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tenced her to be buried alive. Creon's son Hæmon, the betrothed of Antigone, killed himself on her body. This is substantially the story as it appears in the plays of Sophocles. Other versions told how Creon sacrificed a son on the walls of Thebes in order to avert the fall of the city, and how later he gave his daughter Megara to Heracles, who succeeded him on the throne of Thebes.

CRE/OSOTE, or CRE'ASOTE (Gk. kpeas, kreas, flesh owrhp, sōter, preserver, from σwžɛw, sōzein, to save). An oily liquid obtained by the destructive distillation of wood, particularly that of the beech (Fagus sylvatica Linné, natural order Cupuliferæ). It is almost colorless when freshly obtained, but gradually assumes a darker color if exposed to the action of light. It has a penetrating, smoky odor and a burning taste, and is slightly heavier than water, in which it is soluble only to a very limited extent. It mixes readily with alcohol, ether, chloroform, and glacial acetic acid. It is composed mainly of guaiacol and cresol and has a high refractive power. Creosote acts as an antiseptic and has been used in the preservation of meat-whence its name. At present it is largely used in the treatment of tuberculosis with mixed infection. For this purpose it may be administered in the form of an emulsion with cod-liver oil and other substances; or else a mixture of creosote with alcohol and choloroform may be inhaled by the patient, moderate doses of pure creosote being perfectly harmless, and causing no disagreeable symptoms whatever. Creosote was first prepared by Reichenbach in 1832, and Bouchard and Pimbert were the first to apply it to the treatment of tuberculosis. It is also used in bronchitis with profuse expectoration containing the Streptococcus bacillus, and in fermentative dyspepsia, diarrhea, and dysentery. The creosote-oil used for the preservation of timber is derived by the fractional distillation of coal-tar, constituting the fraction that distills over between 230° and 270° C. It is composed mainly of phenol (carbolic acid), cresol, naphthalene, and anthracene. The 'creosote-plant' (Larroa Mexicana) produces a substance similar to Indian gum-lac and having a strong creosote-like odor; hence the name of the plant.

CREOSOTE-BUSH. See ZYGOPHYLLACEÆ. CREOSOTOL, krē'ô-sô-tōl' (from creosote + -ol), or CARBONATE OF CREOSOTE. A pale-yellow sirupy liquid similar to creosote, but having less odor and taste. It is used in tuberculosis and is well borne by the stomach.

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CRÉQUI, krå'ke', CHARLES, Marquis de (1578-1638). A French soldier. He was prominent officer under Henry IV., in 1622 was appointed a marshal of France by Louis XIII., and fought with great bravery against Spaniards and Huguenots. His military ability has been highly spoken of by Saint-Simon and Voltaire. Consult Chorier, Histoire du Maréchal de Créquy de Blanchefort (Grenoble, 1683).

CRE'RAR, JOHN (1827-89). An American philanthropist, born in New York City. He was a merchant in New York and from 1862 in Chicago, where he became head of the firm of Crerar, Adams & Co., and an incorporator and one of the directors of the Pullman Palace Car Company. He contributed $2,500,000 as an endowment fund for a library now known by his name, $100.000

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CRESCENT (from Lat. crescens, pres. part. of crescere, to grow). (1) A representation of the half-moon with the horns turned upward, called a crescent, is often used as an emblem of progress and success. It is generally spoken of as 'the arms' of the Turkish Empire; but is more prop erly the emblem of the empire and people. The crescent and star occur in the horoscope of Osman the founder of the Turkish empire. The crescent, however, was also a Byzantine emblem, and at the present day is frequently to be seen on churches in Russia, generally surmounted with the cross, marking the Byzantine origin of the Russian Church.

(2) A Turkish musical instrument introduced into the German military bands at the time of the Turkish wars, and now in general use in military music. It consists of a staff surmounted by a cap, and supporting several crescent-shaped brass plates, upon each of which little bells are hung. The instrument is played by being jingled in time with the music.

(3) In heraldry, the crescent is used both as a bearing or charge, and as a difference, or mark of cadency. In the latter case, it designates the second son, and those that descend from him. See CADENCY.

