[Carte, Thomas], historian, a devoted Jacobite, born near Rugby; wrote a "History of England," which has proved a rich quarry of facts for subsequent historians (1686-1754).
[Carte-blanche], a blank paper with a signature to be filled up with such terms of an agreement as the holder is authorised to accept in name of the person whose signature it bears.
[Carter, Elizabeth], an accomplished lady, born at Deal, friend of Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others; a great Greek and Italian scholar; translated Epictetus and Algarotti's exposition of Newton's philosophy; some of her papers appear in the Rambler (1717-1806).
[Carteret, John, Earl Granville], eminent British statesman, orator, and diplomatist, entered Parliament in the Whig interest; his first speech was in favour of the Protestant succession; after service as diplomatist abroad, was made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, in which capacity he was brought into contact with Swift, first as an enemy but at length as a friend, and proved a successful viceroy; in Parliament was head of the party opposed to Sir Robert Walpole and of the subsequent administration; his foreign policy has been in general approved of; had the satisfaction of seeing, which he was instrumental in securing, the elder Pitt installed in office before he retired; was a "fiery, emphatic man" (1690-1763).
[Carteret, Philip], English sailor and explorer, explored in the Southern Seas, and discovered several islands, Pitcairn's Island among the number; d. 1796.
[Carthage], an ancient maritime city, on a peninsula in the N. of Africa, near the site of Tunis, and founded by Phoenicians in 850 B.C.; originally the centre of a colony, it became the capital of a wide-spread trading community, which even ventured to compete with, and at one time threatened, under Hannibal, to overthrow, the power of Rome, in a series of protracted struggles known as the Punic Wars, in the last of which it was taken and destroyed by Publius Cornelius Scipio in 146 B.C., after a siege of two years, though it rose again as a Roman city under the Cæsars, and became a place of great importance till burned in A.D. 698 by Hassan, the Arab; the struggle during the early part of its history was virtually a struggle for the ascendency of the Semitic people over the Aryan race in Europe.
[Carthusians], a monastic order of a very severe type, founded by St. Bruno in 1086, each member of which had originally a single cell, eventually one consisting of two or three rooms with a garden, all of them opening into one corridor; they amassed considerable wealth, but were given to deeds of benefaction, and spent their time in study and contemplation, in consequence of which they figure not so much in the outside world as many other orders do.
[Cartier], a French navigator, born at St. Malo, made three voyages to N. America in quest of a North-West passage, at the instance of Francis I.; took possession of Canada in the name of France, by planting the French flag on the soil (1494-1554).
[Cartoons], drawings or designs made on stiff paper for a fresco or other paintings, transferred by tracing or pouncing to the surface to be painted, the most famous of which are those of Raphael.
[Cartouche], a notorious captain of a band of thieves, born in Paris, who was broken on the wheel alive in the Place de Grève (1698-1721).