[1] This was largely the work of W. T. Whitmore-Jones (1831-1872),
generally known as W. Jones Whitmore, who subsequently formed the
short-lived National Croquet Club, and was largely responsible for
the first codification of the laws.
[2] The words "roquet" and "croquet" are pronounced as in French,
with the t mute.
CRORE (Hindustani _karor_), an Anglo-Indian term for a hundred _lakhs_
or ten million. It is in common use for statistics of trade and
especially coinage. In the days when the rupee was worth its face value
of 2s., a crore of rupees was exactly worth a million sterling, but now
that the rupee is fixed at 15 to the L1, a crore is only worth L666,666.
CROSBY, HOWARD (1826-1891), American preacher and teacher,
great-grandson of Judge Joseph Crosby of Massachusetts and of Gen.
William Floyd of New York, a signer of the Declaration of Independence,
was born in New York City on the 27th of February 1826. He graduated in
1844 from the University of the City of New York (now New York
University); became professor of Greek there in 1851, and in 1859 became
professor of Greek in Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, where
two years later he was ordained pastor of the first Presbyterian church.
From 1870 to 1881 he was chancellor of the University of the City of New
York; from 1872 to 1881 was one of the American revisers of the English
version of the New Testament; and in 1873 was moderator of the general
assembly of the Presbyterian Church. He took a prominent part in
politics, urged excise reform, opposed "total abstinence," was one of
the founders and was the first president of the New York Society for the
Prevention of Crime, and pleaded for better management of Indian affairs
and for international copyright. Among his publications are _The Lands
of the Moslem_ (1851), _Bible Companion_ (1870), _Jesus: His Life and
Works_ (1871), _True Temperance Reform_ (1879), _True Humanity of
Christ_ (1880), and commentaries on the book of Joshua (1875), Nehemiah
(1877) and the New Testament (1885).
His son, ERNEST HOWARD CROSBY (1856-1907), was a social reformer, and
was born in New York City on the 4th of November 1856. He graduated at
the University of the City of New York in 1876 and at Columbia Law
School in 1878; served in the New York Assembly in 1887-1889, securing
the passage of a high-licence bill; in 1889-1894 was a judge of the
Mixed Tribunal at Alexandria, Egypt, resigning upon coming under the
influence of Tolstoy; and died in New York City on the 3rd of January
1907. He was the first president (1894) of the Social Reform Club of New
York City, and was president in 1900-1905 of the New York
Anti-Imperialist League; was a leader in settlement work and in
opposition to child labour, and was a disciple of Tolstoy as to
universal peace and non-resistance, and of Henry George in his belief in
the "single tax" principle. His writings, many of which are in the
manner of Walt Whitman, comprise _Plain Talk in Psalm and Parable_
(1899), _Swords and Ploughshares_ (1902), and _Broadcast_ (1905), all in
verse; an anti-military novel, _Captain Jinks, Hero_ (1902); and essays
on Tolstoy (1904 and 1905) and on Garrison (1905).
CROSS, and CRUCIFIXION (Lat. _crux_, _crucis_[1]). The meaning
ordinarily attached to the word "cross" is that of a figure composed of
two or more lines which intersect, or touch each other transversely.
Thus, two pieces of wood, or other material, so placed in juxtaposition
to one another, are understood to form a cross. It should be noted,
however, that Lipsius and other writers speak of the single upright
stake to which criminals were bound as a cross, and to such a stake the
name of _crux simplex_ has been applied. The usual conception, however,
of a cross is that of a compound figure.
Punishment by crucifixion was widely employed in ancient times. It is
known to have been used by nations such as those of Assyria, Egypt,
Persia, by the Greeks, Carthaginians, Macedonians, and from very early
times by the Romans. It has been thought, too, that crucifixion was also
used by the Jews themselves, and that there is an allusion to it (Deut.
xxi. 22, 23) as a punishment to be inflicted.
