Part 5

1599. EDMUND SPENCER, the English poet, died, aged 46. His first poem, the _Shepherd's Calendar_, appeared in 1576. He went to Ireland as private secretary to the lord lieutenant, and commenced the _Faery Queen_ while in that country. The rebellion took place with such fury that he was obliged to leave the country in so great confusion, that an infant child was left behind, and burnt with his house. The unfortunate poet died soon after his arrival in England, in consequence of these misfortunes.

1643. Parliament of England forbid free commerce, and ordered no wagon or carriage to go to Oxford without a license.

1668. The earl of SHREWSBURY slain in a duel by the duke of Buckingham, who had lived in open adultery with Shrewsbury's wife. It is said that she, in the habit of a page, held Buckingham's horse when he was fighting with her husband.

1706. Articles of union between England and Scotland ratified by the Scottish parliament 110 to 69.

1715. ROBERT NELSON died, an English gentleman of fortune, which he employed in works of benevolence and charity. Few works on devotional subjects were more popular than his.

1748. The bottle conjuror imposed on a great multitude at the Haymarket theatre, by announcing that he would jump into a quart bottle.

1760. Pondicherry, defended by the French under General Lally, taken by the English under Colonel Coote.

1772. A revolution in Denmark which terminated in the imprisonment of the royal family, and finally the banishment of the queen, sister to George III of England.

1780. The Spanish fleet of 11 sail, under Langara, destroyed off St. Vincent by the British fleet of 19 sail, under Rodney. Langara was dangerously wounded and taken prisoner. One of the Spanish ships with 600 men on board was blown up, and all perished. The British lost 32 killed and 102 wounded.

1790. The bean-fed friars ejected from their convents by an augean labor of the French revolution.

1794. EDWARD GIBBON, the historian, died, aged 57. During his visit to Rome in 1764, he formed the plan of writing the _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_. In 1774 he obtained a seat in parliament, and two years after appeared the first quarto volume of his history. A disorder which he had endured twenty three years terminated in a mortification.

1795. Retreat of the British from Utrecht, in Holland, upon which the inhabitants capitulated to the French.

1796. The first theatre at Botany bay opened by the convicts at Sydney cove.

1809. Battle of Corunna in Spain, between the French and English, and death of Sir John Moore, who fell mortally wounded by a cannon shot, at the moment of victory achieved by the troops under his command. His men buried him in his cloak, and the French, in testimony of his gallantry, erected a monument over his remains. He was unmarried and in his 47th year.

1812. The king of Sicily, on account of ill-health, abdicated the throne in favor of his son, until he should recover. It is remarkable that Great Britain, Spain, Portugal and Sweden were governed by regents or viceroys at the same time.

1813. LEWIS BARNEY died at Champlain, New York, aged 105. He had 24 children by one wife.

1815. HENRY THORNTON, founder of the Sierra Leone company, and a writer on the credit of Great Britain, died.

1816. The bridge at the falls of the Schuylkill fell with the great body of snow upon it.

1816. JOHN WRIGHT, the first constable of Cumberland county, Virginia, died, aged 107.

1817. ALEXANDER JAMES DALLAS, an eminent lawyer of Philadelphia, died. He filled the office of secretary of state in Pennsylvania many years; and also that of secretary of the treasury of the United States a short time previous to his death.

1838. DOROTHY TORREY died at Windsor, Conn., aged 107.

1843. State lunatic asylum, at Utica, New York, went into operation.

1854. ALDEN PARTRIDGE died at Norwich, Vt.; nearly fifty years engaged in military instruction, and some time principal of West Point academy.

JANUARY 17.

86. B. C. CAIUS MARIUS, the Roman consul, died. He was the son of a farmer in indigent circumstances; but by his talents and energy raised himself to the highest dignity of the greatest state in the world.

395. The EMPEROR THEODOSIUS died at Milan, soliciting his heirs faithfully to execute his will.

1009. ABD-EL-MALEK, a Moorish prince, crucified by his conqueror.

1380. An act of parliament passed, by which foreign ecclesiastics were incapacitated from holding benefices in England.

1467. JOHN CASTRIOTTO, (or Scanderbeg) prince of Albania, died. His father placed him as a hostage with the sultan of Turkey, by whom he was educated in the Mohammedan faith, and at the age of 18 placed at the head of a body of troops. He afterwards deserted to the Christians, and on ascending the throne of his fathers renounced the Mohammedan faith. He obtained repeated victories over the Turks. After his death, when Albania submitted to the Moslem dominion, the Turks dug up his bones which they wore to transfer his courage to themselves.

