Chapter 7

See R. Gough,History and Antiquities of Croyland(Bibl. Top. Brit. iii. No. 11) (London, 1783); W. G. Searle,Ingulf and the Historia Croylandensis(Camb. Antiq. Soc., No. 27); Dugdale,Monasticon, ii. 91 (London, 1846; Cambridge, 1894).

CROWLEY, ROBERT(1518?-1588), English religious and social reformer, was born in Gloucestershire, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, of which he was successively demy and fellow. Coming to London, he set up a printing-office in Ely Rents, Holborn, where he printed many of his own writings. As a typographer, his most notable production was an edition ofPierce Plowmanin 1550, and some of the earliest Welsh printed books came from his press. As an author, his first venture seems to have been his “Information and Petition against the Oppressors of the poor Commons of this realm,” which internal evidence shows to have been addressed to the parliament of 1547. It contains a vigorous plea for a further religious reformation, but is more remarkable for its attack on the “more than Turkish tyranny” of the landlords and capitalists of that day. While repudiating communism, Crowley was a Christian Socialist, and warmly approved the efforts of Protector Somerset to stop enclosures. In hisWay to Wealth, published in 1550, he laments the failure of the Protector’s policy, and attributes it to the organized resistance of the richer classes. In the same year he published (in verse)The Voice of the last Trumpet blown by the seventh Angel; it is a rebuke in twelve “lessons” to twelve different classes of people; and a similar production was hisOne-and-Thirty Epigrams(1550). These, withPleasure and Pain(1551), were edited for the Early English Text Society in 1872 (Extra Ser. xv.). The dozen or more other works which Crowley published are more distinctly theological: indeed, the failure of the temporal policy he advocated seems to have led Crowley to take orders, and he was ordained deacon by Ridley on the 29th of September 1551. During Mary’s reign he was among the exiles at Frankfort. At Elizabeth’s accession he became a popular preacher, was made archdeacon of Hereford in 1559, and prebendary of St Paul’s in 1563, and was incumbent first of St Peter’s the Poor in London, and then of St Giles’ without Cripplegate. He refused to minister in the “conjuring garments of popery,” and in 1566 was deprived and imprisoned for resisting the use of the surplice by his choir. He stated his case in “A brief Discourse against the Outward Apparel and Ministering Garments of the Popish Church,” a tract “memorable,” says Canon Dixon, “as the first distinct utterance of Nonconformity.” He continued to preach occasionally, and in 1576 was presented to the living of St Lawrence Jewry. Nor had he abandoned his connexion with the book trade, and in 1578 he was admitted a freeman of the Stationers’ Company. He died on the 18th of June 1588, and was buried in St Giles’. The most important of his works not hitherto mentioned is his continuation of Languet and Cooper’sEpitome of Chronicles(1559).

See J. M. Cowper’sPref. to the Select Works of Crowley(1872); Strype’s Works; Gough’sGeneral Index to Parker Soc. Publ.; Machyn’sDiary; Macray’sReg. Magdalen College; Newcourt’sRep. Eccles. Lond.; Hennessy’sNov. Rep. Eccl.(1898); Le Neve’sFasti Eccl. Angl.; Pocock’s Burnet; Pollard’sEngland under Somerset; R. W. Dixon’sChurch History.

(A. F. P.)

CROWN,an English silver coin of the value of five shillings, hence often used to express the sum of five shillings. It was originally of gold and was first coined in the reign of Henry VIII. Edward VI. introduced silver crowns and half-crowns, and down to the reign of Charles II. crowns and half-crowns and sometimes double crowns were struck both in gold and silver. In the reign of Edward VI. also was introduced the practice of dating coins and marking them with their current value. The “Oxford crown” struck in the reign of Charles I. was designed by Rawlins (seeNumismatics:Medieval). Since the reign of Charles II. the crown has been struck in silver only. At one time during the 19th century it was proposed to abandon the issue of the crown, and from 1861 until 1887 none was struck, but since the second issue in 1887 it has been freely in circulation again.

CROWNandCORONET, an official or symbolical ornament worn on or round the head. The crown (Lat.corona) at first had no regal significance. It was a garland, or wreath, of leaves or flowers, conferred on the winners in the athletic games. Afterwards it was often made of gold, and among the Romans was bestowed as a recognition of honourable service performed or distinction won, and on occasion it took such a form as to correspond with, or indicate the character of, the service rendered. Thecorona obsidionaliswas formed of grass and flowers plucked on the spot and given to the general who conquered a city. Thecorona civica, made of oak leaves with acorns, was bestowed on the soldier who in battle saved the life of a Roman citizen. The mural crown (corona muralis) was the decoration of the soldier who was the first to scale the walls of a besieged city, and was usually a circlet of gold adorned with a series of turrets. The naval crown (corona navalis), decorated in like manner with a series of miniature prows of ships, was the reward of him who gained a notable victory at sea. These latter crowns form charges in English heraldry (seeHeraldry).

Many other forms of crown were used by the Romans, as the conqueror’s triumphal crown of laurel, the myrtle crown, and the convivial, bridal, funeral and other crowns. Some of the emperors wore crowns on occasion, as Caligula and Domitian, at the games, and stellate or spike crowns are depicted on the heads of several of the emperors on their coins, but no idea of imperial sovereignty was indicated thereby. The Roman people, who had accepted imperial rule as a fact, were very jealous of the employment of its emblem on the part of their rulers. That emblem was the diadem, and although the diadem and crown are frequently confused with each other they were quite distinct, and it is well to bear this in mind. The diadem, which was of eastern origin, was a fillet or band of linen or silk, richly embroidered, and was worn tied round the forehead. Selden (Titles of Honour, chap. viii. sect. 8) says that the diadem and crown “have been from ancient times confounded, yet the diadem strictly was a very different thing from what a crown now is or was, and it was no other then than only a fillet of silk, linen, or some such thing.” It is desirable to remember the distinction, for, although diadem and crown are now used as synonymous terms, the two were originally quite distinct. The confusion between them has, perhaps, come about from the fact that the modern crown seems to be rather an evolution from the diadem than the lineal descendant of the older crowns. The linen or silk diadem was eventually exchanged for a flexible band of gold, which was worn in its place round the forehead. The further development of the crown from this was readily effected by the addition of an upper row of ornament. Thus the medieval and modern crowns may be considered as radiated diadems, and so the diadem and crown have become, as it were, merged in one another.

