Part 66
1651. Dundee, in Scotland, taken by storm by general Monk. "Mounche commaundit all, of quhatsummever sex to be putt to the edge of the sword. There were 800 inhabitants and soldiers killed, and about 200 women and children. The plounder and buttie they gat in the towne, exceeded two millions and a half."
1675. The Indians under the notorious king Philip fell upon the town of Deerfield, in Massachusetts, killed one man, and laid most of the town in ashes.
1682. WILLIAM PENN sailed for America in the ship Welcome, 300 tons burthen, with about a hundred other emigrants, mostly quakers.
1685. LEOLINE JENKINS, an able English civilian and statesman, died.
1687. HENRY MORE, an English philosopher and poet, died. His works once enjoyed a high reputation.
1697. The imperialists, commanded by prince Eugene, defeated the Turks at Zentha; the grand vizier and upwards of 20,000 men killed.
1715. LOUIS XIV, of France, died. His reign is marked as an era of magnificence, learning and licentiousness, in France; and he left behind him monuments of unprecedented splendor and expense, in palaces, gardens, &c.
1715. FRANCIS GIRANDON, an eminent French sculptor and architect, died.
1720. EUSEBUS RENAUDOT, a distinguished French orientalist, died.
1721. JOHN KIELL, an eminent Scottish mathematician and philosopher, died. His works are numerous and in high repute.
1729. RICHARD STEELE, an English writer and politician, died; "justly celebrated as an essayist, just remembered as a dramatist, and almost forgotten as a politician."
1730. A new volcano opened at Temanfaya, in the isle of Lanzerota.
1731. French erected a fort at Crown point, on lake Champlain.
1755. MAURICE GREENE, an eminent English music composer, died. He undertook an important reformation in church music which he did not live to effect.
1766. PETER ANICH, a Tyrolese peasant, astronomer and geographer, died. He followed the occupation of a farmer till the age of 28, after which he commenced his scientific career.
1771. CUTHBERT SHAW died; an English poet of "humble origin, but of superior attainments, and inferior to no writer of ancient or modern times."
1774. General GAGE seized the powder at Charlestown, in consequence of which the people rose and compelled several officers of the king's government to resign.
1776. LEWIS HENRY CHRISTOPHER HOLTY, an Excellent German poet, died. "In tender elegiac or idylic poetry, he is peculiary successful."
1779. French fleet, count d'Estaing, captured off Charleston, S. C., British ship Experiment, 50 guns, and three frigates.
1784. JOHN FRANCIS SEGUIER, a distinguished French botanist, and president of the academy of Nismes, died.
1787. JOHN BAKE, an eminent Dutch philosopher and Latin writer, was born at Leyden. His last work was an edition of _Cicero de Legibus_.
1793. A fine marble bust of John Milton, the poet, was placed in the church at Cripplegate.
1801. ROBERT BAGE, an English novelist of considerable merit, died.
1804. The planet Juno discovered by Harding, of Germany. Her diameter is 1,425 miles, and she performs a very eccentric orbit round the sun in 4 years and 128 days.
1804. JAMES NICHOLSON, an officer in the American navy during the war of the revolution, died.
1806. PATRICK O'BRYEN, the Irish giant, died at Bristol, England. His height was 8 feet, 5 inches.
1814. Champlain village taken possession of by the British under Provost.
1814. Fort Castine, on the Penobscot, and several places taken by the British under Sherwood and admiral Griffith.
1814. United States sloop of war Wasp, captain Blakely, fell in with 10 sail of British vessels convoyed by a 74, and bomb ship. He cut out of the convoy a brig laden with military stores, and burnt her, and sunk the brig Avon, of 19 guns.
1818. The state prison at Auburn, N. Y., opened.
1831. GEORGE FULTON, author of an improved system of education and a popular pronouncing dictionary, died near New Haven, Scotland.
1838. WILLIAM CLARKE died; the companion of Lewis in the pioneer journey across the Rocky mountains. He was held in the highest estimation by nearly all the tribes of western Indians, however remote, whose character he well understood. He was several years governor of Missouri, and at the time of his death the oldest American settler residing in St. Louis.
1841. JOSEPH NOURSE died; a soldier of the revolution, one of the vice-presidents of the American Bible society, and 40 years register of the United States treasury.
1849. The deaths registered in London for the week, were 2,796; exceeding those of any previous week, and nearly three times the average of the season. Of the number, 1,663 were by cholera, and 234 by diarrhea.
