that he preached the Gospel in Galatia, a fjtct \xok% bly deduced coi\Jectorally fhwi the only text (i Tuk iv, 10) in which his name occurs. There is a Ian a»> cient tradition (in Sophronins), according to miadk Crescens preached, went into Gaul (Galatia ; Me The> odoret on 2 Tim. L c), and became the founder of tte Church in Yienne ; but it deserree no notice, haviap probably no other foundation than the resemUaiice cf the names Galatia and Gallia. From the fiKt of hm having a Latin name, many have inferred that he vaa a Christian of Rome. (See Bechler, De Cresoemie, Vi- teb. 1689.)
Cresoens, a Cjmic philosopher who aoqnired greit influence over the mind of the emperor AurehM^ While the other schools of philoeophers looked dovm with contempt on the Christians, the Cynics had teoa more favorably inclined towards them; bat Jostia Martyr having oflfended Crescens by some remarks he made against him in an ^>ology addressed to &e emperor, Crescens swore to be revenged, and, to ac- complish his purpose, incited Uie emperor to persecate the Christians. Justin Martyr was one of the Tictiaa of this persecution. See Jusmr ICabttb.
Crescent, the emblem of the Ottoman empire. See CoMSTAifTiiroPLB (1, 1).
Crespin, Jbah, a French Reformer, bom at Ar- ras, studied law at L6wen and Paris, but, being petae- cuted for his religious opinions, he fled to Genera m 1648. Here he established a printing-office, was made a citizen in 1552, and died hn 1572. The books iasoed fh>m liis press, which can be recognised by the sign of an anchor, are remarkable for beauty of ^pography and for correctness. Among his own writings are, ffiatoire dee martgrs perteadis et mis a mort pcmr ia viriU de Fivangile (Gen. 1570, f<^ ; 1619); l/^tat dt Viglise dee tem$ dee <g>6tre$ jvequ'en 1560 (1564, and a transl., The Estate of the Church [Lond. 1G02, 4to]); BibHotheca ttudU theol^^giei ex patribus coBeda (Id^l^ foL).
Crete (Kp^), one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, now called Candia, and by the Turks Kirid, It is 160 miles long, but of very onequal width, varying fh>m 85 to 6 miles. It is situated at the entrance of the Archipelago, having the coast of the Morea to the south-west, that of Asia IGnor to the north-east, and that of Libya to the south. Great an- tiquity was afn^cted by the inhabitants, and it has been suppoeed by some that the island was originally peo- pled from Egypt; but this is founded on the condo- sion that Crete was the Caphtor of Dent, ii, 2S, etc, and the country of the Philistines, which seems more than doubtfbl. See Caprtor. Surrounded on all sides bf the tea, the Cretans were excellent sailor!!, and their vessels visited all the neighboring coa$t«i. Though extremely bold and mountainoos, this Island has very fhiitfhl valleys (Virgil, jEn. iii, 106), and was highly prosperous and fbll of people in veiy an- cient times : this is indicated by its " hundred cities'* alluded to in the epithet iicard/iwoXtc, applied to it bj* Homer (//. ii, 649). It was remarkable for its patri- otism, although it kept aloof fh>m the intestine wjirs of Greece. One of its peaks was the famous Mt. IdA. and in one of its remarkable caverns was Uie renoviir<I Labyrinth of antiquity. This island was also tiie scene of many of the fablea of mythology, and was even reputed as the abode of " the fother of gods and men." The chief glory of the island, however, lay in its having produced the legislator Ifinos, whooe iasti- tutions had so important an influence in softening the manners of a barbarous age, not in Crete only, bat also in Greece, where these institutMns were imitated. The natives were celebrated as archers. Their chs^ acter was not of the most fiivorable descriptioa (set Polyb. vi, 46, 8; 47, 5; Died. 81c JEw. VaL p. 131; Livy, xliv, 45; Ovid, Are Amat, i, 297; Plntaitfa, P^lopom, 18); the Cretans, or Kretans^ being, in tact,
CRETE
565
CRETE
one of the three K^b agminst whose un&ithfolnesa the Greek prorerb was intended as a caution — Kappado- kia, Krete, and Kilikia. In short, the ancient notices of their character fully agree with the quotation which Paul produces firom "one of their own poets" (npo- ^U'^O ^ ^ Epistle to Titus (i, 12), who had been left in charge of the Christian church in the island : *^The Cretans are always liars (ati i//ci)<7ra<, eternal liars), evil beasts (jecucd Bripia, Angl. ' brutes'), slow bellies" (yaaripte dpyaif gorbellies, bellies which take long to fill). The quotation is usually supposed to have been from Callimachus's Hymn on Jove^ 8 ; but Callimachus was not a Cretan, and he has only the first words of the verse, which Jerome says he bor- rowed fsom Epimenides (q. v.), who was of Crete, and from whose work (Ilcpt •xpnaifitav, see Clemens Alex. Strom, i, 129) the citation appears to have been made (see Gottschalk, Dt Epimenide propheta^ Altdorp, 1714 ; Hofifinann, De Pcado tcripUaraa profcai, ier aUeganU^ Tub. 1770, p. 17 ; Heinrich, Epimetudes a. KrttcL, Lpz. 1801). Ample corroboration of the description which it gives of the ancient inhabitants may be seen in the commentators (see Wolfii Cur, iv, 654 sq.). See Cbb- TiAN. Mr. Hartley, in his Betearchet in Greece, says, **The Cretans of Uie present day are precisely what they were in the days of the apostle Paul ; they are notoriously, whether Turks or Greeks, the worst char- acters in Uie Levant." (See the Penny CyclppcBdiOj s. V. Candia.)