On the 5th of May, 1496, Henry VII., king of England, commissioned JOHN CABOT, of Venice, to make discoveries in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and to take possession of all countries which he might discover. Cabot was a brave, adventurous man, who had been a sailor from his boyhood, and was now a wealthy merchant of Bristol. Five ships were fitted out, and in April, 1497, the fleet left Bristol. On the morning of the 24th of June, the gloomy shore of Labrador was seen. _This was the real discovery of the American continent._ Fourteen months elapsed before Columbus reached the coast of Guiana, and more than two years before Vespucci saw the main land of South America. 2. Cabot explored the coast of the country for several hundred miles. He supposed that the land was a part of the dominions of the Khan of Tartary; but finding no inhabitants, he went on shore and took possession in the name of the English king. No man forgets his native land; by the side of the flag of his adopted country Cabot set up the banner of the _republic_ of Venice--emblem of _another republic_ which should one day rule from sea to sea. 3. As soon as he had satisfied himself of the extent of the country, Cabot sailed for England. On the voyage he twice saw the coast of Newfoundland. After an absence of three months he reached Bristol, and was greeted with enthusiasm. The town had holiday, and the people were wild about the great discovery. The king gave him money; new ships were fitted out, and a new commission was signed in February, 1498. But after the date of this patent the name of John Cabot disappears from history. [Illustration: Sebastian Cabot.] [Sidenote: Sebastian Cabot.] 4. Sebastian, son of John Cabot, inherited his father's genius. He had already been to the New World on the first voyage, and now he took up his father's work with all the fervor of youth. The very fleet which had been equipped for John Cabot was intrusted to Sebastian. The object in view was the discovery of a northwest passage to the Indies. 5. The voyage was made in the spring of 1498. Far to the north the icebergs compelled Sebastian to change his course. It was July, and the sun scarcely set at midnight. Seals were seen, and the ships plowed through such shoals of codfish as had never before been heard of. Labrador was again seen. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine were next explored. The whole coast of New England and of the Middle States was now, for the first time since the days of the Norsemen, traced by Europeans. Nor did Cabot desist from this work, which was bestowing the title of discovery on the crown of England, until he reached Cape Hatteras. 6. The future career of Cabot was a strange one. Henry VII. was slow to reward the discoverer. When that monarch died, the king of Spain enticed Cabot away from England and made him pilot-major of the Spanish navy. He lived to be very old, but the place and circumstances of his death are unknown.