or Chalk, in Natural History. See CHALK, MINERALOGY Index.

CRÈTE, one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, lying between 22 and 27 degrees of north latitude, and between 35 and 36 degrees of east longitude. According to Strabo, this island is 287 miles in length; and according to Pliny, 270; and according to Skylax, 312. As to its breadth, it is not, as Pliny observes, above 55 miles where widest; whence it was styled, as Stephanus observes, the Long Island. It has the Archipelago to the north, the African sea to the south, the Carpathian sea to the east, and the Ionian to the west. Anciently it was known by the names of Aeria, Chthonia, Idea, Curete, Macaris, &c. but its most common name was that of Crete.

The Cretan mythologists, quoted by Diodorus Siculus, relate that the first inhabitants of the island were the Dactyli Idaci, who dwelt around Mount Ida; they were regarded as magicians, because they possessed a variety of knowledge, and were particularly skilled led in religious mysteries. Orpheus, who distinguished himself so highly in poetry and music, was their disciple. They discovered the use of fire, iron, and brass, and invented the art of working these metals in Berecynthius, a mountain near Apta. Those invaluable discoveries procured them divine honours. One of them, named Hercules, rendered himself famous by his courage and great exploits. He instituted the Olympic games; though posterity, by a mistake arising from his bearing the same name, have ascribed that institution to the son of Alcmena; who, indeed, trode in the steps of his predecessor, and raised himself also to immortality.

The Dactyli Idaei were the ancestors of the Curetes. These last at first inhabited the forests and caves of the mountains. Afterwards they entered into domestic life, and contributed, by their institutions, to the civilization of mankind. They taught men to collect flocks of sheep, to tame the ferocity of wild animals for domestic purposes, and to invite bees into hives, that they might rifle them of the fruit of their labours. They first prompted men to the chase, and taught the use of the bow. They were the inventors of swords and of military dances. The noise which they made, by dancing in armour, hindered Saturn from hearing the cries of Jupiter, whose education Rhea had entrusted to them. With the assistance of the nymphs, they brought up that god in a cave in Mount Ida, feeding him with the milk of the goat Amalthea, and with honey.

To this period mythology assigns the origin of the Titans; their abode near Gnosus, where stood the palace of Rhea; their travels over the whole earth; their war against Ammon, and his defence by Bacchus; the nuptials of Jupiter and Juno, celebrated high the river Therenus in Crete; the gods, goddesses, and heroes who descended from them.

The most illustrious of those heroes were Minos and Rhadamantus. They are said to have been the sons of Jupiter and Europa, who was conveyed into the island on a bull. Minos becoming king, built several cities; the most considerable of which are—Gnosus, on that side of the island which faces Asia, Phoestus on the southern shore, and Cydon on the western, facing Peloponnesus. He gave to his subjects a code of admirable laws, which he pretended to have received from his father Jupiter in the grotto of Mount Ida.

Rhadamanthus distinguished himself by the impartiality of his judgments, and by the inflexible severity with which he inflicted punishment on the impious and wicked. His empire extended over the chief isles of the Archipelago; and the inhabitants of the adjacent coasts of Asia submitted to him on account of his high reputation for probity and justice. Mythologists have constituted him judge in the regions below, to determine the future state of the righteous and the wicked. They have conferred on him the same honours which were bestowed on Minos, the justest of kings.

Thus far have been followed the Cretan traditions as they are related by Diodorus; but historians differ about the truth of them. There are a variety of opinions concerning the first inhabitants of Crete. Strabo, who has discussed them with great erudition, says, after several pages on the subject: "I am not fond of fables; yet I have detailed these at some length, because they are connected with theology. Every discourse concerning the gods should examine the religious opinions of antiquity, and distinguish them from fable. The ancients were pleased to conceal their knowledge of nature under a veil. It is now impossible to unfold the meaning of their enigmas. But by exposing to light the numerous allegories which they have left us, and by examining attentively their mutual relations and differences, genius may perhaps be able to unfold the truths which are couched under them."

But leaving mythology for the more certain records and monuments of history, we find that Crete received its name from Crés, the first of its monarchs. He was author of several useful inventions, which contributed to the happiness of his subjects. Prompted by gratitude, they endeavoured to perpetuate the memory of his favours, and to immortalize his name, by naming the island after him.

