Scottish Church. From 1693 to 1702 he wielded great influence in Scottish affairs, and, owing to his authority in Church matters, was nicknamed ‘Cardinal Carstairs.’ He was elected principal of the Edinburgh University in 1704, and used his influenee to increase the patronage of Scottish colleges. In the same year he became minister of Greyfriars Church, and was appointed moderator of the General Assembly, an office to which he was four times elected in eleven years. On a visit to London in 1707 he received a medal and the personal thanks of Queen Anne for his assistance in passing the Act of Union. He succumbed to an attack of apoplexy December 28, 1715, leaving a reputation for scholarship, piety, charity, and political sagacity.
Consult: McCormick, “Life of Carstares,” prefixed to State Papers and Letters Addressed to William Carstares (London, 1774); Story, Character and Career of William Carstares (London, 1874).
CARSTENS, kär′stens, Asmus Jakob (1754-98). A German painter. He was born near Schleswig, May 10, 1754, the son of a poor miller. He was early apprenticed to a wine-merchant, but to procure a better livelihood, he combined with his efforts at trade the drawing of portraits in red chalk. It was in Copenhagen that he first attracted notice by his pictures, “The Death of Balder” and “Ulysses and Æolus.” Carstens was made a member of the Academy in Berlin and received from the Court a pension that enabled him to travel and to study the works of the masters in Dresden and Rome. His “The Argonauts with Cheiron” was painted in Italy. The Weimar Museum possesses many of his fine paintings and drawings. Among them his “Fates, Nemesis, Night, and Destiny” is a good example of his manner and style. Many of his drawings represent scenes from the ancient classic poets, as well as subjects from Dante and Shakespeare. Carstens, by his noble drawings, was a worthy precursor of that revival of art in Germany which was to appear later in the works of Cornelius and Overbeck. As a painter his rank is lower than as a draughtsman; he is deficient in color and decorative facility. He followed the Greek ideal, and his classical subjects represented qualities of simplicity and power that had been wanting in the works of his predecessors. Consult: Fr. Pauli, A. Carstens (Berlin, 1876); Fernow, Carstens' Leben und Werke (new ed. by Riegel, Hanover, 1867).
CAR′STONE, Richard. One of the wards in chancery in Dickens's Bleak House. He is a lackadaisical dreamer, who worries himself to death over the will case of ‘Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce,’ leaving his poor young wife, his cousin Ada, quite penniless, the suit having been dismissed from court owing to the disappearance of the whole contested estate in the expenses of the long litigation.
CART (AS. cræt, Icel. kartr, from Welsh cart, Ir., Gael. cairt, cart, diminutive of carr, car). A two-wheeled vehicle, usually without top or springs, designed, in most cases, to carry heavy loads and to be drawn by one horse. The cart is doubtless the oldest, as it is the simplest, form of carriage. In its primitive form it consisted of a box or platform mounted on a rude axletree at whose extremities wheels, formed by making transverse sections from a tree-trunk, revolved. To this axletree the poles or shaft were also fastened. The earliest chariots, though elaborately ornamented, were constructed on this simple plan. In modern times carts are used in many countries for agricultural purposes. The one-horse cart is employed by carriers all over Scotland. In France and Germany the carrier's cart is a somewhat heavier vehicle. Long in the body, very strong in construction, and poised on two high wheels with broad rims, this Continental cart carries enormous loads. The dump-cart is a vehicle so constructed that it can be unloaded by simply tilting the body of the vehicle. It is much used in the United States for hauling dirt from excavations, and for the removal of ashes and garbage in cities. There is another class of carts or two-wheeled vehicles which are used for pleasure carriages. An example of this class is the dog-cart, so called because it was originally made for the conveyance of sporting dogs. Such carts are particularly available for tandem driving (see Driving), and there are many types for both town and country use. An essential feature of a good dog-cart is a mechanical or other device whereby the body or weight may be shifted on the frame so as to secure a proper balance and consequent ease of traction for the horse by removing the weight as much as possible from his back. The gadabout is a somewhat low form of dog-cart, while the Whitechapel cart is generally built of considerable height and is largely used for tandem driving. The gig, a two-wheeled cart with a single seat, modern types of which are known as tilburies and stanhopes, also belongs to this class. The calash of Canada, where the driver sits in a low seat in front of his fares, is one of the older forms of cart which still survive. The Irish jaunting-car, where two seats are placed back to back lengthwise of the car, and directly behind the driver, is also well known. The trotting sulky, which, like the trotting horse, is a peculiarly American product, is another important type of two-wheeled vehicles. In 1892 the pneumatic tire and ball-bearings which had been used with such success on the bicycle were applied to the trotting sulky, and the diameters of the wheels were reduced. The result was a material lowering of the trotting records. There are also numerous other types of two-wheeled carts known as road-carts, which, while not possessing a high degree of comfort, are useful and convenient and are easy on the horse. Certain of these are specially designed for breaking colts and others for exercising trotting horses. For a discussion of vehicles in general, see Carriage; Driving.
CAR′TAGE′NA, Sp. pron. kär′tȧ-Hā′nȧ. An important seaport and one of the chief naval stations of Spain, in the Province of Murcia, situated on a bay of the Mediterranean, 27 miles south-southeast of Murcia (Map: Spain, E 4). It is built partly on the slope of a hill and partly in a plain. The harbor is one of the best on the Mediterranean, capacious enough to hold the largest fleets, with a narrow entrance commanded by fortifications placed on the summits of two volcanic cliffs. There are other defenses nearer the city to the east and west. The city, which is surrounded by walls, is well built and has some wide and good streets, and several fine plazas, notably La Merced, La Constitución, and Del Rey. In the southeastern part of the city is the Castillo de la Concepción, at an elevation of over 225 feet, and of interest for its ruins and magnificent view. Among the more noteworthy
