Part 6

1779. DAVID GARRICK, the actor, died. He formed a new era in the English stage, a reform both in the conduct and license of the drama, which was honorable to the genius that had the power to effect it.

1781. A revolt of 160 of the Jersey line at Morristown. It was suppressed and two of the ringleaders executed.

1783. The Independence of the United States acknowledged by Great Britain.

1788. GEORGE JOACHIM ZOLLIKOFER, a Swiss divine, died. He was born 1730, and became one of the most eminent preachers of the last century. His sermons have been published in 15 vols.

1788. Australia first colonized, nearly three centuries after the discovery of the Ladrones by Magellan, which constitute a part of it. Governor Philip arrived with a number of convicts from England, and established a colony at Port Jackson in preference to Botany Bay.

1790. JOHN HOWARD, the philanthropist, died at Cherson in Russia, aged 63. He had taken up his residence at this settlement on the Baltic sea; a malignant fever prevailing there, he was prompted by humanity to visit a patient laboring under the contagion, when he received the infection, and died in consequence.

1790. LAFAYETTE, in the assembly of the states general supported the motion for the abolition of titles of nobility, from which period he renounced his own, and never afterwards resumed it.

1795. The French under Pichegru entered Amsterdam, and Geertruidenberg capitulated to Gen. Bonneau.

1795. A great fire occurred at Bergen in Norway, when 60 houses and a great many stores were burnt.

1796. PICHEGRU attacked Kaiserslautern, but was repulsed with the loss of 2000 men and several cannon. Austrian loss about 700 killed and wounded.

1798. The frigate Crescent sailed from Portsmouth, N. H., as a present from the United States to the dey of Algiers; she also carried out presents to the amount of $300,000.

1800. THOMAS MIFFLIN, an officer of the revolution, died. He was a member of the first congress, and for many years governor of Pennsylvania.

1813. CHRISTOPHER MARTIN WIELAND, a German author of great repute, died aged 80. He was the father of 14 children, and 42 quarto volumes of books by the sale of which last he was enabled to purchase an estate. He was knighted by Alexander of Russia, and by Napoleon.

1817. The weather had been so moderate that up to this time no ice had been seen on the Delaware at Philadelphia.

1817. JAMES ANTHONY, of Hanover co., Va., died, aged 104.

1823. The British government received advice that a Bengalee newspaper had been issued, edited by a learned Hindoo. Its title was _Sungband Cowmuddy_, or the _Moon of Intelligence_.

1835. The city of Mocha taken by the Egyptians under Achmet Pacha; by which the whole of Arabia was rendered subject to Mehemet Ali, pacha of Egypt.

1836. XAVIER SAUBERT, the celebrated fire-king, being engaged in making some experiments in chemistry, with phosphoric ether, it exploded and scattered his body into a thousand pieces.

1836. Treaty of peace and commerce signed between the United States and the republic of Venezuela.

1839. The army of the confederation of Bolivia and Peru, commanded by Santa Cruz in person, was entirely defeated and destroyed, at Yungay, with a loss of 2,600 killed and 3,400 prisoners. Santa Cruz immediately resigned his office.

1843. A report fully approving of the conduct of Com. McKenzie and his officers on board the United States brig of war Somers, was brought in by the court appointed for that purpose.

1848. CHRISTIAN VIII, king of Denmark, died in the 62d year of his age and 9th of his reign. A constitution was offered the same day by his successor.

1854. A tornado in Ohio half a mile in width demolished every thing it encountered, and almost entirely destroyed the town of Brandon.

This day in the calendar of Hesiod, is most propitious for the birth of men.

JANUARY 21.

988. ADALBERO, archbishop of Rheims, died. He assisted in placing Hugh Capet on the throne of France.

1582. FERDINAND ALVAREZ DE TOLEDO, duke of Alva, a Spanish general and minister of state, died, aged 74. It is said of him that during nearly sixty years of warfare against different enemies, he never lost a battle, and was never taken by surprise. He was undoubtedly the ablest general of his age; had a proud mien, a noble aspect and a strong frame; slept little, labored and wrote much. But pride, severity and cruelty tarnished his renown, so that he became odious even to his own countrymen.

