PROCEEDINGS FOR 1897 XCIX 



reaching results, and which laid the foundation of that extension of em- 

 pire which is now the wonder of the world. 



Last, but not least, there is the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee 

 of our Gracious Q,ueen-P]mpress, in which we have joined hands and 

 hearts with you. It is trvie that in coming to Halifax just now we have 

 lost something in being unable to take part in what has been going on in 

 the mother land, but we have gained something also in coming into con- 

 tact with the unbounded loyalty of Canada, and in being received with 

 the utmost kindness by those who have made us feel that we are not 

 strangers to them, but near relations. 



These three elements are not separate constituents, but are inti- 

 mately related, inasmuch as Cabot's discovery of this great continent led 

 the wa}' in the development of the vast empire throughout the length 

 and breadth of which Queen Victoria has this week been honoured, 

 while the Eoyal Society is doing a noble work in carrying on its re- 

 searches concerning the history and all the possibilities of this important 

 part of the empire. 



We have observed with the greatest pleasure that you have been 

 good enough to attach our names to the inscription on the memorial 

 which your Excellency has now unveiled, and that not because it is our 

 names that are recorded, but because for all time it Avill be seen that it is 

 our connection with Bristol that causes us thvis to be recognized. It is a 

 graceful act on the part of the citizens of Halifax thus to link their city 

 with ours, and I can assure your Excellency that not only the corpor- 

 ation of Bristol but the city generally, will appreciate the partnership 

 and good-will that is thereby expressed. 



I should like it to be remembered to-day that although John Cabot's 

 was the tirst successful voyage of discovery, it was by no means the tirst 

 that Bristol sent forth. In 1480 certainly John Jay, a Bristol citizen, fitted 

 out a ship of 80 tons burthen, which went forth on the same quests, 

 while it is on record that during seven years preceding Cabot's time an 

 expedition was annually sent forth to settle if possible that mysterious 

 problem as to what lay beyond the western horizon. This is an example 

 of courage and pertinacity worthy of any community, for it showed that 

 then as now Englishmen do not know when they are beaten. 



It is curious also to remember to-day that when Cabot made his dis- 

 covery he did not realize its importance. He found wliat he did not 

 seek. He sought only a new way to well-known regions. He found 

 what was far more im]jortant, a new continent which the peoples of the 

 Old World have been developing for four hundred jxars. To take a 

 Scriptuî-al illustration, Saul went forth seeking his father's asses and 

 found a kingdom. Cabot sought a short cut to known regions and found 

 a new world. 



We who now travel between England and North America in one or 

 other of the greyhounds of the Atlantic ought to remember to-day the 



