ety in former geological epochs, and in countries further north than the present habitats of these reptiles. The most remarkable difference between the fossil and existing species is in the form of the vertebræ; the existing crocodilians have these bodies concave in front and convex behind, and the same is true of the species of the tertiary epoch; but the fossils of the older strata have the vertebral bodies flat, or biconcave, as in fishes, or else the anterior face convex and the posterior concave, just the opposite to the existing forms. Those of the tertiary epoch are generally found in freshwater deposits, and near the mouths of supposed rivers, so that their habits were then probably the same as now; they have been found as far north as England and France, in Asia, and in the greensand of New Jersey. During the secondary period there existed crocodilians with flat or biconcave vertebræ, resembling gavials in their lengthened cranium; from their stronger armature, more numerous ribs, and the strata in which they have been found, they were probably marine. Among the genera are teleosaurus (Geoff.), mystriosaurus (Kaup.), macrospondylus (H. de Meyer.), gnathosaurus (H. de Meyer.), &c., found in the liassic, oolitic, and calcareous strata. Those with an anterior convexity and posterior concavity, of which the type is steneosaurus (Geoff.), resembled also the gavials, and have been found in the lias and oolite of England.

CROCUS, a genus of plants of the order iridacea. There are 2 sorts of crocuses, those which blossom in spring, such as crocus vernus, with purple or white flowers and finely netted root coats, and C. Susianus, or cloth of gold crocus, with small, deep yellow flowers, the sepals of which are curiously veined with dark, chocolate-brown lines; and those which blossom in the autumn, such as the saffron crocus (C. sativus), an oriental plant, cultivated for its long, orange-colored, drooping styles, and the Sicilian crocus (C. odorus), whose flowers are fragrant. The saffron crocus blossoms in October, but it is not commonly seen in our gardens. It is, however, extensively cultivated for its produce of saffron in some parts of England. Good saffron consists of the stigmas only, which are small, narrow, and extremely light interior parts of the flower. The crocuses are mostly hardy little plants, and once introduced into the flower borders, they will continue and increase without care.

CRŒESUS, king of Lydia, succeeded to the throne before the middle of the 6th century B. C. Writers of high repute have, however, conjectured that he had already been for 15 years associated in the government with his father, and that many of the events recorded by Herodotus as belonging to his reign are to be referred to this period of joint government. This view is rejected by Rawlinson in the notes to his translations of Herodotus. His reign, according to Rawlinson, extended from 568 to 554 B. Č. He ascended the throne

in a time of peace and prosperity; he was the heir to untold treasures; success crowned all his early efforts; he subdued the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor, formed an alliance with the Grecian islands, and extended his conquests toward the east to the river Halys. He was now a mighty monarch, ruling over 13 nations, and in alliance with the powerful rulers of Media, Babylon, and Egypt; the vast wealth which he had inherited had been increased by the tribute of conquered nations, by the confiscation of great estates, and by the golden sands of the Pactolus. We may perhaps form some idea of the extent of this wealth from the rich votive offerings which he deposited in the temples of the gods. "Herodotus himself saw the ingots of solid gold, 6 palms long, 3 broad, and 1 deep, which to the number of 117 were laid up in the treasury at Delphi. . . . He had also beheld in various parts of Greece the following offerings, all in gold, which had been deposited in the temples by the same opulent monarch: a figure of a lion, probably of the natural size; a wine bowl of about the same weight as the lion; a lustral vase; a statue of a female, said to be Croesus's baking woman, 41 feet high; a shield and a spear; a tripod; some figures of cows, and a number of pillars; and a 2d shield in a different place from the 1st, and of greater size." But in the midst of all his wealth and prosperity, Croesus began to be alarmed at the rapid conquests of Cyrus, and when at length he saw the Median power fall before the Persian arms, he resolved to avenge his brother-in-law Astyages, the dethroned king of Media. He accordingly crossed the Halys, and offered the Persians battle; but after an indecisive engagement returned to Sardis. Cyrus pursued him, took the city, and made him his prisoner. The Lydian king was condemned to be burned alive, but was finally spared, being saved, according to Herodotus, by recalling a saying of Solon, and became the confidential adviser of his conqueror, whom he survived.

