GEORGE LILLIE CRAIK which were afterwards expanded into a still larger work, entitled History of English Literature and the English Language, 1862. The second work, formed from his chapters in the Pictorial History, and published in the same series, was A History of British Commerce from the Earliest Times, 3 vols. 1844. Besides these, he also published in Knight's Weekly Volumes, Spenser and his Poetry, 3 vols. 1845; Bacon, his Writings, and his Philosophy, 3 vols. 1846; a concluding volume of Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties, containing female examples only, 1847; and a work entitled Popular Tumults. Without taking into account his numerous contributions to the periodical literature of the day, the research they occasioned, the careful deliberation with which they were studied, and the fastidious excellence that characterized their composition, Mr. Craik, it will be seen, since his arrival in London had been no remiss student. Gifted with an iron constitution, it had been severely tasked, and the variety of subjects which successively demanded his study might well make him sigh for relief, even though that relief should be nothing but a change of labour. An author by profession, had the literature in which he dealt been of that showy sensational kind which arrests the mob of readers, and pleases for the day, he might with half the toil have won fortune at least, if not fame, and been able to retire with a competence. But he had devoted himself to the more solid and useful, and therefore less lucrative, departments of his high vocation; and while other writers were content to amuse the public, his ambition was to elevate and instruct it. Hence the very moderate competence in the way of remuneration which his toils could obtain for him at the best, and the prospect that all this would cease when occupation forsook him, and he was too weary to work. But sufficient for the day is the evil thereof, and he looked forward with his wonted cheerfulness and energy. In the meantime he had won a reputation worth living for, and a circle of friends who formed a world worth living in; men, the most distinguished | in literature and science, who appreciated his high talents, and loved him for his amiable social qualities. Nor was his benevolent disposition less remarkable, and he was anxious to smooth for others the way he had found so rough for himself. To young litterateurs, therefore, he was always ready with his advice and literary assistance, and often with his purse too, even when his own resources were by no means overflowing. And not merely as a friend, companion, and counsellor, but as a husband and father, his kindly affections were always alive, and constantly welling forth. From the wear and tear of such close application and multifarious studies, Mr. Craik in 1849 found a welcome relief by being appointed professor of English literature and history at Queen's College, Belfast. "From this date," writes one who evidently knew him intimately and loved him well, "his career is identified with that of the newly-founded university, to which his ardent love of letters, his sound judgment, and generous wisdom brought such large help -equally appreciated by both students and professors. Probably no college instructor was ever more widely popular than Professor Craik; while his genial qualities, his ready and inexhaustible memory, and his profound knowledge of men and books, made him welcome in every society. At Belfast, both within and without the college walls, his wellknown figure, hale and active, with the flowing white hair, clear blue eye, and mouth full of both humour and sweetness, will be long missed and vividly remembered." Although now comfortably | settled, and with a regular routine of occupation, Professor Craik, instead of sinking into learned ease, retained all his activity and love of authorship, so that, when his course of lectures was prepared, and his work in full train, he resumed his active pen for the press, and filled up his spare time with fresh achievements in literature. In 1849-1852 he produced the Romance of the Peerage, in 4 vols.; in 1855, Outlines of the History of the English Language; in 1856, The English of Shakspeare illustrated in “Julius Casar;" and in 1862 the Manual of English Literature and the English Language. Having been ap pointed in 1859 and 1862 examiner of the Indian civil service, he revisited London during these and other summers, and occasionally extended his visits to his native Scotland; but his permanent home was Belfast, where his chief duties lay. Thus peacefully his life went on until 1866, when in February, while lecturing to his class, he was struck with paralysis, from which he only temporarily recovered. decease occurred on the 25th of June of the same year, and his remains were interred in the churchyard of Holywood near Belfast. His Mr. Craik, who had taken the degree of M.A. while a student at the university of St. Andrews, was also honoured with that of LL.D. a short time before his death. By his wife, who died in 1856, he had issue one son and three daughters, of whom two survive. His character as an author is thus summed up in a brief memoir