Part 16

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.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] A 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 of X-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 Act 1865. 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 an _extent_ (see WRIT).

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. _Calisto_ gained 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, be based on the _No pued esser_ of Moreto. This had already been unsuccessfully adapted, as Crowne discovered later, by Sir Thomas St Serfe, but in Crowne's hands it developed into _Sir 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. In _Timon_, 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) and _Caligula_ (1698) complete the list of his tragedies. _The Country Wit: A Comedy_ (acted 1675, pr. 1693), derived in part from Moliere's _Le 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 Moliere's _Tartuffe_, ridicules the court Catholics, and in Father Finical caricatures Father Petre; and _The Married Beau; or The Curious Impertinent_ (1694), is based on the _Curioso Impertinente_ in Don Quixote. He also produced a version of Racine's _Andromaque_, an adaptation from Shakespeare's Henry VI., and an unsuccessful comedy, _Justice Busy_.

See _The Dramatic Works of John Crowne_ (4 vols., 1873), edited by James Maidment and W. H. Logan for the _Dramatists 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,[1] but 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. (See AUSTRIA.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The 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 Frederic, 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 Frederic, of a large fort, which was garrisoned but was never completed; the ruins of this fort (not of Fort Frederic) 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 of _Noviomagus_ is 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, 3(1/2) 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 and _objets d'art_. Between 1729 and 1742 a finely illustrated work was published in two volumes, known as the _Cabinet Crozat_, including the finest pictures in French collections. Most of his own treasures descended to his nephews, Louis Francois (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 deg.-47 deg. S. and 51 deg. 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. His _Notes 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 the _lituus_ of the Roman augurs. It is crook-headed, and borne by bishops and archbishops alike (see PASTORAL 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 of _crocea_ was _crose_, later _crosse_, 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 expression _instantia crucis_ (taken, as he says, from the finger-post or _crux_ at 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.