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COOK, CAPTAIN JAMES. 



COOKB, BENJAMIN. 



the glob* in a bis* Utilude.and *ati*n*d himeelf that no 

 magnitude oould *xibtw*ro the 60th and 70th 

 aaralUl*. h UuniKht it inexpedient to prosecute his disoovsxin in 

 tnaw n|*tu* *TM with worn ihip and nearly exhausted pro- 

 *Wac. Aeaordassjly lie mwl* tail fur tb Cape, which ha reached 

 Hank S3, 1774, having *ail*d no U** than 20,000 leagues sine* he Irft 

 it, without BMtinn rven with ao trifling an accident a* the Ion of a 

 roaat or yard. Op the SOth of July he anchored at Spithead. 



He waa immediately rated to the rank of post-capUin, and received 

 a more substantial reward for hU MrrioM in being appointed a captain 

 of Greenwich Hospital. Men of aoienoe wera powerfully interested, 

 not only by Us geographical discoveries bat by bit unprecedented 

 " " ' 



i voyage in preserving the health of his ship's com 

 be lost only four, and only one of these by any 

 His method consisted chiefly in a strict attention to diet, 

 mini th* ship clean, well-aired, and dry. Much however 

 to depend upon the rare and influence of the commanding 

 for the erew of the ' Adventure,' fitted out with the same 

 provisions, bad suffered considerably even at an early period of the 

 voyage. On th* day of Cook'* admission to the Royal Society, March 

 7. 1 "5, a paper of his was read. Riving an account of the methods h 

 adopted for preserving the health of his men. On the 18th of April 

 b* COM municab-d a second paper, relative to the tides in the South 

 Seas : both of there are printed in the ' Philosophical Transactions,' 

 voL Ixvi. For the former the .Society gave him the Copley medal, 

 which is bestowed for the bait experimental paper of the year. Of 

 this second voyage he published his own journal, illustrated by maps 

 and engraving* ; a supplementary volume containing the astronomical 

 observations was published at the expense of the Commissioners of 

 Longitude. The style is unpretending, clear, and manly, and, con- 

 sidering the imperfection of his education, does credit to his sense and 

 ability. 



While Cook was exploring the Southern Ocean, the attention of 

 government was also turned towards discoveries in the Arctic regions. 

 It waa not thought fair, after so many years of labour and anxiety, to 

 requc.t him immediately to forego his honourable ease ; but when he 

 volunteered his services, they were gladly accepted. Two ships, the 

 'Resolution' and Discovery /'the latter commanded by Captain Clerke, 

 who had sailed with Cook in both his former voyages, were fitted out 

 with everything thst could promote the health and comfort of the 

 cres and the scientific objects of the voyage. They sailed from 

 Plymouth July 12, 1776. Cook's instructions were to proceed by the 

 Cap* of Good Hope to the Pacific, and to revisit the chain of islands 

 lying along the southern tropic, in which be was to endeavour to 

 dissimulate and naturalise a variety of useful animals, to be carried 

 from England and the Cape. He was then to bend his course north- 

 ward, and on reaching the western coast of America, to proceed with 

 as little delay as possible to the latitude of 65, and then to use his 

 best endeavours to return to the Atlantic by the high northern 

 latitudes, between Asia and America, thus reversing the usual course 

 of Arctic voyagers. Ho arrived at the Friendly Islands too late in 

 the spring of 1777 to attempt anything in the Arctic Seas that year. 

 In December he took a final leave of the Polynesian Archipelago, and 

 on January 18, 1778, came in sight of an unknown group, to which 

 he gave the name of Sandwich Islands, about 20 N. Tat Making no 

 long stay, be reached th* coast of America on March 7, being then in 

 44* U' N. lat In Nootka Sound, 49 33' N. lat, he stopped a month 

 to put tti* ship* in perfect repair before encountering the dangers of 

 the Polar Seas, and proceeded April 26, keeping near the coast when- 

 ever the state of the weather permitted. Following this course to the 

 extreme northern point of the Pacific, he there examined a deep bay, 

 afterwards named Cook's Inlet, concerning which strong hopes were 

 ntartained that it mivht lead to the long sought discovery. Those 

 proving unfounded, he ran to the southward, along the narrow 

 nsatunls which forms th* western boundary of the Kamtschatkan 

 Sea ; and after touching at Oonalsshka, made sail for Behring's Strait. 

 There b* determined the position of the roost westerly point of 

 America, 6* 40' N. lat, 168" 15' W. long.; and ascertained it to be 

 distant from the const of Asia only thirteen leagues. On August 18 

 b* reached hi* extreme latitude, 70' 41', where he was stopped by 

 an impenetrable wall of ice. He continued to prosecute hi* search 

 until August 29, when the daily increase of ice warned him to return. 

 Before proceeding to th* south however he spent some time in 

 jamming the Ma and coast* in th* neighbourhood of Behring's Strait, 

 during which he had satisfactory proof of the correctness of that 

 navigator, and made valuable additions to our geographical knowledge 

 of that region. 