of him which appeared in Knight's English Cyclopædia, while he still lived: "Scrupulous accuracy, unwearied research, and sound criticism, united with an ardent desire for the safe and gradual advance of all that may practically improve the condition of society, are the leading characteristics of Mr. Craik's writings. Few have laboured more earnestly in the cause of general education." The CRAWFORD, DAVID, of Drumsoy, near Glasgow, historiographer to Queen Anne, was born in 1665, and educated for the bar. Having abandoned professional pursuits in a great measure, for the sake of studying Scottish antiquities and history, he was appointed historiographer royal for Scotland by Queen Anne, to whom he was probably recommended by his being a zealous Tory and Jacobite. His political prepossessions, which as usual extended to a keen zeal in behalf of Queen Mary, induced him in 1706 to publish, at London, his well-known work, entitled Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, containing a Full and Impartial "Account of the Revolution in that Kingdom, begun in 1567, Faithfully Compiled from an Authentic MS. avowed purpose of this publication was to furnish an antidote to the tendency of Buchanan's history. The substance of the work he says he derived from an ancient MS. presented to him by Sir James Baird of Saughtonhall, and which seemed to have been composed by a contemporary of the events described. In executing the task which he had imposed upon himself, the learned editor appears to have acted after the manner of a good partisan. In order that his work might the more perfectly meet the calumnies of Buchanan, he expunged from it every passage which told in behalf of the views taken by that writer, and introduced others instead from the contemporary Tory writers. The work was reprinted by Goodall in 1767, and still continues to be a popular narrative of the events of the four regencies. In 1804 Mr. Malcolm Laing, author of The History of Scotland during the Seventeenth Century, having obtained possession of the original MS. used by Crawford, published it, with a pre face denouncing the historiographer-royal as a rank | impostor, inasmuch as he had set off that as a work of authority which had been vitiated for party purposes by his own hand. The same view has been taken of Mr. Crawford's character by Mr. Thomas Thomson, in the preface to a new print of the MS. for the use of the Bannatyne Club, which appeared in 1825, under the title of The History and Life of King James the Sext. With deference to these writers, it may be suggested, in Crawford's defence, that his work was never pretended to be a faithful transcript of the original MS. except on the titlepage, where it is so stated by the bookseller ad captandum, in obvious contradiction of the statement made by the editor within. The work comes forth with the character of a special pleading avowed upon the face of it; and those who depended upon such a refacciamento as upon a faithful contemporary chronicle, after the account given of it in the editor's preface, had only to blame their own simplicity. The truth is, Crawford's memoirs, when fully considered with a regard to the ideas prevalent respecting the purity of historical narrative at the beginning of the last century, will only appear an imposture to an opposite partisan. Crawford died in 1726. CRAWFORD, GENERAL ROBERT. This gallant officer, whose chief theatre of distinction was the Peninsula during the campaigns of Wellington, was the third son of Sir Alexander Crawford, Bart., of Kilburnie, Stirlingshire. At an early age he entered the army, and on the 1st of November, 1787, he bore the commission of captain in the seventy-fifth regiment of Highlanders, with which he served in India. When the peace of Amiens opened the Continent to British tourists, Crawford repaired to France, that he might improve himself in military science; but the war which followed the short-lived peace soon recalled him from his professional studies to his duties at home, and he was again sent out to service in India. Having gone through the various grades of promotion until he attained the rank of major-general, Crawford was sent, at the end of October, 1806, to South America, with 4200 men, upon an expedition that was originally designed to achieve the conquest of Chili. But from a mistaken idea that peace would again be established in a short period, the designs of our government in the matter of warlike expeditions were characterized by such delays and contradictory orders, that Crawford, from his attempts to obey them, fell under the displeasure of the home authorities, so that General Whitelocke was appointed to supersede him in the command. A short time, however, sufficed to convince them of the mistake they had committed by the change. An attack on Buenos Ayres was resolved upon by Whitelocke; and, as if to make success impossible, the British troops were ordered to leave the artillery behind; the soldiers were to enter the town with unloaded muskets; and while every house, which was flat-roofed according to the fashion of the climate, was defended by their armed occupants, who were admirable marksmen, and resolute