Cremoira 



II 

 Crete. 



C R E 3, 



St Peter's church, which belongs to the canons regu- 

 lar, is a handsome edifice, adorned with many elegant 

 paintings. The Dominican church contains a superb 

 altar made of lapis lazuli, agate, and beautiful marble; 

 and in the area before the church is a statue of St Do- 

 minic holding a cross in his right hand, and in his left ' 

 a dog with a lighted torch in his mouth. This church 

 contains likewise some fine paintings. The convent of 

 the Augustines has a good library, and their church 

 possesses some valuable paintings. The university of 

 Cremona was long ago in a declining state. 



A canal, which passes through the town, forms a com- 

 munication between the Oglio and the Po, over the 

 latter of which rivers is a bridge of boats, defended by 

 a fort. The fortifications of this town consist chiefly of 

 a wall with some bastions, and surrounded with a ditch, 

 which is filled with water from the canal. 



Cremona was once celebrated for its knives ; and its 

 violins and other musical instruments, which are held 

 in high estimation, form a considerable article of com- 

 merce. Its principal exports are silk, corn, flax, oil, 

 honey, wax, brandy, and Parmesan cheese, and its im- 

 ports are linen cloth, silks, sugar, coffee, &c. Popula- 

 tion 21,000. East Long. 10° 2' 12", North Lat. 45° 

 7' 43". See Keysler's Travels through Germany, &c. 

 vol. iii. p. 337- Denina's Tableau de la Haute Italic, 

 p. 249; and Eustace's Classical Tour through Italy, 

 vol. i. p. 115, 118. (*-) 



CREMONA Stop, in music, is a simple reed stop, 

 isr consisting of only one range of pipes, that are tuned 

 to their own or to the diapason pitch, the same as the 

 finger-keys indicate, which is not the case with several 

 even of the simple stops on the organ : its name is sup- 

 posed to be a corruption of the ancient instrument 

 krum-horn, which this stop, when first introduced, was 

 said to imitate. (^) 



CRENiEA, a genus of plants of the class Dodecan- 

 dria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 223. 



CREOLES. See Buenos Ayres, vol. v. p. 60, 6l, 

 G2, and Chili, vol. vi. p. 203. 



CREPIS, a genus of plants of the class Syngenesia, 

 and order Polygamia iEqualis. See Botany, p. 290. 



CREPUSCULUM. See Atmosphere and Twi- 

 light. 



CRESCENT. See Heraldry. 



CRESCENTIA, a genus of plants of the class Didy- 

 wamia, and order Angiospermia. See Botany, p. 248. 



CRESSA, a genus of plants of the class Pentandria, 

 and order Digynia. See Botany, p. l6'0. 



CRESSY. "See Britain. 



CRETE, one of the islands in the Grecian archipe- 

 lago, and renowned in ancient times for the fertility of 

 its soil, the number of its inhabitants, and the wisdom 

 of its laws. Under Casdia, its modern appellation, we 

 have given an account of its geography and present 

 state ; and in this aiticle, we propose to confine our- 

 selves entirely to a view of its ancient inhabitants and 

 history. In entering upon this subject, however, we do 

 not pretend either to reconcile the discordant accounts 

 of ancient authors, or to unravel the mythological 

 fables by which the early history of this island is so 

 completely obscured. This would be a task more ar- 

 duous even than to trace the windings of its famed la- 

 byrinth without the clue of Ariadne ; and would lead 

 us into disquisitions neither very interesting nor in- 

 structive. 



At an early period of the world, Crete had made great 



se c R E 



advancement in civilization, while the ether states of 

 Greece were immersed in ignorance and barbarism. 

 It possessed a free and regular government ; and a 

 system of laws which has been the admiration of suc- 

 ceeding ages. But what were the steps by which this 

 island had arrived at such an extraordinary superio- 

 rity over the surrounding nations, it would be in vain 

 to enquire. Every account that has been received from 

 the ancients, is completely involved in allegory and 

 fable. Written records at that early period were un- 

 known, and consequently all our information respect- 

 ing it rests entirely upon vague and uncertain tradi- 

 tion. Most of the absurdities that have been embodied 

 into the Heathen mythology had their origin here; and 

 Crete may be justly said to have been the cradle of the 

 gods. Such of their princes, as were distinguished for 

 their wisdom, their valour, or -their beneficence, were 

 after their death raised to the rank of deities ; and the 

 high esteem in which the Cretans were held among the 

 other inhabitants of Greece soon gained them admission 

 into the worship of their more barbarous neighbours. 

 Indeed it may be safely affirmed, that there is scarcely 

 a divinity in the whole system of Grecian theology 

 that did not receive his title and his honours in the 

 island of Crete. It is to be regretted, however, that so 

 little is known with certainty concerning this civilized 

 people. Before the Trojan war, when they were in the 

 height of their glory, their history is dark, and unin- 

 telligible ; and sinse that time they have never been 

 considered as of any weight among the Grecian states. 

 Except in the war of Troy, the Cretans took no interest 

 in the general affairs of Greece, nor do they seem to have 

 been influenced by the many memorable events that 

 were transacted in that country. 



The original inhabitants of this island, according to- 

 the traditions preserved by Diodorus Siculus, were the 

 IdaSan Dactyli, who are supposed by some authors to 

 have come from Mount Ida in Phrygia. They had 

 also the name of Curetes, says Strabo, from their being 

 entrusted with the care of Jupiter when an infant; 

 and are said to have discovered the use of fire, and the 

 art of working metals. They also taught men to dwell 

 in houses, instead of the forests and caverns of the 

 mountains ; and to tame wild animals, and make them 

 subservient to their wants. They instructed them in 

 the use of the bow and the sword, and were the in- 

 ventors of military dances. But the most famous were 

 the Titans, who, according to ancient fable, were de- 

 scended from Uranus and Terra, or, as some say, from 

 one of the Curetes and Titaea, from whom they de- 

 rived their name. Many of tliem were renowned for 

 their wisdom and Avarlike achievements; and from 

 them sprung a race of gods, goddesses, and heroes, an 

 account of whose virtues and crimes constitute almost 

 the whole of the Grecian mythology ; or, what is more 

 properly termed by some, the fabulous history of Crete. 

 But whether any of these were the aborigines of the 

 island, or whether Crete had any other' inhabitants dis- 

 tinct from them, has not been decided by historians. 

 Indeed, the whole seems to be little better than merely 

 matter of conjecture ; and Strabo, after a learned dis- 

 quisition on the inhabitants of Crete, says, " I am not 

 fond of fables, yet I have entered into a long detail of 

 these, because they have a relation to theology."* 

 However this may be, we are told that they were m 

 after ages called Eteo-Cretans, to distinguish them from 

 foreigners, who, invited by the fertility ©f the soil and 



Crete. 



* Strabo, lib. to 



