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superstition, she disliked the Protestants, chiefly because their principles were opposed to the absolute despotism which she desired to maintain. Yet she sought to rally the Protestant leaders around the throne in order to serve as a counterpoise to the Guises. This attempt having failed, and the civil war which ensued having ended in the peace of Amboise, highly favourable to the Protestants, she became alarmed at the increase of their power, and entered into a secret treaty with Spain for the extirpation of heretics; and subsequently into a plot with the Guises, which resulted in the fearful massacre of St Bartholomew's Day. This event brought the whole power of the state into the hands of the queen-mother, who boasted of the deed to Roman Catholic governments, and excused it to Protestant ones, for she now managed all the correspondence of the court. About this time she succeeded, by gold and intrigues, in getting her third son, afterwards Henry III., elected to the Polish throne. But her arbitrary and tyrannical administration roused the opposition of a Roman Catholic party, at the head of which was her own fourth son, the Duke of Alençon. It was very generally believed that she was privy to the machinations that led to his death. When, after the death of Charles IX., Henry III. returned from Poland to be king of France, his mother still ruled the court, and had the principal share in all the intrigues, treacheries, and political transactions of that wretched time. Having betrayed all who trusted them, she and her son found themselves at last forsaken and abhorred by all. The League and the Guises had no more confidence in them than had the Protestants and Henry of Navarre. Vexation on this account preyed on the proud heart of the queen-mother in her last days; and amidst the confusion and strife of parties, she died at Blois on 5th January 1589, unheeded and unlamented. Catharine de' Medici may fairly be regarded as a representative woman of an age when the first principles of human conduct were hopelessly confounded by religious strife and the intrigues and corruptions of courts. Virtue had given place to luxury, extravagance, cunning sensuality, and cruelty. She was only a prominent example of qualities which the prevailing conditions of the time tended to develop. See Reumont's Jugend Caterinas de' Medici (Berlin, 1854), T. A. Trollope's Girlhood of Catharine de' Medici (1856), Capefigue's Catherine de Médicis (Paris, 1856), and La Ferrière's Lettres de Catherine de Médicis (2 vols. Paris, 1880-85).

Catharine I., wife of Peter the Great, and Empress of Russia. She was a peasant's daughter, and her original name was Martha Skavrouska. The date of her birth is about 1680. Being left an orphan, she was brought up chiefly by a Lutheran pastor, Glück, in Marienburg, Livonia. In 1702 she married a Swedish dragoon, but Marienburg being taken by the Russians in the same year, she was made prisoner, and became the mistress of Prince Menschikoff. She then attracted the notice of Peter the Great. In 1703 she went over to the Greek Church, and took the name of Catharina Alexievna. After being for some years the emperor's mistress, she was privately married to him in 1707; and the marriage was publicly avowed in 1711. When Peter the Great and his army seemed entirely in the power of the Turkish army on the Pruth in 1711, Catharine, according to the common account, managed by skilful bribery to procure the deliverance of the Russians. Catharine was now received into greater favour than ever, and was solemnly crowned in 1712. The story, however, does not rest on sufficient evidence. At anyrate Catharine continued to enjoy her high position till the death of Peter in 1725. The new party con

cerned in promoting the reforms of Peter the Great supported Catharine's claim to be his successor, and she was acknowledged Empress and sole Ruler of All the Russias. Under Menschikoff's direction, the affairs of government went on well enough for a time; but the empress ere long began to yield to the influence of a number of favourites, addicted herself to drunkenness, and lived such a life as could not fail to hurry her to the grave. She died 17th May 1727. See PETER.

Catharine II., Empress of Russia, was born at Stettin in 1729. Her father, the Prince of AnhaltZerbst, was a Prussian field-marshal, and governor of Stettin. She received the name of Sophia Augusta; but the Empress Elizabeth of Russia having selected her for the wife of her nephew and intended successor, Peter, she passed from the Lutheran to the Greek Church, and took (like the Empress Catharine I.) the name of Catharina Alexievna. In 1745 her marriage took place. She soon quarrelled with her husband, and both of them lived a life of unrestrained vice. Among his attendants was a Count Soltikoff, with whom her intimacy soon became scandalous; and Soltikoff was sent on an embassy abroad. But the young Polish count, Stanislaus Poniatowski, almost immediately supplied his place. After the death of the Empress Elizabeth in 1761, Peter III. ascended the Russian throne; but the conjugal differences became continually wider. Catharine was banished to a separate abode; and the emperor seemed to entertain the design of divorcing her, declaring her only son, Paul, illegitimate, and marrying his mistress, Elizabeth Woronzoff. The popular dislike to Peter, however, rapidly increased; and at length, he being dethroned by a conspiracy, Catharine was made empress. A few days afterwards Peter was murdered (July 1762). What participation his wife had in his murder has never been well ascertained.

