Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4

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AUTHORITIES.--Sir W. Anson, _Law and Custom of the Constitution_ (1896); W.
Bagehot, _The English Constitution_; M.T. Blauvelt, _The Development of
Cabinet Government in England_ (New York, 1902); E. Boutmy, _The English
Constitution_ (trans. I.M. Eaden, 1891); A. Lawrence Lowell, _The
Government of England_ (1908), part I.; A.V. Dicey, _Law of the
Constitution_ (1902); Sir T. Erskine May, _Constitutional History of
England_ (1863-1865); H. Hallam, _Constitutional History of England_; W.E.
Hearn, _The Government of England_ (1867); S. Low, _The Governance of
England_ (1904); W. Stubbs, _Constitutional History of England_; Hannis
Taylor, _Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_ (Boston,
1889-1900); [v.04 p.0920] A. Todd, _Parliamentary Government in England_
(1867-1869); much valuable information will also be found in such works as
W.E. Gladstone's _Gleanings_; the third earl of Malmesbury's _Memoirs of an
ex-Minister_ (1884-1885); Greville's _Memoirs_; Sir A. West's
_Recollections_, 1832-1886 (1889), &c.

CABINET NOIR, the name given in France to the office where the letters of
suspected persons were opened and read by public officials before being
forwarded to their destination. This practice had been in vogue since the
establishment of posts, and was frequently used by the ministers of Louis
XIII. and Louis XIV.; but it was not until the reign of Louis XV. that a
separate office for this purpose was created. This was called the _cabinet
du secret des postes_, or more popularly the _cabinet noir_. Although
declaimed against at the time of the Revolution, it was used both by the
revolutionary leaders and by Napoleon. The _cabinet noir_ has now
disappeared, but the right to open letters in cases of emergency appears
still to be retained by the French government; and a similar right is
occasionally exercised in England under the direction of a secretary of
state, and, indeed, in all civilized countries. In England this power was
frequently employed during the 18th century and was confirmed by the Post
Office Act of 1837; its most notorious use being, perhaps, the opening of
Mazzini's letters in 1844.

CABLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1844- ) American author, was born in New Orleans,
Louisiana, on the 12th of October 1844. At the age of fourteen he entered a
mercantile establishment as a clerk; joined the Confederate army (4th
Mississippi Cavalry) at the age of nineteen; at the close of the war
engaged in civil engineering, and in newspaper work in New Orleans; and
first became known in literature by sketches and stories of old
French-American life in that city. These were first published in
_Scribner's Monthly_, and were collected in book form in 1879, under the
title of _Old Creole Days_. The characteristics of the series--of which the
novelette _Madame Delphine_ (1881) is virtually a part--are neatness of
touch, sympathetic accuracy of description of people and places, and a
constant combination of gentle pathos with quiet humour. These shorter
tales were followed by the novels _The Grandissimes_ (1880), _Dr Sevier_
(1883) and _Bonaventure_ (1888), of which the first dealt with Creole life
in Louisiana a hundred years ago, while the second was related to the
period of the Civil War of 1861-65. _Dr Sevier_, on the whole, is to be
accounted Cable's masterpiece, its character of Narcisse combining nearly
all the qualities which have given him his place in American literature as
an artist and a social chronicler. In this, as in nearly all of his
stories, he makes much use of the soft French-English dialect of Louisiana.
He does not confine himself to New Orleans, laying many of his scenes, as
in the short story _Belles Demoiselles Plantation_, in the marshy lowlands
towards the mouth of the Mississippi. Cable was the leader in the
noteworthy literary movement which has influenced nearly all southern
writers since the war of 1861--a movement of which the chief importance lay
in the determination to portray local scenes, characters and historical
episodes with accuracy instead of merely imaginative romanticism, and to
interest readers by fidelity and sympathy in the portrayal of things well
known to the authors. Other writings by Cable have dealt with various
problems of race and politics in the southern states during and after the
"reconstruction period" following the Civil War; while in _The Creoles of
Louisiana_ (1884) he presented a history of that folk from the time of its
appearance as a social and military factor. His dispassionate treatment of
his theme in this volume and its predecessors gave increasing offence to
sensitive Creoles and their sympathizers, and in 1886 Cable removed to
Northampton, Massachusetts. At one time he edited a magazine in
Northampton, and afterwards conducted the monthly _Current Literature_,
published in New York. His _Collected Works_ were published in a uniform
issue in 5 vols. (New York, 1898). Among his later volumes are _The
Cavalier_ (1901), _Bylow Hill_ (1902), and _Kincaid's Battery_ (1908).

