Part 63

984. JOHN XIV, pope, died. He was imprisoned in the castle of St. Angelo, by Boniface VIII, where he died, either of poison or grief.

1153. ST. BERNARD, of Clairvaux, died, and was cannonized on this day. He was an extraordinary character, who obtained great influence over the ecclesiastical affairs of Europe, by the mere force of personal character, without any adventitious advantages, and is styled the last of the fathers.

1485. The earl of RICHMOND, afterwards Henry VII, halted with his army at Atherstone, two nights previous to the decisive battle of Bosworth field. The troops encamped in a meadow to the north of the church, which now bears the name of the Royal meadow. During the night, Henry held a conference in the town with the two Stanleys, when the measures were agreed upon which resulted in the defeat and death of Richard III.

1513. Norham castle taken by the Scots; its ruins yet remain about eight miles west from Berwick.

1580. JEROME OSORIO, an able Portuguese divine and author, died.

1639. MARTIN OPITIUS, an elegant German poet, died of the plague at Dantzic.

1648. EDWARD HERBERT died; an eminent English statesman, and writer on history, philosophy and criticism.

1648. Battle of Lens; the French under Conde defeated the Spaniards and imperialists, under the archduke Leopold, of whom 3000 were killed, and general Beck and 5000 taken prisoners.

1660. JOHN LUGO died; a Spanish Jesuit, professor of theology at Rome. He introduced _Jesuit's bark_ into France, was created cardinal, and wrote 7 vols. folio.

1677. PETER PETIT died; a learned Frenchman, celebrated for his mathematical and philosophical writings. (Penny Cyc. says 1667; other authorities 1687.)

1680. WILLIAM BEDLOE, the famous witness in the Titus Oates plot, died, charging the queen and the duke of York with being concerned in the plot, except the assassination of the king.

1694. WILLIAM PENN was reinstated in his province of Pennsylvania, which had been taken from him and annexed to New York.

1701. CHARLES SEDLEY, an English poet, died. He flourished at the court of Charles II. (1703?)

1704. Battle of Narva; the town taken by assault by Peter the Great, who on the occasion killed several of his soldiers with his own sword, for disobedience in committing excesses upon the inhabitants. He had been defeated here four years previous by Charles XII.

1724. LOUIS I, king of Spain, died of small pox; in consequence his father, the abdicated monarch, resumed the throne.

1746. Fort Massachusetts, situated in the town of Adams, surrendered to the French and Indians. It was garrisoned with 22 men under captain Hawks, when attacked by 900 French and Indians. The little band kept the horde at bay while their ammunition lasted, and then capitulated on promise of protection--to be humanely treated, and none delivered to the Indians. In violation of the terms, Vaudreuil delivered one half to the irritated savages. Hawks lost but one man in the siege; while the loss of the enemy was afterwards ascertained to have been 47.

1756. THOMAS WINSLOW, a native of Ireland, died, aged 146.

1760. JAMES M'DONALD, died at Cork, Ireland, aged 117, and 7 feet 6 inches in stature.

1768. JOSEPH SPENCE, an eminent English poet and critic, drowned in a canal in his garden.

1783. JOHN DEMESTE died; chaplain and chief surgeon in the army of the prince of Liege, and known as the author of _Letters on Chymistry_.

1785. JOHN BAPTIST PIGALLE, a eminent sculptor, died at Paris.

1794. Battle of Miami, in Ohio, between the United States troops under general Wayne, and the British and Indians; the latter were defeated and driven out of the United States. The most hostile tribes were the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees and Miamis. The number of Indians engaged in this battle was 2000; that of our troops did not amount to 900.

1799. Surinam surrendered to the British under admiral Seymour.

1801. The French garrison at fort Mirabou, at Alexandria, Egypt, surrendered to the British under general Coote.

1815. RICHARD ALZOP, an American poet, died at Middletown, Ct., aged 56.

1829. Adrianople captured by 28,000 Russians under general Diebitsch. The garrison of the city, amounting to 100,000 regular troops, laid down their arms immediately on the approach of the Russians, abandoning all their artillery, camp equipage, and munitions of war.

1840. MICHAEL WALSH died, aged 77; author of the _Mercantile Arithmetic_, formerly in extensive use in this country. He was a native of Ireland, and settled in America in early life.