Catharine now exerted herself to please the people, and among other things, made a great show of regard for the outward forms of the Greek Church, although her principles were, in reality, those prevalent among the French philosophers of the 18th century. The government of the country was carried on with great energy; and her reign was remarkable for the rapid increase of the dominions and power of Russia. Not long after her accession to the throne her influence secured the election of her former favourite, Stanislaus Poniatowski, to the throne of Poland. In her own empire, however, discontentment was seriously manifested, the hopes of the disaffected being centred in the young prince Ivan, who was forthwith murdered in the castle of Schlüsselburg. From that time the internal politics of Russia consisted chiefly of court intrigues for the humiliation of one favourite and the exaltation of another. The revolt of the Cossack Pugatcheff in 1773, though for a time it looked serious, only served to fortify her throne. The first partition of Poland in 1772, and the Turkish war which terminated in the peace of Kainardji in 1774, vastly increased the empire. In 1787 she made a progress in her southern provinces through flourishing towns, villages, and festive scenes; but the whole was a sham, having been got up for the occasion by Potemkin to impress Catharine with the prosperity of her empire. The Turkish war which terminated in the peace of Jassy in 1792 had similar results, and also the war with Sweden, which terminated in 1790. The second and third partitions of Poland, and the incorporation of Courland with Russia, completed the triumphs of Catharine's reign. She also began a war with Persia, and cherished a scheme for the overthrow of the British power in India; but a stroke of apoplexy cut her off, 17th November 1796.

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CATHARINE ARCHIPELAGO

She was a woman of great ability, but she had in a large measure the vices of the time and station in which she lived. Her gallantries were both liberal and systematic. She always had a paramour who dwelt in her palace, and might be regarded as filling an acknowledged office of state, with large revenues and fixed privileges. Of these Potemkin (q.v.) is best remembered. Yet distinguished authors flattered her; and she invited to her court some of the literati and philosophers of France. She professed the desire to model her rule on the enlightened theories of these men, and she did effect some real improvements; but Russia was not yet in a condition to profit much from liberal opinions, and the character of the empress was not elevated enough for a government on high and just principles. Catharine Archipelago. See ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.

Catharine Howard. See HOWARD.

Catharine of Aragon, Queen of England, the first wife of Henry VIII., and fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Castile and Aragon, was born December 1485. She occupies a prominent place in English history, not for what she herself was, but for what she was the occasion of-the Reformation. Married on 14th November 1501, when scarcely sixteen, to Arthur (1486-1502), Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII., she was left a widow on 2d April, and on 25th June was betrothed to her brother-in-law Henry, as yet a boy of only eleven years old. The pope's dispensation enabling such near relatives to marry was obtained in 1504, and the marriage took place in June 1509, seven weeks after Henry's accession to the crown as Henry VIII. Between 1510 and 1518 she bore him five children, one only of whom, the Princess Mary, survived; but, though Henry was very far from being a model husband, and though he had conceived a passion for Anne Boleyn (q.v.) as early as 1522, he appears to have treated Queen Catharine with all due respect, until 1527. He now expressed doubts as to the legality of his marriage, and set about obtaining a divorce, which, all other means failing, was at length pronounced by Cranmer in May 1533 (see HENRY VIII.). Queen Catharine, who had offered a dignified passive resistance to all the proceedings, did not quit the kingdom, but took up her residence first at Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, and afterwards at Kimbolton Castle, Huntingdonshire, where she led an austere religious life until, on 7th January 1536, she died, by poison said rumour, but most likely of cancer of the heart. Queen Catharine's personal character was unimpeachable, and her disposition sweet and gentle.

Catharine of Braganza. See CHARLES II. Catharine Parr. See PARR.

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Cathartics (Gr. kathairo, I purify '), a name originally for all medicines supposed to purify the system from the matter of disease (materies morbi), which was generally presumed by the ancients to exist in all cases of fever and acute disease, and to require to be separated or thrown off by the different excretions of the body. Ultimately the term cathartics became limited in its signification to remedies acting on the bowels, which are popularly called Purgatives (q.v.)-a mere translation of the Greek word. See also CONSTIPATION.

