Part 12

1808. Remarkable duel at Bonnau, in Austria, between the Bavarian general Von Wrede, and a former Swedish minister, Von Duben. It was occasioned by the latter having cast reflections upon the Bavarian troops in 1805, in his dispatches to the Swedish government, and was fought in presence of a vast number of people.

1810. Badajos in Spain summoned to surrender by the French marshal, Mortier. The governor returned the summons unopened.

1814. Battle of Chateau Thierry, between the French and Russians, in which the general of the latter, Fredenrich, was taken prisoner.

1814. General WILKINSON burned his barracks at French Mills.

1817. Battle of Chacabuco, in Chili, in which the patriots under San Martin and O'Higgins, gained a decisive victory over the Spaniards under Maroto. This, with the victory of Maypu, which occurred afterwards, achieved the independence of the country.

1826. DEODATUS BYE, died. He edited _Cruden's Concordance_, _Diversions of Purley_, &c. Some fugitive pieces in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ bear his signature.

1831. Great solar eclipse (annular), visible in most parts of the United States.

1832. The cholera made its appearance in London.

1834. FREDERICK SCHLIERMACHER, a celebrated Prussian divine, died. He was professor of theology at Halle, and distinguished for the energy of his character and the extent of his acquirements.

1837. EDWARD TURNER, professor of chemistry, London, died, aged 40. He was an eminent chemist, a popular and much esteemed professor, and a very exemplary and benevolent character.

1840. ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, a highly distinguished English surgeon, died at London, aged 72. He was one of the first operators of his time, and carried on a practice unexampled for extent and emolument in the annals of surgery. His income from his practice was nearly one hundred thousand dollars per annum. In one instance he received a fee of one thousand guineas for an operation for the stone.

1855. The island of Cuba declared by the captain-general to be in a state of siege, and the coasts and circumjacent waters in blockade.

FEBRUARY 13.

This day was kept by the Jews as a fast, instituted by Esther in memorial of the day appointed by Haman for the extirpation of her countrymen. The same day was afterwards decreed as a feast for the death of Nicanor, the Syrian captain, who was slain at Bethhoron, B. C. 161.

1098. London bridge carried away by a flood and tax imposed to erect another.

1570. BENVENUTO CELLINI, a Florentine sculptor, engraver and goldsmith, died. His works in gold and silver are sold now at immense prices. In his autobiography, which has been translated, he claims to have aimed the balls which killed the constable of Bourbon, and the prince of Orange, at the siege of Rome.

1579. JOHN FOWLER, an eminent English printer, died at Louvain, in Belgium, where he had a press and issued various controversial treatises, leveled at protestantism. He was well skilled in languages, a tolerable poet and orator, a theologist not to be contemned, and well versed in criticism, and polite literature.

1585. ALPHONSUS SALMERON, of Toledo, died. He wrote commentaries on the scriptures, was a zealous follower of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and distinguished for his learning.

1602. ALEXANDER NOWELL, an English divine, died. His _Catechism_, published 1572, was in extensive use and much admired.

1662. ELIZABETH, queen of Bohemia, and eldest daughter of James I, of England, died and was buried in Henry VII's chapel.

1689. Revolution in England; William, prince of Orange, and the princess Mary, a daughter of the abdicating monarch, were proclaimed, by the lords and commons, sovereigns of England. (Holmes says 16th.)

1694. The highland massacre at Glencoe, in Scotland.

1699. The government of England sent an order to the play-houses that nothing should be enacted contrary to religion or good manners.

1726. WILLIAM WATTON died; an English divine, critic, historian, and miscellaneous writer of great learning.

1727. The British under Col. Campbell precipitately evacuated Augusta, Georgia, in the night.

1727. The Spaniards under the marquis de la Torras, commenced the siege of Gibraltar. This was the twelfth siege, and proved unsuccessful.

1727. COTTON MATHER died at Boston, aged 65. He was the most learned man in America, and one of the most superstitious. His achievements in one year were 72 sermons, 60 fasts, 20 vigils and 14 books. His publications amounted to 382, some of them being of large dimensions. The _Magnalia_ is his chef d'œuvre. He lived in the age of witchcraft, and fell in with the delusion, hand, heart and pen.