1851. ANTONIO LOPEZ, who attempted to affect a revolution in Cuba, was garotted at Havana.
1851. The rail road in Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow, was inaugurated.
1853. LOUIS CHITTI, an Italian exile, died in New York. He was secretary of finance to Murat, afterwards professor of political economy at Brussels; then commissioner to the United States from Belgium. During the troubles of 1821 at Naples, he was expelled, and resided in this country.
1855. WILLIAM CRANCH, an eminent American judge, died at Washington, D. C., aged 86. He published 9 vols. of cases in the supreme court, and was highly respected for his talents and learning.
SEPTEMBER 2.
44 B. C. CICERO delivered the first of those speeches against Marc Antony, called his _Philippics_.
31 B. C. Battle of Actium, off the promontory of Epirus, in which the fleet of Marc Antony was defeated and his hopes utterly prostrated.
1338. EDWARD III was invested by the emperor at Coblentz, with the title of his vicar, but refused to kiss the imperial foot.
1483. The renowned Caxton issued from his press a book entitled, _Confessio Amantis_: That is to saye in Englisshe, The Confessyon of the Louer.
1504. COLUMBUS sailed from Hispaniola to Spain--his final leave of the country which he had discovered--a discovery that had been to him a source of unutterable vexation and the vilest ingratitude.
1519. Battle of Zehuacingo, between 400 Spaniards under Cortez, and the whole force of the Tlascalan Indians, amounting to about 40,000 warriors. The Indians closed in upon the Spaniards in a dense mass, and bore down with determined bravery upon the sturdy little band of invaders. A body of them, wielding two-handed swords succeeded in killing one of the horses at a blow; but the rider was saved, and the saddle also at the cost of ten men wounded. The cannons and guns of the Spaniards made terrible havoc among the dense masses of the Indians, and they were compelled to retire with a great loss, leaving their enemy too much fatigued to follow them, and greatly rejoiced to find that they had escaped annihilation.
1591. RICHARD GRENVILLE, an English naval officer, died. He distinguished himself in battle against the Turks, and on the American coast against the Spaniards.
1592. ROBERT GREEN, an English poet, and one of the famous Grub street writers, died in London. So infamous was Grub street at that time, that Mr. Henry Welley says in his narrative, that he lived there 40 years without being seen of any one.
1666. Great fire in London, which consumed 400 streets, 13,200 houses and 89 churches--and destroyed the plague!
1685. ALICIA LISLE beheaded at Winchester. Her offence was harboring a non-conforming minister named Hicks.
1701. The court of chancery of the state of New York organized.
1746. JOHN BAPTIST COLBERT, marquis of Torrey, died; a French statesman, celebrated for his embassies.
1755. Sir CHARLES HARDY arrived in the port of New York, to succeed De Lancey as governor of the province, and his commission was published on the next day, with the usual solemnities, and was followed by an entertainment, bonfires, illuminations and other expressions of joy.
1766. ARCHIBALD BOWYER, a learned Scottish Jesuit, died. He wrote a _History of the Popes_, and some other historical works; but is accused of much imposture.
1784. JOHN BAPTIST ANTHONY VISCONTI, an Italian antiquary, died. In his researches for ancient monuments at Rome, he discovered the tomb of the Scipios.
1792. The prisons of Paris, filled with nobles, ecclesiastics and opulent citizens, suspected of favoring the court and aristocratical party, were burst open, and the inmates massacred to the number of 12,487, during this and the following day. Neither age, rank nor sex were respected by the Jacobins, who urged the expediency of destroying these persons before the Austrians should reach the capital.
1792. MARIE THERESE DE LAMBALLE, an Italian princess, murdered in Paris. She escaped from Paris at the same time with the royal family, by another road, and reached England. But on hearing the fate of her friend the queen, hastened back to share her fortune, and met with a barbarous death from the hands of the mob.
1806. An immense rock forming the summit of the Rosenburg in Switzerland was precipitated into the valley with a vast amount of rubbish, overwhelming several villages, and partly filling lake Lauwertz. Upwards of 1,000 persons perished, and three villages totally disappeared.
1813. JEAN VICTOR MOREAU, one of the most distinguished generals of the French revolution, died of wounds received at the battle of Dresden.
1832. FRANCIS XAVIER DE ZACH died of cholera at Paris. He was a native of Hungary, and one of the most eminent astronomers of the age.
