C R E 
a fuccefs which encouraged him to perfevere. His next 
piece was Atreus, the great fuperiority of which to the 
former, proved the rapid advance of his theatrical ta¬ 
lents. Though the cataftrdphe was almoft too (hocking 
for the French ftage, it obtained a diftinguifhed place on 
the theatre, which it long held. Crebillon fell in love- 
and married; but the match, together with his poetical 
character, fo little pleafed his father, that he difinhe- 
rited him. He afterwards, however, reftored his fon to 
his birthright; but Jo little property remained at his 
death, that the poet found himfelf left with fcarcely any 
refource but his genius. In 1708 he produced his Elec- 
tra, which was highly fuccefsful, though it has lince 
been feverely criticjfed by Voltaire, who wrote his Orelles 
in rivalry of it. He rofe to tire fummit of his fame in 
1711, when his Rhadamjftus appeared, which was acted 
thirty times in the lame feafon. This tragedy ranks 
among the mafter-pieces of the French theatre, and di(- 
plays much ftrong delineation of character, with intereft- 
ing fituations. His Semiramis appeared in 1717, and was 
followed by Pyrrhus, and Xerxes. Thefe, however, had 
neither the merit nor the fuccefs of Rhadamiftus. He 
was made a member of the French Academy in 1731., on 
which occafton lie exhibited the novelty of returning his 
thanks in verfe. A line which he recited in this piece, 
Aacun fid n'a jamais empoifonne ma plume; “ No gall has 
e’er ftted venom on my quill received the plaudits of 
the aftentbly in atteftation of its truth. He, belides, 
obtained favours from the court, and the patronage of 
fome perfons of diftinftion. His Cataline was brought 
forward in 1749, for the purpofe, it is faid, of deprefling 
the rifing fame of Voltaire. It completely failed, how¬ 
ever, in this view, nor did it acquire any new laurels for 
the author. The Triumvirate, written when he had 
pafled his eightieth year, was but juft heard, and then 
withdrawn. This clofed his dramatic labours. Crebillon 
was always in diftrefled circumftances; infomuch that 
the profits of his laft tragedy were 1'eized by his credi¬ 
tors. This novel procefs brought on a fait in the courts 
of law, which was famous for the memorable determi¬ 
nation, that “ the products of genius were not liable to 
be feized as aflets by the creditors of a dramatic writer.” 
He died in 1762, aged eighty-eight. A Louvre edition 
was given of his works in two volumes quarto. They 
Contain fome pieces of poetry, belides his tragedies. 
Before Voltaire had diftinguifhed himfelf as a dramatic 
writer, it feems that Crebillon ranked immediately after 
Corneille and Racine. His charadler is ftrength and vi¬ 
gour, particularly in reprefenting fcenes of atrocity, and 
exciting terror. This pallion, accounted fo eflential to 
tragedy by the ancients, he has excited in a higher de¬ 
gree than any other French writer, and indeed has pro¬ 
ceeded to the utmoft limits that the ftage of his nation 
could endure. There is alfo conliderable grandeur and 
dignity in the fentiments of his beft pieces ; and he has 
happily exprefled, on fome occaftons, what he himfelf 
warmly felt, a deteftationof that tyrannical and arrogant 
difpofition of the Romans, which we are too much taught 
to admire. On the whole, there is a gloominefs of colour¬ 
ing thrown over his pieces, which gives them a general fi- 
milarity, and renders them more ftriking than agreeable. 
CREBILLON' (Claude Profper Joliot de), fon of 
the preceding, born in 1707, was a man of letters, and 
lived with his father as a friend and a brother. By mar¬ 
riage with an Englilh woman, he incurred a temporary 
breach with his father, but it was foon healed. The 
only place which he obtained was that of cenfor-royal. 