1752. SAMUEL CROXALL, an English author and translator of good repute, died.

1781. A troop of Tarleton's dragoons, under Capt. Miller, were cut to pieces by Lieut. Col. Lee: the captain and all were taken, except two; 18 were killed. Lee had ordered his Lieut. Lewis, to give no quarters, on account of Miller's having refused quarter to Lee's bugler, an unarmed boy, whom they had overtaken and sabred. Lee halted his men at a farm, was suddenly come upon by the advance of Cornwallis, but escaped by a sudden and bold movement.

1784. JEREMIAH MILES died; an eminent English divine and antiquary. He was ardently engaged in the Chattertonian controversy, and the author of the supposed Rowley's poems.

1787. CHARLES GRAVIER, count de Vergennes, a French statesman, died. As secretary of state for foreign affairs to Louis XVI, he assisted the Americans in their struggle for independence.

1789. ETHAN ALLEN, an officer in the revolutionary army, died. He took Ticonderoga and Crown-Point; was himself captured near Montreal, sent to England, and after experiencing much cruelty, exchanged. He sustained the character of an infidel, and in his writings ridiculed the scriptures.

1790. The French convention abolished monastic establishments, and confiscated their lands. (See Jan. 16.)

1794. The French convention ratified the treaty of peace with the grand duke of Tuscany.

1794. The canal of Merthyr Tydvil, in Wales, opened, another great improvement.

1798. CHRISTIAN FREDRICK SCHWARTZ, an eminent German missionary to Hindostan, died. His labors were of nearly half a century's duration, and had a great influence over the affairs of the country.

1801. British frigate Success, 40 guns, captured by a French squadron.

1805. Action between the British ship St. Fiorenza and the French frigate Psyche, 36 guns, and the prize ship Thetis, which resulted in the capture of the two latter. French loss 57 killed and 70 wounded; British 12 k., 36 w.

1814. General WILKINSON burned his boats in Salmon river, and broke up cantonment at French mills; Gen. Brown went to Sacketts harbor, and Gen. Macomb to Plattsburg; the snow being 2 feet 10 inches deep.

1817. GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE died; an officer in the service of Virginia against the Indians in the revolutionary war, where he distinguished himself greatly, and was for some time the protector of the people of the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania against the inroads of the tribes.

1817. The elegant sword voted by the state of New York to Com. McDonough, was presented to him at Hartford.

1820. CHARLES FERDINAND duc de Berri, assassinated. He was the youngest son of Charles X., a man of talents and intrepidity, and popular with the army. His assassin was actuated to the deed by a desire to exterminate the Bourbon family, which he had vowed to accomplish, and had begun with the duke, in whom the line was to be perpetuated. (See July 7, Louvel.)

1833. STANISLAUS PONIATOWSKI died at Florence. He was a nephew of Stanislaus Augustus, the last king of Poland. Having defended the interests of his country with manly eloquence in the diet of Poland, he retired to Florence, and was noted as a liberated patron of the arts and literature. This prince was the first who set the example of a useful and glorious reform by emancipating the serfs of his extensive domains.

1840. WILHELM WILLINK, a friend of Washington and of the United States, died at Amsterdam, aged 91. He furnished the first loan to the colonies after their revolt from the British dominion.

1843. Gen. ROBERT PORTERFIELD died at Augusta county, Va., aged 90. He served in the Revolutionary army.

1843. ISAAC HULL, a distinguished American commodore, died, aged 68.

FEBRUARY 14.

1543. The parliament of Paris caused the _Institutiones Religionis Christianæ_ of Calvin, to be publicly burned at Paris.

1554. BRETT the commander of the London train bands with 58 others, hanged for joining with sir Thos. Wyatt and his Kentish men, who tried to resist the Spanish influence.

1623. The floor of Black friars' church broke down while the people were at mass, killing 100.

1668. LOUIS XIV took Dole, in Franche Compte.

1696. English assassination plot to favor the interests of James II, discovered by Pendergrass.

1713. ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, earl of Shaftsbury, and author of the _Characteristics_, died. He was grandson of the earl who figured so conspicuously in the reign of Charles II; and possessed a spirit of liberty which displayed itself in his political character throughout his life, and by which he uniformly directed his conduct on all occasions.

1713. WILLIAM HARRISON, an elegant English poet, died.

1737. CHARLES TALBOT, an eminent English statesman and chancellor, died.

1756. Three hundred recruits sailed from New York for the army, under the command of Gov. Shirley, quartered at Albany; the river being free of ice.

