CAN 



CANOE, the name given to the boats and vessels 

 of savage tribes. A particular account of the ditln - 

 cut canoes will be found in the description of the 

 different countries where they are used. () 



LANON-LAw, is that body of law which was 

 at different times, and in different portions, promul- 

 gated under the authority of the see of Rome, for 

 regulating the consciences, and fixing the property, as 

 wdl civil as ecclesiastical, of all the inhabitants of 

 Ii Christendom. It is composed partly of the 

 justest principles of equity, and partly of absurd ca- 

 nons and rescripts on the subtlest points of casuistry, 

 and the uncontroulable supremacy of the church over 

 secular authority. 



The collected form in which the canon-law now 

 appears, under the title of Curjuixjni /.v canonici, con- 

 cists, 1st, Of a selection, called the Decrdum, of the 

 opinions of the fathers, popes, and church-councils, 

 made by Gratian, a Benedictine monk, about the 

 middle of the twelfth century, in imitation, as it 

 would seem, of the Roman pandects, which are a se- 

 lection of the opinions of their most eminent lawyers ; 

 2dly, Of the Decrctalia, or rescripts of the popes, 

 collected by Gregory IX.- sometime after Gratian's 

 collection, and digested into five books ; 3dly, Of the 

 other decretals collected by Boniface VIII. called 

 the sixth book of Decretals; 4thly, Of those of Pope 

 Clement V. Pope John XXII. and of certain other 

 popes, called Extravagajilcs, because they are over 

 and besides the six books of the Decretals. All these 

 different collections were revised by Pope Gregory 

 XIII., and published by him as the Corpus juris ca- 

 nonici, or body of the canon law. 



Before the Reformation, the authority of this bo- 

 dy of law was, of course, very great in most countries 

 of Christendom. Some governments, however, espe- 

 cially those of France and England, appear to have 

 always entertained a just spirit of jealousy against its 

 encroaching authority, in matters of civil property ; 

 and, unless when the monarch happened to be more 

 than usually bigotted and submissive, their resistance 

 was not unsuccessful. In all other respects it ap- 

 pears, even in these countries, to have hid all the au- 

 thority of law. Since the Reformation, it has gra- 

 dually fallen into neglect. Even among those na- 

 tions who still adhere to the Romish persuasion, its 

 authority is for the most part confined to questions 

 of church doctrine and discipline ; while, in Protes- 

 tant countries, it is only listened to as respectable ar- 

 gument on questions of tithes, patronages, and a few 

 other points of ecclesiastical right, and only in so far 

 as not inconsistent with Protestant principles. See 

 Prasfatio Greg. XIII. in Corp. Jur. Canon. ; Encyc. 

 Meutodifttt Art. JURISPRUDENCE, voce, Droit Ca- 

 nonitjue ; Blac'.. (.'omm. &c. (j. B. ) 



CANOPUS, the name of an ancient city of E- 

 gypt, which was situated nearly on the spot where 

 the modern Aboukir now stands. The columns of 

 beautiful granite, which were found among the ruins 

 of this once celebrated city, and the other splendid 

 fragments of its ancient grandeur, have been recent- 

 ly employed by the people of Aboukir for repairing 

 the d-kesthat shut out the sea. (p) 



CANOSA, the Canusium of the ancients, is a 

 town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples. The an- 

 cient city was situated in a plain between the river 

 Ofanto (the Aujidus of the ancients) and the hills, 



VOL. V. PART II. 



CAN 



and appears to have occupied a great extent of ground. 

 The fragments of aqueducts, amphitheatres, tombs, 

 baths, military columns, and two triumphal arches, 

 still display the ancient grandeur of Canusium. The 

 modern town stands upon the spot formerly occupied 

 by the old citadel, and contains no buildings that are 

 particularly deserving of notice. The cathedral, or 

 church of Sabinus, which is a Gothic edifice, and is 

 supposed to have been built in the 6th century, is 

 particularly remarkable for six vcrde antico columns, 

 which are considered as uncommonly large and fine. 

 Under an octagonal cupola, in a court near the ca- 

 thedral, is the mausoleum of the Chevalier Bohemund, 

 who is immortalised in Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. 

 Count Stolberg remarks, that the bread of Canosa is 

 still stony as it was in the time of the Romans, a 

 circumstance which he attributes to the softness of 

 the mill-stones which are employed in grinding it. 

 Number of houses, 300. See Stolberg's Travels in 

 Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Sicily ; and Swin- 

 burne's Travels in the Two Sicilies, vol. ii. p. 321. (o) 



CANOUGE, or CANOGE, a town of Hindostan, 

 situated about two miles from the banks of the Gan- 

 ges, and supposed to be the Palibothra of the an- 

 cients, from the extent, magnificence, and grandeur, 

 which are ascribed to it in the Indian histories. Its 

 walls are said to have been 100 miles in circivnference; 

 and, in the sixth century, it is supposed to have 

 contained 30,000 shops in which betel nut was sold, 

 60,000 bands of musicians, and 3000 jewellers. 



There is now only one single street remaining in 

 Canouge, and even this is no indication of the former 

 greatness of the place. A canal, which has been cut 

 from the Ganges, makes a bend towards the town, 

 and brings the water close to the citadel, which is 

 placed upon a steep eminence. No building of any 

 importance now remains, and the brickwalls, which 

 do not seem to be very ancient, are hastening to de- 

 cay. Two mausoleums, of the same magnitude, and 

 of handsome architecture, are erected to two mu 

 man saints, on an eminence covered with trees, from 

 which there is a line view of the plain, covered with 

 ruined temples and tombs. " Tamarind trees, and 

 mango topes," says Lord Valentia, " were scattered 

 every where ; and the whitened tomb of an English 

 officer, who was drowned here, raised its pointed 

 head above this scene of desolation. On the inside 

 of the tomb were inscribed several names and dates, 

 with quotations not unappropriate. We next visited 

 another tomb on the most lofty point. It consists 

 of a quadrangle and mosque, similar in miniature to 

 the one at Juanpore. Several pillars in the mosque 

 are formed of two pieces, taken from a more ancient 

 building, the rude base of one of which being placed 

 uppermost, serves for a capital. A great many little 

 images were lying under the trees, but they were too 

 much broken to be interesting. In the centre was a 

 well now filled up, where large sums of money are 

 said to be secreted." For nearly eight miles, the 

 mixture of small pieces of brick, and the vestiges of 

 buildings, attest the former extent of this place. East 

 Long. 80 13', North Lat. 27 3'. See Rennel's 

 Memoir; Valentia's Travels, vol. i. pp. 187, 188; 

 and CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. (*) 



CANSIERA, a genus of plants of the class Te- 

 trandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 132. 



CANTAL, one of the departments of Franc, 

 3 c 



