Part 52

1543. Marriage of HENRY VIII with the protestant lady, Catharine Parr, his sixth queen. Kate was a _doctor_, and a lover of learning; and survived the queen-killer.

1566. First stone of the walls of the Tuilleries at Paris laid, in the presence of Charles IX and his mother, Catharine de Medicis. The site of this famous palace had been occupied by a manufactory.

1581. MAURICE CHAUNCEY died at Paris; a French historian prior of the Carthusians, and confessor to queen Mary.

1609. HUDSON having continued his course westward for some days, first obtained sight of the American continent, and on the 17th, the fog having cleared up, ran into Penobscot bay, in the state of Maine.

1625. PAUL BENI, a learned Italian author, died. He censured the dictionary of the della crusca academy at Florence, and refuted its opinions in his defence of Tasso and Ariosto. His works were collected in 5 vols. folio.

1676. HENRY STUBBE, a learned English author, drowned. His writings are very numerous and instructive, and evince great research; at the same time they abound in abuse, satire and malevolence.

1691. Battle of Aghrim in Ireland; the French under Gen. St. Ruth defeated and himself killed by the forces of William III under Gen. Ginckle. Of the French and Irish catholics 4000 were slain and 600 taken, with their baggage, artillery, &c.; English lost 800 on the field.

1691. Cardinal PIGNATELLI elected pope, and took the name of Innocent III.

1712. RICHARD CROMWELL died, aged 82. He assumed the protectorate of England on the death of his father, but found himself inadequate to sustain the office, and resigned it to retire to more peaceful pursuits. He inherited little of his father's ambition.

1637. JOHNSON, "a stranger in London," addressed Cave, editor of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, "having observed in his papers very uncommon encouragement to men of letters." In this letter he proposed a translation from the Italian of Sarpi.

1730. LAWRENCE CORSINE elected pope, the conclave having sat four months.

1776. Lord HOWE arrived from Europe with a formidable squadron and 30,000 men, chiefly Hessians, and joined his brother Gen. Howe on Staten island.

1776. Capt. COOK sailed on his third and last voyage of discovery.

1779. BIŒRNSTAHL, a learned Swedish professor of the oriental languages, died at Salonica in Turkey.

1780. SUMPTER with 133 men attacked and defeated a detachment of British at Williamson's plantation, South Carolina.

1791. BABA MAHOMET, dey of Algiers, died, aged 80. He was one of the most singular characters of the age; raised himself from a common soldier to the throne, and governed a nation of barbarians more than 25 years with uncommon reputation. He was succeeded by Sidi-Hassan, his prime minister, whose succession was accomplished, for the first time, without bloodshed.

1793. The first official trial of the Clauda Chappe telegraph was made with complete success; transmitting despatches forty-eight leagues in 13 min. 40 sec.

1794. Battle of Edikhoffen commenced, which continued three days. The French lost 1000 killed, and 6000 prisoners fell into the hands of the Prussians; notwithstanding which the French finally obtained the victory, and obliged Moellendorf to retreat 60 miles.

1796. Ninety-four prisoners taken by the Algerines on board American vessels, were redeemed by the United States consul at Algiers.

1798. The knights of St. John at Malta surrendered to Bonaparte. They had possessed the island nearly 270 years, and under them it had risen from a state of destitution to a place of great opulence and luxury; and the military works which remain to this day, are a monument of their perseverance and power.

1801. Action off the coast of Spain between the British fleet, 5 sail of the line, and the combined French and Spanish fleet of 13 sail, and a considerable number of gun boats. Two of the Spanish ships, of 112 guns each, blew up, another of 74 was taken, and the remainder made their way into Cadiz.

1803. CHARLES JORDAN died in Anson county, North Carolina, aged 114. His favorite amusement was hunting, and only four days before his death he killed two deer at a shot.

