the service of God as their lot or portion;
others that they were the portion of the Lord; while others again, with
more reason as Bingham (_Orig. Eccl._ lib. i. cap. 5, sec. 9) seems to
think, maintain that the word has reference to the choosing by lot, as
in early ages was the case of those to whom public offices were to be
entrusted.

In the primitive times of the church the term canon was used as
synonymous with clerk, from the names of all the persons in the service
of any church having been inscribed on a roll, or [Greek: kanon], whence
they were termed _canonici_, a fact which shows that the practice of the
Roman Catholic Church of including all persons of all ranks in the
service of the church, ordained or unordained, in the term clerks, or
clergy, is at least in conformity with the practice of antiquity. Thus,
too, in English ecclesiastical law, a clerk was any one who had been
admitted to the ecclesiastical state, and had taken the tonsure. The
application of the word in this sense gradually underwent a change, and
"clerk" became more especially the term applied to those in minor
orders, while those in "major" or "holy" orders were designated in full
"clerks in holy orders," which in English law still remains the
designation of clergymen of the Established Church. After the
Reformation the word "clerk" was still further extended to include
laymen who performed duties in cathedrals, churches, &c., e.g. the
choirmen, who were designated "lay clerks." Of these lay clerks or
choirmen there was always one whose duty it was to be constantly present
at every service, to sing or say the responses as the leader or
representative of the laity. His duties were gradually enlarged to
include the care of the church and precincts, assisting at baptisms,
marriages, &c., and he thus became the precursor of the later _parish
clerk_. In a somewhat similar sense we find _bible clerk, singing
clerk_, &c. The use of the word "clerk" to denote a person ordained to
the ministry is now mainly legal or formal.

The word also developed in a different sense. In medieval times the
pursuit of letters and general learning was confined to the clergy, and
as they were practically the only persons who could read and write all
notarial and secretarial work was discharged by them, so that in time
the word was used with special reference to secretaries, notaries,
accountants or even mere penmen. This special meaning developed into
what is now