Part 64

1850. CHARLES DYER, a midshipman in the United States navy, was drowned at Pensacola, in nobly attempting to save the crew of a vessel in distress. ALEXANDER HALE, assistant engineer in the service and a graduate of Yale college, lost his life also in the same cause.

1855. HENRY LAWSON, an English astronomer, died at Bath, aged 81.

AUGUST 24.

79. First eruption on record of Vesuvius, which overwhelmed the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and destroyed the _martyr of nature_. The younger Pliny, the nephew of that greater man, has described the terrific catastrophe in two letters to Tacitus.

93. CNEIUS JULIUS AGRICOLA, a celebrated Roman general, died. He was governor in Great Britain, and by doubling the northern point of Scotland, first discovered it to be an island. (Sept. 1st?)

410. ALARIC, at the head of the Goths, entered Rome at midnight, and gave up the town to be pillaged for six days, but with orders to his soldiers to be sparing of blood, to respect the honor of the women, and not to burn the buildings dedicated to religion. A part of the city was burnt, and many ancient works of art destroyed. The treasures of the city collected from all parts of the world fell a prey to the barbarians, and the once proud mistress of the world experienced a severe retribution for the sufferings which her heroes had caused to so many cities, countries and nations.

1227. GENGIS-KHAN, a renowned Mogul prince, died. He suddenly rose from the lowest fortunes, and in the space of 28 years subdued the greater part of Asia.

1344. Battle of Cressy, which gained Edward, the black prince, immortal honor. Here was slain the blind king of the Bohemians, the ornaments on whose sword were adopted as the coat of arms of the princes of Wales, _Ich Dien_, with three ostrich feathers.

1481. ALPHONSO V, of Portugal, died of plague. He was a great patron of learning, and conquered several places belonging to the Moors.

1525. FRANCIS I, king of France, entered Madrid a prisoner to the emperor Charles V.

1572. Massacre of St. Bartholomews, which commenced in the city of Paris, and was continued throughout the kingdom during thirty days. The number of protestants who were butchered in this bloody affair, is estimated at 30,000, and by others at 70,000.

1572. GASPARD DE COLIGNY, admiral of France, fell at the massacre of St. Bartholomews. He was distinguished for valor in battle, for strict discipline, and for his conquests over the Spaniards; and was feared by the court as the powerful leader of the Calvinist party.

1581. An assemblage of divines deputed by the states of Carniola, Styria and Carinthia, met at Laybach, to examine and revise the translation of the _Vandalie Bible_.

1605. The Turks having overrun the Persian provinces along the Caspian sea, their army of 100,000 was met by 66,000 Persians under schah Abbas, and completely overthrown.

1634. ABBASAH, pasha of Erzerum, executed. He was the untiring enemy of the Janisaries, who succeeded in awakening the suspicions of the sultan Murad IV.

1653. An act passed by the parliament of the commonwealth of England permitting marriages to be solemnized by justices of the peace.

1662. The English act of uniformity in religion took effect; about 2,000 ministers were ejected from their benefices, without any provision for themselves or their families. Soon after they were banished five miles distant from every corporation in England. Several ultimately died in prison, for exercising their ministry in private, contrary to law; but a considerable number of them found an asylum in New England.

1682. The duke of York conveyed to William Penn all his right to the three lower counties on the Delaware river, now state of Delaware.

1683. JOHN OWEN, an English non-conformist divine, died, aged 63. He preached the first sermon before parliament after the execution of Charles I, was promoted to high places under Cromwell, which he lost at the restoration, by the influence of the presbyterian party. His works, which are of a high Calvinistic character, amount to 7 vols. folio, 20 quarto and 30 octavo. (See Oct. 15, 1651.)

1702. Sixth action between the British fleet, admiral Benbow, and the French under Du Casse. The brave English admiral had his leg carried off by a chain shot, and received two other wounds.

1756. Eighty Acadians arrived in New York from Georgia.

1777. General WASHINGTON marched his troops through Philadelphia for the Chesapeake.

1781. The allied French and American army under Washington and Rochambeau crossed the Hudson river and marched for Philadelphia.

1782. JEAN DE LA PEROUSE, a distinguished French seaman and navigator, took fort York, on Hudson's bay, from the English. Here he found a manuscript of Hearne's journey to the Coppermine river, which Hearne received back as his private property on condition of publication.