Two methods were followed in the infliction of the punishment of
crucifixion. In both of these the criminal was first of all usually
stripped naked, and bound to an upright stake, where he was so cruelly
scourged with an implement, formed of strips of leather having pieces of
iron, or some other hard material, at their ends, that not merely was
the flesh often stripped from the bones, but even the entrails partly
protruded, and the anatomy of the body was disclosed. In this pitiable
state he was reclothed, and, if able to do so, was made to drag the
stake to the place of execution, where he was either fastened to it, or
impaled upon it, and left to die. In this method, where a single stake
was employed, we have the _crux simplex_ of Lipsius. The other method is
that with which we are more familiar, and which is described in the New
Testament account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In such a case,
after the scourging at the stake, the criminal was made to carry a
gibbet, formed of two transverse bars of wood, to the place of
execution, and he was then fastened to it by iron nails driven through
the outstretched arms and through the ankles. Sometimes this was done as
the cross lay on the ground, and it was then lifted into position. In
other cases the criminal was made to ascend by a ladder, and was then
fastened to the cross. Probably the feebleness, or state of collapse,
from which the criminal must often have suffered, had much to do in
deciding this. It is not quite clear which of these two plans was
followed in the case of the crucifixion of Christ, but the more general
opinion has been that He was nailed to the cross on the ground, and that
it was then lifted into position. The contrary opinion, has, however,
prevailed to some extent, and there are representations of the
crucifixion which depict Him as mounting a ladder placed against the
cross. Such representations may, however, have been due to a pious
desire, on the part of their authors, to emphasize the voluntary
offering of Himself as the Saviour of the World, rather than as being
intended for actual pictures of the scene itself. It may be noted,
however, that among the "Emblems of the Passion," as they are called,
and which were very favourite devices in the middle ages, the ladder is
not infrequently found in conjunction with the crown of thorns, nails,
spear, &c.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
From its simplicity of form, the cross has been used both as a religious
symbol and as an ornament, from the dawn of man's civilization. Various
objects, dating from periods long anterior to the Christian era, have
been found, marked with crosses of different designs, in almost every
part of the old world. India, Syria, Persia and Egypt have all yielded
numberless examples, while numerous instances, dating from the later
Stone Age to Christian times, have been found in nearly every part of
Europe. The use of the cross as a religious symbol in pre-Christian
times, and among non-Christian peoples, may probably be regarded as
almost universal, and in very many cases it was connected with some form
of nature worship. Two of the forms of the pre-Christian cross which are
perhaps most frequently met with are the tau cross, so named from its
resemblance to the Greek capital letter [Tau], and the _svastika_ or
_fylfot_[2] [svastika], also called "_Gammadion_" owing to its form
being that of four Greek capital letters _gamma_ [Gamma] placed
together. The tau cross is a common Egyptian device, and is indeed
often called the Egyptian cross. The _svastika_ has a very wide range of
distribution, and is found on all kinds of objects. It was used as a
religious emblem in India and China at least ten centuries before the
Christian era, and is met with on Buddhist coins and inscriptions from
various parts of India. A fine sepulchral urn found at Shropham in
Norfolk, and now in the British Museum, has three bands of cruciform
ornaments round it. The two uppermost of these are plain circles, each
of which contains a plain cross; the lowest band is formed of a series
of squares, in each of which is a _svastika_. In the Vatican Museum
there is an Etruscan fibula of gold which is marked with the _svastika_,
but it is a device of such common occurrence on objects of pre-Christian
origin, that it is hardly necessary to specify individual instances. The
cross, as a device in different forms, and often enclosed in a circle,
is of frequent occurrence on coins and medals of pre-Christian date in
France and elsewhere. Indeed, objects marked with pre-Christian crosses
are to be seen in every important museum.
The death of Christ on a cross necessarily conferred a new significance
on the figure, which had hitherto been associated with a conception of
religion not merely non-Christian, but in its essence often directly
opposed to it. The Christians of early times were wont to trace, in
things around them, hidden prophetical allusions to the truth of their
faith, and such a testimony they seem to have readily recognized in the
use of the cross as a religious emblem by those whose employment of it
betokened a belief most repugnant to their own. The adoption by them of
such forms, for example, as the tau cross and the _svastika_ or _fylfot_
was no doubt influenced by the idea of the occult Christian significance
which they thought they recognized in those forms, and which they could
use with a special meaning among themselves, without at the same time
arousing the ill-feeling or shocking the sentiment of those among whom
they lived.
