ternich, Rasumoffsky, and Hardenberg, for Austria, Russia and Prussia, establishes a house of representatives, and a senate with a president, a court of appeal, &c. The legislative body consists of representatives chosen by the corporations, together with three deputies of the senate, three prelates of the chapter, three doctors of the university, and six judges. The executive power is in the hands of a senate, consisting of twelve senators, eight of whom are for life, and four for a limited period. The president and eight of the members are chosen by the national assembly; the other four by the chapter and the university. Most of the inhabitants are Catholics, but all sects are protected. No one is qualified for being a senator or representative without having studied in one of the universities of Poland.

CRADLE, in shipbuilding; a frame placed under the bottom of a ship, in order to conduct her, smoothly and steadily, into the water, when she is launched; at which time it supports her weight whilst she slides down the descent or sloping passage called the ways, which, to facilitate her passage, are daubed with soap and tal

low.

CRAFT, in sea language, signifies all manner of nets, lines, hooks, &c., used in fishing. Hence little vessels, as ketches, hoys, smacks, &c., of the kind commonly used in the fishing trade, are called small craft.

CRAMER, John Andrew, born Jan., 1723, at Jöhstadt, near Annaberg, in the Saxon Erzgebirge, where his father was a poor clergyman, studied theology at Leipsic, in 1742, where he supported himself by his literary labors and private instruction. In connexion with Ebert, Joh. Elias Schlegel, Gærtner, Geller, Klopstock, Rabener and other young men, whose labors had a favorable influence on the cultivation of the German taste, he was actively engaged in editing the Bremischen Beiträge, and likewise the Sammlung vermischter Schriften von den Verfassern der bremischen Beiträge. In 1754, by the influence of Klopstock, he was appointed court preacher and consistorial counsellor of king Frederic V at Copenhagen, and, in 1765, professor of theology in the same place. Here he was much respected and beloved, and received the surname der Eyegode (the very good). The revolution, which caused the downfall of count Struensee and the queen Caroline Matilda, occasioned also the disgrace of Cramer, and induced him, in 1771, to accept of an

invitation to Lübeck. In 1774, however, he was invited to Kiel as pro-chancellor and first professor of theology; and, ten years after, was appointed chancellor and curator of the university. He died in 1788, with the reputation of an accomplished scholar, a poet, a fertile author, one of the first pulpit orators, and a man of a noble character and an active zeal for the public good. Besides many historical and theological works, he wrote a poetical translation of the psalms, and three volumes of poems, of which the odes and hymns are the best.

His son, Charles Frederic Cramer (born in 1752, died in 1807), was likewise an author, and lived long in Paris, whither he was drawn by the interest which he took in the French revolution. His journal, which he kept with great care, contains much information, as his house was the point of union of many distinguished men, and he was concerned in important transactions.

CRAMP (kramp, Dutch), in architecture and sculpture; pieces of iron, bronze, or other metal, bent at each end, by which stones in buildings, and limbs, &c., of statues, are held together. The ancient Romans made great use of cramps in their buildings, and the cupidity of modern barbarians, like pope Barberini, has destroyed many a fine work for the sake of the bronze used in its construction. The Pantheon, with its fine portico, by Agrippa, and the Coliseum, have suffered most from these wanton aggressions, and the baldachin of St. Peter's, and some eighty pieces of brass ordnance, are nearly all that we have in exchange for some of the finest works of which the world could boast.

CRANBERRY; a small red fruit, produced by a slender, wiry plant (vaccinium oxycoccos), growing in peaty bogs and marshy grounds in Russia, Sweden, the north of England and Germany, and in North America. The leaves are small, somewhat oval, and rolled back at the edges, and the stem is thread-shaped and trailing. The blossoms are small, but beautiful, each consisting of four distinct petals, rolled back to the base, and of a deep flesh color. The American cranberry (V. macrocarpon), growing in bogs principally, on sandy soils, and on high lands, frequent from Canada to Virginia, is a larger and more upright plant than the last, with less convex, more oblong, much larger leaves. The berries are larger, of a brighter red, and collected in great abundance for making tarts, jelly,

&c. They are also exported to Europe, but are not considered there equal to the Russian cranberries. These fruits are collected, in America, by means of a rake; in Germany, by wooden combs. In England, they are picked by hand, as they grow there but scantily. They are preserved with sugar, much of which is required to correct the natural tartness of the berries. In England, they are preserved dry in bottles, corked so closely as to exclude the external air: some persons, however, fill up the bottles with spring water. They keep very long in fresh and pure water. At sea, they are an agreeable addition to the few articles of diet which can be had. In the Pomarium Britannicum, by Phillips (London, 1827), it is stated, that, in 1826, cranberries arrived in England from New Holland, which were much superior in flavor to those of Europe and America.

