Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/103

 CABOT.

CABOT.

CABOT, Qeorge, senator, was born in Saleru, Mass., Dec. 3, 1751. He entered Harvard college but left at the expiration of his second year, and went to sea as a cabin boy. He became master of a vessel and was engaged with great success in foreign trade. Eeturning to Salem in 1776 he be- came a member of the provincial congress of Massachusetts; a member of the state convention •which, in 1788, adopted the Federal constitution; and was elected to the United States senate, serv- ing from 1791 to 1796, when he resigned. He was selected by President Adams as secretary of the navy, when that office was first created, and he served from May 3 to May 21, 1798. As a financier and political economist he had few superiors in his day, and he rendered valuable assistance to Alexander Hamilton in the forma- tion of his financial system. He was elected to the Massachusetts council in 1808 and was chosen president of the Hartford convention of December, 1814. Theodore Dwight's History of the Hart- ford Convention contains his financial views. He died in Boston, Mass., Api-il 18, 1823.

CABOT, John, discoverer, was a citizen of Venice. He was a commercial navigator, and was described at the beginning of his voyage to America as "a distinguished mariner, with great ability in discovering new islands." He settled in Bristol, England, about 1477, and after the voy- age of Columbus in 1492 he profited by the dis- covery made, and, with his three sons, Lewis, Sanchel, and Sebastian, obtained a patent from Henry VII., dated Mar. 5, 1496, empowering them and their heirs and deputies to sail in all seas under the banner of England. They immediately started out with two stout ships and three hun- dred able mariners, sailing first to Iceland and then past Greenland and what is now called Labra- dor, to land which they called Newfoundland, landing near the strait of Belle Isle; they gave the place the name of St. John. Returning to England in August he was received by the king with great rejoicings, and presented with ten pounds in money. In February, 1498, a special charter was granted by the king, and authorities disagree as to whether or not Cabot sailed under this charter. The date and place of his birth and death are unknown.

CABOT, Sebastian, explorer, was born prob- ably either at Venice, Italy, or at Bristol, Eng- land, about the year 1476; son of John Cabot. As early as 1496 we find his name associated with that of his father and brothers in a petition to Henry VII. for letters patent, commissioning them to sail for the discovery of islands and countries "unknown to all Christians." The letters were granted March 5, 1496, and John Cabot and his sons entered upon a voyage, which resulted in the discovery of land, which it is sup-

posed was Cape Breton Island or Nova Scotia. Letters patent dated February, 1498, were granted to John Cabot for a second expedition, and it is believed that many of the uiscoveries usually credited to Sebastian were in reality made by his father. Under this patent New- foundland was discovered and the coast explored as far south as to the Chesapeake Bay. About the year 1513 he entered the service of Ferdi- nand V. as cartographer, and became a member of the "Council of the New Indies," with the rank of captain and a yearly salary of fifty thousand maravedis. He was one of the cosmog- raphers, who, in November, 1515, met to define the rights of the Spanish crown to the Moluccas, and in 1518 he became pilot-major of the king- dom. In April, 1526, he was appointed to com- mand an expedition to Brazil. He visited the river and adjoining district of La Plata and es- tablished a fort at San Salvador, spending nearly four years in attempting to lay the foundation for a Spanish conquest of South America. Upon his return to Spain in 1530 he was arrested and imprisoned for a year, and then banished to Africa for two years. In 1547 a warrant for the return to England of "one Shabot, a pilot," was issued by Edward VI. This writ Cabot answered in person, hoping to be commissioned to extend his discoveries, and, settling at Bristol, he "was granted a jaension of £166 13.s 4cZ. It was at this period that he made public the explanation to the king of the phenomenon of the variation of the needle. So great was his popularity and influence that in 1550 and again in 1553 Charles V. niade imperious demand of the British sov- ereign that " Sabastian, grand pilot of the em- peror's Indies, then in England, be sent over to Spain as a very necessary man for the emperor, whose servant he was and had a pension of him." These demands Sebastian ignored, preferring to remain in England, where he was given general superA'ision of the maritime affairs of the country, and a renewal of the charter granted by Henry VII. and lost. In reply to the appeals of " certain grave citizens of London for advice as to the best method of removing the stagnation in trade, resulting from the disturbed and warlike state of tlie continent, " he suggested the plan of an ex pedition ''for the searche and disco verie of the northern part of the world by sea, to open a way and passage to Cathay by the northeast." His advice was acted upon, a company called the " Merchant Adventurers " was formed, of which he was made the chief, and an expedition fitted out under his super%nsion. On the first voyage, in 1558, Russia was accidentally discovered, and five years later, trade was opened up with central Asia, across the Caspian sea. In 1553, after the accession of Queen Mary, Charles V. made a final