Part 39

1651. LOUIS XIV of France purchased of the West-India company, for the benefit of the knights of Malta, the islands of St. Christopher, St. Bartholomew, St. Martin and San Cruz, for the sum of 120,000 livres turnois. (See August 10, 1665.)

1663. South Carolina erected into a separate province. First permanent settlement began in 1669; original charter included North Carolina and Georgia.

1686. An eruption of mount Ætna, which extended its ravages four leagues around, and buried several persons alive.

1689. Passage of the well known toleration act of England, which so greatly relieved the dissenters.

1692. Four days' action off La Hogue; the remainder of the French ships, seven in number, and a great many transports and ammunition ships burnt.

1698. Pere GERBILLON, a Jesuit missionary, set out on his eighth and last journey to Tartary, in the train of the Chinese grandees, sent by the emperor to hold an assembly of the Kalka Tartars, who had been several years in rebellion, and to regulate the affairs of the country. (See April 1, Oct. 13.)

1715. WILLIAM READ died; originally a cobbler, became a mountebank, and practiced medicine by the light of nature! Queen Anne and George I honored him with the care of their eyes! He could neither write nor read, but such was the success of his practice, that he rode in his own chariot, and "dispensed good punch from golden bowls."

1775. JOHN HANCOCK elected president of congress; he succeeded Peyton Randolph in that office.

1777. Colonel MEIGS made a successful attack on the British stores at Sag harbor, destroyed 12 British brigs and schooners, and great quantities of stores, and brought away 90 British prisoners, without sustaining any loss.

1786. CHARLES WILLIAM SCHEELE, an eminent Swedish chemist, died. His discoveries were numerous, though his experiments were made under great disadvantages.

1792. GEORGE BRYDGES, lord Rodney, a celebrated British admiral, died, aged 74.

1794. Battle of the Sambre, in the Netherlands, in which general Kaunitz defeated the French, who lost 3,000 taken prisoners, and 50 cannon.

1798. Several battles were fought at different places between the English troops and United Irishmen, in which the latter were generally defeated.

1811. The Seringapatam, prize to the United States frigate Essex, capt. Gamble, captured by the British sloop of war Cherub, at the Sandwich islands.

1814. Pope PIUS VII, whose powers had been abridged by Napoleon, made his grand public entry into Rome, to resume the throne.

1822. Battle of Pichinca, fought near the volcano of that name. The Columbians under Sucre succeeded in gaining the vicinity of Quito by marching over the frozen mountains of Cotopaxi, by which, and several other daring movements, the Spaniards were compelled to hazard a battle, and sustained a total defeat. The patriots thus became possessed of the entire province, with all the Spanish magazines and stores, and the road to Peru was left open to Bolivar.

1833. JOHN RANDOLPH, of Roanoke, an American statesman, died, aged 60. He was a descendant in the 7th generation, from Pocahontas, the Indian woman who saved the life of capt. Smith, and was distinguished for genius, eloquence and eccentricity.

1839. WILLIAM LEGGET, an American poet, and miscellaneous writer, died. He was a man of talent, and employed by government as charge d'affaire to Central America.

1844. JAMES THATCHER, a surgeon of the revolutionary army and author of the _Military Journal_ and _History of Plymouth_, died at Plymouth, Mass.

1845. WILLIAM RAMSAY died in Boone county, Mo., aged 104. Early a pioneer and Indian fighter in Kentucky.

MAY 25.

535 B. C. The foundations of the second temple at Jerusalem, laid by the _children of the captivity_, by permission of Cyrus, on the twenty-fifth of Sivan.

67 B. C. TITUS VESPASIAN took the city of Joppa, in Galilee, by assault, on the 25th of the month Dæsius.

337. CONSTANTINE the Great died, having divided the empire among his children and nephews.

709. ALDHEM, an English divine, died; said to have been the first Englishman who cultivated poetry.

1261. ALEXANDER IV, pope, died. He bestowed the crown of Sicily on Edmund, son of the king of England, and attempted to unite the Greek and Latin churches.

1315. EDWARD BRUCE invaded Ireland with 6000 men. "He fought many battles and gained them all," and was for a brief period king of the country.

1427. ALEXANDER, lord of the isles, performed penance of submission to king James in his shirt and drawers, before the congregation of Holyrood church.

1510. GEORGES D'AMBOISE a French cardinal and statesman, died; a great benefactor to France.

1622. PETRUS PLANCIUS, who with others contributed so much to the discovery of New Netherland and other countries, died at Amsterdam.