Among the historical crowns of Europe, the Iron Crown of Lombardy, now preserved at Monza, claims notice. It is a band of iron, enclosed in a circlet formed of six plates of gold,hinged one to the other, and richly jewelled and enamelled. It is regarded with great reverence, owing to a legend that the inner band of iron has been hammered out of one of the nails of the true cross. The crown is so small, the diameter being only 6 in., and the circlet only 2½ in. in width, that doubts have been felt as to whether it was originally intended to be worn on the head or was merely meant to be a votive crown. The legend as to the iron being that of one of the nails of the cross is rejected by Muratori and others, and cannot be traced far back. How it arose or how any credence came to be reposed in the legend, it is difficult to surmise. Another historical crown is that of Charlemagne, preserved at Vienna. It is composed of a series of four larger and four smaller plaques of gold, rounded at the tops and set together alternately. The larger plaques are richly ornamented with emeralds and sapphires, and the smaller plaques have each an enamelled figure of Our Lord, David, Solomon, and Hezekiah respectively. A jewelled cross rises from the large front plaque, and an arch bearing the name of the emperor Conrad springs across from the back of this cross to the back of the crown.

At Madrid there is preserved the crown of Svintilla, king of the Visigoths, 621-631. It is a circlet of thick gold set with pearls, sapphires and other stones. It has been given as a votive offering at some period to a church, as was often the custom. Attached to its upper rim are the chains whereby to suspend it, and from the lower rim hang letters of red-coloured glass or paste which read +svintilanvs rex offeret. Two other Visigothic crowns are also preserved with it in the Armeria Real.

In 1858 a most remarkable discovery was made near Toledo, of eight gold crowns of the 7th century, fashioned lavishly with barbaric splendour. They are now in the Cluny Museum at Paris, having been purchased for £4000, the intrinsic value of the gold, without reckoning that of the jewels and precious stones, being not less than £600. The largest and most magnificent is the crown of Reccesvinto, king of the Visigoths from 653 to 675. It is composed of a circlet of pure gold set with pearls and precious stones in great profusion, which gives it a most sumptuous appearance. It is 9 in. in diameter and more than ½ in. in thickness, the width of the circlet being 4 in. It has also been given as a votive offering to a church, and has the chains to hang it by attached to the upper rim, while from the lower rim depend pearls, sapphires and a series of richly jewelled letters 2 in. each in depth, which read +reccesvinthvs rex offeret. The second of these crowns in size is generally thought to be that of the queen of Reccesvinto. It has no legend, but merely a cross hanging from it. The six others are smaller, and are all most richly ornamented. They are believed to have been the crowns of Reccesvinto’s children. From one of them hangs a legend which relates that they were an offering to a church, which has been identified with much probability as that of Sorbas, a small town in the province of Almeria. It has been surmised that in the disturbances which soon afterwards followed they were buried out of sight for safety, where they were eventually discovered absolutely unharmed centuries afterwards. For a detailed description of these most remarkable crowns the reader must be referred to a paper by the late Mr Albert Way (Archaeological Journal, xvi. 253). Mr Way, in the article alluded to, says of the custom of offering crowns to churches that frequent notices of the usage may be found in the lives of the Roman pontiffs by Anastasius. “They are usually described as having been placed over the altar, and in many instances mention is made of jewelled crosses of gold appended within such crowns as an accessory ornament.... The crowns suspended in churches suggested doubtless the sumptuous pensile luminaries, frequently designated from a very early period ascoronae, in which the form of the royal circlet was preserved in much larger proportions, as exemplified by the remarkablecoronastill to be seen suspended in the cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle over the crypt in which the body of Charlemagne was deposited.”

Of modern continental crowns the imperial crown of Austria (fig. 4) may be mentioned. It is composed of a circlet of gold, adorned with precious stones and pearls, heightened with fleurs-de-lys, and is raised above the circlet in the form of a cap which is opened in the middle, so that the lower part is crescent-shaped; across this opening from front to back rises an arched fillet, enriched with pearls and surmounted by an orb, on which is a cross of pearls.

The papaltiara(a Greek word, of Persian origin, for a form of ancient Persian popular head-dress, standing high erect, and worn encircled by a diadem by the kings), the triple crown worn by the popes, has taken various forms since the 9th century. It is important to remember that the tiaras in old Italian pictures are inventions of the artists and not copied from actual examples. In its present shape, dating substantially from the Renaissance, it is a peaked head-covering not unlike a closed mitre (q.v.), round which are placed one above the other three circlets or open crowns.1Two bands, orinfulae, as they are called, hang from it as in the case of a mitre. The tiara is the crown of the pope as a temporal sovereign (seeTiara).

Pictorial representations in early manuscripts, and the rude effigies on their coins, are not very helpful in deciding as to the form of crown worn by the Anglo-Saxon and Danish kings of England before the Norman Conquest. In some cases it would appear as if the diadem studded with pearls had been worn, and in others something more of the character of a crown. We reach surer ground after the Conquest, for then the great seals, monumental effigies, and coins become more and more serviceable in determining the forms the crown took.

