JOHN CABOT'S VOYAGES 



Contarini, that he had been in England three years before 

 (i.e., in 15 19), and that the cardinal there (i.e., Wolsey, who 

 was trying on behalf of Henry VIII. to get together the expe- 

 dition of 1 521) had endeavored to persuade him to undertake 

 the command of a fleet which was almost ready (sic!) for the 

 discovery of new lands; but he had replied that, as he was 

 in the service of Spain, he must first obtain the permission o£ 

 the emperor; and that he had then written to the emperor, 

 requesting him not to grant such permission, but to recall 

 him. This Sebastian asserted that he had done on account of 

 his desire of serving his own city of Venice; for, in 1522, and 

 later he was carrying on treacherous intrigues with Contarini 

 to enter the Venetian service, presumably with the hope of a 

 high salary. Thus, wherever we are able to check Sebastian 

 Cabot's utterances, they prove to be extremely untrustworthy. 

 Even, if, therefore, there was no lack of attempts after 

 1500 to follow up John Cabot's great and important discoveries 

 in the west, it is nevertheless surprising how little persistence 

 seems to have been shown. The love of discovery and adven- 

 ture which had been so prominent a feature of the Northern 

 viking nature had not yet awakened in earnest among the Eng- 

 lish people. England's mercantile marine was at that time still 

 comparatively unimportant, it had not the strength for such 

 great enterprises or for colonization. The earliest voyages 

 were mainly the work of a foreigner, an Italian, and the 

 later ones were in part undertaken by Portuguese; they did 

 not grow naturally from the English people themselves. 

 Cabot's plan was like an exotic flower springing up in 

 untilled soil, and more than half a century before its time. 

 Another factor was doubtless the disappointment of the 

 king and of the merchants; they had ventured their money 

 in fitting out ships in the hope of immediate profit. What 

 they were looking for was the way to the rich east of Asia, 

 where mountains of spices lay ready to hand, and gold and 

 precious stones in heaps, only waiting to be picked up. What 

 they found was nothing but new, unknown countries on 



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