CRANE (grus, Pal., &c.); a genus of birds belonging to the order gralla, L.; and, by the great Swedish naturalist, comprised in his extensive genus ardea, though properly ranked as a distinct genus by all subsequent naturalists. The distinctive characters of this genus are as follows: The bill is but little cleft, is compressed, attenuated towards the point, and rather obtuse at its extremity; the mandibles are subequal, with vertical margins, the upper being convex, with a wide furrow on each side at the base, which becomes obliterated before reaching the middle of the bill. The nostrils are situated in these furrows, and are medialconcave, elliptical, pervious, and closed posteriorly by a membrane. The tongue is fleshy, broad and acute. The ophthalmic region and lora are feathered, though the head is generally bald, rough, and sometimes crested. The body is cylindrical, having long and stout feet. The naked space above the tarsus is extensive, and the latter is more than twice as long as the middle toe. The toes are of moderate length, covered with scutelle, or small plates, and submargined; a rudimental membrane connects the outer one at base; the inner is free; the hind toe is shorter than a joint of the middle one, and is articulated with the tarsus, elevated from the ground; the nails are tile-shaped, falculate, and obtuse; the middle one has its cutting edge entire; the hind nail is the longest; the wings are moderate, with the first and fifth primaries subequal; the tail is short, and consists of twelve feathers. These birds are generally of considerable size, and remarkable for their long necks 52

VOL. III.

and stilt-like legs, which eminently fit them for living in marshes and situations subject to inundations, where they usually seek their food. This is principally of vegetable matter, consisting of the seeds of various plants, or grains plundered from grounds recently ploughed and sown. They also devour insects, worms, frogs, lizards, reptiles, small fish, and the spawn of various aquatic animals. They build their nests among bushes, or upon tussucks in the marshes, constructing them of rushes, reeds, &c., surmounted by some soft material, so high that they may cover the eggs in a standing position. They lay but two eggs, for whose incubation the male and female alternately take their place on the nest. During the time that one is thus engaged, the other acts as a vigilant sentinel; and, when the young are hatched, both parents unite in protecting them. The cranes annually migrate to distant regions, and perform voyages astonishing for their great length and hazardous character. They are remarkable for making numerous circles and evolutions in the air, when setting out on their journeys, and generally form an isosceles triangle, led by one of the strongest of their number, whose trumpetlike voice is heard as if directing their advance, when the flock is far above the clouds, and entirely out of sight. To this call-note of the leader the flock frequently respond by a united clangor, which, heard at such a distance, does not produce an unpleasing effect. From the sagacity with which these birds vary their flight, according to the states of the atmosphere, they have, from the earliest ages, been regarded as indicators of events; and their manœuvres were attentively watched by the augurs and aruspices-a circumstance which, together with their general harmlessness and apparent gravity of demeanor, led to their being held in a sort of veneration, even by some civilized nations. When obliged to take wing from the ground, cranes rise with considerable difficulty, striking quickly with their wings, and trailing their feet along and near the ground, until they have gained a sufficient elevation to commence wheeling in circles, which grow wider and wider, until they have soared to the highest regions of the air. When their flight is high and silent, it is regarded as an indication of continued fine weather; they fly low and are noisy in cloudy, wet or stormy weather. Against approaching storms, the cranes, like various other birds of lofty flight, readily guard, by ascending above the

level of the clouds, and the atmospheric currents which bear them; and this indication of an approaching gust is not lost sight of by Virgil:

-Nunquam imprudentibus imber
Obfuit: aut illum surgentem vallibus imis
Aëriæ fugêre grues; aut bucula," &c.
Georg. I., 373-5.

