Part 41

1797. Desperate engagement between an Algerine cruiser of 18 guns, well manned, and a Corsican frigate of 26 nine and twelve pounders. The action began at 7 in the morning, and was continued with unremitted obstinacy until 3 in the afternoon, when a sloop and cutter coming up, the frigate was towed off in a disabled condition, and the pirate being completely riddled, they fired the magazine, and blew themselves up. The Algerine had a number of Christian captives on board, and was commanded by Sidney Beder, the terror of the Spanish coast.

1805. Detroit destroyed by fire. The houses on 25 streets were consumed; 16 persons lost their lives, and the cattle, generally shared the same fate.

1807. Niesse, a Prussian fortress in Silesia, taken by the French under Jerome Bonaparte, with 3,000 prisoners, and about 300 cannon.

1811. WILLIAM EATON, an American general, died; celebrated for his heroic achievements in the expedition against Tripoli, 1798.

1813. Action between the United States frigate Chesapeake, 36 guns, Capt. Lawrence, 2 days out from Boston, with a raw crew, and British frigate Shannon, 38 guns, and a picked crew. The Chesapeake was captured, with the loss of Capt. Lawrence and 146 killed and wounded, British loss 84.

1815. ALEXANDER BERTHIER, a distinguished French officer, killed. He served in America during the revolutionary war, and afterwards signalized his talents and bravery under Bonaparte, who placed unlimited confidence in him.

1832. THOMAS SUMTER, a distinguished officer of the revolution, died, aged 97.

1833. RENE SAVARY, duke of Rovigo, died; one of the ministers of France under Bonaparte.

1833. OLIVER WOLCOTT died; a statesman under Washington, and 10 years successively governor of Connecticut.

1833. Cholera broke out at Lexington, Ky., number of deaths to August 1st, 502.

1835. OTHO, king of Greece, his minority having ended, ascended the throne at Athens, with appropriate ceremonies.

1839. Port Gibson, Miss., destroyed by fire.

1841. DAVID WILKIE, an excellent Scottish painter, died at Gibraltar, on his return from Egypt, aged 56. He was the author of many celebrated works in his profession.

1843. Dr. JAMES HAGAN, a native of Ireland, but for several years a citizen of the United States, fell in a street fight in Vicksburgh, Miss., provoked by the violence of his language as an editor.

1846. Pope GREGORY XVI died. His pontificate was 15 years.

1846. A convention of delegates to revise the constitution of New York met at Albany.

1847. The steamer Washington, first of the Collins or American line, sailed from New York.

1848. Defeat of the Danes by the Germans.

1852. A submarine telegraph wire coated with gutta percha, was laid across the channel, from Holyhead, a distance of 80 miles, by which telegraphic communication was completed from London to Dublin.

1854. Four British steamers attacked and destroyed the ships, dockyards and stores at Uleaborg.

1854. EMILY CHUBBUCK, widow of Adoniram Judson, died at Hamilton, N. Y.; better known as Fanny Forrester, an accomplished woman, and a writer of considerable celebrity.

1855. The republic of Nicaragua issued a manifesto, proclaiming "martial law and prohibiting the adventurers Kinney and Fabens," on pain of death from entering the republic for any cause.

JUNE 2.

193. DIDIUS JULIANUS, emperor of Rome, executed after a reign of 60 days, which he purchased of the soldiers.

1581. JAMES DOUGLAS, earl Morton, was guillotined at Edinburgh for the supposed murder of lord Darnley.

1609. Seven ships, attended by two small vessels, with 500 people, sailed for Virginia, under sir Thomas Gates, sir Geo. Somers, and Christopher Newport. (See May 23.)

1627. CHARLES I granted to James Hay, earl of Carlisle, by letters patent, all the Caribbean islands.

1653. Action between the English fleet under Monk, and the Dutch under Tromp. The action continued 2 days, and resulted in the defeat of the Dutch, who lost 20 ships taken or destroyed.

1656. Corner stone of the Dutch church, laid in the centre of State street, in the city of Albany, N. Y., by Rutger Jacobsen, one of the magistrates.

1671. EDWARD LEIGH, a learned Englishman, and member of the long parliament, died.

1676. Indian battle near Mount Hope. About 300 of the English, mounted on horses, with a number of friendly Indians, in pursuit of Philip and his regiment of Wampanoags, came upon their camp, which had been newly pitched in a swamp. The friendly Indians upon a given signal ran down upon them from one side, while the mounted soldiers attacked them from the opposite side, so that many of those who fled were taken prisoners. The fruits of this expedition were 3,000 of the enemy killed and taken, and among the prisoners a Narraganset squaw called the old queen. None of the English, and but few of the allies were hurt in this assault. Philip escaped this pursuit, although it was an irreparable blow to his plan of a general extermination of the English settlements, and nearly completed his ruin.