1841. Dreadful explosion at Syracuse; 26 lives destroyed.

1847. The Mexican works at Contreras near the city of Mexico were carried by general Smith's command. Falling back on Cherubusco a severe battle was fought and the Mexicans completely routed. Many were slain on both sides.

1849. Major EMORY, in the United States service, gave information that a river forty feet wide and more than waist deep, with good drinkable water, broke forth from the desert about this time, between the river Gila and the mountains.

1852. The steam boat Atlantic came in collision on lake Erie with the propeller Ogdensburgh, and sunk in half an hour. Of 500 passengers, 250 were lost.

1854. FREDERICK WILLIAM JOSEPH VON SCHELLING, one of the most prominent among the philosophers of modern Germany, died in Switzerland, aged 79.

AUGUST 21.

638. Antioch in Syria taken by the Saracens.

1130. ABDULMUMEN, ibn Ali, elected sultan of eastern Africa by the following stratagem. Having trained a parrot and a lion, he assembled the chiefs in his tent, and urged upon them the necessity of naming a successor to their rising empire. In the midst of their deliberations the parrot perched himself upon one of the poles of the tent, and pronounced distinctly "Victory and power be the lot of the khalif Abdulmumen, commander of the faithful." The lion then made his way through the terrified assembly, licked his hand, and lay down at his feet. Deeply impressed with this wonder, and the manifest interference of heaven, the simple Almohades unanimously proclaimed him sultan.

1553. JOHN DUDLEY, duke of Northumberland, beheaded. He acquired almost unbounded authority after the death of Henry VIII, and by the abortive attempt to place lady Jane Grey on the throne, lost his own life and brought about the ruin of all concerned in the scheme.

1560. The great solar eclipse, which first turned the attention of Tycho Brahe, at the age of 14, to the science of astronomy.

1561. MARY (_the Myrtle of the South_), arrived in Scotland, after an absence of thirteen years in France. It was on her passage that she composed that simple and touching chanson, beginning, "Adieu, plaisant pays de France."

1621. A cargo of marriageable ladies consisting of one widow and eleven maids, consigned at London to the colony in Virginia, to be sold for tobacco, at the rate of 120 lbs. of the best leaf for each.

1682. WILLIAM PENN, to prevent any future claim, obtained a release from James, duke of York, of all his right to Pennsylvania.

1703. THOMAS TRYON died. He was the son of a tiler and plasterer at Bibury, England, and became a shepherd. At the age of 13 he learned to read, and at 14 he gave one of several sheep he had obtained, to be taught the art of writing. Afterwards, selling his stock, for three pounds, he went to London and apprenticed himself to a hat maker, where he spent the day in learning his trade, and most of the night in reading. He commenced business, and acquired a considerable fortune. He rejected animal food, lived in "temperance, cleanliness and innocency," and died at the age of 69.

1708. Haverhill burnt. A force of about 400 French and Indians made an irruption from Canada, and shaping their course to the Merrimack, fell upon the town in the morning, plundered and burnt the houses, killed about 40 persons, and captured many more. The enemy were pursued, and many of them killed, among whom was a brother of the French leader, Rouville. Among the captives was the clergyman; his two daughters 6 and 8 years old, were preserved by the servant, who concealed them under tubs in the cellar, which the Indians did not disturb.

1726. Great destroying earthquake at Palermo, in Sicily.

1762. MARY WORTLEY MONTAGUE, an English lady of great literary reputation, died. She introduced the practice of inoculation for small pox into England.

1770. A leaden equestrian statue of George III was erected in the Bowling Green, New York, near fort George, by Wilton, a celebrated statuary of the day. It being the birth day of the king's father, prince Frederick.

1775. The continental army under Gen. Montgomery arrived at Ticonderoga.

1780. French king abolished the application of torture to extort confession.

1791. The American army under Gen. Wilkinson arrived at the Rapids on the Ohio, returning from an expedition against the Ouiattanons, having destroyed their principal town, and a Kickapoo village, made many prisoners, and cut down 430 acres of corn. The army sallied from fort Washington, and made a march of 450 miles. Only 2 men were lost.

1792. LAFAYETTE abandoned the French army, of which he was commander in chief, and with his three friends surrendered to the Austrians. They met with a long imprisonment.

1805. Brest fleet attacked in Camaret bay, by the British under Cornwallis, who with an inferior force compelled them to retire into the inner harbor.

1808. Battle of Vimiera, in Portugal. The French army, 12,000, under Junot and Kellerman, made a desperate assault on the English and Portuguese, 20,000, under Wellesley. The French were defeated.