1832. JOHN OLDING BUTLER died; an English writer, author of a _Geography of the Globe_.
1834. THOMAS TELFORD, a distinguished architect and civil engineer, died at London. He was a self-made man, rising from a shepherd boy in Eskdale, Scotland, to rank with the most learned of his age.
1836. WILLIAM HENRY, a celebrated writer on chemistry, died.
SEPTEMBER 3.
1189. Inauguration of RICHARD I (_Cœur de Lion_), at Westminster, a most splendid pageant.
1328. CASTRACANI CASTRUCCIO, a famous Italian general, died. He was found, when an infant, in a heap of leaves, in Tuscany; and lived to attain the highest rank in military fame.
1332. A famous bull feast in the Coliseum at Rome, after the fashion of the Moors and Spaniards. The ladies were seated in three balconies, lined with scarlet cloth. Every knight assumed a livery and device. The champions who were left on the arena outnumbered the _quadrupeds_.
1588. RICHARD TARLETON, a celebrated jester and actor, and dramatic writer, was buried at Shoreditch, London--the _Yorick_ of Shakspeare's Hamlet.
1592. ROBERT GREENE, an English dramatic author, died; notorious for his licentiousness.
1609. HENRY HUDSON, coasting northwardly, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon came to three great rivers, and stood for the northernmost.
1634. EDWARD COKE, the celebrated English judge, died. He was a clear and luminous writer on the laws and constitution of his country.
1642. Battle of Liscarrol, between the Irish army of 7,500, under general Barry, and the British, 2,400, under lord Inchiquin, in which the latter were victorious.
1650. Battle of Dunbar; the Scots under Leslie defeated with great slaughter by Oliver Cromwell; 3,000 of them slain and 10,000 taken prisoners, one half of whom were "driven, like turkeys, into England."
1651. Battle of Worcester; Cromwell defeated Charles II with great slaughter; the whole Scottish army being principally killed or taken.
1653. CLAUDIUS SALMASIUS, a French historian and critic, died. He was a man of most uncommon abilities and erudition, as his works, numerous and various, show.
1658. OLIVER CROMWELL died, on the anniversary of some of his most famous victories. The mighty conqueror, Death, snatched him in no ordinary manner, for Dan Æolus proclaimed it in _tempest_ to all nations of Europe.
1660. JAMES, duke of York, remarried to Ann Hyde; Clarendon, lord chancellor, pretending on account of the dignity of royalty, he would rather have seen her his concubine than his wife.
1662. WILLIAM LENTHALL, speaker of the parliament that levied war against Charles I, died.
1680. PAUL RAGUENEAU, superior of the Jesuit missionaries in Canada, died at Paris, aged 75. He was a man of wonderful confidence in God, and of the most complete disengagement from temporal things.
1692. DAVID ANCILLON, a German divine, died; eminent for his learning, piety and eloquence. His library at Metz was a great curiosity to the learned.
1711. ELIZABETH SOPHIA CHERON died; a French lady who obtained great celebrity by her talents for poetry, painting, the learned languages and music.
1715. The pretender proclaimed king James VIII by the earl of Mar at Aboyne, Aberdeenshire.
1729. JOHN HARDOUIN, a French Jesuit, died; who distinguished himself for his criticism and extensive erudition, as well as by the singularity of his opinions.
1733. At Carlton, Yorkshire, England, a vault, 8 feet by 5, was discovered 18 feet below the surface, in which lay a skeleton of a large body with a helmet in a niche over the head, on the wall some Saxon characters and the date 992 were discovered.
1739. GEORGE LILLO, an English dramatic writer, died. Though a jeweler by profession, and a man of business, he cultivated the muses, and acquired great celebrity.
1752. New style; eleven days blotted from the English calendar; this, the 3d, being accounted the 14th. The Julian computation, either from ignorance or negligence, supposing a complete solar revolution in the precise period of 365 days and 6 hours, made no provision for the deficiency of 11 minutes per annum, which, however, in the lapse of 18 centuries amounted to a difference of 11 days.
1774. ANTONY DE FERRIOL, count Pont de Vesle, died; a French comic writer.
1777. British under Gen. HOWE marched upon Philadelphia, and the Americans retreated across the Brandywine.
1782. Sixth action between the British, admiral Hughes, 12 ships and a 50 gun ship, and the French admiral Suffrein, 12 ships and three 50 gun ships, off Trincomalee. The action was bloody; the French on re-entering the harbor in the evening, lost a 74 gun ship.
