Part 28

1834. N. G. DUFIEF, a French linguist, died. His mother was distinguished for her heroism in the Vendean war; and the son was driven to America by political disturbances, and resided at Philadelphia. He just survived the publication of his great work, the _Pronouncing Dictionary_.

1839. JOHN GALT, the novelist, died at Greenock, Scotland, aged 60. Being unsuccessful in business in London, he visited the south of Europe in 1809, and soon after commenced an active literary career, which continued till near the close of his life.

1839. The justly celebrated Dr. Black, of Mareschall college, Aberdeen, Dr. Keith so well known as a writer on prophecy, with the devoted Messrs. McCheyne and Bonar of the Scottish church, sailed from Dover in England to inquire into and devise measures for the amelioration of the state of the Jews in Palestine. This mission proved of much benefit.

1840. FRANCIS ANTHONY, chevalier de GERSTNER, a distinguished Austrian engineer, died at Philadelphia, aged 44. He commenced at his own risk, the first rail road on the continent of Europe, from Budweis on the Moldau, to Lintz on the Danube, 130 miles. He suggested to the emperor Nicholas the project of a rail road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a portion of which was undertaken under his direction, and first opened in 1837, and since prosecuted by the government.

1848. New code of New York laws adopted.

1849. Signor GASPARIS, at Naples, discovered a new planet, making the fourth added to our system in four years.

1850. ADONIRAM JUDSON, a celebrated baptist missionary died at sea.

1854. A review of 25,000 troops in Paris, before the British officers.

1854. The French squadron under Admiral Parseval-Deschenes, sailed from Brest to join the British fleet in the Baltic.

1855. The United States gave the twelve months' notice to Denmark of their intention to terminate the treaty of 1826, by which the payment of sound dues was recognized.

APRIL 13.

58 B. C. JULIUS CÆSAR finished his famous wall of entrenchment, 16 feet in height and 17 miles in length, from Geneva to St. Claude; being a labor of only 6 days.

1436. Paris surrendered to the French under Charles VII, having been almost 14 years in the possession of the English.

1517. Cairo taken by the Turks under Selim, after a gallant resistance, and 50,000 of its inhabitants barbarously massacred. The sultan was hanged on one of the gates, Egypt was reduced to a province, and the power of the Mamelukes crushed, who for more than 260 years had swayed the land.

1584. An expedition fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh took possession of Wowoken, on the coast of America, since called Virginia. A colony was left there, but they were cut off by the Indians, and every one put to death.

1598. HENRY IV of France published at Nantes the memorable edict of toleration; it was revoked 1685, by Louis XIV.

1605. BORIS GODOONOFF, czar of Moscow, died. He was called to the throne by acclamation, on the death of Fedor, the last of the dynasty of Ruric. In abilities and vigor of character, he resembled Peter the great; and might be called one of the greatest of princes, was not his name tarnished by a crime that led his way to the throne.

1638. HENRY, duke of Rohan, a French warrior and historian, died. He signalized himself under Henry IV, both in the field and in the cabinet, but the jealousy of Richelieu drove him to Geneva. He joined the duke of Saxe Weimar against the imperialists, and was wounded in the battle, of which he died.

1640. The English parliament again met by royal mandate, after a refusal on the part of the king to call one for 12 years.

1641. RICHARD MONTAGUE, a learned English prelate, died. He published several controversial works.

1684. NICOLAO ANTONIO, a Spanish author, died. He published an account of all the Spanish writers, in 4 vols. folio, entitled _Bibliotheca Hispania_. He spent his income, which was large, in acts of charity, and in collecting a library, which at his death, amounted to 30,000 volumes.

1686. ANTONIO DE SOLIS, a Spanish author of note, died, aged 76. He was appointed historiographer of the Indies, and wrote the _Conquest of Mexico_, on which his fame as an author principally rests.

1699. Birthday of MARIA CATHARINA WALTER, in Germany. She died in Philadelphia, 1802, aged over 103, having lived in three centuries.

1722. CHARLES LESLIE, an Irish theologian, died. He was a magistrate under James II, and respected for his talents and integrity. His writings were numerous, and sought for with avidity.

1726. VELASCO Y. PALOMINO, a highly admired Spanish painter, died at Madrid.

1742. OLIVER REYLOF died at Ghent, eminent as a Latin poet.

1743. CHRISTOPHER PITT, an English poet, died. His translation of Virgil's _Æneid_ is said to be superior to Dryden's.

1759. GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, the illustrious German musical composer, died at London, aged 75. His grand oratorio, the _Messiah_, appeared in 1741.

