lane: the two last being described as "thoroughfares and passages from Fleet-street into Holborn within the liberties of the city of London." This appears to have been the first time that Holborn was paved to the west of the city bars; nor was the street all built on both sides for any considerable way beyond that point till many years later. With regard to the general state of the roads in the country about this date we have little or no information; but we may be certain that the condition of the best of them, as was the case long afterwards, was wretched enough. It appears, however, from the diplomatic correspondence of the time, that, towards the end of the reign of Henry Vlll., letters were conveyed by the government expresses from London to Edinburgh in about four days.
Sebastian Cabot, the discoverer, with his father, of North America, on finding himself neglected by Henry VII., had entered the service of the Spanish government in 1512, but appears to have returned to his native country soon after the death of King Ferdinand in 1516. He is known to have been employed by Henry VIII., in 1517, in conjunction with a Sir Thomas Perte, to make another attempt in quest of a north-west passage, in the course of which he is said to have again reached the latitude of 67½°, and to have entered Hudson's Bay, and given English names to sundry places on its coasts. These discoveries, however, were soon forgotten, like those which their author had made in the same regions twenty years before; and Cabot again offered his services to the government of Spain, by which he was for some years employed in various distinguished capacities. He remained abroad till the accession of Edward VI., and then, in 1548, once more made his appearance at the English court, where he was received with much welcome by the young king. In the beginning of the following year Edward bestowed upon him a pension of 250 marks (166l. 13s.. 4d.), which he enjoyed during the rest of the reign: and he continued to be consulted in all affairs relating to navigation and trade. In 1553, on the suggestion of Cabot, some merchants of London formed them-