CRESCENT, ORDER OF THE. A Turkish order of knighthood. It was founded by Selim II. in 1799 after the battle of Abukir, to be conferred on Christians for service to the Turkish State. Nelson was the first man to receive the honor. The order became extinct after half a century. An Order of the Crescent was founded by Saint Louis of France in 1269, and twice reestablished by the House of Anjou, reigning in Sicily and Naples. This is also extinct. The crescent and the star in white upon a red background constitute the Turkish flag. It is supposed that the appearance of the crescent in the horoscope of the great Othman led to the acceptance of it as the national symbol.

CRESCENT CITY. A name applied to New Orleans, because of its situation on a bend of the Mississippi River. The modern growth of the city has made the designation less applicable.

CRESCENTIIS, krès-sĕn'shi-is, PETRUS DE, or CRESCENZI, krá-shan'zê, PIETRO (c.1230-c. 1310). An Italian agricultural writer, the founder of modern agronomics in Europe. He was born in Bologna, but later sojourned in various cities of Italy, where he frequently acted in the capacity of judge lateral to the podestàs. Upon his return to Bologna after an absence of thirty years, during which he made valuable observations on agriculture, he published his famous work, entitled Ruralium Commodorum Libri XII. (1471). This work has been fre quently reprinted and has been translated into Italian, German, and French. The genus Cres

centia was named by Linnæus in honor of the famous author, who was probably the first since the days of the Romans to point out the high value of agricultural science.

CRESCENTIUS, krès-sen'shi-ús, JOHN (?998). Leader (Patricius) of the national party in Rome against the authority of the Emperor in the last quarter of the tenth century. About 991, probably, Crescentius was all-powerful in Rome. With a short intermission, when Otho III. visited the city in 996, his rule lasted until 998, when he was beheaded by Otho. In 997 he had driven the Pope, Gregory V., from the city and appointed an antipope. Crescentius was long remembered as the champion of Roman liberty. Consult Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. iii. (London, 1895).

CRESCENZI, krâ-shānʼzê, PIETRO. See CRESCENTIIS, PETRUS DE.

CRESCIMBENI, krå'shêm-ba'ne, GIOVANNI MARIA (1663-1728). An Italian critic and poet, born at Macerata. He received the degree of doctor of laws from the Jesuit College in his own town and then removed to Rome. Here, together with fourteen others (1690), he founded the Academy of the Arcadians, whose secretary he was for thirty-eight years. The academy was a great success, and was of great influence in counteracting the false taste of the time as embodied in Marini. Crescimbeni's most important works are: Istoria della volgar poesia (1698); Commentario intorno alla volgar poesia (1702-11); and Trattato della bellezza della volgar poesia (1700). CRES/CO. A city and the county-seat of Howard County, Iowa, about 150 miles (direct) northeast of Des Moines, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad (Map: Iowa, E 1). It has extensive dairying and live-stock interests, and manufactures stump pullers, tow, flour, and brick and tile. A "Farmers' Alliance" store is successfully operated here. The city is governed by a mayor and council. The water-works are owned by the city. Population, in 1890, 2018; in 1900, 2806; in 1905, 2931.

CRES'ILAS (Lat., from Gk. Konoínas, Krēsi las). A Greek artist of the Attic school, born at Cydonia in Crete, who worked in the latter part of the fifth century B.C. He made a statue of Pericles, of the base of which fragments with the artist's signature have been found on the Acropolis of Athens. From this work seem derived the busts of Pericles in the British Museum, the Vatican, and Munich. He also made a

to be

statue of a wounded Amazon, which is probably represented by the Capitoline type. Other statues have been claimed as copies of his works, as the Munich Diomedes, and the Athena of Velletri. Consult Furtwängler, Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture, trans. by Sellers (New York,

1895).

CRESPI, krâ'spê, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (15571633). An Italian painter, born in Cerano, and hence often called Il Cerano. He studied in Venice and Rome and established himself in Milan, where he found a patron in Cardinal Federigo Borromeo. In sculpture and architecture also he was well skilled. His paintings, generally large and impressive in treatment, careful in detail, but occasionally mannered, include "Christ Appears to the Apostles Peter and Paul" (Hof-Museum, Vienna), and "The Baptism of Saint Augustin" (San Marco, Milan).