1810. Revolution in Santa Fe, South America.

1818. The renowned WARREN HASTINGS died.

1821. FRANCIS HARGRAVE, an eminent English law writer, died. His _State Trials_ comprise 11 vols. folio. His library was purchased by parliament at about $40,000.

1823. MARCO BOZZARIS, the Leonidas of modern Greece, killed. He was a native of Souli, in the mountains of Epirus, and on the breaking out of the revolution headed a battalion of Suliotes. The pasha of Schodra advancing with a numerous force of Albanians to attack Missolunghi, Bozzaris with a handful of devoted followers attacked the camp by night, and fell.

1831. Insurrection of the negroes in Virginia, and massacre of the white population.

1835. JOHN MCCULLOCH, distinguished for his geological writings and other works of merit, died in consequence of being thrown from his carriage.

1846. The water in lake Ontario had fallen since the first of December, 1845, 28 inches, and was lower than ever known before. Gulf island, which had been submerged seven years before, again appeared above water, and many rocks and sandbars never before known made their appearance.

1848. A hurricane devastated the islands of Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, and St. Thomas.

1849. A national convention of inventors met at Baltimore; Horace H. Day, of New York, president.

1850. DANIEL P. PARKER, a Boston merchant, died, aged 60. He gave close attention to the construction of merchant vessels, and had in his service many ships of superior model and sailing qualities.

1851. A prisoner under sentence of death at Sacramento, California, was reprieved by the governor; but was hung, notwithstanding, by some of the disaffected citizens.

1851. New Orleans riot, growing out of the Cuban expedition. The office of _La Patria_, the Spanish paper, was destroyed, as well as the cigar shops kept by Spaniards; and the Spanish consul was obliged to ask protection, and was placed in the city prison for safety.

1856. The famous Charter oak at Hartford, Conn., was blown down in a storm.

1857. A hurricane passed over the town of Woodland, Wisconsin, and destroyed every house in the place.

AUGUST 22.

1138. Battle of North Allerton, in England, and defeat of the Irish under king David.

1280. NICHOLAS III, pope, died. His reign is noted for a missionary expedition to Tartary.

1357. ISABELLA, queen of England, died in prison, where she had been confined 28 years.

1485. Battle of Bosworth field, in which the forces of Richard III were defeated and himself killed. The forces of Richard exceeded 16,000, while those of Richmond did not amount to 5,000. The battle lasted little more than two hours, and was determined by the defection of Stanley. He is the only English king since the conquest who fell in battle, and the second who fought in his crown.

1540. Burial of WILLIAM BUDÆUS, a learned French critic and commentator; styled by Erasmus _Portentum Galliæ_ (the prodigy of France).

1567. Capt. GOURGES sailed from Bourdeaux to dislodge the Spaniards in Florida. (See May 3, 1568.)

1567. MURRAY proclaimed regent of Scotland.

1572. THOMAS PERCY, earl of Northumberland, beheaded at York.

1613. DOMINIQUE BAUDIUS died; advocate of the parliament of Paris, and author of some Latin poems.

1615. ARTHUR AGARD, a learned English antiquary, died.

1642. CHARLES I of England erected the royal standard at Nottingham. It was supposed equivalent to a declaration of hostilities.

1650. EUSEBIUS ANDREWS, an English barrister, and colonel in the army of Charles I, beheaded by Cromwell.

1651. CHRISTOPHER LOVE was beheaded at Tower hill. His offence was a desire to restore monarchy, that presbyterianism might succeed.

1711. An expedition from New England against Quebec, frustrated by the loss of a number of transports among the rocks, at midnight, about 9 miles up Canada river. About 1000 men perished.

1711. LEWIS FRANCIS DE BOUFFLERS, a distinguished French military character, died. He was opposed to prince Eugene, and celebrated for his defence of Lisle.

1739. JAMES VANIERE died; a French Jesuit and famous Latin poet.

1752. WILLIAM WHISTON, an eminent English divine, died. He was also a mathematician, and succeeded sir Isaac Newton as professor of mathematics at Cambridge.

1766. PHILIP CARTERET sailed from England in the sloop-of-war Swallow, on his voyage round the world, in company with captain Wallis in the Dolphin. They parted company April 10, 1767; the latter returned in 1768, the former March 20, 1769.

