Part 42

1854. JOHN FRYALL SNODGRASS, a distinguished and successful Virginia lawyer, died at Parkersburg, aged 50. He was an influential and valuable member of the convention for revising the constitution in 1850, and fell dead in court while trying a cause.

1855. The National Know-nothing, or American convention assembled at Philadelphia.

1855. The British frigate Cossack appeared off Hango Udd, and sent a boat on shore under a flag of truce, and the men landed; when the boat was fired on and sunk, and the crew killed or wounded and taken prisoners.

1856. Governor JOHNSON, of California, declared San Francisco to be in a state of insurrection.

1856. ASA CUMMINGS, an American divine, died at sea, aged 65. He was editor of the _Christian Mirror_ at Portland, Me., from 1826 to 1855, and was deeply interested in the cause of missions and education.

JUNE 6.

356. B. C. Birthday of ALEXANDER, _the Great_, on the sixth day of _Lous_ (_Hecatombæon_) during the Olympic games, in the first year of the 106th Olympiad, at Pella. This joyful _deliverance_ was notified to Philip at the falling of Potidæa; and two other messengers reached his camp on the same day, announcing that his race horse had gained the prize at the games, and that Parmenio his captain had defeated the Illyrians. It was on the night of this very day that the celebrated temple of Diana was burnt to the ground by Eratostratus, an Ephesian youth who fondly panted for an infamous reputation.

1210. King JOHN, landed in Ireland, and received the homage of twenty native princes.

1439. The act of union between the Greek and Latin churches, took place in the cathedral of Florence, where the contracting parties met, at the instigation of John Palæologus; but was sundered by the act of Russia.

1481. BATTISTA FRESCOBALDI and others engaged in a conspiracy to assassinate Lorenzo de Medici, executed at Florence.

1487. Battle of Stoke; the earl of Lincoln defeated and slain by the king Henry VII.

1527. Pope CLEMENT VII, surrendered the castle of St. Angelo, and gave up himself a prisoner to the imperialists, under Philbert de Chalons, prince of Orange, who succeeded the duke of Bourbon.

1533. LUDOVICO ARIOSTO, the Italian poet, died. His _Orlando Furioso_ procured him the laurel crown at Rome, which was placed upon his brow by the emperor Charles V.

1577. On Corpus Christi's Eve, the usual celebration greatly aggrieved the perth weekly assembly. The play being judged idolatrous.

1597. WILLIAM HUNIS, one of the contributors to the metrical theology of the times of Edward VI, died. Edward himself was no mean writer. Hunis versified the whole book of Genesis, calling it a hive full of honey.

1650. ANTHONY ASCHAM a friend of Cromwell, and member of the long parliament, assassinated. He was at the time envoy to Spain, and the deed was perpetrated by six exiled royalists there.

1660. CHARLES II, issued a proclamation for the regicides to surrender, that they might not be excepted from the general pardon: 19 availed themselves of the proclamation, but 19 others doubting the sincerity of the government, disobeyed the summons.

1693. Dr. PITCAIRN, published at Leyden his dissertation on the circulation of the blood through the veins.

1710. LOUISE FRANCOISE VALLIERE, wife of the duke of Orleans, and mistress of Louis XIV, died. She spent the last 35 years of her life in a cloister in acts of piety and devotion.

1745. A body of Silesian peasants, at Landshut, 2000 in number, sought permission of the king, Frederick II, to massacre the Roman catholics. He refused to allow the barbarous demand.

1749. Conspiracy of the Turkish slaves at Malta to exterminate the order of knights.

1761. British under lord Rolla took Dominica.

1762. GEORGE ANSON, the circumnavigator, died, aged 62. His life was spent upon the ocean, and he rendered important services to his country, for which he was rewarded.

1780. Riots in London continued, occasioned by the property act. The rioters liberated the prisoners confined in the prisons, and totally destroyed Newgate by fire.

1794. Point a Petre, Guadaloupe, stormed by the French.

1799. PATRICK HENRY, an eminent Virginian patriot, orator and statesman, died, aged 63. He was chosen the first governor of Virginia, on the abdication of lord Dunmore.

1800. Sir EDWARD PELLEW'S squadron landed and destroyed the forts at Morbihan, in France, blew up the magazines, destroyed the guns, took 100 prisoners, 2 brigs of 18 guns, 2 sloops and 2 gun vessels.