1783. Definitive articles of peace signed at Paris, between England, France, Spain and America.
1791. New French constitution presented to Louis XVI by the national assembly.
1796. Battle of Wurzburg; the French under Jourdan defeated by the Austrians under the archduke Charles.
1801. British took possession of Alexandria, Egypt. They found there 312 cannon. The garrison consisted of nearly 12,000, who had subsisted a long time on horseflesh.
1803. JOSEPH RITSON, an English writer, died. Though a man of learning, he adopted a most singular and capricious form of orthography.
1804. Sixth attack on Tripoli by the American squadron under Com. Preble. The Constitution brought to in a situation where more than 70 guns could be brought to bear upon her. She silenced one of their batteries, and considerably damaged the town, castle and other batteries.
1807. CLARA REEVE died, aged 70; an English writer of considerable literary talent.
1816. KIA KING, emperor of China, dethroned by the guards of his palace, on account of a sentence he passed in relation to some affairs of religion.
1839. WILLIAM SULLIVAN died at Boston, aged 64. He was an eminent lawyer, and sustained various civil and military offices, and was the author of _Familiar Letters_, _Political Class Book, &c._
1852. GEORGE RICHARDSON PORTER, secretary of the board of trade, died at Tunbridge Wells, England, aged 60. He wrote upon the sugar cane, and other products and manufactures.
1855. Gen. WALKER with 150 men, only 80 of whom were white, took up his quarters at Virgin bay. Gen. Mandiola attacked him with 400 men, but was defeated with the loss of 50. Walker's loss 1 white, 4 natives.
1855. RACHEL, the noted French actress, made her first appearance in America at New York, and was enthusiastically received.
1855. Battle of Sand Hills; the United States troops under general Harney gained a complete victory over the Sioux Indians, killing 86 warriors, and capturing about 70 women and children, with a loss of only 4 of his own men.
SEPTEMBER 4.
1456. JOHN CORVINUS HUNNIADES died; a general in the Hungarian armies, distinguished for his bravery and his great success in the wars with the Turks.
1532. PIZARRO, having landed in Peru and founded a colony, now began his march for the conquest of the country. His force consisted of 62 horse, and 106 foot, among whom were 20 crossbowmen, with which he went forth to encounter tens of thousands of fierce and warlike men. It is said that Pizarro incited his followers to this dangerous enterprise by the singular argument, that this main design was the propagation of the catholic faith, without injuring any person.
1588. ROBERT DUDLEY, earl of Leicester, died. He was a great favorite at the court of Elizabeth, and accounted a man of talents; but artful, ambitious, and criminal.
1598. PHILIP II of Spain died at the Escurial of a loathsome disease. By his own account, he expended 600,000,000 of gold ducats and sacrificed 20,000,000 of human lives.
1665. Naval action between the English and Dutch; the latter lost 12 war and 2 East India ships.
1676. JOHN OGILBY, a Scottish writer, died. From the profession of a dancing master he became an eminent geographer, critic and poet.
1699. CHRISTIAN V, king of Denmark, died, in consequence of a wound received in hunting, aged 53. He was much engaged in war. (August 25?)
1727. The body of GEORGE I of England was interred in the night at Hanover.
1745. The town of Perth occupied by the adherents to Charles the pretender, and he himself proclaimed king of Great Britain.
1753. ANDREW FOUNTAINE, an English antiquarian, died. He traveled over the European continent in search of pictures, medals, statues and inscriptions, with which he enriched the cabinets of England.
1759. PAUL FRANCIS VELLI, a French Jesuit, died; author of a valuable history of France.
1780. JOHN FIELDING, one of the police justices of London, died at Bromton. Though blind from his youth he was a vigorous writer, and an efficient magistrate.
1784. CÆSAR CASSINI DE THURY, an eminent French astronomer, died. He had acquired much knowledge on the science at the age of 10. He published a map of France in 182 sheets, which has served as a model for all subsequent works of the kind. This family had been at the head of the Royal observatory at Paris 113 years.
1785. A Mr. SADLER ascended at Oxford, England, in a balloon of his own construction. He was the first Englishman who undertook an ærial voyage.
1796. A quantity of rope was brought into the office of the secretary of state at London as the first specimen of the labor of convicts at Botany bay. It was two inches thick.
1797. On this day the majority of the French directory overthrew the opposite party; sixty-five deputies were condemned to deportation as guilty of a conspiracy for the restoration of the monarchy. The councils renewed their oaths of hatred against royalty on this occasion.