In order to distinguish the true Cretans from strangers, they were named Eteocretes. A number of colonies, from different parts of Greece, settled in the island. The agreeableness of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, invited them to fix their habitation there. The Lacedemonians, Argives, and Athenians, were the principal people who sent colonies into Crete. This is what makes Homer say, "Crete is an extensive island in the midst of the stormy main. The soil is rich and fertile. It contains an immense number of inhabitants. It is adorned with a hundred cities. Its inhabitants speak in various languages. We find there Achaeans, valiant Eteocretes, Cydenians, Dorians, and godlike Pelasgians." The Eteocretes inhabited the southern division of the island; they built there the city of Prossus, and erected a temple to Dictean Jove.

Crés was not the only monarch who reigned in the island of Crete. He had a series of successors. But history affords little information concerning them: only the names of a few of them are preserved, and a small number of events which happened under the reign of some others, but blended and disfigured with an intermixture of fable. Among those monarchs we find two Jupiters, and two of the name of Minos. However, most writers confound them, and ascribe to one those transactions and exploits which should be shared between the two.

This remark chiefly regards Minos, who was esteemed the wisest legislator of antiquity. The office assigned him in the regions below is a clear and certain proof of his having gained an exalted reputation by his justice. Greece, says Plato, has with great propriety adopted the laws of Crete; for they are founded on the solid basis of reason and equity, and have a natural tendency to render the people who live in subjection to them, opulent and happy. One of those laws forbade "the Cretans ever to carry their festivity so far as to intoxicate themselves with wine." The following was very suitable to repress the presumptuous ardour of youth: "Let young people not canvass the laws with an indiscreet curiosity; let them not examine whether the lawgiver has done right or wrong in promulgating them; but let them join unanimously in declaring them good, since they proceed from the gods. If any of the old men perceive something in them meriting amendment, let him mention it to the magistrate, or discuss it with his equals, but never in the presence of the young people." That excellent code was engraven on tables of brass: and Talos, chief minister to Minos, visited all the towns and cities in the island, three times a year, to observe in what manner the laws were executed and obeyed. The king of Crete, well knowing that the marvellous is necessary to command the belief and enforce the obedience of the people, pretended that he had received those laws from his father Jupiter, in the grotto of Mount Ida. In the same manner, Lycurgus, before promulgating his laws, repaired to Delphi, and gave out they had received the sanction of Apollo. A like reason induced Numa to pretend to an intimacy with the nymph Egeria, and Mahomet to ascribe his doctrines and institutions to the revelation of the angel Gabriel.

In contradiction to this account, others of the ancients describe Minos as a prince impotently abandoned to the fury of his passions, and a barbarous conqueror. Falling passionately in love with the nymph Dictyna, who refused to gratify his wishes, he pursued her to the brink of the shore, and forced her to plunge into the sea, where she was saved by some fishermen, who received her in their nets. He was the first of the Greeks who appeared in the Mediterranean at the head of a naval armament. He conquered the Cyclades, expelled the Carians, established Cretan colonies in those islands, and committed the government of them to his son.

Being informed, while he was at Paros, that his son Androgeus was slain at Athens, he declared war against Eges, and imposed on him a disgraceful tribute; from the payment of which Theseus delivered his country. He took arms against Nissus, king of Megara, made him prisoner by the treachery of his daughter Stylla, and put him to death, together with Megarus, the son of Hippomanes, who had brought some forces to his assistance. Dedalus, who had by some means incurred his displeasure, despairing of pardon from so severe and inflexible a prince, employed the resources of his inventive genius, in order to escape from his power. He fled to Sicily, gained the protection of King Cocas, and obtained an asylum in his court. Valerius Flaccus has described his flight in a very lively and picturesque manner. "Thus Dedalus, with the wings of a bird, ascended from Mount Ida. Beside him flew the comrade of his flight, with shorter wings. They appeared like a cloud rising in the air. Minos, seeing his vengeance thus eluded, glowed with impotent rage. In vain he followed with his eyes the secure flight of his enemies through the wide expanse of heaven. His guards returned to Gortynia with their quivers filled with arrows." The Cretan monarch did not, however, give up his prey. He equipped a fleet, pursued the fugitive to Sicily, and fell before the walls of Camicum.