CROFT, WILLIAM, an English composer, born in Warwickshire in 1677, died in 1727. At the age of 31 he obtained the position of composer to the chapel royal and organist to Westminster abbey, which he held until his death. As a composer of cathedral music he held a high enk. In 1724 he published, under the title Musica Sacra, an edition of his select anthems, 2 vols. folio. Some of these are still performed in the English church service.

ČROGHAN, GEORGE, an American officer, son of Major William Croghan, and nephew of George Rogers Clark, of the revolutionary army, born near Louisville, Ky., Nov. 15, 1791, died in New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1849, He was graduated at Wis, and well descridege, Va., served in 181 History of Anir aue-de-camp to Col. Boyd a heur-win Tippecanoe, was made captain of f, owing year, and major March 30, 1813. On May 5, 1818, he distinguished himself as aide-de-camp of Gen. Harrison in the defence of Fort Meigs; and on Aug. 1 and 2

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he successfully defended Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio, with a garrison of 160 men, against the determined attack of Gen. Proctor, with a force of over 1,000, half regulars and half Indians; and this, notwithstanding the fort was so weakly constructed and poorly provided, that he had actually been ordered to abandon it. For this exploit he was rewarded with the brevet of lieutenant-colonel, and 22 years afterward (Feb. 13, 1835) with a gold medal from congress. He was made inspector-general, with the rank of colonel, Dec. 21, 1825, and in that capacity served with Gen. Taylor in Mexico.

CROKER, JOHN WILSON, a British statesman and author, born in Galway, Ireland, Dec. 20, 1780, died at Hampton, near London, Aug. 10, 1857. His father, of English descent, was for many years surveyor-general of Ireland. He was educated at Trinity college, Dublin, where he greatly distinguished himself, especially in the proceedings of the since suppressed "historical debating society." In 1800 he received the degree of bachelor of arts, and was immediately entered as a student at Lincoln's Inn, but remained in Dublin, and was called to the Irish bar in 1802. He devoted his leisure to literature, and published anonymously in 1804 his "Familiar Epistles on the Irish Stage," and in 1805 his "Intercepted Letter from Canton." Both attracted much attention, from the talent and especially the proneness to sarcasm which they indicated. In 1807 he gave another proof of his vigorous ability in an elaborate pamphlet on the "Past and Present State of Ireland," in which he advocated Catholic emancipation. In that year also he entered parliament as member for the borough of Downpatrick, and the tory party soon conceived high expectations from his public life. When, in 1809, charges of maladministration were brought against the duke of York, and a parliamentary inquiry was instituted, Mr. Croker was one of the most effective defenders of his royal highness, and in the long debate which ensued he delivered, on March 14, the best speech that was made on the side of the ministry. He was associated with Gifford, Scott, George Ellis, Frere, and Southey in establishing the Quarterly Review," the first number of which appeared in 1809, and he continued till his death to be one of the most frequent, powerful, and sarcastic contributors to that periodical. In 1809 the Perceval government appointed him secretary to the admiralty, and he retained that office, fulfilling its duties with unremitting application, till 1830. He sat in the house of commons through 8 successive parliaments till 1832, having been returned for Yarmouth, Athlone, Bodmin, and in 1827 for the university of Dublin. In 1828 he was sworn a privy councillor. He favored the project of Catholic emancipation, was among the first to advocate a state encouragement of the fine arts, and urged the purchase of the Elgin marbles in a speech much in advance of the VOL. VI.-6

