Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/1215

CRA Cæsar, and Crassus, the latter was for awhile not the least powerful member. He was afterwards re-elected along with Pompey to the consulship. He obtained the command of the army in Syria, and set out on an expedition against the Parthians. After various changes of fortune he was defeated and put to death by Surena, a Parthian general, at Charræ, . 53.—W. M.  CRATES: flourished. 448, and died. 424. He was for some time an actor in the plays of Cratinus at Athens, and afterwards became his successor in the progress of the old comedy. He was the earliest among the writers in that field to abandon all political allusions in his drama, Aristotle mentions him as the first who gave up personal satire, and began to make narratives or poems on more general subjects. He showed great skill in the elaboration of his plots and humorous exhibitions of character. His comedies had a tendency towards broad farce. Fragments remain of eight of his plays, together with detached sentences of unknown reference. His language is characterized by simplicity and grace.—J. N.  CRATES : a pupil of the cynic Diogenes. He flourished. 328 as one of the leaders of his sect. He was famous for his philosophical letters, had some tragedies, none of which have come down to us; but he was more celebrated for the consistency with which he carried into practice the asceticism he professed. He surrendered to his native city the whole of his considerable fortune, and lived with a characteristic contempt of all the luxuries of life.—J. N.  CRATINUS, a Greek comic poet. He is said, upon the authorities on which Suidas relied, but which however are disputable, to have been the son of Callimedes, and born in Athens in the year 519. Cratinus, as a comic poet, obtained several victories, some over Aristophanes. He lived to an extreme old age. His love of wine was the subject of frequent satire by his rival poets, and he good-humouredly replied to their banter in his comedy "," or the Bottle. Our chief acquaintance with Cratinus is through Aristophanes. Some humorous passages in the Knights are well translated by Mitchell. Improvements in the arrangement of the chorus, and of the Greek comedy generally are referred to Cratinus.—J. A., D.  CRATIPPUS : one of the Greek teachers, whose talents were mainly employed in feeding the taste for philosophy which sprung up in the latter days of the Roman republic. He is known to us chiefly through allusions in the speculative works of Cicero his contemporary, and at one time his pupil. In the De Officiis he ranks him among the most distinguished of the peripatetics. Plutarch mentions his accompanying Pompey after Pharsalia, and attempting to comfort the fallen general by the maxims of his philosophy. On the establishment of Cæsar's power, Cratippus was, through the influence of Cicero, presented with the Roman franchise; but he continued to give public instructions at Athens, where M. Brutus afterwards attended some of his lectures.—J. N.  CRAWFORD, Earls of. See.  CRAWFORD,, author of numerous historical works, was born at Kilwinning in Scotland in 1743. He passed his youth in India, and was engaged first in military service, and afterwards in commercial transactions, in which he accumulated a considerable fortune. On his return to Europe in 1780 he travelled for some time on the continent, and finally took up his residence in Paris, where he formed a valuable collection of books and pictures, and enjoyed the society of the most distinguished authors and artists. He died in Paris in 1819.—J. T.  CRAYER, : this distinguished Flemish artist was born at Antwerp in 1582. He was a pupil of Raphael Coxcie, a painter of poor repute. His merits soon gained him attention and honour. He was engaged by the court of Brussels to paint a portrait of the Cardinal Ferdinand, governor-general of the Low Countries. The success of this earned him a pension, and the title of painter to the court. Rubens is reported to have given the most unqualified praise of Crayer, and many Flemish connoisseurs have not hesitated to rank this fine artist with Vandyck and Rubens. He died in 1669.—W. T. <section end="1215H" /> <section begin="1215I" />* CREASY,, barrister-at-law, was born at Bexley in Kent in 1812. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and called to the bar in 1837. In 1850 he was appointed to the chair of history in the London university. Professor Creasy is author of the "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World;" "The Rise and Progress of the British Constitution;" and a "History of the Ottoman Turks." Of the last work only two volumes have appeared.