1524. VERRAZANO sailed from a desolate rock near Madeira, with fifty men and provisions for eight months, arms, munitions and other naval stores, on his voyage westwardly, expecting to reach Cathay.

1546. MARTIN LUTHER preached his final sermon at Wittemberg.

1556. PHILIP NERLI, the Florentine historian, died.

1684. WENTWORTH DILLON, earl of Roscommon, died at Rome. The early part of his life was spent in dissipation, but he afterwards conducted with more discretion, and became distinguished among the wits of the day. Johnson calls him the most correct writer of English verse before Dryden.

1694. A powder magazine of 218 barrels exploded at Dublin, doing much damage.

1701. ROGER MORRIS, an English chaplain, died, aged 73. He was a diligent collector of ecclesiastical manuscripts relating to the history of the English church, whereof, says Strype, "he left vast heaps behind him."

1705. JOHN RAY, an English naturalist, died. He was the son of a blacksmith; received a liberal education at Cambridge, and devoted himself to science and literature. His publications were numerous.

1706. Birthday of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

1733. GEORGE BYNG, an English admiral, died. He entered the navy at the age of 15, and gradually rose to the highest honors and distinctions.

1746. Battle of Falkirk, in which the forces of the Pretender were victorious over the royal army.

1750. The singular ceremony of the Greek church of consecrating the water in memory of Christ's baptism, performed at St. Petersburg.

1766. FREDERICK V, king of Denmark and Norway, died.

1781. Battle of the Cowpens, in South Carolina, and defeat of 1100 British under Tarleton, by an inferior force of Americans under Morgan. British loss 100 killed and wounded, and 500 prisoners; 800 muskets, 2 field pieces, 35 baggage wagons, and 100 dragoon horses fell into the hands of the conquerors. The loss of the Americans was 12 killed and 60 wounded.

1783. Action between the British frigate Magicienne and the French frigate Sybille. The latter lost her masts, and was captured a few days after by the Hussar.

1789. JOHN LEDYARD, the traveler, died. He was born at Groton, Conn., 1751; entered Dartmouth college at the age of 19, but for some reproof resolved to escape: accordingly he felled a tree on the bank of the Connecticut, of which he constructed a canoe, and descended the river 140 miles to Hartford: studied theology a while, and then enlisted as a common sailor for a voyage to Gibraltar; accompanied Capt. Cook in one of his voyages, of which he published an account. Not meeting with assistance to prosecute any of the daring enterprises he proposed, he finally determined to make the tour of the globe from London east, on foot; and had proceeded as far as Yakutsk in Siberia, when he was arrested by order of the queen as a French spy and hurried back to the frontiers of Poland. He returned to London, he says, "disappointed, ragged, pennyless, but with a whole heart." He had scarcely taken lodgings when Sir Joseph Banks proposed an African expedition. He accepted the offer and proceeded as far as Cairo, where he was attacked by a disease which carried him off.

1789. CHARLES IV proclaimed king of Spain.

1791. Lord DUNGARVON, an Irish peer, was tried at the Old Bailey, London, for stealing three and a half guineas from a poor woman in town, but was acquitted.

1792. GEORGE HORNE, bishop of Norwich, died. His _Sermons_ and _Commentary on the Psalms_, are well known.

1795. The stadtholder, WILLIAM V, obtained permission from the States General to withdraw from Holland.

1800. The church at Chelmsford, England, fell; it was first built in 1424.

1804. CHARLES NISBET died, aged 67. He was a Scotch clergyman, and the first president of Dickinson college in Pennsylvania.

1806. An iris or lunar rainbow was seen for one hour (9¼ to 10¼) at Wakefield in Yorkshire, England.

1810. Masquerades and masked balls prohibited by the authorities in the city of Philadelphia.

1811. The Mexican patriots under Hidalgo totally defeated near Guadalaxara by the Spaniards under Calleja.

1813. Capture of the United States brig Vixen, 12 guns, Capt. Henley, by the British frigate Narcissus.

1815. The king of Spain issued an edict against freemasonry.

1817. At Philadelphia and Albany the singular phenomena of snow, clear weather, rain, snow, thunder and lightning, hail and snow, was observed in succession.