1609. JOSEPH JUSTUS SCALIGER died, aged 69. His education commenced early, and he was one of the most indefatigable students through a long life, that was ever known. So entirely immersed was he in his studies, that he passed whole days in his chamber without eating or drinking, and paid very little attention to the common affairs of life. He may be called the founder of the science of chronology.

1647. The plague broke out at Edinburgh. A writer of the time says, that the last plague they had raged so violently that the fortieth person lived not of those who dwelt there four years before, but that it was peopled with new faces.

1666. SHAH JEHAN, a Mogul emperor, died, aged 74. He was the son and successor of Jehangir, but did not inherit much of the talent and spirit of that powerful ruler. During a severe illness the government was usurped by his son, and on his recovery he was removed from Delhi to Agra, where he died, probably by poison.

1692. King WILLIAM and his court issued a proclamation against vice and profaneness.

1702. The affirmation allowed by Queen Anne to the quakers in England, extended to those of Pennsylvania.

1707. AURUNGZEBE, (_ornament of the throne_,) died; the last powerful and energetic sovereign that ruled over the Mogul empire of Hindostan. From his 20th year, military duties devolved upon him; he raised a body of troops, and obtained the government of the Deccan. He invited his old friends the fakirs, or religious mendicants, to a feast, and compelled them to put on new and decent clothing. The gold and silver pieces which he found on burning their old garments, was of great service to him in prosecuting the war against his elder brother for the sovereignty. He stirred up dissensions among his brothers, by which they were put out of his way, shut up his father in his harem, and in 1659 ascended the throne. Notwithstanding his cruelty he governed with much wisdom, and consulted the welfare of his people. Two of his sons endeavoring to form a party in their own favor, he caused to be put to death by slow poison. In the midst of his activity he died at Ahmednagar, and with his death terminated the brilliant epoch of the Moguls.

1721. FRANCIS PAGI died, author of a chronological history of the popes.

1733. BERNARD DE MANDEVILLE, an English author, died. He was born at Dort in Holland, and went to England to practice medicine. Meeting with poor encouragement, he turned author; but his topics, though professedly intended for the promotion of the public morals, introduced him to the notice of the grand jury. His pen procured the means of subsistence, but acquired for him an unenviable notoriety.

1750. JOHN BLAND, the renowned writing master, died at his academy in London.

1759. Battle of Wandewash, in India. The French under Lally defeated with the loss of 800 killed and wounded, by the British under Col. Coote, who lost 262 do.

1769. The first letter of JUNIUS appeared in Woodfall's _Public Advertiser_; and the last number was also published on this day, 1772.

1773. ALEXIS PIRON, a French dramatist, died. His first effusions were satires, which procured him so many enemies that even in the latter part of his life he could not get admission into the Academy. He revenged himself by calling them _les invalides du bel esprit_, and composing his own humorous epitaph:

_Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut rien, Pas même académicien._

1774. MUSTAPHA III, emperor of Turkey, died, and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamet.

1775. PUGATCHEF, the daring chief of the Tartars, defeated by the Russians, into whose hands he fell and was put to death.

1780. Admiral RODNEY of the English fleet arrived with his prizes and transports for the relief of Gibraltar; the garrison was short of provisions.

1782. Grand fete in Paris on the birth of the dauphin.

1793. LOUIS XVI beheaded at Paris, aged 38. He had reigned 17 years and 7 months, and is now represented as an amiable and benevolent man, anxious to make his subjects happy; who in turn treated him in the vilest manner, and executed him as a tyrant and a traitor. His behavior on many trying occasions vindicated him effectually of timidity, and showed that the unwillingness to shed blood by which he was particularly distinguished, arose from benevolence, and not from pusillanimity. Upon the scaffold he exhibited a firmness that became a noble spirit.

1814. JACQUES BERNARDIN HENRY DE ST. PIERRE, a French philosophical writer, died, at his estate near Paris. He is best known as the author of _Paul and Virginia_, which appeared in 1788, and passed through fifty editions in one year. It has been generally translated in Europe.

1815. MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, a German poet, died. His prose and poetry are said to bear a peculiar stamp of humor, frankness and cordiality, and many of his songs, set to music by the first composers, have become a part of the national melodies. He filled several public offices.