general treatment of the subject by parliament. An accomplished debater and master of satire, he was a prominent and most resolute opponent of the reform bill, which he believed would ultimately revolutionize the country. The passing of that bill destroyed him politically, for, unlike his comrades, he declared that he never would sit in a reformed parliament, and he never did. He preferred rather the occupation of "tomahawking liberal authors" in the "Quarterly," his contributions to which were so caustic that for many years it was customary to attribute all the most malevolent and ablest articles of that periodical to his pen. He gained the reputation of "a man who would go a hundred miles through sleet and snow, on the top of a coach, in a December night, to search a parish register, for the sake of showing that a man is illegitimate, or a woman older than she says she is." In 1826 he reviewed, in the London "Courier," Scott's "Letters of Malachi Malagrowther," in a way that called forth a delicate rebuke from Scott, who had long been one of his most cordial associates, and who now declined to endanger an old friendship by meeting him in "the rapier and poniard game of wit." Beside his review articles and many pamphlets and printed speeches on political questions, he published poems entitled "Talavera," "Songs of Trafalgar," and several pleasing lyrics, of which the fine lines on the death of Canning are among the most successful; "Military Events of the French Revolution of 1830;""Letters on the Naval War with America;" ""Stories from the History of England for Children," of which over 30,000 copies have been sold, and which Scott in a preface acknowledges to have been the model of his "Tales of a Grandfather." He also translated Bassompierre's "Embassy to England," edited the "Suffolk Papers," the "Letters of Lady Hervey," Lord Hervey's "Memoirs of the Reign of George II.," and Walpole's "Letters to Lord Hertford," and furnished an edition of Boswell's "Life of Johnson" with copious annotations. The last work was received with general approbation, and is esteemed a valuable contribution to literature, though it was severely reviewed by Mr. Macaulay in the pages of the "Edinburgh Review." In return, the harshest and most effective criticism upon the first volumes of Macaulay's "History of England" was from the pen of Mr. Croker. The latter was also long at feud with Mr. Disraeli, who lampooned him in the character of Rigby in "Coningsby," and whose political pretensions, and especially his famous budget of 1852, were consequently assailed with masterly rancor and ridicule in the "Quarterly." He had a controversy with Lord John Russell upon the publication by the latter of the "Memoirs and Correspondence" of Moore, on which he wrote a scathing article, followed by several skilfully written letters in the "Times." Mr. Croker possessed brilliant conversational pow

ers, a talent for repartee, and a minute acquaintance with the principal questions of politics and belles-lettres. As a political gossip and satirist, he excelled especially in humorously noting the incidents and analyzing the motives of persons and parties at critical seasons of ministerial change. A selection from his numerous contributions to the "Quarterly Review" has been published.

CROKER, THOMAS CROFTON, an Irish author, born in Cork, Jan. 15, 1798, died in London, Aug. 8, 1854. When 15 years of age he was apprenticed to a merchant, and began to make occasional rambles on foot through the south of Ireland. During these excursions, continued for many years, he made the researches among the peasantry and the collections of legends and songs which furnished the materials for his "Researches in the South of Ireland" (1824), and for his "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland" (1825). The latter work contained several contributions from Maginn, Pigott, Keightley, and Humphreys, which were omitted in subsequent editions, and it was at once highly praised by Sir Walter Scott. In 1819 Mr. Croker had obtained a clerkship in the admiralty, and he was connected with that department till 1850, when he retired with a pension. In 1829 he published the "Legends of the Lakes," and rhymes of a pantomime founded on the story of "Daniel O'Rourke," which were followed in 1832 by the tales of "Barney Mahoney" and "My Village." The two latter are his principal attempts at strictly original composition, his other works being collections of legendary and poetical lore. "My Village" contains minute descriptions, but is written without passion or imaginative power, and was the least favorably received of his publications. The Irish adventures of Barney Mahoney are pleasantly and plainly told. In 1838 he published the " Memoirs of Joseph Holt, General of the Irish Rebels in 1798," and in 1839 he edited the "Popular Songs of Ireland," with historical and personal annotations. He also contributed frequently to magazines, among others to "Fraser's" and the "New Monthly," and was an active member of numerous literary and antiquarian societies. His works give not only the fanciful traditions of Ireland, but also sketches of its romantic features and ruins, and interesting notices of the humors and characteristics of the Irish.

