Part 49

1798. Alexandria, in Egypt, taken by the French under Bonaparte, who issued a proclamation, stating that he venerated God, the prophet, and the koran, and more than the Mamelukes did.

1800. JEAN CLAUDE D'ARCON, a French general and engineer, died. He invented the floating batteries, which were intended to reduce Gibraltar.

1810. LOUIS BONAPARTE abdicated the throne of Holland, and retired to Austria as a private individual.

1814. Peresque Isle surprised by the United States troops under lieutenant Gregory.

1818. THOMAS BERNARD, founder of the British gallery, died. He was eminent as a philanthropist.

1820. Toll first demanded and received on the Erie canal.

1832. Rite of suttee abolished in Hindostan by the British authorities.

1835. JAMES GIBBON, the hero of Stony point, died at Richmond, where for several years he had been collector of customs.

1839. MAHMOUD II, sultan of Turkey, died in the 54th year of his age and 31st of his reign.

1839. About 150 Chippewa Indians treacherously massacred at the falls of St. Anthony, and 20 on the St. Croix, by the Sioux, who had invited the Chippewas to meet for the purpose of forming a treaty of peace. About 50 of the Sioux were killed.

1850. SERGEANT S. PRENTISS, a distinguished American lawyer, died, aged 40.

1853. ARTHUR LIVERMORE, a New Hampshire jurist, died at Campton, N. H., aged 87.

1854. WALDO J. BURNETT died at Boston, aged 25; a distinguished physician and naturalist, and author of several tracts on medical subjects.

1855. There was a second Sunday demonstration in Hyde park, London, by a large and excited mob, against sir Robert Grosvenor's Sunday bill.

1856. A heavy gale on the coast of Labrador, when of a fleet of 30 vessels, 29 were driven on shore and lost.

JULY 2.

928. JOHN X, pope of Rome, suffocated in prison. Better fitted for heading an army than governing the church, he was victorious over the Turks in battle.

936. HENRY I (_the fowler_), of Germany, died. He was successful in his wars, strengthened his empire, and promoted harmony and union among the German princes.

1296. JOHN BALIOL subscribed his abdication at Kincardin. For three years he had the tower of London and a circuit round the walls for twenty miles for his possession; and in 1299 was permitted to retire into Normandy, where he died forgotten six years afterwards.

1491. Madeira, an island in the Atlantic, covered with wood (whence its name), discovered by John Gonzales Zarco, in the service of Portugal. It was the next year colonized, and planted with the Cyprian vine and sugar cane of Sicily.

1492. ADOLPHUS, emperor of Germany, killed. He was a poor count, elected partly through intrigue, and his reign was a series of intrigues to maintain himself in power. The throne was finally given to Albert of Austria, and when the two emperors met in battle, they fought hand to hand, and Adolphus was killed by the lance of his rival. His abilities were inadequate to his station.

1566. MICHAEL NOSTRODAMUS died; an able French physician and celebrated astrologer.

1609. HUDSON on his first voyage, after various vicissitudes, through storm and ice, loss of foremast and sails, arrived off the banks of Newfoundland, and refreshed his men by a heavy _catch_ of cod.

1644. Battle of Marston Moor; the parliament army under Cromwell and Fairfax, defeated the royalists under prince Rupert, who lost the whole of his artillery and left the northern counties in the hands of the confederates.

1692. ADRIAN DE VALOIS (or Valesius) died; a learned French historian and critic.

1704. Battle of Donauworth, in Bavaria; the French and Bavarians defeated by the duke of Marlborough. Loss about 6,000 on each side.

1730. LAURENCE CORSINI was elected pope by the conclave, after it had sat four months. He took the name of Clement XII.

1740. THOMAS BAKER, a learned and ingenious English antiquary, died. He wrote with great purity of style.

1741. THOMAS MORECROFT died; the person who figures in the _Spectator_ as _Will Wimble_.

1775. WASHINGTON arrived at Cambridge, and took command of the American army, then consisting of 14,500 men.

1776. The memorable resolution, declaring the North American colonies independent, passed by congress, without one dissenting colony. It was proclaimed on the 4th, and hence that day is celebrated, instead of this, which is, perhaps, better entitled to the honor.

1778. A fanatic calling herself queen Beck, assaulted king George III as he was alighting from his carriage.

1778. JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU died at Paris. He was the son of a watchmaker at Geneva, and strayed to Paris while young, where he became one of the most celebrated authors of the day. His works are collected in 33 vols.

