CONTENTS THE CABOTS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BRANDON HILL, BRISTOL C HIEF among the attractions of Bristol has been for centuries past the church of St. Mary Redcliffe; while few names on her roll of fame are more widely known than that of the ancient citizen to whom the stately fabric owes so much of its grace and beauty. And we grudge not the mead of praise. He who gives of his best to the service of God and his fellow men deserves high honour. But, when all is said, the work of William Ca

Practically, the birthplace of either father or son is of little moment, even to Bristolians; nor the question of earlier voyages, so long as the great fact remains—That it was from Bristol port, in a Bristol ship, manned by Bristol sailors, on the initiative of Bristol merchants, that John Cabot sailed on that memorable May morning four hundred years ago; and that to Bristol port he returned in the following August, after having planted the flag of St. George on the eastern-most point of Cape B

That land across the wide Atlantic had been discovered long before Cabot sighted it is now generally admitted. Setting aside the claims of Madoc the Welshman and the Irish sailor-saint Brendan as not yet proven, it is certain that the Icelanders planted a colony in Greenland as early as the tenth century. The colony perished, but its traditions remained and were the inciting cause of later voyages; for Bristol merchants trading with Iceland, heard thereof and sent out ships in search of the "new

Among Bristol merchants, baffled in their own attempts to reach the goal, such a man was sure of meeting with not only sympathy, but ready co-operation. And in 1496 we find him obtaining from Henry VII. a charter, made out in the names of himself and his sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctus, empowering him and those associated with him to fit out sundry vessels to search for new lands, and take possession of them in the name of the King, he and his heirs to occupy such lands as Henry's vassals an

On the 10th of August, her captain was in London relating his discoveries to the King. Henry was so pleased with Cabot's success that he gave him a pension of £20 for life, and "£10 to him who found (first sighted) the new isle." Pasqualigo tells how he was styled the "Great Admiral," dressed in rich silks, and had vast honours paid him, the English running after him "like mad people." In these rejoicings Bristolians, we may be sure, took a prominent part, and many a city father and wealthy merc

Sebastian says his father died about this time, but he gives neither date or place of burial. It seems most probable that John Cabot's death occurred at sea, and that Sebastian, who—though this has been contested—accompanied him on this voyage, returned in command. Strangely enough, no account of the expedition appears to exist among English records; the sole fact of its return being gathered from the presence in London of Lancelot Thirkill, June 6, 1501, and his repayment of the loan he had had

Retracing their course they found many of the colonists dead of cold and hunger, and re-embarking the remainder, they sailed south as far as Cape Hatteras, when provisions failing, the little flotilla returned to England—Unsuccessful, the merchants who had freighted the vessels deemed, for they had not found the golden goal of Cathay nor even established a trading colony! But in reality successful beyond the wildest dreams of King or people, for there is no doubt that the Cabot charter and the v

In 1551, a general stagnation of trade pervaded England, and the London merchants consulted Cabot, who had just succeeded in breaking the monopoly of the German "Merchants of the Steelyard," as to what steps could be taken to revive it. Through his advice they formed themselves into the "Company of Merchant Adventurers of London" (of which the Bristol "Merchant Venturers" is an outcome) for the search and discovery of the northern part of the world by sea, and to open a way and passage to Cathay

Great was the rejoicing when the first expedition put to sea, May 20th, 1553. The ships were towed down the Thames by boats, "and being come neare to Greenwich, where the Court then lay, the courtiers came running out, and the common people flocked together upon the shores in crowdes; the Privy Council they lookt out of the windowes of the Court, and the rest ranne up to the toppes of the towers," while the "skies rang agayne with the shouts of the mariners and the firing of the shippe's ordnanc

One relic we had of Cabot—the famous portrait, painted when he was an old man, and which in 1625, hung in the King's gallery at Whitehall. In 1792, this picture was presented to Charles J. Harford, Esquire, of Bristol, who discovered it while in Scotland; but, unfortunately for Bristolians, he sold it to Mr. John Biddle of Pittsburg, and it perished in the destruction of that gentleman's house by fire in 1848. Several copies exist in America, and an excellent engraving of the picture was made by

Brandon Hill, the site of Bristol's memorial to the Cabots, lies between the north-west portion of the city and the wooded heights of Clifton. A fringe of houses encircles the base, but the remainder of its twenty-five acres, up to the rounded summit, 250 feet high, is open greensward, with gravelled paths, and seats under shady hawthorne bushes—the happy haunt of children from all parts of the city; and, as evening spreads her dusky mantle around, of whispering lovers, every seat accommodating