1773. GEORGE LYTTLETON, an elegant English poet, historian and miscellaneous writer, died.

1776. The British troops, 24,000, under lord and sir William Howe, landed on Long island, between Gravesend and Utrecht.

1777. The siege of fort Stanwix raised by St. Leger, who retreated in great confusion, losing his tents, most of his artillery and stores.

1777. An unsuccessful attempt was made by general Sullivan and colonel Ogden on Staten island. The latter took 130 privates and some officers, burnt a magazine of hay and 7 vessels, and destroyed some stores, &c. The general deviated from his original plan, whence his enterprise was not so completely successful.

1778. Count D'ESTAING sailed from Newport for Boston, which compelled general Sullivan to raise the siege of Newport and fall back; 2 or 3,000 volunteers having left him in consequence.

1779. General WILLIAMSON and colonel PICKENS entered the Indian country, and burned about 50,000 bushels of corn in eight of their towns.

1779. CHARLES CLERKE, the English circumnavigator, died of consumption off Kamschatka, and was buried at Paratounca. He had but a short time previous succeeded captain Cook in the command of the expedition.

1792. Longroy, in France, captured by CLAIRFAIT, with 3,500 troops and 71 cannon.

1795. French convention adopted a new constitution, by which a council of 500 was established, and a council of ancients consisting of 250.

1798. The French under general Humbert landed in Ireland and took possession of Killala. (18th.)

1808. Armistice signed by the French general JUNOT and sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY, by which the French agreed to evacuate Portugal.

1814. The inhabitants of Nantucket declared themselves neutral, under the protection of England. Same day 27 sail of square rigged British vessels arrived at Benedict; commodore Barney, in conformity to his orders blew up his flotilla and retreated to Nottingham. The British landed and marched to Marlborough.

1818. WARREN HASTINGS, an English statesman and scholar, died. He was employed in the service of the East India company, and by oppression and injustice raised the revenue of the company from three to five millions pounds.

1826. A barge belonging to Beechey's expedition reached longitude 156° 21´ west. Here they were embedded in ice some days, and were about to abandon the bark, and return on foot 120 miles, to the ship, when it was fortunately extricated, and made sail to rejoin the ship.

1828. FRANZ JOSEPH GALL, founder of the science of phrenology, died at Paris, aged 71. His works are voluminous; his style is characterized as vivid and powerful; his description as accurate and striking: and he may be looked upon as one of the most remarkable men of his age.

1848. The rail road train made the transit from Springfield to Hartford, 26 miles, in 33 minutes.

1849. The fortress of Moultan was destroyed by a freshet, "remaining an island of mud in an expanse of waters."

1849. A convention called the Peace congress, opened its sittings at Paris.

1849. Venice capitulated to marshal Radetsky.

1850. NATHANIEL BERRY died at Gardiner, Me., aged 94; a member of Washington's life guard.

1851. The American yacht America, at the regatta at Cowes, England, won the "cup of all nations."

1852. ÆNEAS MUNSON, the oldest graduate of Yale college, died at New Haven, aged 89. He was an assistant surgeon in the war of the revolution, afterwards became a merchant, and for a long period was president successively of several banks.

1853. PIETRO BACHI, a Sicilian exile, died at Boston, aged 66. Being implicated in Murat's attempt to reascend the throne in 1815, he was banished, and arrived in America in 1825. He was highly accomplished in ancient and modern languages, and became an instructor of Italian in Harvard college.

AUGUST 23.

634. ABDALLAH ATIK BEN ABI KOHAFAH, better known as Abu Bekr, died. He was the first caliph or successor of Mohammed in the government of the faithful. He enlarged the empire, and caused the precepts of the prophet to be collected in a volume, called _Al Koran_, which is the sacred and classical book of the Mohammedans.

1305. WILLIAM WALLACE, "the peerless knight of Ellerslie," at the age of about 35, executed on Tower hill, and his head set up on London bridge, to the public gaze.

1350. PHILIP DE VALOIS, king of France, died. His crown was disputed by Edward VIII of England, which gave rise to a disastrous war.

1400. Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, burnt by the armies of Henry IV of England.

1481. THOMAS LITTLETON died; a celebrated English judge in the time of Edward IV, and author of a treatise on tenures or titles, by which all estates were anciently held in England.

1500. Don FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA arrived at St. Domingo, a royal commissioner to inquire into the conduct of Columbus.