1759. Battle of Bergen, in which the duke of Broglio defeated the allies under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who lost 2,000 men and the Hanoverian prince Ysemberg.

1777. Battle of Boundbrook, New Jersey, in which 500 Americans under Gen. Lincoln were attacked by 2000 British under Cornwallis, and effected a retreat with the loss of 60.

1782. Third action off Ceylon, between the British under Admiral Hughes, and the French under Suffrein; latter defeated.

1787. Board of regents of the university of the state of New York established.

1788. Great riot in New York, occasioned by the imprudent manner in which the physicians procured subjects from the burying grounds; several lives lost.

1794. PETER GASPARD CHAUMETTE, a French revolutionist, executed. He was the son of a cobbler, displayed great courage at the taking of the Bastile, and became one of the most sanguinary and reckless characters of the time, till his career was arrested by the guillotine.

1795. Riots in England on account of the high prices of food.

1796. Battle in the defiles of Millesimo, Italy, in which the French under Augereau and Joubert defeated the imperialists, who retreated to the mountains of Cossaria.

1799. Schaffhausen, on the Rhine in Switzerland, taken by the imperialists.

1801. The canal at Alexandria, Egypt, cut by the British, and the country inundated.

1804. Makey, a Malay settlement on the coast of Sumatra, destroyed by the British.

1807. ROBERT HERON, an erudite and popular writer, died. By unwearied industry he raised himself from an obscure to a prominent situation in society.

1813. Battle of Castilla, in Spain; the British under Sir John Murray, defeated the French under Suchet.

1815. The bill for the construction of the Erie canal from the Hudson river to lake Erie, passed the house of assembly, 84 to 15.

1818. THOMAS HATCHCOCK died in Richmond county, North Carolina, aged 125, leaving a son aged 93 and another 16, and a great progeny besides.

1827. HUGH CLAPPERTON, a Scottish traveler, died. He was employed by the British to explore the interior of Africa, and died at Sackatoo, on his second journey thither.

1832. SHADRACH BOND, first governor of Illinois, died at Kaskaskia.

1839. ROBERT HILLHOUSE, an English poet, died. He was a stocking-weaver of Nottingham, and had no advantages of education but such as were afforded by Sunday schools. His works "will insure his celebrity as a poet of no mean grade."

1850. Pope PIUS IX returned to Rome.

1853. WILLIAM R. KING, vice-president of the United States, died. He was for many years a diplomat abroad, and his career furnished a remarkable instance of the eminent and deserved success of probity, fidelity, industry, gentlemanly spirit and bearing, and inflexible honor.

1855. HENRY THOMAS DE LA BECHE, an eminent English geologist, died, aged 59. He was the author of many geological works, and director-general of the geological survey of the united kingdom, and was knighted in 1848, in recognition of his valued and long-continued services.

1856. Philadelphia visited by a tornado, 150 houses unroofed.

APRIL 14.

979. ETHELRED II, crowned at Kingston by the famous Dunstan, then archbishop of Canterbury. This was the first king in England who took a coronation oath, and the first it is said to institute trial by jury. In this reign priests were forbidden to marry.

1040. HAROLD I (_Harefoot_), king of England, died. He was succeeded by his brother Hardicanute, whose first act was to order the body of Harold to be dug up and thrown into the Thames.

1293. Naval engagement in the British channel, between the French and English fleets, by mutual agreement, with the whole of their respective forces. The English, under Edward I, were victorious, carrying off more than 250 sail of their opponents.

1293. The mariners of Portsmouth and the Cinque Ports captured the Norman fleet, of 200 ships, off Brittany, and massacred the crews.

1322. FITZ-SIMEON and HUGH the illuminator, two friars of Dublin, commenced their pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre.

1345. RICHARD AUNGERVILLE, an English scholar and statesman, died; better known as Richard de Bury. He may be classed as the first bibliomaniac upon record in England. He purchased thirty or forty volumes of the _Abbot of St. Albans_, for fifty pounds weight of silver; and so enamored was he of his collection, which became very large for that period, that he expressly composed a treatise on the love of books, entitled _Philobiblon_.

