coveries. It seems, he had by this time altered his plan, and his intention was now to sail by the south to the East Indies. For this purpose he proceeded to Brazil: but failing in the grand design of his voyage, he shaped his course for St. Domingo and Porto Rico; and, after carrying on some traffic there, returned to England, without much increasing his reputation by this expedition.

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Disappointed, and probably neglected in consequence of his failure, he left his native country, and entered into the service of Spain; in which he rose to the highest rank, and signalized himself in many haz ardous attempts to promote the views of his employers. But fortune frowned upon him once more. tended voyage to the Moluccas through the Straits of Magellan, his men became mutinous, and his project was thereby frustrated. However, he sailed up the rivers Plata and Paraguay, built several forts, and discovered and reduced under the dominion of Spain a rich and fertile tract of country. After spending five years in America, he returned in chagrin to Spain, where he met with a cold reception.

These circumstances, probably, conspired to make him anxious for revisiting his native land; and about the end of the reign of Henry the Eighth, we find him settled again at Bristol.

A spirit of maritime adventure beginning at this time to be diffused through England, in 1552 Cabot was active in a speculation to fit out ships for discovering the northern parts of the globe; and thereby to ex plore new scenes of action, and open fresh channels of commerce. This expedition took place under the patronage of government, and was the first voyage ever made to Russia; a voyage which laid the foundation of the intercourse that we have since maintained

Upon

with that nation to the mutual profit of both. this first success a Russian Company was formed, of which Cabot was constituted governor for life.

After an active life, spent in pursuits honourable to himself and useful to his country and to mankind, he died in a very advanced age, retaining his cheerfulness of temper and urbanity of manners to the last. Though his nautical fame is inferior to that which is justly ascribed to Columbus, his claims as an original discoverer are yet far superior to those of Americus Vesputius; but fortune has given the latter a celebrity which is neither equitable nor just. Thus one man frequently earns the prize of merit which another carries away.

Cabot was the first who noticed the variation of the magnetic needle, so important in the science of navi, gation but this must have occured antecedently to the first voyage of Columbus; as all the historians of his adventurous enterprize agree, that this phenomenon, which has never yet been satisfactorily explained, greatly perplexed and astonished that spirited navigator amidst the unknown seas which he was traversing.

JOHN JEWELL

BISHOP OF SALISBURY.

Born 1522-Died 1571.

From 13th Henry VIII., to 13th Elizabeth. IN purity of manners, integrity of life, and welltempered zeal in defence of the protestant cause, Dr. John Jewell furnishes an amiable example, which deserves to be handed down to posterity as both an incentive and a pattern. His works also on polemical theology, at a time when this species of writing had its utility and its praise, still rank him high among the

champions of religious liberty, and the learned apologists for a separation from the church of Rome.

This eminent divine was descended from an ancient family in Devonshire, and was born at the village of Buden in that county. He received the first rudiments of classical learning under his maternal uncle, a respect. able clergyman; and passing successively through the schools at Branton, South Molton, and Barnstaple, where his progress must have been considerable, though the little incidents of his puerile days are unrecorded, before he had attained the age of fourteen he was entered of Merton college in the university of Oxford.

His first tutor was a man of no literary eminence,

and rather inimical to the doctrines of the Reformation. At the period when the intellectual powers begm to expand, principles, generally sink deep; and had not this promising youth been soon after committed to the care of another gentleman, in every respect the reverse of his former preceptor, it is possible that protestantism might have lost one of its ablest defenders and most exemplary ornaments.

Having, however, imbibed the tenets of the reformed religion, and distinguished himself by his aptitude for learning, and his assiduity in its acquisition, he removed to Corpus Christi college, where he was chosen scholar; and pursued his theological studies with such ardour, that he became almost wholly absorbed by them. It is recorded of him, that he read from four in the morning till ten at night, almost regardless of the calls of nature; by which indefatigable perseverance he acquired a most extensive fund of knowledge, but at the expense of his health; an object of so much importance to maintain and secure, that youth should never overlook its value, either in their thirst for innocent pleasure, or even the laudable ambition of literary acquirements. In conse

quence of neglecting a cold, he contracted a lameness which attended him to the grave; and in other respects he had undermined his constitution before he reached the prime of life.

His abilities, however, were so conspicuous, and his virtues so great, that he commenced tutor with general applause, and initiated many in the doctrines of the Reformation. Being afterwards chosen professor of rhetoric in his college, he read lectures with distinguished reputation, and daily added to his celebrity and his influence. So estimable too was his moral character, that the dean, a rigid papist, used to exclaim, “I should love thee, Jewel!, if thou wert not a Zuinglian. In thy faith I hold thee to be a heretic, but in thy life thou art an angel."

When Edward the Sixth mounted the throne, Mr. Jewell made a public profession of his principles; and contracted an intimate friendship with Peter Martyr, the divinity-professor of the university. On being made bachelor in divinity, he preached an excellent Latin sermon in defence of the protestant doctrine: and sedulously attended to his pastoral duty at Sunningwell in Berks, of which place he was rector; whither he regularly walked every Sunday, notwithstanding his painful lameness.

The short reign of Edward, and the bigotry of his successor Mary, soon exposed Mr. Jewell to all the rage of persecution. The fellows of his own college lost no time in expelling him for heresy; but the university, either out of respect to his abilities, or (as others say) with a design to entrap him, appointed him to draw up and deliver its congratulatory address on the queen's accession. This piece, however, was composed with such felicity of matter and expression, that it not only passed without censure, but was favourably received by all parties.

Unwilling to quit the scene of his honourable labours, he withdrew to Broadgate-hall, now Pembroke college, where he continued his lectures; but popery being reestablished, and his life in danger, he was drawn into a compulsive signature of tenets which his heart and reason abjured. His enemies so well knew the inefficacy of his subscription, that they determined to deliver him up to Bonner, the grand inquisitor: but he avoided their vigilance; and, taking a by-road towards London by night, walked till he was quite exhausted, and obliged to lie down upon the ground. In this situation he was providentially found by a benevolent Swiss, who had formerly been in the service of bishop Lati mer; this man conducted him to the house of a lady, where he met with a hospitable reception, and by whom he was afterwards privately conveyed to London.

The zeal and friendship of sir Nicholas Throgmor ton furnished him with means of reaching the conti nent: where he immediately joined his former associate, Peter Martyr, who had preceded him; and with that learned divine settled first at Strasburgh, and afterwards at Zurich, where a profession of the reformed religion was neither criminal nor dangerous, The society which they kept was distinguished for erudition, and zeal for protestantism; and their situation was not uncomfortable: but, on the joyful news of Elizabeth's accession, Dr. Jewell returned to his native land; where his fame and reputation had suffered no diminution by his voluntary exile, but rather gained an ample increase. consequence of this, he was particularly favoured by the queen; and, soon after his return, appointed one of the sixteen protestant divines to hold a disputation in Westminster-abbey against the champions of popery.

In

The tide of preferment now flowed on apace; and in