417 



CROTCH, WII.l 



CRDIK^HANK, (JK< 



To the Uity Cromwell was hateful, on account of the oppressive 

 tb*t ho had raiod notwithstanding the Urge sums win h 

 hid accrued from the dw-olution of the monasteries ; to the nobility 

 he was >till more odiou, on account of the title* and power that he 

 had obtained notwithstanding the meannesi of bis birth ; and to the 

 Iton.iui Catholics be waa an o'-ject of aversion ami horror, ou account 

 of the Protestant doc nines that he held and promulgated. As aoon 

 then a* it WM apparent that the capricious kin?, who bad elevated 

 him from an humble individual to be the mo-t powerful .-ii'iject in 

 tbe realm, WAS no longer willing to support him, hit downfal was 

 certain. The numerous important acta of his ml nhii-tia'-ion supplied 

 hii enemies with abundant proof* of malversation and treason. H.- 

 was amated on the 10th of June 1540, and committed to priaon. 

 The letter* that hn wrote to the kin:; praying for mercy were disre- 

 garded, though the king read tli m thrice over : he w.-n accused on 

 the 17th of June in the House of Lords, which sent the bill of attaiii'li-r 

 down to the House of Commons ou the Kith. Hero some objections 

 wero raised against the bill ; but after a delay of t u day* a now bill 

 waa framed by the Common*, which the Lords afterwards pased. 

 This bill contaiued twelve articles of impeachment, accusing him, 

 among o'.her crimes, of being " tho most false :>nd corrupt traitor and 

 deceiver that bad been known in that reign," " of being a detestable 

 heretic," and " of having acquired innumerable sums of money and 

 treasure by oppression, bribery, and extortion." To these accusations 

 he win not allowed to answer in court, for fear, as it may be supposed, 

 that he would prove the king's order*, directions, or consent for doing 

 many things of which he was accused. He was kept in close custody 

 for rix weeks, when any hope that ho might have entertained of a 

 reprieve waa put an end to ; the charms of Catherine Howard and 

 tbe endeavour* of the Duke of Noifolk and the Bishop of Winchester 

 prevailed, and the king signed a warrant for his execution, which 

 took place on Tower Hill on the 28th of July 1540. Thus fell this 

 great minister, of whom, as indeed of most of his contemporaries, 

 very opposite character! have been lianileil down to UM by historians. 

 His virtue* arc greatly magnified by the advocates of the Reforma- 

 tion, his vices by its opponents. H appears doubtful, from a speech 

 that he made at his death, in which religion bo died ; but it 

 probable that be was a Lutheran, and that be used the term Catholic 

 Faith (which some have held was intentionally ambiguous in his 

 speech and afterwards in Craumcr's) iu tbe Lutheran meaning of tho 

 term. Cromwell was no patriot : bis own interest, elevation, and 

 aggrandisement seem always to have been uppermost in his thoughts. 

 lie waa ambitious, unscrupulous, rapacious hypocritical, and sus- 

 picious. To counterbalance these evil qualities he had few virtue?. 

 He is (aid to have shown cruelty in tho condemnation and execution 

 of B' me heretic', but be could scarce have been without benevolence, 

 for about 200 pcr/ous (Stows 'Survey') were fed twice a day at bis 

 gate. He had a powerful understanding; a clear iniM :ht into political 

 all'.iirs ; a very retentive memory ; and his attention to business was 

 frequrnt and asaiduoua. He was the promoter of many useful altera- 

 tions in tho laws, and especially in those re-pi-ctiag the church. 

 Thcae were bis chief merits. In pa-sing judgment upon him. the 

 remembrance of the reckless tyrannical caprice of his master, of tho 

 rapidity of his own advancement, together with the licentiousness of 

 the times, should enhance the value of his merits, and temper our 

 cmidumnati >n of hii crimes. 



(Foxe, Actt and Monument!; Stow, Annt'h; Strype, Memorials; 

 Hrrl-cit, and other J/iitorict of England; liurnct, Reform,; 

 Collier, Kn-letuu. llitt. ; everything which can ba alleged or suggested 

 unfavourable to Cromwell will Iw f.Min I in Liugard.) 