to defend their homes to the last, each division of the assailants, on entering the town, was preceded by a corporal's guard, furnished only with crowbars to break open the doors, while the troops were quietly to await their progress. The town was easily entered by the British, but how they were to get out of it was the master difficulty; for deadly showers of shot from every house-top poured upon them, which they were obliged to endure without the means of returning it; and the enemy, safe within their well-barricaded habitations, laughed at the attempts to take their town by iron crows. General Crawford and his brigade, who by Whitelocke's arrangements had penetrated quite through the town, after losing nearly half his force, was obliged to entrench himself, with the remains of his troops, within a convent, where they were attacked by overwhelming numbers supplied with artillery as well as musketry. Thus isolated from support, and without the means of effectual resistance, they had no alternative but to surrender. Under such a commander as Whitelocke the brave troops that afterwards under Wellington achieved such victories, experienced nothing but a ruinous and shameful defeat; and Crawford, with three of his regiments, were prisoners in the hands of their triumphant enemies. This was followed by humiliating conditions, which Whitelocke accepted; in consequence of which the prisoners were restored, and the British troops withdrawn from the river Plata. After this bitter taste of the degradations with which war is so often accompanied, Crawford was so fortunate as to act under the orders of a very different general, and upon a better field of action, being sent to serve in the army of the Peninsula. His brigade formed part of the centre column which Wellington commanded in person at the battle of Roriça; and he also served in the battle of Vimeiro, which was fought on the same month. Crawford was joined to the expedition of General Sir John Moore, and occupied a conspicuous place in confronting the dangers of the retreat to Corunna. One particular service in which he was engaged on these occasions, was at the crossing of the Esla river. While the British stores and baggage were conveyed across by a ferry-boat, General Crawford during that tedious operation was posted with the second light brigade on the left bank of the river-which was high, and commanded the bridge-so that the passage of the troops might be accomplished in safety. In the meantime the French were in close pursuit; and their cavalry had overtaken the British rearguard, and encountered it in a series of skirmishes. The English horse and the stragglers being now all across the river, Crawford gave orders to destroy the bridge; which was instantly commenced with alacrity, one half of his troops being engaged in the demolition, while the other half kept the enemy at bay. When the work was finished, he withdrew his troops in the face of the pursuers, by laying planks across the broken arches, along which his soldiers marched by single files-a most difficult and dangerous operation; but the night, which was dark, and the swelling of the river, which every moment threatened to flow over the planks, caused the retreat to be undiscovered, and his whole brigade was removed to the other side in safety. After this successful exploit, General Crawford was sent by Sir John Moore with 3000 men to keep open the road to Vigo, and secure its port, as a place of embarkation for the British army if it should be impossible to effect it at Corunna. Finding that his stay in this quarter was unnecessary, Crawford commenced his march to rejoin Wellington. His troops, after a march of twenty miles were in bivouac near Malpartida de Placencia, when they were roused from their repose by the reports which the runaway Spaniards had spread in that quarter. Apprehending that some critical event was in progress at Wellington's head-quarters, Crawford allowed his men to rest only a few hours; and leaving behind him about fifty of the weakest, he commenced his march, resolving not to halt until he had joined the conflict at Talavera. As his brigade advanced, be was met by crowds of Spanish fugitives, with cries | part of the British was tantamount to many vicof "The British army is defeated-Sir Arthur tories. Wellesley is killed-The French are only a few miles distant!" These cowards, whose vision was distracted by their fear, even pretended to point out the enemy's advanced posts on the nearest hills. But these reports, instead of stopping only hastened the march of the troops; and leaving only seventeen stragglers behind them, they, in twenty-six hours, accomplished a march of sixty-two English miles, each man carrying from fifty to sixty pounds weight upon his shoulders. "Had the historian Gibbon known of such a march," exclaims Napier, with honest military pride, "he would have spared his sneer about the 'delicacy of modern soldiers.'" It has been characterized by the historian of Modern Europe as the most rapid march by any foot-soldiers of any nation during the whole war. Deep must have been the regret of such heroes when they arrived in a close compact body at the field of Talavera, to