1793. Marseilles subjected to the French convention, against which it had revolted.

1797. THOMAS CHITTENDEN, first governor of Vermont, died, aged 67.

1799. BONAPARTE left Egypt.

1803. GREGORY FONTANA, a Swiss mathematician, died; distinguished as a professor and an author, during a period of thirty years, in Italy.

1811. Swiss cantons recalled their troops from the British service, and voted 6,000 additional men for the French service.

1814. Battle of Bladensburg, and capture of Washington city by the British under general Ross and admiral Cockburn. The capitol, president's house and public offices were burnt in a spirit unworthy of any nation. A dreadful retribution, however, overtook them, by the explosion of a magazine, by which one half their number was either killed or wounded. American loss, 40 killed, 60 wounded.

1829. REUBEN KELSEY died at Fairfield, Vt., of voluntary starvation, after a fast of 52 days, during which he took no other nourishment than water.

1833. ADRIAN HARDY HAWORTH died of cholera in England: a distinguished botanist, entomologist and ornithologist; author of the _Lepidoptera Britannica_, and various other works.

1842. BENJAMIN WRIGHT, a distinguished American civil engineer, died. The great Erie canal afforded him an opportunity for the exercise of his mathematical knowledge.

1844. Great outrages committed in Rensselaer county, New York, by the tenantry on Rensselaerwick.

1845. SAMUEL HASKELL, the oldest episcopal minister of the state of New York, died at New Rochelle.

1848. The American ship Ocean Monarch burnt in the Irish channel, and more than 170 lives lost.

1849. JOHN PIERCE, of the Congregational church, Brookline, Mass., died. He was distinguished as a preacher and one of the earliest advocates of total abstinence from intoxicating drinks in the state.

1849. The chamber of representatives of Hayti, acting upon a petition which had been circulated one day, brought in a bill conferring the title and dignity of emperor upon Faustin Soulouque, the president of that government.

1851. JAMES MCDOWELL, a Virginia statesman, died. He was sometime governor of the state, and representative to congress.

1851. A fire in Concord, New Hampshire, destroyed the best part of the business portion of the town.

1851. During devotional exercises at the jail in San Francisco, two prisoners, Samuel Whittaker and Samuel McKenzie, were taken from the jailer by force, and hung by the vigilance committee.

1852. JOSEPH VANCE, an Ohio statesman, died. He served the state in various stations, being governor in 1836.

1857. THOMAS CLAYTON, a Delaware judge, died at Newcastle, aged 76. He was sixteen years in congress and occupied the bench with ability for a long time.

AUGUST 25.

383. GRATIANUS, emperor of Rome, assassinated at the age of 24. He was a powerful Christian ruler, but of an unfortunate turn of mind to conduct a government.

1170. STRONGBOW, under king Dermot, carried Dublin by storm.

1270. LOUIS IX, of France, died. He made two crusades for the recovery of the Holy Land, and died of a contagion off Tunis, in Africa.

1313. HENRY VII, emperor of Germany, died. He entered Rome sword in hand, at a time when the country was distracted by the war of the Guelphs and Ghibelines, and was crowned by the pope.

1381. An eruption of Etna, which consumed all the olive yards around Catania.

1482. MARGARET, of Anjou, queen of Henry VI, of England, died. She became conspicuous by her heroism in battle for the rescue of her husband, and being taken prisoner was ransomed with 50,000 crowns.

1576. The earl of ESSEX died in Ireland, suspected to be poisoned by the earl of Leicester, who married his widow.

1585. Sir RICHARD GRENVILLE, planted the first English colony in America, on the island of Roanoke, consisting of 107 persons. This settlement was begun 17 years after the French had abandoned Florida, on the same coast, but far to the north of the settlements for which France and Spain had contended. The expedition was fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh, and consisted of 7 ships.

1654. Battle of Arras, in France; the Spaniards under Conti defeated by Turenne.

1675. Battle of Sugarloaf hill, a few miles above Hatfield, on the Connecticut river. The Hadley Indians had betrayed their conspiracy with Philip's party, by fleeing from their dwellings, were pursued by captains Lathrop and Beers, and overtaken at this place, where a skirmish took place, in which 9 or 10 of the English fell, and about 26 Indians.

1725. A Hungarian picture of this date has the following inscription: "John Roven, in the 172d year of his age, and Sarah, his wife, in the 164th year of her age. They have been married 147 years, and both born and died at Stradovia. Their children, two sons and two daughters, yet live; the youngest son is 116 years of age."