The crown of William the Conqueror and his immediate successors seems to have been a plain circlet with four uprights, which terminated in trefoils (fig. 5), but Henry I. enriched the circlet with pearls or gems (fig. 6), and on his great seal the trefoils have something of the character of fleurs-de-lys. The effigy of Richard I. at Fontevrault shows a development of the crown; the trefoil heads are expanded, and are chased and jewelled. The crown of John is shown on his effigy at Worcester, though unfortunately it is rather badly mutilated. It shows, however, that the upper ornament was of fleurons set with jewels. Fig. 7 shows generally this development of the crown in a restored form. The crown on the effigy of Henry III. at Westminster had a beaded row below the circlet, which is narrow and plain, and from it rises a series of plain trefoils with slightly raised points between them. The tomb was opened in 1774, and on the king’s head was found an imitation crown of tin or latten gilt, with trefoils rising from its upper edge. This, although only made of base metal for the king’s burial, may nevertheless be taken as exhibiting the form of the royal crown at the time, and it may be usefully compared with that on the effigy of the king, which was made in Edward I.’s reign (fig. 8). Edward I. used a crown of very similar design. In the crown of Edward II. we have perhaps the most graceful and elegant of all the forms which the English medieval crown assumed (fig. 9), and it seems to have continued without any marked alteration during the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. The crown on the head of the effigy of Henry IV. at Canterbury evidently represents one of great magnificence, both of design and ornament. What is perhaps lost of the grace of form of the crown of Edward II. is made up for by a profusion of adornment and ornamentation unsurpassed at any later period (fig. 10). The circlet is much wider and is richly chased and jewelled, and from it rise eight large leaves, the intervening spaces being filled with fleurs-de-lys of definite outline. It will be noted that this crown is, like its predecessors, what is known as an open crown, without any arches rising from the circlet, but in the accounts of the coronation of Henry IV. by Froissart and Waurin it is distinctly stated that the crown was arched in the form of a cross. This is the earliest mention of an arched crown, which is not represented on the great seal till that of Edward IV. in 1461. The crown, as shown on Henry IV.’s effigy, very probably represents the celebrated “Harry crown” which was afterwards broken up and employed as surety for the loan required by Henry V. when he was about to embark on his expedition to France. Fig. 11 shows the crown of Henry V. The crown of Henry VI. seems to have had three arches, and there is the same number shown on the crown of Henry VII., which ensigns the hawthorn bush badge of that king. The crown of Edward IV. (fig. 12) shows two arches, and a crown similarly arched appears on the great seal of Richard III. Crowns, both open and arched, are represented in sculpture and paintings until the end of the reign of Edward IV., and the royal arms are occasionally ensigned by an open crown as late as the reign of Henry VIII. The crown of Henry VII. on his effigy in Westminster Abbey shows a circlet surmounted by four crosses and four fleurs-de-lys alternately, and has two arches rising from it. A similar crown appears on the great seal of Henry VIII. The crown of Henry VII. (fig. 13), which ensigns the royal arms above the south door of King’s College chapel, Cambridge, has the motto of the order of the Garter round the circlet. Fig. 14 shows the form of crown used by Edward VI., but a tendency (not shown in the illustration) began of flattening the arches of the crown, and on some of the coins of Elizabeth the arches are not merely flattened, but are depressed in the centre, much after the character of the arches of the crown on many of the silver coins of the 19th century prior to 1887. The crowns of James I. and Charles I. had four arches, springing from the alternate crosses and fleurs-de-lys of the circlet (fig. 15). The crown which strangely enough surmounts the shield with the arms of the Commonwealth on the coins of Oliver Cromwell (as distinguished from those of the Commonwealth itself, which have no crown) is a royal crown with alternate crosses and fleurs-de-lys round the circlet, and is surmounted by three arches, which, though somewhat flattened, are not bent. On them rests the orb and cross. The crown used by Charles II. (fig. 16) shows the arches depressed in the centre, a feature of the royal crown which seems to have been continued henceforward till 1887, when the pointed form of the arches was resumed, in consonance with an idea that such a form indicated an imperial rather than a regal crown, Queen Victoria having been proclaimed empress of India in 1877. In the foregoing account the changes of the form of the crowns of the kings have been briefly noticed. Those crowns were the personal crowns, worn by the different kings on various state occasions, but they were all crowned before the Commonwealth with the ancient crown of St Edward, and the queens consort with that of Queen Edith. There were, in fact, two sets of regalia, the one used for the coronations and kept at Westminster, and the other that used on other occasions by the kings and kept in the Tower. The crowns of this latter set were the personal crowns made to fit the different wearers, and are those which have been briefly described. The crown of St Edward, with which the sovereigns were crowned, had a narrow circlet from which rose alternately four crosses and four fleurs-de-lys, and from the crosses sprang two arches, which at their crossing supported an orb and cross. These arches must have been a later addition, and possibly were first added for the coronation of Henry IV. (vide supra). Queen Edith’s crown had a plaincirclet with, so far as can be determined, four crosses of pearls or gems on it, and a large cross patée rising from it in front, and arches of jewels or pearls terminating in a large pearl at the top. A valuation of these ancient crowns was made at the time of the Commonwealth prior to their destruction. From this valuation we learn that St Edward’s crown was of gold filigree or “wirework” as it is called, and was set with stones, and was valued at £248. Queen Edith’s crown was found to be only of silver-gilt, with counterfeit pearls, sapphires and other stones, and was only valued at £16. At the Restoration an endeavour was made to reproduce as well as possible the old crowns and regalia according to their ancient form, and a new crown of St Edward was made on the lines of the old one for the coronation of Charles II. The framework of this crown, bereft of its jewels, is in the possession of Lady Amherst of Hackney. The crowns of James II., William III. and Anne generally resembled it in form (fig. 16). The later crowns of the Georges and William IV. are represented in general form in fig. 17. Although the marginal note in the coronation order of Queen Victoria indicates “K. Edward’s crown” as that with which the late queen was to be crowned, it was actually the state or imperial crown worn by the sovereign when leaving the church after the ceremony that was used. It had been altered for the coronation, and the arches were formed of oak leaves (fig. 18). Fig. 19 shows Queen Victoria’s crown with raised arches and without the inner cap of estate, which since the reign of Henry VII. has been degraded into forming a lining to the crowns of the sovereigns and the coronets of the peers. Fig. 20 shows the coronation crown of King Edward VII. The crown of Scotland, preserved with the Scottish regalia at Edinburgh, is believed to be composed of the original circlet worn by King Robert the Bruce. James V. made additions to it in 1535, and in general characteristics it much resembles an English crown of that date.