1471. Battle of Barnet, between Edward IV and the great earl of Warwick, in which the latter was defeated and slain, together with his brother and 10,000 men. Margaret (the queen of Henry VI, who was confined in the tower,) landed from France on the same day with troops, only to hear the tidings of the disaster which had befallen her cause.

1558. Marriage of the dauphin of France with Mary Stuart, queen of Scots, to whom he had been affianced ten years.

1619. JOHN VAN OLDENBARNEVELDT, a statesman in the time of Elizabeth, beheaded for his praiseworthy attempts to limit the power of the stadtholder Maurice, which were construed into crimes. His noble lady, who witnessed his death without emotion, was afterwards solicitous for the pardon of a son, telling the astonished Maurice that she did not ask pardon for her husband for he was innocent, but she entreated for her son for he was guilty.

1662. WILLIAM FIENNES, Lord Say and Sele, died. He was a troublesome subject under Charles I and Cromwell; but became tractable under Charles II (as he had been under James I), and was promoted, instead of others who had been more devoted to the royal cause.

1685. THOMAS OTWAY, an English dramatist, died. His tragedy of _Venice Preserved_ still keeps the stage; and though his pieces were generally successful, he died at a public house (where he had secreted himself from his creditors) in a state of great destitution, at the early age of 34.

1707. Battle of Almanza, in which the combined English and Portuguese armies were totally defeated by the French and Spaniards under the duke of Berwick, with the loss of 5,000 killed and wounded, and 10,000 prisoners.

1711. LOUIS, the dauphin of France, died of smallpox, aged 50.

1743. THOMAS RUNDLE, a learned English prelate, died. He was the intimate friend of the learned and polite of his age. A volume of his letters has been published.

1760. LOUIS SILVESTER, an eminent French painter, died. He was ennobled by the king of Poland.

1769. JOHN GILBERT COOPER, an English miscellaneous writer, died. He was a man of wealth, who made literature his amusement. His works, original and translated, are lively and elegant.

1780. Battle of Monk's Corner in South Carolina; the American cavalry surprised and defeated by Tarleton.

1783. MICHAEL FRANCIS DANDRE-BARDON, a French painter, died. He was professor in the academy of painting, and admired for his historical writings.

1785. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD, an English poet, died. His principal works are the _Roman Father_ and _Creusa_, dramas, which were received with great applause.

1793. Action between the British ship Phæton and French privateer Dumourier, with a Spanish prize in tow. The prize was taken; her cargo was valued at £1,300,000, and £935,000 was adjudged salvage for her recapture.

1793. JOHN BAPTIST GOBEL, a French bishop, guillotined. He took an active part in the revolution, abjured religion, and was _condemned by Robespierre for atheism_, and executed.

1795. A cargo of boards arrived at Newburyport, the first arrival through the locks and canals on Merrimack river--an expensive project of inland navigation, which was the best then in vogue.

1796. Battle of Millesimo, Italy; the French under Napoleon defeated the Austrians and Sardinians, who lost 2,500 killed, about 8,000 prisoners, and 22 cannon.

1801. LEMUEL HOPKINS, a Connecticut physician and poet, died. He was singular in his appearance and habits, but possessed great skill and assiduity in his profession; and as a man of learning and a poet entitled to more fame than is awarded him.

1803. JOHN F. HAMTRAMCK, an officer of the revolution, died at Detroit, where he was stationed as colonel of the first regiment of United States infantry, and commandant of Detroit and its dependencies. He served during the whole war of the revolution, with such distinguished merit as to receive the particular approbation of Washington.

1809. BEILBY PORTEUS, bishop of London, died. His talents and acquirements procured him honors and wealth; and his writings will perpetuate his name.

1814. Congress repealed the embargo law of Dec, 1813.

1855. The office of the _Industrial Luminary_ in Parkville, Missouri, was broken into, and ransacked, and the press thrown into the Missouri river, and the editors ordered to leave the state. The mob voted that no person belonging to the northern methodist church should preach in Platte county under "the penalty of tar and feathers for the first offence, and a hemp rope for the second."

APRIL 15.

1491 B. C. The Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sin, on the 15th of Jiar, just a month after their departure from Ramasses.

43 B. C. First battle of Mutina, the modern Modena, in which Marc Antony was repulsed by the two consuls Hirtius and Pansa, assisted by Octavius Cæsar. Pansa died of the wounds he received in this conflict, and Hirtius was slain after he had achieved a second and more decisive victory.