When a flock of cranes is engaged in feeding, or while it is at rest, when the birds sleep standing on one foot, with the head under the wing, one of the number acts as sentinel, and keeps a vigilant watch, alarming the whole if any enemy approach or the slightest danger threaten. Two species of this genus are known to inhabit the U. States-the whooping crane (G. Americana) and the brown or sandhill crane (G. Canadensis, Bonap.) The first named derive their trivial appellation from their loud, clear, piercing cry, which may be heard at the distance of two miles. If wounded, they attack the sportsman or his dog with great spirit, and are said to have occasionally driven their long, pointed bill through the hand of a man. Wilson states that, during winter, they are frequently seen in the low grounds and rice plantations of the Southern States, seeking for grain and insects. He met with a number of them, on the 10th of February, near Waccamau river, in South Carolina, and saw another flock near Louisville, Ky., about the 20th of March. They are very shy and vigilant, and, consequently, shot with difficulty. They sometimes rise spirally in the air to a vast height, their mingled screams resembling the full cry of a pack of hounds, even when they are almost out of sight. They are distinguished from other cranes by the comparative baldness of their heads, and by the broad flag of plumage projecting over the tail. Their general color is pure white. The brown or sandhill crane is of an ash color, generally, with shades or clouds of pale-brown and sky-blue: brown prevails upon the shoulders and back. It is a very stately bird, being above six feet long, from the toes to the point of the beak, when extended, and its wings measure eight or nine feet from tip to tip. When standing erect, the sandhill crane is full five feet high; the tail is quite short, but the feathers pendent on each side of the rump are very long, of a delicate silky softness, and sharp-pointed. The crown of the head is bare of feathers, and of a reddish rose color, but thinly barbed with short, stiff, black hair. When the wings are moved in flight, their strokes are slow, moderate and regular, and, even

when at a considerable distance above us, we plainly hear the quill-feathers, as their shafts and webs rub upon one another, creaking like the joints of a vessel in a tempestuous sea (Bartram). The sandhill crane is common, and breeds in the savannas of Florida. It is also found in various parts of the American states and territories. It is most rare in the middle portions of the Union.

CRANIOLOGY. (See Phrenology.)

CRANK; an iron axis with the end bent like an elbow, for the purpose of moving a piston, the saw in a sawmill, &c., causing it to rise and fall at every turn; also for turning a grindstone, &c. The common crank affords one of the simplest and most useful methods for changing circular into alternate motion, and vice versa. Double and triple cranks are likewise of the greatest use for transmitting circular motion to a distance. In fact, cranks belong to those few simple elements on which the most complicated machines rest, and which, like the lever, are constantly employed.

CRANMER, Thomas, famous in the English reformation, during the reign of Henry VIII, was born in 1489. He entered as a student of Jesus college, Cambridge, in 1503, took the degree of M. A., obtained a fellowship, and, in 1523, was chosen reader of theological lectures in his college, and examiner of candidates for degrees in divinity. In the course of conversation on the then meditated divorce of Henry VIII from his first wife, Catharine of Arragon, Cranmer remarked that the question of its propriety might be better decided by consulting learned divines and members of the universities than by an appeal to the pope. The opinion thus delivered having been reported to the king by doctor Fox, his majesty was highly delighted with it, exclaiming, at the prospect it afforded him of being able to remove the obstacles to the gratification of his passions, "By, the man has got the sow by the right ear!" Cranmer was sent for to court, made a king's chaplain, and commanded to write a treatise on the subject of the divorce. In 1530, he was sent abroad, with others, to collect the opinions of the divines and canonists of France, Italy and Germany, on the validity of the king's marriage. At Rome, he presented his treatise to the pope, and afterwards proceeded to Germany, where he obtained for his opinions the sanction of a great number of German divines and civilians, and formed such intimate connexions with the rising party of the Prot

estants, as probably influenced greatly his future conduct. He also contracted marriage, though in holy orders, with the niece of doctor Osiander, a famous Protestant divine. Cranmer was employed by the king to conclude a commercial treaty between England and the Netherlands; after which he was ordered home, to take possession of the metropolitan see of Canterbury. He hesitated to accept of this dignity, professing to be scrupulous about applying to the pope for the bulls necessary for his consecration. This difficulty was obviated by a vague and secret protestation, which can be justified only on the Jesuitical principle of the lawfulness of mental reservations or virtual falsehoods. The application being therefore made in the usual manner to the court of Rome, the pall and bulls were sent. Soon after, he set the papal authority at defiance, by pronouncing sentence of divorce between Henry and Catharine, and confirming the king's marriage with Anne Boleyn. The pope threatened excommunication, and an act of parliament was immediately passed for abolishing the pope's supremacy, and declaring the king chief head of the church of England. The archbishop employed all his influence in forwarding such measures as night give permanence to the reformation. The Bible was translated into English, and dispersed among the people; the monastic institutions were suppressed; the superstitious observances connected with them were abolished; and provision was made for the instruction of all ranks in the principles of the prevailing party. In 1536, the casuistry of Cranmer was a second time exerted to gratify the base passions of his tyrannical sovereign. When Anne Boleyn was destined to lose her reputation and her life, that the king might take another consort, it was determined also to bastardize her issue; and the archbishop meanly stooped to pronounce a sentence of divorce, on the plea that the queen had confessed to him her having been contracted to lord Percy, before her marriage with the king. The compliances of the primate served to ensure him the gratitude of Henry, though he was obliged to make some important sacrifices to royal prejudice, which was strongly in favor of the ancient faith, where that did not tend to curb the king's own passions or prerogatives. In 1539 was passed an act of parliament, called the bloody act, condemning to death all who supported the right of marriage of priests, and communion of both kinds to the laity, and who opposed transubstantiation, auricular