1807. Battle of Deppen, in which the French cut to pieces a body of Russians.

1807. Battle of Eylau, between the French and Russians; 30,000 of the latter were killed.

1808. Spanish Junta declared war against Bonaparte. Same day he issued a degree at Bayonne, declaring his brother Joseph king of Spain and the Indies.

1832. Riots commenced in Paris between the Carlists and republicans united, and the National guards. The rioters were finally overpowered, after several days' resistance and great slaughter.

1832. JEREMY BENTHAM, a celebrated English jurist, died, aged 85. He was a man of great learning and eccentricity, and devoted his long life to laborious study.

1853. The Italian ecclesiastic Gavazzi, lectured at Quebec, and gave rise to a riot.

1854. JOHN SPEED SMITH, a highly intelligent and cultivated Kentucky gentleman, died. He was repeatedly a member of the Kentucky legislature, and served two years in congress.

1855. The bombardment of Sebastopol was reopened with 157 guns and mortars on the part of the British, and above 300 on the part of the French.

JUNE 7.

218. MARCUS OPILIUS SEVERUS MACRINUS, emperor of Rome, beheaded by his soldiers. He was an African, and rose from the obscurest situation to the throne on the death of Caracalla.

632. MAHOMET (or _Mohammed_), founder of the Islam religion, died, aged 62. His followers are now computed at one hundred millions.

1099. The army of Christians comprising the first crusade, encamped before Jerusalem. The first army led on by Peter the Hermit, numbered at the outset 300,000; another of 600,000 followed, burning with zeal to rescue the holy land from the Moslem dominion. Battle, desertion and disease had thinned their ranks so that now there remained scarce 22,000 fit for the field, of all that vast host that had marshaled in Europe.

1329. ROBERT BRUCE, king of Scotland, died. He succeeded by repeated and arduous efforts in freeing his country from the English yoke, and when he had accomplished his purpose, he devoted himself to advance the prosperity of his subjects.

1520. Famous interview between HENRY VIII of England and Francis I of France, upon "the field of the cloth of gold," on English ground. It continued eighteen days.

1546. Archbishop CRANMER and the queen accused of heresy, but protected by Henry.

1565. Sir THOMAS GRESHAM, laid the foundation of the Royal Exchange, London, on the model of the Mart at Antwerp, then the centre of commerce.

1593. LOPEZ, a Jew, the queen's physician, convicted and with others executed, for conspiring to destroy Elizabeth.

1629. Charters granted to patroons in the colony of New Netherland, now New York.

1660. An order of council that the Stationers' company do seize and deliver to the secretary of state, all copies of Buchanan's _History of Scotland_, and _De Jure Regni apud Scotus_, "which are very pernicious to monarchy, and injurious to his majesty's blessed progenitors."

1663. Second war at Esopus, now Kingston, in Ulster county, New York.

1673. Action between the Dutch admiral de Ruyter, and the French and English fleets, commanded by d'Estrees.

1692. Great earthquake in Jamaica; nine-tenths of Port Royal buried under water, and terrible devastations were made over the whole island. About 1000 acres were sunk northward of the city, and 2000 persons perished; and 3000 white inhabitants perished of pestilential diseases ascribed to the putrid effluvia issuing from the apertures.

1711. HENRY DODWELL, a learned English writer, died, aged 70. His writings, which are very numerous, and which prove him to have been a man of indefatigable diligence and extensive learning, are on controversial, theological and classical subjects.

1731. WILLIAM AIKMAN, an eminent Scottish painter, died. He was the intimate friend of the most distinguished characters of the day in England, whose portraits he painted, and thus unwittingly added much to their celebrity.

1751. JOHN MACHIN, a noted English astronomer, died. He is the author of a method of determining the quadrature of the circle.

1753. ARCHIBALD CAMERON, brother of Lochiel, executed; recently the estates of this attainted family have been restored. The execution of this gentleman has always been held as a specimen of ministerial cruelty.

1761. Belleisle, on the coast of Brittany, surrendered to the British. Its reduction cost an immense sum, besides the loss of 2000 choice troops, who perished in the expedition. British had 313 killed and 494 wounded.

1769. ANTHONY ALEXANDER HENRY POINSINET, died; a French dramatic writer.

1775. The general court of Massachusetts met at Salem, and chose delegates to the first congress.

1779. WILLIAM WARBURTON, bishop of Gloucester, died; an English prelate of great abilities.

1780. London riots continued. King's bench, Fleet prison, New Bridewell, and the toll gates on Blackfriar's bridge, &c., burnt. The military fired on the rioters, killed 210 and wounded 258.

