Part 37

1776. JOHN HOADLEY, an English poet and dramatic writer, died. He was the son of bishop Hoadley, took orders and was loaded with preferments.

1782. DANIEL CHARLES SOLANDER, a celebrated Swedish naturalist, died. He was the pupil of Linnæus; visited England, and went with Cook on his voyage round the world.

1793. EDMUND C. GENET, the French minister, arrived at Philadelphia. He was received with much enthusiasm by the citizens. (See July 14.)

1795. The Batavian republic formed, by the aid of the French, in imitation of France; being governed by a legislature and a directory of five.

1796. Earthquake in Syria; Lataka, the ancient Laodicea, was laid in ruins, and more than 3,000 persons buried under the fallen mass. The village of Gibel was totally destroyed, and many houses in Tripoli were tumbled down.

1801. Battle of Heliopolis; the French under Belliard defeated by the Turks under the grand vizier.

1806. Blockade of the Elbe and of Brest, a coast of 1000 miles, with no place invested by land, and before many of the ports no blockading ships.

1809. The rear guard of the French army attacked at Salamonde in Portugal, and compelled to retreat before superior forces, with the loss of their artillery and baggage; having lost about 8,000 men, 2,000 of whom were slaughtered by the Portuguese. The army was a fortnight without clothing, shoes, provisions, &c., excepting those procured by marauding, and they must all have been destroyed but for the great military talents of Soult.

1811. Battle of Albuera, in Spain; the allies defeated by the French under Soult; about 20,000 men fell in this battle.

1811. Action between the United States frigate President, Rogers, and British ship Little-Belt, which was captured.

1813. Battle of Mignano, Italy, and defeat of the French.

1828. WILLIAM CONGREVE, a British officer, died; inventor of the Congreve rocket, a hydro-pneumatic canal lock, and a new method of manufacturing gun powder, &c.

1830. The bill to remove the civil disabilities of the Jews rejected in the British parliament by a vote of 288 to 165.

1830. Great eruption of mount Ætna; seven new craters were formed, and eight villages were destroyed, to which the lava had never before extended.

1835. FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS, a celebrated English poetess, died. Her poems were extremely popular during her lifetime, and have been published in 2 vols.

1838. New York state banks resumed specie payment.

1841. A constitution of the republic of Yucatan decreed by the legislature and published at Merida, the capital; Yucatan having declared its absolute independence of the republic of Mexico.

1842. Count DE LAS CASAS, author of the _Memoirs of Napoleon_, died near Paris.

1849. The city of Bologna capitulated to the Austrians after a conflict of eight days.

1850. WILLIAM HENDRICKS, for some time governor of Indiana, died at Madison, aged 67.

1854. Tornadoes occurred in Alabama, Missouri and Illinois, accompanied with extensive damage to property.

1855. General CANROBERT resigned the command of the French troops in the Crimea, and was succeeded by general Pelissier.

MAY 17.

1039. HAROLD I, the second Danish monarch of England, died, at Oxford. A heavy tax which he imposed on his people made him unpopular. He was buried at Winchester; but by the cruel edicts of his brother the body was dug up, beheaded and thrown into the Thames; recovered and again buried only to be a second time disinterred and committed to the Thames; found and privately buried at Westminster.

1163. HELOISE, abbess of the Paraclete, died; celebrated as the mistress of Abelard, and for her learning. She was entombed with her husband. At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1792, the principal inhabitants of Nogent-sur-Seine went in grand procession to the Paraclete, to transfer the remains of the lovers to a vault in their church. In 1800 they were transported to Paris, and one of the most picturesque and interesting ornaments in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, is the sepulchral chapel covering their remains, constructed from the ruins of the Paraclete.

1498. VASQUEZ DE GAMA discovered the continent of India. On his return he again doubled cape Good Hope, which had long been regarded as the _ne plus ultra_ of navigation.

1536. GEORGE BOLEYN, an English statesman, beheaded. He was a man of learning and ability, whose elevation followed that of his sister Anne as queen; and when she fell, he too was degraded and unjustly condemned.

1575. MATTHEW PARKER, second protestant archbishop of Canterbury, died. He was deeply versed in Saxon literature and published a work on the antiquity of the English church.