CABLE (from Late Lat. _capulum_, a halter, from _capere_, to take hold of),
a large rope or chain, used generally with ships, but often employed for
other purposes; the term "cable" is also used by analogy in minor varieties
of similar engineering or other attachments, and in the case of "electric
cables" for the submarine wires (see TELEGRAPH) by which telegraphic
messages are transmitted.[1]

The cable by which a ship rides at her anchor is now made of iron; prior to
1811 only hempen cables were supplied to ships of the British navy, a
first-rate's complement on the East Indian station being eleven; the
largest was 25 in. (equal to 21/4 in. iron cable) and weighed 6 tons. In
1811, iron cables were supplied to stationary ships; their superiority over
hempen ones was manifest, as they were less liable to foul or to be cut by
rocks, or to be injured by enemy's shot. Iron cables are also handier and
cleaner, an offensive odour being exhaled from dirty hempen cables, when
unbent and stowed inboard. The first patent for iron cables was by Phillip
White in 1634; twisted links were suggested in 1813 by Captain Brown (who
afterwards, in conjunction with Brown, Lenox & Co., planned the Brighton
chain pier in 1823); and studs were introduced in 1816. Hempen cables are
not now supplied to ships, having been superseded by steel wire hawsers.
The length of a hempen cable is 101 fathoms, and a cable's length, as a
standard of measurement, usually placed on charts, is assumed to be 100
fathoms or 600 ft. The sizes, number and lengths of cables supplied to
ships of the British navy are given in the official publication, the
_Ship's Establishment_; cables for merchant ships are regulated by Lloyds,
and are tested according to the Anchors and Chain Cables Act 1899.

In manufacturing chain cables, the bars are cut to the required length of
link, at an angle for forming the welds and, after heating, are bent by
machinery to the form of a link and welded by smiths, each link being
inserted in the previous one before welding. Cables of less than 11/4 in. are
welded at the crown, there not being sufficient room for a side weld;
experience has shown that the latter method is preferable and it is
employed in making larger sized cables. In 1898 steel studs were introduced
instead of cast iron ones, the latter having a tendency to work loose, but
the practice is not universal. After testing, the licensed tester must
place on every five fathoms of cable a distinctive mark which also
indicates the testing establishments; the stamp or die employed must be
approved by the Board of Trade. The iron used in the construction, also the
testing, of mooring chains and cables for the London Trinity House
Corporation are subject to more stringent regulations.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Stud-link Chain.]

Cables for the British navy and mercantile marine are supplied in 121/2
fathom and 15 fathom lengths respectively, connected together by "joining
shackles", D (fig. 1). Each length is "marked" by pieces of iron wire being
twisted round the studs of the links; the wire is placed on the first studs
on each side of the first shackle, on the second studs on each side of the
second shackle, and so on; thus the number of lengths of cable out is
clearly indicated. For instance, if the wire is on the sixth [v.04 p.0921]
studs on each side of the shackle, it indicates that six lengths or 75
fathoms of cable are out. In joining the lengths together, the round end of
the shackle is placed towards the anchor. The end links of each length
(C.C.) are made without studs, in order to take the shackle; but as studs
increase the strength of a link, in a studless or open link the iron is of
greater diameter. The next links (B.B.) have to be enlarged, in order to
take the increased size of the links C.C. In the joining shackle (D), the
pin is oval, its greater diameter being in the direction of the strain. The
pin of a shackle, which attaches the cable to the anchor (called an "anchor
shackle", to distinguish it from a joining shackle) projects and is secured
by a forelock; but since any projection in a joining shackle would be
liable to be injured when the cable is running out or when passing around a
capstan, the pins are made as shown at D, and are secured by a small pin d.
This small pin is kept from coming out by being made a little short, and
lead pellets are driven in at either end to fill up the holes in the
shackle, which are made with a groove, so that as the pellets are driven in
they expand or dovetail, keeping the small pin in its place.[2]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Mooring Swivel.]

