CARSTENS CARTERET. 



71 



Hie prince in his expedition, and always remained 

 about his person, both at home and abroad. During 

 this reign, he was the chief agent between the church 

 of Scotland and the court, and was very instrumental 

 in the establishment of the presbytery, to which Wil- 

 liam was averse. On the death of William, he was 

 no longer employed on public business ; but Anne 

 continued him her chaplain-royal, and made him 

 principal of the university of Edinburgh. When the 

 union of the two kingdoms was agitated, he took a 

 decided part in its favour. He did not long survive 

 this event, dying in 1715, at the age of sixty-six. The 

 memory of Carstairs is, for the most part, revered 

 by his countrymen as that of an enlightened patriot ; 

 and few men of active power and influence liave 

 steered between parties more beneficially and ably. 



CARSTENS, ASMUS JACOB, a distinguished pain- 

 ter, born at St Jurgen, near Sleswic, in 1754, died at 

 Rome in 1798. He studied at Copenhagen, where 

 he produced his first picture the Death of *Eschy- 

 lus. In 1783, he set out for Rome ; but, after hav- 

 ing seen some works of Julio Romani and Leonardo 

 da Vinci, was obliged to return to Germany, from 

 want of means, and ignorance of the Italian lan- 

 guage. In Lubec, he lived almost five years by 

 painting likenesses. A piece, containing more than 

 200 figures the Fall of the Angels procured him 

 the place of a professor in the academy at Berlin. 

 In 1792, he went to Rome. His picture of Mega- 

 font was compared to the productions of Raphael 

 and Michael Angelo. His subjects were almost all 

 taken from Homer, Pindar, Sophocles, ^Eschylus, 

 Shakspeare, and Ossian. In Carstens' works, we 

 find that effort to attain correctness of form and out- 

 line, gracefulness of attitude, and loftiness and vi- 

 gour of expression, by which the works of the an- 

 cients are distinguished ; but they frequently exhibit 

 a certain harshness, arising from too close imitation. 

 He was often defective in anatomy and perspective, 

 and, having begun late to paint in oil, was unac- 

 quainted with the secrets of colouring. See Fernow. 



CARTE, THOMAS, an English historian, was born 

 at Dunmoor, Warwickshire, in 1686. He was ad- 

 mitted at University college, Oxford, in 1698, and 

 was afterwards incorporated at Cambridge, where lie 

 took his degree of M. A. in 1706. His first publica- 

 tion was entitled the 7mA Massacre set in a trite 

 Light, Sfc. Incurring suspicions during the rebellion 

 of 1715, a warrant was issued for his apprehension, 

 which he eluded by concealment in the house of a 

 clergyman at Coleshill. He subsequently acted as 

 secretary to bishop Atterbury ; and, as it was sup- 

 posed that he was concerned hi the conspiracy im- 

 puted to that intriguing prelate, he was charged with 

 high treason, and a reward of 1000 was ottered for 

 his apprehension. He was again successful in mak- 

 ing his escape, and, reaching France, he resided 

 there several years under the name of Philips. Hav- 

 ing obtained various introductions to persons of in- 

 fluence and learning, he obtained free access to the 

 principal libraries, and employed himself in collect- 

 ing materials for an English edition of the History of 

 Thuanus. At length, queen Caroline, the liber.il 

 patroness of literary merit of every party, procured 

 leave for his return to England. His important work, 

 the Life of James Duke of Ormond, was published 

 in 3 vols. folio, 1735-6. This work gamed him great 

 reputation, especially with the tory party, and led 

 him to meditate a general history of England, as a 

 counterbalance to the tendency of that of Rapin de 

 Thoyras, which the tones charged with error and 

 partiality. In 1744, he was arrested, under a suspen- 

 sion of the habeas corpus act, and examined, on a 

 suspicion of being employed by the Pretender. No- 

 thing, however, appearing against him, he was dis- 



charged. The first volume of his history, in folio, 

 concluded with the death of king John, and might 

 have been very well received, had not the author 

 materially injured the credit of his work, and his own 

 reputation as a man of sense, by the unnecessary in- 

 sertion of a note, containing the ridiculous story of 

 the cure of one Christopher Lovel, who went from 

 Somersetshire to Paris to be touched for the king's 

 evil by the Pretender. Still he proceeded with his 

 work, and published two more volumes, in 1750 and 

 1752 ; the fourth, which brought down the history 

 to 1654, not appearing until after his death. The cha- 

 racter of this work is deservedly very high for useful 

 and elaborate research, for which qualities it has 

 risen greatly in esteem, since the obligations of Hume 

 to it have been rendered apparent. In point of style, 

 it is mean ; and the prejudices of the author, who is 

 utterly destitute of the philosophical impartiality re- 

 quisite for an historian, are everywhere conspicuous : 

 but its fidelity and exactness, with regard to facts, 

 and the intimate knowledge of original authors dis- 

 played by the writer, will always render it valuable. 

 Mr Carte died in April, 1754. He is the author of 

 several works besides those already mentioned. He 

 was a man of indefatigable industry, cheerful and en- 

 tertaining in conversation, but very slovenly and un- 

 gainly in his appearance. 



CARTEL ; an agreement for the delivery of pri- 

 soners or deserters: also, a written challenge to a 

 duel. Cartel-Ship; a ship commissioned, hi time of 

 war, to exchange prisoners ; also to carry any pro- 

 posal between hostile powers. She must carry no 

 cargo, ammunition, or implements of war, except a 

 single gun for signals. 



CARTER, ELIZABETH, an English lady of great 

 learning, was the daughter of doctor Nicholas Car- 

 ter, a clergyman in Kent, and was born in 1717. 

 She was educated by her father, and soon became 

 mistress of Latin, Greek, French, and German ; to 

 which she afterwards added Italian, Spanish, Portu- 

 guese, Hebrew, and even Arabic. Several of her 

 poetical attempts appeared in the Gentleman's Ma- 

 gazine, before she attained her 17th year, and these 

 procured her much celebrity. In 1739, she trans- 

 lated the critique of Crousaz on Pope's Essay on 

 Man ; and, in the same year, gave a translation of 

 Algarotti's explanation of Newton's philosophy, for 

 ladies. In 1749, she commenced her translation of 

 Epictetus. In 1791, Miss Carter had an interview 

 with queen Charlotte, by the queen's own desire, and, 

 during the remainder of her life, occasionally re- 

 ceived visits from different members of the royal fa- 

 mily, who paid her particular attention. She died in 

 1806, in the 89th year of her age, and lies interred 

 in the burying-ground of Grosvenor chapel. The 

 year following Tier death, her Memoirs were pub- 

 lished, and a new edition of her poems ; and , subse- 

 quently, her correspondence with Miss Talbot (in 2 

 vols., 4to), and letters to Mrs Montague and Mrs 

 Vesey (4 vols. 8vo), all which are much esteemed. 



CARTERET, JOHN, earl of Granville, an eminent 

 English statesman, born in 1690, was the eldest son 

 of George lord Carteret, whose death put him hi 

 possession of that title before he was five years old. 

 He was educated at Westminster school and Christ- 

 church college, Oxford, where he highly distinguish- 

 ed himself by his classical attainments. He was in- 

 troduced into the house of peers in 1711, and imme- 

 diately distinguished himself by zeal for the Hanove- 

 rian succession, which acquired him the. notice of 

 George I., by whom he was raised successively to 

 various posts of honour. In 1719 he was sent am- 

 bassador to Sweden, and mediated the peace between 

 that country and Denmark. In 1721 he succeeded 

 Craggs as secretary of state, and proved a most able 



