agine to be intended for the direction and encouragement of their offspring. The most successful mode of destroying crows, is that of invading them in their extensive dormitories during the night. When they have selected a pine thicket, or other dense piece of wood, for a roosting place, they repair thither with great regularity. Every evening, vast flocks come sailing to the retreat, and the trees are literally covered and bowed down. When the state of Maryland received crow scalps in payment of taxes, at three cents each, parties were frequently made to attack the crow roosts. Gunners were stationed at various parts, surrounding the roosts, and all those of one division fired at once; the slaughter was necessarily dreadful, and those remaining unhurt, bewildered by the darkness, the flashing and report of the guns, and the distressing cries of their companions, flew but to a little distance, and settled near another party of gunners. As soon as they were fairly at rest, the same tragedy was reacted and repeated, until the approach of day or the fatigue of their destroyers caused a cessation. The wounded were then despatched by knocking them on the head or wringing their necks, and the bill, with so much of the skull as passed for a scalp, was cut off and strung for the payment of the taxgatherer. The poor people, who had no taxes to pay, disposed of their crow scalps to the store-keepers, who purchased them at rather a lower rate. This premium has long been discontinued, and the number of these marauders is, in many parts of that state, quite large enough to require its reëstablishment.

CROWN. In the early ages, when men were fond of expressing all their feelings by outward signs, a wreath of flowers or leaves was naturally one of the first emblems of honor or of joy. Such was the ornament of the priest in the performance of sacrifice, of the hero on his return from victory, of the bride at her nuptials, and of the guests at a feast. The ancient mythology, which gave every thing a distinct beginning and a poetical origin, ascribes the invention of wreaths to Prometheus, who imitated, with flowers, the fetters which he had borne for his love to mankind, whom he had created. According to Pliny, wreaths were first made of ivy, and Bacchus first wore them. In process of time, they were made of very different materials. Those worn by the Greeks at feasts in honor of a divinity, were made of the flowers of the plant consecrated to the god. Wreaths of roses afterwards

In some cases,

became very common. wreaths were even made of wool. Wreaths of ivy and amethyst were worn, by the Greeks, on the head, neck and breast, at entertainments, with a view to prevent drunkenness. Mnesitheus and Callimachus, two Greek physicians, wrote entire books on wreaths, and their medical virtues. Corpses were covered with wreaths and green branches. Lovers adorned with wreaths and flowers the doors of their mistresses, and even captives, who were to be sold as slaves, wore wreaths; hence the phrase sub corona venire or vendere. The beasts sacrificed to the gods were also crowned. Wreaths, in process of time, were made of metal, in imitation of flowers, or of the fillet which the priest wore round his head when he sacrificed, which was called diáðna. This attribute of distinction was early adopted by the kings, when they united in their persons the temporal and spiritual power. Among the various crowns and wreaths in use among the Greeks and Romans, were the following:

Corona agonothetarum; the reward of the victor in the great gymnastic games. Corona aurea (the golden crown); the reward of remarkable bravery. Corona castrensis; given to him who first entered the camp of the enemy.

Corona civica (see Civic Crown); one of the highest military rewards. It was given to him who had saved the life of a citizen. Corona convivalis; the wreath worn at feasts.

Corona muralis; given by the general to the soldier who first scaled the enemy's wall.

Corona natalitia; a wreath which parents hung up before the door at the birth of a child. It was made of olive-branches if the child was a boy, and of wool if a girl.

Corona navalis, the next in rank after the civic crown, was given to him who first boarded and took an enemy's vessel.

Corona nuptialis; a crown or wreath worn by brides. The bridegroom, also, and his relations, on the day of the wedding, adorned themselves with wreaths. At first, the corona nuptialis was of flowers; afterwards, of gold or silver and precious stones.

Corona obsidionalis; a reward given to him who delivered a besieged town, or a blockaded army. It was one of the highest military honors, and very seldom obtained. It was made of grass; if possible, of such as grew on the delivered place.

