Part 25

1838. M. ANTOMARCHI, physician of Napoleon at St. Helena, died at St. Jago de Cuba. He was a native of Corsica, and left a professorship at Florence, in order to accompany the exiled emperor. He attended him in his last moments, of which he has given an account, and received a legacy of 100,000 francs. He afterwards practiced medicine in Paris, where he published a series of beautiful and expensive anatomical plates. On the revolt of the Poles he hastened thither, and took the direction of the medical establishments.

1854. JOHN WILSON, a Scottish author, died, aged 69. He is well known as the Christopher North of _Blackwood's Magazine_.

1856. GORHAM A. WORTH, a New York financier, died, aged 72.

1856. President COMMONFORT returned to the city of Mexico after a triumph at Puebla, where the rebel army surrendered to him, and where the rebel generals were reduced to the rank of privates.

APRIL 4.

357. B. C. A transit of the moon over the planet mars observed by Aristotle.

397. AMBROSE, archbishop of Milan, died. He was famous for the zeal which he manifested in the cause of the church, and the severity with which he censured the emperor Theodosius, who had barbarously ordered several innocent persons to be put to death at Thessalonica. The _Te Deum_ is attributed to him.

1284. ALPHONSO X, of Castile, died. He was elected emperor of Germany 1258, but neglecting to visit the empire, Rodolphus was chosen in his place. He was dethroned by his own son, and compelled to seek protection among the Saracens. His fame as an astronomer and a man of letters, is greater than as a monarch. He is the first Castilian king who had the public laws and the scriptures drawn in the vulgar tongue.

1581. DRAKE, the navigator, was knighted on board his famous ship, the Pelican, at Deptford.

1588. FREDERICK II, of Denmark, died. He was a liberal and enlightened ruler, who enlarged the happiness of his people and patronized learning. The astronomer Tycho Brahe, particularly, was indebted to him for munificent protection and advancement.

1589. Lady BURLEIGH, eldest daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, and a highly distinguished literary character, died, aged 63. This age was prolific of literary women.

1593. Three Samuels of Warboys condemned for bewitching the children of Mr. Throgmorton at Huntington, England.

1594. SYLVESTER WYET, of Bristol, England, made a voyage up the gulf of St. Lawrence, for the barbs or fins of whales and train oil. He met with 60 sail of French, and 28 sail of Englishmen, engaged in fishing at this early day.

1634. ROBERT NAUNTON, an English statesman, died. He was secretary of state to James I, and published some curious anecdotes of the reign of Elizabeth, under the title of _Fragmentia Regalia_.

1638. Massachusetts patent demanded. A quo warranto having been brought by the attorney general of England against the governor and corporation of Massachusetts, and judgment given that the liberties and franchises should be seized into the king's hand, the council made an order requiring that the charter should be returned by the next ship. Arbitrary measures were pursued in reply to the petitions of the colony, and 8 ships prepared to sail for New England were detained in the Thames by order of the privy council. By this order, Oliver Cromwell, Arthur Hazelrig, John Hambden and other malcontents, were forcibly prevented from emigrating to America. How little did Charles anticipate that by this high-handed measure he was detaining the very men who were destined to overturn his throne, and terminate his career by a violent death.

1643. SIMON EPISCOPIUS, an able Dutch divine, died. He embraced the doctrines of Arminius in relation to predestination, which exposed him to much persecution and obloquy, and finally led to his banishment from the commonwealth: he afterwards was permitted to return, and became minister of the remonstrant church. His death happening at the moment of an eclipse of the moon, was considered as an emblem of the departure of the brightest ornament of the church.

1656. ANDREW RIVINUS, (alias Barchmann) a Saxon physician, died. He became professor of poetry and philosophy at Leipsic, and published several works of considerable merit.

1669. JOHANN MICHAEL MOSCHEROSCH, a German writer, died. His celebrity consisted chiefly in some satirical pieces entitled _Wunderliche und wahrhafte Geschichte Philanders von Sittewald_.

1704. The first newspaper printed in the United States, appeared at Boston, called the _Boston News Letter_.

1706. JOHN BAYLES, an English buttonmaker, died, aged 130. He used to walk to the neighboring markets with his buttons till he was 120 years of age.

