Part 8

1841. WILLIAM HOGG died at Brownsville, Pa., aged 86, leaving an estate of one million dollars to his heirs. Fifty years previous to his death, he crossed the Alleganies with a pack of goods on his back, which was his whole property, and opened a small store soon after at Brownsville, the first in that region of country.

1842. The first stone of the Anglican cathedral at Jerusalem laid, at a depth of 35 feet from the surface. It stands upon mount Zion, and the state of the rubbish which had accumulated since the time of David, rendered it necessary to excavate to the depth of 42 feet to the natural rock.

1854. LEWIS W. CHAMBERLAYNE, a Virginia physician, died; one of the founders of the Richmond medical college, of which he was a distinguished professor.

1854. A ball-cartridge manufactory at Ravenswood, L. I., blew up killing 20 workmen and destroying 50,000 ball-cartridges.

1854. The steamer Georgia, from Montgomery, Ala., having 200 passengers and 1000 bales of cotton on board, took fire at New Orleans, and 60 passengers lost their lives.

1855. The Panama railroad being completed, the first train passed over it this day.

JANUARY 29.

164 B. C. ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, the great enemy of the Jews, died.

1559. THOMAS POPE, the founder of Trinity college, Dublin, died.

1597. ANTHONY SHIRLEY, commanding a British squadron, landed at Jamaica, and marched six miles to the principal town, _which submitted to his mercy_.

1720. JOHN ADAMS, a celebrated English preacher, died.

1728. Dean Swift's STELLA died at Dublin.

1743. ANDREW HERCULE DE FLEURY, cardinal and prime minister of Louis XV, died, aged 90. He was 73 years of age when he was placed at the head of the ministry, at which time the state was in a miserable condition. He healed the wounds of his country, and without bloodshed or cruelty established and increased the internal happiness of France, and its national glory.

1762. From Christmas to this day the weather was severely cold in England. The ice on the Thames it is said was over five feet thick!

1780. The coldest day for 25 years at Philadelphia.

1812. Desperate attempt by a black man, a negro, to fire the British privateer Speedwell. He was killed after 7 shots had been fired at him.

1814. Battle of Brienne, in which the French under Napoleon gained an inconsiderable victory over the allies under Blücher, who narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. It was at this place that Bonaparte acquired the rudiments of that skill in the military art with which he had almost prostrated the world.

1820. GEORGE III died. It was during his reign that the discontents in America burst into an open flame, and an empire was lost to the British throne. In 1810 he retired from the government, and the interval which elapsed from that time until his death was a period of insanity. He died in the 82d year of his age and the 59th of his reign.

1824. LOUISA MARIA CAROLINE, countess of Albany, died at Florence, aged 72. She was the daughter of a German prince, and married Charles Stuart, the English pretender, whence she derived the title of countess of Albany. They resided at Rome, and had a little court, and were addressed as king and queen. The connection, however, was an unhappy one, and to escape from the barbarity of her husband she retired to a convent, and afterwards went to France. On the death of Charles, 1788, she returned to Italy. She was then secretly married to Alfieri, the poet; the French court conferred on her an annuity of 60,000 livres. Alfieri confesses that to her he owed his inspiration, and that without her friendship he should never have achieved anything excellent. Their ashes repose under a common monument in the church of Santa Croce, between the tombs of Machiavelli and Michael Angelo.

1829. PAUL FRANCIS JEAN NICHOLAS DE BARRAS, a French revolutionist, died. As a member of the national convention, he voted for the king's death; and subsequently, having offended Robespierre, he headed the force that captured the tyrant. As commander-in-chief of the troops of the convention, he entrusted Bonaparte with the post in which he first distinguished himself, on the 5th Oct., 1795. His political career ended 1799, when he received a passport to his estate from Napoleon, then first consul.

1829. TIMOTHY PICKERING, an American soldier and statesman, died. In public life he was distinguished for energy, ability and disinterestedness; as a soldier he was brave and patriotic; and his writings bear ample testimony to his talents and information. He was one of the leaders of the federal party.

1834. Duel at Paris between Gen. Bugeaud and M. Dulong, members of the chamber of deputies; Dulong was killed.

1855. NICHOLAS ordered the formation of a general militia of the Russian empire.

JANUARY 30.

422 B. C. A census of the inhabitants of Athens was taken, and reported the number of males to be 20,000.

405 B. C. Sophocles died at Athens.

1560. A phenomenon observed at London, called the _burning spears_, being one of the earliest records of that appearance now well known by the name of aurora borealis.

1601. SCIPIO AMMIRATI, an Italian historian, died. He wrote a history of Florence, published in 2 vols, folio.

1606. EVERARD DIGBY hanged, drawn and quartered at the west end of St. Paul's church, London. He was concerned in the gunpowder plot, having offered £1500 towards defraying the expenses of that dreadful affair. He also entertained Fawkes, who was to have executed it in his house, and was taken in open rebellion with other papists after the plot was detected and had miscarried.

