Roman Catholic Theology (Vol. ii., p. 279.).—I beg to refer M.Y.A.H. to the Church History of England by Hugh Tootle, better known by his pseudonyme of Charles Dod (3 vols. folio, Brussels, 1737-42). A very valuable edition of this important work was commenced by the Rev. M.A. Tierney; but as the last volume (the fifth) was published so long ago as 1843, and no symptom of any other appears, I presume that this extremely curious book has, for some reason or other, been abandoned. Perhaps the well-known jealousy of the censor may have interfered.
A useful manual of Catholic bibliography exists in the Thesaurus Librorum Rei Catholicæ, 8vo. Würzburg, 1850.
G.R.
Modum Promissionis (Vol. ii., p. 279.).—Without the context of the passage adduced by C.W.B., it is impossible to speak positively as to its precise signification. I think, however, the phrase is equivalent to "formula professionis monasticæ." Promissio frequently occurs in this sense, as may be seen by referring to Ducange (s.v.).
C.H.
Bacon Family (Vol. ii., p. 247.).—The name of Bacon has been considered to be of Norman origin, arising from some fief so called.—See Roman de Rose, vol. ii. p. 269.
X.P.M.
Execution of Charles I. and Earl of Stair (Vol. ii., pp. 72. 140. 158.).—MATFELONENSIS speaks too fast when he says that "no mention occurs of the Earl of Stair." I distinctly recollect reading in an old life of the Earl of Stair an account of his having been sent for to visit a mysterious person of extreme old age, who stated that he was the earl's ancestor (grandfather or great-grandfather, but whether paternal or not I do not remember), and that he had been the executioner of Charles I.
T.N.
[The story to which our correspondent alludes is, probably, that quoted in Cecil's (Hone's) Sixty Curious and Authentic Narratives, pp. 138-140., from the Recreations of a Man of Feeling. The peerage and the pedigree of the Stair family alike prove that there is little foundation for this ingenious fiction.]