Part 31

1774. Battle between the forces of Rohilcund in Afghanistan, and the subahdar of Oude backed by a British force. The Rohilcas showed great bravery and resolution, and exhibited a considerable share of military knowledge; but after a cannonade of two hours and twenty minutes, they retreated with the loss of 2000 killed, including many of their chiefs; the country became tributary, and the people robbers and plunderers.

1775. A captain Sears and Mr. Lamb assembled the citizens of New York, shut up the custom-house, and prevented the sailing of vessels to Boston, Quebec and Georgia. They sent an express to Philadelphia, where the same measures were adopted.

1781. Fort Watson, in South Carolina, taken from the British, by the provincials under colonel Lee. The fort was built on an Indian mound 30 feet high; but the besiegers speedily erected a work which overlooked the fort, and fired into it with such effect that the garrison surrendered.

1794. JAMES DUVAL D'EPREMENIE, a French advocate, executed. He was remarkable for the violence of his proceedings during the revolution, and was sent to the scaffold with his old opponent Chapellier.

1795. WARREN HASTINGS acquitted after a trial of 7 years. His crime as charged by the house of commons to the peers was maladministration in India.

1808. MURAT, at the head of 40,000 French soldiers, taking advantage of a faction among the people, entered Madrid and took possession of it.

1809. Battle of Ratisbon. The Austrians, having sustained defeat and losses four days successively, made some attempt to fortify this city, in order to protect the retreat of the army. The French, who had advanced to the storm, were cut down by the musquetry of the besieged. There was at length difficulty in finding volunteers to renew the attack, when the impetuous Lannes, by whom they were commanded, seized a ladder and rushed forward to fix it himself against the wall. "I will show," exclaimed he, "that your general is still a grenadier." The French rallied and carried the ramparts--the contest was renewed in the street, and the city fired. The Austrians were driven out of Ratisbon, leaving cannon, baggage and prisoners in the hands of the French. Thus in five days, in spite of the inferiority of numbers and the imperfect manner in which his troops were combined, Bonaparte, by the sole energy of his genius, triumphed over the main forces of his opponent, and opened the road to his capital. At no period of his momentous career, says Scott, did the genius of Napoleon appear more completely to prostrate all opposition; at no time did the talents of a single individual exercise such an influence on the fate of the universe.

1810. Fort Matagorda, having bean reduced to a heap of ruins, was evacuated by the British, in consequence of which the French were enabled to bombard Cadiz; 500 officers and 900 men fell into the hands of the French.

1810. DINAH, a black woman, died in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, aged 116.

1823. AARON ARROWSMITH, hydrographer to the king of Great Britain, died. He was distinguished as a constructor of maps and charts, and published a new _General Atlas_ to accompany the _Edinburgh Gazetteer_.

1823. JOSEPH NOLLEKINS, an eminent sculptor, died. He gained great reputation as an artist during his residence in Italy, and on his return to England was so extensively patronized that he acquired a large fortune.

1833. The foundation laid of the first protestant episcopal church ever built in France.

1838. The English steam packets Great Western and Sirius arrived at New York, forming a new era in navigation, and commencing a new and expeditious mode of intercourse between England and the United States. The Great Western, measuring 1,340 tons, made the passage in 14½ days, against head winds and a rough sea.

1839. H. V. DUCOUDRAY HOLSTEIN died at Albany; formerly a distinguished officer under Bonaparte. After the fall of the emperor he came to this country, and gained a subsistence by teaching the French and German languages.

1847. N. P. AMES, the celebrated manufacturer of fire arms, swords, &c., died at Cabotville, Mass.

1848. The United States exploring expedition reached the Dead sea, which was circumnavigated for the first time in a boat. It was sounded to the depth of 600 fathoms, and the bottom found to be crusted with crystalized salt.

1850. WM. WORDSWORTH, an eminent English poet, died, aged 80.

1852. SOLOMON VAN RENSSELAER, an officer in the war of 1812, died at Albany, aged 78. He commenced his military career at the age of 18, and was with Wayne in the battle of Miami, where he was dangerously wounded. He received six balls at the battle of Queenstown, one of which he carried to the time of his death. He also held several civil offices with distinction.