find that their efforts had been useless only by an hour or two-that the battle of Talavera had just been fought and won. in war. If they had even comprehended the profound military and political combinations he was conducting, the one would have carefully avoided fighting on the Coa, and the other, far from refusing, would have eagerly proffered his support.' During the battle General Picton, who ought to have supported Crawford, came up alone from Pinhel, and when the latter desired the support of the other's division it was refused, and the two generals parted after a sharp altercation. In their respective characters, which the author of the History of the Peninsula War has sketched, we can perceive the men themselves, as well as the causes of their disagreement. "Picton and Crawford were not formed by nature to act cordially together. The stern countenance, robust frame, saturnine complexion, caustic speech, and austere demeanour of the first promised little sympathy with the short thick figure, dark flashing eyes, quick movements, and fiery temper of the second; nor, indeed, did they often meet without a quarrel. Nevertheless they had many points of resemblance in their characters and fortunes. Both were inclined to harshness, and rigid in command; both prone to disobedience, yet exacting entire submission from inferiors, and they were alike ambitious and craving of glory. They both possessed decided When the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, and the cap-military talents, were enterprising and intrepid, yet ture of other important towns by the French, occa- neither were remarkable for skill in handling troops sioned the transference of the war from Spain to under fire. This, also, they had in common, that Portugal, General Crawford occupied a conspicuous both, after distinguished services, perished in arms, part during the retreat of the British army from the fighting gallantly; and being celebrated as generals one country to the other. He was appointed by of division while living, have, since their death, been Wellington to secure the line of the Coa, for which injudiciously spoken of, as rivalling their great leader service he had three regiments of admirably trained infantry, and 400 excellent German hussars, while generals Picton and Cole were to come up to his aid if required. Crawford admirably fulfilled his task, stationing his troops in small detachments along the bank of the Agueda, so skilfully, that they extended twenty-five miles, and could not be attacked except at great disadvantage. During these arrangements, prodigious activity was necessary, so that he was everywhere; but he was nearly starved from his post, no money nor supplies being forthcoming. It was necessary to procure corn, and being of a fiery impatient temper, he seized upon some church plate, for which rash act he was immediately rebuked. But no popular explosion of the Spaniards followed; and the priests, convinced of his necessities, and the prompt means he would use in relieving them, took care to have his soldiers provided with supplies. The enemy gathered upon him in such force as might have overwhelmed him, but after several skirmishes he continued to maintain his ground until Ciudad Rodrigo had fallen. After this capture the whole French army, to the number of 60,000 men, advanced, upon which Wellington, aware of Crawford's fiery temper, ordered him not in any case to fight beyond the Coa. But the neighbourhood of such a force, after he had kept it three months at bay, and the presence of Massena himself, who now commanded it, was too much for prudential considerations, or even for positive commands, and with his small force of 4000 infantry and 1100 cavalry he prepared to give battle. This terrible affair, called the battle of the Coa, which occurred on the 24th of July, was one of the most remarkable episodes of the whole of this important war. The gallantry and confidence of the British seem to have confounded the calculations of the enemy as to their numbers, and such was the nature of their attacks over the whole field, as served to keep up the delusion. Two hundred and seventy British and forty-four Portuguese were killed, wounded, or taken, while the French lost above a thousand men; and when the engagement ceased it was upon equal terms, neither party having obtained the victory. But such a resistance on the The next affair in which Crawford distinguished himself was the battle of Busaco. Wellington had selected this steep rugged ground as the best for defence, and having made his arrangements, he awaited the attack of Massena and Ney, in the confidence of being successful. Crawford moved down from his post on the 25th of September, 1810, and at the sight of the enemy gathering in front, seemed disposed to repeat the desperate experiment of the Coa. Apprehending such a result, which would have disconcerted his whole plan of action, Wellington sent orders to withdraw this division. In the battle that followed, Crawford, who was opposed to Ney, had so advantageously disposed his troops upon the heights, that they could not be attacked but at great disadvantage; and standing alone on one of the rocks