[s. B. DAWSON] THE VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS 2S9 



No one can regret more than I do the length of the paper, but if there is 

 one duty more than another incumbent on the members of this section it 

 is to see that the histoiy of Canada is built upon a solid foundation. We 

 must not leave it to be elucidated by scholars of other nations. Such ques- 

 tions as these cannot be set at rest by authority, nor by rhetoric. Long 

 and patient investigation is absolutel}^ necessary, and scholars of many 

 nations have cheerfully given it. Many very learned men have joined in 

 the discussion, and their learning has not been wasted, for much concern- 

 ing the Cabots, which was obscure, has been solidly established. It is not 

 erudition which has entangled this controversy, it is assertion and contra- 

 diction without evidence. Myth and legend are well in their places. 

 They are interesting and poetical, but in a question of geographical his- 

 tory, such short cuts to knowledge are inapplicable. 



Note on John Cabot's Pension. 



The Marquess of Dutterin and Ava, in his address at the Cabot com- 

 memoration at Bristol on June 24, 1897, brovight to public notice, for the 

 first time, some original manuscripts of the accounts of the Collectors of 

 Customs at that port, in which the name of John Cabot twice appears. 

 The maniiscripts were found in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey 

 by Mr. Kdwai'd Scott of the British Museum, and he, with the co-opera- 

 tion of Mr. Coote (also of the British Museum), deciphered the crabbed 

 writing into plain Latin, translated the documents into English, and 

 secured their reproduction by the .autotype process. These documents 

 are of much interest, for while they are not absolutely conclusive, they 

 afford a presumption that John Cabot returned alive to England after 

 his second expedition — that is, from the expedition which sailed in the 

 spring of 141)8. It will be remembered that up to October 28, 1498 

 (when William Purchas ceased to be Lord Mtiyor of London), the expe- 

 dition had not returned, and also that no mention of its return has hitherto 

 been found ; nevertheless, Cabot's pension for that year would seem to 

 have been drawn. 



On December 1.3, 1497, in the thirteenth year of his reign, Henry 

 YII. granted, during pleasure, to John Cabot, a pension of £20 per 

 annum, charged upon the King's revenues at Bristol, to date back from 

 Lady Day, or March 25th, the usual commencement of the year at that 

 period. On January 28, 1498, this grant passed the seals. On February 

 22, 1498, another royal order was issued. It set forih that '-Caboot" 

 had been delayed in obtaining payment because the king's officers at 

 Bristol had no funds. The order was, therefore, directed to the Ex- 

 chequer to issue to " Caboot " two tallies for £10 each. TalHes so issued 

 were available for payment of taxes or other moneys due to any public 

 accountant, and when they came to tinal clearance were checked b}^ being 

 placed against the counterstock or other half of the split stick, when the 

 notches would at once be seen to correspond, if no fraud had been com- 

 mitted. 



The accounts of the collectors ran from Michaelmas, September 29, 

 and they have been reproduced in autotype for the twelfth, thirteenth 

 and fourteenth years of the king. The annexed phototype is a facsimile 

 of a few lines of the account in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of 

 Henry VII., or from September 29, 1497, to September 28, 1498. On the 