1816. Day of general mourning in France, on account of the death of Louis XVI, twenty-three years after his execution.

1820. AMBROISE MARIE FRANCIS JOSEPH PALISOT DE BEAUVAIS, a French naturalist, died. He came to America in the pursuit of science, and while at Philadelphia learnt that he had been proscribed by the revolutionists as an emigrant. He supported himself as a teacher of music and languages until the arrival of the French minister, who afforded Palisot the means of prosecuting inquiries into the natural history of America. He was employed to arrange Peale's collection. On returning to France with his rich collections, he was admitted into the Institute, in the place of Adanson.

1824. CHARLES MACARTHY killed. He commanded at the Cape-Coast against the Ashantees. Whilst making preparations to repel these savages in 1821, the king sent his compliments to him, and said he hoped to have his head as an ornament to their great war drum. Subsequently Sir Charles marched against the enemy with a mixed force of Europeans and blacks; the latter ran away, and the whites being defeated and their commander captured, the ferocious menace was realized. The trophy however was afterwards recovered.

1839. Great conflagration at Constantinople, in which the grand vizier's palace, called the Sublime Porte, including the ministerial and administration offices, was destroyed. Loss estimated at 20,000,000 piasters.

1847. Major JAMES MORTON, died at High Hill, Virginia, aged 90. In the revolutionary war he acquired the cognomen of _Solid Column_, by which soubriquet he was recognized by La Fayette in 1824, at Richmond.

1854. The magnificent British vessel Tayleur on its voyage to Melbourne, wrecked on the Irish coast, and 370 persons lost.

JANUARY 22.

The _Catagogia_, an erotic and bacchanalian festival celebrated at Ephesus by its licentious devotees, about the first century.

97. TIMOTHY, to whom St. Paul addressed several epistles, is said to have been killed at Paris (Ephesus).

1265. First English parliament constituted of members from counties, &c., as at present, met.

1528. HENRY VIII and FRANCIS I declared war against Charles V of Germany.

1552. The duke of SOMERSET beheaded on pretence of inciting others to imprison Dudley, the duke of Northumberland. He was a distinguished writer of that age.

1561. Birthday of FRANCIS BACON, the English philosopher.

1562. The two houses of convocation subscribed the 39 articles of the English church.

1575. Queen ELIZABETH granted to Thomas Tallis and William Birde an exclusive patent for printing music, for the term of twenty-one years.

1683. ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, first earl of Shaftsbury, died. The career of this able, but dubious and versatile statesman was cast in a stormy period, and his acts have been severely reprehended. Yet much of it is to be attributed to the odium excited by opposing party feelings. His vices appear to have been redeemed by corresponding virtues, and had he appeared in a different age, it is likely he would have developed a different character.

1689. The British parliament having met under the name of a convention, declared that the king, James II, had abdicated the throne. William and Mary succeeded him.

1696. Birthday of JAMES BRUCKER, a German scholar, remembered by his _Critical History of Philosophy_, 6 vols. 4to. He gives an account of every school, from the Hebrew, Chaldaic and Egyptian, down to the Huron in America.

1749. MATTHEW CONCANEN, some time attorney-general of Jamaica, and a dramatic writer, died.

1788. Birthday of Lord BYRON.

1795. The French under Macdonald entered Naarden, Holland.

1800. GEORGE STEVENS died, best known as the editor of Shakspeare, though to the versatility and richness of his talent there are numerous testimonials. His literary collections were extremely curious, and as regards the days that are gone, of great value.

1809. Naval action off Guadaloupe between the British frigate Cleopatra and sloop of war Hazard, and the French frigate Topaz, 40 guns. The engagement lasted 45 minutes, and resulted in the capture of the Topaz, which was laden with provisions to relieve the garrison at Cayenne.

1810. The French forced the passage of the Sierra Morena, in Spain.

1812. Madame REICHARD ascended in a balloon to a great height at Kœnigsberg in Prussia. The balloon was totally destroyed by a hurricane, and the aeronaut precipitated to the earth, yet escaped with life.

1813. Second battle of Frenchtown in Michigan. The van of Gen. Harrison's army, about 750 men, was attacked at day break by 2000 British and Indians under Proctor and Tecumseh. Notwithstanding the superiority of the latter in numbers, the Americans fought with desperation six hours, when they surrendered. British loss, as stated by Proctor, 24 killed, 128 wounded; the loss of the Indians is supposed to have been greater. American loss, 200 killed, 522 prisoners, 27 escaped. Proctor was promoted.