1800. Cayuga bridge over the lake finished.
1802. GARNERIN, a French æronaut, made a descent of about 8,000 feet in his parachute. This was not so successful as a former experiment, the parachute not opening for some time after being cut from the balloon.
1804. Great hurricane in the West Indies; 274 vessels lost.
1805. PETER FRANCIS ANDREW MECHAIN, a French astronomer, died. He was a practical man, and accomplished much useful labor.
1808. JOHN HOME, a Scottish writer, died, aged 84. He was a preacher at the time his admirable play of _Douglas_ appeared, which gave so much offence to the presbytery that he resigned.
1830. DONALD MCDONALD died at Lynn, Mass., aged 108. He was born in Scotland, 1722, and during the last years of his life wandered about the country, a vagrant of the most intemperate habits. He was with Wolfe at the battle of Quebec.
1834. GEORGE CLYMER, inventor of the Columbian printing press, died in London, aged 80; formerly of Philadelphia.
1836. The sultan of Turkey released all the inmates of his seraglio from the perpetual imprisonment within the precincts of his palace, to which they had considered themselves to be condemned for life.
1843. Capt. ROSS landed at Folkstone on his return from a voyage of discovery in the southern polar circle, which had occupied four years.
1844. Metamoras destroyed by a hurricane. More than two-thirds of the houses in the city were prostrated, and 200 lives lost. This city was devastated in the same way in 1835 and 1837.
1850. Marshal HAYNAU, who commanded the Austrian forces in the Hungarian war, visited the brewery of Perkins & Barclay, London, and was attacked by a mob composed of the workmen in the establishment, and the draymen and coal heavers outside, and barely escaped with his life, by the assistance of the police. The cruelties of his acts had excited the indignation of all Christendom.
1852. The Hudson river steam boat Reindeer exploded, by which 28 lives were lost, and 20 others were injured.
SEPTEMBER 5.
1548. CATHARINE PARR, the sixth and last queen of Henry VIII, died. She was learned, and had sufficient prudence and sagacity to direct the caprices of the monarch in his dotage.
1569. EDMUND BONNER, bishop of London, died. He was of low parentage, and on coming to power, distinguished himself by a most cruel and bloody persecution of the protestants, 200 of whom he was instrumental in bringing to the stake, and is said to have whipped and tortured several with his own hands. On the accession of Elizabeth he was committed to prison, where he died.
1593. The river Thames in England almost dry from westerly winds and low tides.
1618. JACQUES DAVY DU PERRON, a French cardinal, died; celebrated for his learning and political knowledge.
1654. Cromwell's first parliament assembled at Westminster. The speech explaining his policy occupied three solemn hours.
1655. STUYVESANT sailed from New York against the Swedes on the South or Delaware river.
1685. FRANCIS NORTH, an English statesman, died. He rose through his abilities, and found time amidst his arduous duties to prepare and publish several works.
1701. EDMUND BOURSAULT, a French dramatist, died. He received little or no education, yet became a correct and popular author.
1745. SIMON JOSEPH PELLEGRIN, a French ecclesiastic and poet, died. He obtained the prize at the academy in 1704.
1752. The first play performed in America by a regular company of comedians, at Williamsburgh, then the capital of Virginia. The piece was the _Merchant of Venice_, and the afterpiece _Lethe_, written by Garrick. Thus Shakspeare had the first place, in time as in merit, as the dramatist of the western world, and Garrick the honor of attending on his master. Lewis Hallam made his "first appearance on any stage" at this performance. He had one line to speak, apparently an easy task, but when he found himself in presence of the audience, he was panic struck; he stood motionless and speechless, until bursting into tears he walked off the stage, making a most inglorious exit. It is scarcely necessary to add that he was afterwards the hero and favorite in tragedy and comedy for nearly half a century.
1765. ANNE CLAUDE DE CAYLUS, a French writer, died. His _Collection of Egyptian Antiquities_, 7 vols. 4to, is valuable. He also discovered, from a passage of Pliny, the ancient mode of encausting painting, and of tinging marble.
1774. The first congress met at Philadelphia. There were 52 members present from eleven colonies. (Sept. 4?)
1778. British under Gen. Grey landed at Bedford or Dartmouth, and destroyed above 70 sail of shipping, besides small craft. They burnt the magazine, wharf, storehouses, vessels on the stocks, the dwelling houses and mills, and levied a contribution of all the public moneys, 300 oxen and 10,000 sheep.