It was not till the time of Constantine that the cross was publicly used
as the symbol of the Christian religion. Till then its employment had
been restricted, and private among the Christians themselves. Under
Constantine it became the acknowledged symbol of Christianity, in the
same way in which, long afterwards, the crescent was adopted as the
symbol of the Mahommedan religion. Constantine's action was no doubt
influenced by the vision which he believed he saw of the cross in the
sky with the accompanying words [Greek: en touto nika], as well as by
the story of the discovery of the true cross by his mother St Helena in
the year 326. The legend is that, when visiting the holy places in
Palestine, St Helena was guided to the site of the crucifixion by an
aged Jew who had inherited traditional knowledge as to its position.
After the ground had been dug to a considerable depth, three crosses
were found, as well as the superscription placed over the Saviour's head
on the cross, and the nails with which he had been crucified. The cross
of the Lord was distinguished from the other two by the working of a
miracle on a crippled woman who was stretched upon it. This finding, or
"invention," of the holy cross by St Helena is commemorated by a
festival on the 3rd of May, called the "Invention of the Holy Cross."
The legend was widely accepted as true, and is related by writers such
as St Ambrose, Rufinus, Sulpicius Severus and others, but it is
discounted by the existence of an older legend, according to which the
true cross was found in the reign of Tiberius, and while St James the
Great was bishop of Jerusalem, by Protonice, the wife of Claudius.
In recent times an attempt has been made to reconcile the two accounts,
by attributing to St Helena the rediscovery of the true cross,
originally found by Protonice, and which had been buried again on the
spot. A change was made in 1895 in the _Diario Romano_, when the word
_Ritrovamento_ was substituted for that of _Invenzione_, in the name of
the festival of the 3rd of May. After St Helena's discovery a church was
built upon the site, and in it she placed the greater portion of the
cross. The remaining portion she conveyed to Byzantium, and thence
Constantine sent a piece to Rome, where it is said to be still preserved
in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, which was built to receive so
precious a relic. It is exposed for the veneration of the faithful on
Good Friday, 3rd of May, and the third Sunday in Lent, each year.
Another festival of the holy cross is kept on the 14th of September, and
is known as the "Exaltation of the Holy Cross." It seems to have
originated with the dedication, in the year 335, of the churches built
on the sites of the crucifixion and the holy sepulchre. The observance
of this festival passed from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and thence to
Rome, where it appears to have been introduced in the 7th century. By
some it is thought that the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross had its
origin in Constantine's vision of the cross in the sky in the year 317,
but whether it originated then, or, as is more generally supposed, at
the dedication of the churches at Jerusalem, there is no doubt that it
was afterwards kept with much greater solemnity in consequence of the
recovery of the portion of the cross St Helena had left at Jerusalem,
which had been taken away in the Persian victory, and was restored to
Jerusalem by Heraclitus in 627. Pope Clement VIII. (1592-1604) raised
the festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross to the dignity,
liturgically known as that of a Greater Double.
Before leaving the story of St Helena and the cross, it may be
convenient to allude briefly to the superscription placed over the
Saviour's head, and the nails, which it is said that she found with the
cross. The earlier tradition as to the superscription is obscure, but it
would seem that it ought to be considered part of the relic which
Constantine sent to Rome. By some means it was entirely lost sight of
until the year 1492, when it is said that it was accidentally found in a
vault in the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme at Rome. Pope Alexander
III. published a bull certifying to the truth of this rediscovery of the
relic, and authenticated its character.
As regards the nails, a question has arisen whether there were three or
four. In the earliest pictures of the Crucifixion the feet are shown as
separately nailed to the cross, but at a later period they are crossed,
and a single nail fixes them. In the former case there would be four
nails, and in the latter only three. Four is the number generally
accepted, and it is said that one was cast by St Helena into the sea,
during a storm, in order to subdue the waves, another is said (but the
legend cannot be traced far back) to have been beaten out into the iron
circlet of the crown of Lombardy, while the remaining two are reputed to
be preserved among the relics at Milan and Trier respectively.
