other countries the Church can always find
exemption from legislative measures imposed upon her by the civil
authorities, for example, in Italy, Prussia and Russia; but here it is a
situation _de facto_ rather than _de jure_, which the Church tolerates
for the sake of convenience; and these regulations only form part of the
local canon law in a very irregular sense.

Other Countries.

In other countries the episcopal assemblies lay down the local law.
England has its council of Westminster (1852), the United States their
plenary councils of Baltimore (1852, 1866, 1884), without mentioning the
diocesan synods; and the whole of Latin America is ruled by the special
law of its plenary council, held at Rome in 1899. The same is the case
with the Eastern Churches united to the Holy See; following the example
of the famous council of Lebanon for the Maronites, held in 1730, and
that of Zamosc for the Ruthenians, in 1720, these churches, at the
suggestion of Leo XIII., have drawn up in plenary assembly their own
local law: the Syrians at Sciarfa in 1888; the Ruthenians at Leopol in
1891; and a little later, the Copts. The framing of local law will
certainly be more clear and more easy when the general code of canon law
has been published.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For the texts and collections: the dissertations of Dom
Coustant, _De antiquis canonum collectionibus, deque variis
epistolarum Rom. Pont, editionibus_ (Paris, 1721); P. de Marca, _De
veteribus collectionibus canonum_ (Paris, 1681); the brothers Peter
and Jerome Ballerini, _De antiquis tum editis tum ineditis
collectionibus et collectoribus canonum ad Gratianum usque_ (Venice,
1757). This is the best of all these works; it is reproduced in Migne,
_P.L._, vol. 56; C. Seb. Berardi, _De variis sacrorum canonum
collectionibus ante Gratianum_ (Turin, 1752); P. Quesnel, _De codice
canonum Ecclesiae Romanae; de variis fidei libellis in antiquo Rom.
Eccl. codice contentis; de primo usu codicis canonum Dionysii Exigui
in Gallicanis regionibus_ (Paris, 1675; with the critical notes of the
brothers Ballerini, also in Migne, _loc. cit._); and finally, Florent,
_De methodo atque auctoritate collectionis Gratiani_ (Paris, 1679),
and Antonio Agustin, archbishop of Tarragona, _De emendatione
Gratiani_ (Tarragona, 1586); these have all been brought together in
Gallandi, _De vetustis canonum collectionibus dissertationum sylloge_
(Venice, 1778). The mo