1780. Unsuccessful attempt of the Spaniards with 10 fire ships to burn 3 British ships in the new mole, Gibraltar bay.

1780. About 5000 British under Knyphausen, Tryon and Stirling, left Staten Island and entered Elizabethtown, N. J.; continuing their march five miles farther to Connecticut farms, they shot the minister's wife in the midst of her children, burnt the house and church, and had much other pastime of the like character.

1786. A small manuscript volume of prayers composed and written by queen Elizabeth, sold at auction for 100 guineas.

1794. Battle of Chelm; the Poles defeated by the Russians.

1795. The royalist expedition against Quiberon, assisted by English munitions and money, terminated disastrously for the royal cause. The Republicans obtained possession of clothing and equipments which had been landed for 40,000 men.

1795. Luxemburgh, in Belgium, under marshal baron de Bender, surrendered to the French under Gen. Hatry.

1798. Battle of Antrim; lord O'Niel killed with a pike.

1805. The Antigua convoy for England, captured and burnt by the combined French and Spanish fleets.

1811. Tremendous hail storm at Alexandria, Virginia.

1826. JOSEPH VON TRAUNHOFER, died; a celebrated German optician.

1831. SARAH SIDDONS, a celebrated English tragic actress, died. She was the daughter of Roger Kemble, manager of a strolling company, married Siddons in her 18th year, and in 1782, appeared at Drury Lane in the character of Isabella. Her course from that time was a perpetual triumph, and in 1812 she retired to private life with an ample fortune.

1836. NATHAN DRAKE, an English physician, died; also a highly respectable and voluminous author.

1836. JOHN PRINCE, an American clergyman, died at Salem, Mass., aged 85; distinguished for his talents and literary acquirements, and for his improvements in the air pump.

1840. FREDERICK WILLIAM III, king of Prussia, died, aged 70. He is characterized as an honest, just and economical ruler. Destined to take an active part in the great events which followed the French revolution, his reign was distinguished by great vicissitudes of ill fortune and success. He left a fortune of nearly twenty millions of dollars.

1848. GEORGE TRIPNER, an officer of the revolution, died at Philadelphia, aged 87. He was at many of the severest battles of the war, and throughout the entire campaign rendered no little service to his country.

1848. Whig convention at Philadelphia nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor for the presidency.

1852. HOSEA BALLOU, a distinguished universalist preacher, died, aged 80. He was excluded from the baptist church, and began to preach in 1791.

1853. Important amendments were made to the New York city charter, restraining the power of municipal officers in money matters, which were adopted by a vote of 36,672 against 3,351.

1855. The allies attacked and carried some of the Russian outworks at Sebastopol; the French, those in front of the Mamelon, and the British the quarries of the Redan. The Russians made six front attempts in the course of the night to recover them, but without success. British loss in killed and wounded 30 officers and 433 men; French loss in killed and wounded estimated at 400; 75 guns and 502 prisoners were taken from the Russians.

1856. CHRISTIAN WULF, a Danish naval officer, died at Beaufort, N. C., aged 46. He was sometime at the head of the naval academy at Copenhagen, and inheriting the literary taste of his father, admiral Wulf, he translated Shakspere, and Bancroft's _History of the United States_, and at the time of his death was making the tour of the United States.

JUNE 8.

68. CLAUDIUS DOMITIUS NERO, emperor of Rome, destroyed himself at the age of 32, and the 14th of his dominion. He had committed every enormity, and finding himself at last the inevitable victim of a conspiracy, he was doomed to see his own grave prepared, and died with his eyes standing out of his head, to the terror of all that beheld him.

1042. HARDICANUTE died at a nuptial feast of a Danish lord. By his death the connection between the kingdoms of England and Denmark was severed.

1316. LOUIS X (_Hutin_), king of Navarre, died, aged 26. During his short reign the Jews were protected and encouraged in his dominions.

1376. EDWARD, prince of Wales (called the _black prince_ from the color of his armor), died, aged 46. He distinguished himself as a warrior under his father Edward III in the war with France, in several famous battles, and was the idol of the nation.

1405. Archbishop SCROOP beheaded at York, England, for insurrection.

1536. HENRY VIII'S new parliament passed an act of attainder against Anne Boleyn, and declared both divorces legal, and the issue illegitimate.

1590. THOMAS RANDOLPH, an English diplomatist under Elizabeth, died. He wrote an account of his embassy in Russia, 1568, which may be found in _Hakluyt's Voyages_.