1836. Two engagements in the mountains of Arlaban, between the forces of the queen of Spain under Gen. Cordova and the Carlists, in which the latter were defeated.

1841. REZIN P. BOWIE died at New Orleans, aged 48; "well known in the southwest by his many deeds of valor in its early history, among the Mexicans and savages."

1851. SPENCER COMPTON, marquis of Northampton, died, aged 61. He was president of the Royal society; was associated with Wilberforce in the anti-slavery cause, and with Macintosh as a criminal law reformer.

1854. Two rail road bridges and crossings at Erie, Pa., destroyed by a mob of women, who were afterwards escorted through the town with banners, headed by a band of music.

1856. ZADOCK THOMPSON died, aged 59; author of several historical works relating to Vermont, and a naturalist.

JANUARY 18.

1486. HENRY VII married the princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. Thus uniting the houses of York and Lancaster, blending the Roses.

1534. Lima, the present capital of Peru, founded by PIZARRO; thirty years before a single town was founded within the limits of the United States, St. Augustine, Florida, being founded 1565.

1546. The council of Trent assembled and agreed upon a confession of faith.

1561. The first English tragedy performed, at Whitehall, before the queen. It was entitled _Gorboduc_, from the name of a supposed ancient British king, and was written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. It consists of five acts, each preceded by a dumb show, prefiguring what is to occur; the first four acts close by choruses in rhyme, and the fifth by a didactic speech of nearly two hundred lines. Sir Philip Sydney pronounced it "full of stately speeches and well-sounding phrases, climbing to the height of Seneca his stile, and full of notable morality, which it doth most delightfully teach."

1701. FREDERICK III of Brandenburgh crowned first king of Prussia, by the title of Frederick I.

1703. THOMAS HYDE died. He was an Oriental interpreter during the reigns of Charles II, James II, and William III.

1713. ARCANGELO CORELLI, an Italian composer, died. He became so great a master in the science of music, that his countrymen bestowed on him the cognomen of _Il Divino_.

1718. SAMUEL GARTH, an English poet and physician, died. He settled in London where by his professional skill he soon acquired a very extensive practice; and by his wit and conversational powers distinguished himself among the literati of the day.

1739. SAMUEL BERNARD, one of the richest and most celebrated financiers of Europe, died at Paris. His funeral procession equaled that of a prince in point of magnificence and in the train of distinguished attendants.

1775. JOHN BASKERVILLE, an eminent English printer, died. He was a man fertile in invention, and effected improvements in the art which could scarcely have been expected from the exertions of a single individual.

1777. Battle of Kingsbridge, N. Y., between the Americans under Gen. Heath and the Hessians.

1782. DUMITER RADULY died at Haromszeck, at the remarkable age of 140.

1793. GEORGE GORDON, an English nobleman, after five years' imprisonment, appeared to give bail; but the attorney-general refused to accept of it. He was therefore remanded.

1795. The French under Salm took Utrecht in Holland, and Gen. Van Damme took Arnhem; the prince of Orange and his family escaping to England.

1797. FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, an American statesman, died at his residence in Virginia, aged 63.

1804. Goree taken by the French from the English.

1806. EUGENE NAPOLEON BEAUHARNAIS married to Augusta Amelia, daughter of the king of Bavaria.

1810. LYON LEVY, a jeweler, threw himself from the monument in London.

1811. Gen. JUNOT wounded in the face by a musket ball, while reconnoitering the British lines.

1813. Battle at Frenchtown in Michigan, between the United States troops and the British and Indians, when the latter were defeated. American loss, 12 killed, 55 wounded.

1815. The British decamped from before Fort St. Philip, on the Mississippi, which they had bombarded from the 9th. About 12 o'clock at night they took to their boats, leaving 80 of their wounded, 14 pieces heavy artillery, and a great quantity of shot.

1815. STANISLAUS, chevalier de Bouffleurs, died at Paris, aged 78. He was the son of the marchioness de Bouffleurs, mistress of Stanislaus, king of Poland. He distinguished himself in the army, which however he left to give his attention to literature. He was considered one of the most ingenious men of his time, and was noted for the elegance of his manners and conversation. The epitaph on his tomb, written by himself, is characteristic of him: _Mes amis, croyez vous que je dors?_

1816. Thanksgiving throughout England on the restoration of peace.

1819. JOHN WILLSON, died in London, aged 52. He sometime held the chief command at Ceylon, and subsequently administered the government of Upper Canada.