1815. The remains of LOUIS XVI and his queen taken up from the burial ground, and deposited with much solemnity in the royal church of St. Denis.

1815. American commodore PATTERSON captured a British transport schooner, and took 63 prisoners. His own force was 53.

1815. United States privateer schooner Tomahawk 9 guns and 84 men, captured by the British ship Bulwark.

1818. CASPAR WISTAR died, a distinguished physician of Philadelphia. He was of German parentage, and a member of the society of Friends; became eminent as an anatomist, and corresponded with Cuvier and other eminent naturalists of Europe. He held scientific meetings at his own house, and was an active contributer to knowledge of all kinds. He died of a slow fever, caught by attending a poor family in a close apartment.

1822. JOHN JULIUS ANGERSTEIN died, celebrated as the founder of the British national gallery, which was purchased by the government after his death for £40,000, (_Cyclopedia Americana_ says £60,000) and was first exhibited in May, 1824. He was born at St. Petersburg, 1735.

1830. Great fire at Pera, Constantinople, extinguished by the exertions of the crew of an English ship.

1834. Great earthquake in South-America; the cities of Popayan and Pasto almost entirely destroyed, and many lives lost.

1835. ANDREW WALLACE died at New York, aged 105. He emigrated from Scotland in 1752, enlisted in the American army in 1776, and continued in it till 1813, when he was honorably discharged, on account of his disability, having suffered a stroke of paralysis.

1840. JOHN FREDERICK BLUMENBACH died at Göttingen, aged 88. He was long a distinguished professor at the university, and a very eminent naturalist. His collection of skulls was said to be the richest in the world. The 50th year of his professorship was celebrated in 1826.

1849. JOHN C. CALHOUN'S draft of an address to the people of the United States adopted in preference to Berrien's, and the Southern convention adjourned sine die.

1854. PATRICK O'DONAHOE died at Brooklyn, N. Y.; one of the Irish exiles who escaped from Van Diemen's Land.

JANUARY 23.

1401. TAMERLANE introduced his troops into the city of Damascus, in violation of a truce; and after levying an enormous contribution in gold, massacred the inhabitants, and reduced the city to ashes, in revenge of the murder of the grandson of Mahomet, seven centuries before, by the Syrians.

1516. FERDINAND V of Spain died. He inherited the crowns of Aragon and Sicily, and united to them the kingdom of Castile by marriage. In 1492 he added to these the kingdom of Granada, the last possession of the Moors, by conquest; at the same time Columbus was discovering for him the new world. By force and treachery he acquired the kingdom of Naples, and by similar means Navarre was also added to his dominions. Thus the whole of Spain was united under him; so that he may be considered as the restorer if not the founder of the Spanish monarchy. He was the most powerful monarch of his time; but his conduct was characterized by a total want of faith, and a recklessness of principle of which he made no scruple of boasting. He was the founder of that fearful tribunal, the Inquisition.

1570. Earl MURRAY, regent of Scotland, shot by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh. The latter, after the battle of Langside hill, had been condemned to death as a rebel, and pardoned. A part of his estate, however, was bestowed upon one of the regent's favorites, who seized Hamilton's house and turned his wife out into the fields naked in a cold night, by which she became deranged. This injury induced him to seek revenge on the regent, after which he escaped to France.

1722. HENRI DE BOULAINVILLIERS, count of St. Saire in Normandy, died. Having finished his studies he entered the army, which however, he soon left to devote his attention to literature. A marked antipathy to revelation pervades his writings, and exhibits itself in singular contrast with a superstitious reverence for judicial astrology, and the mystic sciences, which he cultivated with much diligence.

1733. O. S. Birthday of BENJAMIN LINCOLN, a revolutionary general, at Hingham, Mass. Great reliance was placed in his abilities by Washington, and many important commissions entrusted to him. In 1781 he was appointed secretary of war, which office he held three years, and then retired to his farm. He died 1810.

