west to America, and Da Gama east to India, and Magellan circumnavigated the globe. The thought advanced by philosophy, denied by common sense, and fought by the Church, finally wrought the greatest change yet known in the world's history through the commonplace necessities of trade.
Voyaging toward the northwest, in the hope of finding the treasures of the East, had possibly been undertaken annually from 149 1, by certain citizens of Bristol, England, when the Italian, John Cabot, domiciled in their city, applied to King Henry VII for letters patent "for the discovery of new and unknown lands." The Cabots themselves left no account of their voyages, and the story must be made up from a few contemporary documents, some hearsay evidence, and a large amount of inference. Apparently, John Cabot sailed, some time in 1497, under the patent granted to himself and his sons, and by the end of August was back in England, after a voyage of several months. The location of the landfall, made June 24, is wholly uncertain.[1] A second voyage was made the following year, and a considerable part of the northeast coast appears to have been explored, although it is impossible to place the limits of the discovery. Whether he was accompanied on either or both of the voyages by his son Sebastian is uncertain, but it is probable that he was.[2] As for the rest, one is tempted to echo Dawson's remark, that "as for John Cabot, Sebastian says he died, which is one of the few undisputed facts in the discussion."[3] To us, the importance of the voyage lies in the fact that upon it England based her claims, in later times, to a portion of the New World, though she made no
- ↑ Prowse favors Newfoundland; d'Avezac, Deane,; Réclus, Winsor, Brevoort, Eggleston, Winship, Biggar, and Dawson believe in Cape Breton; Biddle, Humboldt, Kohl, Stevens, Kretschmer, and Harrisse point to Labrador. The question is not important, and the alignment is given merely to show the uncertainties of this and other early voyages. The original sources are most accessible to the general reader in C. R. Beazley, John and Sebastian Cabot; London, 1898.
- ↑ In regard to the 1497 voyage, opinion ranges from R. Biddle, Memoir of Sebastian Cabot (Philadelphia, 1831), p. 50, who doubts if the father went, to H. Harrisse, John Cabot (London, 1896), p. 48, who doubts if the son did!
- ↑ S. E. Dawson, "Voyages of the Cabots." Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Series II, 1894, p. 53.
