.April 3. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUEEIRS. 



323 



.Willis, Esq., that though Mr. John Le Neve has the 

 xama and credit of the Fasti Ecclesice Anglicancc, yet 

 the real compiler of that most useful book was Bishop 

 JCennett." The Bodleian contains a copy of this work, 

 "with MS. additions by Bishop Tanner.] 



Meaning of Crow. — At page 437. of Lloyd's 

 Statesme/i and Favourites of England is a letter 

 from Queen Elizabeth addressed to the mother of 

 Sir John Norris, Avritten upon the occasion of the 

 death of the said Sir John, Avhich she commences 

 thus : " My own Crow." This appears to me a 

 very curious mode of address, particularly from a 

 queen to a subject, and seems to mark a more 

 than ordinary intimacy between the correspon- 

 dents, for it has been suggested to me that it is 

 still used as a term of endearment, in the same way 

 as " duck," &c. are used : I have, however, never 

 before met with it myself, and have sent you a 

 i^Tote of it now, not only because I consider it 

 usurious that the queen should thus write, but be- 

 <!ause I hope that some of your correspondents 

 may be able to suggest how this word came to be 

 thu::! used. John Branfill Hakrison. 



Maidstone. 



[Queen Elizabeth had pet-names, or nick-names, for 

 all the people of her court. Burghley was her " Spirit," 

 Mountjoy her " Kitchen-maid ;" and so of many others.] 



PRESBYTERIAN OATH. 



(Vol. v., p. 274.) 



No such oath as that given in page 274. of " N. 

 & Q." is taken by Presbyterian ministers. Im- 

 mediately previous to the ordination of a minister 

 of the church of Scotland, the Moderator — that is, 

 the member of Presbytery who presides upon the 

 occasion — calls upon him to answer certain ques- 

 tions, acknowledging the Scriptures to be the word 

 of Go J, tlie doctrines of the Confession of Faith to 

 be the trutli of God ; disowning certain doctrinal 

 ■errors ; declaring his belief that the Presbyterian 

 government and discipline of this church are 

 founded on the word of God, and agreeable 

 thereto ; expressing the views with which he 

 enters the ministry, and his resolution faithfully 

 to discharge its duties. Having answered these 

 questions satisfactorily, he is set aside to the work 

 of the ministry by prayer and imposition of the 

 hands of the Presbytery (the local Ecclesiastical 

 Court). 



At the conclusion of the service he is called on 

 to sign what is called the Formula, an abstract of 

 the first portion of the questions put to him. It 

 is as follows : — 



" I, A. B., do hereby declare, that I do sincerely own 



and believe the whole doctrine contained in'the Confes- 

 sion of Faith, appro ven by the General Assemblies of 

 this national church, and ratified by law in the year 

 1690, and frequently confirmed by divers acts of par- 

 liament since that time, to be the truths of God ; and 

 I do own the same as the confession of my faith : as 

 likewise, I do own the purity of worship presently au- 

 thorised and practised in this church, and also the 

 Presbyterian government and discipline now so happily 

 established therein ; which doctrine, worship, and 

 church government, I am persuaded, are founded upon 

 the word of God, and agreeable thereto: and I promise 

 that, through the grace of God, I shall firmly and con- 

 stantly adhere to the same ; and to the utmost of my 

 power, shall, in my station, assert, maintain, and defend 

 the said doctrine, worship, discipline, and government 

 of this church by Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Pro- 

 vincial Synods, and General Assemblies; and that I 

 shall in my practice conform myself to the said wor- 

 ship, and submit to the said discipline and government, 

 and never endeavour directly or indirectly the prejudice 

 or subversion of the same : and I promise that I shall 

 follow no divisive course from the present establish- 

 ment in this church : renouncing all doctrines, tenets, 

 and opinions whatsoever, contrary to or inconsistent 

 with the said doctrine, worship, discipline, or govern- 

 ment of this church. 



« Signed, A. B." 



No oath is taken, and no obligation come under 

 but the above. In the Confession of Faith, under 

 the head Church, the supremacy of the Pope is 

 denied ; but neither in that, the Questions, or the 

 Formula, is there any other reference to any other 

 form of church government. H. 



THE OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND. 



(Vol. v., p. 145.) 



As there has been, from time to time, much 

 written in your very interesting publication on 

 the subject of the " Old Countess of Desmond," 

 it may, perhaps, not be unacceptable that I should • 

 give you a description of an old family picture in 

 my possession, said to be of that person, to which 

 allusion has been made by some of your correspon- 

 dents, especially by A. B. R., in your paper of 

 Saturday, 14th February. The painting in ques- 

 tion has been for a great number of years in the 

 possession of my family, and from my earliest 

 childhood I have heard it designated as that of the 

 old " Countess of Desmond," although there is no 

 mention of her name thereon. My father for a 

 long time thought it was a work of Rembrandt ; 

 but on a close examination there was discovered 

 the name of " G. Douw," low at the left-hand side; 

 and since the picture has been cleaned, the signa? 

 ture has become more distinct. It is painted on a 

 board of dark-coloured oak, of eleven inches by 

 eight and a half. The portrait, which reaches to 

 below the bust, and represents a person sitting, is 



