TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



61 



the news of his wonderful discoveries ; but it was not 

 till after his return from his second that John Cabot 

 persuaded King Henry VII. of England to allow him 

 (Cabot) to set out on his voyage of discovery, as 

 related. 



No matter how many people, or how many 

 nations claim to have discovered America prior to 

 Columbus, to him must always remain the honour of 

 bringing it into such prominent notice as to make its 

 discovery of real importance and value not only to 

 the European nations in particular but to the world 

 at large. This was no empty honour, for it also 

 disclosed to a wondering world a man of indomitable 

 courage and perseverance. 



That the idea which first actuated him and with 

 which idea he set out — that of reaching China, Japan 

 or India, by a western passage — was a failure, is of 

 very little importance, considering that he gave the 

 civilized world a new and vast continent hitherto but 

 vaguely dreamt of by them, and of far greater im- 

 portance to the world than a short cut to Cathay, the 

 land of his dreams. 



That his voyages of discovery did not realize the 

 profits he imagined, or that he was glaringly robbed 

 of his proper share, matters not. This, however, is 

 known that he lived for some years after his final 

 return to Europe in poor condition, broken in health, 

 maligned and abused, and died in 1506. But no 

 poverty, no degradation, no calumny will, so long as 

 the world lasts, deprive him of the wealth of his im- 

 mortal fame. 