—R. M., A. <section end="1215I" /> <section begin="1215J" />CRÉBILLON,, son of Prosper Jolyot, was born at Paris, 14th February, 1707, and was educated at the college of Louis le Grand. The jesuits sought to attach him to the church, but he had no vocation that way. The theatre was his first attraction, where he assisted in writing some of the parodies on the operas. His lively and convivial talents brought him into the society of the gay young men of the day, and he was one of the originators of the celebrated Caveau. From writing poetry he turned his attention to writing romances, in which he was very successful, and is said to have won the love and the hand of an English lady of rank by the charm of his writings. One of his productions gave such offence from some political allusions that he was imprisoned in Vincennes, and, strangely enough, the patroness of his father, madame de Pompadour, procured his banishment from Paris in consequence of the indecency of his works; on which occasion he went to England, where he became acquainted, amongst other celebrities, with Richardson, Fielding, and Sterne. The latter was his particular admirer, and seems to have imitated his licentious style. Some time before his death he withdrew himself altogether from the public, and died about the year 1777. His productions are numerous, and with few exceptions are gross and immoral in their tendencies—a fact which contrasts strangely with his life, which was, though gay and convivial, yet moral and respectable.—J. F. W. <section end="1215J" /> <section begin="1215Zcontin" />CRÉBILLON,, a celebrated French tragic poet, was born at Dijon on the 13th of January, 1674. The family was respectable, but not one of distinction, as is often erroneously stated. The poet's father, Melchior Jolyot, was a notary, who purchased an estate of Crébillon, which name the son assumed. The lad gave no early indications of genius, and at school was more remarkable for breaches of discipline than progress in study. In due time he was sent to Paris to study law under a man of the name of Prieur. This man of law was also a man of letters, and actually encouraged Crébillon to leave his law-books and accompany him to the theatre. The taste of the young poet now developed itself, and at last Prieur induced him to attempt a tragedy. "La Mort des Enfans de Brutus" was the first offspring of his muse; but it was still-born—the manager read and rejected it, and the author flung it in the fire. In 1705 "Idomenee" was put upon the stage. It had some success, and though faulty in many respects, gave indications of that faculty of exciting terror which afterwards was the great power of Crébillon. Two years after he brought out his "Atrée," which had a decided success. Crébillon was now an established celebrity. After the death of his father, who left nothing that did not belong to his creditors, necessity compelled him to adopt for his daily bread, that which he had at first commenced from the love of the drama. Accordingly, in 1709 he produced the "Electre," and in 1711 the "Rhadamiste," which is justly considered his chef d'œuvre. "Xerxes" appeared in 1714. It was performed only once, and then received so unfavourably that it was withdrawn by Crébillon. Three years now elapsed, and then followed "Semiramis," receiving and deserving no better fate. "Pyrrhus," though cold and languid, was yet written with more care in point of style than its two predecessors. Crébillon now retired for a long interval from literary life. His wife, to whom he had been tenderly attached, was dead, and he gave himself up to a misanthropic sorrow, which the affection of his son, and the attention of friends, could not for a season dispel In 1731 he was elected a member of the Academie Française, and obtained four years afterwards the situation of royal censor. Fortune had further favours in store for the recluse. Voltaire, who was now growing into his great fame, had assailed the beautiful Pompadour in some witty and bitter epigrams. The lady was determined to have her revenge, and so she honoured and exalted the man who was esteemed the rival of Voltaire, and against whom the latter had a private pique, as well as a literary jealousy. Crébillon was appointed librarian to Louis XV., and received a pension of a thousand francs a year. In 1748 he brought upon the stage his "Catiline," supported by the favour of the court, with extraordinary magnificence. Once again the poet sought the public favour, in a tragedy called "Le Triumvirat," but it was a failure, and was withdrawn after the first representation. This was his last work, though another was partly written. Though now an old man he was still vigorous, when he was attacked with <section end="1215Zcontin" />