C R O 
Sardis, and imprudently difbanded his troops ; foon after 
which he was furprized by an invafion from Cyrus He 
prepared for a vigorous refiftance ; and the Lydians with 
their cavalry, in which they excelled, made an attack 
upon the Perfian army. Cyrus repelled it by ufmg the 
ftratagem of placing in front his camels, the fir ft light 
and fmell of which horfes are unable to fupport. Cree- 
fus was compelled to fliut himfelf up in Sardis, which 
was foon after inverted, and taken by aflault, before 
Ch.rift 544. The king was near lofmg his life in the 
action, but it was faced, according to the ftory, by the 
extraordinary effort of his only remaining fon, who was 
born dumb. This young man, beholding a loldier about 
to kill his father, fiiddenly found his voice, and cried 
out, “ Soldier, fpare king Croefus!” It is added, that' 
thenceforth he continued to fpeak readily. Croefus was 
made captive, and, according to Herodotus, w-as near 
undergoing a wcrle fate than that he had efcaped. He 
was condemned by the conqueror to be burnt alive^ 
along with fourteen young Lydians. He was afeending 
the pile, when a recollection of the words of Solon came 
into his mind, and he thrice loudly called upon his name. 
Cyrus, on hearing him, enquired by an interpreter, 
was the fubject of his exclamation; Croefus then 
related the ftory of that philofopher’s vilit and difeourfe 
to him. The conqueror was lo much moved with this 
ftriking inftance of the mutability of fortune, that he 
pardoned Croefus, and received him to favour. Cyrus 
afterwards treated his captive with diftinCtion, allowing 
him to retain the royal title, and taking him as a com¬ 
panion in his expeditions. Upon a revolt of the Lydians 
againft the Perfian dominion, when Cyrus was preparing 
to extirpate the whole nation, Croefus is related to have 
obtained pardon for his former fubjects, and to have ad- 
vifed, that, in order to quench all^remains of a martial 
fpirit, they ftiould be obliged to wear long garments, 
and employ themlelves exclufively in occupations mi- 
nirtering to luxury ; in confequence of which they be¬ 
came the moft effeminate and dirtblute people of the 
Eaft. Cyrus at his death recommended Crcel'us to his 
fon Cambyfes, as one in whofe counfels he might con¬ 
fide; but that vicious prince foon began to treat him 
ill, and one day took up his bow to (hoot him.- Croefus 
efcaped, but the king ordered him to be put to death. 
This fentente, however, was not executed, and Carn- 
byfes tertified much latisfadtion at feeing him alive, 
though he punifhed the difobedience of his officers with 
death. It is not known what farther became of Crcefus, 
but it is probable he did not long furvive. 
CROE'VER REICH, or Croefer Reiet, a fmall 
diftrift of Germany, in the circle of the Upper Rhine, 
on the north fide of the Mofelle, fold by the counts of 
Sponheim, in 1274, to the archbifhops of Treves. 
CROFT,/, [epopr, Sax.] A little clo,fe that is ufed 
for corn or pafiure : 
This have I learn’d, 
Tending my flocks hard by, i’th’ hilly crofts 
That brow this bottom glade. Milton. 
CROFT (Herbert), a divine of the church of Eng¬ 
land, in the feventeenth century, third fon of fir Herbert 
Croft, of Croft-caftle, in Herefordlhire, born in 1603, at 
Great Milton, in Oxfordfhire. About the year 1616, 
was fent to the univerfity of Oxford, and entered in 
Chrift-church college. But his father having become a 
lay-brother in the benediCtine monaftery at Douay, upon 
his command he went over to him, and was placed in 
the Englifh college of jefuits at St. Omer’s, where he 
was prevailed upon to reconcile himfelf to the church 
of Roms. Some time before his father’s death, he re¬ 
turned to his native country, and became acquainted 
with Dr. Morton, biffiop of Durham, who was the means 
®f bringing him back into the church of England. Soon 
afterwards, at the define of Dr. Laud, he went a fecond 
time to Oxford, and was matriculated there, and ad- 
Vol. V. No. i8o„ 
CEO 373 
mitted a ftudent at Chrift-church college. He entered 
into orders, and became reftor of Harding, in Oxford- 
fhire. In 1639 he attended the earl of Northumberland 
in his expedition to Scotland, as his- chaplain; and was 
alfo collated to a prebend in the cathedral of Salifbury. 