1804. ALEXANDER HAMILTON, an American statesman, died of a wound received in a duel with Col. Burr. Hamilton was born on the island of St. Croix 1757, and came to New York in 1773. At the commencement of the war he joined the army, and was an aid-de-camp to Washington, and afterwards a major-general. He continued in the service until the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, where the troops under his command stormed and took the British works. He afterwards commenced the practice of law in New York, and rose to the highest eminence in the profession. He was appointed secretary of the treasury under Washington. As a statesman and a financier he revived the public credit, and placed the United States revenue on a permanent footing. Of all the coadjutors and advisors of Washington, Hamilton was doubtless the one in whose judgment and sagacity he reposed the greatest confidence, whether in military or civil career; and of all the American statesmen, he displayed the most comprehensive understanding and the most varied ability, whether applied to subjects practical or speculative. A collection of his works was issued in New York some time after his death, in 3 vols. octavo.

1807. Ratification of the peace between Bonaparte and the king of Prussia at Tilsit.

1812. The United States frigate Constitution completely manned and equipped, under the command of Com. Isaac Hull, left Annapolis in Chesapeake bay, for New York, and made a singular escape from the British squadron, consisting of a sixty-four gun ship, three frigates and a schooner, by running into Nantucket harbor. She was chased sixty hours, and escaped by _kedging_, an invention of Chas. Morris.

1812. Gen. HULL, with an army of United States volunteers invaded Canada.

1814. JOHN SWIFT, a revolutionary soldier and brigadier general in the United States army, killed whilst reconnoitering the British positions at Queenstown. He had surprised an outpost, and was most basely shot in the breast by a soldier who had begged and received quarters. Swift however, killed the soldier himself.

1816. A slide from the bank of West Canada creek, near the village of Herkimer, carried nearly five acres of land into the creek.

1816. A dreadful storm burst upon the town of Worchestz, in Hungary, which injured every house in the place; damage estimated at four millions of florins.

1823. The Diana steam boat, built at Kidderpore, near Calcutta, launched; and on the same day she made her first voyage on the Ganges between Calcutta and Chinsoorah in six hours and a half. This was the first appearance of these boats in the east.

1832. The monolithic column, in honor of Alexander of Russia, was debarked at St. Petersburg. It measures 12 feet in diameter at the base, and is 84 feet in length; being the largest pillar of modern erection. It was raised upon its pedestal in September following.

1836. WILLIAM MURRAY died near Jonesborough, Tenn., aged 111.

1838. JOHN JAMIESON, an eminent Scottish seceder, died, aged 80. He is the author of several theological and miscellaneous works, and of a celebrated _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_.

1841. WM. JAMES MCNEVEEN, so celebrated as a physician and author, died at New York.

1851. DAGUERRE, inventor of the daguerreotype, died at Paris, aged 61.

1854. LOUIS DWIGHT died at Boston, aged 61. He was a native of Stockbridge, Mass., and graduated at Yale college in 1813. On the formation of the Prison discipline society, he was appointed corresponding secretary, and devoted the remainder of his life to the promotion of the interests of this important institution of public economy and Christian philanthropy.

1855. A convention of the friends of slavery was held at Lexington, Mo.

1855. A mob at Jonesville, Mo., seized a prisoner whom a jury had found guilty of murder, for which the statute punishment was imprisonment for life, and hung him on a tree.

1856. The Crimea was evacuated by the last of the allied forces of Great Britain and France.

1856. The submarine telegraph cable was laid across the St. Lawrence gulf, from cape Race cove, Newfoundland, and Ashby bay, cape Breton, a distance of 85 miles, and messages transmitted from place to place.

JULY 13.

325. The first œcumenical council, that is, council of the whole habitable earth, assembled at Nice, now Isnick, in Bythinia, where 318 fathers of the church subscribed the ordinances regulating the festival of Easter, and establishing the Godhead, in opposition to the dogmas of Arius.

573. Pope JOHN III died.

1024. HENRY II, emperor of Germany, died. He was successful in arms against the Greeks and Saracens, whom he drove from Calabria, restored peace and tranquility in Italy and Germany, and increased his popularity by various deeds of benevolence and kindness wherever he went.

1377. Isle of Wight taken by the French and plundered.

1568. ELIZABETH committed MARY queen of Scots to the castle of Bolton, a prisoner.

1571. GEORGE FABRICIUS, a learned German poet and historian, died, aged 55.

1621. THOMAS HARIOT, an English mathematician, died. He accompanied sir Walter Raleigh to America, and wrote an account of Virginia. It is said that Descartes drew from his works many of his improvements in algebra.