1720. KNIGHTLY CHETWODE, dean of Gloucester, died. He wrote several poems, and a life of lord Roscommon.

1743. ROBERT AINSWORTH, an English teacher, died. In 1714 he was invited by the English booksellers to undertake the compilation of an English and Latin dictionary, on the plan of Faber's _Thesaurus_. The task proved to be more difficult than had been anticipated, and was not completed till 1736.

1747. Number Four (Charlestown, N. H.) attacked by a large body of French and Indians under M. Debeline, and gallantly defended by 30 men, under major Stevens. The enemy kept up a brisk assault night and day; when, on the third day, being in a starving condition, and finding it impracticable to force or persuade a surrender, they retired and were seen no more. This was considered one of the most chivalrous feats of the time.

1764. MICHAEL LOMONOZOF, a Russian poet, died. From the occupation of a fishmonger he rose to be the "father of Russian poetry," and a philosopher of no mean pretensions. He published a history of the Russian sovereigns, and an ancient history of Russia, from the origin of the nation. His odes are greatly admired for the originality of invention, sublimity of sentiment, and energy of language.

1769. HYDER ALLY, the adventurous East India chief, compelled the English to form a treaty with him.

1770. JAMES PARSONS, an eminent English physician, died. He was the correspondent of Buffon and other learned characters on the continent, and an able writer on physic, anatomy, natural history, antiquities, language, and the fine arts.

1774. OLIVER GOLDSMITH died, aged 46. He received a partial education at Dublin college, after which he strayed from home, and making a tour on the continent, afoot and alone, with a flute in his hand, fixed himself, on his return, in London, as a _builder of books_. The details of his life are interesting, chequered as they are with vicissitudes. As a bookseller's hack he was particularly successful; but the liberality of his disposition and want of economy, contributed to keep him in want, and sometimes brought him to starvation. He died about £2,000 in debt. His works, though most of them were produced on the spur of the moment, to procure the necessaries of life, are still found in almost every library.

1777. JOHN SWINTON, an English antiquary, died. His literary productions, which are numerous, appeared originally in the Philosophical Transactions, and relate principally to antiquities.

1786. Columbia county, in the state of New York, erected.

1793. General DUMOURIEZ, accompanied by General Valance and young Egalite (Louis Philip), afterwards king of France, narrowly escaped to the Austrians.

1794. Battle of Raclawice, Poland, between the Russians and 4,000 Poles under Kosciusko, mostly armed with scythes. The battle lasted five hours, and ended in the defeat of the Russians, who left 3,000 killed on the spot.

1795. BARRERE a lawyer, VARENNES a monk, COLLOT DE HERBOIS a comedian, and VADIER a counsellor, members of the French convention, sentenced by a decree of that body to be transported to Guiana. Barrere was president of the convention, and as such passed sentence of death upon the king; and they all voted for the king's death.

1799. Battle of Tauffers and St. Marie, in Germany. The French under Jourdan lost upwards of 4,000 men, and fell back to the heights of Villengen.

1802. LLOYD KENYON, an English judge, died. He filled the offices entrusted to him with distinguished integrity, and to him England is indebted for much of that reform which has been introduced into the practice of the law.

1807. JOSEPH JEROME LA FRANCAIS DE LALANDE died at Paris, aged 70. He received a minute religious education, and displayed his abilities while quite young by his sermons and mystical romances. His attention was first drawn to astronomy by the remarkable comet of 1744; and he pursued the study with so great success that he was sent to Berlin by the academy at the age of 19, to make some observations on the moon's parallax, when Frederick the Great could not conceal his astonishment at the phenomenon of so young an astronomer. He became editor of the _Connaissance des Temps_, published several works on astronomy, and wrote all the astronomical articles for the great _Encyclopedie_. In 1778 he published a folio volume on canals, containing a general history of all the ancient canals which had been previously undertaken, accomplished and even projected. Although a sceptic, he is said to have been "religious, in his own way."

1809. The legislature of Pennsylvania passed a law directing the poor to be sent to the most convenient school and their tuition paid.

