A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

CAMERONIANS. A party of Presbyterians in Scotland, so called from Archibald Cameron, a field preacher, who was the first who separated from communion with the other Presbyterians, who were not of his opinion concerning the ministers that had accepted of his indulgence from King Charles II. He considered the acceptance of the indulgence to be a countenancing of the supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs. The other Presbyterians wished the controversy to drop, till it could be determined by a general assembly; but the Cameronians, through a transport of zeal, separated from them, and some who associated with them ran into excess of frenzy; declaring that King Charles II. had forfeited his right to the crown and society of the Church, by his breaking the solemn league and covenant, which was the terms on which he received the former; and by his vicious life, which, de jure, they said, excluded him from the latter; they pretended both to dethrone and excommunicate him, and for that purpose made an insurrection, but were soon suppressed. Since the accession of King William III. to the crown, they complied with and zealously served the government; and as regards their former differences in Church matters, they were also laid aside, the preachers of their party having submitted to the General Assembly of the Scottish establishment in 1690, of which they still continue members.

CAMISARDS. The popular name of the Protestants who rose in the Cevennes against the oppression of Louis XIV. of France. There are various etymologies of the word; the most probable is that which derives it from camisa or chemise, in allusion to the blouse or smock-frock which was generally worn.

CANCELLI. (See Chancel.)

CANDLES. (See Lights on the Altar.)

CANDLEMAS DAY. A name formerly given to the festival of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, observed in our Church, February 2. In the mediæval Church, this day was remarkable for the number of lighted candles which were borne about in processions, and placed in churches, in memory of him who, in the words of Simeon’s song at the Purification, came to be “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel.” From this custom the name is supposed to be derived.

CANON. The laws of the Church are called canons, the word canon being derived from a Greek word, which signifies a rule or measure.

Since the Church is a society of Christians, and since every society must have authority to prescribe rules and laws for the government of its own members, it must necessarily follow that the Church has this power; for otherwise there would be great disorder amongst Christians. This power was exercised in the Church before the Roman empire became Christian, as appears by those ancient canons which were made before that time, and which are mentioned in the writings of the primitive fathers; by the apostolical canons, which, though not made by the apostles themselves, are nevertheless of great antiquity; and by various canons which were made in councils held in the second century, which were not directory alone, but binding, and to be observed by the clergy, under the penalty of deprivation; and by the laity, under pain of excommunication. Under this title we will mention: 1. Foreign canons. 2. Such as have been received here. 3. The power of making new canons.

(I.) As to the first, Constantine the Great, the first emperor who gave Christians some respite from persecution, caused general councils and national and provincial synods to be assembled in his dominions; where, amongst other things, rules were made for the government of the Church, which were called canons; the substance of which was at first collected out of the Scriptures, or the ancient writings of the fathers. We will not trouble the reader with a long history of provincial constitutions, synodals, glossaries, sentences of popes, summaries, and rescripts, from which the canon law has, by degrees, been compiled, since the days of that emperor; it is sufficient to state, that they were collected by Ivo, bishop of Chartres, about the 14th year of our King Henry I., in three volumes, which are commonly called the Decrees. These decrees, corrected by Gratian, a Benedictine monk, were published in England in the reign of King Stephen; and the reason of the publication at that time might be to decide the quarrel between Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry, bishop of Winchester, the king’s brother, who being made a legate, the archbishop looked upon it as a diminution of his power, and an encroachment upon that privilege which he had as legatus natus. (See Legate.) These decrees were received by the clergy of the Western Church, but never by those of the East, which is one reason why their priests continued to marry, which the clergy of the West were, by these decrees, forbidden to do.

The next, in order of time, were the Decretals (see Decretals,) which are canonical epistles written by popes alone, or assisted by some cardinals, to determine any controversy; and of these there are likewise three volumes. The first volume of these Decretals was compiled by Raimundus Barcinus, who was chaplain to Gregory IX., and were published by him about the 14th year of King Henry III., A. D. 1226. This was appointed to be read in all schools, and was to be taken for law in all ecclesiastical courts. About sixty years afterwards, Simon, a monk of Walden, began to read these laws in the university of Cambridge, and the next year in Oxford. The second volume was collected and arranged by Boniface VIII., and published about the 27th year of our King Edward I., A. D. 1298. The third volume was collected by Clement V., and published in the Council of Vienna, and likewise here, in the 2nd year of Edward II., A. D. 1308, and from him were called Clementines.

These decretals were never received in England, or anywhere else, but only in the pope’s dominions, which are therefore called by canonists Patriæ obedientiæ, as particularly the canon concerning the investiture of bishops by a lay hand. John Andreas, a celebrated canonist in the fourteenth century, wrote a commentary on these decretals, which he entitled Novellæ, from a very beautiful daughter he had of that name, whom he bred a scholar: the father being a professor of law at Bologna, had instructed his daughter so well in it, that she assisted him in reading lectures to his scholars, and, therefore, to perpetuate her memory, he gave that book the title of Novellæ.