The kings of arms in England, Scotland and Ireland wear crowns, the ornamentation of which round the upper rim of the circlet is composed of a row of acanthus or oak leaves. Round the circlet is the singularly inappropriate text from Psalm li., “Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.” The form of these crowns seems to have been settled in the reign of Charles II. Before that period they varied at different times, according to representations given of them in grants of arms, &c.

This brings us to the crowns of lesser dignity, known for that reason as coronets, and worn by the five orders of peers.

The use of crowns by dukes originated in 1362, when Edward III. created his sons Lionel and John dukes of Clarence and Lancaster respectively. This was done by investing them with a sword, a cap of maintenance or estate, and with a circlet of gold set with precious stones, which was imposed on the head. Previous to this dukes had been invested at their creation by the girding on of a sword only. In 1387 Richard II. created Richard de Vere marquess of Dublin, and invested him by girding on a sword, and by placing a golden circlet on his head. The golden circlet was confined to dukes and marquesses till 1444, when Henry VI. created Henry Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, premier earl, and the letters patent effecting this concede that the earl and his heirs shall wear a golden circlet on the head on feast days, even in the royal presence. As to the form of these circlets we have no clear knowledge. The dignity of a viscount was first created by Henry VI. in 1439, but nothing is said of any insignia pertaining to that dignity. It is believed that a circlet of gold with an upper rim of pearls was first conferred on a viscount by James I., who conceded it to Robert Cecil, Viscount Cranborne. However, in 1625-1626 it is definitely recorded that the viscounts carried their coronets in their hands in the coronation procession from Westminster Hall to the Abbey church. The use of a coronet by the barons dates from the coronation of Charles II., and by letters patent of the 7th of August 1661 their coronet is described as a circle of gold with six pearls on it.

At the present day the coronet of a duke (fig. 21) is formed of a circlet of gold, from which rise eight strawberry leaves. The coronet of a marquess (fig. 22) differs from that of a duke in having only four strawberry leaves, the intervening spaces being occupied by four low points which are surmounted by pearls. The coronet of an earl (fig. 23) differs again by having eight tall rays on each of which is set a pearl, the intervening spaces being occupied by strawberry leaves one-fourth of the height of the rays. The coronet of a viscount (fig. 24) has sixteen small pearls fixed to the golden circlet, and the coronet of a baron (fig. 25) has six large pearls similarly arranged.

Authorities.—L. G. Wickham Legg,English Coronation Records(London, 1901);The Ancestor, Nos. i. and ii. (London, 1902); Stothard,The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain(London, 1817).

(T. M. F.)

1A coloured drawing, done in the first half of the 18th century, of the magnificent tiara made by the celebrated goldsmith, Caradosso, for Julius II., is in the Print-Room, British Museum. It was re-fashioned by Pius VI., but went with other treasure as part of the indemnity to Napoleon. The splendid emerald at the summit, which was engraved with the arms of Gregory XIII., was restored by Napoleon and now adorns another papal tiara at Rome. In this drawing the three crowns (a feature introduced at the beginning of the 14th century) are represented by three bands ofX-shaped ornament in enamelled gold.

CROWN DEBT,in English law, a debt due to the crown. By various statutes—the first dating from the reign of Henry VIII. (1541)—the crown has priority for its debts before all other creditors. At common law the crown always had a lien on the lands and goods of debtors by record, which could be enforced even when they had passed into the hands of other persons. The difficulty of ascertaining whether lands were subject to a crown lien or not was often very great, and a remedy was provided by the Judgments Act 1839, and the Crown Suits Act1865. Now by the Land Charges Act 1900, no debt due to the crown operates as a charge on land until a writ of execution for the purpose of enforcing it has been registered under the Land Charges Registration and Searches Act 1888. By the Act of 1541 specialty debts were put practically on the same footing as debts by record. Simple contract debts due to the crown also become specialty debts, and the rights of the crown are enforced by a summary process called anextent(seeWrit).

CROWNE, JOHN(d.c.1703), British dramatist, was a native of Nova Scotia. His father “Colonel” William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia where he received a grant of land from Cromwell, but the French took possession of his property, and the home government did nothing to uphold his rights. When the son came to England his poverty compelled him to act as gentleman usher to an Independent lady of quality, and his enemies asserted that his father had been an Independent minister. He began his literary career with a romance,Pandion and Amphigenia, or the History of the coy Lady of Thessalia(1665). In 1671 he produced a romantic play,Juliana, or the Princess of Poland, which has, in spite of its title, no pretensions to rank as an historical drama. The earl of Rochester procured for him, apparently with the sole object of annoying Dryden by infringing on his rights as poet-laureate, a commission to supply a masque for performance at court.Calistogained him the favour of Charles II., but Rochester proved a fickle patron, and his favour was completely alienated by the success of Crowne’s heroic play in two parts,The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian(1677). This piece contained a thinly disguised satire on the Puritan party in the description of the Pharisees, and about 1683 he produced a distinctly political play,The City Politiques, satirizing the Whig party and containing characters which were readily recognized as portraits of Titus Oates and others. This made him many enemies, and he petitioned the king for a small place that would release him from the necessity of writing for the stage. The king exacted one more comedy, which should, he suggested,bebased on theNo pued esserof Moreto. This had already been unsuccessfully adapted, as Crowne discovered later, by Sir Thomas St Serfe, but in Crowne’s hands it developed intoSir Courtly Nice, It Cannot Be(1685), a comedy which kept its place as a stock piece for nearly a century. Unfortunately Charles II. died before the play was completed, and Crowne was disappointed of his reward. He continued to write plays, and it is stated that he was still living in 1703, but nothing is known of his later life.