1625. WILLIAM BARLOWE, died; celebrated as the discoverer of the nature and properties of the loadstone.

1630. Eight Englishmen left by mischance in Greenland by their ship, were found on this day by their countrymen, having by good economy and wise expedients, succeeded in passing the winter without loss of life. (See Jan. 14, 1634, and Ap. 16, 1634.)

1681. DON PEDRO DE LA BARCA, a noble Spanish dramatist, died; who together with Lope de Vega, gave law to and polished the Spanish theatre. His works comprise 10 vols. quarto.

1743. JAMES ANTONY ARLAUD, a celebrated Swiss painter, died.

1760. Insurrection of the negroes in Jamaica. The loss to the island, in human flesh and blood, was $500,000.

1775. Sir GUY JOHNSON, called an Indian council at Guy Park, where the Mohawks alone attended; his object being to provide against a rumored attack upon his person by the revolutionists.

1775. Generals Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne, arrived at Boston.

1776. Congress resolved to engage the services of the Indians.

1778. About 500 British and Hessians from Rhode Island destroyed at Kickmut river, 70 boats and other property; burnt the church and several dwellings at Warren, and a church and 22 houses at Bristol.

1780. Two regiments of Washington's troops mutinied; but were persuaded to return to their duty.

1798. CHARLES JAMES FOX, had his name stricken by the king from the list of privy councillors, for giving as a toast at the meeting of the Whig club, "The sovereignty of the people."

1798. ASMUS JACOB CARSTENS, a distinguished German artist, died. He was the son of a miller, and raised himself to eminence by his great talent and genius as a painter.

1798. A party of United Irishmen defeated near Dublin with great slaughter; many of those taken were executed.

1802. GEORGE FORDYCE, died; an eminent Scottish physician and writer on medicine and chemistry.

1803. BONAPARTE constituted all Englishmen between 18 and 60 years of age, found in the French territory, prisoners of war, and ordered the capture of British vessels.

1805. WILLIAM PALEY died; a learned English divine and writer on ethics. His _Evidences of Christianity_ is one of the ablest defences of the Christian religion that has ever appeared.

1812. EDMUND MALONE, an Irish attorney, died. He is celebrated as the editor of Shakspeare, and published several biographies.

1818. DAVID MITCHELL, a major-general in the war of the American revolution, died, aged 77. He was the friend of Logan, the Indian, and had fought the Indians in 27 battles.

1830. The French expedition against Algiers sailed from Toulon, consisting of 34,160 men, under the command of General Bourmont, and succeeded in reducing that barbarous kingdom to a French province.

1840. Singular phenomenon in lake Erie, at Toledo; the water rising to the height of four feet above its ordinary level in the space of a few hours, without any apparent cause. The water and the weather were calm and still, and no unusual commotion was observable, as the bay gradually rose nearly a foot higher than ever before known.

1843. One hundredth anniversary of the Am. Philosophical Society, founded by Franklin at Philadelphia. It is the oldest scientific association this side of the Atlantic.

MAY 26.

604. AUGUSTINE (_alias Austin_), first archbishop of Canterbury, died. He was originally a monk, and was sent into Britain with 40 others to convert the English Saxons to Christianity.

735. BEDE (_the venerable_), a learned English monk, died. He passed his life in severe study, and wrote an ecclesiastical history from Julius Cæsar to his own age.

946. EDMUND I, king of the Anglo Saxons, killed by an outlaw named Liof, at the age of 23. He was distinguished for personal courage, as well as taste for elegance and splendor, whence he was called _the munificent_.

1416. JEROME of Prague made the fearless declaration that he was a supporter of the doctrines of Wickliffe and Huss, for which he suffered martyrdom.

1512. BAYAZID II, sultan of Turkey, died on the journey to Denitoka, his birth place, whither he was retiring, having resigned the government to his son, Selim, who had rebelled against him.

1536. FRANCISCO BERNI, a Tuscan poet, died. He is the principal writer of Italian jocose poetry, which has ever since retained the name of poesia Bernesca.

1568. An _estoddfod_ of the Welsh bards and minstrels held at Cayroes by commission of queen Elizabeth, when the great prize of the silver harp was adjudged to Simon ap Williams ap Sion.

1595. PHILIP NERI, founder of the oratorians, died. He was noted for his benevolence, and established a _hospice_ for the accommodation of pilgrims, which has become one of the finest in Rome.