1610. GERVASE BABINGTON died; bishop of Worcester and an eminent theological writer.

1617. JACOB AUGUSTUS THUANUS (alias De Thou) died; an illustrious French statesman and historian.

1664. The English conventicle act was passed forbidding more than five persons meeting for religious purposes except those regulated by the book of common prayer.

1690. A party of French and Indians under the sieur Hertel, returning from a marauding excursion among the English settlements, attacked and destroyed the fort at Casco, Me.

1723. JOSEPH BINGHAM, an English ecclesiastic, died; author of _Antiquities of the Christian Church_, a learned and laborious work, in 10 vols.

1727. CATHARINE ALEXIEVNA, empress of Russia, died. She was the daughter of a peasant of Livonia, married a Swedish dragoon, who was killed on the same day in battle. The Russian general Bauer made her his mistress, after which she lived a short time with prince Mentschicoff. In her 17th year she became the mistress of Peter the Great, who afterwards married her and presented her with the diadem and the sceptre. After his death she was proclaimed sovereign empress of all the Russias, and showed herself worthy of her high fortune.

1729. SAMUEL CLARKE, a famous English divine, died; celebrated also for his writings on mathematics, &c.

1732. WILLIAM LOWTH died; a celebrated English theological writer and commentator.

1738 O. S. BELL, the Scottish traveler, returned to St. Petersburg from his embassy to Constantinople, whither he went at the earnest solicitation of the Russian cabinet, and the British minister. This was the last of his expeditions, and was undertaken in the midst of winter, through a country exposed to all the horrors of a barbarous warfare, attended by only one servant, who understood the Turkish language.

1740. PETER JULIAN ROUILLE, a French Jesuit, died; professor of theology and philosophy to his order, and co-editor of the _Roman History_, 21 vols. quarto.

1742. Battle of Czaslau, or Chatusitz, in Bohemia; the Prussians defeated the Austrians, who lost 7,000; Prussian loss, 3,000.

1749. SAMUEL BOYSE, an Irish poet, died. His talents were amply rewarded, but he unfortunately had a disposition to practice the meanest deceptions to procure benefactions, which brought him to wretchedness and contempt.

1767. ROGER WOLCOTT, governor of Connecticut, died. He never attended school a single day of his life, yet gradually rose by his own efforts to the highest military and civil honors.

1772. The theatre at Amsterdam, in Holland, took fire and burned to death 31 persons.

1774. At a town meeting of the inhabitants of Providence, R. I., the subject of a general congress was acted upon, being the first act of the kind by a public assemblage.

1776. Captain MUGFORD in a vessel of 4 guns captured British ship Hope, 4 guns, with 1,500 barrels powder and military stores, and brought her into the port of Boston.

1794. Battle of Surcoign; British defeated by the French after a sanguinary conflict.

1797. Revolution in Venice, and a democratic government formed under the direction of the French general Angereau.

1797. Louis XVIII compelled to quit the Venetian territory.

1797. MICHEL JEAN SEDAINE, a French dramatic writer, died, aged 78. Bred to the occupation of a stone mason, by application to study he won a place in the French academy.

1801. A French convoy of 560 men with 1 cannon and 550 camels, in Egypt, captured by the British.

1801. WILLIAM HEBERDEN died; an English physician and medical writer.

1809. BONAPARTE issued from Vienna a decree declaring the temporal sovereignty of the pope to be wholly at an end, and incorporating Rome with the French empire. The "holy father" instantly fulminated a bull of excommunication against the daring emperor, but it did not avail; his holiness was taken in his palace and conveyed away at midnight, under pretence that a life so sacred in the eyes of all Christians, might be endangered!

1817. SAMUEL JESSUP died; an opulent English grazier, of pilltaking notoriety. An apothecary's bill, which was given in evidence on a trial a short time previous to his death, affords a table of statistics which will not be exceeded by the memorabilia of the life of any man. In 21 years he took 226,934 pills. He began with a moderate appetite, which increased as he proceeded, so that in the last five years he took them at the rate of 78 a day, and in the year 1814 swallowed not less than 51,590. Notwithstanding this, and an addition of 40,000 bottles of mixtures, he attained the advanced age of 65 years.

1829. JOHN JAY, a distinguished American statesman, died, aged 84. His public services commenced in 1774, and continued till 1801, when he retired to private life; distinguished as a man of great discernment, extensive information, and fine talents as a writer.