Crowne was a fertile writer of plays with an historical setting, in which heroic love was, in the fashion of the French romances, made the leading motive. The prosaic level of his style saved him as a rule from the rant to be found in so many contemporary heroic plays, but these pieces are of no particular interest. He was much more successful in comedy of the kind that depicts “humours.”

The History of Charles the Eighth of France, or The Invasion of Naples by the French(1672) was dedicated to Rochester. InTimon, generally supposed to have been written by the earl, a line from this piece—“whilst sporting waves smil’d on the rising sun”—was held up to ridicule.The Ambitious Statesman, or The Loyal Favourite(1679), one of the most extravagant of his heroic efforts, deals with the history of Bernard d’Armagnac, Constable of France, after the battle of Agincourt;Thyestes, A Tragedy(1681), spares none of the horrors of the Senecan tragedy, although an incongruous love story is interpolated;Darius, King of Persia(1688),Regulus(acted 1692, pr. 1694) andCaligula(1698) complete the list of his tragedies.The Country Wit: A Comedy(acted 1675, pr. 1693), derived in part from Molière’sLe Sicilien, ou l’amour peintre, is remembered for the leading character, Sir Mannerly Shallow;The English Frier; or The Town Sparks(acted 1689, pr. 1690), perhaps suggested by Molière’sTartuffe, ridicules the court Catholics, and in Father Finical caricatures Father Petre; andThe Married Beau; or The Curious Impertinent(1694), is based on theCurioso Impertinentein Don Quixote. He also produced a version of Racine’sAndromaque, an adaptation from Shakespeare’s Henry VI., and an unsuccessful comedy,Justice Busy.SeeThe Dramatic Works of John Crowne(4 vols., 1873), edited by James Maidment and W. H. Logan for theDramatists of the Restoration.

SeeThe Dramatic Works of John Crowne(4 vols., 1873), edited by James Maidment and W. H. Logan for theDramatists of the Restoration.

CROWN LAND,in the United Kingdom, land belonging to the crown, the hereditary revenues of which were surrendered to parliament in the reign of George III.

In Anglo-Saxon times the property of the king consisted of (a) his private estate, (b) the demesne of the crown, comprising palaces, &c., and (c) rights over the folkland of the kingdom. By the time of the Norman Conquest the three became merged into the estate of the crown, that is, land annexed to the crown, held by the king as king. The king, also, ceased to hold as a private owner,1but he had full power of disposal by grant of the crown lands, which were increased from time to time by confiscation, escheat, forfeiture, &c. The history of the crown lands to the reign of William III. was one of continuous alienation to favourites. Their wholesale distribution by William III. necessitated the intervention of parliament, and in the reign of Queen Anne an act was passed limiting the right of alienation of crown lands to a period of not more than thirty-one years or three lives. The revenue from the crown lands was also made to constitute part of the civil list. At the beginning of his reign George III. surrendered his interest in the crown lands in return for a fixed “civil list” (q.v.). The control and management of the crown lands is now regulated by the Crown Lands Act 1829 and various amending acts. Under these acts their management is entrusted to the commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, who have certain statutory powers as to leasing, selling, exchanging, &c.

In theory, also, state lands in the British colonies are supposed to be vested in the crown, and they are called crown lands; actually, however, the various colonial legislatures have full control over them and power of disposal. The term “crown-lands,” in Austria, is applied to the various provinces into which that country is divided. (SeeAustria.)

1The duchy of Lancaster, which was the private property of Henry IV. before he ascended the throne, was assured to him and his heirs by a special act of parliament. In the first year of Henry VII. it was united to the crown, but as a separate property.

CROWN POINT,a village of Essex county, New York, U.S.A., in a township of the same name, about 90 m. N.E. of Albany and about 10 m. N. of Ticonderoga, on the W. shore of Lake Champlain. Pop. of the township (1890) 3135; (1900) 2112; (1905) 1890; (1910) 1690; of the village, about 1000. The village is served by the Delaware & Hudson Railway and by the Champlain Canal. Among the manufactures are lumber and woodenware. Graphite has been found in the western part of the township, and spar is mined. In 1609 Champlain fought near here the engagement with the Iroquois Indians which marked the beginning of the long enmity between the Five (later Six) Nations and the French. Subsequently Dutch and English traders trafficked in the vicinity, the latter maintaining here for many years a regular trading-post. In 1731 the French built here Fort Frédéric, the first military post at Crown Point, and the place was subsequently for many years of considerable strategic importance, owing to its situation on Lake Champlain, which with Lake George furnished a comparatively easy route from Canada to New York. Twice during the French and Indian War, in 1755 and again in 1756, English and colonial expeditions were sent against it in vain; it remained in French hands until 1759, when, after Lord Jeffrey Amherst’s occupation of Ticonderoga, the garrison joined that of the latter place and retreated to Canada. Crown Point was then occupied by Amherst, who during the winter of 1759-1760 began the construction, about a quarter of a mile from the old Fort Frédéric, of a large fort, which was garrisoned but was never completed; the ruins of this fort (not of Fort Frédéric) still remain. At the outbreak of the War of Independence, on the 11th of May 1775, the fort, whose garrison then consisted of only a dozen men, was captured by Colonel Seth Warner and a force of “Green Mountain Boys,” sent from Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen; and it remained in American hands save for a brief period in 1777, when it was occupied by a detachment of Burgoyne’s invading army.