1608. Sir THOMAS SACKVILLE, that great servant of Apollo and the state, interred with pomp at Westminster. "There never was a better treasurer," observes sir Richard Baker, "both for the king's profit and the good of the subject."

1623. FRANCIS ANTHONY, an English chemist, died; who took advantage of his knowledge to impose upon the credulous and unwary, by selling his panacea of potable gold.

1637. Fort Mistic, garrisoned by a large body of Indians under their grand sachem Sassacus, taken by assault, and about 70 wigwams burnt.

1689. Battle at the pass of Killicrankie, remarkable for the defeat of king William's troops by the Highlanders under lord Dundee.

1685. JOHN MARSHAM died; a learned English chronologist.

1703. SAMUEL PEPYS, a learned Englishman, died; celebrated for his collection of valuable documents, &c.

1746. THOMAS SOUTHERN, an English dramatist, died.

1766. JOHN LAURENCE BERTI, a learned monk of Tuscany, died; author of about 20 quarto volumes of divinity.

1781. Congress resolved to establish the bank of North America, being the first regularly established bank in the country.

1782. WILLIAM EMERSON, an eminent English mathematician, died. His knowledge was very extensive, and his works accurate.

1784. Musical festival in Westminster abbey, in commemoration of the birthday of Handel. This was the greatest concert ever known; the number of performers was 525; 275 vocal, 250 instrumental. The sum produced was over $12,000.

1794. The French convention decreed that no quarters be given to British and Hanoverian soldiers. But the French troops refused to execute the decree.

1795. The Ottoman Porte acknowledged the French republic.

1798. Battle of Tarah and defeat of the United Irishmen.

1799. JAMES BURNETT, lord Monboddo, died. He was one of the lords of session in Scotland, and a philosophical writer of considerable learning, but of peculiar notions.

1809. FRANCIS JOSEPH HAYDN, the celebrated musical composer, died. His works are numerous and highly valued.

1811. JAMES PULTENEY, a wealthy English baron, died; whose income was $250,000 per annum.

1813. Cannonade between forts George and Niagara, and bombardment from all the batteries.

1814. JOSEPH IGNACE GUILLOTIN, a French physician, who revived the use of the instrument known as the maiden, died at Paris, aged 76.

1824. CAPEL LOFFT, an English poet and miscellaneous writer, died in Italy. He was the patron of Bloomfield.

1831. Battle of Ostrolenka, between 55,000 Russians and 20,000 Poles, in which the latter were defeated.

1836. WILLIAM YOUNG OTTLEY, keeper of the prints in the British museum, died. He was for half a century actively devoted to his favorite pursuit of the fine arts, and is honorably known as an artist, a collector, and an author.

1838. WILLIAM BUTLER died at Philadelphia, aged 108.

1840. WILLIAM SIDNEY SMITH, admiral of the red, died at Paris, aged 76. He was one of the most celebrated naval officers of the last age, and distinguished himself on various occasions by his talents and courage.

1844. JACQUES LAFITTE, the French banker, died.

1848. By a fire which occurred in the omnibus establishment of Kip & Brown, New York, 130 horses were burnt.

1852. SAMUEL NOTT, for a long time regarded as the patriarch of the clergy of New England, died in Franklin, Conn., aged 98. He graduated at Yale college in 1780, and two years after settled at Franklin, where he spent the remainder of his protracted life. He was also engaged in the business of instruction, and was a maker of public men. He was injured by a burn, and died of the effects of the accident.

1853. The yellow fever made its appearance at New Orleans; the number of victims during the season was 8,186, the greater part of whom died in August and September.

1854. ANGUS PATTERSON, for a long time president of the senate of South Carolina, died at Barnwell, in that state.

1854. A great crowd in Boston, excited by inflammatory speeches, attacked the court house and attempted to rescue the negro, Anthony Burns, under arrest as a fugitive from servitude. A special assistant of the United States marshal was killed, but the object of the riot was not effected.

1855. An imperial ukase ordered that all the serfs in certain of the Russian states, between the ages of 30 and 35, should be enrolled.

MAY 27.

346 B. C. PHILIP of Macedon took possession of Phocis upon the 27th Scirophorion, and the towers were soon after dismantled, which terminated the ten years' war.