The employment of the cross as the Christian symbol has been so manifold
in its variety and application, and the different forms to which the
figure has been adapted and elaborated are so complex, that it is only
possible to deal with the outline of the subject.
We learn from Tertullian and other early Christian writers of the
constant use which the Christians of those days made of the sign of the
cross. Tertullian (_De Cor. Mil._ cap. iii.) says: "At each journey and
progress, at each coming in and going out, at the putting on of shoes,
at the bath, at meals, at the kindling of lights, at bedtime, at sitting
down, whatsoever occupation engages us, we mark the brow with the sign
of the cross." With so frequent an employment of the sign of the cross
in their domestic life, it would be strange if we did not find that it
was very frequently used in the public worship of the church. The
earliest liturgical forms are comparatively late, and are without
rubrics, but the allusions by different writers in early times to the
ceremonial use of the sign of the cross in the public services are so
numerous, and so much importance was attached to it, that we are left in
no manner of doubt on the point. St Augustine, indeed, speaks of the
sacraments as not duly ministered if the use of the sign of the cross
were absent from their ministration (_Hom. cxviii. in S. Joan._). Of the
later liturgical use of the sign of the cross there is little need to
speak, as a reference to the service books of the Greek and Latin
churches will plainly indicate the frequency of, and the importance
attached to, its employment. Its occasional use is retained by the
Lutherans, and in the Church of England it is authoritatively used at
baptism, and at the "sacring" or anointing of the sovereign at the
coronation.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
Passing from the sign to the material figures of the cross, a very usual
classification distinguishes three main forms: (1) the _crux immissa_,
or _capitata_ [Latin cross] (fig. 3) known also as the Latin cross, or
if each limb is of the same length, + (fig. 4) as the Greek cross; (2)
the _crux decussata_, formed like the letter X, and (3) the _crux
commissa_ or tau cross, already mentioned. It was on a crux immissa that
Christ is believed to have been crucified. The _crux decussata_ is known
as St Andrew's cross, from the tradition that St Andrew was put to death
on a cross of that form. The _crux commissa_ is often called St
Anthony's cross, probably only because it resembles the crutch with
which the great hermit is generally depicted.
The cross in one form or other appears, appropriately, on the flags and
ensigns of many Christian countries. The English cross of St George is a
plain red cross on a white ground, the Scottish cross of St Andrew is a
plain diagonal white cross on a blue ground, and the Irish cross of St
Patrick is a plain diagonal red cross on a white ground. These three
crosses are combined in the Union Jack (see FLAG).
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
The cross has also been adopted by many orders of knighthood. Perhaps
the best known of these is the cross of the knights of Malta. It is a
white cross of eight points on a black ground (fig. 5) and is the proper
Maltese cross, a name which is often wrongly applied to the cross
_patee_ (fig. 6). The knights of the Garter use the cross of St George,
as do those of the order of St Michael and St George, the knights of the
Thistle use St Andrew's cross, and those of St Patrick the cross of St
Patrick charged with a shamrock leaf. The cross of the Danish order of
the Dannebrog (fig. 7) affords a good example of this use of the cross.
It is in form a white cross patee, superimposed upon a red one of the
same form, and is surmounted by the royal cipher and crown, and has upon
its surface the royal cipher repeated, and the legend, or motto, "_Gud
og Kongen_" = "God and the King." (For crosses of monastic orders see
COSTUME.)
Akin to the crosses of knightly orders are those which figure as charges
on coats of arms. The science of heraldry evolved a wonderful variety of
cross-forms during the period it held sway in the middle ages. The
different forms of cross used in heraldry are, in fact, so numerous that
it is only the larger works on that subject which attempt to record them
all. For such crosses see HERALDRY.