CROWTHER, SAMUEL ADJAI(1809?-1891), African missionary-bishop, was born at Ochugu in the Yoruba country,West Africa, and was sold into slavery in 1821. Next year he was rescued, with many other captives, by H.M. ship “Myrmidon,” and was landed at Sierra Leone. Educated there in a missionary school, he was baptized on the 11th of December 1825. In time he became a teacher at Furah Bay, and afterwards an energetic missionary on the Niger. He came to England in 1842, entered the Church Missionary College at Islington, and in June 1843 was ordained by Bishop Blomfield. Returning to Africa, he laboured with great success amongst his own people and afterwards at Abeokuta. Here he devoted himself to the preparation of school-books, and the translation of the Bible and Prayer-Book into Yoruba and other dialects. He also established a trade in cotton, and improved the native agriculture. In 1857 he commenced the third expedition up the Niger, and after labouring with varied success, returned to England and was consecrated, on St Peter’s Day 1864, first bishop of the Niger territories. Before long a commencement was made of the missions to the delta of the Niger, and between 1866 and 1884 congregations of Christians were formed at Bonny, Brass and New Calabar, but the progress made was slow and subject to many impediments. In 1888 the tide of persecution turned, and several chiefs embraced Christianity, and on Crowther’s return from another visit to England, the large iron church known as “St Stephen’s cathedral” was opened. Crowther died of paralysis on the 31st of December 1891, having displayed as a missionary for many years untiring industry, great practical wisdom, and deep piety.

CROYDON,a municipal, county and parliamentary borough of Surrey, England, suburban to London, 10 m. S. of London Bridge. Pop. (1891) 102,695; (1901) 133,895. The borough embraces a great residential district. Several railway stations give it communication with all parts of the metropolis, the principal railways serving it being the London, Brighton & South Coast and the South-Eastern & Chatham. It stands near the sources of the river Wandle, under Banstead Downs, and is a place of great antiquity. The original site, farther west than the present town, is mentioned in Domesday Book. The derivation indicated is from the O. Fr.croie dune, chalk hill. The supposition that here was the Roman station ofNoviomagusis rejected. The site is remarkable for the number of springs which issue from the soil. One of these, called the “Bourne,” bursts forth a short way above the town at irregular intervals of one to ten years or more; and after running a torrent for two or three months, as quickly vanishes. Until its course was diverted it caused destructive floods. This phenomenon seems to arise from rains which, falling on the chalk hills, sink into the porous soil and reappear after a time from crevices at lower levels. The manor of Croydon was presented by William the Conqueror to Archbishop Lanfranc, who is believed to have founded the archiepiscopal palace there, which was the occasional residence of his successors till about 1750, and of which the chapel and hall remain. Addington Park, 3½ m. from Croydon, was purchased for the residence, in 1807, of the archbishop of Canterbury, but was sold in consequence of Archbishop Temple’s decision to reside at the palace, Canterbury. The neighbouring church, which is Norman and Early English, contains several memorials of archbishops. Near the park a group of tumuli and a circular encampment are seen. Croydon is a suffragan bishopric in the diocese of Canterbury. The parish church of St John the Baptist appears to have been built in the 14th and 15th centuries, but to have contained remains of an older building. The church was restored or rebuilt in the 16th century, and again restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1857-1859. It was destroyed by fire, with the exception of the tower, on the 5th of January 1867, and was at once rebuilt by Scott on the old lines. In 1596 Archbishop Whitgift founded the hospital or almshouse which bears his name, and remains in its picturesque brick buildings surrounding two quadrangles. His grammar school was housed in new buildings in 1871, and is a flourishing day school. The principal public building of Croydon is that erected by the corporation for municipal business; it included court-rooms and the public library. At Addiscombe in the neighbourhood was formerly a mansion dating from 1702, and acquired by the East India Company in 1809 for a Military College, which on the abolition of the Company became the Royal Military College for the East Indian Army, and was closed in 1862. Croydon was formed into a municipal borough in 1883, a parliamentary borough, returning one member, in 1885, and a county borough in 1888. The corporation consists of a mayor, 12 aldermen and 36 councillors. Area, 9012 acres.

CROZAT, PIERRE(1661-1740), French art collector, was born at Toulouse, one of a family who were prominent French financiers and collectors. He became treasurer to the king in Paris, and gradually acquired a magnificent collection of pictures andobjets d’art. Between 1729 and 1742 a finely illustrated work was published in two volumes, known as theCabinet Crozat, including the finest pictures in French collections. Most of his own treasures descended to his nephews, Louis François (d. 1750), Joseph Antoine (d. 1750), and Louis Antoine (d. 1770), and were augmented by them, being dispersed after their deaths; the collection of Louis Antoine Crozat went to St Petersburg.

CROZET ISLANDS,an uninhabited group in the Indian Ocean, in 46°-47° S. and 51° E. They are mountainous, with summits from 4000 to 5000 ft. high, and are disposed in two divisions—Penguin or Inaccessible, Hog, Possession and East Islands; and the Twelve Apostles. Like Kerguelen, and other clusters in these southern waters, they appear to be of igneous formation; but owing to the bleak climate and their inaccessible character they are seldom visited, and have never been explored since their discovery in 1772 by Marion-Dufresne, after one of whose officers they are named. Possession, the highest, has a snowy peak said to exceed 5000 ft. Hog Island takes its name from the animals which were here let loose by an English captain many years ago, but have since disappeared. Rabbits burrow in the heaps of scoria on the slopes of the mountains.

CROZIER, WILLIAM(1855- ), American artillerist and inventor, born at Carrollton, Carroll county, Ohio, on the 19th of February 1855, was the son of Robert Crozier (1827-1895), chief justice of Kansas in 1863-1866, and a United States senator from that state from December 1873 to February 1874. He graduated at West Point in 1876, was appointed a 2nd lieutenant in the 4th Artillery, and served on the Western frontier for three years against the Sioux and Bannock Indians. From 1879 to 1884 he was instructor in mathematics at West Point, and was superintendent of the Watertown (Massachusetts) Arsenal from 1884 to 1887. In 1888 he was sent by the war department to study recent developments in artillery in Europe, and upon his return he was placed in full charge of the construction of gun carriages for the army, and with General Adelbert R. Buffington (1837- ), the chief of ordnance, he invented the Buffington-Crozier disappearing gun carriage (1896). He also invented a wire-wound gun, and perfected many appliances connected with heavy and field ordnance. In 1890 he attained the rank of captain. During the Spanish-American War he was inspector-general for the Atlantic and Gulf coast defences. In 1899 he was one of the American delegates to the Peace Conference at the Hague. He later served in the Philippine Islands on the staffs of Generals John C. Bates and Theodore Schwan, and in 1900 was chief of ordnance on the staff of General A. R. Chaffee during the Pekin Relief Expedition. In November 1901 he was appointed brigadier-general and succeeded General Buffington as chief of ordnance of the United States army. HisNotes on the Construction of Ordnance, published by the war department, are used as text-books in the schools for officers, and he is also the author of other important publications on military subjects.