His walk in literature was novel-writing, in a particular 
fpecies of which he acquired great fame. It is thus cha- 
radterifed by d’Alembert: “ In romances full of inge¬ 
nuity, and dictated by a profound knowledge of all the 
fecret folds of the human heart, he has reprefented, with 
the moll delicate and accurate pencil, the refinements, 
the (hades, and even the graces, of our vices : that fe- 
dudtive fprightlinefs which renders the French what is 
C R E 343 
termed amiable, a word which does not (ignify worthy of 
being loved ; that reftlefs activity which makes them feel 
liftleflnefs even on the bofom of plealure; that pcrver- 
fion of principle, difguifed, and in fome meafure fcftened, 
by the mafk of decencies ; in fine, that united corruption 
and frivolity of our manners, in which the excels of de¬ 
pravity is allied with the excefs of abfurdity.” It is only, 
to the earlieft of his works that the commendatory part 
of this character applies ; and in the belt, the ftyle is 
confiderubly liable to cenfure. They are alfo liceutio.us 
in their defcriptions; and they are rendered tedious by 
a want of aflion, and a famenefs of manner. For one of 
them, which contained fome fatirical allufions to events 
of the time, the author was put into the Baftiile. The 
beft known of thefe productions is Lies Egaremms du Ccrur 
& de VEfprit, 1736, in three parts. It is nor worth while 
to copy the titles of the others, the laft of which dates 
as late as 1771. He died at Paris in 177.7. 
CRE'BRITUDE, f. [from creber , frequent, Lat. I 
Frequentnefs. 
CRE'BROL T S, adj. [from creber , I.at.] Frequent. 
CREC'CHIO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na¬ 
ples, and province of Abruzzo Citra: ten miles-eart of 
Civita di Chietl. 
CRE'CY, a town of France, in the department of the 
Seine and Marne, and chief place of a canton, in the dif- 
trifl of Meaux : two leagues and a half fouth of Meaux, 
CRE'CY, or Crec y en PoNTHiEU,,a town of France, 
in the department of the Somme, celebrated on account 
of the famous battle fought here on the 26th of Augnft, 
1346, between the Englilh and French: Edward III. 
and his fon the Black Prince, were both engaged, and 
the French were defeated with great daughter, tliirty 
thoufand foot and twelve hundred horfe being left dead 
in the field ; among whom were the king of Bohemia, 
the count of Alen^on, Louis count of Flanders, with 
many other of the French nobility : ten miles north of 
Abbeville, and one hundred north of Paris. See the ar¬ 
ticle England., 
CRE'CY sur SERRE, a town of France, in the de¬ 
partment of the Aifne, and chief place of a canton, in ths 
diftridt of Laon : two leagues and a half north of Laori. 
CRE'DAN HEAD, a cape of Ireland, on the weft 
coaft of Waterford harbour. 
CRED'DY,. a river of England, which runs into the 
Ex, near Exeter. 
CRE'DENCE, f. [from credo, Lat. credence, Norman 
Fr.] Belief; credit: 
Love and wifdom, 
Approv’d fo to your raajefty, may plead 
For ample credence. Shakefpeare. 
That which gives a claim to credit or belief..—After 
they had delivered to the king their letters c f credence, 
they were led to-a chamber richly furnifhed. Hayward. 
CREDEN'D A, f. [Lat.] Things to be believed; ar¬ 
ticles of faith : diftinguifhed in theology from agenda , or 
practical duties.—Thefe were the great articles and cre- 
denda of Chriftvanity, that fo much ftartled the world. 
South. 
CRE'DENT, adj. [credcns, Lat.] Believing; eafy of- 
belief: 
Then weigh what lofs your honour may fuftain, 
If with too credent ear you lift’ his fongs. Shakefpeare „ 
Having credit; not to be queftioned. Lefs proper t 
My authority bears a credent bulk, 
That no particular fcandal once can touch, 
But it confounds the breather. Shakefpeare. 
CREDEN'TIAL,.y. [from credent, Lat.] That which 
gives a title to credit; the warrant upon which belief or 
authority is claimed.—A few perfons of an odious and 
defpifed country could not have filled the world with 
believers, had they not (hewn undoubted credentials from 
the Divine Perfon who lent them on fuch a mefiage. 
Add fon, 
CREDE'RA- 