It is plain, that those actions cannot agree to the character of that just monarch, whose merits raised him to the office of determining, in the regions below, the unalterable fate of the righteous and the wicked. We may, therefore, reasonably conclude, that Minos the legislator is a different person from the conqueror; that it was the former who gained a lasting reputation by his wisdom and justice; and the latter who subdued most of the islands of the Archipelago, but being enslaved by his passions, tarnished his glory by his cruelty and merciless thirst for vengeance.

The last king of Crete was Idomeneus. This prince, accompanied by Merion, conducted 24 ships to the assistance of Agamemnon. Homer informs us of the illustrious exploits by which he signalized himself before the walls of Troy. At his departure, he committed the government of his kingdom to Leucus his adopted son, promising him the hand of his daughter Clithera, if he governed wisely in his absence. That ambitious young man soon forgot the favours which had been so lavishly bestowed on him. Gaining a number of partisans, he in a short time aspired to the immediate possession of the crown. His impatience would not wait till he should obtain it lawfully by marriage. Flattering himself, from the long absence of the king, that he was perhaps fallen before Troy, he determined to mount the throne. Mida, wife to Idomeneus, and the princess Clithera, were an obstacle to his wishes. But ambition knows no restraint, and tramples under foot the most sacred obligations. The base wretch having seduced the people from their allegiance, and captivated the affections of the nobles, sacrificed those unfortunate victims in the temple. When Idomeneus, crowned with laurels, landed on the coast of Crete, Leucus, who had now firmly established his power, attacked him with an armed force; and obliged him to reembark. A different account is also given of the banishment of Idomeneus. Servius says that he had vowed, in a storm, to sacrifice to the gods the first person that his eyes should behold on the Cretan shore; that his son having met him first after his arrival, he fulfilled his vow, by sacrificing him; and that the island, being soon after depopulated by pestilence, the inhabitants looked upon that affliction as the effect of divine vengeance, and expelled the parricide; who, retiring to Italy, founded Salentum, on the Messapian coast. But that opinion appears entirely groundless. History mentions no son of Idomeneus. If he had a son of his own blood, why did he adopt Leucus? Why did he trust to him the government of the island, when he promised him his daughter in marriage? The more probable opinion is, that the plague was introduced into the island by his ships, when he returned from the siege of Troy, as Herodotus asserts; and that Leucus artfully made use of that pretext to expel his lawful sovereign from the island. But it appears that the usurper did not long enjoy the fruit of his crimes. Soon after the departure of Idomeneus, monarchy was abolished, and the government of Crete became republican.

The republic of Crete has been celebrated by the panegyric of Plato, served Lycurgus as a model for that which he established in Lacedemon, and was beheld by all Greece with respect and admiration. Strabo has thought it not unworthy of his pencil, and has consecrated the leading features of its constitution to lasting fame in his immortal work. It was indeed a system of legislature, whose direct tendency was to call forth the buds of virtue in the heart of infancy; to open and expand them in youth; to inspire man, as he reached maturity, with the love of his country, of glory. glory, and of liberty; and to comfort and support the infirmities of age with the respect and esteem due to the experience and wisdom of that period of life. It laboured to form affectionate friends, patriotic citizens, and worthy magistrates. It made no use, however, of a multitude of acts and statutes to produce those inestimable advantages. They flowed all from one source; the public education of youth, judiciously directed. The virtuous examples set before youth in the course of that education, the illustrious deeds which were recited to them with high applause, the honours conferred on valour and on noble actions, the opprobrium invariably cast on vice; these were the only means which the Cretan lawgiver made use of to form a warlike, humane, and virtuous nation.