( U' iT<:il, WILLIAM, Ductor of Music, was born in 1775, in the 

 city of Norwich. While yet a child, ho exhibited faculties of murical 

 perception and execution which were quite marvellous, aud rival those 

 of Mozart. An account cf his precocious talents was given by 

 l>r. Bumry, author of the ' II i-tory <>f Music,' and is printed in the 

 i'hilnsophical Transactions ' for 1779, when the infant prodigy was 

 only four yean of age. Some anecdotes are also extant, written by 

 tbe Hon. Dninei Harrington, who nays, " I first heard littlu Crotch on 

 the 10th of December 1771, when he was only three yean aud a hall 

 <>ld.' The following notices are extracted from tho memormd 

 which he made on returning home : " Plays ' Uod save tho King 

 and 'Minuet da la Cour' almost throughout with chords; ro.icli.-s a 

 sixth with his little finger; criea 'no,' wlien I purposely introduced a 

 wrong note ; delight* iu chords and inuring notc< for the ba<s; plays 

 for (en minutes extemporary passages, which have a tolcr.i 

 ncction with e*ch other; seldom looks at the harpsichord, and yet 

 generally hit* the ri>;ht interval', though distant from each other 

 His father U an ingenious carpenter of Norwich, and had made an 

 organ. HI* organ rather of a hard touch. Many of his passages 

 hszardcl and singular, some of which he executed by his knuckle" 

 tumbling liia bands over the keys. The accurary of this child's ear Is 

 such that h- not only pronounces immediately what note is struck 

 but in what key tbe music is composed." 



As Crotch advanced in years ho became a profound theorist and a 

 skilful composer. In 1797, at the early age of twenty-two, bo waa 

 appointed rrofestor of Musio in the University of Oxford, and tho 

 university olso conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Mu 

 1822 be waa appointed Principal of tho Royal Academy of Music. 



Ho performed in public for the lait timn in 18$) in Westminster 

 Abbey, al, when ho presided at the otv 



: d iv. I'.-, i rotch composed a very ln;e nuiilMT of pieces 

 for the organ and pianoforte, the opera of <:! xome 



pleasing vocal pieces, among which may Ivi mentioned the 

 live voices, ' Mona on Snowdnn cdl.' lie alno puK :ieuU 



of Musical Composition aud Thorough-Bass,' 1M -, an 1 ' .Speei>i;. 

 various Styles of Music of all AgM,' 3 v 



I>r. Crotch, during the latter years of his life, resided at Touuton, 

 Somersetshire, with his son, tho Rev. \V. II. i ,.t ],, master of the 

 ree grammar-school. He died December 29, 1847, wh- -:i -.'in.' at 

 the dinner-table. 



CROWNE, JOHN T , an industrious play-writer, of the time of 

 'hnrl-s II., was the son of an Independent preacher in N 

 burning to England, and serving au old la iy for some tiiu- 

 man-usher, he next became an author by profem-ion. He h 

 equivocal honour of bciux brought forward by the Karl of Ko< '. 

 as a drauiatic rival of Drydm ; and, even after he had been i 

 >y hU capricious pa'.ron, he retained tin' court favour he had ; 

 His satires on the Whigs, especially in one of his comedies, weru about 

 .o be rewarded by a post or pension, when be WAS disappointed by 

 tho king's death. The latter part of his life is very obscure ; but ho 

 s believed to have died soon after 1703. He left in print seventeen 

 .day*. The tragedies, rhymed and bombastic, are among the 

 ipecimeiis of the corrupt tasto which then ruled in the drama. In 

 ihe construction of the plots they and hi* corn-dies are alik 

 [>lexed and u:idramatic. But the comedies are bis bc>t work 

 ftave some merit in their portraiture of characters. Hin two tragedies 

 entitled ' The Destruction of Jerusalem' were highly popular wh.-n 

 lirst represented; and his comedy of 'Sir Courtly Ni 

 Imitated by him from the Spanish by desire of Charles II., was 

 ofteuer than once reprinted. 