1754. Earthquake at Cairo, in Egypt, which nearly destroyed the city, and buried 40,000 of its inhabitants in the ruins.

1779. Verplank's point, with a garrison of 70, and 4 cannon, surrendered to the British gen. H. Clinton.

1780. Great riots in London. Lord Gordon, at the head of 50,000 protestants, went to parliament to present a petition against popery.

1781. French under BOUILLE took Tobago.

1782. Battle of Arnee, in India, and defeat of Hyder Ally, by the British under sir Eyre Coote.

1783. WASHINGTON furloughed the soldiers of the war.

1789. Baron KNYPHAUSEN, a Hessian general in the British service during the war of the American revolution, died at Berlin, in Prussia, aged 59.

1791. The city of Anapa, in Asia, stormed and taken from the Turks by the Russians. In the assault many were put to the sword, and a pasha and 14,000 made prisoners.

1793. BRISSOT and several other members of the convention arrested in Paris.

1795. M. DAMBOURNEY died at Rouen; distinguished as a merchant and a man of science.

1802. British house of commons voted Dr. Jenner £10,000 for his discovery of the vaccine inoculation.

1803. THOMAS PETT, an English miser, died. He went to London at the age of 10, with a solitary shilling in his pocket. He lodged 30 years in one gloomy apartment, which was never lighted up with coal, candle, or the countenance of a visitant. It is said he never eat a morsel at his own expense, and left about $35,000 to relatives whom he had never seen.

1805. British surrendered Diamond rock, Martinique, to the French.

1811. CHRISTOPH, and MARIA LOUISA, his sable consort, crowned at Cape Francois, sovereigns of Hayti.

1812. JOHN WILLIAM DE WINTER, a noted Dutch admiral, died at Paris.

1814. Peace between Great Britain and France proclaimed in London.

1843. JOHN CARY, a negro, died at Washington, aged 114. He accompanied Washington as his personal servant in the old French war, and preserved a dress coat presented to him by the general, which he had worn at the siege of Yorktown.

1854. The military force of Boston was called out to protect the government marshal in delivering Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave, on board a Virginia vessel. No serious outbreak occurred, though crowds thronged the streets, and hooted and hissed and groaned, and threw missiles at the military, and at the marshal and his assistants.

1855. There was a riot at Portland, Me.; a crowd attempted to seize with violence certain liquors, claimed to be owned by the city; and, persisting, the military were called out and fired, killing one man and wounding others.

JUNE 3.

1098. Capture of Antioch, the capital of Syria, by the first crusaders. The sword of Godfrey, says an eye witness, divided a Turk from the shoulder to the haunch; and one half of the infidel fell to the ground, while the other half was carried by his horse to the city gates.

1137. Cathedral of Rochester, in England, burned.

1162. THOMAS A BECKET made archbishop of Canterbury.

1594. JOHN AYLMER, a learned and benevolent English prelate, died. He was tutor to lady Jane Grey, and more noted for his severity against the Puritans than for his learning.

1609. MARY ELLIS died at Leigh, England, aged 119. Her inscription informs the reader that "she was a virgin of virtuous courage and very promising hopes."

1611. Lady ARABELLA SEYMOUR escaped from confinement in the tower of London by stratagem.

1647. King CHARLES I of England arrested by Joyce with 500 cavalry, at Holdenby.

1649. FARIA E. SOUSA, a Castilian historian and lyric poet, died. He devoted himself with great ardor to literature, and wrote, by his own account, 12 sheets daily. He labored 25 years on a commentary on the _Lusiade_, which was prohibited by the inquisition.

1657. WILLIAM HARVEY, an English physician, died; celebrated as the discoverer of the circulation of the blood.

1665. Naval action between the British fleet, 114 sail, besides fire ships, under the duke of York and prince Rupert, and the Dutch under admiral Opdam. The latter were defeated, with the loss of 19 ships sunk or taken. The admiral's ship was blown up with himself and all the crew. The English lost but one ship.

1689. Six captains with 400 men in New York, and a company of 70 men from East Chester, joined Leisler in holding the fort at New York for the prince of Orange.