1532. WILLIAM WARHAM, bishop of Canterbury, died; some time chancellor of England, from which office he was removed to make room for Wolsey.

1622. _The Certain News of the Present Week_ is the title of a small quarto of 18 pages published this day in London, supposed to be the first weekly newspaper in England.

1628. GEORGE VILLIERS, duke of Buckingham, a noted English statesman, assassinated, at the age of 36.

1630. The first court of assistants held at Charlestown, Mass. They determined that ministers should be settled, houses built and salaries raised for them at the public expense. They settled the price of mechanical labor; carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, sawyers and thatchers, should take no more than 2_s._ a day, under a penalty of 10_s._ to giver and taker. At this court Edward Palmer was sentenced for extortion, in charging 2_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ for the wood work of Boston stocks, to sit in them one hour and pay a fine of five pounds.

1642. JOHN GEORGE WIRSUNGUS, an Italian anatomist, assassinated. He was professor of anatomy at Padua, where he discovered and explained the pancreatic duct.

1679. WILLIAM OWTRAM died; an eminent English preacher and scholar in the reign of Charles II.

1686. Buda, the capital of Hungary, after being in possession of the Turks for 145 years, was taken by the imperialists.

1693. The first printing executed in New York, was a proclamation of governor Fletcher bearing this date.

1719. HENRY CLEMENTS, an eminent bookseller in London, died. His death was memorable on account of the occasion it furnished for the publication of his funeral sermon, entitled _the Christian's Support under the Loss of Friends_.

1720. JAMES VERGIER, a French poet, assassinated at Paris. He possessed great talents; but dissipation and licentiousness were unfortunately his distinguishing characteristics.

1723. INCREASE MATHER died; a New England clergyman during the witchcraft delusion, which he labored to mitigate. It is said that he usually spent 16 hours a day in study; the number of his publications was 85, the number of his years 84. (His tomb stone says Aug. 27.)

1727. HOSIER, the English admiral, died off Porto Bello. He had been sent out the year previous with 7 ships of war to intercept the Spanish galleons. On his arrival the galleons unloaded their treasure, and to prevent them from sailing the fleet lay off that pestilential coast until both the ships and their crews were desolated. Glover, author of a little poem called _Admiral Hosier's Ghost_, represents the number of dead at 3,000.

1756. Foundation stone of Columbia college laid at New York.

1782. HENRY LEWIS DU HAMEL died at Paris; eminent for his knowledge of mechanics, agriculture and commerce.

1782. Cape River fort surprised and carried by assault by the British captain Campbell with 150 negroes. He lost but 2 killed; Spanish loss 65 killed, 9 taken, mostly wounded.

1789. SILAS DEANE, minister of the United States to France in 1776, died in England in extreme poverty.

1793. Massacre of the French in St. Domingo.

1793. The British took Pondicherry from the French.

1795. French convention decreed that all assemblies known by the name of clubs or popular societies in France, should be suppressed immediately, their places of meeting shut up, and the keys delivered to the secretary of the town house.

1795. WILLIAM BRADFORD died at Philadelphia, aged 39; some time attorney general of the United States, and known as an author and poet.

1804. Tripoli bombarded the third time by the American commodore Preble, from 2 P. M., until daylight the next morning, without much effect.

1806. CHARLES AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB, a French engineer, died. He is noted for his brilliant experiments and discoveries in electricity and magnetism.

1813. Battle of Gross-Beeren, near Berlin in Prussia; the French under Oudinot, about 80,000, defeated with considerable loss.

1813. ALEXANDER WILSON, the naturalist, died at Philadelphia; author of the _American Ornithology_, 7 vols. 4to, a work of great accuracy and comprehensiveness.

1818. First steamer from Buffalo to Detroit.

1820. OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, a distinguished American naval officer, died at Trinidad of yellow fever, on the anniversary of his birth day, which was the 23d August, 1785. His victory on lake Erie over a British force superior in men and guns to his own, has given his name a permanent place in the history of his country.

1826. KOLLER, an Austrian general, died. He accompanied Napoleon, where he had to protect him against the rabble infuriated by priests and ultras, which was done by an exchange of garments. He left a valuable collection of antiques.

1835. ISAAC POCOCKE died; one of the most successful dramatic writers of his day.

1835. Massacre at Para in Brazil by the Indians. The attack commenced on the 14th. The United States consul barely escaped with his life. It is supposed that the slaughter must have been immense, and a more complete sack of any city probably never took place.