In the middle ages the cross form, in one way or another, was
predominant everywhere, and was introduced whenever opportunity offered
itself for doing so. The larger churches were planned on its outline, so
that the ridge line of their roofs proclaimed it far and wide. This was
more particularly followed in the north of Europe, but when it was first
introduced is not quite certain. All the ancient cathedral churches of
England and Wales are cruciform in plan, except Llandaff.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Cross of the Dannebrog.]
The artistic skill and ingenuity of the medieval designer has produced
cross designs of endless variety, and of singular elegance and beauty.
Some of the most beautiful of these designs are the gable crosses of the
old churches. Fig. 8 shows the west gable cross of Washburn church,
Worcestershire; fig. 9 that of the nave of Castle Acre church, Norfolk;
and fig. 10 the east gable cross of Hethersett church in that county.
They may be taken as good examples of a type of cross which is often of
great beauty, but it is overlooked, owing to its bad position for
observation.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
Other architectural crosses, of great beauty of design, are those which
occur on the grave slabs of the middle ages. Instances of a plainer type
occur in Saxon times, but it was not till after the 11th century that
they were fashioned after the intricate and beautiful designs with which
our ancient churches are, as a rule, so plentifully supplied. Sometimes
these crosses are incised in the slab, and almost as often they are
executed in low relief. The long shaft of the cross is most commonly
plain, but there are a very large number of instances in which this is
not so, and in which branches, with leaf designs, are thrown out at
intervals the entire length of the shaft. In some cases the shaft rises
from a series of steps at its base, and in such a case the name of a
Calvary cross is applied to it. Fig. 11, from Stradsett church, Norfolk,
and fig. 12 from Bosbury church, Herefordshire, are good examples of the
designs at the head of sepulchral crosses. Often, by the side of the
cross, an emblem or symbol is placed, denoting the calling in life of
the person commemorated. Thus a sword is placed to indicate a knight or
soldier, a chalice for a priest, and so forth; but it would be
travelling beyond the scope of this article to enter into a discussion
as to such symbols.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.]
Of upright standing crosses, the Irish and Iona types are well known,
and their great artistic beauty and elaboration and excellence of
sculpture are universally recognized. These crosses are sometimes spoken
of as "Runic Crosses"; and the interlacing knotwork design with which
many of them are ornamented is also at times spoken of as "Runic." This
is an erroneous application of the word, and has arisen from the fact
that some of these crosses bear inscriptions in Runic characters.
Standing crosses, of different kinds, were commonly set up in every
suitable place during the middle ages, as the mutilated bases and shafts
still remaining readily testify. Such crosses were erected in the centre
of the market place, in the churchyard, on the village green, or as
boundary stones, or marks to guide the traveller. Some, like the Black
Friars cross at Hereford, were preaching stations, others, like the
beautiful Eleanor crosses at Northampton, Geddington and Waltham, were
commemorative in character. Of these latter crosses, which marked the
places where the funeral procession of Queen Eleanor halted, there were
originally ten or more, erected between 1241 and 1294. They were placed
at Lincoln, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans,
Waltham and London (Cheapside and Charing Cross). The cross at
Geddington differs in outline from those at Northampton and Waltham, and
it is not recorded on the roll of accounts for the nine others, all of
which are mentioned, but there is no real doubt that it commemorates the
resting of the coffin of the queen in Geddington church on its way from
Harby. These crosses, like the Black Friars cross at Hereford, are
elaborate architectural erections, and very similar to them in this
respect are the beautiful market crosses at Winchester, Chichester,
Salisbury, Devizes, Shepton Mallet, Leighton Buzzard, &c. Of churchyard
crosses, as distinguished from memorial crosses in churchyards, one only
is believed to have escaped in a perfect condition the ravages of time,
and the fanaticism of the past. It stands in the churchyard of Somerby,
in Lincolnshire (Tennyson's birthplace), and is a tall shaft surmounted
by a pedimented tabernacle, on one side of which is the crucifixion, and
on the other the figure of the Virgin and Child. Churchyard crosses may
have been used as occasional preaching stations, for reading the Gospel
in the Palm Sunday procession, and generally for public proclamations,
made usually at the conclusion of the chief Sunday morning service, much
in the same way that market crosses were used on market days as places
for proclamations in the towns.