1683. JOHN DURELL, an eminent English divine, died. His writings are chiefly controversial.

1692. HENRY ARNAULD, a French ecclesiastic, died. He was nearly half a century bishop of Angers, and devoted himself incessantly to the duties of his office.

1695. CHRISTIAN HUYGENS, a celebrated Dutch mathematician, died. He made several astronomical discoveries, and improved the air pump. His works comprise 6 vols. 4to.

1709. Paper money first authorized and issued in New York.

1711. CATHARINE LASCAILLE, daughter of the celebrated Holland printer, James Lascaille, who herself was so famed as a poet, as to be called the Dutch Sappho, or the _tenth muse_, died in Holland.

1714. The princess SOPHIA died; fourth daughter of the king of Bohemia by Elizabeth, only daughter of James I, of England. She was the mother of George I.

1727. AUGUSTUS HERMAN FRANCKE died; professor of oriental languages and of divinity at Halle, and distinguished for his learning and piety.

1747. THAMAS KOULI KHAN, the Persian conqueror, assassinated. He rose from the humble rank of a shepherd boy, to be the captain of a band of robbers, which in time became sufficiently formidable to place him on the throne of Persia. He extended his conquests into India, and overran some of its richest provinces.

1755. Action off Newfoundland, between the British ship Dunkirk, 60 guns, and 420 men and boys, and the French ship Alcide, 64 guns, 700 men. The Alcide struck in about 30 minutes; the slaughter on board of her was very great, the first broadside killing 47 men and officers. The governor of Louisburg and 4 officers of note were taken, and £30,000.

1764. WILLIAM PULTENEY, an English statesman, died. He was many years the friend of Walpole, finally opposed his measures and was disgraced. He continued his opposition with so much zeal and spirit, that Walpole was in turn disgraced, and himself rose in his place.

1768. ABBE JOHN WINCKELMAN, a celebrated German antiquary, assassinated at Trieste. He was the son of a shoemaker, and sometime engaged in the same business himself. His labors were indefatigable, and his works possess great merit.

1768. ANDREW MILLAR, the most distinguished bookseller of his times, died in London. Dr. Johnson said he had raised the price of literature.

1776. Unsuccessful attempt of 800 Americans to surprise the British at the village of _Trois Rivieres_, Canada; 200 were taken prisoners. Same day the Americans under col. De Haas, burnt St. Annes, on the St. Lawrence.

1781. A reinforcement of 1,500 French troops landed at Boston, and marched to join Rochambeau at White plains.

1782. HYDER ALLY surrounded and cut off the advanced body of the British army under sir Eyre Coote.

1788. £1,340,000 voted on motion of Mr. Pitt for the benefit of American loyalists.

1793. British order in council to capture vessels bound to France with corn meal or flour, the cargoes to be paid for.

1794. Festival in Paris dedicated to the Supreme Being.

1794. Corsica united to England.

1794. GODFRED AUGUSTUS BURGER, a German poet, died, aged 46.

1795. LOUIS XVII (_the dauphin_), died. The unhappy prince was put in charge of a wretch, on the execution of his father, by the name of Simon, a cobbler, with the instructions that he was to be got rid of. Accordingly, by the most severe treatment, by beating, cold, vigils, fasts, and ill usage of every kind, he sank to the grave.

1806. GEORGE WYTHE, a signer from Virginia, died, aged 81. He was a learned and upright man.

1807. Battle of Gutstadt, in which the French under Bonaparte defeated 10,000 Russian cavalry, and 15,000 infantry, taking 1,000 prisoners.

1809. THOMAS PAINE, a political writer of great force during the revolution, died, aged 72. His writings were deemed of so much service that the legislature of Pennsylvania voted him £500, and New York made him a grant of land. His life and conduct subsequently was extremely imprudent and reprehensible.

1809. Battle of Viga; the French, 8,000, under Ney, attacked 12,000 Spaniards under Carera, and were repulsed.

1810. Mequienza, in Arragon, surrendered to the French under Suchet. This terminated the fourth campaign in the north of Spain.

1811. Extraordinary agitation of the sea and earthquake at Cape Town.

1813. Americans under general LEWIS broke up their encampment by order of general Dearborn, and returned to Fort George. The British succeeded in dispersing the boats with the baggage belonging to his command, and captured 12 of them.