The Cretan government, soon after the expulsion of Idomenes, became aristocratical. The power was divided between the nobles and the people. Yet as the chief employments were occupied by the nobles, they directed the administration of affairs. Ten magistrates were annually elected, by a majority of voices, in the national assembly. These were named Cosmoi; and their public office and character were the same with those of the Ephori at Sparta. They were the generals of the republic in time of war, and directed all affairs of any importance. They had the right of choosing certain old men for counsellors. Those old men, to the number of twenty-eight, composed the Cretan senate. They were chosen from among such as had discharged the office of Cosmos, or had distinguished themselves by extraordinary merit and blameless probity. Those senators continued in office during life, possessed a weighty influence, and were consulted in every affair of any importance. This body was a barrier opposed by the wisdom of the legislator against the ambition of the ten chief rulers. He had imposed another restraint on their power, by limiting the period of their administration to one year. His foresight went still farther. The suffrages of the people might be obtained by bribery or personal influence, and of consequence their choice might sometimes fall on a man unworthy of so honourable an office. When that happened, he who had been undeservedly advanced to the dignity of Cosmos was degraded, either in a national assembly, or simply by the voices of his colleagues. This, doubtless, is what Plato alludes to, when he says, "Neither the commonwealth, which approaches too near to a monarchical constitution, nor that which affects a licentious liberty, is founded on the solid basis of a just medium between anarchy and despotism. O Cretans! O Lacedemonians! by establishing yours on firmer foundations, you have avoided those fatal extremes."

Such were the distribution of power and the administration of public affairs in the Cretan government. Its simplicity was admirable. A people who were blessed with the sacred enjoyment of liberty, but possessed not sufficient knowledge and discernment to direct themselves, elected magistrates, to whom they delegated their authority. Those magistrates, thus arrayed with sovereign power, chose senators to assist and direct their deliberations. These counsellors could neither enact nor decide of themselves; but they held their office for life; and that circumstance contributed to strengthen their influence and to increase their experience. The magistrates were animated by the most powerful motives to distinguish themselves when in office, by unwearyed activity in the public service. On one side, they were restrained by the fear of degradation; on the other, actuated by the hope of becoming one day members of the national council.

Yet let us inquire what means the Cretan lawgiver used to form virtuous citizens. All the Cretans were subjected to the power of the magistrates; and divided into two classes, the adults and the youth. Men arrived at maturity were admitted into the first. The second consisted of all the young men who were not below the age of seventeen. The society of adults ate together in public halls. There rulers, magistrates, poor and rich, sat together, partook, without distinction, of the same simple fare. A large bowl, filled with wine and water, which went round the company from one to another, was the only drink that they were allowed. None but the old men had a right to call for more wine. Doubtless, the people, so celebrated for wisdom, were not strangers to the power of beauty; for a woman was appointed to preside at each table. She openly distributed the most exquisite meats to those who had distinguished themselves by their valour or wisdom. That judicious preference was so far from exciting envy or jealousy, that it only prompted every person to deserve it by brave and prudent conduct. Near where the citizens sat, two tables were laid, which they named Hospitable; all strangers and travelers were entertained at these; and there was also a particular house set apart by the public, in which they might spend the night.

To supply the public expenses, every citizen was obliged to bring a tenth part of his annual income into the treasury. The chief magistrates were to take care that every person contributed his proportion. In Crete, says Aristotle, one part of the fruits of the earth, of the produce of the flocks, of the revenues of the state, and of the taxes and customs, is sacred to the gods; the other is distributed among the members of the community; so that men, women, and children, all subsist at the public expense.

After dinner, the magistrates and senators usually spent some time in deliberating on the affairs of the state; they next recounted the noble deeds which had been done in war, celebrated the courage of their most distinguished warriors, and animated the youth to heroic valour. Those assemblies were the first school of the youth. At the age of seven, the boy was permitted to handle the bow—from that time he was admitted into the society of the adults, where he continued till the age of seventeen. There, sitting on the ground, and clothed in a plain and coarse dress, he served the old men, and listened, with respectful silence, to their advices. His young heart was inflamed with the recital of noble deeds in arms, and glowed with ardour to imitate them. He acquired habits of sobriety and temperance. And being constantly witness of illustrious examples of moderation, wisdom, and patriotism, the seeds of virtue were thus sown and fostered in his heart before he attained the use of reason.

He was early accustomed to arms and to fatigue, that he might learn to endure excessive heat or cold, to chamber and leap among hills and precipices, and to bear manfully the blows and wounds which he might receive amid the gymnastic exercises or in battle. His education was not confined to the gymnastic exercises; he was also taught to sing the laws, which were written in verse, with a certain species of melody; in order that the charms of music might dispose him to learn them with more pleasure, and might impress them more deeply on his heart, and that, if he should ever transgress them, he might not have the excuse of ignorance to offer. He next learned hymns in honour of the gods, and poems composed in praise of heroes. When he reached his seventeenth year, he retired from the society of the adults, and became a member of that of the young men.

