CARO, Annibale, a celebrated Italian poet, born at Nova, near Ancona, in 1507; died in 1566. At an early age, compelled by the poverty of his parents to do something for his own support, he was taken into the service of a nobleman, first as tutor to his family, and then as his secretary, and so won the favour of his patron as to be appointed to a priory and a rich abbey. In 1543, after the death of this nobleman, Caro found a patron of like munificence in Pierluigi Farnese, who supplied him so liberally with money that he could gratify his taste for archeology by collecting a museum of antiquities. This in course of time became one of the richest in Europe. Caro's fame rests principally on his translation of the Æneid into blank verse, a work which has been warmly praised by Maffei, Sismondi, and others. He left a volume of rhymes, a play, "Gli Straccioni," and some translations from the Greek. His "Lettere Famigliari" are admirable both in style and matter.—A. C. M.
CAROLAN, Turlough O', the celebrated Irish bard, was born in the year 1670, at Nobber, or, as some assert, at a neighbouring village in the county of Westmeath, and died at the age of sixty-eight in 1738. Early deprived of his sight by the small-pox, the inhabitant of a country recently desolated by a civil war, and add to these his propensity to dissipation, we must wonder at the proofs he has given of the depth and versatility of his talents. Some idea of the fertility of his invention may be formed from the circumstance, that one harper who attended the Belfast meeting in 1792, and who had never seen Carolan, nor been taught by any person who had an opportunity of imitating him, had acquired upwards of one hundred of his tunes, which he asserted constituted but an inconsiderable portion of them. As an instance of the facility with which he committed tunes to memory, as well as of the astonishing ease with which he could produce new melodies, take the following fact, vouched for by the Monthly Review:—"At the house of an Irish nobleman, where Geminiani was present, Carolan challenged that eminent composer to a trial of skill. The musician played over on his violin the fifth concerto of Vivaldi. It was instantly repeated by Carolan on his harp, although he had never heard it before. The surprise of the company was increased when he asserted that he would compose a concerto himself at the moment; and the more so when he actually played that admirable piece known ever since as Carolan's Concerto." Carolan was the first who departed from the purely Irish style in composition; but, although he delighted in the polished compositions of the Italian and German schools, with which style many of his melodies are strongly tinged, yet he felt the full excellence of the ancient music of his own country, and has been heard to say that he would rather have been the author of Molly M'Alpine—a charming original air by O'Connallon—than of any melody he himself had ever composed. Yet, it must be admitted that he has produced some airs of surpassing tenderness and of purely Irish structure. We are not informed as to the exact time or cause of Carolan's commencing his career as an itinerant musician; whether he "n'eut abord d'autre Apollon que le besoin"—whether it was necessity or a love of music which induced him to adopt that mode of profession. However, without further dwelling on this question, we can fancy our bard mounted on a good horse, and attended by a harper in the character of a servant. Wherever he goes, the gates of the mansions of the nobility and gentry are thrown open to him. Like the Demodocus of Homer, he is received with respect, and a distinguished place assigned him at the table; near him is his harper, ready to accompany his voice. Ritson considers him the genuine representative of the ancient bard.
It was during these peregrinations that Carolan composed most of those airs which continue to afford delight, and he seldom failed to pay the tribute of a song for the kindness and respect shown to him; thus, as Goldsmith remarks, "his songs in general (for he wrote both words and music) may be compared to those of Pindar, as they have frequently the same flights of imagination, and are composed (I don't say written, for he could not write), merely to flatter some man of fortune upon some excellence of the same kind." Thus, like Pindar's, one is praised for his hospitality, another for the beauty or the good qualities of his family, and the like. His playful song of
" O'Rourke's noble feast will ne'er be forgot,
By those who were there, or those who were not,"
is generally known as being translated by the witty Dean Swift, but it by no means takes the first place amongst our bard's numerous compositions. Our "Irish Orpheus" was inordinately fond of "Irish wine," as Pierre le Grand used to call the whisky; but it is remarked that he seldom used it to excess, and that he only imbibed that spirit from the feeling that it was not ungrateful to the muse. Carolan was not the only bard who drew inspiration from that generous source, for "there have been several planets in the poetical hemisphere that seldom shone but when illuminated by the rays of rosy wine." Though Carolan died universally lamented, he would have died unsung, had not the humble muse of M'Cabe poured a few elegiac strains over his cold remains. He left seven children, six daughters and one son. The latter, who had studied music, went to London, where he taught the Irish harp. He published in 1747 a collection of his father's music. To this work a short preface is prefixed, in which most fulsome praise is lavished on our bard, and a parallel drawn between him and Horace.—(Walker's Irish Bards; Bunting's Third Collection, &c.)—E. F. R.
CAROLINE (Amelia Elizabeth), daughter of Charles William, duke of Brunswick, was born 17th May, 1768, and married in 1795 to George, prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. As the marriage was one of mere convenience on the part of the prince, he from the first treated the unfortunate princess with indifference, which speedily deepened into hatred, and three months after the birth of their daughter, the Princess Charlotte, a separation took place at his instance. Caroline took up her residence at Blackheath, where she dispensed her charities with a liberal, though not always with a prudent hand. Meanwhile unfavourable rumours arose regarding her conduct, and in 1808 the most serious accusations were brought against her by her husband. But a secret commission appointed by the king to inquire into these charges, after a rigid scrutiny, acquitted her of all guilt. At length, goaded beyond endurance by the insults heaped upon her by her husband and his infamous associates, she resolved to seek peace and comfort abroad; and, contrary to the urgent advice of her friends, she quitted England in 1814, with the view of travelling in Italy and Greece. She spent six years on the continent, and on the accession of her husband to the British throne in 1820, the most liberal offers of money were made to induce her to renounce the title of queen, and to remain permanently abroad. These proposals, however, were indignantly spurned by her, and she immediately declared her determination to return home, for the purpose of asserting her rights. On her arrival in England the ministry, at the urgent demand of the king, proceeded to take steps for her degradation and divorce, on the alleged ground that, during her residence on the continent, she had been guilty of adultery with one of her attendants, an Italian named Bergami. The premier. Lord Liverpool, accordingly laid before the house of lords on July 5th, 1820, a bill of pains and penalties against the queen. Her defence was conducted with transcendent ability by her counsel, Messrs. Brougham and Denman, and the speech of the former in particular is one of the finest specimens of forensic eloquence in the English language. Meanwhile the tide of popular feeling ran high in favour of Caroline. The shameful treatment which she had throughout received from her husband, the mode in which the investigation into her conduct had been conducted, and the character of the witnesses adduced against her, roused the indignation of the public to such a pitch, that there can be little doubt a serious insurrection would have broken out, if the obnoxious measure had been carried. But the majority for the second reading having dwindled down to nine, the bill was withdrawn on the 10th of November. Further indignity, however, was yet in store for the hapless princess. In July, 1821, when the coronation of George IV. was about to take place, Caroline demanded that she should be crowned along with her husband, but the privy council decided against her claim. In spite of this decision, she presented herself at the door of Westminster abbey on the day of the coronation (19th July), but was refused admission. This was her last contest with her husband, for on the 2nd of August following she was attacked with inflammation, which in five days terminated her troubled career. (See Lord Brougham's Speeches, vol. i.)—J. T.
CAROLINE (Wilhelmina Dorothea), daughter of John Frederick, marquis of Brandenburg-Anspach, and wife of George II., king of Great Britain, was born in 1683, and married George, then electoral prince of Hanover, in 1705. On the death of George I. in 1727, her husband succeeded to the throne; and