1760. ISAAC HAWKINS BROWNE died. One of the most popular productions of this ingenious poet, is his _Pipe of Tobacco_, in imitation of Cibber, Ambrose, Philips, Thompson, Young, Pope and Swift, who were all living.

1762. Martinique and the other Caribee islands delivered up to the British under Monkton and Rodney, by the French governor, M. de la Touche. The entire reduction of Martinique was effected with the loss of 107 killed and 150 wounded. The French lost 1000 of their best men. Before its reduction the island could raise 10,000 white inhabitants fit to bear arms and 40,000 negroes.

1764. PETER RESTAUT died; an advocate at Paris, distinguished for his learning and integrity.

1764. Mr. WILLIAMS a printer was put in the pillory for republishing the North Briton, No. 45, at London. But the spectators made a contribution for him of over 200 guineas.

1779. JAMES COOK, the English navigator, killed by the natives of Owhyhee. He was born 1728, of indigent parentage; entered the royal navy in 1755; had the command of a vessel sent against Quebec 1759, after the capture of which he assisted at the taking of Newfoundland. After making several voyages for scientific purposes, he sailed in 1776 on his grand enterprise for the discovery of a northwest passage, during which he met his fate.

1779. Battle of Cherokee Ford, in which Col. Pickens attacked and defeated a body of tories, killed 39 of them and their leader, Col. Boyd, and took about 70 prisoners. Of the last 5 only were executed. Pickens lost 9 killed.

1780. WILLIAM BLACKSTONE died. He was born in London, 1723, and was called to the bar 1746. In 1765 he published the first volume of his _Commentaries on the laws of England_, a production by which his name will descend to all posterity. His private character is said to have been exceedingly mild and amiable, and he was throughout life assiduously addicted to business.

1780. A Russian manifesto announced the coalition called the "armed neutrality," formed on the basis that free trade makes free goods.

1781. The American army under Gen. Greene, which had continued to retreat since the battle of the Cowpens, crossed the Dan, leaving the whole of North Carolina in the hands of the enemy. So close was the pursuit, that the van of the British reached the river, as the rear of the continentals had crossed, after a march of 40 miles that day.

1782. The island of Nevis surrendered to the French, under count de Grasse.

1785. KIENLONG, emperor of China, made a feast for the ancients of his kingdom. Those who had attained 100 years, received 50 bushels of rice and 2 pieces of silk; those who had reached 90 years, received 30 bushels rice and 2 pieces of inferior silk, and others in the same proportion, down to 50 years. Presents, to a large amount, were also made to the poor throughout the empire. He likewise exempted all the people from taxes that year, which was the 50th of his reign. On the occasion of the feast, 3000 aged men of quality sat down to it, and the emperor sat at the head of the table to do the honors.

1793. BRASS CROSBY died. He rose from a humble attorney to be lord mayor of London. Being implicated in some difficulties with the printers, in 1771, and stoutly avowing his partialities, he was sent to the tower, notwithstanding the dignity of his office; but his liberation was attended with great marks of respect and attention from the citizens.

1797. Action between the Spanish fleet of 27 sail and 12 frigates, admiral Langara, off St. Vincent, and the British under Admiral Jervis, 15 ships and 6 frigates. Four of the Spanish ships were captured, (two of 112 guns each) and the remainder completely defeated. British loss, 300 killed and wounded; Spanish loss 603.

1808. JOHN DICKINSON, an American political writer, died. He practiced law in Philadelphia until 1765; was deputed to attend the first congress at New York, and prepared the draft of the bold resolutions of that congress. He opposed the Declaration of Independence, believing that compromise was still practicable; but soon after entered into it with ardor. His public services were eminent.

1814. Battle of Vauchamp, between the French and Russians, in which the latter were defeated. At 8 in the evening Marmont attacked and defeated the Russians at Etoges, who lost 9 cannon and 1300 men killed.

1831. Insurrection at Paris in consequence of an attempt by the priests to celebrate a funeral mass for the duke de Berri. Several churches were destroyed or injured.

1831. GUERRERO, ex-president of Mexico, shot.

1834. JOHN SHORE, Lord Teignmouth, died, aged 82. He went to India in his youth, in the service of the East India company and succeeded Lord Cornwallis as governor, there. He returned to England 1798; and on the formation of the British and Foreign Bible society, he was chosen the first president, and held the office during life.