1829. Battle between the Russians under general Diebitsch, and the Turks; the latter of whom, 5,000 in number, were defeated and driven into Silistria, with heavy losses on both sides.

1829. Battle of Pravadia, between the Russian army under general Roth, and the Turks under the grand vizier. The Turks are said to have lost 2,000, and the Russians 1,000. The latter maintained their ground, but no important advantage was gained by either party.

1831. NATHANIEL ROCHESTER, an officer in the revolution, died at Rochester, New York, from whom the town took its name.

1838. CHARLES MAURICE DE TALLEYRAND PERIGORD, one of the most distinguished statesmen and diplomatists of modern times, died at Paris, aged 84. His namdee was intimately associated with French politics, from the commencement of the revolution in 1789.

1841. About 250 feet of the cliff on which the defences of the city of Quebec stand, fell away, causing the ruin of several buildings, and the death of about 30 persons.

1843. PETER W. GALLAUDET died at Washington, D. C., aged 88. The Washington manual laborer school and the Howard institution can bear testimony to his industry and patriotism.

1848. Massacre in Naples, justified by the king, on the ground of necessity; 1777 bodies were found, 400 troops killed, and the city given up to pillage.

1849. A severe and very destructive fire at St. Louis, Missouri.

1850. Gallinas, the noted slave factory on the west of Africa, purchased by the Liberian republic.

1856. REDWOOD FISHER, an American author, died, aged 73. He began business as a merchant in Philadelphia; subsequently edited a daily paper in New York, and took an active part in public affairs. He published several volumes on political economy, and was much interested in statistics.

MAY 18.

975. EDWARD (the martyr), murdered by his step-mother. He was the son of king Edgar who enacted laws against excessive drinking, ordaining a size with pins in the cup with penalties on any who should presume to drink _deeper_ than the mark. Hence the phrase _drinking deep_.

1291. The city of Acre, in Palestine, taken by the Turks; after a siege of 30 days the double wall was forced by the Moslems, the principal tower yielded to their engines, the Mamelukes made a general assault, the city was stormed, and death or slavery was the lot of 60,000 Christians, and the Holy Land was again in the hands of the Turks.

1410. ROBERT, emperor of Germany, died, just as a powerful combination had been formed to deprive him of the crown.

1539. FERDINAND DE SOTO, governor of Cuba, sailed for the conquest of Florida with nine vessels, 900 men besides sailors, 213 horses and a herd of swine. He landed on the west coast of the peninsula, with 300 men, and pitched his camp; but about day break the next morning they were attacked by the natives, and obliged to retire.

1565. The Turks under Mustapha, pasha, to the number of 30,000 choice troops, landed on the island of Malta, with a view to extirpate the knights. But the desperate resistance they encountered compelled them to abandon the island with the loss of 25,000 men. Loss of the knights 7,000.

1596. HEEMSKERK, accompanied by Jan Cornelissen Ryp, with two vessels again attempted the discovery of a northern passage to India. In this voyage he became embayed in ice, and passed the winter in the arctic regions, exposed to the rigors of the climate, and other perils. The ill success of this expedition destroyed all hope with the Dutch of finding a northern passage to China.

1652. Naval action near Dover, England; admiral Van Tromp refusing to pay honor to the British flag by lowering his own, brought on a furious battle between him and admiral Blake. One of the Dutch ships taken, and one sunk.

1663. SAMUEL DES MARETS, a French protestant divine, died; celebrated for his controversies, in which he was diligently engaged 18 years, and displayed astonishing knowledge and erudition.

1664. "His sacred majesty," Charles II, advertised that he would attend to healing his people of the king's evil, by _touching_, during the month of May.

1675. STANISLAUS LUBIENIETSKI, a celebrated Polish Socinian, died in exile at Hamburg. His theological works are numerous, but he is better known by a work on comets, entitled _Theatrum Cometicum_, which was written to show that comets portend both good and evil, in opposition to the prevailing notion that they were the harbingers of misfortune only! It contained an elaborate account of all the comets recorded in history (415), down to the year 1665.

