This time Henry VII. listened. Two small ships were fitted out at
Bristol, crossed the Atlantic, discovered Newfoundland, coasted down to
Florida looking for a passage to Cathay, but could not find one. The
elder Cabot died; the younger came home. The expedition failed, and no
interest had been roused.
With the accession of Henry VIII. a new era had opened--a new era in
many senses. Printing was coming into use--Erasmus and his companions
were shaking Europe with the new learning, Copernican astronomy was
changing the level disk of the earth into a revolving globe, and turning
dizzy the thoughts of mankind. Imagination was on the stretch. The
reality of things was assuming proportions vaster than fancy had dreamt,
and unfastening established belief on a thousand sides. The young Henry
was welcomed by Erasmus as likely to be the glory of the age that was
opening. He was young, brilliant, cultivated, and ambitious. To what
might he not aspire under the new conditions! Henry VIII. was all that,
but he was cautious and looked about him. Europe was full of wars in
which he was likely to be entangled. His father had left the treasury
well furnished. The young King, like a wise man, turned his first
attention to the broad ditch, as he called the British Channel, which
formed the natural defence of the realm.
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