1644. WILLIAM CHILLINGWORTH died; celebrated for his skill as a religious controversialist, and a defender of protestantism against popery.

1647. King CHARLES I delivered up to parliament by the Scots for £200,000. Some think it unworthy of the nation.

1649. CHARLES I beheaded. He was born in Scotland 1600, and succeeded to the British throne 1625. His reign was signalized by a struggle with his parliaments, in procuring supplies, which finally ended in his execution. He was tried for treason against the people, and condemned with only three days' grace.

1660. WILLIAM OUGHTRED, an English divine and mathematician, died, it is said, in consequence of excess of joy at the restoration of Charles II, whom he called Christ's anointed.

1661. The heads of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, and Henry Ireton set on poles at Westminster hall, and their bodies buried under the gallows at Tyburn, where their disinterred bodies had been hung.

1678. The expense of the equestrian statue of Charles I at Charing Cross, London, was defrayed with part of £70,000, voted for his funeral celebration.

1691. Pope ALEXANDER III died, after a reign of only 15 months.

1735. GEORGE GRANVILLE, viscount Lansdowne, an eminent English poet, died. Having vainly endeavored to get employment in arms for the defence of James II, to whose cause he was warmly attached, he retired to private life, enjoying the company of his muse, which he employed in celebrating the reigning beauties of the age, in imitation of Waller.

1757. Calcutta retaken by Col. Clive.

1766. JAMES BARTHOLOMEW BECCARIA, an Italian physician and professor of natural philosophy, died. His writings are highly esteemed.

1766. SUSANNA MARIA CIBBER died. She was not only considered the best actress in England, but supposed by many to excel the celebrated Madame Clairon, of Paris, her contemporary.

1805. JOHN ROBINSON, a celebrated Edinburgh mathematician, died.

1809. Assault upon Saragossa in Spain by the French under Junot, Lannes and Mortier. The Spaniards made a most desperate resistance; a corps of women even being formed for its defence. The houses were taken one by one; they were compelled to undermine upwards of 600 in order to get possession of them.

1810. Several meteoric stones fell in Caswell county, North Carolina.

1826. The mails were first carried over the Menai suspension bridge, which connects the island of Anglesey with the Welch shore.

1833. JOSEPH BLUYDENBURGE died at Smithtown, L. I., aged 101, retaining the vigor of perfect health to the last week of his life.

1834. Attempt to assassinate the president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, made by Richard Lawrence.

1834. RUDOLPH ACKERMAN, who so much improved lithography, and the first to use gas-light in England, died.

1837. Explosion of the magazine of the French garrison at Bona in Algiers, containing 12,000 pounds of powder and 1 million musket cartridges. The commandant with 108 men were killed, and 102 wounded.

1837. The town of Jaffa in Palestine destroyed by an earthquake. Of 15,000 inhabitants, only 2,000 escaped burial in the ruins.

1837. ADAM AZELIUS, the last remaining pupil of Linnæus, died; celebrated for his travels in Asia and Africa.

1841. The town of Mayaguez, Porto Rico, consisting of about 600 buildings, was consumed by fire. Loss estimated at from two to four millions of dollars.

1852. The king of Naples by decree confiscated the property of Neapolitan emigrants.

1855. HERMAN KNICKERBACKER died, aged 75; known as the prince of Schaghticoke, being the third in descent from the original settler there.

JANUARY 31.

1000 B. C. It is usual to fix the finishing of the temple of _Hercules_ at _Tyre_ on this day, and the death of _Anchises_, 183 years earlier.

1574. Birthday of BEN JONSON.

1578. Battle of Gemblours, in the Netherlands, by which the Spanish recovered their superiority in the Walloon provinces which were zealously catholic.

1606. GUIDO FAWKES executed. He was an officer in the Spanish service, concerned in the gunpowder plot, and discovered in the vault below the House of Lords, prepared to fire the train which was to involve the enemies of the catholic religion in one common ruin.

1616. JACOB LE MAIRE, a Dutchman, discovered cape Horn, the southern extremity of the American continent.

1686. In Norway, Courland and Pomerania, there fell a great quantity of a membraneous substance, friable, and blackish, somewhat like burnt paper. Baron Grotthus analyzed a portion of this substance, which has been preserved in a cabinet of natural history, and it is found to consist of silex, iron, lime, carbon, magnesia, a trace of chrome and sulphur, but not a particle of nickel.

1692. Massacre of Glencoe, Scotland. King William, whose chief virtue was not humanity, signed and countersigned the warrant, which was transmitted to the secretary for Scotland, who particularly charged the ministers of destruction to take no prisoners. The population was barbarously massacred, and the spot disemboweled of every social appearance.