1843. Mr. JOHN MARTIN, aged 105, died at Augusta, Georgia. He came with a company of salt buyers to Georgia, under the direction of Oglethorpe.

1852. Dr. RAE, the arctic explorer, arrived at St. Paul, Minnesota, having returned from a search for Sir John Franklin, without discovering any trace of that ill-fated adventurer.

FEBRUARY 15.

Feast of Supercalia at Rome, in honor of the god Pan, the defender from wolves.

1564. Birthday of GALILEO GALILEI, at Pisa, in Italy.

1600. JOSEPH D'ACOSTA, the Spanish historian, died. He was born in Leon, 1539, and became remarkably efficient in literature and science at an early age. In 1571 he was despatched as a missionary to South America, where he remained till 1588. During his residence at Peru he wrote the _Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias_, which has been translated into nearly all the European languages, and is valuable for its information on the early condition of the continent.

1632. DUDLEY CARLETON, an English statesman and political writer, died.

1664. JOHN TWYNNE was convicted of high treason and executed. His offence was printing the matter called libelous written by Milton and others.

1682. CLAUDE DE LA COLOMBIERE, a famous Jesuit, died. He became very popular as a preacher before James II, of England, and was the inventor of "The Solemnity of the Heart of Jesus."

1694. BRADFORD paid for printing the first book in the city of New York.

1708. JOHN PHILLIPS, an elegant English poet, died, aged 32.

1730. THOMAS BRAY, an English divine, died. He made himself eminent by his unwearied attention to the practice of benevolence; many charitable societies and good designs in London are formed on plans which he projected.

1732. FRANCIS ATTERBURY died. He was the son of a parish rector, educated for the ministry, and made himself conspicuous by his eloquence as a preacher. His ambition was gratified by preferments, honors and emoluments, till, in the reign of Anne, 1713, he reached the seat of the bishop of Rochester, the acme of his greatness. On the accession of George I, his prospects began to wane; and being suspected of some treasonable acts, he was condemned to perpetual exile. He settled in Paris, and died there. His literary fame rests on his sermons, and his correspondence with Pope.

1763. Peace of Hubertsburg concluded at the electoral palace of that name, which concluded the seven years' war between Austria, Prussia and Poland.

1765. CHARLES ANDREW VANLOO, a highly distinguished French painter, died.

1766. JOHN HELLOT, a French philosophical writer, and distinguished chemist, died.

1781. GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING, one of the most distinguished German authors, died. He contributed more than any other individual to the regeneration of German literature, and was remarkable for the versatility of his genius.

1782. Battle off Fort St. George, East Indies, between the British under Admiral Hughes, and the French under Admiral Suffrein.

1784. SCIPIO BEXON died at Paris. He assisted Buffon in his natural history, and was also an author in his own name.

1788. GEORGE ANN BELLAMY, an English actress of the time of Garrick, died at Edinburgh, aged 55. She drew the attention of the town for a number of seasons, particularly when she played Juliet with Garrick at Drury-Lane, against Mrs. Cibber and Barry at Covent Garden. She published her own memoirs in 6 vols.

1794. JOHN FENN, a learned antiquary, died. He greatly distinguished himself by his application to the study of natural history and antiquities; and made a large collection of curious original letters, written during the fifteenth century, which were published in 4 vols. quarto.

1796. The British under Admiral Elphinstone, captured Colombo in the East Indies, which is at present the seat of the British government in the island of Ceylon.

1798. Rome declared a republic.

1801. Concordat between Bonaparte and Pius VII, for the reestablishment of religion in France, signed at Paris.

1804. A squadron of the East India company ships under Capt. Dance, convoying the China fleet, beat off in the China seas, the French ship Marengo, 80 guns, Admiral Linois, 2 heavy frigates, a corvette of 28 guns, and a Dutch brig of 18 guns.

1806. JOSEPH BONAPARTE entered Naples, upon the capitulation of the garrison, and was soon after chosen king.

1808. The king of Prussia renounced all connection, political and commercial, with Great Britain, in compliance with the treaty of Tilsit.

1810. Birthday of LOUIS XV, of France, under whose reign the corruption of morals and principles spread to an alarming extent among all classes, and were followed by a general poverty, national humiliation, and ruined finances, which prepared the way for the explosion that took place under his unfortunate successor.