Cathay is the name by which the Chinese empire was commonly known in Europe during medieval times-in connection with Marco Polo's travels, for example; and Kitai is still the Russian name for China. Cathay, originally Khitaï, is derived from the Khitan, the earliest of the northern races known to have conquered China (possibly akin to the Tunguses), who disappeared about

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the beginning of the 12th century. See CHINA; and Yule, Cathay and the Road Thither (Hakluyt Society, 1866).

cart, a British general and diplomatist, son of the Cathcart, WILLIAM SCHAW, first Earl Cathninth Baron Cathcart of Cathcart, Renfrewshire, was born September 17, 1755. Educated at Eton when he succeeded his father, he next year entered and Glasgow, and admitted an advocate in 1773, the army, took a prominent part in the American war, and fought with distinction in Flanders and North Germany. In 1803 he was made commanderin-chief in Ireland. In 1805 he was engaged on a diplomatic mission to Russia; in 1807 commanded the land-forces co-operating with the fleet in the attack on Copenhagen, and, for his services, was made a British peer, with the title of viscount, and received a vote of thanks from both Houses of Parliament. Sent in 1812 as ambassador to St the campaigns of 1813 and 1814, and was present at Petersburg, he accompanied the Czar Alexander in the congresses of Chatillon and Vienna. In 1814 he was raised to the rank of earl; and he died June 17, 1843.-His eldest son and successor, CHARLES MURRAY, long known as Lord Greenock, was born in 1783, served in Spain and at Waterloo, afterwards acted in Canada, and was made a general. GEORGE CATHCART, was born in 1794. Educated He died 16th July 1859.-A younger son, SIR at Eton and Edinburgh, he entered the army in 1812 and 1813, and as aide-de-camp to the Duke of 1810, served with the Russians in the campaigns of Wellington, was present at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. After helping to suppress the Canadian rebellion of 1835, and after holding the post of deputylieutenant of the Tower for five years, in 1852 he the forces, and brought to a successful end the was made governor at the Cape, with command of 1854 in time to be sent out to the Crimea as general He returned to England in harassing Kaffir war. of division. His bravery here was conspicuous, especially in the battle of Inkermann (November British, and where he fell, shot through the heart. 5), where the odds were so terribly against the He was buried on the spot where he fell, which in his honour was named Cathcart's Hill. Cathcart Iwas the author of a very valuable work entitled Commentaries on the War in Russia and Germany Invasion of the Crimea. in 1812-13 (Lond. 1850). See vol. v. of Kinglake's

The

Cathe'dral, from a Greek word cathedra, signifying a seat. Thus, to speak ex cathedra,' is to speak as from a seat of authority. cathedral city is the seat of the bishop of the diocese, and his throne is placed in the cathedral church, which is the parish church of the whole diocese. The diocese was, in fact, anciently called parochia, until the application of this name to the smaller portions into which it was divided. Cathedrals vary in rank with the dignity of the see to which they belong, and may be episcopal, archiepiscopal, metropolitan, or patriarchal. Anciently only a cathedral was styled matrix ecclesia, but now this title is applied to all churches, even parochial only, which have other churches or chapels dependent on them. When two cathedrals are found in the same town (as is sometimes the case), they are called 'con-cathedrals.' In the Roman Church the establishment, suppression, or union of cathedrals is reserved to the pope alone. A cathedral town has generally been understood to be entitled to the honours of a city, even although the town be not a borough incorporate; but in the case of Manchester the claim was disallowed by a court of law. The distinction between cathedral and collegiate churches consists principally in the see of the bishop being at the former. The governing body