CROZIER,or pastoral staff, one of the insignia of a bishop, and probably derived from thelituusof the Roman augurs. It is crook-headed, and borne by bishops and archbishops alike (seePastoral Staff). The word “crozier” or “crosier” represents the O. Fr.crocier, Med. Lat.crociarius, the bearer of the episcopal crook (Med. Lat.crocea,croccia, &c., Fr.croc). The English representative ofcroceawascrose, latercrosse, which, becoming confused with “cross” (q.v.), was replaced by “crozier-staff”or “crozier’s staff,” and then, at the beginning of the 16th century, by “crozier” (see J. T. Taylor,Archaeologia, Iii., “On the Use of the Terms Crosier, Pastoral Staff and Cross”).

CRUCIAL(from Lat.crux, a cross), that which has the form of a cross, as the “crucial ligaments” of the knee-joint, which cross each other, connecting the femur and the tibia. From Francis Bacon’s expressioninstantia crucis(taken, as he says, from the finger-post orcruxat cross-roads) for a phenomenon which decides between two causes which have each similar analogies in its favour, comes the use of “crucial” for that which decides between two alternatives, hence, generally, as a synonym for “critical.” The word is also used, with a reference to the use of a “crucible,” of something which tests and tries.

CRUCIFERAE,or Crucifer family, a natural order of flowering plants, which derives its name from the cruciform arrangement of the four petals of the flower. It is an order of herbaceous plants, many of which, such as wallflower, stock, mustard, cabbage, radish and others, are well-known garden or field-plants. Many of the plants are annuals; among these are some of the commonest weeds of cultivation, shepherd’s purse (Capsella Bursa-pastoris), charlock (Brassica Sinapis), and such common plants as hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale), Jack-by-the-hedge (S. AlliariaorAlliaria officinalis). Others are biennials producing a number of leaves on a very short stem in the first year, and in the second sending up a flowering shoot at the expense of the nourishment stored in the thick tap-root during the previous season. Under cultivation this root becomes much enlarged, as in turnip, swede and others. Wallflower (Cheiranthus Cheiri) (fig. 1) is a perennial. The leaves when borne on an elongated stem are arranged alternately and have no stipules. The flowers are arranged in racemes without bracts; during the life of the flower its stalk continues to grow so that the open flowers of an inflorescence stand on a level (that is, are corymbose). The flowers are regular, with four free sepals arranged in two pairs at right angles, four petals arranged crosswise in one series, and two sets of stamens, an outer with two members and an inner with four, in two pairs placed in the middle line of the flower and at right angles to the outer series. The four inner stamens are longer than the two outer; and the stamens are hence collectively described as tetradynamous. The pistil, which is above the rest of the members of the flower, consists of two carpels joined at their edges to form the ovary, which becomes two-celled by subsequent ingrowth of a septum from these united edges; a row of ovules springs from each edge. The fruit is a pod or siliqua splitting by two valves from below upwards and leaving the placentas with the seeds attached to thereplumor framework of the septum. The seeds are filled with the large embryo, the two cotyledons of which are variously folded. In germination the cotyledons come above ground and form the first green leaves of the plant.

A,Cheiranthus Cheiri.

B,Lepidium sativum.

C,Capsella Bursa-pastoris.

D,Lunaria biennis, showing the septum after the carpels have fallen away.

E,Crambe maritima.

Pollination is effected by aid of insects. The petals are generally white or yellow, more rarely lilac or some other colour, and between the bases of the stamens are honey-glands. Some or all of the anthers become twisted so that insects in probing for honey will touch the anthers with one side of their head and the capitate stigma with the other. Owing, however, to the close proximity of stigma and anthers, very slight irregularity in the movements of the visiting insect will cause self-pollination, which may also occur by the dropping of pollen from the anthers of the larger stamens on to the stigma.

Cruciferae is a large order containing nearly 200 genera and about 1200 species. It has a world-wide distribution, but finds its chief development in the temperate and frigid zones, especially of the northern hemisphere, and as Alpine plants. In the subdivision of the order into tribes use is made of differences in the form of the fruit and the manner of folding of the embryo. When the fruit is several times longer than broad it is known as a siliqua, as in stock or wallflower; when about as long as broad, a silicula, as in shepherd’s purse.

The order is well represented in Britain—among others byNasturtium(N. officinale, water-cress),Arabis(rock-cress),Cardamine(bitter-cress),Sisymbrium(hedge mustard, &c.;S. Iriois London rocket, so-called because it sprang up after the fire of 1666),Brassica(cabbage and mustard),Diplotaxis(rocket),Cochlearia(scurvy-grass),Capsella(shepherd’s purse),Lepidium(cress),Thlaspi(penny-cress),Cakile(sea rocket),Raphanus(radish), and others. Of economic importance are species ofBrassica, including mustard (B. nigra), white mustard, used when young in salads (B. alba), cabbage (q.v.) and its numerous forms derived fromB. oleracea, turnip (B. campestris), and swede (B. Napus),Raphanus sativus(radish),Cochlearia Armoracia(horse-radish),Nasturtium officinale(water-cress),Lepidium sativum(garden cress).Isatisaffords a blue dye, woad. Many of the genera are known as ornamental garden plants; such areCheiranthus(wallflower),Matthiola(stock),Iberis(candy-tuft),Alyssum(Alison),Hesperis(dame’s violet), Lunaria (honesty) (fig. 6),Aubrietiaand others.