1694. The duke of SAVOY, at the instance of England and Holland decreed the free exercise of their religion to the Vaudois.

1732. EDMUND CALAMY died; an eminent English divine among the non-conformists.

1740. JETHRO TULL died; celebrated as the first Englishman who bestowed particular attention on agriculture, and endeavored to reduce it to a science.

1759. Admiral RODNEY bombarded Havre de Grace, France, 52 hours without intermission.

1769. Transit of Venus over the sun's disc. Capt. Cook sailed from England to Otaheite with scientific men, to take an observation there. As it had never been seen but twice before by any inhabitant of our planet, and could never be seen again by any person then living, it caused considerable excitement among the scientific in Europe. It was also observed by our countryman David Rittenhouse, at Philadelphia.

1770. The city of Port-au-prince, St. Domingo, destroyed by an earthquake.

1776. During the celebration of a wedding at Mantua, the floor of the house gave way, and 66 persons were killed, among whom was the bride.

1780. THOMAS HUTCHINSON, a governor of Massachusetts, died. He published a valuable history of the colony from 1628 to 1749, and a third volume has been compiled from his manuscripts, extending it to 1774.

1788. Lord MANSFIELD, of England, resigned his chief justiceship of the king's bench, a station he had occupied with distinguished reputation for 32 years.

1789. PAUL EGEDE died, aged 81; author of an _Account of Greenland_, and a zealous missionary there.

1790. Action between the Swedish and Russian fleets, in which the former were defeated with great loss.

1802. Madame MARA, the celebrated vocalist, took leave of the English stage.

1805. Peace concluded between the United States and Tripoli; the American prisoners to be liberated.

1808. PHILIP SCHUYLER, an officer of the revolution, died at Albany, aged 73. He possessed a mind of great vigor and enterprise, and was characterized by integrity and amiableness.

1826. NICHOLAI MIKHAELOVITCH KARAMSIN died. He was one of the most eminent Russian writers that country has yet produced.

1832. JEAN PIERRE ABEL REMUSAT died; a distinguished French orientalist, and professor of the Chinese and Tartar languages in the college of France.

1836. BARRY EDWARD O'MEARA died; formerly surgeon to Napoleon, and author of _Napoleon in Exile_, and other works.

1840. The steam packet Unicorn, the first steam vessel from England to Boston, arrived in the latter port in 18 days from Liverpool.

1844. ALEXANDER J. DALLAS, an American commodore, died on board his frigate in Callao bay, having been in the naval service 39 years.

1848. Gunpowder explosion at Vera Cruz, by which several buildings were injured and 20 persons killed, mostly women.

JUNE 4.

1137. The greater part of the city of York, its cathedral, and 39 churches burned.

1453. ALVAREZ DE LUNA, a Spanish statesman, executed. He acquired such an ascendancy over the king that he was himself the monarch more than 30 years.

1520. A famous interview between the kings of England and France, near Guisnes.

1561. St. Paul's, London, burnt, having stood nearly four centuries. Its dimensions were 960 feet in length, 130 in breadth, and surmounted by a spire 520 feet high.

1585. MARK ANTHONY MURETUS died; a French critic and poet.

1663. WILLIAM JUXON, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He was the friend of Laud, by whose influence he was promoted, and by whose fall he was a great sufferer. He was exemplary in his conduct and irreproachable in the discharge of his duties; and on the restoration was raised to the see of Canterbury.

1665. JOHN LAWSON, an English admiral, killed.

1691. Baltimore in Ireland taken by the English under general Ginkle.

1711. The fleet of transports containing 5,000 troops from England and Flanders, designed for the reduction of Canada, arrived at the port of Boston, under sir Hoveden Walker, after a passage of one month's duration.

1725. A general assembly of the kirk of Scotland met at Edinburgh.

1731. A person sentenced at the old Bailey court of London to be hanged for forgery; said to have been the first capital punishment for that offence.

1737. FRANCIS LE MOINE, an excellent French painter, ran himself through with a sword in a fit of lunacy.

1738. Birthday of GEORGE III of England. He began his reign at the age of 22, and occupied the throne 60 years.

1744. ANSON arrived in England after a voyage of three years round the world.

1745. Battle of Hohenfriedberg, between the army of Frederick II of Prussia, and that of prince Charles of Lorrain, in which the latter was defeated with the loss of 4,000 killed and 7,000 prisoners.