The cables are stowed in chain lockers, the inboard ends being secured by a
"slip" (in the mercantile marine the cable is often shackled or lashed to
the kelson); the slip prevents the cable's inner end from passing
overboard, and also enables the cable to be "slipped", or let go, in case
of necessity. In the British navy, swivel pieces are fitted in the first
and last lengths of cable, to avoid and, if required, to take out turns in
a cable, caused by a ship swinging round when at anchor. With a ship moored
with two anchors, the cables are secured to a mooring swivel (fig. 2),
which prevents a "foul hawse", _i.e._ the cables being entwined round each
other. When mooring, unmooring, and as may be necessary, cables are
temporarily secured by "slips" shackled to eye or ring bolts in the deck
(see ANCHOR). The cable is hove up by either a capstan or windlass (see
CAPSTAN) actuated by steam, electricity or manual power. Ships in the
British navy usually ride by the compressor, the cable holder being used
for checking the cable running out. When a ship has been given the
necessary cable, the cable holder is eased up and the compressor "bowsed
to"; in a heavy sea, a turn, or if necessary two turns, are taken round the
"bitts," a strong iron structure placed between the hawse and navel
("deck") pipes. A single turn of cable is often taken round the bitts when
anchoring in deep water. Small vessels of the mercantile marine ride by
turns around the windlass; in larger or more modern vessels fitted with a
steam windlass, the friction brakes take the strain, aided when required by
the bitts, compressor or controller in bad weather.

(J. W. D.)

[1] The word "cable" is a various reading for "camel" in the Biblical
phrase, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" of
Matt. xix. 24, Mark x. 25, and Luke xviii. 25, mentioned as early as Cyril
of Alexandria (5th cent.); and it was adopted by Sir John Cheke and other
16th century and later English writers. The reading [Greek: kamilos] for
[Greek: kamelos] is found in several late cursive MSS. Cheyne, in the
_Ency. Biblica_, ascribes it to a non-Semitic scribe, and regards [Greek:
kamelos] as correct. (See under CAMEL.)

[2] The dimensions marked in the figure are those for 1-in. chains, and
signify so many diameters of the iron of the common links; thus forming a
scale for all sizes.

CABLE MOULDING, in architecture, the term given to a convex moulding carved
in imitation of a rope or cord, and used to decorate the mouldings of the
Romanesque style in England, France and Spain. The word "cabling" by itself
indicates a convex circular moulding sunk in the concave fluting of a
classic column, and rising about one-third of the height of the shaft.

CABOCHE, SIMON. Simon Lecoustellier, called "Caboche", a skinner of the
Paris Boucherie, played an important part in the Parisian riots of 1413. He
had relations with John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, since 1411, and was
prominent in the seditious disturbances which broke out in April and May,
following on the _Etats_ of February 1413. In April he stirred the people
to the point of revolt, and was among the first to enter the hotel of the
dauphin. When the butchers had made themselves masters of Paris, Caboche
became bailiff (_huissier d'armes_) and warden of the bridge of Charenton.
Upon the publication of the great ordinance of May 26th, he used all his
efforts to prevent conciliation between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs.
After the fall of the _Cabochien_ party on the 4th of August he fled to
Burgundy in order to escape from royal justice. Doubtless he returned to
Paris in 1418 with the Burgundians.

See Colville, _Les Cabochiens et l'ordonnance de 1413_ (Paris, 1888).

CABOT, GEORGE (1751-1823), American political leader, was born in Salem,
Massachusetts, on the 16th of December 1751. He studied at Harvard from
1766 to 1768, when he went to sea as a cabin boy. He gradually became a
ship-owner and a successful merchant, retiring from business in 1794.
Throughout his life he was much interested in politics, and though his
temperamental indolence and his aversion for public life often prevented
his accepting office, he exercised, as a contributor to the press and
through his friendships, a powerful political influence, especially in New
England. He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of
1770-1780, of the state senate in 1782-1783, of the convention which in
1788 ratified for Massachusetts the Federal Constitution, and from 1791 to
1796 of the United States Senate, in which, besides serving on various
important committees, he became recognized as an authority on economic and
commercial matters. Among the bills introduced by him in the Senate was the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Upon the establishment of the navy department
in 1798, he was appointed and confirmed as its secretary, but he never
performed the duties of the office, and was soon replaced by Benjamin
Stoddert (1751-1813), actually though not nominally the first secretary of
the department. In 1814-1815 Cabot was the president of the Hartford
Convention, and as such was then and afterwards acrimoniously attacked by
the Republicans throughout the country. He died in Boston on the 18th of
April 1823. In politics he was a staunch Federalist, and with Fisher Ames,
Timothy Pickering and Theophilus Parsons (all of whom lived in Essex
county, Massachusetts) was classed as a member of the "Essex Junto",--a
wing of the party and not a formal organization. A fervent advocate of a
strong centralized government, he did much to secure the ratification by
Massachusetts of the Federal Constitution, and after the overturn of the
Federalist by the Republican party, he wrote (1804): "We are democratic
altogether, and I hold democracy in its natural operation to be a
government of the worst".