1813. Battle of Pietra Nera, on the coast of Calabria, between the French and the Sicilians.

1814. Battle of Montmirail in France, between the French under Bonaparte and the Russians under Blucher, in which the former gained a small advantage after a hard contest.

1815. British sloop of war Barbados, captured the United States letter of marque brigantine Vidette, 3 guns, 30 men.

1817. Cold day throughout the United States; thermometer 8° below zero in Philadelphia, and 20° at Salem, Mass. Heavily laden teams crossed from Boston to Fort Independence.

1817. A wagon loaded with specie for the bank of Pennsylvania, overturned near Pittsburgh, and Thomas Wilson was killed by a box of coin falling upon him.

1818. FREDERICK LOUIS, prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, a general in the Prussian service, died. He acquired distinction in the almost constant scene of war in Europe, from 1793 to 1806, and contributed greatly by his superior skill and valor to several important victories.

1820. WILLIAM ELLERY, one of the signers, expired in his chair while reading Cicero, aged 92. He was born at Newport, R. I.; graduated at Harvard in his 20th year; and practiced law at Newport until he was sent to the first congress. His house at Newport was burnt by the British. He had filled the office of collector of the customs since the term of Washington.

1826. SCIPIONE BREISLAK, an Italian geologist, died at Milan, universally regretted, both for his scientific merit and his personal qualities. His rich collection of minerals passed into the hands of the Borromeo family.

1832. The legislature of Maryland appropriated $200,000 for the removal of free blacks over the age of 18; and enacted penalties against the settlement of colored persons in that state.

1835. NATHAN DANE died at Beverly, Mass., aged 82. He was the framer of the celebrated ordinance of congress of 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, an admirable code of constitutional law, by which the principles of free government, to the exclusion of slavery, were extended to an immense region, and its political and moral interests secured on a permanent basis.

1836. JOHN GILLIES, historiographer to the king for Scotland, died, aged 90; author of a popular history of Greece, besides many other valuable works.

1836. MARGARET BURGEOIS died, on Prince Edward Island, aged 110.

1836. FIESCHI and his accomplices, Pepin and Moray, who attempted to take the life of the French king by the explosion of an infernal machine, executed at Paris.

1840. HARRIETT CAMPBELL, a Scottish author of distinguished talents, died at Montrieux in Switzerland, aged 34.

1843. NATHANIEL CHIPMAN, some time justice of the supreme court of Massachusetts and a senator of the United States, died in the 91st year of his age. He was a vigorous writer.

FEBRUARY 16.

309. PAMPHILIUS, presbyter of Cæsarea, died. He was of an eminent family, of great wealth and extensive learning, and ardently devoted to the scriptures. He collected a library of 30,000 volumes, solely for the promotion of religion. Traces of this library still remain at Paris and elsewhere.

1009. ABDURRAHMAN, hajib, or chamberlain, of Hisham, king of Cordova, beheaded. He was entrusted with the civil and military powers of government, but aspiring to the throne itself, was destroyed by the people.

1279. ALONZO III of Portugal, died. From an exile in poverty he was raised to the throne by the pope, who had deposed his brother for attacking the immunities of the church.

1497. Birthday of PHILIP MELANCTHON, at Britten, in the palatinate of the Rhine His proper name was Schwartzerd (black-earth), but according to the custom of the learned of that time, he changed it into the Greek term for the same word, _melancthon_.

1510. The Portuguese under Alphonso Albuquerque entered Goa in Hindostan.

1532. RICHARD ROUSE, the bishop of Rochester's cook, poisoned the soup and caused the death of several persons. An act was immediately passed making poisoning treason, and the punishment boiling to death. Rouse was boiled.

1560. JOHN DU BELLAY, bishop of Paris, died. He was engaged as a negotiator between Henry VIII and the pope, with respect to the divorce of the former.

1639. TEIXEIRA having ascended the Amazon and arrived at Quito, reembarked on his return this day, in a fleet of 45 canoes, with 70 soldiers, and 1200 native rowers.

1656. Spain declared war against England.

1736. Owing to an unprecedented tide, the council at Westminster hall, London, were carried out in boats to their coaches.

1741. GEORGE RAPHAEL DONNER, an Austrian sculptor, died. His works, to be seen in many Austrian churches and palaces, are masterpieces.