VOLUME XXIV
P. 340, last line: For “113” read “13.”
VOLUME XXV
P. 44, line 14: After “date” insert “of August 14.”
P. 74, note 11: Penas de Cámara may be rendered, in a general way, “fines of the exchequer;” but it should be remembered that cámara, as used in this connection, means any royal tribunal, executive or judicial—whether the Council of the Indias (which was often referred to as el Consejo y Cámara de Indias), or the Audiencia or the council of a colony, or the tribunal of accounts of any establishment, or even the municipal council, or council under an alcalde or alcalde-mayor. Penas de cámara in the laws of the Indies had, I think, especial reference to the various penalties provided, especially against officials for any non-performance of duty, by the Council of the Indias; and there was a special board of accountants for the fund of these fines, in connection with that Council.
In regard to the phrase contador de resultas, I have obtained (through the kindness of Fenton R. McCreery, secretary of the American Embassy at Mexico City) some further information, furnished by Señor José Algara, Under-secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mexico. He thinks that the above phrase is equivalent to glosador, [that is, to one who makes comments or explanations, or who “designates any amount in order to call attention to the examination or proof of the account to which the item belongs” (Domínguez)], or to segundo contador [“a second accountant”]. Señor Algara states that the references to the accountants for the colonies in the laws of the Indias (book viii, titles i and ii) did not define the character and duties of the various officers, because that had already been done in the Nueva Recopilación (title ii, law v, no. 1). He also cites from Nicolás M. Serrano’s Diccionario universal the following definition of contador de resultus: “Any one of those persons in the first grade of the chief accountancy [Contaduría Mayor de Cuentas], which corresponds to those officials employed in former times by the comptroller-in-chief [contador mayor] who were occupied in computing or transcribing the amounts in the account-books of the obligations which are incurred by those persons who administer the royal revenues by lease or by other title.”—James A. LeRoy (in a private letter).
P. 99, line 3 from end of text: For “thirty-five” read “thirty-eight.” The same correction should be made on p. 5, line 5 from end.
P. 146, line 10 from end: “Agreement” is not a quite satisfactory rendering for the Spanish composición, which has a technical meaning in regard to the possession of lands; see note on this subject in VOL. LII pp. 296, 297. “Composition” will probably be the best rendering, provided that this technical meaning is understood in such use of the word. James A. LeRoy says of this, in a private letter: “ ‘Arrangement’ also conveys somewhat the same idea—that is, the rearrangement of their rights, or the reconciliation of rights prescribed in this decree. Composición de derechos means, quite closely rendered, ‘reconciliation of rights,’ according to my recollection of its use in certain contracts which I have seen here in Mexico. It gives the idea of arbitration, to some degree, of rights more or less in conflict which are reconciled by agreement.”