CRESPIN, krå-spăN', JEAN (c.1520-72). A French Protestant author. He was born in Arras, studied law in Louvain and Paris; became advocate in Parliament, 1540; fled on account of his religious opinions to Strassburg in 1545; removed to Geneva in 1548, and carried on the printer's trade there until his death in 1572. His fame rests upon his Livre des martyrs (1554), with its continuations or recastings under different names: Recueil (1554); Histoire (1570); new edition of the whole as Histoire des martyrs (3 vols., 1886-89). It was

translated into Latin and has been the basis of many similar Protestant martyrologies.

cresso,

CRESS (AS. cresse, carss, OHG. cressa, Ger. Kresse; probably from OHG. chresan, MHG. kresen, to creep). A name given to many plants, of which the foliage has a pungent, mustard-like taste, and is used as a salad. It is sometimes more strictly confined to the genus Lepidium, a genus of the natural order Cruciferæ. The common cress or garden cress (Lepidium sativum) is an annual, a native of the East, frequently cultivated in European and American gardens. It is powerfully anti-scorbutic. Virginian cress (Lepidium Virginicum) resembles the garden cress in its properties, and is eaten as a salad, and used as a diaphoretic medicine in North America and the West Indies. Lepidium piscidium, a native of the South Sea Islands, is one of the plants used by sailors for prevention or cure of scurvy. The name winter cress is given to species of the genus Barbarea, also cruciferous biennial or perennial plants. The common winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris) is plentiful in moist pastures and hedge-banks throughout Europe and North America. is occasionally cultivated as a winter salad; in Sweden it is used as a boiled vegetable. Its pungency is combined with some degree of bitterness. Very similar to this, and also occasionally cultivated, is the early winter cress, or American cress (Barbarea præcox), a native of Great Britain, the Continent of

It

Europe, and North America. The common bitter cress or cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pratensis) is also known by the name of lady's-smock. Cardamine amara and Cardamine hirsuta are cultivated to a considerable extent in Europe, Watercress and are also found in America.

(Nasturtium officinale) is a perennial aquatic plant, much used in the United States and Europe as a cold-weather salad. It is a native The leaves of almost all parts of the world.

have a pungent, bitterish taste, with a little saltness. The plant is of easy cultivation and grows best in clear, shallow, running water, with a bottom of sand or gravel. Mud is injurious both to its growth and to the flavor of its leaves. For Indian cress or nasturtium, see TROPÆOLUM.

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CRES'SET (OF. cresset, Fr. creuset, from ODutch kruysel, hanging lamp, dim. of kruyse, cup, Icel. krūs, Ger. Krause, Engl. cruse). name given to a great light kindled upon a beacon or watch-tower, and also to a lamp or torch, or to a light fixed on a pole. The name owes its origin to the fact that formerly beacons were usually surmounted by a cross.

CRES'SIDA, or CRES'SID. The lover of Troilus in the Troilus and Cressida (q.v.) of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dekker and Chettle, and

Dryden, and a type of infidelity. The name is probably a mediæval invention representing Briseis, the daughter of Calchas, the Trojan seer. CRESSID, or CRESEIDE, TESTAMENT OF, and COMPLAINT OF CRESSEIDE. Poems by Robert Henryson, wrongly included in the earlier edi

tions of Chaucer.

CRES'SON. A pleasure resort in Cambria County, Pa., 102 miles east of Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. It has a fine situation, at an elevation of over 2000 feet, and is noted for pure air and the beauty of its scenery. Mineral springs add to its attractions as a resort. Population, about 140.

CRESSON, ELLIOTT (1796-1854). A Quaker merchant and philanthropist of Philadelphia, Pa., who devoted much attention to the emancipation of the negroes from slavery. He was president for some time of the Colonization Society (q.v.), and subsequently as its agent labored to establish the colony at Bassa Cove, on the Grain Coast, Africa.