1199. HUBERT, archbishop of Canterbury, made lord chancellor in consideration of his services in crowning king John.

1257. RICHARD, brother to Henry III, crowned at Aix la Chapelle, king of the Romans.

1520. CORTEZ, with 250 men, without horses, or any other arms than pikes, swords, shields and daggers, attacked the well appointed expedition under Narvaez, sent against him by the governor of Cuba, consisting of about 1400 men, which was defeated and gained over to his party. Thus the almost dispirited adventurer suddenly found himself again at the head of a more numerous army than ever, consisting of nearly 2000 Spanish troops, about a hundred horses and 18 vessels, and a great sufficiency of ammunition.

1538. ANTHONY FITZHERBERT, an able English judge, died; author of several works on the law.

1541. MARGARET, countess of Salisbury, beheaded in the tower, at the age of 70. She was the mother of the celebrated cardinal Pole, and the last of the royal line of Plantagenet.

1564. JOHN CALVIN, the great reformer, died. He was a man of eminent talents, solid judgment and extensive learning. His great rigor, however, procured him many enemies; indeed it ill became a reformer to defend, as he did, the burning of heretics.

1600. Matins of Moscow, so called from the time of the day when prince Demetrius and all his Polish adherents were massacred at 6 in the morning.

1602. The colony accompanying Gosnold fixed upon a place of settlement, on the western part of Elizabeth island in Narraganset bay. On a rocky islet in the centre of a fresh water pond two miles in circuit they commenced erecting a fort and store house. (See June 18.)

1610. FRANCIS RAVAILLAC, the fanatic who assassinated _Henri Quatre_, (see May 14,) was executed by being drawn and quartered by four horses.

1647. PETER STUYVESANT, a man of learning and a soldier, the last Dutch governor of New York, arrived at New Amsterdam, and superseded Kieft.

1648. VINCENT VOITURE, an elegant French writer, died. He wrote verses with elegance in French, Spanish and Italian, and was a polisher of his native language in a barbarous age.

1679. English act of habeas corpus passed; the act suspending it was repealed, probably forever, 1818.

1681. "The sweet singers" of the city of Edinburgh renounced the printed Bible at the Canon gate tolbooth, and all unchaste thoughts, words and actions, and burned all story books, ballads, romances, &c.

1694. The French under marshal de Noailles defeated the Spaniards near the river Ter, and took Gerona.

1702. DOMINIC BOUHOURS, a French Jesuit, died; celebrated as a learned writer and critic.

1703. St. Petersburg founded by Peter the great. Its present population is about one-third that of London.

1721. The _Weekly Journal or Saturday's Post_ of this date adjudged to contain libelous matter against the government of England.

1723. GEORGE I assented to the bill for the banishment of bishop Atterbury, whose great virtues are now remembered.

1725. CHARLES DE LA RUE, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished as an orator and poet and a professor of belles-lettres.

1728. CHARLES LEOPOLD, duke of Mecklenburgh, deposed by the emperor of Germany.

1775. Battle at Noddle's island, near Boston; the British defeated by the Americans under Putnam and Warren, who had but 3 men wounded. British loss 200, together with an armed schooner and some stores.

1776. ARNOLD with about 900 Americans captured the British post at the Cedars without any resistance, and retook 500 American prisoners.

1777. BUTTON GWINNETT, one of the signers, died of a wound received in a duel.

1779. THOS. NUGENT, a distinguished lexicographer, died. His French and English dictionary has much merit.

1781. Lord CORNWALLIS, with a vastly superior force, compelled the marquis La Fayette to evacuate Richmond.

1794. Battle of Kaiserslautern, in which the Prussian general Mollendorf surprised the French camp, killed 1000, and took 2000 prisoners, and 20 cannon.

1798. Battle of Oulart Hill; the United Irishmen under father Murphy defeated the English, and massacred all but five. Same day, a large body of Irishmen defeated at Kilthomas hill, 150 killed, and 100 cabins and 2 chapels burnt.

1799. Addison's library sold by auction in London on this and the three following days, 70 years after his death, when it brought about $2,000.

1811. RICHARD PENN, one of the proprietors, and governor of Pennsylvania before the revolution, died in England.

1811. HENRY DUNDAS, lord Melville, a distinguished British statesman, died.

1813. The American army landed in Canada under cover of the fire from Chauncey's fleet, and carried fort George by assault. The vanguard landed first, consisting of Forsyth's riflemen, and the Albany and Baltimore volunteers, under Col. Scott.

1817. A Tunisian corsair of 12 guns, with two prizes, under Oz Maney, were captured near Dover, England, by two British revenue cutters.

1832. St. Jean d'Acre in Palestine taken from the Turks by the pasha of Egypt.

1840. Great freshet in the Savannah river; the city of Augusta and town of Hamburgh entirely submerged; the water rising 35 feet above low water mark. The destruction of property was very great.