1053. GODWIN, earl of Kent, died. He was a powerful Saxon baron, who distinguished himself under Canute in the war with Sweden.

1205. BALDWIN I, emperor of Constantinople, defeated by Joannices, king of the Bulgarians, and taken prisoner.

1415. EMANUEL CHRYSOLORAS, a learned Greek, died. He was employed by John Palæologus as ambassador to different courts of Europe, where he acquitted himself with honor.

1513. The English fleet under sir Edward Howard defeated off Brest by the French.

1521. The faculty of divines of the university of Paris, after many meetings held in the Sorbonne, drew up a _censure_ of the heresies of Luther, which was solemnly proclaimed in a general assembly on this day.

1558. A volcano burst out near a spring in the isle of Palma, one of the Canaries.

1570. WILLIAM ALLEY, bishop of Exeter, died. During the reign of Mary he retired, and kept a school and practiced physic, in order to avoid persecution; but on the accession of Elizabeth he was promoted. He wrote the _Poor Man's Library_, and other works.

1611. RICHARD MULCASTER, a celebrated scholar and English writer, died at Stanford Rivers, where he was rector.

1632. GEORGE CALVERT, lord Baltimore, died. He was a learned, amiable and accomplished man, who resigned his offices under James I on embracing the catholic faith. The king, however, raised him to the Irish peerage of Baltimore. He obtained a grant for a plantation in Newfoundland; but the invasions of the French obliged him to abandon it, after he had spent £25,000 in its settlement. In the place of it, he received a territory on the continent, now known as the state of Maryland.

1642. Battle of Killrush in Ireland, in which the Roman catholic army was signally defeated by the duke of Ormond.

1659. SIMON DACH, a German poet, died. He lived in a humble condition until he was appointed professor of poetry in the university of Konigsberg. His secular songs are said to be lively and natural; his sacred songs distinguished for deep and quiet feeling.

1670. JOHN DAILLIE, a distinguished French protestant divine, died. His works evince great learning and judgment, and excited much interest.

1697. CHARLES XI of Sweden died. He was successful in war, and respected as a just prince.

1702. The proprietaries of East and West Jersey surrendered the government to queen Anne, after which it continued under one government, called New Jersey.

1715. The Yamasses, a powerful tribe of Indians in South Carolina, having meditated the extirpation of the English settlements in that state, fell upon Pocataligo and the neighboring plantations, and massacred all who fell into their hands.

1719. FRANCES D'AUBIGNE, madame de Maintenon, a celebrated French lady, died. From a state of want and dependence she rose to be the wife of the king of France, though not publicly married. Her exemplary life and extensive charity after that event, made amends for many errors committed in reaching the height of her ambition.

1720. LUKE MELBOURNE, an English divine, died. He was a prose and poetical writer of considerable ability, and his name is frequently introduced by Dryden and Pope in their works.

1754. The first theatre opened in Philadelphia, at the west corner of Cedar and Vernon streets, with the _Fair Penitent_ and _Miss in her Teens_.

1755. The counters of the bank of England were broken down by the crowd in their eagerness to obtain lottery tickets.

1756. JAMES CASSINI, a French astronomer, died. He succeeded his father as astronomer royal, and made many important discoveries.

1758. The strong fortress of Schweidnitz, in Prussia, taken by assault, by the Prussians, and count Theirhaimb with 5,000 Austrians surrendered.

1761. JAMES CAWTHORNE, an English poet, died. His poems were collected and published quarto, in 1771.

1761. WILLIAM OLDYS, a famous English antiquary, died. He was well versed in English antiquities, a correct writer and a good historian.

1764. JANE ANTOINETTE POISSON, marchioness de Pompadour, died. She was the favorite of the licentious Louis XV. The patronage she extended to literature and the arts in some degree atoned for the follies she committed.

1764. ARCHIBALD LAIDLIE, having accepted a call from the reformed protestant Dutch church in New York, preached the first English sermon before that congregation.

1768. The populace at Peterborough, England, demolished a house that had been opened for the inoculation for small pox. The pretence was to prevent the spreading of a new disease.

1776. JAMES GRANGER, a learned and ingenious English divine, died. He is the author of a valuable _Biographical History of England_, 4 vols, quarto.