Corona triumphalis; a wreath of laurel

which was given, by the army, to the imperator. He wore it on his head at the celebration of his triumph. Another crown of gold, the material of which (coronarium aurum) was furnished by the conquered cities, was carried over the head of the general. The wreaths, conferred at the great games of Greece, were of different kinds; at the Olympic games, of wild olive; at the Pythian games, of laurel; at the Nemean games, first of olive, then of parsley; at the Isthmian games, a wreath of pine leaves, afterwards of parsley; subsequently pine leaves were resumed.

In the middle ages, crowns became exclusively appropriated to the royal and imperial dignity; the coronets of nobles were only borne in their coats of arms. (See Coronet, also Tiara.) From the Jewish king being called, in the Scriptures, the anointed of the Lord, a kind of religious mystery and awe became attached to crowned heads, which, in most countries, continues to the present day, though history has shown us abundantly that crowns often cover the heads of very weak or very wicked individuals, and that there is no great mystery about their origin; some having been obtained by purchase, some by crime, some by grants from a more powerful prince, some by contract, some by choice, but, on the whole, comparatively few in an honest way. The iron crown of Lombardy, preserved at Monza, in the territory of Milan, is a golden crown set with precious stones, with which in former times the Lombard kings were crowned, and, at a later period, the Roman-German emperors, when they wished to manifest their claims as kings of Lombardy. An iron circle, made, according to the legend, out of a nail of Christ's cross, which is fixed inside, gave rise to the name. Agilulf, king of Lombardy, was the first person crowned with it (in 590). Charlemagne was crowned with it in 774. Napoleon put it on his head in 1805, and established the order of the iron crown. In 1815, when Austria established the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, the emperor admitted the order of the iron crown among those of the Austrian empire. Crown is used, figuratively, for the royal power, in contradistinction either to the person of the monarch, or to the body of the nation, with its representatives, interests, &c. Thus, in modern times, the word crown is used, on the European continent, to express the rights and prerogatives of the monarch considered as a part of the state, which includes all powers-the

legislative, judicial, &c. Thus the crown domains are distinguished from the state or national domains. In France, a difference is even made between the crown domains and the private domains of the king; the former are inalienable, and belong to the reigning monarch, whilst the second may be treated like any other private property. The distinction between crown and state, of course, does not exist in perfectly arbitrary governments.-Crownofficers are certain officers at the courts of European sovereigns. Formerly, when the different branches of government were not accurately defined, they were often, or generally, also state officers, as in the old German empire, and still in Hungary. The offices were generally hereditary; but, of late years, they are almost exclusively attached to the court, the title, in a few cases, being connected with military dignities, as, for instance, in France, where civil and military grand officers of the crown have always existed. (See Dignitaries.)

Crown, in commerce; a common name for coins of several nations, which are about the value of a dollar. (See Coins, Table of.)

Crown, in an ecclesiastical sense, is used for the tonsure, the shaven spot on the head of the Roman Catholic priests, where they received the ointment of consecration. (See Tonsure.)

CROWN GLASS, the best kind of window-glass, the hardest and most colorless, is made almost entirely of sand and alkali and a little lime, without lead or any metallic oxide, except a very small quantity of manganese, and sometimes of cobalt. Crown glass is used, in connexion with flint glass, for dioptric instruments, in order to destroy the disagreeable effect of the aberration of colors. Both kinds of glass are now made, in the highest perfection, in Benedictbeurn (q. v.), where Reichenbach's famous manufactory of optical instruments is situated.

CROWN OFFICE. The court of king's bench is divided into the plea side and the crown side. In the plea side, it takes cognizance of civil causes; in the crown side, it takes cognizance of criminal causes, and is thereupon called the crown office. In the crown office are exhibited informations in the name of the king, of which there are two kinds: 1. those which are truly the king's own suits, and filed, ex officio, by his own immediate officer, the attorney-general; 2. those in which, though the king is the nominal prosecutor, yet some private person, as a common informer, is the real one: these

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are filed by the king's coroner and attorney, usually called master of the crown office.