1840. Baron PAGANINI, the most celebrated violinist the world ever produced, died at Nice, in Italy, aged 57, leaving a large fortune. (See June 27, 1819.)

1848. The princess SOPHIA, 12th child of George III of England, died, aged 71; an amiable and benevolent lady.

1850. The temple of Nauvoo, erected by the Mormons, finished in 1845, partially burnt in October 1848, having but its four walls left--all its timber works having been consumed by the flames--was destroyed by a hurricane.

MAY 28.

812. St. WILLIAM, of Aquitaine, died. He distinguished himself by his valor against the Saracens, under Charlemagne.

1089. LANFRANC, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He was an Italian, and has the character of a great statesman, as well as a learned prelate.

1220. Pope HONORIUS issued a decree that no person in England should keep in his hands more than two of the royal castles; intended to check the encroaching barons.

1357. ALPHONSO IV, of Portugal, died. He was an able prince, benevolent, and warred with the Moors.

1500. DE CABRAL'S fleet encountered a violent storm; 4 of his vessels ran foul of each other and sunk. Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese navigator, who first doubled the cape of Good Hope, was lost here.

1576. The first newspaper printed in England was the _Liverpool Times_ of this date; it is said to be published at the present day.

1583. The printing of the _Vandalie Bible_ commenced at Wittemberg, by Samuel Seelfish, at the expense of the state of Carniola, which paid 8,000 florins for 1,500 copies.

1661. The marquis of ARGYLE beheaded at Edinburgh and his head set upon the Tolbooth.

1672. Battle of Southwold bay, in which the Dutch admiral De Ruyter with 91 ships of the line and 44 frigates and fireships, engaged the combined fleets of France and England, consisting of 130 sail, under the command of the duke of York, afterwards James II, and the admiral count d'Estrees. The conflict was terrible. The allies had a trifling advantage, and the Dutch retired to the coast of Holland.

1672. EDWARD MONTAGUE, earl of Sandwich, drowned in the confusion of the battle of Southwold bay. He was distinguished as a statesman, general, admiral, and writer.

1672. War declared in Boston against the Dutch; the first declaration of war in the colonies.

1673. Action between the English and French fleets, under prince Rupert, and the Dutch under De Ruyter, at Schonvelt; both sides claimed the victory.

1701. ANNE HILARION DE COSTENTIN DE TOURVILLE, a French admiral, died. He distinguished himself against the Algerines and the Spaniards, but the battle of La Hogue was fatal to his glory.

1708. Com. WAGER attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet near Carthagena.

1736. Madamoiselle SALLE, a famous _danseuse_ at Paris, who piqued herself upon her reputation, instituted an order there, of which she was president, by the name of the _Indifferents_. Both sexes were indiscriminately admitted, after a nice scrutiny into their qualifications. They had rites, which no one was to disclose. The badge of the order was a ribbon, striped black, white and yellow, and the device something like an icicle. They took an oath to fight against love, and if any of the members were particular in their regards, they were excluded the order with ignominy.

1745. JONATHAN RICHARDSON died; a celebrated English painter of heads, and an author.

1754. Battle at fort Duquesne; the French and Indians defeated by the Americans under Washington.

1781. American frigate Alliance, 32 guns, Capt. Barry, captured British sloops of war Atalanta, 16 guns, and Trespasser, 14 guns.

1793. ANTHONY FREDERICK BUSCHING, a distinguished Prussian geographer, died.

1794. Lord HOWE'S first action with the French fleet under Joyeuse. British ship Russell captured the Revolutionaire, 110 guns.

1795. WILLIAM, prince of Orange, issued a manifesto against the French and Batavian republics, protesting against their right to abolish the stadtholdership.

1797. Toulon, which had been seized by the French royalists, surrendered to the conventional troops.

1798. JAMES DUNBAR, professor of philosophy at Aberdeen, died; author of an essay on the history of mankind in the rude and uncultivated ages.

1798. Father MURPHY, at the head of the United Irishmen, took Enniscorthy, killed 90 of the king's troops, and set the town on fire.

1803. British ship Victory captured the French frigate Ambuscade, formerly belonging to the British.

1803. RICHARD HOLE, an English poet and divine, died. He published Ossian in a poetic dress and other works.

1808. The bones of the American prisoners who had perished on board the Jersey and other British prison ships at New York during the revolutionary war, solemnly inhumed in a vault erected at the Wallabout.