1745. ALEXIS NORMAND, advocate of the parliament of Paris, died; justly celebrated for his love of justice.

1746. Battle of San Lazaro; the French defeated in an assault upon the Austrian camp, with the loss of 15,000 killed, wounded, and prisoners, 60 colors and 10 cannon.

1792. First legislature of Kentucky met.

1792. Route between Pennsylvania and the Genesee country in New York explored.

1792. JOHN BURGOYNE, a British officer and dramatist, died. He was "tint at Saratoga."

1794. Port-au-prince, St. Domingo, taken by the British. They found 131 cannon, &c., 13 ships and 9 brigs laden, and other vessels.

1796. Battle of Altenkirchen; the French under Kleber defeated the Austrians and took much booty.

1798. Battle of Tubberneering; the united Irishmen defeated the English under colonel Walpole, who was shot through the head.

1799. Battle of Zurich between the French under Massena, and the Austrians under the archduke Charles.

1800. Cisalpine republic re-established by Bonaparte.

1800. The English squadron under Pellew attacked Quiberon in France, destroyed the forts and brought off several vessels.

1800. FRANCIS BULLER, an eminent English judge, died.

1801. Genoa united to France; Eugene Beauharnais appointed viceroy of Italy, by Bonaparte, who at the same time appointed the order of the _iron crown_.

1803. FRANCIS XAVIER TALBOT died; a French ecclesiastic, and author of some poems.

1804. Vaccination for the cowpox introduced with great success in Persia.

1805. The American prisoners at Tripoli liberated.

1807. EDWARD DILLY, a benevolent and distinguished bookseller, died. His purse and advice were always at the service of the deserving.

1808. A new constitution formed for Spain by Bonaparte.

1813. The French under Joseph Bonaparte and Jourdan evacuated Valladolid, Spain.

1816. Treaty between the United States and Weas and Kickapoo Indians.

1817. CLOTILDA TAMBRONI, an Italian poetess, died.

1819. Washington lodge of independent order of Odd Fellows organized at Baltimore, Md., the first lodge of the order in the United States.

1823. LOUIS NICHOLAS DAVOUST, duke of Auerstadt and prince of Eckmuhl, died; one of Napoleon's bravest generals.

1829. Steam frigate Fulton blown up, and 26 persons killed.

1835. OWEN PUGHE died in Wales; author of a _Welsh and English Dictionary_, and styled the Johnson of Wales.

1837. ABIEL HOLMES, a learned American clergyman, died, aged 74; known principally by his _American Annals_, one of the most valuable historical publications that has been written in this country.

1843. ANDREW BELL died at Perth Amboy, N. J., for many years surveyor for the proprietors of that state.

1844. JESSE SMITH died at Salem, Mass., aged 88. He fought at Bunkers hill, and also at almost every other scene of conflict during the war of the American revolution.

1848. MATTHEW GREGORY died at Albany, aged 91; a revolutionary soldier, who was at the capture of Cornwallis; the noted keeper of the Tontine in the early part of the century.

1854. A riot occurred at Brooklyn, N. Y., between the advocates of street preaching and the catholics, when many persons were killed and wounded, and quiet was only restored by the aid of the military.

1856. ALEXANDER CRICHTON, an English physician, died near London, aged 93. He was for many years physician in ordinary to the emperor Alexander I, of Russia, and was the oldest member of the Royal society.

JUNE 5.

1402. HENRY IV tried to dispel by proclamation the rumors of Richard VI having appeared in Scotland.

1465. ENRIQUE IV, a weak king of Castile, deposed and solemnly degraded in the public square at Avila, and his brother Alonzo proclaimed king in his stead.

1480. CAXTON completed the printing of the history of England, which he thus announced: "_The Chronicles of England, &c. Enputed by me William Caxton. In thabbey of Westmynstre by London, &c., the v day of Juyn the yere of thincarnacion of our lord god m.cccc.lxxx, &c._," folio.

1508. LAMORAL EGMONT, count of Holland, beheaded by order of the Spanish duke of Alva, at Brussels. He was a renowned general in the Spanish armies, but they were jealous of his partialities for his own country's liberty.

1594. Three ships fitted out by some Amsterdam and Zealand merchants, for the purpose of discovering a passage to India by the Northern ocean, sailed from the Texel under Willem Barentszoon and Jacob Heemskerk, shaping their course around Nova Zembla.

1603. The English merchants trading to the Levant surrendered their patent to the king. They paid £4,000 annually for this commercial monopoly.