1676. Indian battle at Turner's falls, on Connecticut river above Greenfield. The Indians having planted nothing, were unwilling to lose the fishing season also, and had encamped here in great security; when three of the towns below hearing of their position mustered about 150 men, mounted on horses, and set out for their camp. Arriving towards morning, they tied their horses, and proceeding about a quarter of a mile farther, found them sleeping in their huts, without any sentinels or guard. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that they fled, many into the river where they perished, and others were killed under the banks where they had concealed themselves. The Indians at first supposed they had received a visit from their _friends_ the Mohawks, but the daylight disclosing the error, and the fewness of their assailants, they rallied and turned upon their pursuers. The English retreated in turn, unable to resist the superiority of numbers, and not managing their retreat well, thirty-eight were cut off and lost. The Indians acknowledged a loss of 300.

1692. ELIAS ASHMOLE, a noted English antiquary, died. His valuable collection of coins, to the number of 9,000 besides books and other curiosities, were destroyed by fire; but his most valuable gold coins and manuscripts escaped. He was an indefatigable laborer in the cause of science.

1701. FREDERICK SPANHEIM died; a noted divinity professor at Leyden, and a voluminous writer.

1724. Cardinal VINCENT MARIA ORSINI elected pope and took the name of Benedict XIII.

1733. EDMUND CHISHULL, an English traveler, died; author of a book of travels in Turkey.

1742. RICHARD JOY (_the English Samson_), died; a man of wonderful strength.

1769. Virginia entered into the non-importation agreement.

1773. Boundary line between New York and Massachusetts agreed upon.

1787. First attempt made to engrave on glass by M. de Puymaurin, at Toulouse.

1794. Battle of Bullion; French under Jourdan defeated by the Austrians under Beaulieu with the loss of 1,200 killed.

1794. Battle of Tournay; British defeated by the French.

1794. Battle of Lannoy, in France, between the French under Pichegru, and the British under the duke of York; the latter defeated with the loss of sixty pieces of cannon.

1800. PETER ALEXIS WASILIOWITSCH, count Suwaroff-Rimnitskoy, died; a Russian general, known in the wars of Europe as Gen. Suwarrow; distinguished for his bravery and abilities, and equally so for his inhumanities.

1803. War was again declared between France and England. Who, asked Bonaparte, is responsible for the consequences. Ah! who indeed.

1804. The conservative senate of France declared Bonaparte emperor.

1805. Battle of Derne, in Barbary, which was attacked by the Tripolitan army, and defended by the American general Eaton, who repulsed the assailants with great slaughter.

1807. JOHN DOUGLAS, bishop of Salisbury, died. He was one of the first literary characters of the age, and the last surviving member but one of the _beef steak club_, celebrated by Goldsmith in his poem of _Retaliation_.

1821. TIMOTHY BIGELOW, an eminent lawyer of Massachusetts, died. He was 11 years speaker of the assembly, and during a practice of thirty-two years, argued 15,000 causes.

1822. ITURBIDE declared emperor of Mexico by the army under the title of Augustin I.

1832. CASSIMIR PERRIER, prime minister of France, died. He left the army in 1800 to become a banker, in which capacity he acquired an immense fortune, with the advantages of which he combined great mental capacity, talent for business and habits of public speaking. He was one of the few victims of cholera in the higher ranks of life.

1843. CHARLES BAGOT, governor-general of the British North American provinces, died at Kingston, in Canada.

1848. Commander HENRY PINCKNEY, of the United States navy, was drowned by the swamping of a boat.

1850. Great fire at the village of Corning, Chemung county, New York.

1855. JOHN C. SPENCER, an American statesman, died at Albany, aged 67. He was a man of intellect and energy, and was in public life from an early age. He achieved his highest fame from his connection with the revision of the statutes of New York.

MAY 19.

804. FLACCUS ALCUINUS, an English ecclesiastic, died in France. He may be considered as one of the learned few whose genius dissipated the gloom of the 8th century. His writings, most of which are extant, were published 1617. (See Dec. 1.)

1122. Lincoln in England destroyed by fire.

1217. Battle of Lincoln; the French defeated, and England effectually secured from the dominion of Lewis the Dauphin, who was then holding his court within the walls of London.

1218. OTHO IV (_the proud_), emperor of Germany, died. He laid claim to some of the territories of the pope, by whom he was excommunicated and deposed.

1242. HENRY III of England embarked for France, taking with him 30 hhds of silver.

1494. COLUMBUS, proceeding towards Cuba, named the headland Cabo de Cruz on this day. He now ascertained from the natives that Cuba was an island, but after coasting it 335 leagues from the eastern point, renounced the idea; and but for the scarcity of provisions, would have attempted to return to Europe by way of the Red sea, under the impression that he was on the coast of India.