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of a cathedral is called the dean and chapter-i.e. the dean and canons who meet for corporate purposes in the chapter-house of the cathedral. The property of the cathedral vests in this body. In England they elect the bishop of the diocese on the issue of a congé d'élire from the crown, but as the person to be elected is always named, and they may be compelled by a mandamus to elect that person and no other, the election is merely a form. The bishop is 'visitor' of the dean and chapter, and the metropolitan is visitor of all cathedrals within his province; while the crown holds that office during the vacancy of the archbishopric. In England, all cathedrals are distinguished as being either of the old or the new foundation. The cathedrals of the old foundation are those which have from the first been served by secular canons; those of the new foundation were originally monastic churches, and served by monks. These were dissolved at the Reformation, being then refounded on the footing of the secular churches. By the Act of 1840, all members of cathedrals, except the dean, are styled canons. Their seat in the cathedral is called their stall. They are no longer called prebendaries in most cathedrals, but this title is retained in the cathedrals of York, London, Wells, Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, St Davids, and St Asaph. In two cathedrals, Lincoln and Salisbury, both titles are used simultaneously, and the holders are styled canons and prebendaries.' In all these cases, however, the prebendaries rank below the canons residentiary, and save for their slender prebends, are on almost the same footing as the 'honorary canons' of recent institution, who have no share in the cathedral revenues or government. At St Davids the first cursal prebend' vests in the crown, and the sovereign is senior prebendary of that cathedral. The French kings enjoyed similar privileges in six chapters, and the German emperor was ex officio canon of St Peter's at Rome. Canons must reside three months in each year. The Act of 1840 allows to the canons of Durham, Manchester, St Paul's, and Westminster, an income of £1000 per annum; to those of every other cathedral in England, £500. The bishop was always considered of common right to have the patronage of canonries, but formerly there were exceptions. Now, the appointment to all canonries is vested either in the bishop or in the crown. Where the bishop is patron, he collates,' and the dean and chapter induct,' by placing the new canon in a stall in the church. The crown appoints by letters-patent, and the canon is installed without collation. Honorary canons have no emoluments, but rank after the canons residentiary. Minor canons, of whom there are from two to six in each cathedral, perform the daily choral services. The cathedral service is the usual Church of England service intoned, with an anthem and the psalms chanted. For the general plan of cathedral buildings, see CHURCH. The 34 English and Welsh cathedrals are noticed under their respective cities. A pro-cathedral is a church that temporarily serves as a cathedral. See Dean Goulburn's Cathedral System (1871).

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Cathelineau, JACQUES, leader of the Vendeans in their obstinate resistance to the French Republic, was born of humble parentage at Pin-en-Mauge, Lower Anjou, in 1759. But a poor linen-merchant at the outbreak of the Revolution in the spring of 1793, he put himself at the head of a handful of stubborn recruits, and soon became famous for the courage and success of his exploits, the greatest of which was the storming of Cholet. Spite of his own modesty, the supreme command was forced upon him after the victory of Saumur. He immediately determined to make an attack upon Nantes, and managed to penetrate into the town, but was

CATHOLIC

mortally wounded by a musket-ball, and his troops immediately dispersed. He was carried to St Florent, where he died twelve days later, July 11, 1793. Cathelineau was a man of great simplicity and honesty of character, and his piety was such that he was called the Saint of Anjou.

Catherine. See CATHARINE.

Ca'theter (Gr. kathiemi, 'I thrust into') was a name applied indifferently to all instruments for passing along mucous canals. In modern times, however, it has generally been reserved for tubular rods through which fluids or air may pass, and is now restricted to those used for emptying the urinary bladder, and those used for injecting air or fluids into the Eustachian tube (Eustachian Catheter). The catheter for the former purpose The ancients is a very old surgical instrument. made theirs of copper, which accumulated verdigris. In the 9th century silver was substituted by the Arabian surgeons as a cleanlier metal, and is still used by all who are not obliged, for economical reasons, to have their catheters made of German silver or pewter. The urinary catheter for the male varies in length from 10 to 11 inches; the female catheter need not be more than 4 or 5 inches. The form is a matter of less importance, but most surgeons prefer an instrument straight to within the last few inches of its length; the latter should be curved into the segment of a small circle. Others, however, use a double curve, and indeed nearly every surgeon has a peculiar fancy in this respect. Flexible catheters are made of gum elastic (see BOUGIES), which may be used either alone or supported on a wire. Many other materials have been proposed, but vulcanised india-rubber is the only one generally in use. The Eustachian catheter is generally made of metal or vulcanite, 6 or 7 inches in length, with the last inch or less slightly curved. It is introduced into the Eustachian tube along the floor of the nose, and air or fluid may be forced along it by an india-rubber bag which can be attached to it. See, under EAR, Diseases of the Ear, vol. iv. p. 158.

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Ca'thode. See ANODE.