1667. JOHN HENRY HOTTINGER, a learned Swiss orientalist, drowned in the Limmat. Notwithstanding the assiduity with which he applied himself to his numerous avocations he found time to write several works.

1672. An Indian deed under this date granted to the inhabitants of Schenectady a territory of three miles (12 English miles) all around that town.

1690. THOMAS BAKER, an English mathematician and general scholar, died at Bishops Nymmet, where he lived a retired and literary life.

1716. ROGER COTES, an English mathematician and astronomer, died, aged 33. He was rapidly acquiring distinction in science, and his loss was much regretted.

1724. HENRY SACHEVERELL, a notorious English prelate, died. He made himself obnoxious to parliament by the intemperance of his sermons. The mob took up his cause, and the ministry was overturned. He does not seem to have deserved much of the adulation bestowed upon him.

1745. Battle of Placentia, in which the Spaniards and French were defeated.

1757. CHARLES VINER died; an eminent English law writer.

1781. Fort Cornwallis, at Augusta, Ga., surrendered with 300 men to the Americans under Pickens and Lee. The latter had 40 killed during the siege which lasted 17 days.

1783. First public ascension of a balloon. It was made at Annonay, in France, by John and Stephen Montgolfier. An immense bag of linen lined with paper, and containing 23,000 cubic feet, was provided for the occasion. It was inflated by burning chopped straw and wool under the aperture of the machine, which immediately began to swell; and on being set at liberty ascended 6,000 feet into the air. As yet no individual had ascended.

1790. The steam boat constructed by John Fitch, left the city of Philadelphia at 4 o'clock in the morning for Trenton landing; from which place she returned to Philadelphia again at 5 in the afternoon, performing 80 miles against a strong head wind all the way down, and 16 miles against current and tide. It was propelled by 12 oars, and was the first successful experiment in America, and the most successful one in the world at that time--16 years before the triumph of Fulton.

1792. DAVID HENRY, an English printer, died. He was for more than half a century an active manager of the _Gentlemen's Magazine_, and published several other valuable works.

1794. Battle near Schecketschine, beyond the Vistula, in which the Russians defeated the Poles under Kosciusko.

1794. A small island emerged from the sea near the island of Tenedos. It was about half a mile in circumference.

1798. United Irishmen repulsed with great loss in an attack on New Ross. The British, on the score of retaliation put to death 221 prisoners, men, women and children.

1799. Bonaparte reached Jaffa on his retreat from St. Jean d'Acre, where he remained three days; during which time the French burnt the neighboring villages, carried away all the grain and cattle; they also destroyed all the fortifications at Jaffa, and threw the artillery into the sea.

1799. The archduke CHARLES compelled the French under Massena to evacuate Zurich.

1800. A signal defeat of five columns of Austrians by two French, on the Iller.

1806. NAPOLEON proclaimed his brother Louis Bonaparte king of Holland.

1807. Battle of Spandau, in which the Russians attacked the French under Bernadotte, and were repulsed with the loss of 1,200 killed.

1811. Venezuela in South America declared itself independent.

1813. Battle of Stoney creek, Canada, in which the Americans were attacked by the British in the night. American loss 30 killed and about 180 taken. British loss about 250.

1816. JOHN PAISIELLO, an Italian composer, died at Naples. His reputation extended over the whole continent, and his presence was courted by the sovereigns of Europe. His works are numerous and in high repute.

1826. CARL MARIA VON WEBER, the celebrated German musical composer, died at Paris. He is one of the best of the modern authors.

1827. The academy of sciences at Paris had presented to them at their sitting this day, the phenomenon of a woman with a breast in her left thigh, with which she suckled her own and several other children.

1828. HARRY STOE VAN DYCK, a poetical and miscellaneous writer, of Dutch descent, died near London. In conjunction with Bowring he translated specimens of the Dutch poets, under the title of _Batavian Anthology_, which procured each of them a handsome medal from the king of Holland.

1847. The celebrated African farmer of Cedar creek, Del., died, almost 118 years of age.

1852. JACQUES PRADIER died near Paris, aged 54; the most distinguished sculptor of his day in France.

1852. JOHN HOWARD PAYNE died at Tunis, Africa, aged 60. He was a native of New-York, and long styled on English boards the American Roscius. He was British consul at Tunis at the time of his death.

1854. A large elephant attached to a menagerie, while going from Providence, R. I., to Fall River, Mass., broke loose from his keeper, and before he could be captured attacked all the carriages that he encountered on the road, killing the horses, tearing the wagons to pieces, and severely injuring several persons.