which overlooked the enemy, he watched the motions below, and the advance of the French to attack him. Now was the time, and in a quick shrill voice he ordered his soldiers to charge; the command was obeyed with equal alacrity, and in a few minutes the French were driven in confusion down the steep. After this success, and when the heat of conflict was succeeded by a momentary truce for relieving the wounded, a French company towards evening seized a village within half-musket shot of Crawford's division, and refused to retire. This was enough to kindle the general's rage, and after cannonading the village, he sent down the fortythird regiment, which drove out the French in a few minutes. When the events of the campaign brought on the battle of Fuentes d'Onore, May 5, 1811, Crawford with his light division covered the passage of the seventh division over the river Turones, and then retired slowly over the plain in squares, followed by the enemy's horse, which continually outflanked him; but the squares presented such a firm and formidable aspect that the enemy were afraid to attack them. After this successful demonstration, the light division formed a reserve to the right of the | Crawford married Bridget, daughter of Henry Holfirst division, and performed an effectual part in the conflict. After the skirmish at Elbodo, and the retrograde movement of the British army, Crawford received orders from Wellington to fall back upon Giunaldo, at which the British troops were to be concentrated. It was a movement that demanded the utmost speed, for Wellington, who was there in person, had scarcely 15,000 men, while Marmont had collected 60,000 in front of him. The order was delivered at two o'clock; but Crawford, who was only sixteen miles distant, did not arrive until three on the following day. Unaware of the critical condition of his chief, averse to anything that looked like a retreat, and desirous to signalize himself by some bold deed against the enemy who followed his footsteps, his march had been a very leisurely process; on the other hand, Wellington, who would not abandon the light division, awaited its arrival. It was well that he could concentrate his troops from other quarters during the night, and that Marmont was ignorant of his situation. On the arrival of Crawford with his division, his commander said to him nothing more than, "I am glad to see you safe, Crawford." The other replied, "Oh, I was in no danger, I assure you." "But I was from your conduct," replied Wellington. This mild rebuke from such a man was almost equivalent to the condemnation of a courtmartial. In the night Wellington, by a skilful concentric movement from Giunaldo and other neighbouring places, united the whole army on new ground twelve miles behind Giunaldo. The career of the daring and chivalrous Crawford was now drawing to an abrupt close. The reduction of Ciudad Rodrigo being necessary for the success of our arms, Lord Wellington, after investing the fortress eleven days in the face of a superior enemy, resolved to take it by storm. On the 19th of January, 1812, two large breaches having been completed, the third division, under General Picton, was appointed to storm the greater opening, while Crawford with his light division was to undertake the less. It was significant of the desperate nature of the enterprise, that two of the bravest generals of the British service were selected to conduct it. Crawford's division carried the smaller breach; but Crawford himself fell mortally wounded on the glacis, while bringing up his troops to the attack. A musket-shot which had struck his left arm, penetrated his side, and lodged in the lungs. He was immediately carried to the rear, but, notwithstanding the attempts of the surgeons, who bled him twice, he did not recover from a deadly insensible stupor until the following morning. He felt that recovery was impossible, and when General Stewart talked of future achievements, by which the campaign was likely to be distinguished, and the share which his friend might have in them, Crawford in a faint voice answered that his last fight had been fought, and that all would soon be over. On the 23d his pain was so much abated that he was able to converse with apparent ease, and he spoke chiefly of his wife and children. Again and again he besought his aide-de-camp to tell his wife that he was sure they would meet in heaven, and that there was a providence over all which never would forsake the soldier's widow and his orphans. Thus he continued till he died on the 24th, in the midst of a profound slumber. A grave was dug for him at the foot of the breach which his light division had so gallantly won; and Wellington, who so highly valued his military qualities that he could overlook his faults, attended his funeral, as did also several of the chief officers of the British and Spanish armies. General land, Esq., who with three sons survived him; and a monument to his memory, and that of Majorgeneral M'Kinnon, who also fell in the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, was erected in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. CREECH, WILLIAM, an eminent bookseller, was the son of