CROLY, GEORGE, LL. D., a British clergyman and author, born in Dublin in 1780. He was educated at Trinity college in his native city, and has been for many years rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, a metropolitan parish in London. To this position, in which he has obtained an extended fame as an eloquent and impressive preacher, he was presented by Lord Brougham when lord chancellor of England. His literary career began with a poem entitled "Paris in 1815," in which he describes the works of art collected by Napoleon in the Louvre, prior to their restoration to the various galleries of Eu

rope after the surrender of Paris. This was followed in 1820 by the "Angel of the World, an Arabian Tale," and by several satires and lyrics, which were first collected in 1830. His tragedy of "Catiline" appeared in 1822, and though not produced upon the stage was most favorably reviewed by Prof. Wilson, and has maintained its reputation as an admirable specimen of the unacted drama. In 1824 his comedy of "Pride shall have a Fall" was performed at the Covent Garden theatre with great success, which was partly owing to its literary merit, partly to the circumstance that its illustration of the airs and graces of a fashionable cavalry regiment had a direct application at the time, and partly to the extraordinary personation of one of the characters by Frederic Yates. He published in 1827 "Salathiel, a Story of the Past, the Present, and the Future," founded on the legend of the wandering Jew, which is one of his most finished and popular productions. It was followed by two other works of fiction, "Tales of the Great St. Bernard," and "Marston" (1846). The "Modern Orlando (1846), though fragmentary, is one of his best poems. He has made valuable contributions to historical and biographical literature by his "Personal History of King George IV." (1830), his "Character of Curran's Eloquence and Politics," and his "Political Life of Burke" (1840). He has also edited the works of Pope (1835), and the select works of Jeremy Taylor (1838), for which he furnished memoirs and annotations. His publications on professional subjects have been a new interpretation of the "Apocalypse of St. John" (1827), a work entitled "Divine Providence, or the Three Cycles of Revelation" (1834), and numerous sermons on questions of public interest, several of them being upon the Anglo-Catholic controversy. He was one of the early contributors to "Blackwood's Magazine," has furnished critical articles of a high character to various periodicals, and collected in 1842 a volume of "Historical Sketches, Speeches, and Characters." He is reputed an excellent scholar, and his writings are distinguished by a vigorous and imaginative style.

CROMLECH, or CROMLEH, a primitive kind of sepulchral monument among the ancient Scandinavian and Celtic nations. It consisted of a large flat stone laid on other stones set upright to sustain it. These monuments are supposed by some antiquaries to have been also used as altars on which sacrifices were offered to the heroes who repose beneath. Though the cromlech and kist-vaen are frequently confounded, they are different in certain respects. The cromlech is open at the side and ends, and larger, whereas the kist-vaen is closed up on every side. The word cromlech is probably derived from the Armoric crum, crooked or bending, and lech, or leh, a stone. By the inhabitants of Wales and Cornwall cromlechs are called coetne Arthor, or Arthur's quoits.

CROMPTON, THOMAS BONSOR, an English

manufacturer, born at Farnworth, May 20, 1792, died at Sandy, Bedfordshire, Sept. 8, 1858. He was the proprietor of Farnworth mills, and of extensive paper mills at Worthington, near Wigan, supplied the principal newspapers and merchants of London with paper, invented the continuous drying apparatus now in general use, was also an extensive manufacturer of cotton, and for some time the proprietor of the "Morning Post" and other newspapers. Indefatigable in business, he was at the same time an ardent sportsman, public-spirited, a conservative in politics, and noted for his hospitality. CROMWELL, OLIVER, lord protector of the English commonwealth, born at Huntingdon, April 25, 1599, died at the palace of Whitehall, Sept. 3, 1658. His family belonged to the class of English gentry, and his social position was well described by himself, when he said: "I was by birth a gentleman, neither living in any considerable height, nor yet in obscurity." Mr. Forster has printed, from the register of burials of the parish church of Felstead, the entry of the interment of Cromwell's eldest son, Robert, in 1639, in which the Puritan squire is spoken of as a man to be honored; and as this entry was made by the vicar before Cromwell had risen to eminence, the fact is important, as showing the estimation in which he was held by those who knew him best. No such tribute is paid to any other person in the register. The Cromwells were connected with the St. Johns, the Hampdens, and other eminent English historical families. The great grandfather of Oliver was Sir Richard Williams, a nephew of Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, whose name he took. His grandfather was Sir Henry Cromwell, who had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and who was famous for his charities. Robert Cromwell, a younger son of Sir Henry, married a widow lady named Lynne, daughter of William Steward, of Ely, who was descended from the youngest son of Alexander, lord steward of Scotland, founder of the house of Stuart. Mrs. Cromwell and Charles I. were 8th cousins, and Oliver was three generations nearer to Álexander than was the king whom he supplanted. The income of Oliver's parents was £360 a year, a large sum for those days. Robert Cromwell was a justice of the peace, and sat in one of Elizabeth's parliaments. Mr. Sanford has satisfactorily disposed of the story that he was a brewer by trade. Many curious anecdotes are related of the youth of the future protector, most of which were probably coined after he had risen to distinction. A monkey snatched him from his cradle, and took him to the housetop. A curate saved him from drowning, and lived to tell him that he repented the deed when he was warring against the church. He had a fight when 5 years old with Prince Charles, afterward Charles I., and flogged him, when the royal family was on a visit to his uncle, at Hinchinbrook. A gigantic female fig ure drew his bed curtains, and told him that