CRES'SY. See CRECY.

CRESS/WELL, Sir CRESSWELL (1794-1863). An English jurist. He was born at Newcastle; graduated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1814, and in 1819 was called to the bar. In 1834 he was appointed King's counsel, in 1842 a puisne judge of the common pleas court, and in 1858 first judge of the newly created probate and divorce court. He was largely employed as advocate in important navigation and mercantile

cases.

CREST (OF. creste, Fr. crête, Sp., Port., It. cresta, crest, from Lat. crista, comb, tuft; connected with Lat. crinis, hair). Though popularly regarded as the most important feature in heraldic emblems, the crest, in the eyes of heralds, is an external adjunct to the shield, without which the bearing is complete, and which may consequently be altered without materially affecting its significance. Occupying the highest place on the helmet, it is the member of the bearing by which the knight was commonly known in battle; and from this circumstance it is to the crest that the term cognizance (from cognosco, to know) is properly given. Its claim to a classical origin is probably better than that of any other portion of coat armor. The helmet, as we see it represented on ancient statues and gems, was frequently adorned with a crest. Sometimes it was of horse-hair; at other times a lion or other animal was placed on the helmet, either erect or couchant.

The first crest to be met with in the monuments of English chivalry is that on the great seal of Richard Cœur de Lion. They came into general use about the time of Henry III., and

were used as marks of distinction by commanders in the holy wars, as they had formerly been by the Roman centurions. For lightness they were often made of stuffed leather, which was gilt, silvered over, or painted-a circumstance which explains their greater size then than in later times, when they were made either of wood or metal. The earliest example of the wreath on which the crest is now invariably placed is that on the monument of Sir John Harsick. It con

sisted of two pieces of silk, of the colors of the armorial bearings of the wearer. twisted together by the lady who had chosen him for her knight.

It is now represented as consisting of two stripes of gold or silver lace, twisted into a circular cord. Its tinctures are always those of the It is a principal metal and color of the arms. rule in delineating the wreath, which is shown edgewise above the shield, that the first coil shall be of metal, and the second of color. Civic, triumphal, and other crowns were used as wreaths; and this practice is supposed to have given rise to the use of coronets.

Families of Great Britain and Ireland (EdinConsult: Fairbairn, Book of Crests of the burgh, 1892); and for foreign crests, see Reitstap, Armorial général (Gouda, 1884-87). See, also, HERALDRY and the authorities referred to there.

CREST, or CRESTING. In architecture, an ornamental finishing in stone, tiles, or metal, running along the top of a wall, or the ridge of a roof, or surmounting a gable. Crest-tiles, or, tiles, are frequently in the form either of small as they are corruptly-called, cress-tiles, or creasebattlements or Tudor flowers. See COPING.

CRESTED. A term in heraldry When a cock or other bird has its comb of a different tincture from its body, it is said to be crested of such a tincture, naming the tincture.

CRESTED DOG'S-TAIL GRASS. See Dog'sTAIL GRASS.

CRESTLINE. A village in Crawford County, 0.. 76 miles southwest of Cleveland, on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis, and the Pennsylvania railroads (Map: Ohio, E 4). It is chiefly industrial in its interests having plow and buggy factories, a car manufactory, a wood-working establishment, etc. The water-works are owned and operated by the village. Population, 1900, 3282.

CRESTON. A city and county-seat of Union County, Iowa 55 miles (direct) southwest of Des Moines; on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Map: Iowa, C 3). It has extensive machine-shops and car-works. Creston was settled in 1868 and incorporated the following year. It is governed at present under a charter of 1870. revised in 1890, which provides for a mayor. chosen biennially, and a city council, elected by wards. Population, in 1890, 7200; in 1900, 7752; in 1905, 8382.

CRES WICK, THOMAS (1811-69). An English landscape painter, born in Sheffield, Febru ary 5, 1811. He was a pupil of J. V. Barber In 1842 the British Institution awarded him a in Birmingham, and went to London in 1828. premium of eighty guineas, and in the same year He was made R.A. in 1851. He was a landscape he was made an associate of the Royal Academy. Painter of popular subjects. He was a fai☛ technician and a good colorist. Among his paintings Hundred Years Ago" (1847); and the "Weald are: "Welsh Glen" (1843); "London Road a of Kent." He was also an etcher of repute.