1758. Battle of Zorndorf between the Prussians, 30,000, under Frederick the Great, and 50,000 Russians, under Fermor. The Russians were defeated, with the loss of 19,000 killed, and 3,000 taken, and 103 cannon. Prussian loss, 10,000 killed. This was the bloodiest and one of the most remarkable battles of the seven years' war.

1770. THOMAS CHATTERTON, an English poet of astonishing genius, died at the age of 18, by taking poison, to escape hunger and misery.

1776. DAVID HUME, the Scottish historian, died. His _History of England_ is a work of great merit, and has long been the most popular work of the kind.

1782. A large foraging party of British attacked at Combahee, in South Carolina, by the Americans under general Gist and colonel Laurens, who captured a schooner. Laurens was mortally wounded, and died aged 27.

1788. Archbishop SENS, premier of France under Louis XVI, seeing the finances of the state utterly desperate, and fearing for the king and more for himself, retired from the administration, and left the monarch, while bankruptcy and famine threatened the kingdom, to manage as he might, amid the storms which the measures of the minister himself had provoked to the uttermost. He fled to Italy with the greatest expedition, after having sent his resignation to his unfortunate sovereign.

1789. MARY WASHINGTON, mother of the illustrious general, died at Fredericksburgh, Va., aged 82.

1796. LAFAYETTE and other prisoners released from the castle of Olmutz, at the requisition of the French government.

1797. JOHN BAPTIST LOUVET DE COUVRAY, a French advocate, died; distinguished as an actor in the revolution, and an author.

1799. JOHN ARNOLD, eminent for his improvements in the mechanism of timekeepers, died. He was the inventor of the expansion balance and detached escapement, and was the first artist who applied the gold cylindrical spring to the balance of a timepiece.

1800. ELIZABETH MONTAGUE died; an English lady of considerable literary celebrity.

1803. TATE WILKINSON died; an English comedian and manager, often noticed by the writers of his day.

1804. Fifth attack on Tripoli by the Americans under commodore Preble.

1805. JOHN SKEY EUSTACE, a distinguished officer of the revolution, died, aged 45. In 1794 he went to France, and commanded a division of the French army in Flanders.

1806. JOHN PHILIP PALM, a Nuremberg bookseller, shot for a publication against Bonaparte.

1807. EDWARD PREBLE died; the brave and intrepid commodore of the American fleet, which in 1804 subdued Tripoli.

1808. Action between the British and Swedish squadron under admiral Hood, and the Russian squadron, in which the latter was defeated.

1810. The solemn inauguration of the column to the glory of the _grande armée_ in the place Vendôme, Paris, took place on the 15th.

1812. The French raised the siege of Cadiz, which had long resisted their efforts. Among the artillery abandoned, was a large mortar, which had been employed in throwing shells the immense distance of three miles.

1814. Washington city evacuated by the British under major general Robert Ross and admiral Cockburn.

1819. JAMES WATT, an eminent Scottish natural philosopher, died; celebrated for his improvements in the steam engine.

1822. WILLIAM HERSCHEL, the English astronomer, died. He discovered the planet Georgium Sidus, which sometimes bears his name.

1830. Insurrection of the Belgians commenced at Brussels. The populace attacked and destroyed several houses belonging to the most obnoxious individuals, and skirmishes followed between the inhabitants and the troops.

1834. MORRIS EVANS died at Raleigh, N. C., aged 105.

1835. Earthquake in Natolia, by which 2,000 houses were destroyed in the city of Kaisarieh.

1836. CHRISTIAN WILLIAM HUFELAND, an eminent Prussian physician and medical writer, died, aged 75. He was a popular lecturer, distinguished for his profound and extensive learning, and ingenious application of his theory to practice.

1837. The cholera raged at Rome, and was fatal to 300; the greatest number of deaths that occurred in any one day.

1849. The French admiral, de Tromelin, took possession of and dismantled the fortifications at Honolulu, Sandwich islands, the government having refused to comply with the demands of the admiral. He relinquished the possession three days after.

1854. The city of Troy, N. Y., visited by a destructive fire, which consumed more than a hundred houses and manufactories.

AUGUST 26.

331 B. C. Battle of Arbela, the modern Irbil, on the Lycus, between the Macedonians under Alexander, and the Persians under Darius (26th Boedromion). The Persians were defeated and the fate of Darius sealed.

