

CATHARINE CATHCART. 



101 



the last duke of Courland, and the last king of Po- 

 land spent his pension at St Petersburg. During these 

 occurrences, Catharine could not take part in the 

 war against France. She, however., broke off all 

 connexion with the French republic, actively assisted 

 the emigrants, and entered into an alliance with 

 England against France. She likewise made war 

 against Persia, and, as some historians assure us, en- 

 tertained the project of destroying the power of the 

 English in Bengal, when a fit of apoplexy put an end 

 to her life, Nov. 9, 1796. 



Catharine II. has been equally censured and prais- 

 ed. With all the weakness of her sex, and with a 

 love of pleasure carried to licentiousness, she com- 

 bined the firmness and talent of a powerful sovereign. 

 Two passions were predominant with her until her 

 death, love and ambition. She was never without 

 her favourite, who, by the manner hi which she dis- 

 tinguished him, and by the valuable presents she 

 gave him, was publicly designated as such. She 

 never, however, lost sight of her dignity. She was 

 distinguished for activity, working with her ministers, 

 writing a philosophical letter to Voltaire, and signing 

 an order to attack the Turks, or to occupy Poland, 

 in the same breath. She favoured distinguished au- 

 thors, and was particularly partial to the French. 

 At Paris she had a literary agent (baron Grimm). 

 She several times invited Voltaire to her court, 

 proposed to D'Alembert to finish the Encyclopedia 

 at St Petersburg, and to undertake the education of 

 the grand-duke. Diderot visited her at her request, 

 and she often allowed him the privilege of familiar 

 conversation with her. By these means she gained 

 the favour of the literati of Europe, who called her 

 the greatest of rulers ; and, in fact, she was not 

 without claims to this title. She protected commerce, 

 improved the laws, dug canals, founded towns, hos- 

 pitals, and colleges. Pallas and others travelled at 

 her expense. She endeavoured to put a stop to the 

 abuses which had crept into the administration of the 

 different departments of government ; but she began 

 without being able to finish. Civilization advanced 

 but slowly in Russia under her reign ; and her anxiety 

 to enlighten her subjects ceased when she began to 

 entertain the idea that the French revolution had 

 been brought about by the progress of civilization. 

 Laws, colonies, schools, manufactures, hospitals, ca- 

 nals, towns, fortifications, every thing was com- 

 menced, but frequently left unfinished for want of 

 means. She issued no paper money. Several let- 

 ters, and other compositions by her, hi the French 

 and Russian languages, have been published. A 

 statue of Catharine, of white marble, in a sitting pos- 

 ture, was executed by professor Gothe, at Stock- 

 holm, in 1825. The manners of the Russian court, 

 in her time, are set forth in the diary of Krapomisky 

 (St Petersburg, 1826). Krapomisky was her private 

 secretary for ten years. Among several histories of 

 her life are Tooke's Life of Catharine II., (3 vols.), 

 and Castera's Histoire de Catharine II. (3 vols.). 



CATHARINE PARR, sixth and last wife of 

 Henry VIII., was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas 

 Parr of Kendal, and was, at an early age, distin- 

 guished for her learning and good sense. She was 

 first married to Edward Burghe, and secondly to 

 John Neville, lord Latimer, and, after his death, at- 

 tracted the notice of Henry VIII., whose queen she 

 became in 1543. Her zealous encouragement of the 

 reformed religion excited the anger and jealousy of 

 Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the chancellor 

 Wriothesley, and others of the Catholic faction, who 

 conspired to ruin her with the king. Taking advan- 

 tage of one of his moments of irritation, they accused 

 her of heresy and treason, and prevailed upon the 

 Icing to sign a warrant for her committal to the 



Tower. This being accidentally discovered to her > 

 she repaired to the king, who purposely turned the 

 conversation to religious subjects, and began to sound 

 her opinions. Aware of his purpose, she humbly re- 

 plied, " that on such topics she always, as became 

 her sex and station, referred herself to the wisdom of 

 his majesty, as he, under God, was her only supreme 

 head and governor here on earth." " Not so, by St 

 Mary, Kate," replied Henry ; " you are, as we take 

 it, become a doctor, to instruct, and not to be in- 

 structed by us." Catharine judiciously replied, that 

 she only objected in order to be benefited by his su- 

 perior learning and knowledge. " Is it so, sweet- 

 heart ?" said the king ; " and tended your arguments 

 to no worse end? Then are we perfect friends 

 again." After the death of the king she espoused 

 the lord admiral Sir Thomas Seymour, uncle to Ed- 

 ward VI. ; but this connexion proved unhappy, and 

 involved her in troubles and difficulties. She died 

 in child-bed in 1548, not without suspicion of poison. 

 She was a zealous promoter of the reformation. 

 Among her papers, after her death, was found a com- 

 position, entitled Queen Catharine Parr's Lamenta- 

 tions of a sinner, bewailing the Ignorance of her blind 

 Life; a contrite meditation on the years she had 

 passed in Catholic fasts and pilgrimages. It was 

 published, with a preface, by the great lord Burleigh, 

 in 1548. In her lifetime she published a volume of 

 " Prayers or Meditations, wherein the Mind is stirred 

 patiently to suffer all Afflictions here, and to set at 

 nought the vairie Prosperitie of this Worlde, and also 

 to long for the everlasting Felicitee." Many of her 

 letters have also been printed. 



CATHARINE PAWLOWNA, queen of Wurtem- 

 burg, grand-princess of Russia ; born May 21, 1788 ; 

 younger sister of the emperor Alexander, and widow 

 of George, prince of Holstein-Oldenburg, whom she 

 married in 1809, and thus got rid of a proposal of 

 marriage made her by Napoleon. George died in 

 Russia, December, 1812. She had two sons, by this 

 marriage, born in 1810 and 1812. She was distin- 

 guished alike for beauty, talents, and resolution, and 

 exhibited the tenderest affection for her brother 

 Alexander. After 1812 she was frequently his com- 

 panion in the campaigns in Germany and France, as 

 well as during his residence at London and Vienna, 

 and evidently had an important influence on several 

 of his measures. It is said that she effected, in 1814, 

 the marriage of the prince of Orange with her 

 younger sister. In 1813, William, crown-prince of 

 Wurtemburg, hi Germany, formed an acquaintance 

 with her, and, in 1814, saw her again in Paris. 

 They were married Jan. 24, 1816, at Petersburg ; 

 and, after the death of his father, in October, 1816, 

 he ascended with her the throne of Wurtemburg. 

 She was a generous benefactor to her subjects in the 

 famine of 1816. She formed the female associations 

 existing throughout the country, and established an 

 agricultural society. She laboured to promote the 

 education of her people, and founded valuable insti- 

 tutions for the poor (particularly a school for educat- 

 ing and employing poor children), a school for the 

 females of the higher classes, and savings banks for 

 the lower classes, after the example of the English 

 savings banks. Indeed, she interfered, often arbitra- 

 rily, in the internal economy of the state, and chiefly 

 imitated the institutions of England. For the fine 

 arts she had but little taste. She died Jan. 9, 1819, 

 leaving two daughters. 



CATHCART, a Scottish parish, six miles in length 

 and two and a half in breadth, situated partly in La- 

 narkshire and partly hi Renfrewshire. The village 

 of Cathcart is about three miles from Glasgow. Cath- 

 cart Castle (now a ruin) holds a commanding station 

 above the riv er Cart. Near it stood queen Mary, 