1852. ARTHUR CONDORCET O'CONNOR died in France, aged 87. He was a native of Ireland, and one of the most conspicuous leaders of the rebellion in 1798, which made him an exile in France. He married a daughter of Condorcet, and adopted the name of the philosopher within his own.

1854. Fifteen firemen lost their lives by the sudden fall of a large store in Broadway, New York, while in the discharge of their duty.

1854. Great tornado at Burmah, which swept over several hundred miles of country, causing great loss of life on the Irrawaddy.

1856. A grand review of the fleet took place off Plymouth, England; it consisted of 240 ships of war, all but 2 being steamers.

1856. JOSEPH ROBERTS died, aged 81. He was cashier for the trustees of the first bank of the United States, the affairs of which institution he conducted to its final winding up.

APRIL 24.

1184 B. C. The conquest and destruction of the city of Troy by the Greeks, took place on the 24th of Thargelion.

339 B. C. TIMOLEON defeated the Carthagenians at the river Crimesus, near the mount Giuliano, in Sicily.

1016. ETHELRED II buried in St. Paul's, London.

1254. LOUIS IX of France, embarked from Acre, in Palestine, on his return from the crusade, with his queen, children and troops, in 14 vessels, and arrived in Vincennes in September, after an absence of six years, and a most disastrous campaign.

1345. RICHARD AUNGERVYLE, bishop of Durham, died. He was the tutor of Edward III, a learned man, and the author of a work on the right use of books.

1474. In Edward prince of Wales's procession there was a station with three patriarchs standing with Jacob's 12 sons, and many other personifications of scripture characters,--such was the amusement of the times.

1500. Brazil discovered by Pedro Alvarez de Cabral, who left two convicts.

1556. OSEP NAPEA, the first ambassador from Russia to England, made his appearance at the court of Elizabeth, and delivered his master's presents.

1557. GEORGE RORAR (Rorarius), a learned corrector of the press at Wittemburg, died, aged 65. He had been the amanuensis of Luther, and assisted in editing some of the works of the great reformer.

1599. Birthday of OLIVER CROMWELL.

1603. JAMES BEATON, bishop of Glasgow, died. He was raised to the see before the age of 25; when the reformation broke forth, he fled to France, with the records and sacred vessels of his cathedral, which were deposited with the Scotch college of Paris. He left a history of Scotland in manuscript.

1617. D'ANCRE CONCINI, marechal of France, assassinated. He was a Florentine by birth, and acquired his offices by intrigue. The day following his burial, the body was taken from the grave, mutilated and dragged through the streets of Paris.

1645. CROMWELL defeated the king's forces at Islip bridge, near Oxford, taking the king's standard and 200 prisoners.

1667. MATTHEW WREN, bishop of Hereford, died. During the civil wars his property was confiscated and himself confined in the Tower 18 years without being brought to trial.

1704. The _Boston News Letter_, the first paper printed in America, made its appearance at Boston, published by John Campbell, the postmaster. It was printed on a half sheet of writing paper. It was continued until the British evacuated Boston, in 1776.

1731. DANIEL DEFOE, a popular English author, died. He is best known as the author of _Robinson Crusoe_, which was supposed at first to be a true narrative, and afterwards as erroneously to have been founded upon the papers of Alexander Selkirk. It still enjoys an old age of honor and renown, which it is impossible for any eulogium to exalt. Like its hero, it has traveled into the most distant regions, and worn the costume of literature and the garland of fame in almost every civilized country of the globe.

1735. "Here lyes inter'd ye remains of deacon CHRISTOPHER HUNTINGTON of Norwich, November 1st, 1660, and ye first born of males in ye town. He served near 40 years in ye office of a deacon, and died April ye 24th, 1735, to ye 75th yr. of his age. Memento mori."

1763. CHARLES STEPHEN PESSELIER, a French dramatist and financier, died. He was early assiduously devoted to literature and the muses; but when entrusted with the finances of the kingdom, his application ruined his constitution, and he fell a victim to excessive mental fatigue.

1773. PHILIP DORMER, earl of Chesterfield, died. He was a polished courtier, and a writer on, rather than a practicer of, good manners.

1775. JOSIAH QUINCY, Jr., an eminent American patriot, died. He was employed by the British officers, together with John Adams, to defend their cause in the case of the Boston massacre, and although warmly opposed to the measures of the British ministry, he conducted the defence with great propriety. He fell a victim to intense application, at the age of 31, and died at sea on his return from England.