the Rev. William Creech, minister of Newbattle, a most respectable clergyman, and of Miss Mary Buley, an English lady related to a family of rank in Devonshire. He was born in the year 1745, and received a complete classical educa tion at the school at Dalkeith, which was taught by Mr. Barclay, a preceptor of some distinction, who also educated the first Viscount Melville, and the Lord-chancellor Loughborough. He was at first designed for the medical profession, but eventually was bound apprentice to Mr. Kincaid, a bookseller in Edinburgh. In the year 1766 Mr. Creech went upon a tour of the Continent, in company with Lord Kilmaurs, son of the Earl of Glencairn. After his return, in 1771, he was received by his former master into partnership, and finally, in 1773, left in full possession of the business. For forty-four years Mr. Creech carried on by far the most extensive bookselling concern in Scotland, publishing the writ ings of many of the distinguished men who adorned Scottish literature at the close of the eighteenth century. His shop, which occupied a conspicuous situation in the centre of the old town, and yet, by a curious chance, commanded a view thirty miles into the country, was, during all that long period, the rialto of literary commerce and intercourse, while his house in the neighbourhood also attracted its more select crowds at the breakfast hour, under the name of Creech's levee. While thus busied in sending the works of his friends into the world, he occasionally contributed articles to the newspapers and other periodical works, generally in reference to the passing follies of the day, of which he was a most acute and sarcastic observer. During his own lifetime, he published a volume of these trifles, under the title of Edinburgh Fugitive Pieces, which was republished with his name, and with some additions, after his death. He was one of the founders of the Speculative Society in 1764. Mr. Creech's style of composition is only worthy of being spoken of with respect to its ironical humour, which was certainly its only feature of distinction. This humour, though said to have been very powerful when aided by the charm of his own voice and manner in conversation, is of too cold, wiry, and artificial a kind to have much effect in print. It must also be mentioned, that, although very staid and rigid in style, it involves many allusions by no means of a decorous nature. In private life Mr. Creech shone conspicuously as a pleasant companion and conversationist, being possessed of an inexhaustible fund of droll anecdote, which he could narrate in a characteristic manner, and with unfailing effect. He thus secured general esteem, in despite, it appeared, of extraordinary fondness for money, and penuriousness of habits, which acted to the preclusion not only of all benevolence of disposition, but even of the common honesty of discharging his obligations when they were due. He died, unmarried, on the 14th of January, 1815. CRICHTON, JAMES, commonly styled the Admirable Crichton. The learned and accurate Dr. Kippis, editor of the Biographia Britannica, was the first, we believe, who thoroughly sifted and critically examined the truth or consistency of those marvellous stories which had so long attached to and rendered famous the name of the Admirable Crichton. Many had long doubted their credibility, and many more had been deluded by them. It fell to the lot of this keen critic, by a minute and candid investigation of the truth, to confirm and rectify the minds of both. James Crichton was the son of Robert Crichton of Eliock, lord-advocate of Scotland, partly in the reigns of Queen Mary and King James VI. His mother was Elizabeth Stuart, only daughter of Sir James Stuart of Beith, a family collaterally descended from Murdoch, Duke of Albany, third son of Robert III. by Elizabeth Muir, and uncle to James I. He was born in the castle of Cluny, in Perthshire, some time about the year 1560. He received the first rudiments of his education at Perth, from which place he was removed at an early age to the university of St. Andrews, at that time esteemed the first school of philosophy in Scotland. The progress which he made in his studies is said to have been astonishing. He had hardly passed his twelfth year when he took his degree as Bachelor of Arts; two years afterwards, that of Master of Arts; being then esteemed the third scholar in the university for talents and proficiency. His excellence did not stop here. Before attaining the age of twenty he had, besides becoming master of the sciences, attained to the knowledge of ten different languages, which he could write and speak to perfection. He had also every accomplishment which | it is befitting or ornamental in a gentleman to have. He practised the arts of drawing and painting, and improved himself to the highest degree in riding, fencing, dancing, singing, and in playing upon all sorts of musical instruments. It remains only to add, that this extraordinary person possessed a form and face of great beauty and symmetry; and was unequalled in every exertion requiring activity and strength. He would spring at one bound the space of twenty or twenty-four feet in closing