1777. A party of 100 Indians attacked the settlement of Boonesborough, in Kentucky, and killed 4 of colonel Boone's men.

1777. Congress resolved that no distinction be made between the troops, and that the titles of Congress's Own Regiment, Washington's Life Guards, &c., be abolished.

1777. British picket near Bonumtown, N. J., stormed by a detachment under captain Patterson.

1786. ANDREW WILSON executed at Edinburgh. This execution occasioned the subsequent Porteous mob.

1788. MARY DELANY, an ingenious Irish lady, died, aged 88. She corresponded with some of the learned men of the day; but is chiefly known by an ingenious _Flora_ which she commenced at the age of 74, and labored at with taste and assiduity nearly ten years, when her sight began to fail her. It was constructed of paper, cut and painted to resemble nature, with great accuracy of form and color.

1791. The first corner stone in the district of Columbia was laid at Jones's point, near Alexandria, with the imposing masonic ceremonies of the time, and a quaint address by Rev. James Muir. By the retrocession of Alexandria, a little more than fifty years after, the corner stone was no longer within the district.

1793. FORSTER POWELL, the celebrated English pedestrian, died, aged 59. His favorite walk was from the monument in London to the cathedral in York and back again, a distance of 340 miles, in less than six days.

1793. PHILIBERT FRANCIS ROUXELLE DE BLANCHELANDE executed; distinguished in the American war, and at the taking of Tobago.

1796. Second battle of Dego, Italy. The Austrians under Beaulieu surprised the French and carried the village. Massena, who attempted to stop their progress, was repulsed; Bonaparte with Victor and Lannes finally succeeded in driving them out.

1813. ALEXANDER MURRAY, a Scottish linguist, died. His _History of European Languages_, which was published after his death, is a work of great research and merit. His application hastened his death, which took place at the early age of 37.

1816. A brick-red snow fell on Tonal and other mountains in Italy.

1817. The memorable law upon which the system of internal improvement of the state of New York is based, passed the legislature.

1820. JOHN BELL, an eminent surgeon of Edinburgh, died at Rome. He is well known for his valuable works on surgery and anatomy.

1825. HENRY FUSELI, a Swiss painter, died. He was induced to visit England, where he distinguished himself.

1828. MICHOFSKY, a Russian farmer, died at Pleskow, in the government of Novogorod, aged 165. He led a very sober life, though occasionally he partook of ardent spirits. He never ate meat more than twice a week. At 120 he still labored in the field. His mother lived to the age of 117, and one of his sisters 112, but his father died at 52.

1834. AYLET HAWES, a distinguished philanthropist, died in Culpepper county, Virginia. He manumitted his slaves, 110 in number, and provided for their removal to Liberia.

1840. JAMES BROWNE, a Scottish author, died at Edinburgh; a man distinguished for his learning and research, for several years editor of the _Caledonian Mercury_, and a writer of valuable articles in the _Encyclopedia Britannica_, particularly on grammar, history, biography, &c.

1843. CHARLES BULFINCH, an eminent American architect, died in Boston, Mass. The state house at Boston and the capitol at Washington were built after his designs.

1846. At an eruption of mount Hecla the pillars of fire rose from a new crater to the height of 14,000 feet. The ice and snow which had covered the mountain for many centuries were wholly melted, and pieces of scoriæ weighing 200 pounds were thrown a league and a half.

1852. ALEXANDER MACKAY, an English political economist and reformer, died, aged 33. He was many years connected with the _Morning Chronicle_ newspaper; traveled in the United States in 1846-7, and published his observations in three volumes, under the title of _Western World_.

1854. JAMES MOORE died at Metrechin, N. J., aged 100. His death was occasioned by a fall, before which he was accustomed to walk 12 miles a day.

1854. The steam boat Secretary, while crossing San Pablo bay, from San Francisco to Petaluma, burst her boiler, by which the boat was blown to pieces, and more than 50 persons perished.

1856. An affray occurred at Panama between the passengers of the American transit company and the natives, in which 30 passengers were killed and 20 wounded.

APRIL 16.

29 B. C. OCTAVIUS CÆSAR entered Rome and celebrated the grand triple triumph of nine days, for his victories at Dalmatia, at Actium and Alexandria, and shut the gates of the temple of Janus Quirinus the second time. This is also the anniversary of his being saluted _Emperor_. The city at this time was 50 miles in circumference, containing 4,000,000 inhabitants, and the annual revenue of the state amounted to about $180,000,000,000!