1826. OMMEGANCK, one of the most celebrated Dutch landscape painters, died at Antwerp. His pieces are distinguished for good taste, and for freshness and warmth of coloring.

1829. JOHN GEORGE HENRY HASSEL, a distinguished German geographer and statistical writer, died at Weimar.

1834. NATHANIEL AMES died at Providence. He was the son of Fisher Ames, and a seaman by profession. He is the author of _Mariners' Sketches_, _Nautical Reminiscences_, and _Old Sailor's Yarns_.

1848. JOHN DEIDRICH PETERSON died at Markham, Canada. He was the pioneer pastor of that town.

1854. JUDAH TOURO died at New Orleans, aged 78; bequeathing nearly two millions of dollars to the public institutions of that city.

1854. WILLIAM WALKER proclaimed the republic of Sonora.

JANUARY 19.

1472. Birthday of COPERNICUS, at Thorn in Prussia.

1514. VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA returned to his colony at Darien, after having made the discovery of the Pacific ocean. His expedition occupied four months and a half; his triumph was complete. The whole population poured down to the shore to meet him, to hail him as the author of their fortunes, as less a man than a gift of heaven, to guide them into the possession of glories and riches incalculable. The expedition had been undertaken in consequence of the extravagant representations by the Indians, of a people who lived on the borders of that ocean, six suns distant, who owned large ships, and whose eating and drinking vessels were of pure gold. They referred to the Peruvians.

1535. Date of the probate of the will of the famed early English printer, Wynkyn de Worde.

1547. HENRY HOWARD, earl of Surrey, a soldier, scholar and poet, beheaded on Tower hill for treason. In his youth he made the tour of Europe, and at Florence signalized his courage and romantic spirit, by publishing, in the style of a knight-errant, a challenge to all comers, Christians, Jews, Saracens, Turks and Cannibals, in defence of the surpassing beauty of his mistress, the fair Geraldine; and was victorious at the tournament instituted by the grand duke on the occasion. He served in the army sent against Scotland in 1542, and in 1544 accompanied the troops with which the king invaded France. For his services he was promoted, but being defeated in an attempt to seize a convoy, he was superseded. This unmerited disgrace was the beginning of his ruin. He is said to have aspired to the hand of the Princess Mary, and on some frivolous charges was tried by a common jury, by whom he was obsequiously found guilty of treason. Thus perished a man "no less valiant than learned, and of excellent hopes," aged 27.

1565. JAMES LAYNEZ, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, died. He was born in Castile, 1512. His intimacy with Loyola was formed in Paris, where they matured the plan of the society. Loyola was chosen the first general, and in 1558 was succeeded by Laynez.

1576. HANS SACHS, the famous German master-singer, died. He was born at Nuremberg 1494; his occupation that of a shoemaker. At the age of 14 he began to write poetry, and made verses and shoes, plays and pumps, with equal assiduity, to the age of 77, when he took an inventory of his literary stock in trade. It consisted of 4200 songs, 508 comedies, and other pieces, in all 6048, making 32 folio volumes written by his own hand. From these a selection was published in 5 volumes folio. His poems are distinguished for _naïveté_, feeling, and striking description.

1643. Battle of Liscard, in Cornwall, England.

1657. MILES SYNDERCOMBE and others convicted of plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell.

1706. CHARLES SACKVILLE, earl of Dorset and Middlesex, died. He was an accomplished scholar and a good speaker, but declined all public employment, being wholly engrossed in gallantry and pleasure. He was the patron of poets and men of wit: his own productions are those of a man of wit, vigorous, gay and airy. He served in the Dutch war of 1665 as a volunteer, and on the night before an engagement, composed the celebrated song, beginning, "To all you ladies now at hand."

1728. WILLIAM CONGREVE, the English dramatist, died. He was educated for the bar, but like many others similarly situated, gave up the law for the pursuit of polite literature, in which he was eminently successful. His first work, _The Incognita_, was written at a very early age, and he produced his first comedy at the age of 21.

1730. PETER II of Russia died of the small pox. He was the grandson of Peter the Great, and ascended the throne by the will of Catharine, when but 13 years old.