confession, vows of chastity and the necessity of private masses. Cranmer opposed, as long as he dared, this enactment; but, finding his efforts vain, he gave way, and sent his own wife back to her friends in Germany. He subsequently succeeded in carrying some points in favor of further reformation; and, in 1540, he published a work for popular use, chiefly of his own composition, entitled the Necessary Erudition of a Christian Man. On the death of Henry, in 1546—7, the archbishop was left one of the executors of his will, and member of the regency appointed to govern the kingdom during the minority of Edward VI. He united his interest with that of the earl of Hertford, afterwards duke of Somerset, and proceeded to model the church of England according to the notions of Zuinglius, rather than those of Luther. By his instrumentality, the liturgy was drawn up and established by act of parliament, and articles of religion were compiled, the validity of which was enforced by royal authority, and for which infallibility was claimed. Under Cranmer's ecclesiastical government, Joan Bocher and George van Paris were burnt as heretics; and the fate of the former is rendered peculiarly striking by the fact that the primate, by his spiritual authority and pressing importunity, constrained the young king to sign the death warrant for the auto-da-fé of the unhappy criminal, which he would not do till he had disburdened his own conscience, by telling the archbishop that, if the deed were sinful, he should answer for it to God. The exclusion of the princess Mary from the crown, by the will of her brother, was a measure in which Cranmer joined the partisans of lady Jane Grey, apparently in opposition to his own judgment. With others who had been most active in her elevation, he was sent to the Tower on the accession of Mary. That princess had personal obligations to Cranmer, who is said to have preserved her from the anger of her father, which menaced her with destruction, for her pertinacious adherence to the Catholic faith; but she could not forget or forgive the disgrace of her mother and herself, in effecting which, the archbishop had been so important an agent; he was therefore destined to become the victim of popish ascendency. He was tried before commissioners sent from Rome, on the charges of blasphemy, perjury, incontinence and heresy, and cited to appear within 80 days at Rome, to deliver, in person, his vindication to the pope. To comply with this mandate was impossible,

as he was detained in prison; nevertheless he was declared contumacious for not making his appearance, and sentenced to be degraded and deprived of office. After this, flattering promises were made, which induced him to sign a recantation of his alleged errors, and become, in fact, a Catholic convert. The triumph of his enemies was now complete, and nothing was wanting but the sacrifice of their abused and degraded victim. Oxford was the scene of his execution; but, to make the tragedy more impressive, he was placed on a scaffold in St. Mary's church, the day he was to suffer, there to listen to a declaration of his faults and heresies, his extorted penitence, and the necessity of his expiating, by his death, errors which Heaven alone could pardon, but which were of an enormity too portentous to be passed over by an earthly tribunal. Those who planned this proceeding accomplished but half their object. Instead of confessing the justness of his sentence, and submitting to it in silence, or imploring mercy, he calmly acknowledged that the fear of death had made him belie his conscience; and declared that nothing could afford him consolation but the prospect of extenuating his guilt by encountering, as a Protestant penitent, with firmness and resignation, the fiery torments which awaited him. He was immediately hurried to the stake,

where he behaved with the resolution of a martyr, keeping his right hand, with which he had signed his recantation, extended in the flames, that it might be consumed before the rest of his body, exclaiming, from time to time, "That unworthy hand!" He was executed March 21, 1555-6. The fate of Cranmer has shed a false lustre over his character, and procured him the reputation of a Protestant martyr, while he was, in reality, the victim of party malice and personal revenge. Successively a Catholic, a Lutheran, a Zuinglian, a defender of transubstantiation, and then a persecutor of those who believed that doctrine, the soundness, if not the sincerity of his faith, may fairly be questioned. Even the purity of his motives, as a reformer, is rendered somewhat doubtful, by the fact of his having obtained, on very advantageous terms, numerous grants of estates which had belonged to suppressed monasteries. His private character, however, was amiable; and, whatever may have been his principles, no doubts can exist as to the eminence of his talents. His continued favor with the capricious Henry is a decisive proof of his mental superiority. He steadily pursued his grand object, the independence of the English church, to the establishment of which he contributed far beyond any other individual.