See Henry Cabot Lodge's _Life and Letters of George Cabot_ (Boston, 1877).

CABOT, JOHN [GIOVANNI CABOTO] (1450-1498), Italian navigator and discoverer
of North America, was born in Genoa, but in 1461 went to live in Venice, of
which he became a naturalized citizen in 1476. During one of his trading
voyages to the eastern Mediterranean, Cabot paid a visit to Mecca, then the
greatest mart in the world for the exchange of the goods of the East for
those of the West. On inquiring whence came the spices, perfumes, silks and
precious stones bartered there in great quantities, Cabot learned that they
were brought by caravan from the north-eastern parts of farther Asia. Being
versed in a knowledge of the sphere, it occurred to him that it would be
shorter and quicker to bring these goods to Europe straight across the
western ocean. First of all, however, a way would have to be found across
this ocean from Europe to Asia. Full of this idea, Cabot, about the year
1484, removed with his family to London. His plans were in course of time
made known to [v.04 p.0922] the leading merchants of Bristol, from which
port an extensive trade was carried on already with Iceland. It was decided
that an attempt should be made to reach the island of Brazil or that of the
Seven Cities, placed on medieval maps to the west of Ireland, and that
these should form the first halting-places on the route to Asia by the
west.

To find these islands vessels were despatched from Bristol during several
years, but all in vain. No land of any sort could be seen. Affairs were in
this state when in the summer of 1493 news reached England that another
Genoese, Christopher Columbus, had set sail westward from Spain and had
reached the Indies. Cabot and his friends at once determined to forgo
further search for the islands and to push straight on to Asia. With this
end in view application was made to the king for formal letters patent,
which were not issued until March 5, 1496. By these Henry VII. granted to
his "well-beloved John Cabot, citizen of Venice, to Lewis, Sebastian and
Santius,[1] sonnes of the said John, full and free authority, leave and
power upon theyr own proper costs and charges, to seeke out, discover and
finde whatsoever isles, countries, regions or provinces of the heathen and
infidels, which before this time have been unknown to all Christians".
Merchandise from the countries visited was to be entered at Bristol free of
duty, but one-fifth of the net gains was to go to the king.

Armed with these powers Cabot set sail from Bristol on Tuesday the 2nd of
May 1497, on board a ship called the "Mathew" manned by eighteen men.
Rounding Ireland they headed first north and then west. During several
weeks they were forced by variable winds to keep an irregular course,
although steadily towards the west. At length, after being fifty-two days
at sea, at five o'clock on Saturday morning, June 24, they reached the
northern extremity of Cape Breton Island. The royal banner was unfurled,
and in solemn form Cabot took possession of the country in the name of King
Henry VII. The soil being found fertile and the climate temperate, Cabot
was convinced he had reached the north-eastern coast of Asia, whence came
the silks and precious stones he had seen at Mecca. Cape North was named
Cape Discovery, and as the day was the festival of St John the Baptist, St
Paul Island, which lies opposite, was called the island of St John.

Having taken on board wood and water, preparations were made to return home
as quickly as possible. Sailing north, Cabot named Cape Ray, St George's
Cape, and christened St Pierre and Miquelon, which then with Langley formed
three separate islands, the Trinity group. Hereabout they met great schools
of cod, quantities of which were caught by the sailors merely by lowering
baskets into the water. Cape Race, the last land seen, was named England's
Cape.

The return voyage was made without difficulty, since the prevailing winds
in the North Atlantic are westerly, and on Sunday, the 6th of August, the
"Mathew" dropped anchor once more in Bristol harbour. Cabot hastened to
Court, and on Thursday the 10th of August received from the king L10 for
having "found the new isle". Cabot reported that 700 leagues beyond Ireland
he had reached the country of the Grand Khan. Although both silk and
brazil-wood could be obtained there, he intended on his next voyage to
follow the coast southward as far as Cipangu or Japan, then placed near the
equator. Once Cipangu had been reached London would become a greater centre
for spices than Alexandria. Henry VII. was delighted, and besides granting
Cabot a pension of L20 promised him in the spring a fleet of ten ships with
which to sail to Cipangu.

