them may seem meet, respecting the quarantine regulations, and for confining the contagion, if it should appear here, within the narrowest possible compass.

These papers, and the precautions which have been adopted by government, appear to us to be well calculated to quiet the public mind upon the subject of the cholera. In the mean time the community at large should be taught to feel, that even if the disease invade our shores, it is in the power of most individuals to preserve themselves from it by attending to their diet, by perfect cleanliness in their persons, by the careful ventilation of their houses, and, above all, by a severe temperance with respect to the use of intoxicating liquors.

ART. IV.-A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot; with a Review of the History of Maritime Discovery. Illustrated by Documents from the Rolls, now first published. 8vo. pp. 333. London: Hurst, Chance, & Co. 1831. THIS work is one of the most laborious, and at the same time, one of the most chivalrous enterprizes on behalf of the great cause of historical truth, that it has been for some years our fortune to encounter. How small is the number of those persons, even in the most civilized parts of the world, who care one jot about the degrees of justice with which fame has been distributed among the navigators of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries! How few are they who feel any concern whether Columbus preceded Cabot, or Cabot Columbus, in the discovery of the new continent! The name of the one is familiar in every mouth, that of the other is hardly ever heard of; and it would seem now almost a bootless task to write a book for the sole purpose of pointing out the errors, which exist in many popular publications upon the subject of his voyages; and of reclaiming for his memory, the glory which has been hitherto withheld from it. But we ought not to consider the matter in that narrow point of view. The truth of history is an object so sacred in itself, that we ought never to shut our eyes against the exertions of any writer, who endeavours to repair its omissions, and rectify its mis-statements. The operation of doing justice to the name of Sebastian Cabot, even if it be as successful as we could desire, will not make the sun of joy shine brighter in our breasts, will not soothe the sense of pain, or multiply the sources of delightful emotion. But it is no unworthy application of our time to investigate, however superficially, the claims of such a man to a higher rank in the temple of celebrity, than that which he has yet enjoyed. Mankind are but too prone to underrate the merits of those who have conferred upon them the most precious advantages. It is therefore the duty of the generous and the wise, and of those who love truth for its own sake under all circumstances, to assist in exalting the benefactors of our race to

the place which they ought to hold in the estimation of posterity, and of which they had been for ages deprived, possibly by the malignity, but more probably by the ignorance or carelessness of their contemporaries.

In one of the most voluminous and remarkable productions of modern times, the "Biographiè Universelle," which has been Jately concluded in fifty-two tomes, it is stated, with respect to Cabot, that " although no evidence exists to establish the scene of his discoveries, yet they ought not to be deemed altogether fabulous, as some historians would represent (comme fabuleuses ainsi que quelques historiens ont été tentés de le penser)." It is certainly not much to the credit of that compilation, which affects an extraordinary degree of accuracy, to hazard so strong a doubt as this passage implies with respect to the discoveries of Cabot. The evidence of their certainty and of their extent has not been altogether hidden under a bushel. It exists in print and in manuscript, and might easily have been examined by any person who would give himself the trouble, as the present author has done, of inquiring for it in the proper quarters.

It would appear clearly enough, upon the authority of Gomara, a Spanish writer, and of others, that Sebastian Cabot, who was the son of a Venetian, born at Bristol, penetrated to a much higher degree of latitude in the northern seas, than the English historians seem to have been aware of, although it is well known that the expedition, if not exclusively fitted out at the expense of our Henry VII., was materially assisted by his patronage. Cabot's object was to find a passage to Cathay by the North Seas, in order that spices might be brought from the Indies by a shorter course than that of the Cape of Good Hope, which was then used by the Portuguese. He evidently reached a point at which the days were very long, and in a manner without night, being as De Bry, Belle-forest, Chauveton, and other authorities, state it sixty-eight degrees of north latitude; he appears indeed to have been the real discoverer of the bay, which was afterwards called by the name of Hudson, and to have been prevented from making further efforts in that quarter by the mutiny of his crew, who refused to go any farther. The part of America supposed to have been first seen by Cabot on the 24th of June, 1497, was not Newfoundland, as is generally supposed, but a small island in latitude 56°, immediately on the coast of Labrador. The fact is of importance, as it removes some difficulties which would exist, if Cabot's description of this island were supposed to have applied to what is now called Newfoundland, although in strictness that was a name that once extended to all the newly discovered islands and continental tracts in that quarter. In the same manner the name of the West Indies has long been exclusively applied to those groupes of islands which are near the eastern coast of America, although they were originally so called in consequence of their supposed connection with India.