55 B. C. JULIUS CÆSAR made a landing on British ground, at a point eight miles north of Dover.

55. A surprisingly great comet was seen by the inhabitants of China.

1278. Battle of Marchfeld, in Austria, between Ottocar and Rodolph of Hapsburg, in which Ottocar fell. This day laid the foundation of the house of Hapsburg, which is still seated on the throne of Austria.

1346. Battle of Crecy, in France; the English, less than 30,000 under Edward III, defeated the French, 90,000, under Philip VI, who received two wounds, and was one of the last who fled. It is estimated that of the French upwards of 30,000 soldiers, 1,200 knights, 80 bannerets and 9 princes fell in the battle and pursuit.

1595. ANTONIO, a pretender to the throne of Portugal, died. He was assisted in the struggle for the crown by several of the European powers, but was driven out, and died in exile.

1635. LOPEZ FELIX DE LA VEGA died; a Spanish divine, poet and a dramatic writer of great fertility of genius. His works form upwards of 70 volumes.

1693. PETER BARRIERE, a French soldier, who attempted to assassinate Henry IV, of France, broken on the wheel.

1723. ANTHONY VAN LEEUWENHOEK, a celebrated Dutch physician, died. He became famous throughout Europe by his experiments and discoveries with the microscope.

1762. Valentia de Alcantara, in Spain, taken by assault by the British, under Gen. Burgoyne.

1765. Riot in Boston occasioned by the stamp act; several private houses destroyed, and among them that of the lieutenant governor Hutchinson, one of the best in the province; his books and papers, which he had been 30 years in gathering, were destroyed, together with his plate, furniture, &c., and £1,000 in money.

1766. THOMAS WINSLOW, an English military officer, died, aged 146.

1775. The Americans opened their entrenchments on Plowed hill, near Boston. The British threw about 300 shells at them.

1775. JAMES BURGH, an ingenious English moral and political writer, died at Islington.

1776. GERMAIN FRANCIS POULLAIN DE ST. FOIX, a French historical tourist, died. He retired from the army to devote himself to literature, at Paris, and was appointed historiographer.

1777. FRANCIS FAWKES, an English poet, died. He translated several of the Greek poets, and wrote many miscellaneous poems, in a pleasing and elegant style.

1785. GEORGE SACKVILLE, an English nobleman, died. He was an officer under Marlborough, and present at several important engagements.

1794. Sluys, in Dutch Flanders, surrendered to the French under Moreau, 22 days after the opening of the trenches. The sudden capture of this fortress, exceedingly strong by nature and art, and defended by the brave general Vanderduyn, so intimidated the remainder of the Dutch and Hanoverian garrisons, that they thought only how to escape the fate of Sluys, and evacuated several fortresses equally strong; besides nearly 30 less important forts, and all Dutch Flanders.

1795. Trincomalee, a Dutch colony in the island of Ceylon, taken by the British under admiral Rainer.

1795. British squadron under Nelson, captured in the bay of Alaeso, 11 French vessels.

1806. EDWARD THURLOW, an eminent English lawyer, died. He became attorney and solicitor-general to the king, a member of parliament and lord high chancellor of England. He possessed a vigorous and active mind, which added to close application, gave him a high rank among the professional men of his day.

1813. Battle of Katzbach, in Silesia; the French defeated by the Russians and Prussians under Blucher. The day was so rainy that fire arms could not be used, and the battle was fought hand to hand. The French were driven into the river and perished in great numbers.

1813. Battle of Dresden. The citizens beheld a spectacle of an army of 60,000 troops marching through the streets to the field of battle, under Napoleon. An army of 120,000 allies were drawn up around the city.

1813. THEODORE KORNER, a German poet, killed in battle. Many of his pieces have been set to music, and become national.

1832. ADAM CLARKE, an eminent English divine, died of cholera, aged 72. He commenced his career as a methodist preacher at the age of 18, and became so popular that few men have ever drawn so large congregations. He was a man of great talents and extensive learning, particularly in the oriental languages and Biblical literature, and author of a well known and learned commentary on the scriptures, and various other publications.

1836. Buffalo and Niagara rail road opened.

1838. CALEB STARK, an officer of the revolutionary war, died. He entered the army at the age of 15, and commenced his career at the battle of Bunker hill as an ensign in his father's regiment. He remained in the army till the close of the war, at which time he was a brigadier-general.