1812. Congress passed an embargo law for 90 days.

1814. Bonaparte having received the opinions of his marshals abdicates the imperial throne in favor of his son, only to be succeeded the next day by a relinquishment in favor of his heirs also.

1815. Hostilities between France and the allied powers ceased. Alexander I, in the name of the allies, recommended Bonaparte to choose a place of retreat for himself and his family.

1817. ANDREW MASSENA, prince of Essling, one of the ablest of Bonaparte's field marshals, died. He commanded in chief in the memorable campaign in Switzerland; when at the battle of Zurich he had to contend against the archduke Charles and prince Suwaroff; yet the fruits of this campaign were 70,000 prisoners. He ended his military career in 1810, by the command of the army of Portugal, where he was defeated by Wellington.

1831. ISAIAH THOMAS, a distinguished American printer, died. He was born in Boston, 1749, served an apprenticeship of 11 years, and commenced business at a very early age at Newburyport. In 1770 he printed the _Massachusetts Spy_ at Boston, where he annoyed the provincial officers by the boldness and freedom of his articles on the difficulties that agitated the country. He was also one of the most active and dexterous of the skirmishers on the plains of Lexington. A few days after that affair he removed his paper to Worcester; and gradually established presses and book-stores in different parts of the Union, to the number of twenty-four; so that he nearly supplied the entire country with books. His Bibles, school books and almanacs, were in great repute for a long time. He was the founder of the American antiquarian society, and author of the _History of Printing in America_, a valuable work to the profession and the antiquary.

1841. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, president of the United States, died at Washington, aged 69. He was a distinguished patriot of the revolution, one of the signers of the declaration of independence, governor of Virginia, and long a leader of the United States armies in the severe contests with the British and Indians.

1855. The Baltic fleet, fitted out by the French and British governments to act against the northern ports of Russia, sailed from Portsmouth.

APRIL 5.

2348 B. C. The ark of Noah rested on mount Ararat.

347 B. C. PLATO, the Athenian philosopher, died. He was the pupil of Socrates, and on the death of his master went into foreign countries in search of knowledge. His works have come down to us, and confirm the opinions of his contemporaries by whom his talents and learning were highly appreciated.

33. The day of our Savior's resurrection called Easter.

1242. Battle of lake Peipus, in Russia; the Russians under Alexander Jaroslawitz gained a decisive victory over the Swedes under Eric XI. The battle was fought on the ice; 400 Teutonic knights were slain, and 50 made prisoners. The German knights were pardoned, but the Esthonians were ordered to be hung as Russian rebels.

1470. An instrument similar to a warranty deed given to William Tourneville, bishop of Angers, with a copy of Faust and Schoeffer's Bible for the sum of 40 crowns, bears this date.

1605. JOHN STOW, an English antiquary and historian, died, aged 80. He was born in London, 1525, and initiated by his father into all the mysteries of tailoring as practiced at that period. But he discovered a penchant for musty relics and antiquarian lumber, and finally quitted his business to compose a history of England. He at length got together such a medley of antique and diabolical books and parchments, that he became suspected of some heretical designs against religion, so that the bishop of London ordered an investigation of his library. He published _A Summarie of the Englyshe Chronicles_, and in 1598 a _Survey of London_, on which he was long employed, and which has been often reprinted. He was reduced to live by charity, and at length fell a victim to poverty and disease. His labors formed a rich legacy to future historians.

1621. JOHN CARVER, first governor of Massachusetts, died. He conducted the colonists over from Leyden, and managed the affairs of the settlement with great prudence and address.

1676. JOHN WINTHROP, first governor of Connecticut, died. He was the eldest son of the governor of Massachusetts, and a man of great learning and talents. He was one of the founders of the Royal society, distinguished as one of the greatest chemists and physicians of the day, and one of the most noted men in New England. In 1635 he came over to settle a plantation on Connecticut river, and began the town of Saybrook at the mouth of that river.

1677. Cambray, a fortified city of France, surrendered to Louis XIV, who commanded in person.

1684. WILLIAM BROUNCKER, an English mathematician, died. He is celebrated for his attachment to the royal cause during the civil wars. On the institution of the Royal society, he was the first president, and adorned the office by his polite manners and extensive erudition.