Catholic and Apostolic Church is the only name recognised by those often termed 'Irvingites'-a name which they repudiate as implying that they are sectarians and followers of a man. In the winter of 1829-30 the Rev. Edward Irving (q.v.), then a minister of the Scotch Church, Regent Square, London, delivered a series of lectures on spiritual gifts, in which he maintained that those which we are in the habit of calling extraordinary' or 'miraculous' were not meant to be confined to the primitive church, but to be continued through the whole period of the present dispensation. About the same time, as if to confirm the views of the great preacher, there occurred at Port-Glasgow, in the west of Scotland, and elsewhere, certain strange phenomena. It was alleged that miraculous acts of healing had happened, and that the gift of tongues had returned. After what seemed to be a sufficient investigation on the part of some of the members of Mr Irving's church, it was concluded that the manifestations were genuine. Similar manifestations shortly after occurred in his own church, which were also pronounced to be genuine. They were held to be of two kinds : 1st, speaking in tongues, and 2d, prophesying. As the former bore no resemblance to any language with which men were conversant, it was believed to be strictly an unknown tongue,' the Holy Ghost using the tongue of man as a sign in a manner which neither his own intellect could dictate, nor that of any other man comprehend.' The latter, 'prophesying,' consisted chiefly of 'exhortations to holiness, light upon Scripture, open

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CATHOLIC

ings of prophecy, and explanations of symbols.' In 1831 Irving was deposed from his office for heresy by the Church of Scotland, but meanwhile the truths of which he was so eminent an exponent had been assuming a more definite shape. He died in 1834. It was not till July 1835 that the Catholic and Apostolic Church took definite ecclesiastical shape. With this organisation Irving had no concern, nor had he anticipated it.

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The organisation comprises a fourfold ministry (Ezek. i. and Eph. iv.)-1st, Apostle;' 2d, Prophet; 3d, Evangelist; and 4th, 'Pastor.' The apostles are invested with spiritual prerogatives; they alone can minister the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, directly or by delegation; through them the mysteries of God are unfolded to the church; and they decide on matters of order and discipline. Nothing that occurs in any church in the way of prophetic utterance' can be authoritatively explained save by them; and the various 'angels of the churches' are bound to bring all such utterances under their cognisance. The function of the prophet' has been already indicated. The work of an evangelist' consists in declaring the truths of the gospel, and bringing home to the church generally the principles taught by apostles. The office of the pastor' is that of ministering to the help and comfort of the various members of the flock. The 'angel' of the Catholic Apostolic congregation corresponds in a limited sense to the bishop of other Christian denominations; but he has only the rank of angelpastor in the universal church. The ministers of each full congregation comprise an angel, with a four-fold ministry (consisting of elders, prophets, evangelists, and pastors), and a ministry of deacons to give diaconal instruction and to take charge of temporal matters. The ministry is supported by tithes, the people giving a tenth of their income for the support of the priesthood. The ordinary affairs of the church are managed by the angel in a council of deacons, or if needful, of priests and deacons. The whole organisation is based on the types of the Mosaic tabernacle, in which the constitution of the Christian church is held to have been shadowed forth.

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are services daily at 6 o'clock A.M. and 5 P.M.; prayers at 9 A.M. and 3 P.M.; the litany every Wednesday and Friday; and the eucharist is celebrated every Lord's Day, or, where there are clergy enough, daily. The liturgy, dating from 1842, is mainly based on those of the Greek, Roman and Anglican liturgies, with additional prayers. Lights and incense are used; and the vestments (surplice, alb, cope, chasuble, and stole) are similar to those of the Roman communion. The Catholic and Apostolic Church has established itself not only in the United Kingdom and its colonies, but on the Continent and in the United States.

See the Liturgy of the Divine Offices, and The Purpose of God in Creation and Redemption (6th ed. 1888). Miller's History and Doctrines of Irvingism (1878) is not authoritative, but contains much matter of interest.

Catholic Church. The term catholic literally signifies universal.' The phrase Catholic Church is therefore equivalent to 'universal church, and cannot properly be applied to any particular sect Reformed, Lutheran, or Presbyterian, all of which or body, such as the Roman, Anglican, Genevan, form merely portions more or less pure of the pseudo-Ignatian Epistle to the Smyrnæans. It was difference between the orthodox 'universal' Chrisfirst employed from about 160 A.D. to mark the tian church and the various sects of the Gnostic

'church universal.' It occurs for the first time in the

nation.

