_Origin of Evil._--Where shall I find this problem fully discussed? A. A. D. [In Abp. King's _Essay on the Origin of Evil_, translated by Bishop Law, which has passed through several editions.] _Nolo Episcopari._--Why is this phrase applied to a _feigned reluctance_ in accepting an offer? A. A. D. [From a note in Blackstone's _Commentaries_, vol. i. p. 380., edit. Christian, we learn that "it is a prevailing vulgar error, that every bishop, before he accepts the bishoprick which is offered him, affects a maiden coyness, and answers _Nolo episcopari_. The origin of these words and the notion I have not been able to discover; the bishops certainly give no such refusal at present, and I am inclined to think they never did at any time in this country."] _Authors of the Homilies._--Presuming that the authors of the Church Homilies are well known, their writings having been adopted by our church, and set forth and enjoined by authority to be read in all churches, I fear I am only showing great ignorance by asking where I can meet with a list of the writers of those discourses, distinguishing which of the Homilies were written by each author; and if the writers of some of them be unknown, then I should be glad to have the names of such as are known, and the particular Homilies which were written by them. G. R. C. [Carwithen, in his _History of the Church of England_, vol. i. p. 221. note _g_, speaking of the first book of Homilies, says, "These Homilies were the work of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Hopkins, and Becon, one of Cranmer's chaplains. There is little but internal evidence by which the author of any particular Homily can be ascertained. The Homily 'Of the Salvation of Mankind,' being the third as they are now placed, was ascribed by Gardiner to Cranmer; and Cranmer never denied that it was his. The eleventh, in three parts, is by Becon; and it is printed among his works published by himself in three volumes folio. It is in the second volume." Consult also Le Bas' _Life of Cranmer_, vol. i. p. 284., and Soames' _Hist. of the Reformation_, vol. iii. p. 56.] _Family of Hotham of Yorkshire._--The family of Hotham, or Hothum, of Boudeby in Yorkshire, acquired large possessions in Kilkenny at an early period, apparently in consequence of an intermarriage with the Le Despencers, lords of a third of the liberty of Kilkenny. Can any reader of "NOTES AND QUERIES" supply me with a pedigree of that family, especially as connecting therewith Sir John Hotham, Bishop of Ossory, 1779-1782? Any particulars respecting the life of that prelate will also be thankfully acknowledged: he is said to have been a member of an old Yorkshire family. (Cotton's _Fasti Ecclesiæ Hibernicæ_, vol. ii. p. 288.) JAMES GRAVES. Kilkenny, Oct. 11. 1851.