CROX1KK, CAPTAIN KRANdS RAWDOX MO1RA, second in 

 command of the ill-fated Franklin expedition, was born a' 

 county Down, Ireland. Hu entered the navy in June 1810, and, under 

 the command of Sir Thomai M.iioes, he sailed in the ' lirit- m ' to the 

 Pacific, and visited Pitcairn's I'Luid, which wa* found |.t 'pled by tlio 

 descendants of the mutineers of the 'Bounty.' In i -Jl lie w.w 

 appointed master's-mate of tho ' Fury,' and ho accompanied Parry iu 

 three of his voyages to the Polar Sea. 



In 1826 Mr. Crozier wo* made lieutenant, aud was employed on tho 

 coasts of Spain and Portugal till December 1 :!."<, whc.i ho sailed 

 with Captaiu (now bir) James ROBS, to search for the n 

 whalers in Baffin's Bay. His reputation for science, seamanehi. 

 fertility of resource, secured his promotion ; and he command. 

 'Terror 'in the expedition under Sir J. Rosa for the exploration of 

 th" antarctic regions, which sailed in 1 s -!'.', and was absent three 

 In March 1845 he was re-commissioned to the 'Terror,' and sailed with 

 Franklin to discover the iiorth-we.-t passage: since which time h 

 not been heard of. He won in the prime of life ou his do] 

 died probably in his fiftieth year. He was a 1'Vllow of the Royal and 

 Astronomical societies, and was distinguished as much for devotion to 

 duty as for love of science. 



* CRU1KSHANK, GEORGE, was born in London about 

 From hi* father, who was an artist of some standing, he nr (iin 

 principles of design, probably also of caricature, as the elder Cruikshauk 

 occasionally practised iu that line. But George was not brought up to 

 follow his father's profession, and it was some time before ho bit upon 

 bis right vocation : be is even said to have thought seriously of adopting 

 tho theatrical calling, and for a while to have trod the stage, liu 

 earlic-t decigns were made for publisher* of cheap song and <M. 

 books ; but his satiric vein soon cama to the surface, and in the 

 'Scourge,' and ouu or two other periodical*, he early ho< 

 proficiency that way. Having become acquainted wiih Mr. V\ 

 Hone, be found for some time abundant occupation in making <! 

 for the political and other publications of that gentleman. 

 Queen's trial iu particular afforded him ample matt T. Una work, 

 the ' Queen's Matrimonial Ladder,' for which be furnished the cult, HO 

 caught the public fancy that it quickly ran through some fifty edit 

 ' Non Mi Rioordo,' the ' Political House t nit,' the ' 1' 



Showman,' and 'A Slap at Slop, or the Bridge 

 equal success. But he soon began to tiro of personal and p 

 caricature, and aftur Mr. Hone ceased to publuh works of that kind 

 (about 1823-24), Mr. Cruikshank wo believe did not, with very rare 

 exceptions, make any more political desUiiH. Ho now turned to tho 

 illustration of humorous tales, and the d of passing follies. 



Ureat at hod been bis success in his f" it waa 11101 



equalled iu this. There was a keenness of observation, a spirit iuul 

 vari-.ty of expression, and a genuine humour in a word, an uumistake- 

 able comic genius visible in these thoroughly original designs, which 

 every one felt to be irresistible. It may fairly be doubted whether 

 more hearty fun was ev : 1 in derigns than appeared iu those 



which flowed with marvellous rapidity from Mr. Cruiksh 

 between the years 1824-lc. I'.'-!oi-- t is m t of these years h 

 been designing with great i-kill, but somewhat com : ty of 



aquatint plates for such works as 'Tom aud Jerry' and - 1. if.- i:i Paris;' 

 about the last-named year ho sailed into the sentimental latitude, and 

 spoiled his style by giving up his time to etching a rerics of coarse 