1629. GASPARD BERTHOLIN, a Swedish physician and divine, died. He is said to have learned to read perfectly in 14 days at the age of 3, and to compose with correctness Greek and Latin orations at the age of 13. His works are on anatomy, metaphysics, logic and rhetoric.

1637. Battle with the Pequods, in which the last body of that formidable tribe was exterminated. They had secreted themselves in a swamp near where Fairfield now stands, in Connecticut; when some of the rangers who were in pursuit of them discovering their lurking place, rushed in upon them, in defiance of their arrows, and the hazard of being swallowed in the miry bogs. After a fruitless parley, the Indians refusing to come to terms, the soldiers were ordered to cut through the swamp with their swords, in order to hem them in, till they were begirt in a narrow space and remained all night sorely galled by the fire of their besiegers. Taking advantage of a dense fog, some of the stoutest made their escape, leaving the rest to the mercy of their conquerors. They were discovered in the morning sitting in crowds, sullenly refusing to ask for their lives, and were shot by dozens or cut in pieces. The male children which were taken were sent to the Bermudas, and the females distributed to the English towns. This overthrow of a great and powerful nation, cast a terror upon the arms of the colonists, which brought other tribes to a lasting peace.

1650. Dr. LEVINS, a civilian, was hanged for having in his possession blank commissions from Charles II, against the commonwealth.

1677. WILLIAM BERKELEY, governor of Virginia, died in England, after having administered the office nearly 40 years. His measures were generally bigoted and revengeful.

1730. ELIJAH FENTON, an English poet and divine, died. He assisted Pope in the translation of the _Odyssey_.

1750. The excessive heat of the weather at this time caused the fish in the Thames to assemble in shoals under the bank, where they were readily caught.

1759. Battle of Zullechan, in which the Prussians were defeated by the Russians.

1762. JAMES BRADLEY, an English astronomer, died. He made some important discoveries, and greatly improved the instruments which enrich the celebrated observatory at Greenwich.

1772. Captain JAMES COOK sailed on his second voyage round the world.

1774. CHARLES FREY DE NEUVILLE, a French Jesuit, died, aged 81. He was long known as an eloquent preacher; but on the suppression of his order he retired into privacy.

1774. WILLIAM JOHNSON, Indian agent, died at his seat near Johnstown, during the sitting of a convention at his place. He was a man of stern and determined purpose, but urbane and conciliatory when necessary, and held a greater controlling influence over the Indians than any other individual since the settlement of the province.

1785. STEPHEN HOPKINS, a signer from Rhode Island, died. He was a man of learning and a powerful speaker. His signature to the declaration is indicative of a tremulous hand, owing to a nervous affection, which compelled him, when he wrote, to guide his right arm with his left.

1788. An extraordinary and destructive hail storm happened in France, converting many of the richest autumnal prospects into arctic desolations.

1793. JEAN PAUL MARAT, a notorious leader of the French revolution, assassinated. He was a humble physician in Paris when the storm of anarchy burst forth, and became the most insatiable advocate of human slaughter of all the blood-thirsty demons by whom he was surrounded. He endeavored to get up a general massacre, and publicly demanded 270,000 executions.

1795. Action between the British fleet, admiral Hotham, and the French fleet. French ship Alcide struck, but took fire and blew up with several hundred of her crew on board, who perished.

1807. JAMES BERNOUILLI 3d, a Swiss astronomer, died. He was one of an illustrious family of scientific men.

1809. Senegal, in Africa, taken by the British.

1810. FRANCIS JAMES JACKSON, British minister, burnt in effigy before the door of his lodgings in Albany.

1813. A British fleet of 11 ships, captured and plundered Portsmouth and Ocracoke, in North Carolina, and took the privateers Anaconda of New York, and Atlas of Philadelphia, then lying in port.

1831. JAMES NORTHCOTE, an English artist of some celebrity, died in Argyle st. London.

1843. JOHN ROWAN, an eminent statesman and jurist, of Kentucky, died at Louisville.

1851. JOHN LINGARD, the well known catholic historian of England, died at Hornby, aged 82.

1854. San Juan bombarded by the United States sloop of war Cyane, captain Hollins; and a party landing from the sloop burnt the entire town, with the exception of two small buildings. A demand had previously been made upon the authorities, by Capt. Hollins, for satisfaction for alleged injuries, but without effect. A considerable portion of the property destroyed belonged to Americans. One British vessel of war in the harbor protested against the act.