1778. Action in the roads opposite the town of Carrickfergus, in Ireland, in which the British sloop of war Drake was captured by the United States ship Ranger, under Paul Jones.

1780. CLAUDE JOSEPH DORAT, a French poet, died. He entered the military service as a musketeer, but abandoned it to pursue his favorite study. His works comprise 20 vols.

1780. JOHN NOURSE, a distinguished bookseller and mathematician, died.

1799. WILLIAM SEWARD, an English antiquary, died. He was the son of a brewer, and being possessed of a competency devoted himself to literature. He published 7 volumes of anecdotes and notices of distinguished characters, compiled from scarce and curious books.

1799. PETER AUGUSTIN CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS, a French dramatist, died. He was a watchmaker, and made some improvement in the escapement of a watch. His dramas are numerous, and some of them still popular.

1814. The British army took the city of Washington by surprise, and burnt the public buildings. The library of congress consisting of 3000 volumes of rare books was destroyed.

1824. RICHARD PAYNE, died at London; an eminent Greek scholar and antiquary.

1841. GEORGE BAXTER, one of the most eminent of Presbyterian ministers, died at his residence in Virginia, aged 77.

1856. The sheriff of Kansas, who had been engaged in arresting some Free State men, as they were termed, was shot while sitting in his tent.

APRIL 25.

68. Saint MARK, the evangelist, died at Alexandria.

1199. JOHN, the 6th son of Henry II of England, seized the treasures of his late father, preparatory to taking possession of his throne and dukedom.

1284. EDWARD II born at Caernarvon, and styled the _prince of Wales_, the first who received that appellation.

1342. BENEDICT XII (James de Nouveau, _the baker_), died. When elected, unanimously, by the cardinals, pope of Rome, he had so little confidence in himself that he told them they had chosen an ass. His conduct, however, was firm and dignified, and gained him universal respect.

1513. EDWARD HOWARD, an English admiral, celebrated for his bravery, killed in an action with a French ship.

1520. FERDINAND MAGELLAN, the Portuguese navigator killed in one of the Phillipine islands, fighting for the king of the country, who had become his ally. Of all his fleet, only one ship and 18 men returned to Spain, from whence the expedition sailed.

1536. Conflagration of mount Ætna, which overwhelmed the church of St. Leon, and the physician Piazzi.

1576. Treaty between Holland and Zealand, being the two first provinces that united for their liberty. William of Nassau, prince of Orange, drew up the treaty, and may be considered as the founder of the United Provinces.

1595. TORQUATO TASSO, an illustrious Italian poet, died. He was excellent in every kind of composition, but the _Jerusalem Delivered_ procured him the offer of the laurel crown. He expired on the day appointed for the coronation.

1636. JAMES HAY, earl of Carlisle, died. He was the first Scotchman raised to the English peerage, and was employed by James I in various embassies.

1660. HENRY HAMMOND, an English divine, died. He published a commentary on the New Testament; and began a paraphrase and commentary on the Old Testament, which he did not live to finish.

1671. The city of Oxford, England, nearly destroyed by a great fire.

1728. JOHN WOODWARD, an English natural philosopher, died. He was bound apprentice to a linen draper, but was attracted from the business by the charms of science.

1732. The corpse of bishop Atterbury who died in France arrived in the Thames. Four pieces of French silk brocaded with silver were found with the body, which the custom house officers seized!

1734. JOHN CONRAD DIPPEL, a German chemist and physician, died. He was an eccentric character, who pretended to have discovered the philosophers' stone, and yet was confined for debt. In pursuing his alchemical researches, he discovered Prussian blue, and the animal oil which bears his name.

1735. SAMUEL WESLEY, an English poet, died. His writings made up in quantity what they lacked in quality. He wrote the _Life of Christ_, a heroic poem, in folio, and a history of the Bible in verse, 3 vols.

1764. JUDAH MONIS, an Italian Jew, died at Northborough, Mass., aged 82. He was converted and baptized, and was the first Hebrew instructor at Harvard college.

1770. JOHN ANTHONY NOLLET, a learned Frenchman, died. His writings are valuable, and his experiments contributed much to the advancement of science.

1775. The Baltimoreans received the news of the battle of Lexington, and immediately seized upon the provincial magazines, containing 1500 stand of arms, &c.

