ynod, which was to receive appeals
from either clergy or laity. In 1862-1863, another General Synod further
revised and amended the Code of Canons. This revised code enabled the
bishop to appoint a learned and discreet layman to act as his
chancellor, to advise him in legal matters and be his assessor at
diocesan synods. Assistant curates and mission priests were, under
certain restrictions, given seats in diocesan synods. Male communicants
were also permitted to be present at such synods, with a deliberative
but not "decisive" voice; unless in special circumstances the bishop
excluded them. Canon 46 provides that "if any question shall arise as to
the interpretation of this Code of Canons or of any part thereof, the
general principles of canon law shall be alone deemed applicable
thereto." This provision was reenacted in Canon 47 of 1876. Canon 51 of
1890, however, weakens this provision. It enacts that: "The preceding
canons shall in all cases be construed in accordance with the principles
of the civil law of Scotland. Nevertheless, it shall be lawful, in cases
of dispute or difficulty concerning the interpretation of these canons,
to appeal to any generally recognized principles of canon law." The
canons of 1862-1863 also provided for a lay share in the election of
bishops. In 1890 the 32nd canon enacted that the "General Synod" should
thereafter be called the Provincial Synod.

The canon law in Scotland before the 16th century was generally that of
the continent of Europe. The usages of the church were similar to those
in France, and had not the insular character of those in England and
Ireland. The canon law regulating marriage, legitimacy and succession
was taken over by the Scottish secular courts (see ECCLESIASTICAL
JURISDICTION) and survived as part of the common law of the land almost
unimpaired. Thus, the courts recognize marriages by _verba de
praesenti_ or by _verba de futuro cum copula_--in this last matter
following a decree of Gregory IX.--and also legitimation _per subsequens
matrimonium_. But though one of the _fontes juris Scotiae_, canon law
never was of itself authoritative in Scotland. In the canons of her
national provincial councils (at whose yearly meetings representatives
attended on behalf of the king) that country possessed a canon law of
her own, which was recognized by the parliament and the popes, and
enforced in the courts of law. Much of it, no doubt, was borrowed from
the _Corpus juris