Of the ecclesiastical use of the sign of the cross mention has already
been made, and it is desirable to mention briefly one or two instances
of the ecclesiastical use of the cross itself. From a fairly early
period it has been the prerogative of an archbishop or metropolitan, to
have a cross borne before him within the limits of his province. The
question urged between the archbishops of Canterbury and York about the
carrying of their crosses before them, in each other's province, was a
fruitful source of controversy in the middle ages. The archiepiscopal
cross must not be confused with the crozier or pastoral staff. The
latter, which is formed with a crook at the end, is quite distinct, and
is used by archbishops and bishops alike, who bear it with the left hand
in processions, and when blessing the people. The archiepiscopal cross,
on the contrary, is always borne before the archbishop, or during the
vacancy of the archiepiscopal see before the guardian of the
spiritualities _sede vacante_. The bishop of Dol in Brittany, of
ordinary diocesan bishops, alone possessed the privilege of having a
cross borne before him in his diocese. Good illustrations of the
archiepiscopal cross occur on the monumental brasses of Archbishop
Waldeby, of York (1397), at Westminster Abbey, and of Archbishop
Cranley, of Dublin (1417) in New College chapel, Oxford.
The custom of carrying a cross at the head of an ecclesiastical
procession can be traced back to the end of the 4th century. The cross
was originally taken from the altar, and raised on a pole, and so borne
before the procession. Afterwards a separate cross was provided for
processions, but in poor churches, where this was not the case, the
altar cross continued to be used till quite a late period. A direction
to this effect occurs as late as 1829, in the _Rituel_ published for the
diocese of La Rochelle in that year. In England altar crosses were not
very usual in the middle ages.
As a personal ornament the cross came into common use, and was usually
worn suspended by a chain from the neck. A cross of this kind, of very
great interest and beauty, was found about 1690, on the breast of Queen
Dagmar, the wife of Waldemar II., king of Denmark (d. 1213). It is of
Byzantine design and workmanship, and is of enamelled gold (fig. 13
shows both sides of it); on one side is the Crucifixion, and on the
other side the half figure of our Lord in the centre, with the Virgin
and St John the Evangelist on either side, and St Chrysostom and St
Basil above and below. From the way in which such crosses were worn,
hanging over the chest, they are called pectoral crosses. At the present
day a pectoral cross forms part of the recognized insignia of a Roman
Catholic bishop, and is worn by him over his robes, but this official
use of the pectoral cross is not ancient, and no instance is known of it
in England before the Reformation. The custom appears to have taken
rise in the 16th century on the continent. It was not unusual to wear
cruciform reliquaries, as objects of personal adornment, and such a
reliquary was found on the body of St Cuthbert, when his tomb was opened
in 1827, but it was placed under, and not over his episcopal vestments,
and formed no part of his bishop's attire. The custom of wearing a
pectoral cross over ecclesiastical robes has, curiously enough, been
copied from the comparatively modern Roman Catholic usage by the
Lutheran bishops and superintendents in Scandinavia and Prussia; and in
Sweden the cross is now delivered to the new bishop, on his installation
in office, by the archbishop of Upsala, together with the mitre and
crozier. Within the last generation the use of a pectoral cross, worn
over their robes as part of the insignia of the episcopal office, has
been adopted by some bishops of the Church of England, but it has no
ancient sanction or authority.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Dagmar Cross.]
AUTHORITIES.--Mortillet, _Le Signe de la croix avant le Christianisme_
(Paris, 1866); Bingham, _Antiquities of the Christian Church_;
Lipsius, _De Cruce Christi_; Lady Eastlake, _History of our Lord_,
vol. ii.; Cutts, _Manual of Sepulchral Slabs and Crosses_; (Anon.)
_Handbook to Christian and Ecclesiastical Rome_, part ii. (London,
1897); Veldeuer, _History of the Holy Cross_ (reprint, 1863).
(T. M. F.)