1707. Battle of Almanza, in Spain; the allied British, Dutch, and Portuguese army defeated with the loss of 1000, attributed to the bad conduct of the Portuguese troops.

1725. BENJAMIN IBBOT, an eloquent English divine, died. A selection of his sermons was published after his death by his friend Dr. Samuel Clarke.

1735. WILLIAM DERHAM, an able English philosopher and divine, died. He accomplished much in the advancement of science by a long life of industry; his publications amounting to not less than 40, mostly on philosophical subjects.

1746. THOMAS HANMER, an English statesman, died. He was for 30 years a distinguished member of Parliament, from which he retired to devote himself to literary pursuits.

1748. Unsuccessful attempt by the British under admiral Knowles on St. Jago de Cuba.

1753. Parliament passed an act to raise £20,000 by lottery to purchase the library of Sir Hanse Sloane, of his daughters, for the public use. It formed the basis of the British museum.

1758. The first number of Johnson's _Idler_ appeared.

1762. Granada surrendered to the British.

1776. GRAINGER, vicar of Shiplake and author of the _Biographical History of England_, died suddenly while administering the sacrament.

1779. The refugees plundered Nantucket and carried off with them two loaded brigs, and several other vessels.

1780. ALEXIS HUBERT JAILLOT, a French geographer, and sculptor to the king, died.

1790. ELIZABETH WELSH died at New York, aged 104.

1794. GEORGE JAMES DANTON, a French Revolutionary Leader, guillotined. Robespierre, dreading the dauntless intrepidity of Danton, Fabre d'Eglantine, Bazire, Chabot, and others of the most noted of his fellow desperadoes in the convention, caused them to be arrested as conspirators against the republic, and after a summary trial, they were executed by the guillotine on this day. The government of France was now almost entirely vested in one man, under whose sanguinary administration the prisons of Paris contained at one time more than seven thousand persons, and a day seldom passed without sixty or eighty executions by the revolutionary axe.

1794. MARIE JEAN HERAULT DE SECHELLES, a French statesman, guillotined. He conducted before the revolution as an able and upright officer; but as the scene progressed he became identified with the terrorists, and went to the scaffold with Danton, Desmoulins, (q. v.) and others. The two conducted with as much levity in their last moments as if they had been going to a party of pleasure.

1794. BENEDICT CAMILLE DESMOULINS, one of the founders of the Jacobin club in France, guillotined. He was the friend of Danton, and one of the most bloody and reckless of the revolutionists. When arraigned by order of Robespierre, he was asked his age, to which he replied "_33 ans, l'age du sans culotte Jesus Christ_." His wife, whom he adored, a beautiful, courageous and spirited woman, desired to share her husband's fate, which Robespierre seems not to have been slow to grant.

1795. Treaty of peace concluded at Basle, Switzerland, between France and Prussia.

1795. County of Schoharie, in New York, erected.

1797. The first Turkish ships arrived at London.

1799. The British forces under Gen. Harris, called the Madras army, arrived at Seringapatam, within Tippoo Saib had retreated after the defeat of Seedasere.

1799. Battle of Villingen and Rothweil in Germany; the French under Joubert defeated by the Austrians under the archduke Charles.

1800. British captured Goeree; admiral Duckworth's squadron on the same day, fell in with and captured two Spanish frigates and eleven merchantmen from Lima. The admiral's share of the spoil amounted to £75,000.

1804. ROBERT RAIKES, an English printer and philanthropist, died. He succeeded his father in the printing business and having realized a good property, he employed it, with his pen and his influence, in relieving such objects as stood in need of his benevolent assistance. He is however best known as the originator of sabbath schools.

1811. HENRY I (Christophe), king of Hayti, created an hereditary nobility, consisting of 4 princes, 7 dukes, 21 counts, 9 barons and chevaliers, and appointed persons to those ranks.

1811. JAMES TRAQUAIR died; the first man in America who procured busts to be carved in American marble. They were likenesses of Washington and Penn, and executed by an Italian.

1814. BONAPARTE accepted the island of Elba as his residence, and renounced for himself and heirs the throne of France.

1815. Continued eruption of Tomboro, which began April 3. (See April 12.)

1817. Battle of Maypu, which sealed the independence of Chili. The patriots under San Martin and Las Heras defeated the royalists, 5000, under Osorio; 2000 were killed and 2500 taken.

