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Page 12
II. Conclusive as the silence of the history of France is against
the assertion that the Verrazzano voyage and discovery were made by
direction of her king, the life of Francis is a complete denial of
it. He was released from his captivity early in 1526, and lived and
reigned over France for more than twenty years afterwards, active in
promoting the greatness of his kingdom; encouraging science and art
among his people, and winning the title of father of letters; awake
to whatever concerned his royal rights and prerogatives, and
maintaining them with might and vigor abroad as well as at home; and
willing and able to obtain and occupy new countries inhabited by the
heathen. That he was not insensible to the advantages to his crown
and realm of colonies in America, and not without the ability and
disposition to prosecute discoveries there for the purpose of
settlement, is proven by his actually sending out the expeditions of
Jacques Cartier in 1534 and 1535 and Cartier and Roberval in 1541-2,
for the purpose of exploring and developing the region beyond the
gulf of St. Lawrence, through the icy way of the straits of Belle
Isle, in latitude 52 Degrees N.
Yet he never recognized by word or deed the voyage or discovery of
Verrazzano. If any one in France could have known of them, surely it
would have been he who had sent forth the expedition. If Verrazzano
were dead, when Francis returned to his kingdom, and the letter had
miscarried and never come to his hands, the knowledge of the
discovery still would have existed in the bosom of fifty living
witnesses, who composed the crew, according to the story; and
through them the results of the voyage would have been communicated
to the king. But Verrazzano was not dead, at that time, but was
alive, as will appear hereafter, in 1527. There is good reason to
believe that he was well known then to the royal advisers. One of
the first acts of the king after his return from Spain was to create
Phillipe Chabot, Sieur de Brion, the admiral of France, whereby that
nobleman became invested on the 23d of March, 1526, with the charge
of the royal marine. [Footnote: Pere Anselme, IV, 57l.] A document
has recently been brought to light from among the manuscripts in the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, purporting to be an agreement made
by Chabot in his official capacity, with Jean Ango, of Dieppe, and
other persons, including Jehan de Varesam, for a voyage to the
Indies with two vessels belonging to the king, and one to Ango, to
be conducted by Varesam, as master pilot, for the purpose ostensibly
of bringing bask a cargo of spices. [Footnote: M. Margry.
Navigations Francaises, p. 194. See Appendix.] This instrument has
no date, but on its face belongs to Chabot's administration of the
admiralty, and must, therefore, have been drawn up in the year 1526
or that of Verrazzano's death, in 1527. If it be genuine, it proves
not only that Verrazzano was alive in that period, but was known to
the admiral, and, consequently, that any services which he had
previously rendered must have been in the possession of the crown.
In either case, however, whether Verrazzano were dead or alive when
Francis resumed his royal functions, there is no reason why the
discovery, if it had ever taken place, should not have been known by
him.
In sending forth the expeditions of Jacques Cartier and the joint
expeditions of Cartier and Roberval, Francis not only showed his
interest in the discovery of new countries, but he acted in perfect
ignorance of the Verrazzano discovery. If it were known to him, upon
what rational theory would he have attempted new voyages of
discovery in a cold and inhospitable region, on an uncertain search,
instead of developing what had been found for him? What could he
have expected to have accomplished by the new expeditions that had
not been already fully effected by Verrazzano? And, especially after
the way to Canada was found out by Cartier, what was there more
inviting in that unproductive quarter than was promised in the
temperate climate, fertile soil, and mineral lands, which the
Florentine had already discovered in his name, that he should have
sent Cartier and Roberval to settle and conquer the newer land?
[Footnote: The letters issued to Roberval have been recently
published, for the first time, by M. Harrisse, from the archives of
France, in his Notes pour servir a l'histoire de la Nouvelle France,
p. 244, et seq. (Paris, 1872.) They are dated the 16th of February
1540. Cartier's commission for the same service is dated in October,
1540. Charlevoix, misled probably by the letters granted by Henry IV
to the Marquis de la Roche in 1598, in which the letters to Roberval
are partially recited, asserts that Roberval is styled in them lord
of Norumbega. The letters now published show that he was in error;
and that France limited the authority of Roberval to the countries
west of the gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada and Ochelaga), so far as
any are named or described, and made no reference to Norumbega as a
title of Roberval or otherwise. As the year commenced at Easter the
date of Roberval's commission was in fact after that of Cartier.]
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