1757. THOMAS RUDDIMAN, a celebrated Scottish printer and grammarian, and who excelled in many learned treatises, died.

1776. Great eruption of mount Vesuvius.

1777. HUGH MERCER, an officer of the revolution, died. He was a Scotchman by birth, and was in the memorable battle of Culloden. Soon after, he emigrated to America, and was engaged with Washington in the Indian wars of 1755. He joined the patriots of the revolution, and distinguished himself at Trenton and Princeton; was wounded in the latter engagement, of which he died. His funeral was attended by 30,000 people.

1778. FRANCIS FURGLER, the New Jersey recluse, died. During 25 years, without fire, he lived in a cell in the form of an oven, about four miles from Burlington.

1782. The emperor JOSEPH pardoned all those who kept out of his dominions on account of religion, provided they returned within a year; he also abolished several religious orders, and absolved the monks and nuns from their vows, and at the same time disclaimed all subordination to the pope in secular affairs.

1795. Insurrection in the island of Granada.

1795. The French under Devinther took Amersfoort in Holland, and the advance of the French army entered Amsterdam.

1796. The brass coffin, containing the bones of Columbus and the chains with which he had been loaded at Cuba, were removed from St. Domingo to Havana, by the direction of his descendants. They are now preserved in a silver urn on the left of the altar of the cathedral.

1806. JAMES JACKSON, an officer of the revolution, died. He came from England only two years before the war, and although but 19 years of age in 1776, he displayed great intrepidity at the attack upon Savannah. He continued in the service throughout the war, and in 1782 was presented by the legislature with a house and lot in Savannah. He held various civil offices in the state, and at the time of his death was a senator in congress.

1809. The French entered Corunna.

1812. Ciudad Rodrigo, a town and fortress in Spain, eight miles from the Portuguese line, garrisoned by 1700 Frenchmen, taken by storm by the British under Wellington, after a siege of 11 days.

1817. Riot and rebellion of the students of Princeton college.

1819. CHARLES IV, king of Spain, died. He was born at Naples 1740, and came to the throne of Spain 1788. Too imbecile to govern, he was always ruled by his wife and ministers. He was dethroned by Napoleon 1808, and died a pensioner at Naples of a relapse of the gout.

1836. JOHN BUTLER, "the celebrated huntsman," died, in Wake county, N. C. He was supposed to be at least 110 years of age, and left a wife surviving equally as old.

1840. The United States exploring expedition under Lieut. Wilkes reported the discovery of a new antarctic continent on this day. A subsequent British expedition sailed over its site without being able to discern any vestige of it. It is supposed to have been a series of icebergs.

1843. THOS. W. WHITE, editor of the _Southern Literary Messenger_, died at Richmond.

1847. PETER R. LIVINGSTON, a prominent man in the counsels and politics of the state of New York, died at Rhinebeck.

1848. ISAAC D'ISRAELI, author of the _Curiosities of Literature_, died aged 82.

1853. C. B. ADAMS, an eminent American naturalist, and professor in Amherst college, died.

1854. GEORGE MCFEELY, died at Carlisle, Pa., aged 73. He distinguished himself on the Niagara frontier in 1813.

JANUARY 20.

1265. The earl of Leicester having defeated Henry III, summoned a new parliament, in which the commons were first represented.

1546. FREDERICK, elector palatine, established without any acts of violence, the protestant religion.

1662. Three women condemned at Hartford, Conn., as witches, one of whom was hanged.

1706. HUMPHREY HODY died, an eminent English writer. A dissertation on the resurrection of the body asserted is one of his most useful works.

1745. CHARLES VII of Germany died at Munich, aged 48.

1764. MR. WILKES was expelled from the British house of commons for writing the _North Briton_ No. 45. This famed individual was subsequently outlawed; disregarded his outlawery; was three times elected for Middlesex, and his election as often voted void by the commons, though returned by large majorities.

1770. Lord Chancellor YORKE committed suicide in the 48th year of his age. He was a distinguished English politician, and his death is ascribed to remorse for neglecting a promise he had made to his brother to accept of no office from court.

1776. Gen. SCHUYLER disarmed the Highlanders at Johnstown, N. Y., and took six hostages.

1777. Gen. DICKINSON, with 400 militia and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen, defeated a British foraging party, took 9 prisoners, 100 horses, 40 wagons and a number of cattle.

1779. BENEDICT ARNOLD condemned to be reprimanded by the commander-in-chief, for misdemeanor at Philadelphia.