Returning to winter at the Sandwich Islands, be discovered two 

 which b* bad not before visited, Mowee (Maul) and Owhyhee 

 (Hawaii), the burgs* of the group. In sailing round the latter ho 

 spent ten weeks, from December 1 to February 18, 1779, without any 

 serious disagreement with the natives, who, on the contrary, treated 

 the Knglish with the utmost respect Speaking of the disappointment 

 in not finding a northern passage, he use* the following words, which 

 conclude hi* journal : " To this disappointment we owed our having 

 it in oar power to revisit the Sandwich Islands, and to enrich our 

 voyage with a discovery, which, though the last, seemed in many 

 respect* to be the most important that bad hitherto been toad* by 



European* throughout the extent of the Pacific Ocean." These 

 pleasant anticipations were out short by his tragical death. On the 

 night of February IS, one of the ' Discovery's ' boats was stolen. Cook 

 went ashore on the 14th to try to recover it; the natives became 

 alarmed, blows were struck, and Cook was obliged to fire in self- 

 defence. In retreating to the boats, four of the marine* who attended 

 him were killed, and Cook, who was the last person left on shore, was 

 struck down from behind. He struggled vigorously; but the con- 

 fusion of the boats' crew* was such, that no assistance was given, and 

 he was soon overpowered. His body having been left in the poisesskm 

 of the natives, his bones only were recovered, the flesh having probably 

 been devoured. HU remains were committed to the deep with mili- 

 tary honours. Mr. Samwell, an eye-witness, has given the fullest 

 account of this melancholy event, which he ascribed to no scheme of 

 premeditated treachery, but to a sudden impulse, arising from the 

 belief that the loss of the bout would be revenged by hostile measures. 

 Captain Clerke succeeded to the chief command, and returned in the 

 following summer to the Polar Sea; but he was unable to advance as 

 far as in the former year : the voyage therefore failed in its chief 

 object The chips returned by China and the Cape to England, which 

 they reached in October 1780. An account of the voyage was pub- 

 lished from Cook's-Journal, continued by Lieutenant King. Charts 

 and plates were executed at the expense of government, and one-half 

 of the profits of the work were beetowed upon Cook's widow and 

 children, upon whom a pension was settled. 



As a navigator, Cook's merits were of the first order. He was 

 thoroughly acquainted both with the practical and scientific parts of 

 his profession, and possessed the qualities which fit men for responsible 

 situations a mind inventive, and full of resources, sagacity, self- 

 possession, and decision, and an intuitive readiness of perception in 

 professional matters; so that his first opinion as to a course to be 

 pursued, the nature of an opening, tides, currents, Ac., waa seldom 

 found to be incorrect His perseverance was uur. milling, and needed 

 no relaxation nor respite. He was a strict disciplinarian, but watchful 

 and solicitous in an uncommon degree for the health and comfort of 

 his crews ; and to this constant care and to his moral influence, ai 

 much as to his judgment, we must attribute that remarkable exemp- 

 tion from disease which his men enjoyed, in his last two voyages, 

 through every variety of climate. He may be said to have banished 

 that horrible disease, scurvy, from our naval service; and it is observed 

 by Mr. Samwell, that his success in this respect afforded him more 

 satisfaction than the reputation which attended his discoveries. But 

 that which we wish to point out in his character as most rare and 

 truly estimable, was his scrupulous justice and humanity towards 

 the rude tribes whom he visited. For their propensity to thieving he 

 found a candid apology; and any offences committed against their 

 persons or property by his own crew, he strictly punished ; making it 

 a rule to pay liberally, if required, for the slightest articles, even to 

 grass, wood, and water. Nor did he give way to the gratifying of a 

 natural curiosity, when by doing so he was likely to provoke a . 

 collision. Once only be was betrayed into an unjust aggression, which 

 ended in bloodshed ; an act which he remembered with pain, and in 

 his journal acknowledged to be an error, while explaining the motives 

 which led to the commission of it The same benevolence and steady 

 principle which be displayed in public, he carried into tlio private 

 relations of life. His constitution was robust, inured to fatigue, and 

 patient of self denial. 



COOKE, BENJAMIN, a highly-distinguished composer and organist, 

 was the son of Benjamin Cooke, a music-publisher in New-street, 

 Cpvent Garden. He was born in 1739, and before he had attained his 

 ninth year became the pupil of the caU-brated Dr. Pepu-ch, uuder 

 whom he made such progress, that when only twelve years old he 

 was found capable of doing the duty of organist at Westminster 

 Abbey, as deputy of Mr. Robinson, son-in-law and successor to Dr. 

 Croft. On the death of Pepnsoh in 1752, Cooke was chosen as con- 

 ductor of tha Academy of Ancient Music, which office he held till 

 1789, when he relinquished it to Dr. Arnold. In 1757 he succeeded 

 Bernard Qates as lay-clerk and master of the choristers at Westtninst -r 

 Abbey, snd in 1762 was appointed organist of that venerable church. 

 In 1777 the University of Cambridge conferred on him the degree of 

 Doctor in Music. In 1782, after a severe contest, in which Dr. Burney 

 waa his chief opponent, he was elected organist of St Martin-in-ili>- 

 Fields. In 1784 he was nominated by Oeorge III. as one of the sub- 

 directors of the famous Commemoration of Handel He died in 1 793, 

 leaving two sons, one of whom Robert Cooke, followed his fn 

 profession, and became organirt of the abbey on the decease of Dr. 

 Arnold ; but shortly after, in a fit of insanity, threw him-elf into the 

 Thames, and was drowned. 



Dr. Cooke's compositions were chiefly for the Academy of Ancient 

 Music, the Church, and the Cntch Club. For the first he made the 

 important additions, so well known to connoisseurs, to Oalliard'x 

 'Morning Hymn.' Kor the church he wrote a service and two 

 anthems, which have always been highly esteemed. To the Catch 

 Club be contributed hi* fine glees, ' In the merry month of May,' 

 ' How sleep the brave,' ' Hark ! the lark,' ' As now the shades of eve,' 

 Ac.; and obtained seven of the gold prize medal* given by that 

 society. He was the intimate friend of Sir John Hawkins, the musical 

 historian who profited much by the occasional hints of so learned a 



