Page:Cousins's Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.djvu/115

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Dictionary of English Literature
103

enlarged and separately pub., and a History of Louis XVIII. and Charles X.

Crowe, Sir Joseph Archer (1825-1896).—Writer on art, s. of the above, was b. in London. Most of his childhood was spent in France, and on his return to England in 1843 he became a journalist. He was then for some years engaged in educational work in India, and was afterwards war correspondent for the Times on various occasions, and filled various important consular posts, for which he was in 1890 made K.C.M.G. In collaboration with G. B. Cavalcasselle, an Italian refugee, he was the author of several authoritative works on art, including The Early Flemish Painters (1856), A New History of Painting in Italy (1864-68), A History of Painting in North Italy (1871), Titian, His Life and Times (1877), and Raphael, His Life and Works (1883-85). The actual writing of all these was the work of C.

Crowe, William (1745-1829).—Poet, b. at Midgham, Berks, the s. of a carpenter, was ed. as a foundationer at Winchester, whence he proceeded to Oxf., where he became Public Orator. He wrote a smooth, but somewhat conventional poem, Lewesdon Hill (1789), ed. Collins's Poems (1828), and lectured on poetry at the Royal Institution. His poems were coll. in 1827. C. was a clergy man and Rector of Alton Barnes, Wilts.

Crowne, John (1640?-1703).—Dramatist, returned from Nova Scotia, to which his f., a Nonconformist minister, had emigrated, and became gentleman usher to a lady of quality. His first play, Juliana, appeared in 1671. He wrote in all about 17 dramatic pieces, of which the best is Sir Courtly Nice (1685), adapted from the Spanish. It is amusing, and enjoyed a long continued vogue. In general, however, C. is dull.

Cudworth, Ralph (1617-1688).—Divine and philosopher, b. at Aller, Somerset, and ed. at Camb., where, after being a tutor, he became Master of Clare Hall 1645, Prof. of Hebrew (1645-88), and Master of Christ's Coll., 1654. His great work is The True Intellectual System of the Universe (1678). A work of vast learning and acuteness, it is directed against the infidelity of the age. C.'s candour in his statement of the opposing position was so remarkable that Dryden remarked "that he raised such strong objections against the being of a God and Providence that many thought he had not answered them." He also left in MS. a Treatise concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality, pub. in 1731.

Cumberland, Richard (1732-1811).—Novelist and dramatist, ed. at Westminster and Camb., entered the diplomatic service, and filled several government appointments. His best play is The West Indian. His novels do not rise much above mediocrity. Along with Sir J. B. Burges he wrote an epic entitled The Exodiad, and he also made some translations from the Greek.

Cummins, Maria Susanna (1827-1866).—B. at Salem, Mass., was well-known as the authoress of The Lamplighter, a somewhat sentimental tale which had very wide popularity. She wrote others, including Mabel Vaughan, none of which had the same success.