Here his education was still carried on. He exercised himself in hunting, wrestling, and fighting with his companions. The lyre played tunes of martial music; and he learned to follow exactly the sounds and measure of the musician. These sports and exercises were sometimes attended with danger; because arms of steel were sometimes used in them. One dance, in which the youth aspired most ardently to excel, was the Pyrrhic, originally invented in Crete. The performers in that dance were arrayed in complete armour:—they wore a light short coat, which did not fall below the knee, and was bound with a girdle going twice round the waist: on their feet and legs were buskins; above these they bore their arms, and performed various military evolutions to the sound of musical instruments. "The Lacedaemonians and Cretans (says Libanius) cultivated dancing with amazing ardour; they considered that their laws had directed them to practise it for the most important purposes; and it was scarce less dishonourable for a Lacedaemonian or Cretan to neglect the military dances, than to desert his post in battle."

Those Cretans who were opulent and high-born, were permitted to form societies of young men of their own age. They often strove, with emulation, who should form the most numerous ones. The father of the young man who formed one of those societies usually presided in it. He had a right to educate those warlike youth, to exercise them in running and in hunting, to confer rewards and inflict punishments.

Friendship was in high estimation among the Cretans; but, says Strabo, the manner in which they conducted the intercourse of friendship was pretty extraordinary. Instead of mild persuasion, they made use of violence to gain the objects of their affections. He who conceived an affection for a young man of his own age, and wished to attach him to himself by indissoluble bonds, formed a scheme for carrying him off by violence. Three days before putting it into execution, he communicated it to his comrades. They could not then interfere to prevent it; because if they had, they would have appeared to think the young man unworthy of such an excessive attachment. At the appointed day they assembled to protect their companion. If the ravisher appeared to them not unworthy of the object of his affection, they made at first a faint resistance in obedience to the law—but, at last, joyfully favoured his enterprise; if, on the other hand, they thought him unworthy of the object of his choice, they made such resistance as to prevent him from executing his design. The feigned resistance continued till the ravisher had conducted his friend into the hall of that society to which he belonged. They did not regard him who possessed superior beauty and gracefulness of person as the most amiable; but him who had most distinguished himself by his modesty and valour.

The ravisher loaded his young friend with favours, and conducted him wherever he desired; they were accompanied by those who had favoured the rape: he carried him from feast to feast, procured him the pleasures of the chase and good cheer; and after using all possible means to gain his heart for the course of two months, brought him back to the city, and was obliged to give him up to his parents. But first he presented him with a suit of armour, an ox, and a drinking cup; which were the usual and legal presents on such occasions. Sometimes his generosity went still farther; and he made more expensive presents; to defray the expense of which his comrades contributed. The young man sacrificed the ox to Jupiter, and gave an entertainment to those who had assisted when he was carried off. He then declared his sentiments concerning a connection with his ravisher, and told whether or not it was agreeable to him. If he had reason to complain of the treatment which he had received, the law allowed him to forsake a friend so unworthy of the name, and to demand his punishment.

It would have been disgraceful, adds Strabo, to a young man who was handsome and well born, to be rejected by his friends on account of the depravity of his manners. Those who had been carried off received public honours. Theirs were the first places in the halls and at the race. They were permitted to wear, during the rest of life, those ornaments which they owed to the tenderness of friendship; and that mark of distinction testified to all who saw them, that they had been the objects of some fond attachment.

When the youth had finished their exercises, and attained the legal age, they became members of the class of adults; being then considered as men, they were permitted to vote in the national assemblies, and were entitled to stand candidates for any public office. They were then obliged to marry: but did not take home their wives till such time as they were capable of managing their domestic concerns.

"The legislator (says Strabo) had considered liberty as the greatest blessing that cities can enjoy. Liberty alone can secure the property of the citizens of any state. Slavery either robs them of it, or renders it precarious. The first care of nations should therefore be to preserve their liberty. Concord strengthens and supports her empire; she flourishes wherever the seeds of dissension are extinguished. Almost all these hostilities which prevail among nations or individuals spring either from an inordinate desire of wealth or the love of luxury. Introduce, instead of those baneful principles, frugality, moderation, and equality of conditions; you will thus banish envy, hatred, injustice, and haughty disdain." This was what the Cretan lawgiver happily effected. And the community, which was regulated by his wise institutions, rose to glory, opulence, and power; and was honoured with the panegyrics of the most celebrated philosophers. Losophers of Greece: but the highest honour it ever obtained, was that of serving Lycurgus as a model for the admirable form of government which he established at Sparta.