1782. DIONYSIUS DIDEROT, a noted French philosopher, died. He was the son of a cutler, educated by the Jesuits. Rejecting the ecclesiastical profession for literature, he became an author, and conceived the stupendous design of the _Dictionnaire Encyclopédique_, on which he labored 20 years. He was a Jacobin, and contributed his full share to the revolution.

1800. Bill for the union of Great Britain and Ireland signed by order of the king, George III.

1802. Colonel BARRE, so noted in the British parliament as an opponent to the American war, died. He had been blind for many years.

1805. PATRICK RUSSELL, a British physician, died at London; author of a valuable treatise on the plague, and several estimable works on natural history.

1807. JEFFERSON issued his proclamation forbidding all intercourse with British ships of war, and ordering all those within the American waters to withdraw therefrom. (See June 22.)

1812. American embargo expired by its own limitation. On the same day the frigate Essex, captain Porter, sailed from New York on a cruise against the British, on which occasion he hoisted a white flag, bearing the motto, "Free trade and sailor's rights."

1812. PETER GANSEVOORT, a distinguished American officer, died at Albany, aged 63.

1816. BENJAMIN THOMPSON died; formerly a timber merchant, translator of the _German Theatre_, and author of several other productions. His death was caused by extreme sensitiveness at the manner in which his play of _Oberon's Oath_ was received. It was hissed on the first representation, at which he was extremely dejected; at its second representation it was received with universal applause, which elated him so much that he died of the excitement.

1830. Battle near Milliduse between the Turks and Russians. The Turks were defeated with considerable loss, and their general, Hadki pasha, taken prisoner.

1840. The port of Canton, in China, blockaded by the British under commodore Bremer.

1849. The city of Rome surrendered to the French.

1851. CAROLINE AMELIA HALSTED, an English authoress, died. Of three or four works which she published the principal one is a _Life of Richard III_, in 2 volumes, octavo.

1851. WILLIAM BERRY, an English author, died at Bristol, aged 77; author of various works on genealogy and heraldry.

1853. The Russian troops under prince Gortschakoff crossed the Pruth and invaded Turkey.

1853. A controversy having arisen between the consuls of Austria and America at Smyrna about Martin Koszta, an Austrian refugee, captain Ingraham of the American sloop of war St. Louis, hearing of a design to convey him to Trieste, demanded the surrender of Koszta before 4 o'clock, and brought his guns to bear on the Austrian brig. An engagement was prevented by the compromise that Koszta be delivered to the French consul at Smyrna for safe keeping.

1855. The legislature of Kansas met at Pawnee and organized; Thomas Johnson, president of the council, and John H. Stringfellow, speaker of the house.

1855. THOMAS WEAVER, an eminent English geologist, died at Pimlico, aged 82.

1855. CHARLES ELKINS, a British admiral of the red, died, aged 87. He published a review of the naval battles from 1744 to 1814.

1856. ROWLAND STEPHENSON, for many years a London banker, and also a member of parliament, died at Bristol, Pa., aged 83. He had resided in this country about thirty years.

JULY 3.

237. ANTONIUS AFRICANUS GORDIAN, killed near Carthage by a general of Maximinus, during whose reign he had been elected emperor, much against his will.

323. Battle of Adrianople and overthrow of Lucinius, when Constantine took possession of Byzantium, which he afterwards made the seat of his empire, and named it Constantinopolis.

987. Inauguration at Rheims of Hugh Capet, son of Hugo, duke of Burgundy, and founder of the third race in the French monarchy--the Capetan.

1437. The sacred play of _The Passion_ represented in the park of Vexmeil, attended by the French nobility.

1521. CORTEZ attempted to retake the city of Mexico by storm, but was repulsed with the loss of 60 Spaniards, 1000 allies, 7 horses and 1 cannon. The Mexicans made prisoners of 40 Spaniards, who were immediately sacrificed in their great temple to the war god.

1608. CHAMPLAIN, who took the charge of conducting the French colony in Arcadie, after examining all the eligible places on the St. Lawrence, selected a spot at the confluence of that river and the St. Charles, about 320 miles from the sea, where he erected barracks, cleared the ground for tillage, and on this day laid the foundation of Quebec.

