In the Atlantic. It Is certain that
constant connection existed in the pre-
Columbian period between the port Of
Bristol and Iceland. To the Icelander In
the time Of Cabot the exploits OF Biarne and
Left were as we'll known as are those OF
Anson and Cook to the modern Englishman.
Mr.. Payne points out that the Sasas In which
these exploits were related may be called
the Ioelandio Shakespeare; they constitute
to-day what is, next to the Bible, the best
and the most popular book In the Icelandio
language. They were squa lily 30 in the
time Of Cabot. and Mr.. Payne has but little
doubt that the island sought by the sea-
men Of Bristol was the Wineland or Vim
land Of Icelandio story We do not know I.
indeed. how far Cabot informed himself
from books or tradition as to its situation.
We do know that Henry VII. commits
stoned Cabot to set out to discover and
find" this New Land, or Isle; that in 1lee
or 1497-Mr. Charming prefers the latter
year-Cabot started In search Of 1t, and
that he went by way Of Iceland and fol-
lowed the we'll known track Of the North
men. Mr.. Charming does not attempt to
locate Cabot's landfall on the Western
Hemisphere, but says that 1T surely was
north Of Halifax and south Of Hudson's
Strait OF the statements that have come
down to us concerning John Cabot's first
voyage, Mr.. Claiming contents himself
with saying that they ARE based on letters
written to Italians. the oosnopolitans OF
that age, who were then reading In Eng
land, to their friends and employers In
Italy He comedies, however, that these
letters. being oontemporaneous and un-
conscious" are the best Of all evidence
and cannot be gainsaid.
Mr.. Payne is much fuller on subject OF
great importance to Englishmen, who hold
that Cabot was the true disooverer Of tho
American mainland. Columbus, as we have
seen, reached II in iles; Pinson and vespuoci
In 1850; Cabral. the Portuguese, in 1900.
II Cabot really reached 1t In 1907 the Ameri-
can Continent. a. distinguished from adjoin-
ing islands, was England's BY right Of first
occupation. Mr.. Payne thinks that CAbot's
FIRST landfall may safely be fixed at the shore
OF. Labrador or Newfoundland; but he owns
1t to be doubtful how much Of tho coast the
Italian navigator subsequently, surveyed.
He claimed to have coasted the New Isle
for a distance Of 500 leagues. which, II
strictly true, would lead to the conclusion
that he reached the latitude OF Boston.
Contemporary Spaniards denied the reality
OF the voyage. and for q considerable time
the historians Of American exploration were
inclined to share their skepticism. Docu-
mentary evidence has been produced. how
ever, which makes 1t certain that John
Cabot reached the coast Of North Amer
lea. On August TO- 1907. the Privy
Purse expenses Of Henry VII. show pay
ment Of elO TO hymn that found the new
ISLE Some days afterward. (Aug. 2s),
Venetian MERCHANT resident in London
despatched an account Of Cabot's voyage
to his brothers In Venice. John Cabot he
6alQ, naO OlSCOVoICu COHVlueuU, 1uU naO
ooasted along it q space Of 800 leagues. On
his return he had left two isles on his right
hand. Early In the next year Feb. ),
1889 John Cabot obtained from Henry VII.
q second patent--the first vas issued before
he set out ON his first vuyage-in which the
new country 10 explicitly described AZ -the
londe and isles late founde by the said John
In oure name and by our commando
mente." Mr.. Payne holds that this import
ant entry completely establishes the English
claim to the red!sccvery (the arst discovery
being credited to the Northmen) Of the
American Continent. 1t 10 true that the
geographical relation Of the land thus
reached to the supposed Indies. which had
been reached BY Columbus, was as yet un-
known. Undoubtedly. however. Cabot's
voyage was an important link In the process
by which the conception Of America was
extended from the suppoeed great island
ooasted by vespuoci IN 1890. and lying
chiefly In the Southern Hemisphere, to q
vast continent stretching from the Arctic
to the Antarctic sea.