1830. The bill to remove the civil disabilities of the Jews introduced into the British parliament.

1832. Ratification of the treaties of commerce, navigation and limits, between the United States and Mexico, exchanged at Washington.

1837. HENRY BATHURST, bishop of Norwich, died in London, aged 93. He was distinguished for the liberality of his principles, and was exemplary in the exercise of his duties--the father of 36 children, 22 by his first wife, 14 by his second.

1842. PATRICK KELLY died at Brighton, England. He is well known for his valuable writings on science, but his great work the _Universal Cambist_ entitles him to lasting distinction.

1843. VALNIER, a native of St. Domingo, died at Merida, Yucatan, aged 117. He retained his sight until the age of 105, and his intellect was unimpaired till the time of his death.

1844. JOHN SANDERSON of Philadelphia, who wrote an account of the lives of the signers of the declaration of American independence, died. He had some reputation for wit.

1852. FELIX VON SCHWARTZENBERG died at Vienna, aged 52. He represented the Austrian empire at various courts, at different periods, the earliest being at the age of 15. In a military capacity he took the field in 1843 against Charles Albert of Sardinia, and half a year later succeeded prince Metternich, on his fall, as prime minister of the empire.

1853. A new planet was discovered by Prof. de Gasparis, at Naples.

APRIL 6.

323 B. C. ALEXANDER (_the Great_,) of Macedon, died of intemperance. The death of this famous hero took place at Babylon, on the 6th day of the Athenian month Thagelion, which then corresponded with the 28th of the Macedonian month Dæsius. He lived 32 years and 10 months, and reigned, computing from the Olympiad six months prior to the death of Philip, 12 years and 10 months--a brief career of extraordinary, but profitless glory.

1190. RICHARD I (_Cœur de Lion_), killed at the siege of Chalus, in France. He commenced his career by rebellion against his father. On ascending the throne of England, he plundered and massacred the Jews, and set sail for Palestine with the bravest of his subjects. Taking the lead in the crusade, he gained a series of victories over the Moslem. On his way home he was seized and imprisoned, and ransomed by his subjects with 150,000 marks. He was preparing for another crusade, when his career was suddenly terminated by a wound from a cross-bow, in the 42d year of his age.

1348. LAURA DE NOVES, Petrarch's mistress, died. She was descended of a Provencal family which became extinct in the 16th century, inherited a large fortune by the death of her father, and married Hugh de Sade of Avignon. She was considered the most beautiful woman of the city. Petrarch says it was 6 o'clock in the morning of the 6th April, 1327, that he first saw her in the church of the nuns of St. Clara; and it was at the same hour of the same day, 1348, that she died of the plague. Nearly two centuries after, some antiquarians obtained permission to open her grave. They found a parchment enclosed in a leaden box, containing a sonnet bearing Petrarch's signature.

1453. MOHAMMED II besieged Constantinople, which terminated in the overthrow of the Christian empire.

1528. ALBRECHT DUERER, a celebrated German painter and engraver, died. He is still esteemed in Germany as one of the brightest jewels in her crown of fame. He was the reformer if not the founder of the German school of painting, and was the first to bring the art of engraving to any degree of perfection.

1574. PAUL MANUTIUS, a learned Venetian printer, died, aged 62. He wrote valuable commentaries on Cicero, and four treatises on Roman antiquities.

1580. Earthquake which was felt throughout England. The bells rang, and chimneys toppled down.

1590. FRANCIS WALSYNGHAM, an English statesman, died, aged 90. He flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, and was of infinite service to the state, by the energy and zeal with which he performed the duties of his offices. Yet he died so poor that his remains were privately buried by night, without any ceremony.

1609. HENRY HUDSON departed from the Texel on his famous voyage of discovery, the object of which was to find a northern passage to India. Meeting with obstructions he determined to attempt a north-west passage; and this also being attended with disasters, he shaped his course south along the American continent, and discovered the noble river which bears his name, and gave him immortality.

1645. WILLIAM BURTON, an English antiquary, died. He published a history of the county of Leicestershire, which is valuable.