1642. MARY DE MEDICIS, of France, died; the promoter of the massacre of St. Bartholomews.

1672. FRANCIS WILLOUGHBY, an English naturalist, died. To rank and fortune he added great application, and had traversed the principal countries of Europe in pursuit of his favorite study, the history of animals, when he was cut off at the early age of 37.

1676. Indian battle near Narraganset; the main body of the Indians were surprised at a large cedar swamp, and attacked so suddenly that a considerable number were killed or taken on the spot, and those who fled into the thicket were surrounded. They lost 171 on this occasion.

1743. GABRIEL ROMANOVITCH DERSHAVIN, a celebrated Russian poet, died.

1769. The first theatrical performance enacted in Albany, by a company from New York, having gained permission "for one month only" from "his excellency the governor." The play was _Venice Preserved_; the place, the hospital.

1776. Three towns in Turkey, containing 10,000 inhabitants, destroyed by an earthquake.

1779. Grenada, in the West Indies, taken by the French under count d'Estaing.

1789. JAMES BERNOUILLI II, a learned German mathematician, died of apoplexy while bathing in the Neva at St. Petersburg.

1794. Earthquake in Natolia, Asia Minor, destroyed several large and populous towns and villages, one of which was Amasia, the birth place of Strabo.

1795. British squadron off St. Maloes captured a French brig and six merchantmen.

1797. Admiral NELSON, in his barge, captured a Spanish launch, after a severe engagement, in the course of which he narrowly escaped death, by the assistance of his coxswain.

1807. British Capt. DOUGLAS threatened to capture all vessels from Norfolk, unless the magistrates permitted him to have communication with the British consul at that place; they refused.

1811. American government resolved to occupy West Florida; the British government remonstrated against it.

1814. United States troops under Gen. Brown, effected a landing on the Canadian frontier, between Chippewa and Fort Erie, which latter surrendered.

1815. Commercial treaty between England and America signed at London.

1833. Naval battle between the fleet of Don Pedro, under the command of admiral Napier, and that of Don Miguel, in which the latter was defeated with the loss of 6 vessels.

1838. SAMUEL THORNTON, an English gentleman, distinguished for his benevolence and usefulness, died, aged 83. He was 53 years a director of the bank of England, and 40 years a member of parliament.

1849. The French republican army, commanded by Gen. Oudinot, entered Rome.

1851. EDWARD QUILLINAN, a British author, died. He married a daughter of the poet Wadsworth, and was particularly accomplished in Portuguese literature.

1853. SAMUEL PUTNAM, a Massachusetts judge and senator, died at Somerville, aged 85.

1853. The American expedition under commodore Perry, left Loo Choo for Japan.

1854. Princess DE LA MOSKWA, widow of marshal Ney, died in Paris.

1854. THOMAS RITCHIE died, aged 75; celebrated as the editor of the _Richmond Inquirer_ and the _Washington Union_. He wielded great political influence in Virginia, his native state.

1855. The Cunard steamer Persia was launched at Glasgow.

JULY 4.

1097. Battle of Dorylæum, in Phrygia, and rout of the Moslems under Soliman.

1450. Lord SAY and SELE beheaded by order of Jack Cade, at Cheapside, London.

1533. JOHN FRYTH, an English preacher, burnt at Smithfield for the heresy of Lutheranism.

1563. Leeds bridge school was founded in the time of Henry VIII.

1584. AMIDAS and BARLOW, two experienced commodores sent out by sir Walter Raleigh for the purpose of discovering and taking possession of the American continent north of Florida, arrived at the coast on this day. Sailing along the shore 120 miles, they entered the mouth of a river and took formal possession of the country for the queen of England, delivering it over to the use of sir Walter. (See June 10, 1584.)

1623. WILLIAM BIRD, a celebrated English musical composer, died, aged 80. His music outlived his history, few particulars of his life being known.

1653. The parliament, commonly called _Barebone's_, from a zealot of that name who was one of the 120 members, assembled at Whitehall, and Cromwell delegated to them their chairs for fifteen months.

1663. CHARLES II of England, reviewed his 4000 guards, then the whole regular force of the kingdom, yet deemed dangerous to liberty. The king and his brother imputed the misfortune of their father, Charles I, to the want of a regular army.

1669. ANTHONY ESCOBA DE MENDOZA, a Spanish Jesuit, died. He was for many years a popular preacher, and bequeathed to posterity 40 vols. folio of his own writings.