CRUDEN, ALEXANDER(1701-1770), author of the well-known concordance (q.v.) to the English Bible, was born at Aberdeen on the 31st of May 1701. He was educated at the grammar school, Aberdeen, and studied at Marischal College, intending to enter the ministry. He took the degree of master of arts, but soon after began to show signs of insanity owing to a disappointment in love. After a term of confinement he recovered and removed to London. In 1722 he had an engagement as private tutor to the son of a country squire living at Eton Hall, Southgate, and also held a similar post at Ware. Years afterwards, in an application for the title of bookseller to the queen, he stated that he had been for some years corrector for the press in Wild Court. This probably refers to this time. In 1729 he was employed by the 10th earl of Derby as a reader and secretary, but was discharged on the 7th of July for his ignorance of French pronunciation. He then lodged in a house in Soho frequented exclusively by Frenchmen, and took lessons in the language in the hope of getting back his post with the earl, but when he went to Knowsley in Lancashire, the earl would not see him. He returned to London and opened a bookseller’s shop in the Royal Exchange. In April 1735 he obtained the title of bookseller to the queen by recommendation of the lord mayor and most of the Whig aldermen. The post was an unremunerative sinecure. In 1737 he finished his concordance, which, he says, was the work of several years. It was presented to the queen on the 3rd of November 1737, a fortnight before her death.

Although Cruden’s biblical labours have made his name a household word among English-speaking people, he was disappointed in his hopes of immediate profit, and his mind again became unhinged. In spite of his earnest and self-denying piety, and his exceptional intellectual powers, he developed idiosyncrasies, and his life was marred by a harmless but ridiculous egotism, which so nearly bordered on insanity that his friends sometimes thought it necessary to have him confined. He paid unwelcome addresses to a widow, and was confined in a madhouse in Bethnal Green. On his release he published a pamphlet dedicated to Lord H. (probably Harrington, secretary of state) entitledThe London Citizen exceedingly injured, or a British Inquisition Displayed. He also published an account of his trial, dedicated to the king. In December 1740 he writes to Sir H. Sloane saying he has been employed since July as Latin usher in a boarding-school at Enfield. He then found work as a proof-reader, and several editions of Greek and Latin classics are said to have owed their accuracy to his care. He superintended the printing of one of Matthew Henry’s commentaries, and in 1750 printed a smallCompendium of the Holy Bible(an abstract of the contents of each chapter), and also reprinted a larger edition of theConcordance.

About this time he adopted the title of “Alexander the Corrector,” and assumed the office of correcting the morals of the nation, especially with regard to swearing and Sunday observance. For this office he believed himself divinely commissioned, but he petitioned parliament for a formal appointment in this capacity. In April 1755 he printed a letter to the speaker and other members of the House of Commons, and about the same time an “Address to the King and Parliament.” He was in the habit of carrying a sponge, with which he effaced all inscriptions which he thought contrary to good morals. In September 1753, through being involved in a street brawl, he was confined in an asylum in Chelsea for seventeen days at the instance of his sister, Mrs Wild. He brought an unsuccessful action against his friends, and seriously proposed that they should go into confinement as an atonement. He published an account of this second restraint in “The Adventures of Alexander the Corrector.” He made attempts to present to the king in person an account of his trial, and to obtain the honour of knighthood, one of his predicted honours. In 1754 he was nominated as parliamentary candidate for the city of London, but did not go to the poll. In 1755 he paid unwelcome addresses to the daughter of Sir Thomas Abney, of Newington (1640-1722), and then published his letters and the history of his repulse in the third part of his “Adventures.” In June and July 1755 he visited Oxford and Cambridge. He was treated with the respect due to his learning by officials and residents in both universities, but experienced some boisterous fooling at the hands of the undergraduates. At Cambridge he was knighted with mock ceremonies. There he appointed “deputy correctors” to represent him in the university. He also visited Eton, Windsor, Tonbridge and Westminster schools, where he appointed four boys to be his deputies. (AnAdmonition to Cambridgeis preserved among letters from J. Neville of Emmanuel to Dr Cox Macro, in the British Museum.)The Corrector’s Earnest Address to the Inhabitants of Great Britain, published in 1756, was occasioned by the earthquake at Lisbon. In 1762 he saved an ignorant seaman, Richard Potter, from the gallows, and in 1763 published a pamphlet recording the history of the case. Against John Wilkes, whom he hated, he wrote a small pamphlet, and used to delete with his sponge the number 45 wherever he found it, this being the offensive number of theNorth Briton. In 1769 he lectured in Aberdeen as “Corrector,” and distributed copies of the fourth commandment and various religious tracts. The wit that made his eccentricities palatable is illustrated by the story of how he gave to a conceited young minister whose appearance displeased himA Mother’s Catechism dedicated to the young and ignorant. TheScripture Dictionary, compiled about this time, was printed in Aberdeen in two volumes shortly after his death. Alexander Chalmers, who in his boyhood heard Cruden lecture in Aberdeen and wrote his biography, says that a verbal index to Milton, which accompanied the edition of Thomas Newton, bishop of Bristol, in 1769, was Cruden’s.

The second edition of the BibleConcordancewas published in 1761, and presented to the king in person on the 21st of December. The third appeared in 1769. Both contain a pleasing portrait of the author. He is said to have gained £800 by these two editions. He returned to London from Aberdeen, and died suddenly while praying in his lodgings in Camden Passage, Islington, on the 1st of November 1770. He was buried in the ground of a Protestant dissenting congregation in Dead Man’s Place, Southwark. He bequeathed a portion of his savings for a £5 bursary at Aberdeen, which preserves his name on the list of benefactors of the university.

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