1832. The first case of cholera asphixia in America occurred on this day at Quebec.

1838. JOHN LUSK, a soldier of the revolution, died, aged 104 years. He was born on Staten island, of Dutch parentage, and was a soldier in the regular service nearly 60 years. He died in Warren county, Tennessee, and was the last survivor of the old French war in Canada.

1842. HENRY BROOK PARNELL, famed as a political writer and liberalist, died by his own hand.

1842. JAMES BARBOUR, a distinguished American statesman, died in Orange co., Virginia.

1844. JAMES WADSWORTH, a distinguished and wealthy citizen of western New York, died at Geneseo.

1845. ANDREW JACKSON, an American general and statesman, died, aged 78. He was the seventh president of the United States.

1854. GEORGE H. TALCOTT, a captain of ordinance in the United States army, died at Indian springs, aged 43. He was a native of Maryland, and graduated at West-point in 1831.

1856. HENRY WARE WALES, an American linguist, died at Paris, aged 37, bequeathing a large and valuable library to Harvard college.

1857. DOUGLAS JERROLD, an English dramatist and journalist, died, aged 54. He was an extraordinary genius, and contributed to almost every department of literature.

JUNE 9.

587 B. C. On the 9th _Thammug_, an especial fast of the Jews was observed for the taking of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, on that day.

597. COLUMBA, the founder of the famous monastry of Iona, or Icolmkill, in the Scottish Hebrides, died. This island was in that age the luminary of the Caledonian regions.

911. LEO VI (_the philosopher_), emperor of the east, died. He was a politic monarch, the patron of men of letters, and an excellent author himself.

1075. HENRY IV defeated the Saxons at Thuringia.

1099. The siege of Jerusalem opened by the first crusaders. Godfrey of Bouillon erected his standard on the first swell of mount Calvary; to the left as far as St. Stephen's gate the line of attack was continued by Tancred and the two Roberts, and count Raymond established his head quarters from the citadel to the fort of mount Sion.

1496. COLUMBUS returned to Spain from his second voyage.

1536. Dr. HEYLIN says: On this day the clergy of London agreed upon the form of a petition to king Henry, for permission to the people to read the Bible.

1553. Battle of Sieverhausen in the Duchy of Lunenberg, in which Albert of Brandenburgh was defeated by the confederates. His camp equipage taken and 4,000 killed.

1586. Great earthquake in Lima.

1625. First child of white parents born in Brooklyn, New York.

1674. The English parliament prorogued on account of the differences between the lords and commons. It is said more than £200,000 was spent in bribing the commons.

1681. WILLIAM LILLY, a famous English astrologer, died. He made quite a snug fortune out of the cavaliers and roundheads by predicting for both parties. The parliament under Cromwell gave him £100 a year for flattering their prospects, and he was complimented with a gold chain and medal by the king of Sweden. He also made a handsome business by his almanacs and other publications.

1696. ANTOINE VARILAS, a French historian, died. His works were popular for a time, until they were discovered to be very inaccurate, and carelessly compiled.

1724. BENEDICT PICTET, a Swiss professor of theology at Geneva, died. He possessed great abilities and learning, and published several valuable works.

1758. The English effected a landing at Louisbourg.

1770. British settlers expelled from the Falkland islands by a large Spanish force. They were restored the following year, when the dispute was ended.

1775. Force of the American army assembled at Cambridge, 1,581 officers, 6,063 privates; total 7,644.

1776. JOHN IVES, an eminent English antiquary, died, aged 25. He had accomplished much at his early age, but had published only three papers from his collection.

1779. WILLIAM KENRICK, an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer, died. He was originally a mechanic, and became an author of great popularity and merit.

1790. ROBERT ROBINSON, a self-taught English preacher, died. He was an apprentice to a wig and curl maker, when Whitefield attracted his attention, and he became a methodist preacher. He soon after became a baptist, and preached that doctrine a number of years, and was extremely popular. He finally became a unitarian, and died at Birmingham while on a visit to Priestly, before he had time to shift his opinions to any thing else.

1795. The only son of the unfortunate king LOUIS XVI died in the Temple in his 12th year. The convention agreed to exchange his sister for the commissioners, betrayed by Dumourier to Austria.

1798. Battle of Arklow, in Ireland, between the United Irishmen and British. More than 20,000 of the insurgents, under father Murphy, advanced against the town, which was defended by only 1,600 men. The contest was continued with great obstinacy till nightfall, when the rebels retired. Father Murphy was killed by a cannon ball.