1781. Battle of Camden, between the provincials, about 1200, and the British under lord Rawdon. In the beginning of the action the Americans had essentially the advantage; but the premature retreat of two companies occasioned a total defeat. Greene retreated in such order as to bring off all his wounded and cannon, and took 50 prisoners.

1781. British under Arnold and Philips took Petersburg, Va., after a smart action with baron Steuben. They burnt 400 hogsheads of tobacco, a ship, and several small craft.

1782. ADRIAN BALBI, the Venitian geographer, was born at Venice. The work by which he is best known is his _Abrégé de Géographie_.

1792. The convention having determined on adopting the proposition of M. Guillotin, to substitute decapitation for hanging, the first criminal was executed by this mode on this day. M. Guillotin was actuated by benevolent motives in proposing the machine, which was called from him _guillotine_, and from which himself narrowly escaped.

1800. WILLIAM COWPER, an excellent English poet, died. He commenced publishing at the age of 50, and three years after produced the _Task_, which excited universal admiration. He was subject to religious delirium, and died in a state of absolute despair.

1805. THOMAS POWNALL, an English antiquary, died. He was successively governor of New Jersey, Massachusetts and South Carolina under the crown. His works are numerous, and display a great deal of information.

1810. Sweden excluded British goods, conformably to the continental system established by Bonaparte.

1812. Baltimore privateer schooner Surprise, Capt. Cothell, of 10 guns, captured the British brig Kutousoff, of 12 guns, laden with coffee, &c., and brought her safe to port.

1820. PATRICK COLQUOHUN, a distinguished Scottish magistrate, died. He was a writer on police and political economy, and his works possess great merit.

1832 & 1833. Spring navigation of the Erie canal opened.

1835. JONATHAN P. CUSHING, president of Hampden Sidney college, died, aged 40. The institution, over which he had presided 14 years, was greatly indebted to his services, and he was highly esteemed for his virtues.

1838. The second centennial celebration of the settlement of New Haven.

1838. The steamboat Moselle burst her boiler with a tremendous explosion. She had just left the wharf at Cincinnati for Louisville, with 225 passengers on board, of whom but 124 were saved.

1839. SAMUEL SMITH, an officer of the revolution, died at Baltimore, aged 87. His name is connected with some of the most important events of that struggle for freedom, and is identified with the history of the city of Baltimore for a great number of years; that city being indebted to his enterprise for a large share of its commercial thrift.

1840. M. POISSON, a peer of France, and president of the academy of sciences, died at Paris, aged 58. His life was devoted to analytical discovery and scientific investigation, and he was styled the first geometrician of Europe.

1849. The parliament house and library of the British provinces, at Montreal, burned by a mob.

1849. The French republican armament against republican Rome reached Civita Vecchia.

1854. The slaves of Venezuela became freemen by virtue of an act previously passed for their emancipation.

1855. Lieut. Col. ST. VRAIN, with a detachment of United States troops, came up with and captured a camp of Apache Indians, on the Purgatory, near the Raton mountains.

APRIL 26.

871. ETHELRED I defeated the Danes, but died of his wounds. In his reign a great plague occurred.

1478. LORENZO DE MEDICI, duke of Florence, rescued by the populace from the hands of assassins. His brother Julian was less fortunate; he fell beneath their daggers. The duke was conducted back to his palace by the multitude with every demonstration of regard, while the archbishop, who became the tool of the pope for executing this foul and impious conspiracy, was suspended in his pontifical robes from the window of his own sanctuary.

1566. DIANA DE POITIERS, duchess of Valentinois, died. She captivated the heart of the king of France, Henry II, and for many years remained sole mistress, not only of his affections, but of the kingdom. Her unusual powers of mind, and firmness and dignity, constituted her the fittest sovereign of the two.

1595. MICHAEL NEANDER, a learned German protestant, died. He was rector of the university of Ilfeldt 40 years, and published several learned works.

1607. CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT, with three vessels and 100 emigrants, forming the first permanent English colony, stood into Chesapeake bay, "which seemed to invite his entrance."

1616. JOHN SOMERS, an English statesman, died. He was a patriot of the noblest and most extensive views, and justly celebrated as a man of learning, eloquent and refined.