CRETACEOUS (krê-ta'shus) SYSTEM, or CHALK FORMATION (Lat. cretaceus, chalky, from creta, chalk). A term applied to a series of strata underlying the Tertiary and resting on the JuraTrias, the name being derived from the chalkbeds which form such a prominent member of the Cretaceous in England and France, although such chalk-beds are rare in the United States, occur ring only in Texas and Arkansas. There exists at

times an unconformity between the Upper Cretaceous and the Eocene, or lower member of the Tertiary, especially in the United States. The classification of the Cretaceous presents many difficulties, owing to the variable section which it exhibits in different areas; but European and American geologists are agreed on a division into an upper and a lower member, while for divisions of lesser size local names are employed. The Lower Cretaceous is represented in the northern Gulf States by (a) Tuscaloosa and (b) Eutaw stages; in Texas and the western Gulf borders by (a) Trinity, (b) Fredericksburg, and (c) Washita stages. The Upper Cretaceous in the Rocky Mountain region has the following subdivisions: (a) Dakota stage, (b) Benton stage, (c) Niobrara stage, (d) Pierre stage, (e) Fox Hills stage, (f) Laramie stage; while in the Atlantic border States it is divided into (a) Raritan stage and (b) New Jersey Greensand stage. The Cretaceous rocks of North America form a belt of increasing width, extending south ward along the Atlantic coast from New York, through New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; then around the northern and western shores of the Mexican Gulf, up the Mississippi Valley to the mouth of the Ohio, and from Texas northward to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. They occur also in Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. The greatest development of the Cretaceous system is in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and west of the Sierra Nevadas in California. In some portions of these last-named regions it is found at heights of 10,000 and 12,000 feet. It occurs also in Arctic America, near the mouth of the Mackenzie River. The American Cretaceous beds consist of greensand-called also 'marl,' and much used in New Jersey and elsewhere for fertilizing land -sands of other kinds, clays, shell deposits, and, on the Gulf of Mexico, especially in Texas, limestone. In New Jersey the formation is 400 or 500 feet thick; in Alabama, 2000 feet; in Texas, 800 feet, chiefly solid limestone; in the upper Missouri basin more than 2000 feet; and east of the Wasatch, more than 9000 feet.

The rocks of the Cretaceous contain an abundance of both animal and plant remains, for this was a closing period of an era in which reptiles predominated, and, curiously enough, but few or none of the Cretaceous species have continued into the Tertiary. The plants found in the Cretaceous represent angiosperms, which were not found before this era, both dicotyledons and palms, the former including species of the oak, willow, poplar, beech, maple, fig, tulip, sassafras, eucalyptus, and sequoia. Many palms and cycads are found in the Cretaceous of North America. The appearance of the dicotyledons in this formation is rather sudden. The animal remains found include both the smallest and largest forms. There are foraminifera, sponges (which were very common in the chalk), echinoids, many mollusks, especially spirally coiled ammonites, and oysters. The fishes show a continuation of the placoids and ganoids of the former era; but teleosts, or true bony fishes, made their first appearance. . There was also an extraordinary abundance of reptiles, including enaliosaurs, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodiles. Some of the pterosaurs from the Kansas rock measured from 20 to 25 feet in expanse of wing. The sea-saurians were from 10 to 50 feet

long. Cope describes the elasmosaurus as a snake-like form 40 feet long, with an arrowshaped head on a swan-like neck that rose 20 feet out of the water. Consequently it could swim many feet below the surface, and yet have its head extended into the air for breath. The American rocks supply 40 species of seaserpents. More curious still were the birds with teeth, found in New Jersey and Kansas. (See ICHTHYORNIS.) The mammalian remains were mostly those of lower orders, such as marsupials and monotremes.