The republic of Crete continued to flourish till the age of Julius Caesar. No other state has enjoyed so long a period of strength and grandeur. The legislature, regarding liberty as the only sure basis of a nation's happiness, had instituted a system of laws, the natural tendency of which was, to inspire men with an ardent passion for liberty, and with such virtue and valour as are necessary to support and defend it. All the citizens were soldiers: all of them were skilled in the art of war. The valiant youth of other nations resorted to Crete, to learn the exercises, manoeuvres, and evolutions, of the military art. "Philopocmen (says Plutarch) being impatient of indolence, and eager to acquire skill in arms, embarked for Crete. After spending a considerable time in the noblest exercises among that brave people, who were skilled in the art of war, and accustomed to an austere and temperate life, he returned to the Achaeans. The knowledge which he had acquired made him so eminent among them, that he was immediately appointed general of the cavalry."

On the other hand, the legislator, being persuaded that conquests are generally unjust and criminal, that they often exhaust the strength of the victorious nation, and almost always corrupt its manners, endeavoured to preserve the Cretans from the ambition of conquest. The fertility of the island abundantly supplied their wants. They needed not that commerce should introduce among them the riches of foreign countries, along with which luxury and her train of attendant vices would also be introduced; and he knew how to inspire them with an indifference for such acquisitions without expressly forbidding them. The gymnastic exercises, which occupied the leisure of the gallant youth; the pleasures of the chase; the ardour of friendship; the public shows, at which all the different orders of the community, both men and women, used to assemble; the love of equality, order, and their country, with which he inflamed every breast; the wise institutions, which united a whole nation so closely that they composed but one family—all these ties attached the Cretans to their native island: and finding at home that happiness which was the object of their wishes, they never thought of wandering abroad in search of an imaginary glory, or of extending their empire over other nations. Therefore, from the period at which that state assumed a republican form till the time when they were attacked by the arms of Rome, the nation was not once known to send a hostile force into the territories of any of their neighbours. This instance of moderation is unparalleled in history; no other nation can divide the glory of it with the Cretans. Individuals indeed might leave their country to engage in foreign armies. Those princes and states who knew their valour and skill in archery eagerly sought to take them into their pay; all the neighbouring monarchs were desirous of having in their armies a body of Cretan archers. Over the whole world none were more celebrated than they for bending the bow. "The arrows of Gortynia (says Claudian), aimed from a trusty bow, are sure to wound, and never miss the destined mark."

Though the multitude of independent cities which flourished in Crete did not unite their arms to subjugate the neighbouring islands, and drench them with the blood of their inhabitants; yet they were not so wise as to live in peace among themselves. Discord often stalked among them with her flaming torch. The most powerful wished to enslave the rest. Sometimes Gnosuss and Gortynia marched with social banners against their neighbours, levelled their fortresses, and subjected them to their power; at other times they attacked each other with hostile violence, and saw their bravest youth perish amid the horrors of civil war. Lyctos and Cydon opposed an invincible barrier to their ambition, and preserved their own liberty. The last of these cities had acquired such strength and influence, that she held the balance between the rival powers of the island. Those wars destroyed a number of the cities, and drenched the native country of Jupiter with blood.

To what source must we attribute those intestine dissensions? One part of the island was occupied by the Eteocretes, the original inhabitants; the rest was peopled with colonies from Athens, Sparta, Argos, and Samos. Perhaps the ancient grudges which had subsisted among those strangers, being still unextinguished in their breasts, were easily rekindled by accident or circumstances, and inflamed with new fury. We may also suppose, that the most powerful among them, exulting in their superiority, would endeavour to take advantage of the weakness of the rest, and disregard all laws but those of force: besides, the glowing ardour of the youth, trained to military exercises, was ever ready to fly to arms. Such probably were the causes which fomented discord and hostility among a people living under the same religion, customs, and laws. Whatever these might be, the Cretans being persuaded that the firm union of their soldiers was essential to victory, arrayed the bravest youths of the army in splendid robes, and caused them to sacrifice to friendship before engaging in battle. In some countries it would be very proper to oblige the generals on such occasions, to sacrifice to concord. If such a sacrifice were performed with sincerity, it might preserve their glory unstained, and prevent such deluges of blood from being wasted without producing any advantages to the state.