1665. The great plague of this and the subsequent year broke out at St. Giles, London.

1726. JEREMY COLLIER, an English divine, died. In 1698 he made an attempt to reform the stage, which engaged him in a controversy, and exposed him to the satire of the wits of the day; but after a ten years' struggle he accomplished his object, and actually produced an amendment.

1734. JOHN BAPTIST MORVAN DE BELLEGARDE, a French Jesuit, died. He was expelled from the order at Nantes, for being a Cartesian.

1777. Danbury, Conn., burnt, and the military stores destroyed, by a detachment of 2,000 British under Tyron. The place was guarded by 100 soldiers, who retired to await reinforcements. Eighteen houses, 800 barrels of flour, 800 barrels of pork and beef, 2,000 bushels of grain, and 1,700 tents were destroyed. The enemy were pursued and annoyed by a few hundred of the citizens under Wooster and Arnold; the former was killed.

1783. EYRE COOTS, a celebrated commander of the East India Company's forces, died. He gained great renown by his victories over Hyder Ally; in one of which, near Porto Novo, with 10,000 men he defeated Hyder's army of 150,000.

1794. The Vendeans under Charette defeated by the French.

1794. Battle of Prisches; Austrians defeated by the French.

1794. Grand attack of the French upon the allies, from Trevers to the sea.

1805. WILLIAM WOODVILLE died; a distinguished English physician and medical writer.

1807. The planet Vesta observed in England by Groombridge, an ingenious and active astronomer, who had successfully devoted his leisure and fortune to the advancement of astronomy.

1815. CARSTEN NEIBUHR, a Danish traveler, died, aged 82. He was employed by the Danish government in 1761, with four other learned men, to explore Arabia; was the only one of the company who returned, after an absence of six years, and was liberally rewarded. His publications were, _Travels in Arabia_ and _Description of Arabia_.

1816. GEORGE HARDINGE, an eminent English lawyer, died. He rose rapidly in his profession, became council for the East India Company, and attorney-general to the queen, and had a seat in parliament. His speeches and writings were numerous.

1831. Imprisonment for debt abolished in the state of New York.

1835 HENRY KATER died at London. His experiments on the pendulum and Geodesic surveys rendered him famous.

1836. St. Jean d'Arc, in Palestine, surrendered to the Egyptian troops under Ibrahim Pasha. The governor of the fortress was provided with a safe residence in Egypt, and an annual pension of 75,000 piasters.

1837. The trial of MEUNIER for an attempt to assassinate the king of the French, terminated in his conviction. His sentence was commuted to perpetual banishment.

1838. Battle near Brugos, between Gen. Espartero and the Carlists under Negri, in which the latter were defeated, with the loss of 2,000 prisoners, their baggage and artillery.

1840. BACCHUS, a negro slave, died at Friedland, in Virginia, aged 110. He had been in the family of his last owner more than 40 years; was employed as a teamster during the war of the revolution; and was in attendance with his team at the glorious and final siege of Yorktown. He saw Gen. Braddock as he passed on to his defeat, and could give a succinct account of that sanguinary action. The evening previous to his death he was walking about the farm, in the full possession of all his faculties of mind and body.

1840. JOHN THORNTON KIRKLAND, president of Harvard university, died, aged 70. His father was more than 40 years a missionary among the Oneida Indians, during which he was born at Little Falls, 1770. His rank was with the most eminent among the constant and serviceable friends of good principles, good learning and good men. Some of his productions will continue to be esteemed among the gems of our literature.

1843. HODIJAH BAYLIES died; a soldier of the revolutionary war, and for some time an aid to Gen. Washington. Like others of that noble band, he too was a distinguished civilian.

1853. RUSSELL JARVIS died in New York, aged 63; widely known as a politician, and co-editor with Duff Green, of the _United States Telegraph_, at Washington.

1854. A day of humiliation was observed throughout England; divine service was performed in all the places of public worship, and collections taken for the benefit of the wives and children of the soldiers engaged in the war of the east.

1854. GABRIEL ROSETTI, an Italian poet and painter, died, aged 71. Setting up for a reformer, he was obliged to fly to England, where he spent the remainder of his days in teaching Italian.

1854. HENRY T. COCHRANE, a Scottish jurist, died; known as the biographer of his friend Lord Jeffrey.

1855. The emperor and empress of the French, having visited the queen of England, returned to France on this day.