1670. GEORGE, duke of Albemarle, captain-general of his majesty's forces, died at the cockpit. Possibly some lessons of ferocity might be learned there.

1671. MERIC CASAUBON, a Swiss _literateur_ and critic, died in London. Considerable offers were made him by Cromwell to write the history of the civil war, which he refused.

1744. Thirty-two wagons, variously decorated, loaded with the treasure brought home by Anson, guarded by his seamen, passed St. James's in London to the Tower.

1749. JOSEPH VANAKEN, a celebrated Dutch painter, died.

1754. The commissioners of the American colonies met at Albany for the purpose of holding a conference with the Indians, (see June 19,) proposed a plan for the union of the colonies, which was agreed to this day, exactly 22 years before the declaration of independence. Its fate was singular. It was rejected in America because it was supposed to put too much power into the hands of the king; and it was rejected in England, because it was supposed to give too much power to the assemblies of the colonies.

1757. JOHN JOSEPH VADE, an excellent French poet, died. His youth was spent in dissipation, for which he made some amends in the brief space allowed him by his impaired constitution.

1761. SAMUEL RICHARDSON, an English printer, died; known as the author of a series of moral romances, among which _Pamela_ and _Sir Charles Grandison_ are the most noted. The former suggested to Fielding his famous _Tom Jones_.

1776. Declaration of American independence adopted by congress. It was 39 times before that body previous to its adoption. It may be added that this event took place 264 years after the discovery of America by Columbus, 160 from the first effectual settlement of Virginia, and 150 from the settlement of Plymouth.

1777. Boonesborough attacked by 200 Indians, who killed and wounded 2 of the pioneer's men. All the settlements were attacked at the same time.

1778. FRANCESCO MANOEL, the most celebrated lyric poet of modern Portuguese literature, escaped the inquisition by disarming the officer sent to arrest him, and fled to Paris. He became obnoxious to the holy office by some expressions concerning toleration and monks, in his translation of Moliere's _Tartuffe_.

1780. British admiral GEARY captured 12 French merchantmen from Port-au-Prince.

1781. Williamsburg, Va., evacuated by the British under Cornwallis.

1789. GOSEN VAN SCHAICK, a brigadier general in the United States continental army, died at Albany.

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

1793. Action off the capes of Virginia, between the French privateer, Citizen Genet, and two armed English vessels with a convoy. The convoy was captured and the two vessels much damaged. The Genet had 30 men, not one of whom was wounded by the enemy.

1800. A Mr. RUSBY was found guilty of reselling grain (technically regrading) in the market of Mark Lane. The judge, lord Kenyon, remarking to the jury, "You have conferred by your verdict almost the greatest benefit on your country that ever was conferred by any jury!"

1803. A remarkable ball of fire fell upon a public house at Wapping, England. It was accompanied with thunder.

1804. Mail stage commenced running once a week from Pittsburg and Philadelphia.

1806. Battle of Maida, in Italy; the French defeated by the British and Sicilians, with the loss of 800 killed and 1000 taken prisoners; British loss 45 killed 282 wounded.

1808. FISHER AMES, an American orator and statesman, died, aged 50. He possessed a mind of great and extraordinary character.

1813. United States smack Yankee captured by boarding, without any loss, British sloop Eagle.

1814. A part of the United States forces under Gen. W. Scott, advanced from fort Erie towards the British works at Chippewa. A smart action was had with the British at Street's creek. The division which crossed under Capt. Turner was attacked by a very superior force; but they gallantly cut their way through to a house, where they made a stand until relieved.

1816. RICHARD WATSON, bishop of Landaff, died; known by his _Apology for the Bible_, in answer to Paine's _Age of Reason_.

1817. The construction of the Erie canal commenced, in the neighborhood of Rome, Oneida county, New York.

1826. THOMAS JEFFERSON, third president of the United States, and author of the _Declaration of Independence_, died, just 50 years from the date of that document, aged 83.

1826. JOHN ADAMS, second president of the United States, died, aged 91. He was one of those patriots who most warmly advocated the declaration of independence in congress, and was an able statesman.

1831. JAMES MONROE, fifth president of the United States, died, aged 73. He joined the revolutionary army in 1778, and after the close of the war was constantly in the service of his country, as a statesman, till the close of his life.

1845. Texas finally annexed to the United States, by a convention of its citizens ratifying the action of the United States senate.