he should become the greatest man in England, but did not mention the word king. He was a froward boy, and much given to the ancient youthful pursuit of robbing orchards, and to practical jokes. He took to learning by fits and starts, and, much to the surprise of his master, who had flogged him severely and often, made but little progress. In 1616 he was sent to Sydney Sussex college, Cambridge, where he is represented as having lived a wild life; but as in after days he showed a fair knowledge of Latin, it is to be supposed his studies were not neglected. In 1617, after his father's death, he left Cambridge, and was, according to some of his biographers, entered of Lincoln's Inn. The accounts of his London life are flatly contradictory. One represents him associating with the best company, while the other paints him as a coarse debauchee. His youth was probably spent like that of most men of his class, and was that neither of a saint nor a devil. He was fond of rough sports, such as have generally been pursued by Englishmen. In 1620 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir James Bourchier, and soon afterward his mind took that serious turn which had so great an effect on his life. He is said to have given the best proof of his sincerity by making restitution to persons of whom he had won money. He was an active religious man, prayed, preached, and exhorted with unction, and assisted those of his brother Puritans who needed aid in his neighborhood. He was a member of the parliament which met in 1628, sitting for Huntingdon. During the 11 years that followed the dissolution of that parliament, and while Charles I. was endeavoring to establish a despotism over England, Cromwell lived either at Huntingdon, at St. Ives, or at Ely, his devotional feeling increasing in depth and strength, while his attachment to the country party was deepened and confirmed. There used to be current a story that, in 1638, despairing of his country's welfare, Cromwell embarked for New England, in company with Pym, Hazelrig, and Hampden, but was prevented from sailing by a royal order in council. This is now abandoned, as the ships were allowed to proceed, in consequence of the petition of the passengers and others. The opposition which he made, not to the draining of the fens, but to the interference of government in the work, was successful, and won him great fame, and from the people the title of "lord of the fens," while it showed to the country that he was a man of immovable resolution. In 1640 he was chosen to the short parliament; and when the second parliament of that year was called, Cromwell contested Cambridge with the poet Cleaveland, a zealous royalist, and is said to have defeated him by one vote. Cleaveland is reported to have said that that single vote had ruined both church and kingdom; but this was probably an invention of later times, as in 1640 Cromwell was not so high in general estimation as to be reckoned among the great leaders of his

