port of all that had taken place. The emperor yielded to the solicitations of Cabot for succour and permission to colonise the country (Herrera, Dec. iv. lib. iii. cap. i.), and the merchant adventurers declining to co operate in what had ceased to be a mercantile speculation, the Emperor undertook to bear the whole expense himself (Dec. iv. lib. viii. cap. xi.). As we never hear of any censure on Cabot, and know that he afterwards resumed his high and honourable office in Spain; and that when, long after, he went to England, the Emperor earnestly solicited his return, we cannot doubt that his vindication was complete.

A singular proof here occurs of the disingenuousness of the Spanish historians. It is manifest, that Cabot could not have escaped the sharpest rebuke, and punishment, without making out a clear justification of his conduct; yet, while not a syllable is given of his statement, which must, from the result, have triumphed, all the disparaging suggestions that malignity could invent, and the falsehood of which must have been established at the time, are eagerly detailed. There can only be wrung from Gomara a cold acknowledgement that the voyage was frustrated, "not so much, as some say, by his fault, as by that of his associates."*

It might be superfluous, under such circumstances, to examine these allegations, yet they are on their face so improbable, that we may safely advert to them, even in the absence of Cabot's Defence.

It is asserted, that at the island of Patos (the present St Catherine's), where he was treated with the utmost kindness by the inhabitants, and took in refreshments, he basely seized the sons of some of the principal chiefs and carried them forcibly away. This story is taken from the report of the Portuguese, Diego Garcia, who, although denounced for fraud on his own employers, is considered a good witness against Cabot. He represents himself to have subsequently visited

"No tanto, a lo que algunos dicen, por su culpa como por la de su gente." Gomara, cap. lxxxix.

the island, and to have been very graciously received, notwithstanding the recent outrage. This last circumstance is not the least of the improbabilities involved in his tale, for putting that out of view, as well as the polluted source from which the charge proceeds, let us consider its claims to credit. The seizure is represented to have taken place not on the return, but on the outward voyage. What, then, was the object of so wanton a piece of cruelty? But further, the orders of the Council of the Indies were peremptory that no violence should be used. Peter Martyr (Dec. viii. cap. x.), speaking of the expedition of Gomez in 1524, adverts with indignation to his having brought away a number of natives, and expressly states it to be in violation of the standing orders of the Council. Now, Cabot had been, as early as 1515, a member of that Council, was familiar with the orders, and instrumental in framing them. He was in Spain when Gomez returned, and knew of the indignation excited by the abduction. Is it at all likely, then, that he would subject himself to a similar rebuke without any conceivable motive? It is remarkable, that in Cabot's own instructions to Sir Hugh Willoughby, long afterwards, we recognise the analogy to those of the Council of the Indies, for while he enjoins every effort, by gentleness, to get a thorough knowledge of the natives, he expressly forbids the use of "violence or force" (§. 23 of Instructions, Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 228).

We must advert again, more particularly, to the indignation which, in 1524, Peter Martyr expresses at the conduct of Gomez.

"Contrary to the laws made by us, that no violence should be offered to any nation, he freighted his ship with people of both sexes taken from certain innocent half-naked nations, who contented themselves with hovels instead of houses."*

It is with this historian that Cabot is found on terms of inti

"Contra Leges a nobis dictatas ne quis ulli gentium vim afferat, ab innoccutibus quibusdam seminudis populis magalibus pro domibus contentis," &c. (Dec. viii. cap. x.)

macy more than ten years before, and the good old man speaks of him as one of a congenial temper, or as Eden and Hakluyt have it, "Cabot is my very friend whom I use familiarly and delight to have him sometimes keep me company in my own house." At the moment of his penning the denunciation of Gomez, Cabot was his associate with the ripened friendship of the intermediate years. Yet Mr Southey (History of Brazil, p. 52) has not only consented to echo the calumny of a vile Portuguese convicted of fraud and falsehood, but adds this coarse and cruel invective-Cabot touched at an island on the coast called Ilha dos Patos, or Duck Island, and there took in supplies; requiting the good will which the natives had manifested with the usual villainy of an old discoverer, by forcibly carrying away four of them." And the same writer (ib.) denounces, as "an act of cruelty," the energetic proceeding by which Cabot quelled the mutiny, and probably saved his own life.

