ey truly were his dis-coveries: in that he did un-cover them
so effectually that they became known clearly, and thereafter
remained known clearly, to the world.

II

Because of his full accomplishment of what others essayed and only
partially accomplished, Hudson's name is the best known--excepting
only that of Columbus--of all the names of explorers by land and
sea. From Purchas's time downward it has headed the list of Arctic
discoverers; in every history of America it has a leading place; on
every map of North America it thrice is written large; here in New
York, which owes its founding to his exploring voyage, it is
uttered--as we refer to the river, the county, the city, the
street, the railroad, bearing it--a thousand times a day.

And yet, in despite of this familiarity with his name, our certain
knowledge of Hudson's life is limited to a period (April 19,
1607-June 22,1611) of little more than four years. Of that period,
during which he did the work that has made him famous, we have a
partial record--much of it under his own hand--that certainly is
authentic in its general outlines until it reaches the culminating
tragedy. At the very last, where we most want the clear truth, we
have only the one-sided account presented by his murderers: and
murderers, being at odds with moral conventions generally, are not,
as a rule, models of veracity. And so it has fallen out that what
we know about the end of Hudson's life, save that it ended foully,
is as uncertain as the facts of the earlier and larger part of his
life are obscure.

An American investigator, the late Gen. John Meredith Read, has
gone farthest in unearthing facts which enlighten this obscurity;
but with no better result than to establish certain strong
probabilities as to Hudson's ancestry and antecedents. By General
Read's showing, the Henry Hudson mentioned by Hakluyt as one of the
charter members (February 6, 1554-5) of the Muscovy Company,
possibly was our navigator's grandfather. He was a freeman of
London, a member of the Skinners Company, and sometime an alderman.
He died in December, 1555, according to Stow, "of the late hote
burning feuers, whereof died many olde persons, so that in London
died seven Aldermen in the space of tenne monthes." They gave that
departed worthy a very noble funeral! Henry Machyn, who had charge
of it, describes it in his delightful "Diary" in these terms: "The
xx day of December was bered at Sant Donstones