1845. An Englishman by the name of SPEER, accompanied by three chamois hunters, set out from Interlachen to ascend the Wetterhorn, or peak of tempests, one of the highest of the Oberland Alps, which had never been trodden by the foot of man. They reached the summit on the 8th, after a tedious and dangerous effort. The height of the peak ascended is 12,000 feet and upwards.

1848. DE CHATEAUBRIAND, a distinguished French savan, died at Paris, aged 80.

1848. Treaty of peace with Mexico proclaimed at Washington.

1848. Ceremony of laying the corner stone of the Washington monument at Washington, conducted with great pomp.

1849. Two thousand and seventy-four immigrants arrived in the steerage at New York.

1850. KIRBY, an eminent entomologist, died at Suffolk, England, aged 91. His work on the bees of England described upwards of 200 wild species in that country.

1853. The first Norwegian rail road opened.

1854. A collision on the Susquehanna rail road, near Baltimore, by which 30 persons were killed, and a large number badly wounded.

1854. JAMES MURRAY, mayor of Alexandria, La., was killed while attempting to suppress a disturbance at a barbecue.

1855. WILLIAM TERRELL, an accomplished and useful citizen of Georgia, died at Sparta in that state. He took great interest in the promotion of agricultural science, and bestowed $20,000 for the establishment of an agricultural professorship in the University of Georgia.

1855. A convention of cotton planters assembled at Cooper's Well, Miss., to hear the report of a committee upon the subject of a direct trade between the southern states and Europe. They adjourned to meet at Jackson, in January.

1855. Svartholm, a fort of great strength, commanding the approach to Lovisa, on the gulf of Finland, which had been deserted by its garrison, was destroyed by the allies.

1856. The members of what was termed the Kansas free state legislature, assembled at Topeka, but were dispersed by the U. S. troops, by direction of Col. Sumner.

1856. The statue of Washington, in Union square, New York, was inaugurated.

1857. ANTON SCHMIDT, a German literary celebrity, died at Salzburg, aged 71. He was custos of the imperial library at Vienna, and was a popular author.

1857. WILLIAM L. MARCY, an American statesman, died, aged 71. He filled the offices of comptroller and governor of New York with ability; but distinguished himself as secretary of war under president Polk, and secretary of state under president Pierce.

JULY 5.

394 B. C. AGESILAUS crossed the Hellespont, on his recal from the Persian satrapy, a march of thirty days, which had occupied Xerxes twelve months.--The great battle fought by the Spartans against their countrymen happened about the same day.

965. BENEDICT V, pope, died. He was elected in opposition to Leo VIII. His short reign was stormy, and he was carried to Hamburg by Otho, who favored the cause of his rival.

1044. ABA, king of Hungary, defeated by his own subjects and killed in battle.

1100. Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders, after a siege of five weeks, and given up to massacre and pillage. Every inhumanity was practiced; those who had surrendered upon terms of safety, were butchered in cold blood to the number of 10,000; and among the inhabitants, also, neither age nor sex escaped the merciless fury of the Christian swords.

1529. PAULUS ÆMILIUS, a Veronese historian, died at Paris. He had begun a Latin history of the kings of France, and although he spent many years at it, was able only to reach the reign of Charles VIII. (May 5?)

1535. THOMAS MORE, a celebrated English statesman, beheaded. He was doomed, for his adherence to the papal supremacy, to descend from the highest office under the king to an apartment in the tower, and suffered death rather than yield his opinions. He wrote several works, the most noted of which is the _Utopia_.

1566. ROBERT CARNEGIE, a Scottish statesman, died. He was a lord of session, and often sent on important embassies to France and England.

1582. At Rockhausen, not far from Erfurth, in Prussia, there fell a great quantity of a fibrous matter resembling human hair. It was at the close of a great tempest, such as usually precede an earthquake.

1614. PETER DE BOURDEILLES (or _Brantome_), a French abbot and courtier, died. His memoirs are printed in 15 vols.

1623. WILLIAM BRIDE, an English music composer, died. The grace _non nobis Domini_, composed by him, was first sung on the second anniversary of the gunpowder plot, 1607.

1641. SIMON BASKERVILLE, a learned and wealthy English physician, died. He obtained great distinction, honors and a large fortune, by his success in the practice of medicine.

1641. Battle of Lansdowne, between the parliamentary and king's forces; a sanguinary action.

1644. York taken by the armies of the parliament.