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C R I C II T O N. 



Crichton. twentieth year, he made himself master of the sciences 

 1 ""~"V"" / of the times, he was able to write and to speak ten dif- 

 ferent languages, and had attained the greatest skill in 

 the more showy accomplishments of riding, dancing, 

 singing, and playing upon musical instruments. 



Having thus completed his education, Crichton set 

 out upon his travels, and paid his first visit to the 

 French metropolis. Conscious of the superiority of 

 his attainments, and eager to display them to the world, 

 he publicly challenged all the celebrated men in Paris 

 to dispute with him in the college of Navarre that day 

 six weeks, at nine o'clock in the morning, when he should 

 answer any question in the arts and sciences, either in 

 prose or in verse, and in any of 12 languages, viz. the 

 Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, 

 English, Spanish, Dutch, Flemish, and Sclavonian. 

 During this interval of six weeks, while his antago- 

 nists were preparing for the contest, Crichton amused 

 himself either in hunting, hawking, tilting, &c. or spent 

 his time at balls and concerts ; and yet, when the day 

 arrived, he acquitted himself to the astonishment of 

 his auditors, in a disputation which lasted from nine 

 «o' clock in the morning till six at night. The president 

 of the assembly then rose from his chair, and, attended 

 by four professors of the university, presented Crichton 

 with a diamond ring, and a purse full of gold, in token 

 of their admiration and esteem. On the following day 

 he attended a match of tilting at the Louvre, and, in 

 .presence of a brilliant assembly, he carried off the ring 

 .15 times in succession. 



From Paris, Crichton went to Rome, where he exhi- 

 bited himself, with equal success and applause, before 

 the Pope and the most distinguished characters in that 

 renowned metropolis. * 



His next exhibition was at Venice, about the year 

 15S0, where he conciliated the affections of the people 

 by a Latin poem in praise of the city, which he present- 

 ed to Aldus Manutius, and other Venetian literati. 

 He made a brilliant speech before the Doge, and sus- 

 tained disputations on various subjects with his usual 

 success. As soon as he had recovered from an illness 

 with which he was here attacked, and which lasted five 

 months, he set out for Padua, and on the 14th of 

 March 1581, he disputed with the most celebrated pro- 

 fessors in that university, and particularly exposed the 

 errors of the Aristotelian philosophy. The fame of 

 this exhibition was so widely extended, that he was 

 earnestly solicited to repeat the performance by num- 

 bers who were not able to attend before. Manutius 

 informs us, that this second display never took place ; 

 but if we believe Imperialis, who speaks on the autho- 

 rity of his father who was present, Crichton did make 

 his appearance, and disputed with Archangelus Mer- 

 cenarius, who had the reputation of being a profound 

 philosopher. In consequence of some attempts to de- 

 tract from his merits, Crichton again offered to dis- 

 play his powers in the refutation of Aristotle and his 

 followers, and on other controversial subjects. The dis- 

 putations which took place on this occasion are said to 

 have lasted three days, and Crichton is reported to 

 have sustained his part with such readiness and ability, 

 - . as to have extorted acclamations from the whole assem- 

 bly. 



Hitherto Crichton was chiefly called upon to exhibit 

 his mental qualifications; but at Mantua, wluch he 



next visited, he had to encounter an enemy move for- Crichtvti. 

 midable than any of the champions of Aristotle. A s "^^f^^ 

 gladiator, who had overcome the most celebrated fen- 

 cers in Europe, was living under the protection of the 

 Duke of Mantua, and had already slain three individu- 

 als who had accepted of his challenge. As soon a* 

 Crichton heard of this prodigy, he offered to fight 

 him for 1 500 pistoles, and though the Duke remonstra- 

 ted with him on the danger to which he exposed him- 

 self, and was unwilling that society should lose such 

 an ornament, he at last agreed to the proposal, and ap- 

 pointed a day when the champions should fight in pre- 

 sence of the court. The skill and cool intrepidity of 

 Crichton were an overmatch for the eager impetuosity 

 of the Italian, who was at last thrice run through the 

 body. The prize of 1500 pistoles, which the victor thus 

 acquired, was generously divided among the widows of 

 the three individuals whom the gladiator had slain. 



Astonished at the qualities both of mind and body 

 which he had witnessed, the Duke of Mantua chose 

 Crichton as preceptor to his son Vincentio di Gonzaga ; 

 and out of gratitude for this appointment, Crichton is 

 said to have written a comedy satirizing the various pro- 

 fessions in which men are engaged, and to have sup- 

 ported 1 5 characters in the representation of his own 

 play. 



During the time of the Carnival, when Crichton was 

 playing on his guitar in the evening through the streets 

 of Mantua, he was assailed by several persons in masks. 

 Having repelled all their attacks, he disarmed their 

 leader, who pulled off his mask, and begged his life as 

 being the prince, his pupil. Upon this discovery Crich- 

 ton fell upon his knees, apologised for his mistake, and 

 assured the prince that if he had any design upon his 

 life, he might take it when he pleased. He then took 

 his own sword by the point, and presented it to the 

 prince, who barbarously run him through the heart. 

 This event is said to have happened in July 1582 or 

 1583. 



Such are the wonderful feats which our countryman 

 is said to have performed ; and if we were even so 

 credulous as to believe them all, we should not be dis- 

 posed to rank him among those men who have done 

 honour to their country by advancing the interests of 

 literature or science. Various circumstances, however, 

 which it would be unprofitable to enumerate, concur in 

 throwing a suspicion over the whole of. Crichton's ex- 

 ploits ; and we think that we are sufficiently liberal in 

 our praise when we reduce his pretensions to those of an 

 accomplished scholar. Versed in the ancient and modem 

 languages, which he retained by the aid of a powerful 

 memory, and possessed of great fluency of utterance, 

 and confidence in his own powers, it was no difficult 

 matter to astonish the learned pedants of the 16th cen- 

 tury ; while the elegance of his person and manners, 

 and his other dazzling accomplishments, captivated the 

 affections of the gay crowd, who are the dispensers of 

 contemporary fame. The award of posterity, however, 

 generally reduces the extravagant encomiums with 

 which living merit is too often flattered ; and he who 

 during his lifetime has been elevated with the praises 

 of fashionable admirers, often sinks into oblivion with 

 the dull crowd by whom they were conferred. National 

 partiality, and individual affection, may avert for a while 

 the extinction of a dying name ; but the impartiality of 



■ Roccalini, who was at Rome when Crichton visited it, states, that haying been ridiculed in a pasquinade, as ac empiric, he left 

 llie city in disgust, 