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heretics; though, afterwards, it served also to distinguish the all-embracing Christian church from the religious exclusiveness of the pre-Christian ages, in which the church was restricted to a single Church is thus expressed in the famous canon of The formal principle of the Catholic Vincentius of Lerinum (434 A.D.), Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est'ie. the marks of the Catholic Church are universality, antiquity, and unity. The name has been retained by the Church of Rome, which claims to be the visible successor of the primitive one; and although Protestant divines have been careful to deny its applicability to a church which they consider essentially changed by the corrupt accretions of centuries, yet the term Catholic is still used by the populace of almost every Protestant country as synonymous with Roman Catholic, so that from their minds all conception of the literal meaning of the word has vanished. For an account of the Church of Rome, see article ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The congregation of this communion do not arrogate to themselves the title of the Catholic Apostolic Church. There is but one church built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets; the members of it throughout the world are not baptised into any section-Greek, Roman, Protestant, established, or non-established-but into the Eternal Trinity. A community of them holding the Catholic Creditor, in the law of Scotland, views above indicated regard themselves as is one whose debt is secured over several or the congregation of the Catholic and Apostolic Church whole subjects belonging to the debtor-e.g. over assembling at a given place. two or more heritable estates. Questions of difficulty arise where one of these subjects is also burdened with other securities, but the other is burdened only with the catholic security. In such

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The Catholic and Apostolic Church does not differ from other Christian bodies in regard to the common doctrines of the Christian religion; it only accepts, in what it considers to be a fuller and more real sense, the phenomena of Christian life. It believes that the wonder, mystery, and miracle of the apostolic times were not accidental, but are essential to the divinely instituted church of God, and expressive of its supernatural life, whereby a people are preparing for the second advent of Christ, the hope of which is held in instant expectation. It is held that the end of this dispensation has two phases-the gathering of a first-fruits, and the subsequent great harvest, of which it is the earnest. The doctrine of Symbolism is firmly maintained, of which the most marked feature regards the mystical presence of the Lord under the elements of bread and wine, duly consecrated by the words of the institution and the presence of the Holy Ghost. Both transubstantiation and consubstantiation are repudiated. There

circumstances the catholic creditor is bound so to exercise his right as not unnecessarily to injure the securities of the other creditors. Thus, if he draw his whole debt from that subject on which there are other burdens postponed to his security, he must assign to the postponed creditors his security over the unburdened subject.

Catholic Emancipation. After the Reformation, both in England and in Scotland, Roman Catholics were subjected to many penal regulations and restrictions. As late as 1780 the law of England-which was actually enforced in 1764-65-made it felony in a foreign Catholic priest, and high treason in one who was a native of the kingdom, to teach the doctrines or perform divine service according to the rites of his church. Catholics were debarred from acquiring land by purchase. Persons educated abroad in the Catholic

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faith were declared incapable of succeeding to real property, and their estates were forfeited to the next Protestant heir. A son or other nearest relation being a Protestant, was empowered to take possession of the estate of his Catholic father or other kinsman during his life. A Catholic was disqualified from undertaking the guardianship even of Catholic children. Catholics were excluded from the legal profession, and it was presumed that a Protestant lawyer who married a Catholic had adopted the faith of his wife. It was a capital offence for a Catholic priest to celebrate a marriage between a Protestant and Catholic. Such was the state of the law, not only in England but in Ireland, where the large majority of the population adhered to the old faith. In Scotland, also, Catholics were prohibited from purchasing or taking by succession landed property. The inexpediency and irrationality of imposing fetters of this description on persons not suspected of disloyalty, and from whom danger was no longer apprehended, began about 1778 to occupy the attention of liberal-minded statesmen; and in 1780 Sir George Saville introduced a bill for the repeal of some of the most severe disqualifications in the case of such Catholics as would submit to a proposed test. This test included an oath of allegiance to the sovereign, and abjuration of the Pretender, a declaration of disbelief in the several doctrines, that it is lawful to put individuals to death on pretence of their being heretics; that no faith is to be kept with heretics; that princes excommunicated may be deposed or put to death; and that the pope is entitled to any temporal jurisdiction within the realm. The bill, from the operation of which Scotland was exempted, eventually passed into law. An attempt which had been made at the same time to obtain a like measure of relief for the Catholics of Scotland, was defeated by an outburst of religious fanaticism. The populace of Edinburgh, stirred up by a body called The Committee for the Protestant Interest,' attacked and set fire to the Catholic chapel and the houses of the clergy and of such persons as were suspected to be favourable to Catholic relief. The frenzy spread to England, where a Protestant Association' had been formed to oppose the resolutions of the legislature (see GORDON, LORD GEORGE). In 1791 a bill was passed affording further relief to such Catholics as would sign a protest against the temporal power of the pope, and his authority to release from civil obligations; and in the following year, by the statute 33 Geo. III. chap. 44, the most highly penal of the restrictions bearing on the Scottish Catholics were removed without opposition, a form of oath and declaration being prescribed, on taking which they could freely purchase or inherit landed property.

