CARO, ELME MARIE (1826-1887), French philosopher, was born on the 4th of March 1826 at Poitiers. His father, a professor of philosophy, gave him an excellent education at the Stanislas College and the École Normale, where he graduated in 1848. After being professor of philosophy at several provincial universities, he received the degree of doctor, and came to Paris in 1858 as master of conferences at the École Normale. In 1861 he became inspector of the Academy of Paris, in 1864 professor of philosophy to the Faculty of Letters, and in 1874 a member of the French Academy. He married Pauline Cassin, the authoress of the _Péché de Madeleine_ and other well-known novels. He died in Paris on the 13th of July 1887. In his philosophy he was mainly concerned to defend Christianity against modern Positivism. The philosophy of Cousin influenced him strongly, but his strength lay in exposition and criticism rather than in original thought. Besides important contributions to _La France_ and the _Revue des deux mondes_, he wrote _Le Mysticisme au XVIII^e siècle_ (1852-1854), _L'Idee de Dieu_ (1864), _Le Matérialisme et la science_ (1868), _Le Pessimisme au XIX^e siècle_ (1878), _Jours d'épreuves_ (1872), _M. Littré et le positivisme_ (1883), _George Sand_ (1887), _Mélanges et portraits_ (1888), _La Philosophie de Goethe_ (2nd ed., 1880).
CAROL (O. Fr. _carole_), a hymn of praise, especially such as is sung at Christmas in the open air. The origin of the word is obscure. Diez suggests that the word is derived from _chorus_. Others ally it with _corolla_, a garland, circle or coronet,[1] the earliest sense of the word being apparently "a ring" or "circle," "a ring dance." Stonehenge, often called the Giants' Dance, was also frequently known as the Carol; thus Harding, _Chron._ lxx. x., "Within (the) Giauntes Carole, that so they hight, The (Stone hengles) that nowe so named been." The Celtic forms, often cited as giving the origin of the word, are derivatives of the English or French. The crib set up in the churches at Christmas was the centre of a dance, and some of the most famous of Latin Christmas hymns were written to dance tunes. These songs were called _Wiegenlieder_ in German, _noéls_ in French, and carols in English. They were originally modelled on the songs written to accompany the choric dance, which were probably the starting-point of the lyric poetry of the Germanic peoples. Strictly speaking, therefore, the word should be applied to lyrics written to dance measures; in common acceptation it is applied to the songs written for the Christmas festival. Carolling, i.e. the combined exercise of dance and song, found its way from pagan ritual into the Christian church, and the clergy, however averse they might be from heathen survivals, had to content themselves in this, as in many other cases, with limiting the practice. The third council of Toledo (589) forbade dancing in the churches on the vigils of saints' days, and secular dances in church were forbidden by the council of Auxerre in the next year. Even as late as 1209 it was necessary for the council of Avignon to forbid theatrical dances and secular songs in churches. Religious dances persisted longest on Shrove Tuesday, and a castanet dance by the choristers round the lectern is permitted three times a year in the cathedral of Seville. The Christmas festival, which synchronized with and superseded the Latin and Teutonic feasts of the winter solstice, lent itself especially to gaiety. The "crib" of the Saviour was set up in the churches or in private houses, in the traditional setting of the stable, with earthen figures of the Holy Family, the ox and the ass; and carols were sung and danced around it. The "rocking of the cradle" was the occasion of dialogue between Joseph and Mary which was not without elements of comedy, and gave rise to lullabies such as the well-known German _Dormi fili_. The adoration of the shepherds and the visit of the Magi also provided matter for dramatic and choral representation. The singing of the carol has survived in places where the institution of the "crib," said to have been originated by St Francis of Assisi to inculcate the doctrine of the incarnation, has been long in disuse, but in the West Riding of Yorkshire the children who go round carol-singing still carry "milly-boxes" (My Lady boxes) containing figures which represent the Virgin and Child.