In the following year he was admitted to the degree of 
doCtor in divinity, being then chaplain inordinary to his 
m.ijefty ; and in 1640 was made a prebendary of Wor- 
cefter. In 1641 he was promoted to a canonry of Wind- 
for; and in 1644 was nominated dean of Hereford, in 
which city he chiefly redded, until his fpirited attach¬ 
ment to the caufe of royalty, and the freedom with 
which he defended the interefts of that church of which 
he was a member, rendered him an object of refentment 
to the parliamentary forces who had obtained poifeffion 
of it. From the commencement of the civil war, he 
had often been employed in fervices on behalf of the re¬ 
gal party, which were attended with no fmall difficulty 
and perfonal hazard. His exertions in thefe fervices 
were a fevere tax on his fmall fortune efpecially as 
from the circumftances of the times he was enab ed to 
derive little, if any, benefit from his different prefer¬ 
ments. In 1659, by the lucceffive deaths of his elder 
brothers, he fucceeded to his family efiate, and was de¬ 
livered from his pecuniary embarralfments ; but the part 
which he had taken againft the men in power, induced 
him to retire from his native county, where he was a 
more immediate object of notice and jealoufy. On the 
reftoration of Charles II. he was reinftated in his dif¬ 
ferent preferments in the church ; and, in 1661, was pro¬ 
moted to the fee of Hereford. He had offers of more 
valuable bifhoprics, but he conftantly declined them, 
and would accept of no additional office, excepting the 
deanery of the chapel-royal, to which he was appointed 
in 1669, and which he did not retain longer than two 
years. From that time he appears to have been lo dif- 
gufted with the profligate manners and intolerant prac¬ 
tices of the court, that he confined himfelf chiefly to his 
biffiopnc, the duties of which he difeharged in the moft 
exemplary manner. He was exceeding ftritf in examin¬ 
ing into the characters and abilities of candidates for or¬ 
ders; and very commendably refufed to confer the pre¬ 
bends of his cathedral on any who would not engage to 
refide within his diocefe, that the duties of the church 
might not be negle£ted,‘and that he might have it in his 
power to encourage aCtive and ufeful clergymen, by 
granting thofe dignities as augmentations to fmall liv¬ 
ings. In 1675, when the enmity againft the dilfencers 
was at its greateft height, and when the beft friends to 
the church of England, and to the proteftant religion, 
were delirous of extending to them the benefits of a le¬ 
gal toleration, he publifhed a little work, intitled Naked 
Truth ; or, The true state of the primitive Church, 4to. 
In this work, which excited uncommon notice and at¬ 
tention at the time when it appeared, he pleaded the 
caufe of Chriftian union, forbearance, and humanity, 
with a zeal and freedom that reflect the highelt honour 
on his principles, and on his temper. It gave occalion 
to a controverfy, in which argument, inveCtive, and wit, 
were alternately employed by the different combatants, 
as beft fuited their different views. He continued his 
pious labours in the epifcopal character until his death, 
which took- place in 1691. Befides his Naked Truth, 
biftiop Croft publifhed, 1. A Letter to a Friend, con¬ 
cerning popifli Idolatry, 1679, 4m. 2. Some Animad- 
verfions on a Book intitled. The Theory of the Earth, 
1685,.8vo. 3. A fhort Difeourfe concerning the Read¬ 
ing his Majefty’s late Declaration in Churcheo, 1688, 4to. 
4. The Legacy of the Right Reverend Father in God, 
Herbert Lord Bithop of Hereford, to his Diocefe ; or, 
A fhort Determination of all Controveriles, 4m. confid¬ 
ing of an epiftie to the people within his diocefe ; with 
a tract on the Lord’s fupper; and foine Angle fennons 
preached on different occafions. 
CROFT (William), a mufical compofer, of confider- 
,5 C abi« 