Their passion for war did not extinguish in the breasts of the Cretans that exquisite sensibility which is the mother and nurse of the fine arts. "The Cretans (says Sozomen) gave an illustrious proof of their munificence to genius, by making Homer a present of a thousand pieces of silver; and to perpetuate the memory of this act of generosity, they recorded it by an inscription on a public column." In Crete, adds Ptolemy, men are still more desirous of cultivating their understandings than of exercising their bodily powers. Often when dissensions arose, the voice of wisdom and the charms of poetry recalled them to reason and harmony. Thales of Gortynia, the preceptor of Lycurgus, was one of their most celebrated philosophers. Being both a poet and legislator, he made a happy use of his abilities and knowledge to extinguish among his his countrymen the kindling sparks of discord. "His poems were moral discourses in verse, which recalled the people to concord and submission to the laws. Using a regular measure, he recommended the austerity of his subject by the insinuating and powerful charm of sentiment. So powerful were the effects of his verses, which addressed at once the ears, the heart, and the understanding of his hearers, that their rage was gradually softened. Next, opening their hearts to the love of peace, the advantages of which he described in glowing colours, they forgot their intestine dissensions, and ranged themselves around the standard of concord." That sage is said to have invented tunes for the military dances and for the Cretan Pyrrhic. Men who felt so strongly the influence of poetry and music could scarcely be enemies to pleasure. Accordingly, they had a custom of distinguishing their fortunate days with white flint stones, their unfortunate days with black. At the end of the year they counted the number of their white stones, and reckoned that they had lived only so many days as were distinguished for having been fortunate. They did not think mere existence, without the enjoyment of pleasure, worthy of the name of life. For this reason, they caused to be inscribed on their tombs: "He lived so many days; he continued in existence so long."

A passion for glory is easily awakened in a feeling and generous breast. The Cretans eagerly repaired to the famous solemnities of Greece, and were often crowned at the Olympic, Nemean, and Pythian games; others of them were favourites of the muses, and versified the predictions of prophets, or celebrated the glorious deeds of their heroes. Several of them distinguished themselves by historical composition. At the most ancient games, a prize is said to have been bestowed on the poet who sung the noblest hymn in honour of Apollo: Chrysothemis of Crete sang and gained the prize.

The ravages of time have deprived us of almost all their works; and if Pindar had not preserved the memory of some of their crowns, we should not know even the names of the conquerors who wore them. The temple of Diana at Ephesus, built by the Cretan Ctesiphon and his son Metagenes, was not proof against the frantic hand of the incendiary. Those ingenious architects had built it on the principles of the Ionic order; to the costliness of the materials, the elegance of the architecture, the symmetry of the parts, and the majesty and perfection of the whole, they had added solidity and strength, without which the rest must have been of small value. Their names have descended to posterity, but the pillars of that monument which has perpetuated their memory have been dispersed or destroyed. Scarce a vestige remains of that building which was esteemed one of the seven wonders of the world.

Nations are effaced from the earth like the monuments of their power, and after the revolution of several ages we can scarcely trace in their posterity any remains of their ancient character. Some of them exist longer, others shorter; but we may almost always calculate the period of their duration by the excellence of their laws, and the fidelity with which they support and obey them. The republic of Crete, being established on a solid basis, knew no foreign master for a period of ten centuries. She bravely repelled the attacks of those princes who attempted to enslave her. At length the time arrived when the warlike and victorious Romans aspired to the empire of the world, and would suffer none but their subjects or slaves to inhabit within the reach of their arms. Florus does not scruple to acknowledge, that the Romans had no other motives for invading Crete but the ambitious desire of subduing the renowned native country of Jupiter. "If any person wish to know the reason which induced us to attack Crete (says he), the true reason was our desire to subdue so celebrated an island. The Cretans had appeared to favour Mithridates, and the Romans thought proper to declare war against them on that pretext. Mark Antony, father of the triumvir, attacked them with strong hopes of success; but was severely punished for his presumption and imprudence. The Cretans took a great part of his fleet, hung up his soldiers and sailors on the masts amid the sails and cordage, and returned in triumph into their harbours."