1854. Battle of Gaymas, between some Frenchmen under count Raousset de Boulbon, and the Mexicans under Col. Yanez. The former were defeated, the count taken prisoner, and shot on the 12th August.

1854. A riot occurred at Buffalo growing out of street preaching.

JULY 14.

66. It was on the 14th of _Lous_, during the festival of Zylophory, or wood carrying, at Jerusalem, to feed the perpetual fire at the sacred altar, that the zealots destroyed the house of Ananias the chief priest, and the palaces of Agrippa and Berenice, with all the public archives, containing the bonds of debtors, "the nerves of the city."

1099. Jerusalem taken by the crusaders.

1420. Battle of Prague; 4000 Hussites under their celebrated leader Zisca, repelled the Bohemian army of 30,000 under the emperor Sigismund.

1514. CHRISTOPHER BAINBRIDGE, an English archbishop, poisoned at Rome. He was the envoy of Henry VIII to the pope, where he distinguished himself.

1584. BALTHAZAR GERARD, the assassin of William prince of Orange, whom he shot through the breast with a pistol as he was going out of his palace at Delft, was executed in the same manner as Damiens (q. v.) and died, in his own conceit, a martyr of the church of Rome.

1675. Mendon, Mass., attacked by the Nipmuck Indians, and several persons killed. Mather says: "blood was never shed in Massachusetts, in the way of hostility, before this day."

1678. The expedition under M. de la Salle set out from Rochelle, consisting of thirty men, among whom were pilots, smiths, carpenters, and other useful artists.

1683. MUSTAPHA, the grand vizier, sat down before Vienna with an army of 150,000 Turks, and opened the trenches.

1694. Bombardment and destruction of Dieppe, in France, by the English.

1699. WILLIAM BATES, an English non-conformist divine, died. He was chaplain to Charles II, a man of great learning, and the intimate friend of the first men of the kingdom.

1711. The prince of Nassau, stadtholder of Friesland, was drowned in his coach while ferrying over the Hollandsdiep, near Moerdyk.

1719. BELL, the traveler, left St. Petersburg with Ismayloff the ambassador and a numerous retinue for China. They took the route by Moscow, Siberia and the great Tartar deserts, and did not reach Pekin until sixteen months after their departure from the Russian capital, having undergone great fatigue during the journey.

1741. EDWARD SYNGE, an Irish bishop, died. He distinguished himself for above twenty years as an active and laborious parish priest; and his tracts, written in a popular style, have been considered of so much value as to require frequent editions.

1742. RICHARD BENTLEY, a celebrated English divine and classical scholar, died. His editions of the ancient classics procured him a great reputation for learning, but they were made the medium for retorting upon his contemporaries, who assailed him on all sides.

1748. An eclipse of the sun observed at London. 10 digits eclipsed, and Venus seen in a crescent form through a telescope.

1762. PETER III (_Fedrowitch_), emperor of Russia, died in prison. He acquired the enmity of the nobility and clergy by trenching upon their privileges, and introducing foreign customs, and was hurled from his throne by a conspiracy, after a reign of six months, and probably murdered.

1766. The grand junction canal commenced, uniting the Trent with the Mersey, and opening a water communication with both the east and west coasts of England. This great improvement was originated with Brindsley, who is represented to have "handled rocks as you would plum pies, and made the four elements subservient to his will."

1774. Captain FURNEAUX, who sailed in the discovery ship Adventure with captain Cook, returned with the ship, having reached 67° 10´ north, and circumnavigated the globe.

1776. WASHINGTON refused to receive a letter from lord Howe, addressed to "George Washington, Esq.," and afterwards another addressed to "George Washington, &c., &c., &c." The British lion, on further study, gave his message the proper direction.

1780. CHARLES BATTEUX, a French philosopher, died; eminent for his erudition and his private virtues, and author of several works on classical literature.

1788. Congress ratified the constitution framed by the convention of which Washington was president, and it went into operation the ensuing March.

1789. Marquis DE MIRABEAU, an advocate of Quesnay's sect of political economists, and author of _Ami des Hommes_, died. He was father of the fiery orator, count Mirabeau.