The geographic developments in North America during the Cretaceous were great. The interior continental sea was shallowed, and finally obliterated by the uplifting of the land, so that the eastern and western portion of the United States were joined into one continent. This uplift became emphasized toward the end of the Cretaceous, when the Rocky Mountains were formed. Violent volcanic eruptions accompanied this uplift, and the lava-flows of the Yellowstone regions date from this time.

The economic products include most of the coal and lignite deposits of the Western States. Many of the gold and silver bearing fissure veins of the Rockies were formed in the Cretaceous, while other products are fire-clays, chalk, greensand, and iron ores.

In Europe the Cretaceous rocks assume great importance. According to Geikie, they may be grouped into two fairly distinct areas, of which the northern includes Great Britain, the lowlands of central Europe, with portions of Silesia, Bohemia, and northern France; while the southern embraces the central and southern part of France, the Alps, and the Mediterranean basin. The northern area is characterized by shallowwater deposits-sandstones, conglomerates, and marls-more or less glauconitic, and passing into a loosely textured limestone or chalk. In the southern basin the typical rocks are massive, compact limestones, which indicate conditions of deeper water and freer communication with the open sea. The entire series of rocks is usually grouped by geologists as follows: Lower Cretaceous-(a) Neocomian, (b) Urgonian, (c) Aptian; Upper Cretaceous-(a) Gault or Albian, (b) Cenomanian. (c) Turonian, (d) Senonian, (e) Danian. The dividing line between the Upper and Lower Cretaceous is regarded by the French geologists as occurring at the top of the

Albian. The most conspicuous member of the Cretaceous is the white chalk (Upper Cretaceous) which forms the remarkable cliff's of southeastern England and northwestern France.

Consult Dana, Manual of Geology (4th ed., New York, 1896); Geikie, Text-Book of Geology (London, 1893); White, "Correlation Papers, Cretaceous," United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 82 (Washington, 1891).

CRETE (Lat. Creta, Gk. Kphrn, Krētē, NGk. Kolri, Kriti, Turk. Kirit), or CANDIA. An island in the Mediterranean, situated south of Greece, considered the most southerly part of Europe. It lies between latitudes 34° 57′ and 35° 41′ N., and between longitude: 23° 30′ and 26° 20′ E. (Map: Greece. F 6). It is oblong in shape, having a length of about 150 miles, and varying from 6 to 35 miles in width, with an area of 3326 square miles. Its mountainous surface bears some resemblance to that of Greece. The western part of the island is the more elevated, and con

tains the large mountain range of the White, or
Madaras, Mountains, which rise to a height of
over 8000 feet. The central mountain of Ida, or
Psiloriti, reaches about the same altitude. The
eastern part is lower, but there are several
peaks between 5000 and 7000 feet high. The
northern coast is well indented, and abounds
in good harbors, that of the Bay of Suda on the
northwest coast being one of the best in the
Levant. The southern coast is mainly un-
broken and inaccessible. There are several riv-
ers, but they run dry during the summer season.
There are
numerous springs throughout the
island. The climate of Crete is one of the most
salubrious in Europe. In spite of its mountain-
ous surface, Crete has a soil of remarkable fer-
tility, producing most of the southern fruits and
grains. The thick forests which formerly cov-
ered the mountains have entirely disappeared,
but there are still found some trees, such as the
cypress, the chestnut, and the olive, cultivated
mostly in the lowlands.

The chief products are olive oil, grapes, oranges, lemons, and other southern fruits. The vine of Crete, which enjoyed such fame in the Middle Ages, has greatly deteriorated. One of the chief manufactured products exported is soap, which is made of olive oil. The commerce of Crete is chiefly with Greece and Turkey, to which it exports olive oil, chestnuts, and silk. In 1905 the imports amounted to $2,956,000, and the exports to $2,185,000; the latter have considerably increased since the island has become autonomous. The principal ports are Canea, Retimo, and Candia. The Bank of Crete was founded in 1899, with a capital of $1,930,000, and obtained the privilege of issuing notes for thirty years.

sus of 1900 numbered 303,543, consisting of 269,319 Greeks. 33,496 Mussulmans, and 726 Jews. As compared with the figures of 1881, the total population shows an increase of nearly 23,000, while the Mussulman element has decreased by nearly 40,000, and the Greeks have increased by over 62,000. The foreign population, which is not included in the above figures, numbered in 1900 over 6000. Greek is the language of the islanders. The capital is Canea (q.v.).