1848. A battle took place at the cape of Good Hope, between the British and Boors. The former were victorious, with the loss of 54 men killed and wounded; the Boors lost 199.

1849. The senate of Hayti, having concurred in the bill of the chamber of representatives, Faustin Soulouque submitted to the wishes of the people, and was crowned emperor of Hayti, under the title of Faustin I.

1849. J. A. YATES, an eloquent divine and learned professor of Union college, died, aged 49.

1850. LOUIS PHILIPPE, the exiled king of the French, died at Claremont, England, aged 77.

AUGUST 27.

413 B. C. The Athenian army under Nicias lost on account of the general's fright at an eclipse of the moon.

524. FLAVIUS SEVERINUS BŒTHIUS, a celebrated Roman philosopher, died in prison, probably executed by order of Theodoric.

1556. CHARLES V, emperor of Germany, resigned the government to his brother Ferdinand, and set out for Spain.

1565. WILLIAM RASTAL died; an eminent English judge of the sixteenth century, and author of a work on the statutes of England.

1587. At the urgent solicitation of the colony of Roanoke, Gov. White returned to England for supplies; but of his countrymen whom he left behind nothing was ever afterwards known. Thus, says Holmes, terminated the exertions of Raleigh for colonizing Virginia.

1590. SIXTUS V (_Felix Peretti_), died; distinguished for the energy with which he extirpated the outlaws, and opposed the overgrown power of Spain. He embellished Rome with numerous and useful structures, among which is the present Vatican.

1630. The first church founded at Charlestown and Boston; their pastor was to receive a salary of £40.

1664. Articles of capitulation signed, by which the Dutch colony at New Amsterdam became subjects of England, with the privilege of continuing free denizens; to possess their estates undiminished; to enjoy their ancient customs with regard to inheritance, to their modes of worship and church discipline, and were allowed a free trade to Holland. The doughty governor, Stuyvesant, could not be prevailed upon to ratify it with his signature till two days afterwards.

1683. THOMAS DONGAN arrived as governor of the province of New York. He was a man of integrity, moderation, and genteel manners, and may be classed among the best of the provincial governors of New York.

1748. JAMES THOMSON, an eminent English poet, died; author of the _Seasons_.

1758. Fort Frontenac surrendered at discretion, to the English and provincials under Col. Bradstreet, after a siege of two days. They found in the fort 60 pieces of cannon, 16 mortars, a large number of small arms, a vast quantity of provisions, military stores and merchandise, together with 9 armed vessels in the harbor.

1770. JOHN JORTIN, an eminent divine of the English church, and writer on ecclesiastical history, died, aged 72.

1776. Battle of Flatbush, or Long Island; the Americans surprised by the British and Hessians, and defeated with the loss of about 500 killed and 1,100 taken prisoners; British loss about 70 killed, 350 wounded.

1791. PLACIDUS FIXMILNER died; an Austrian ecclesiastic, and writer on astronomy and the canon law.

1793. ADAM PHILIP DE CUSTINES, a French nobleman and general, guillotined. He served in the seven years' war and in the American revolutionary war.

1794. Valenciennes, after Lisle the strongest place of the famous northern barrier of France, surrendered to the republicans at the first summons.

1813. Second day's battle of Dresden. The allies were defeated and forced to retreat, with the loss of 30,000. The French had 10,000 wounded; the number of killed not known. Moreau had both legs shot away by a cannon ball.

1816. Algiers bombarded by the British and Dutch fleets, under lord Exmouth. The dey's fleet and defences were utterly destroyed, and he was compelled to submit to a treaty on his enemy's terms.

1825. LUCRETIA MARIA DAVIDSON, an American poetess, died before completing her 17th year. Her pieces amount to 278, of which _Amir Khan_ is the principal; some of them written at the age of 9 years.

1834. GEORGE CLYMER, inventor and manufacturer of the Columbian printing press, died in London. He was instrumental in improving many other mechanical improvements.

1847. SILAS WRIGHT, an eminent American statesman, died at Canton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., aged 52.

1849. GABRIEL H. FORD, an American jurist, died at Morristown, N. J., aged 85. He was one of the most eloquent and efficient lawyers of New Jersey, and held the office of judge of the supreme court twenty-one years. His residence was the head quarters of Washington in 1777.