CAN'ON, a word of various significa tions, of which we can only enumerate the principal.
1. In cathedral and collegiate churches there are canons who perform some of the services, and are possessed of certain rev enues connected with them. These are, strictly speaking, residentiary canons : foreign canons are those to whom col legiate revenues are assigned without the exaction of any duty.
2. The laws and ordinances of ecclesi astical councils are called canons.
3. The canon of Scripture signifies the authorized and received catalogue of the sacred books. The canon of the Old Testament, as received by the Catholics, differs from that of the Protestant church es in regarding as inspired those books which they reject under the term Apoc rypha. The catalogue received by the Jews themselves, which we adopt, was first enlarged by the Council of Carthage to the extent in which it is held by our opponents, and that decision was formally confirmed by the Council of Trent. In
the canon of the New Testament, how ever, the agreement of Christian churches may be considered unanimous. There exist a series of enumerations of sacred books of the latter covenant in the writ ings of the first roar centuries, the gene ral agreement of which, and the satisfac tory reasons which can be assigned in most eases of omission—there are no additions—distinctly mark the universal ity of the judgment of the early churches in this matter.—In music, a perpetual fugue. This original method of writing this was on one line, with marks thereon, to show' where the parts that imitate were to begin and end. This, however, was what the Italians more particularly call canone chiuso, (shut) or canone in corpo.