HISTORY. Recent archæological discoveries tend to show that the island was settled at a very early period by Phoenicians and Egyptians, and that it undoubtedly was a stepping-stone for those who brought the culture of the valley of the Nile to the mainland of Greece.

One of the earliest historical notices of the island is that embodied in the Odyssey (xix. 172-79). Here it is spoken of as well populated, and by people of mixed descent, pure Cretans, Achæans, Dorians, and others. The main element in the population was Greek, but whether Dorian or some other type is uncertain. Here the fabled King Minos, son and companion of Zeus, reigned in legendary days. When the Odyssey was composed, Cnosus, Minos's capital, situated in the northern part, was the greatest of the ninety cities of Crete. By the side of Cnosus, the city republics of Gortyna, in the south, and Clydonia, in the northwest, rose to great prominence.

As allies of the Cilician pirates the inhabitants came into conflict with Rome, and after a desperate resistance of two years were finally subdued by Metellus in B.C. 66. On the division of the Empire the island fell to the Byzantine rulers, who held it till the year 823, when it was Crete is an autonomous State under the suzer- conquered by an army of Arabs from Andalusia. ainty of Turkey. In accordance with the Consti- In 963 the Byzantines drove out the Saracens tution of 1899, the executive authority is vested and reestablished Christianity in the country. in a High Commissioner, a post now occupied by Upon the establishment of the Latin Empire of Prince George of Greece, who is assisted by a the East, in 1204, Crete was given to Boniface of council of three nominated members, who also Montferrat, who sold it to the Venetians. These hold portfolios and sit in the Assembly, but have retained their power till 1669, when the Turks, no votes. The Assembly consists of Deputies after a blockade lasting twenty-one years, took elected for two years at the rate of one for every tian authority disappeared in 1715, and Crete the fortress of Candia. The last vestiges of Vene5000 inhabitants, and ten Deputies nominated by the High Commissioner. The foreign affairs of remained a part of the Ottoman Empire. Crete are under the control of the representatives The hostility prevailing between the Chrisat Rome of the four Powers which are responsible tian and the Mussulman inhabitants led to for its autonomy-Russia, Great Britain, France, repeated revolts and civil wars in the latter and Italy. The revenue is derived chiefly from half of the Nineteenth Century. An insurrecdirect and indirect taxes. For 1905-6 the revenue tion lasting from 1866 to 1868 extorted from was estimated at about $869,000 and the expendi- the Porte the promise of reforms in the Govture at $915,000. The public debt amounted in ernment; the pledge remained unredeemed, how1905 to nearly $1,063,000. According to a de- ever, till 1878, when the Sultan, spurred on by cision rendered by the four Powers in August, the Congress of Berlin, issued a pact or charter, 1901, the island is to pay the sum of about $290,- and appointed a Christian Governor-General of 000 and concede the salt monopoly to the Otto- the island. This was offset by a Mussulman man Public Debt for twenty years, in return for military Governor. In 1889 the Christians rose the relinquishment on the part of Turkey of all in arms, but the revolt was suppressed, the privileges in Crete. For administrative pur- pact was abrogated, and the island held under poses Crete is divided into five departments, military rule till 1894, when the intervention which are subdivided into sub-prefectures and of the Powers led to the reappointment of a parishes. There is no standing army, but militia Christian Governor. service is obligatory on all male Cretans. Education is compulsory between the ages of six and nine, and the 390 educational institutions of the island had in 1902 an attendance of over 29,000, besides 2 gymnasia and some other schools of secondary instruction.

The population of Crete, according to the cen

In 1896 a fresh uprising took place. The Sultan gave his consent to the calling of a national assembly, but the Christian insurgents refused to lay down their arms, in expectation of assistance from Greece. In February, 1897, a Greek force landed in Crete and attacked the Turkish troops. But Greece, which had counted on European

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