Endeavours were made at the same time by the Irish parliament to get rid of the more important disqualifications, and place Ireland on an equality in point of religious freedom with England. In 1780 Grattan carried his resolution that the king and parliament of Ireland could alone make laws that would bind the Irish, and separation from England was urged as the alternative with repeal of the disqualifying statutes. The agitation culminated in the Irish rebellion of 1798; the union of 1800 followed, which was partly carried by means of virtual pledges given by Pitt-pledges which Pitt was unable to redeem owing to the king's scruples about his coronation oath, and Pitt resigned. Meantime, in England, Catholics continued subject to many minor disabilities which the above-mentioned acts failed to remove. They were excluded from sitting in parliament, and from enjoying numerous offices, franchises, and civil rights, by the requirement of signing the declaration against transubstantiation, the invoca

CATHOLIC EPISTLES

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tion of saints, and the sacrifice of the mass. the early part of this century many measures were proposed for the removal of these disqualifications, and in 1813 and succeeding years one bill after another for this end was thrown out. Fox, Grenville, Canning, Castlereagh, and Burdett were among those who made efforts in the direction of emancipation. Meanwhile, the agitation on the subject among the Catholics themselves greatly increased, and in 1824 it assumed an organised shape by the formation of the Roman Catholic Association' in Ireland, with its systematic collections for the 'Catholic rent.' The Duke of Wellington, who for a long time felt great repugnance to admit the Catholic claims, was at last brought to the conviction that the security of the empire would be imperilled by further resisting them, and in 1829 a measure was introduced by the duke's ministry for Catholic emancipation. act having been first passed for the suppression of the Roman Catholic Association-which had already voted its own dissolution-the celebrated Roman Catholic Relief Bill was introduced by Peel in the House of Commons on the 5th of March, and after passing both Houses, received the royal assent on the 13th April. By this act (10 Geo. IV. chap. 7) an oath is substituted for the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, on taking which Catholics may sit and vote in either House of Parliament, and be admitted to most other offices from which they were before excluded. They, however, continue to be excluded from the offices of Guardian and Justice or Regent of the United Kingdom, Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper, or Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal of Great Britain or Ireland, and Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. As members of corporations they could not vote in the disposal of church property or patronage. But the public use of their insignia of office, and of episcopal titles and names, was denied them; the extension of monachism was prohibited; and it was enacted that the number of Jesuits should not be increased, and that they should henceforth be subject to registration. By the Acts 7 and 8, and 9 and 10 Vict., most of the acts still in force against Catholics were removed; 30 and 31 Vict. removed a still remaining disability, the office of Chancellor of Ireland being thrown open; though a Catholic priest may not sit in the House of Commons. For the prohibition (ultimately repealed) against the assumption of ecclesiastical titles in respect of places in the United Kingdom, see ECCLESIASTICAL TITLES ASSUMPTION ACT. See also O'CONNELL, ABJURATION, ALLEGIANCE; and the History of Catholic Emancipation, by W. J. Amherst, S.J. (2 vols. 1886).

Catholic Epistles, the name given, according to Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen, to certain epistles addressed not to particular churches or individuals, but either to the church universal or to a large and indefinite circle of readers. Originally the Catholic Epistles comprised only the first epistle of John and the first of Peter, but at least as early as the 3d century, and especially after the time of Eusebius, they included also the Epistles of James, of Jude, the 2d of Peter, and the 2d and 3d of John. These seven thus constituted the Catholic Epistles, although the genuineness and authenticity of the last-mentioned five were not universally acknowledged; but the designation commended itself as supplying a convenient distinction of these letters from the fourteen bearing the name of Paul; and this very incorporation with epistles whose canonicity was not questioned, naturally had the effect of confirming their authority, so that in a short time the entire seven came to be considered a portion of the canon.

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