ever,

The period of Cabot's first discovery of the American continent has been strangely misstated by different writers. A patent, howhas been discovered in the Rolls' chapel which sets this question at rest, and undoubtedly ascribes to Cabot the distinguished honour of being in truth the original discoverer of America. In that document, which is dated the 3d of February, 1498, there is an express recital of the lands and islands already discovered by Cabot, which recital being connected with a map drawn by him, that was hung for several years in Queen Elizabeth's gallery atWhitehall, leaves no doubt of Cabot having preceded Columbus and Americus Vespusius in those regions. The patent is made out in the name of John, the father of Sebastian Cabot, but this is ascribed to the avaricious caution of Henry VII., who thought that his stipulated share of the profits of the expedition would be more secure, if John Cabot, at that time a wealthy Venetian merchant, and carrying on business at Bristol, were bound for the due performance of the

contract.

The next question that arises is, how far did Cabot proceed along the coast of America to the southward. It appears that he sailed in a vessel called the Mathew, of Bristol, and from a mass of confused evidence, it would seem that he succeeded in coasting along the American continent almost as far as Florida. But the reasoning of the author is not very clear upon this point; he quotes authorities, and endeavours to reconcile contradictions, without however arriving at any definite conclusion. He contends, indeed, that his hero even made a voyage to Maracaibo, in South America, in the year 1499; his reasoning upon this point is curious enough. Seyer in his historical and topographical memoirs of Bristol, copies from the ancient calendars of Bristol the following paragraph:"This yeare (1499) Sebastian Cabot, borne in Bristoll, proffered his service to king Henry for discovering new countries; which had no greate or favorable entertainment of the king, but he with no extraordinary preparation sett forth from Bristoll, and made great discoveries." This passage evidently refers to Cabot's first voyage, which was performed chiefly at his own expense, or rather at that of his father; whereas the patent of 1498 shews that the king did favour the enterprizing mariner at that period. The expression proffered would imply that it was for the first time, and the paragraph has no reference to any prior discoveries. The date is manifestly a mistake for 1497, to which period it probably applies. Upon this false foundation, however, the author proceeds to erect his airy edifice. He found in Navarette, whose extracts from the Spanish archives reflect so much credit upon his intelligence and industry, an assertion wholly unsupported by any authority, and which, in fact, is a mere gratuitous supposition, couched in these terms:-"Lo cierto es que Hojeda en su primer viage hallo à ciertas Ingleses por las immediaciones de Caquibacoa""What is certain is, that Hojeda, in his first voyage, found certain

Englishmen in the neighbourhood of Caquibacoa" (Maracaibo.) Even supposing we admit this to be the fact, and that, as Navarette informs us, Hojeda sailed from Spain on the 20th of May, 1499, and was only one year absent, how does it follow that Cabot was one of the English whom he met? 'The mere fact,' says the author, that Cabot is known not to have entered a foreign service until long after this period, would suffice to satisfy us that he was the only man who could have been the leader of such an enterprize from England, particularly as we find that when, two years afterwards, an expedition was projected, three Portuguese were called in and placed at its head. We can only say that this argument does not suffice to satisfy' our minds of any such thing: the fact may have been as the author infers it; but his premises certainly warrant no conclusion of the kind. Let Cabot have his due, and let it be told of him, as it may be with truth, that he visited the continent of America fourteen months before it was beheld by Columbus, and full two years before Americus Vespusius, who has given the whole of the new world his name, had been west of the Canaries.