The Romans never forget nor forgave a defeat. As soon as the Macedonian war was brought to a happy conclusion, they again took arms against the Cretans to revenge their ignominy and loss. Quintus Metellus was sent to Crete with a powerful armament. He met with an obstinate and vigorous resistance. Panarus and Lasthenes, two experienced leaders, collecting a body of 20,000 young warriors, all eager for battle, and of determined courage, employed their arms and arrows successfully against the Romans, and protracted the fate of Crete for three years. Those conquerors could not make themselves masters of the island before destroying its bravest warriors. They lost a great number of troops, and bought a bloody victory at the price of many a danger and much fatigue. However, their usual good fortune at length prevailed. The first care of the conqueror was to abolish the laws of Minos, and to establish in their room those of Numa. Strabo, that enlightened philosopher, complains of this act of severity; and informs us, that in his days the original laws of Crete were no longer in force, because the Romans compelled the conquered provinces to adopt their civil code. To secure themselves still more fully in the possession of the island, they sent a powerful colony to Gnosus.

From that era to the present time, that is, for a period of 1900 years, the Cretans have no longer formed a separate nation, or made any figure among the states and kingdoms of the world: their noble and ingenious manners, their arts and sciences, their valour and their virtues, are no more. They have lost these with the loss of liberty. So true it is that man is not born for himself; and that, when deprived of that aid which Nature has designed to strengthen and support his weakness, the flame of genius and the ardent glow of valour are extinguished in his breast; he becomes incapable of vigorous resolution, and sinks below the natural virtue and dignity of the species.

The island of Crete, joined with the small kingdom of Cyrene, on the Libyan coast, formed a Roman province. It was at first governed by a proconsul; a questor and an assistant were afterwards sent there; at last, as Suetonius informs us, it was put under the government of a consul. This island was one of the first places places in the world that were favoured with the light of the gospel. St Paul introduced the Christian faith into Crete; and his disciple Titus, whom he left there to cherish and cultivate that precious plant, became the first bishop of the island. In the reign of the emperor Leo, it had twelve bishops, who were all subject to the patriarch of Constantinople. Constantine separated Crete from Cyrene in the new division which he made of the provinces of the empire. Leaving three sons, Constantius, Constantine, and Constans, he assigned Thrace and the eastern provinces to the first; to the second, the empire of the west; the island of Crete, Africa, and Illyria, to the third.

When Michael Balbus sat on the throne of Constantinople, the rebellion of Thomas, which lasted three years, caused him to neglect the other parts of the empire. The Agarenians (a people of Arabia), who had conquered the finest provinces of Spain, seized that opportunity. They fitted out a considerable fleet, plundered the Cyclades, attacked the island of Crete, and made themselves masters of it without opposition. In order to secure their conquest, they built a fortress which they named Khandaq, "intrenchment." From that citadel the barbarians made incursions into the interior parts of the island, carrying havoc and devastation wherever they appeared. By repeated attacks, they subdued all the cities in Crete except Cydon. Michael made some ineffectual efforts to expel them from Crete. The emperor Basilus the Macedonian was not more successful. They defeated him in a bloody battle; but being vanquished by one of his generals, they were subjected to the payment of an annual tribute. At the end of ten years, the Arabs refused the tribute. It was reserved for Nicephorus Phocas, who was afterwards emperor, to deliver this fine island from the yoke of the infidels. He landed on the island with a numerous army, boldly attacked them, and routed them in various engagements. The Saracens, no longer daring to meet so formidable a general in the field, fled for protection to their fortresses. Phocas being plentifully supplied with all the warlike machines necessary for a siege, levelled their walls, and alarmed their hearts with terror. He took their cities and fortresses, and drove them into Khandaq, their metropolis and last resource. In the course of nine months he subdued the whole island, took their king Corop and his lieutenant Aremas prisoners, and reunited to the empire a province which had been 127 years in the hands of the infidels. It remained under the dominion of the Romans till the time when Baldwin, count of Flanders, being raised to the throne, liberally rewarded the services of Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, by making him king of Thessalonica, and adding the island of Crete to his kingdom. That lord, being more covetous of gold than glory, sold it to the Venetians in the year 1194; under whom it assumed the name of Candia. See the sequel of its history under that article.