1789. Destruction of the Bastile, at Paris. This awful fortress of despotism, of which the name had for ages inspired terror, and which had withstood a vigorous siege about two centuries previous, was invested by a mixed multitude of citizens and soldiers. De Launay, the governor, displayed a flag of truce and demanded a parley, but abusing the confidence which that signal inspired, he discharged a heavy fire of cannon and musketry on the besiegers. This act of treachery, so far from intimidating the people, inflamed their rage and rendered them desperate. They renewed the attack with frenzy, and carried the prison by assault. The governor was seized and massacred, and his head carried in triumph through the streets. The Bastile was razed to the ground, and with it the despotism of the French monarchy fell prostrate in the dust. It cost 200,000 livres to demolish this edifice to its foundations, and the materials were sold for 36,000.

1790. GIDEON ERNEST LAUDOHN, an Austrian field marshal, died. He was commander-in-chief of the Austrian forces, and so high was his reputation, that Frederic the Great of Prussia admitted that he feared nobody so much as Laudohn.

1790. Grand national confederation of France, at Paris, in the field of Mars, when the civic oath was administered. Accommodations were made for exhibiting at one view 350,000 persons on this occasion, in a vast amphitheatre.

1791. Commencement of the Birmingham riots, which were occasioned by the celebration of the anniversary of the French revolution, by some private individuals. The destruction of property was very great; Dr. Priestly's house, library, manuscripts and philosophical apparatus were totally consumed.

1794. British squadron captured, on the American station, 14 sail of French ships laden with provisions.

1795. The British took Simonstown, cape of Good Hope.

1796. The British post of Oswego delivered up to the Americans, agreeable to treaty stipulations. The British had continued to occupy stations within the state of New York since the revolution. As they marched out the United States troops marched in, planted a standard on the ramparts, and fired a salute of 15 guns.

1798. Congress passed the famous act for the punishment of sedition, &c., against the United States, commonly called the _gag law_.

1798. Battle of Chebriessa, in Egypt, the French under Bonaparte defeated the Mamelukes by land and water.

1807. GEORGE SAVILLE CAREY, an English dramatist and poet, died. He was bred to the profession of a printer, which he left for the stage. His writings all tend to awaken patriotic, generous and amiable emotions.

1808. Battle of Riosecco, in Spain; the French under Gen. Bessieres, came upon the united armies of Castile and Leon, and defeated them in a desperate action, in which 20,000 Spaniards perished. This calamitous battle opened the gates of Madrid to Joseph Bonaparte.

1813. The United States schooner Asp, of twenty men and two guns, attacked by five British barges; after a gallant resistance, in which she lost ten of her men and her commander, she was abandoned to the enemy.

1814. The British schooner Balaboo, of six guns, captured by the American privateer schooner Perry of five guns, after a running fight of fifty, and a close action, of ten minutes.

1817. ANNA LOUISA GERMAINE NECKER, baroness de Stael Holstein, died. Her talents were so early displayed that she was said never to have been a child, and she became distinguished at an early age as a writer, and by the spirit of her conversation. She was banished twice by Napoleon for attempting to thwart his government. Her works form 17 vols.

1834. EDMUND CHARLES GENET, a French statesman, died. He was a minister to the United States in 1793, and when superceded he remained in the country, and settled on the Hudson river.

1836. ISABELLA JAMES died at Montego bay, Jamaica, aged 110.

1848. A portion of the levee fell in at New Orleans, by which a number of persons were drowned and much property destroyed.

1852. The college of the Holy Cross, at Worcester, Mass., destroyed by fire, partially damaging the library, which was otherwise wholly saved.

1853. Com. PERRY landed at Japan, and delivered to the imperial commissioners the letter from the American president.

1853. The crystal palace opened at New York, in presence of the president of the United States, and many other dignitaries.

1854. Duc D'ECKLINGEN, second son of marshal Ney, died at Gallipoli. He commanded a brigade of cavalry in the French army of the east.

1854. ABBAS PASHA, viceroy of Egypt, died at Benha, a small town on the Nile. He had reigned over Egypt since 1848. He was very unpopular, and under his rule the population decreased, and those that remained lived in great wretchedness. The only remarkable work of his reign was the commencement of the railway from Cairo to Alexandria.