party, nor was it supposed that that party aimed at any thing which implied hostility to the established order of things in church and state. From the time that he entered the long parliament, Cromwell went with the root-andbranch men, but he was not so conspicuous as to be noted until after the commencement of the civil war. Yet he served on many committees, and took part in debate. Sir Philip Warwick, who heard him speak with heat and earnestness in the first days of the session, felt his respect for the commons lessened because they hearkened much unto him. So little was he known to some noted men, that, on the day he made the speech here mentioned, Lord Digby asked Hampden who the sloven was; and received for answer that, if ever there should come a breach with the king, that sloven would be the greatest man in England. Cromwell was not much given to talk, but he was an active party man, and labored with zeal in the common cause. "It has been ascertained," says Mr. Sanford, "that within the first 10 months of the long parliament, and before the recess, which began on Sept. 9, 1641, Cromwell was specially appointed to 18 committees, exclusive of various appointments among the knights and burgesses generally of the eastern counties. The most important matters fell within the province of several of these committees." He supported the grand remonstrance, and all the other measures of the parliament that were meant to bridle the faithless king. When the war commenced, he became the most active of all men in the field, which he was the first to enter. Before the royal standard was set up he went down into Cambridgeshire, where he had previously sent arms, and formed the nucleus of his "Ironsides," at the same time seeking to give to the forcible resistance that was to be made to the king a systematic character among the leading men of the district, to the end of rendering their military means solidly available. He contributed liberally of his money to the cause. He seized the plate of Cambridge university, which was to have been sent to Charles I., and took the magazine that was in the town. His uncle, Sir Oliver, was a royalist, and the nephew, though he treated him personally with the most distinguished consideration, took from him every thing with which he could assist the king. He was present at the battle of Edgehill. He was made Colonel Cromwell, and acted under the earl of Essex, the parliamentary lord general. He showed himself to be a cavalry officer of remarkable capacity and resource. He would have done much in any contest, for his military genius was of a high order; but the peculiar circumstances of the civil war enabled him to accomplish something that borders on the marvellous. From the first he saw that the parliament could not contend against the king's forces unless it should have in its service men capable of meeting the loyalists on some ground of principle; and against the

chivalrous honor that actuated the better portion of the latter, he purposed to direct the religious spirit of the Puritans. Hampden, to whom he unfolded his scheme, thought it "a good notion, but impracticable;" but Cromwell found it no such difficult matter. He raised a cavalry regiment, 1,000 strong, which he drilled and exhorted until it became the finest body of troops in the world, and was the seed of that army which won the parliament's cause, and then overthrew the parliament itself. This regiment was composed mostly of freeholders, or the sons of freeholders, and was recruited from among Cromwell's neighbors, persons who had heard him preach before the war was thought of. Both friends and enemies bear the fullest evidence to the discipline, valor, skill in arms, freedom from military vices, and religious zeal of these Cromwellian soldiers. Their commander told them that they were to fight the king, and said he would himself as soon shoot that personage as any other whom he should encounter in the hostile ranks. This was contrary to the idea and practice of the parliament, which fought the king in his own name, a fiction quite in keeping with English political practice, but which had no hold on the Ironsides, who cheered their colonel's words, and ever acted in their spirit. The early military services of Cromwell were useful, and were soon followed by others of a brilliant character. He surprised a party of loyalists in Suffolk, kept the same party quiet in the eastern counties, and near Grantham totally routed a body of cavalry that was seeking to obtain control of Lincolnshire. His next action was the relief of Gainsborough. The royalists, under Col. Cavendish, were advancing in force upon the town, when Cromwell threw himself in their front. Though the enemy was triple his own numbers, and was drawn up on the summit of a hill, the base of which could be reached only through a gateway in a fence that was commanded by that enemy's fire, he led on his men, charged up hill, and carried the position. Some of the enemy fled, but Cromwell, then exhibiting for the first time that mode of action which gave him so many victories, did not pursue them, but re-formed his troops, and fell upon those who stood, routing them, and driving them into a bog, where they were all butchered, including their general. This victory raised Cromwell's reputation, and the more so that most of the parliamentary generals showed little conduct, and were often beaten. He continued his services in Lincolnshire and the neighboring counties; and parliament ordered that 2,000 men should be added to his command, to be disciplined after his fashion. He was united with the earl of Manchester in command of 6 associated counties, and their forces were joined at Boston, Oct. 1643. Sir T. Fairfax had previously joined Cromwell. Oct. 11, Sir John Henderson, at the head of a superior body of royalist cavalry, came up with Cromwell and Fairfax on Winceby field. A terrible