[778] Harrisse, nos. 371, 372.
[779] Harrisse, no. 374.
[780] I am inclined to consider this desire of finding a new and shorter passage to Cathay a flimsy excuse for premeditated descents upon the Spanish conquests, and shall give my reasons in the proper place.
[781] [See Vol. III., chaps. iv. and v.—Ed.]
[782] Wahlebocht, bay of the foreigners.
[783] [See Vol. III., chap. v.; also, later in the present chapter.—Ed.]
[784] [See this Vol., chap. ix.—Ed.]
[785] The schout-fiscal was a member of the Council, but had no vote. He attended the sessions of the Council to give his opinion upon any financial or judicial question; and, if required, acted as public prosecutor.
[786] [This was the origin of the New York Historical Society, which held its first organized meeting in January, 1805, and occupied its present building for the first time in 1857. (Historical Magazine, i. 23, 369; Public Libraries of the United States [1876], i. 924.) It was at this dedication that Dr. John W. Francis delivered his genial and anecdotal discourse on New York in the last Fifty Years.
Some good supplemental work has been done by the local historical societies, like the Long Island (Historical Magazine, viii. 187), Ulster County, and Buffalo societies.—Ed.]