CROMARTY

the erection of defences at cro- marty was begun in 1912 and had made considerable progress by the outbreak of the world war. the port was used throughout the war as a coaling station and was one of the nine trawler stations under the control of the admiral of patrols. cruiser squadrons, with their destroyer flotillas, used cromarty as their base, and from cromarty the “ invincible’ and ‘‘ inflexible ” started for the battle of the falklands. one of the most serious naval disasters of the war occurred in the harbour of cromarty on dec. 30 1915, when the armoured cruiser ‘‘ natal” was destroyed by an accidental explosion. cromer, evelyn baring, ist ear of (1841-1917), british statesman and diplomatist (see 7.484). lord cromer’s life was prolonged for nearly 10 years after his return from egypt; and, in spite of enfeebled health he took an important share in political, social and literary movements at home. he was con- stant in his attendance at the house of lords, and indefatigable in the work of its committees; he was a icading member of the free-trade section of the unionist party; he was active in opposi- tion to female suffrage, and in combating anti-vivisection propa- ganda. besides publishing his two volumes of alodern egypt (1911), he composed several addresses and pamphlets, wrote frequently for the periodicals, and from 1912 onwards was a regular contributor of signed articles and reviews of books to the spectator. when the british protectorate of egypt was proclaimed, he completed his history of the modern development of that country ina small volume entitled abdus iz. (1915), containing matter which it would have been indiscreet to publish so long as abbas remained khedive. while he was forward in promoting the study of oriental languages, his strongest affection was for the greek and latin classics with which he had only become acquainted in mature life; he became president of the classical society, and endowed a greek prize for the british academy. in the critical period of which the main features were the bud- get of 1909 and the parliament act of 1911, lord cromer played an energetic part. he failed to prevent the rejection of the budget by the house of lords; but he was successful in persuad- ing moderate unionist and cross-bench peers to counter the die- hard movement, and to vote for the parliament act rather than force the govt. to swamp the iouse of lords by an unlimited creation of peers. it was in the performance of another patriotic 764 duty, during the world war, that he met his death. in spite of age and indifferent health, he accepted the laborious and insidious task of chairman of the special commission to inquire into the dardanelles operations. the sittings occupied the autumn of 1916, and while engaged on the draft report he was seized in december with an attack of influenza. before he had recovered he resumed the work of the commission, which completely broke him down. he died in london jan. 29 1917. seldom has there been a life more singly and successfully devoted to the good of his country. see lord sanderson, memoir of evelyn, earl of cromer (1917). (g. e. b.) cronje, piet arnoldus (1840-1911), boer soldier (see 7-501), died at klerksdorp, transvaal, feb. 4 1911. crookes, sir william (1832-1919), british scientist (see 7.501), died in london april 4 1919. he was given the order of merit in rgro.