Another item of criticism is derived from the report of the same Portuguese, Diego Garcia. He sailed from the Canaries on the first September, and before he reaches the Cape de Verd Islands a boast is uttered of his superior skill in the choice of a route. So earnest is the wish to make this impression, that we are again told he proceeded from the Cape de Verds for Cape St Augustine [on the coast of Brazil], which he places in eight degrees ten minutes of Southern latitude, and this route, on account of the great currents from the rivers of Guinea, which drive the ships to the NorthWest, is perilous, and Sebastian Cabot did not know how to take advantage of it (as has been already said), because though he was a great Cosmographer, he was not so great a Sea

man."*

"Fue en demanda del Cabo de San Augustin, que este Piloto pone en ocho Grados, i un sesmo de Grado de la Vanda del Sur, de la otra parte de la Equinoc. tial. Y este Camino, por la grandes corrientes que salen de los Rios de Guinea, que baten los Navios a la Vanda del Norueste es peligroso ni le supo tomar Sebastian Gaboto (como se ha dicho) porque aunque era gran Cosmografo, no era tan gran Marinero." Herrera, Dec. iii. lib. x. cap. i.

Now first as to the facts. that Cabot stood across the Atlantic before he got as far South as the Cape de Verd Islands. That this very point had been the subject of anxious deliberation we learn from Peter Martyr, (Dec. vii. cap. vi.) "Cabot will set off in the next month of August, 1525. He departs no earlier, because things necessary for an enterprise of such importance cannot be prepared, nor by the course of the heavens ought he to begin his voyage before that time; as he has to direct his course towards the Equinoctial when the sun," &c.*

Garcia's criticism seems to be

It might be supposed, perhaps, that the vexatious delays had caused some change of the route originally projected; but so far is this from the fact, Herrera tells us expressly

"After many difficulties Sebastian Cabot departed in the beginning of April of this year (1526), &c. He sailed to the Canaries and the Cape de Verd Islands, and thence to Cape St Augustine," &c.†

Thus he took the very route in which Garcia followed! Even supposing Herrera to be mistaken, and to have described the course originally resolved on at Seville, instead of that which Cabot actually pursued, the latter would only be found, in avoiding the Cape de Verds, opening a path which is more generally followed in modern times. Take it either way, the impudence and absurdity of the cavil are palpable. Yet note the manner in which an English writer of reputation has caught it up.‡

Cabot's conduct in this voyage did not give satisfaction, and was thought unequal to the high reputation he had ac

"Est Cabotus, Augusto mense proximo anni MDXXV. discessurus, nec citius quidem quia nec prius queunt ad rem tantum necessaria parari nec per cœlorum cursus debet prius illud iter inchoari; oportet quippe tunc versus Equinoctium vela dirigere quando Sol," &c.

"Despues de muchas dificultades partio Sebastian Gaboto à los primeros de Abril de este año (1526), &c. Fue navegando a las Canarias y à las Islas de Cabo Verde, y despues al Cabo de San Agustin." Herrera, Deĉ. iii. lib. ix. cap. iii.

"A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, &c. By James Burney, Captain in the Royal Navy," vol. i. P. 162.

quired. The Spanish writers say of him (!), that he was a better cosmographer than a mariner or commander."

Wearied as the reader may be, we must advert to another sneer of this Portuguese. In ascending the La Plata, Cabot proceeded with deliberation, examining carefully the country, and opening a communication with the different tribes on its banks. This was of course a work of time as well as of labour and peril. When Garcia arrived, he proceeded hastily up the river, and boasts that "in 26 days he advanced as far as Sebastian Cabot had done in many months."* The folly of this idle vaunt has not deterred Herrera from making it a part of the History of the Indies; and it has found a ready place with English writers.

We might, indeed, be almost led to believe in a concerted plan, on the part of his countrymen, to defame this great navigator, were not the causes of misconception obvious. To some the perfidious translation of Stevens has proved a snare, and the few who proceeded further have been led, by an imperfect knowledge of the language, to catch at certain leading words and phrases, readily intelligible, and thus to present them apart from the context, which, in the original, renders the calumny harmless and even ridiculous.

*Herrera, Dec. iv. lib. i. cap. i.