Our indefatigable countryman having, perhaps in vain, solicited further encouragement from the crown of England, entered into the service of Spain about the year 1512; in 1518, Cabot appears to have been appointed Pilot Major of Spain, an office of great importance and responsibility, which, however, he soon resigned for a situation of greater activity. A company of merchants having been formed at Seville, for the purpose of trading with the Moluccas, Cabot was solicited to take the command of the enterprise, the government furnishing three ships and the requisite complement of men, and the association supplying the necessary funds for commercial objects. The title of Captain General was conferred on Cabot; and it was proposed that, after passing through the straits already discovered by Magellan, the expedition should explore the western side of the continent. It was appointed to sail in August, 1525, but various delays having interposed, it did not quit the shore until the April of the following year. The author spends many pages in vindicating his hero from several cruelties which were imputed to him in the course of this voyage. It will be sufficient for our purpose to state, that Cabot proceeded up the river La Plata, and having reached an island opposite Buenos Ayres, he pushed his way in boats to a river, which he called St. Salvador. Here finding a commodious harbour, he returned and brought up the ships, which he placed under the protection of a fort. He then resolved to ascend the Parana in the boats, taking with him a caravel, which was cut down for the purpose. No account has been kept of the incidents which attended his movements until he reached the Parana, which he is said to have found every where very fayre, and inhabited with infinite people, which with admyration came runnynge dayly to the

shyppes.' He ascended the Parana thirty-four leagues, but not without a severe collision with the savages inhabiting its banks, which cost him twenty-five of his men. Of the natives three hundred were killed. It would seem that the rich ornaments which he found in possession of the natives altogether diverted him from his appointed route to the Moluccas; for as he had reached the waters which, rising in Potosi, fall into the Paraguay, there is reason to believe that he had ascertained from the natives the quarter to which they were indebted for the precious metals with which they were decorated, and his attention was thenceforth fixed upon Peru-the empire of those golden visions which allured so many adventurers soon after that period to South America. Cabot now reported to the Emperor (Charles V.) the progress which he had made, and solicited permission to follow up his enterprize. But Charles was at the time struggling with pecuniary difficulties, and could afford no assistance. The adventurer Pizarro was more fortunate. He obtained, in 1528, a grant of the entire range of the western coast, which it was part of Cabot's original plan to visit. The author speculates upon the different results that would have followed, if Cabot, instead of Pizarro, had been the first discoverer of Peru. We fear that there is more of fancy in his picture than he would be inclined to admit. We doubt much whether Cabot would not have been just as bad as Pizarro.

'It were idle to indulge the imagination, in speculating on the probable result had the expedition to Peru been conducted by Cabot. With all the better qualities of Pizarro, it is certain that the very elevation of his moral character must have stood in the way of that rapid desolation, and fierce exaction, which have made the downfall of the Peruvian Empire a subject of vulgar admiration. In following Pizarro, the heart sickens at a tissue of cruelty, fraud, treachery, and coldblooded murder, unrelieved even by the presence of great danger, for after the resistance at the island of Puna, which detained him for six months, no serious obstacles were encountered. Even the Guaranis, who had achieved an easy conquest over the unwarlike Peruvians, in the preceding reign, were guiltless of the atrocities which marked his progress. Of one thing we may be certain. Had the conquest fallen to the lot of Cabot, the blackest page of the History of Spanish America would have been spared. The murder of the Inca to gratify the pique of an illiterate ruffian, forms one of the most horrid images of History. It was no less impolitic than atrocious, and roused the indignation even of the desperadoes who accompanied Pizarro. The career of Cabot who, at the Council Board of the Indies, had been a party to the order forbidding even the abduction of a Native, could not have been stained by crimes which make us turn with horror from the guilty splendour of the page that records them.'--pp. 161, 162.

It is not contended on behalf of Cabot that he was the discoverer of the La Plata; that good fortune belongs to De Solis, who is supposed to have entered the river in 1515, which he called La Plata,