CROWN POINT; a post-town in Essex county, New York, on lake Champlain; 12 miles N. Ticonderoga, 96 N. Albany; population, in 1820, 1522; lat. 44° 3' N.; lon. 72° 29 W. This town received its name from a noted fortress, much celebrated in the history of the American wars. The fortress, which is now in ruins, is situated in the north-east part of the township, on a point of land projecting some distance into the lake, elevated 47 feet above the surface, and 15 miles north of fort Ticonderoga. It was an expensive and regular fortification, about 1500 yards square, surrounded by a deep and broad ditch, cut in rock, with immense labor. The walls were of wood and earth, 22 feet thick and 16 high, and are only partially decayed.

CROZAT, Joseph Antony, marquis du Châtel, born in 1696, at Toulouse, a great lover and collector of works of art, inherited a large fortune from his father (who was a financier during the last years of the reign of Louis XIV), was counsellor of the parliament of Toulouse, and subsequently reader to the king. The whole of his life was dedicated to the works of art which he had collected, and to the artists who wished to profit by them. The sketches in his collection exceeded 19,000, and he had expended above 450,000 livres in this particular branch. During the 60 years which he employed in collecting, no cabinet was sold in any part of Europe, of which some part was not purchased by him. Crozat went to Italy, in 1714, for the purpose of increasing his collection. Corn. Vermeulen came yearly from Antwerp to Paris, to bring him the works of the artists of the Netherlands. He was also presented with several valuable collections. His cabinet of antiques and. sculpture, particularly of gems, was equally valuable, and contained about 1400 pieces. This treasure became more famous from the description which Mariette gave of it, when in the possession of the duke of Orleans, in 1742. It is at present at St. Petersburg. On Crozat's death (1740), his collection came into the possession of his brother, the marquis du Chatel. Mariette's Description sommaire des Collections de M. Crozat, avec des Réflexions sur la Manière de Dessiner des principaux Maitres (Paris, 1741), is the only account we now have of this great

museum.

CRUISERS, in naval affairs; vessels, as the name imports, employed on a cruise.

The name is commonly given to small men of war, made use of to secure merchant ships and vessels from the enemy's small frigates and privateers. They are generally formed for fast sailing, and well manned.

CRUSADES are the wars which were carried on by the Christian nations of the West, from the end of the 11th to the end of the 13th century, for the conquest of Palestine. They were called crusades because all the warriors who followed the holy banner (crusaders), wore the sign of the cross. The Christian and Mohammedan nations had been, during a long period, in a state of war, not only in Asia, but also in Europe, where the Moors, Mohammedans by religion, had taken possession of part of the Spanish peninsula. The nations of the West were grieved that the Holy Land, where Jesus had lived, taught, and died for mankind, where pious pilgrims resorted to pour cut their sorrows, and ask for aid from above, at the tomb of their Savior, should be in the power of unbelievers. The pilgrims, on their return, related the dangers they had encountered. The caliph Hakem was particularly described as a second Nero. Being the son of a Christian woman, he shed the blood of Christians without mercy, to prevent the suspicion of his being secretly attached to that religion. These representations kindled the religious zeal of Christian Europe into a flame, and a general ardor was awakened to deliver the sepulchre of Christ from the hands of the infidels. In order to understand this general excitement, we must remember that, at this period, the confusion and desolation, which had followed the irruption of the barbarians into the south and west of Europe, had ceased, and the dawn of civilization and intellectual cultivation had commenced. In this mental twilight, men were just in a state to receive a strong religious excitement. The idea of the Virgin, too, harmonized well with the Teutonic reverence for the female sex; and to fight in her cause was gratifying to the spirit of chivalry. The undisciplined minds of men were bent upon adventure, and their imaginations were easily roused by the reports of the riches of the East. The joys of paradise were the sure reward of all who fell in the holy cause. Thus a crowd of the strongest feelings, chivalrous devotion to the female sex, the hope of adventure, of wealth, of honor and of heaven, stirred up the spirit of Europe, and impelled her sons into the East. (See Chiv