On the 3rd of February 1498, fresh letters patent were issued, whereby
Cabot was empowered to "take at his pleasure VI. englisshe shippes and
theym convey and lede to the londe and iles of late founde by the seid
John". Henry VII. himself also advanced considerable sums of money to
various members of the expedition. As success seemed assured, it was
expected the returns would be high.

In the spring Cabot visited Lisbon and Seville, to secure the services of
men who had sailed along the African coast with Cam and Diaz or to the
Indies with Columbus. At Lisbon he met a certain Joao Fernandes, called
Llavrador, who about the year 1492 appears to have made his way from
Iceland to Greenland. Cabot, on learning from Fernandes that part of Asia,
as they supposed Greenland to be, lay so near Iceland, determined to return
by way of this country. On reaching Bristol he laid his plans accordingly.
Early in May the expedition, which consisted of two ships and 300 men, left
Bristol. Several vessels in the habit of trading to Iceland accompanied
them. Off Ireland a storm forced one of these to return, but the rest of
the fleet proceeded on its way along the parallel of 58 deg.. Each day the
ships were carried northward by the Gulf Stream. Early in June Cabot
reached the east coast of Greenland, and as Fernandes was the first who had
told him of this country he named it the Labrador's Land.

In the hope of finding a passage Cabot proceeded northward along the coast.
As he advanced, the cold became more intense and the icebergs thicker and
larger. It was also noticed that the land trended eastward. As a result on
the 11th of June in latitude 67 deg. 30' the crews mutinied and refused to
proceed farther in that direction. Cabot had no alternative but to put his
ships about and look for a passage towards the south. Rounding Cape
Farewell he explored the southern coast of Greenland and then made his way
a certain distance up the west coast. Here again his progress was checked
by icebergs, whereupon a course was set towards the west. Crossing Davis
Strait Cabot reached our modern Baffin Land in 66 deg.. Judging this to be the
Asiatic mainland, he set off southward in search of Cipangu. South of
Hudson Strait a little bartering was done with the Indians, but these could
offer nothing in exchange but furs. Our strait of Belle Isle was mistaken
for an ordinary bay, and Newfoundland was regarded by Cabot as the main
shore itself. Rounding Cape Race he visited once more the region explored
in the previous summer, and then proceeded to follow the coast of our Nova
Scotia and New England in search of Cipangu. He made his way as far south
as the thirty-eighth parallel, when the absence of all signs of eastern
civilization and the low state of his stores forced him to abandon all hope
of reaching Cipangu on this voyage. Accordingly the ships were put about
and a course set for England, where they arrived safely late in the autumn
of 1498. Not long after his return John Cabot died.

His son, SEBASTIAN CABOT (1476-1557),[2] is not independently heard of
until May 1512, when he was paid twenty shillings "for making a carde of
Gascoigne and Guyenne", whither he accompanied the English army sent that
year by Henry VIII. to aid his father-in-law Ferdinand of Aragon against
the French. Since Ferdinand and his daughter Joanna were contemplating the
dispatch of an expedition from Santander to explore Newfoundland, Sebastian
was questioned about this coast by the king's councillors. As a result
Ferdinand summoned him in September 1512 to Logrono, and on the 30th of
October appointed him a captain in the navy at a salary of 50,000 maravedis
a year. A letter was also written to the Spanish ambassador in England to
help Cabot and his family to return to Spain, with the result that in March
1514 he was again back at Court discussing with Ferdinand the proposed
expedition to Newfoundland. Preparations were made for him to set sail in
March 1516; but the death of the king in January of that year put an end to
the undertaking. His services were retained by Charles V., and on the 5th
of February 1518 Cabot was named Pilot Major and official examiner of
pilots.

In the winter of 1520-1521 Sebastian Cabot returned to England [v.04
p.0923] and while there was offered by Wolsey the command of five vessels
which Henry VIII. intended to despatch to Newfoundland. Being reproached by
a fellow Venetian with having done nothing for his own country, Cabot
refused, and on reaching Spain entered into secret negotiations with the
Council of Ten at Venice. It was agreed that as soon as an opportunity
offered Cabot should come to Venice and lay his plans before the Signiory.
The conference of Badajoz took up his time in 1524, and on the 4th of March
1525 he was appointed commander of an expedition fitted out at Seville "to
discover the Moluccas, Tarsis, Ophir, Cipango and Cathay."

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