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was soon regularly attached to the editorial staff, which connection was abruptly ended on his re- fusal, from conscientious motives, to write a theat- rical criticism. Once more he became a clerk and accountant, this time for a cotton-dealer, and re- tained his place until 1879, when the sudden death of the head of the house threw him out of employ- ment. But in the mean time his sketches of Cre- ole life, published in " Scribner's Monthly " (now the " Century ") proved so successful that he de- termined to give all his time to literature. He has opened a new field in fiction, introducing to the outside world a phase of American life hitherto unsuspected save by those that have seen it. His rendering of the Creole dialect, with its French and Spanish variants, is full of originality, and his keen powers of observation have enabled him to depict the social life of the Louisiana lowlands, Creole and negro, so vividly that he has given serious offence to those whose portraits he has drawn. He has been the means through his publications of effecting reforms in the contract system of convict labor in the southern states. He has successfully entered the lecture-field, reading selections from his own writings, and unaffectedly singing to northern audiences the strange, wild melodies current among the French-speaking negroes of the lower Missis- sippi. Mr. Cable's published works are " Old Creole Days " (New York, 1879) ; " The Grandissimes " (1880); "Madame Delphine" (1881); "Dr. Sevier" (Boston, 1883) ; " The Creoles of Louisiana " (New York, 1884) ; " The Silent South " (1885). He has also prepared for the government elaborate reports on the condition of the inhabitants of the Teehe and Attakapas country in western Louisiana.

CABOT, George, statesman, b. in Salem, Mass., 3 Dec, 1751 ; d. in Boston, 18 April, 1823. He re- ceived a classical education and entered Harvard, but at the end of the sophomore year left his class and went to sea as a cabin-boy. He was master of a ship before he was of age, and made several suc- cessful voyages. At twenty-five he was chosen to the Massachusetts provincial congress. In 1788 he became a member of the state convention that adopted the federal constitution. He represented Massachusetts in the U. S. senate from 1791 till 1796, and was the fii'st choice of Mr. Adams for secretary of the navy when that ofiice was created in 1798. He was a personal friend of Washington and Hamilton, was an able coadjutor of the latter in the formation of his financial system, and one of the best authorities of the time on political econo- my ; for this reason, mainly, he was chosen presi- dent of the Hartford convention (15 Dec, 1814, to 3 Jan., 1815). See " Plistory of the Hartford Con- vention," by Theodore Dwight (Boston, 1833).

CABOT, John (Italian.Giovanni Caboto, or Zuan Call)ot, or Caboto, Venetian dialect), discov- erer of the mainland of North America. The time and place of his birth are not positively known. His name first occurs in the Venetian archives, where it appears he was accorded the rights of a citizen on 28 March, 1476. after the required fif- teen years' residence. It is known that in 1495 he was, and probably had been for years, an English subject, residing at Bristol. Under date of 5 March, 1496, a patent was issued by authority of the king, Henry VII., licensing Cabot and his three sons, or either of them, their heirs or assigns, to search for islands, provinces, or regions, in the eastern, western, or northern seas ; and, as vassals of the king, to occupy the territories that might be found, with an exclusive right to their com- merce, on paying the king a fifth part of all profits. Under this authority, Cabot, with his son Sebas- tian, sailed in May, 1497, and held a westward course for an estimated distance of 700 leagues. On 24 June land was sighted, which he believed to be part of the dominions of the Grand Cham, but which was really the coast of Labrador, This shore he coasted for 300 leagues, finding no evi- dences of human habitation, and then set sail for home, reaching Bristol in August. At this time, owing mainly to the discoveries of Columbus, the theory that the earth is a sphere had gained gen- eral acceptance among advanced thinkers, and it was believed that the shortest route to the Indies lay westward. Cabot's discovery therefore caused much excitement among the adventurous spirits of the day, and on 3 Feb., 1498, the king issued a special charter, granting to John Cabot authority to impress six English ships at the rates then cur- rent for vessels required by the royal navy, to en- list crews, and to follow up his discoveries of the preceding year. Under this charter Cabot made no voyages. It has erroneously been called a sec- ond charter, but did not in any way set aside that of 1496, which still remained valid. It is, how- ever, the last record of his career, and it is uncer- tain when or where he died. He M^as probably a Venetian by birth, as he is named in the charter of 1498 " Kabotto, Venecian," and his wife was a Venetian. Had there been any possibility of prov- ing him an Englishman, the claim would undoubt- edly have been pressed. The authorities concern- ing his voyages are : 1. A letter from Lorenzo Pas- quaiigo, a merchant residing in London, to his brother in Venice, bearing date 23 Aug., 1497 ; 2. The legend on the map of Sebastian Cabot, cited by Hakluyt and giving 24 June, 1497, as the date of discovery ; 3. An Oxford copy of Sebastian's map, on which the date was 1494, with several other au- thorities giving that year, instead of 1497, as the correct date. But the only official documents — the two charters of Henry VII. — agree in fixing the date as first given. Much light has been shed upon the life of Cabot by the researches of Rawdon Brown, of England. — His son, Sebastian, dis- coverer, was born proba- bly in Venice between 1475 and 1477; d. in London, subsequent to 1557. Both places and dates are un- certain. Rich- ard Eden says that, accord- ing to Cabot's own story, he was born in Bristol and carried to Venice at four years of age ;

but Contarini, the Venetian ambassador at the court of Charles V., quotes Cabot in his diary as claiming Venetian birth and English education. It is believed, but without positive proof, that he accompanied his father on the voyage to the coast of Labrador. In May, 1498, presumably under authority of the royal charter granted to John Cabot, he sailed from Bristol in command of two ships manned by volunteers, in search of a north- west passage. He went so far north that, in the early part of July, daylight was almost continuous. The sea, however, was so full of icebergs that he