1536. ANNE BOLEYN, queen of England, executed. She was crowned at Westminster 1533 with unparalleled splendor, and in a few weeks after became the mother of the famous Elizabeth.

1610. THOMAS SANCHEZ, a Spanish Jesuit, died, and was buried with extraordinary magnificence. His works are ingenious.

1613. King JAMES issued _farthing tokens_ by proclamation.

1622. OSMAN I, sultan of Turkey, strangled by his soldiery. He undertook an expedition against Poland, in which he lost 80,000 men and 100,000 horses: these misfortunes were attributed to the Janizaries, who thereupon hurled him from the throne.

1643. Battle of Rocroy, between the French and Spaniards, in which the French under the duke d'Enghien gained a signal victory.

1651. PETER WRIGHT, chaplain to the marquis of Winchester, executed. Romanist priests were viewed in the same light as highway robbers.

1656. JOHN HALES died; an English author, so much admired for his wit and learning, that he is called the _ever memorable_.

1670. FERDINANDO UGHELI, a Florentine monk, died; distinguished for his learning and his virtues.

1676. JOHN GREENHILL died; an eminent English painter.

1692. Battle of La Hogue; the combined English and Dutch fleets defeated the French of 50 sail, who lost 20 of their largest men of war, and were prevented from making a descent on England.

1715. CHARLES MONTAGUE, earl Halifax, died; an eminent English statesman, orator and poet.

1769. Cardinal GANGANELLI proclaimed pope under the title of Clement XIV.

1776. Captain MUGFORD having secured his prize (see May 17) and put to sea again, was attacked by 13 British boats, whom he beat off; but was himself killed, being the only person injured.

1780. Dark day in New England, occasioned by a thin cloud or vapor. The people dined by candlelight, and the darkness of the night is represented as _Egyptian_.

1788. SAMUEL BADCOCK, an English divine and writer, died; admired as a pulpit orator and a man of literary talent.

1788. Congress ordered two cannon to be named, one John Hancock, and the other Adams; being one moiety of four cannon which constituted the whole train of artillery possessed by the colonies at the commencement of the war. The other two were taken by the British.

1795. JAMES BOSWELL, died, aged 55; a Scottish lawyer, rendered famous as the friend and biographer of Dr. Johnson, with whom he lived in the closest intimacy.

1795. JOSIAH BARTLETT, one of the signers, died. He was a delegate from New Hampshire in the first congress, and his was the first name called on the vote of the declaration of independence.

1798. BONAPARTE with an immense armament sailed from Toulon for the conquest of Egypt. The sunrise was splendid and similar phenomena were called the suns of Napoleon.

1798. Intelligence having been received by the British that a number of transports fitted out at Flushing were intended to be sent round by the canals to Ostend and Dunkirk, for the purpose of invading England, an expedition was despatched to destroy the sluices and basin of the Bruges canal at Ostend. The direction of the enterprise was entrusted to general Coote and captain Home Popham, who on this day disembarked their troops, and in a few hours the sluices were blown up, and several vessels in the canals destroyed; but on returning to the beach, the wind and surf were so high, that it was impossible to re-embark; meanwhile the country being alarmed, the enemy advanced upon them with a superior force, and the British, after a spirited resistance, were compelled to capitulate. Of 1000 forces landed more than 100 were killed or wounded, among whom was general Coote.

1808. Action in the night between British ship Virginia, and Dutch frigate Gelderland; the latter captured.

1810. Explosion of a powder magazine at New Haswell in Hungary, which destroyed 300 houses, killed 80 persons, and 300 were dug out of the ruins alive.

1831. FRANCIS MASERES, an English mathematician, died, aged 93. He was not only an author, but devoted a part of his income to reprinting such works as he thought useful either in illustration of mathematical history or of that of his country. Penny Cyclopedia says 1824, which agrees with the 93 years from the date of his birth.

1838. THOMAS T. BIDDULPH, an eminent English clergyman, died. He was the author of various publications, one of which, _Sixteen Short Sermons_, has been translated into 15 languages.

1850. A body of Americans under gen. Paredez landed on the island of Cuba, with a view to revolutionize it, and took the town of Cardenas.

1853. The Chinese rebels captured the city of Amoy.