with his antagonist: and he added to a perfect science in the sword, such strength and dexterity that none could rival him. Crichton, now about the age of twenty, and thus accomplished, set out upon his travels; and is said first to have directed his course to Paris. It was customary in that age to hold public disputations, in which questions alike abstruse and useless in the scholastic philosophy were discussed. Soon after his arrival in this city, he determined, in compliance with such a usage, to distinguish himself by a public display of part of his great acquirements. To this end he affixed placards to the gates of the different schools, halls, and colleges of the university, inviting all those versed in any art or science, discipline, or faculty, whether practical or theoretic, to dispute with him in the college of Navarre, that day six weeks, by nine of the clock in the morning, where he would attend them, and be ready to answer to whatever should be proposed to him in any art or science, and in any of these twelve languagesHebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, English, Dutch, Flemish, and Sclavonian; and this either in verse or prose, at the discretion of the disputant. We give the challenge pretty fully in this place, that we may have no further occasion to repeat it. During the interesting interval of the six weeks Crichton, we are informed, so far from showing the least flutter or uneasiness, diverted himself with the various amusements of the gay city. He devoted his time almost entirely to hunting, hawking, riding on a well-managed horse, tossing the pike, handling the musket, and other feats of the like kind; or to more domestic trifling, such as balls, concerts, cards, dice, or tennis. This nonchalance is said to have provoked the sneers of the students; and their satire went the length of affixing a placard containing the following words on the gate of the Navarre college -"If you would meet with this monster of perfection, to make search for him either in the tavern or the brothel is the readiest way to find him." The decisive day at length arrived; there attended, we are told, at this singular convocation, about fifty professors, doctors of law and medicine, and learned men, and above three thousand auditors. He acquitted himself beyond expression in the disputation, which lasted from nine o'clock in the morning till six at night. "So pointedly and learnedly he answered to all the questions which were proposed to him, that none but they who were present can believe it. He spake Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and other languages, most politely. He was likewise an excellent horseman; and truly, if a man should live a hundred years without eating, drinking, or sleeping, he could not attain to this man's knowledge, which struck us with a panic fear; for he knew more than human nature can well bear. He overcame four of the doctors of the church; for in learning none could contest with him, and he was thought to be Antichrist." At the conclusion the president, after a speech of high commendation, rose from his chair, and, amidst the admiration and acclamations of the whole assembly, presented him with a diamond ring and a purse full of gold. From the event of this day he attained the title of The Admirable Crichton. Crichton was so little fatigued, we are told, by this Herculean trial of mental prowess, that, on the succeeding day, he appeared with all the fire and freshness of youth at a tilting match in the Louvre, and in the presence of several of the ladies and princes of the court of France, carried away the ring fifteen times successively, "and broke as many lances on the Saracen," a chivalrous pastime of the period so called. We next find Crichton at Rome, where he soon took occasion to exhibit a similar challenge to that of Paris. Here, in presence of the pope, many cardinals, bishops, doctors of divinity, and professors in all the sciences, he again delighted and astonished all spectators by the amazing proofs which he displayed of his universal knowledge. Boccaline, who was then at Rome, relates the transaction somewhat differently. According to this authority, Crichton's placard runs thus: "Nos Jacobus Crichtonus, Scotus, cuicunque rei propositæ ex improviso respondebimus.' This was a bold challenge in the capital of Christendom; and the ridicule which it could not fail to excite showed itself in a pasquinade, the humour of which is not amiss, though it be local: "And," said this addendum to the challenge, “he that will see it, let him go to the sign of the Falcon and it shall be shown." The Italian further informs us that this affront, which put Crichton upon the level of jugglers and mountebanks, nettled him so much that he left the place. He next proceeded to Venice; and it was on his way thither that he composed one of the four little Latin poems, all by the way which remain to prove the literary and poetical talents of Crichton. Aldus Manutius, the younger of the celebrated family of printers to whom it was inscribed, thought so very highly of it, and on further acquaintance with its author was so 1 Mackenzie's Scottish Writers, vol. iii. p. 119. |