alry.) The pope considered the invasion of Asia as the means of promoting Christianity amongst the infidels, and of winning whole nations to the bosom of the church; monarchs expected victory and increase of dominion; the peasant, who, in the greater part of Europe, was struggling with wretchedness in the degrading condition of bondage, was ready to follow to a country which was pictured as a paradise. The East has always had a poetical charm for the people of the West, which has by no means ceased in our time. The crusades, and the ardor with which whole nations engaged in them, must be attributed to the above causes. Peter of Amiens, or Peter the Hermit, was the immediate cause of the first crusade. In 1093, he had joined other pilgrims on a journey to Jerusalem. On his return, he gave pope Urban II a description of the unhappy situation of Christians in the East, and presented a petition from the patriarch of Jerusalem, in which he anxiously entreated the assistance of the Western Christians for their suffering brethren. The pope disclosed to the council which was held at Piacenza, in 1095, in the open air, on account of the number of people assembled, the message which Christ had sent, through Peter the Hermit, caused the ambassadors of the Greek emperor Alexius to describe the condition of Christianity in the East, and induced many to promise their assistance for the relief of their oppressed brethren. The sensation which he produced at the council assembled at Clermont, in 1096, where ambassadors from all nations were present, was still greater; he inspired the whole assembly so completely in favor of his plan, that they unanimously exclaimed, after he had described the miserable condition of the Oriental Christians, and called upon the West for aid, Deus vult (It is God's will)! In the same year, numberless armies went forth in different divisions. This is considered the first crusade. Many of these armies, being ignorant of military discipline, and unprovided with the necessaries for such an expedition, were completely destroyed in the different countries through which they had to pass before reaching Constantinople, which had been chosen for their place of meeting. A superficial knowledge of these holy wars throws a false glare round the character of the crusading armies. They contained, indeed, some men of elevated character; but the greater part consisted of crazy fanatics and wretches bent on plunder. A well con6

VOL. IV.

ducted, regular army, however, of 80,000 men, was headed by Godfrey of Boulogne, duke of Lower Lorraine, Hugh, brother to Philip king of France, Baldwin, brother of Godfrey, Robert of Flanders, Raymond of Toulouse, Bohemond, Tancred of Apulia, and other heroes. With this army, the experienced commanders traversed Germany and Hungary, passed over the strait of Gallipoli, conquered Nice in 1097, Antioch and Edessa in 1098, and, lastly, Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey of Boulogne was chosen king of Jerusalem, but died in 1100. The news of the conquest of Jerusalem renewed the zeal of the West. In 1102, an army of 260,000 men left Europe, which, however, perished partly on the march, and partly by the sword of the sultan of Iconium. The Genoese, and other commercial nations, undertook several expeditions by sea. The second great and regularly conducted crusade was occasioned by the loss of Edessa, which the Saracens conquered in 1142. The news of this loss produced great consternation in Europe, and it was apprehended that the other acquisitions, including Jerusalem, would fall again into the hands of the infidels. In consequence of these fears, pope Eugene III, assisted by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, exhorted the German emperor, Conrad III, and the king of France, Louis VII, to defend the cross. Both these monarchs obeyed the call in 1147, and led large bodies of forces to the East; but their enterprise was not successful, and they were compelled to withdraw, leaving the kingdom of Jerusalem in a much weaker condition than they had found it. When sultan Saladin, in 1187, took Jerusalem from the Christians, the zeal of the West became still more ardent than at the commencement of the crusades; and the monarchs of the three principal European countries-Frederic I, emperor of Germany, Philip Augustus, king of France, and Richard I, king of England-determined to lead their armies in person against the infidels (1189). This is regarded as the third crusade. Frederic's enterprise was unsuccessful; but the kings of France and England succeeded in gaining possession of Acre, or Ptolemais, which, until the entire termination of the crusades, remained the bulwark of the Christians in the East. The fourth crusade was conducted by the king of Hungary, Andrew II, in 1217, by sea. The emperor Frederic II, compelled by the pope, who wished for his destruction, to fulfil a promise made in early youth, undertook the fifth crusade, and