1761. Action between the British frigate Minerva, 22 guns, Capt. Hood, and French ship Warwick, 34 guns, M. de Bellair, near cape Pinas, which resulted in the capture of the latter. French loss 14 killed, 32 wounded; British loss 14 killed, 33 wounded, 3 of whom died.

1765. The British under Capt. Byron colonized the Falkland islands.

1766. WILLIAM CASLON, an eminent English type founder, died. He was induced to attempt letter-cutting by a friend, and such was the perfection to which he carried the art, that the beauty of his type exceeded all others of the day, and was sought for from other countries on the continent. He was employed to cut characters for several languages of Asia.

1772. Mrs. CLUM died near Litchfield, England, aged 138. She had lived 103 years in one house.

1775. The Pennsylvania convention declared their determination, in case the arbitrary laws of England were attempted to be executed by force, to repel the same by the most determined resistance.

1780. The British ship Culloden of 74 guns lost off Long island.

1789. FRANCES BROOKE died, an English lady, remarkable for her literary accomplishments. Her works consist of novels, periodicals, tragedies, musical dramas, and translations.

1789. JOHN CLELAND died; author of the notoriously immoral romance, _Fanny Hill_.

1790. The mutineers of the ship Bounty having arrived at Pitcairn's island, and landed all their effects, set fire to the vessel and destroyed every vestige that could lead to the discovery of their retreat. The island was then divided into nine equal portions between them, and the natives were reduced to the condition of slaves. (See Oct. 3.)

1795. JOHN SULLIVAN, a distinguished general in the revolutionary army, died. He was of Irish descent, and before the revolution practiced law in New Hampshire. He was among the first to take an active part in the contest; resigned his seat in the first congress to enter the army; was conspicuous at several engagements; and terminated his military career in laying waste the country of the Six Nations, in order to put a stop to their depredations. After the peace he filled several important state offices.

1795. The French took possession of the Hague and Helvoetsluis, made 800 Englishmen prisoners, and liberated 600 Frenchmen.

1799. The French under Championnet entered Naples.

1800. A convention signed between Gen. Kleber and the grand vizier for the evacuation of Egypt by the French troops.

1800. EDWARD RUTLEDGE, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, died. He was a member of the first congress and acted a conspicuous part during the war. While the British beleaguered Charleston, his native city, he commanded a company of troops, and was taken prisoner. On the restoration of peace he returned to the practice of law, and a short time previous to his death was elected governor of the state of South Carolina.

1802. HUMBOLDT and his companions ascended Chimborazo to the height of 18,576 feet above the surface of the sea. The blood started from their eyes, lips and gums, and they became almost torpid with cold. A narrow deep valley prevented them from reaching the summit, which was 1344 feet higher.

1806. WILLIAM PITT, second son of the earl of Chatham, died. He was born 1759, and at the age of 23 became chancellor of the exchequer and the next year prime minister. It was during the early part of his career that the American war was concluded. Notwithstanding the emoluments of his offices were great, so far from acquiring wealth, he died involved. Parliament decreed him a public funeral, and £40,000 to pay his debts.

1813. GEORGE CLYMER, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, died. By the death of his parents he was left an orphan at the age of 7 years; but he was taken care of by his uncle, who left him a large fortune, with which to continue the business of a merchant in Philadelphia. His services to the country during the revolution, in raising supplies and devising ways and means to continue the struggle, were of incalculable importance.

1813. Horrible massacre of the United States prisoners taken by the British and Indians at the battle of Frenchtown the day before. The houses in which the helpless wounded lay were set on fire, and those who were too feeble to continue the march were shot or tomahawked on the road. It is morally certain that the British generals Proctor and Elliott were culpable for this wanton sacrifice of human life to satiate the revenge of the savages.

1813. ROBERT JAMISON died in South Carolina, aged 104. His eyesight, which had failed him some years previous to his decease, returned again just before his death in all its strength.

1815. Thanksgiving day in New Orleans, and a solemn _Te Deum_ on account of Jackson's victory.

1820. EDWARD, duke of Kent, died. He was the fourth son of George III. In 1802 he was appointed governor of Gibraltar, but his rigid discipline produced a mutiny, and he was recalled. The present queen of England is his daughter.

1824. STEPHEN ACOUR KOVER, an Armenian writer of distinction, died, aged 84.