1718. ASHTON LEVER died at Manchester, England. He was a collector of specimens in natural history, and possessed one of the finest museums in the world.

1750. The _Student_, a paper of much merit, issued at Oxford, England, appeared this day.

1754. The 1st number of the _Connoisseur_ appeared, conducted by Coleman, Bonnell Thornton, Chesterfield and others.

1775. Capt. COOKE discovered Southern Thule, soon after Sandwich land which from the vast quantities of ice seen he conjectured might be a continent.

1737. The attorney general stated to the Irish parliament that an insurrection existed in the county of Kerry, the people having taken an oath to obey the laws of _Captain Right_ (a fictitious name), and to starve the clergy.

1788. CHARLES STUART, the pretender to the throne of England, died at Rome. He was the grandson of James II, born at Rome 1720. In 1745 he landed in Scotland, with only seven companions, and marched south gaining strength and carrying every thing before him till he arrived within 100 miles of London. Here his career was arrested, and the battle of Culloden decided his fate. He wandered about the wilds of Scotland five months, often without food, and the price of £30,000 set upon his head. He finally escaped in a French vessel, and ended his days in dissipation.

1795. The assembly of the states of Holland passed at the Hague the first public instrument in the shape of a declaration of rights.

1801. Sale of fine wheaten bread prohibited in London and that of brown substituted.

1813. SAMUEL M'KEEHAN, surgeon's mate in the Ohio militia, ordered by General Harrison, with a flag of truce, and money for supplies, for the wounded prisoners taken January 22d, put up for the night in a cave at the foot of the Miami, leaving his horse and cabriole at the entrance, and the flag stuck up; about midnight a party of Indians fired on them, wounded the doctor in the foot, killed and scalped his companion, Mr. Lamont, and stripped him, they took the money, horse, blankets, &c., and compelled the doctor to travel 20 miles that night on foot.

1826. FRANÇOIS D'ETIENNE LANTIER, a dramatic writer of no small celebrity in France, died at Marseilles.

1828. ALEXANDER YPSILANTI, a Greek patriot, died at Vienna, aged 36. He attempted the liberty of his country, but was discountenanced by the emperors of Russia and Austria, and imprisoned by the latter seven years. His early death is attributed to his incarceration.

1833. OTHO, prince of Bavaria, arrived at Napoli di Romania as the first king of restored Greece; at which time he had not attained his 18th year.

1838. OSCEOLA, the celebrated Seminole chief, died at Charleston, S. C., aged 35. From a vagabond child he became the master-spirit of a long and desperate war. He was a subtil and sagacious savage, who established gradually and surely a resistless ascendancy over his adopted tribe, by the daring of his deeds, the constancy of his hostility to the whites, and the profound craft of his policy.

1839. JAMES BYLES died at Oyster bay, N. Y., aged 118. He was a native of France, came to this country while a boy, was a soldier under Wolfe, and in the battle of Quebec.

1843. Was living at Caraccas, South America, MARIA DE LA CRUZ CARVALLO, aged 144. Her hair, which had been white with age, returned to black at the age of 133; and her sight, which was entirely lost at the age of 118, returned, at the age of 138, so that she could thread a needle.

1854. The rail road track at Erie, Pa., torn up the second time by a mob.

1855. The western rail roads blocked with snow, and travel almost wholly obstructed for several days. No communication was had between St. Louis and Chicago for eleven days. Seventeen locomotives were frozen in or buried by the snow on the Chicago and Mississippi rail road.

FEBRUARY.

FEBRUARY 1.

107. ST. IGNATIUS died, or was murdered.

1461. Battle of Mortimer's Cross, in which Edward, duke of York (afterwards Edward IV), revenged his father's death by a signal victory over the royalists, commanded by Jasper, earl of Pembroke.

1642. EDWARD FINCH died. He was vicar of Christ church, London, from which he was expelled for preaching in a surplice and associating with women.

1681. JOHN EDWARD NIDHARD, an Austrian jesuit, died. He was appointed inquisitor-general and minister of Spain.

1684. ROBERT LEIGHTON, a Scotch prelate, died. He for a number of years employed his talents and influence in a vain endeavor to bring about a reconciliation between the presbyterians and episcopalians. As a preacher he was admired beyond all his contemporaries, and his works have not yet lost their popularity.

1686. FRANCIS BLONDEL died; eminent for his knowledge of geometry and belles-lettres; was professor of mathematics and architecture, and tutor to the dauphin of France.

1702. Marshal VILLEROY, general of the French and Spanish armies in Italy, surprised in his bed at Cremona, and taken prisoner by the imperialists under Prince Eugene.

1708. Captain ROGERS discovered Alexander Selkirk on the island of Juan Fernandez, where he had lived alone four years and four months.

1718. DANIEL FRANCIS VOISIN, chancellor of France, died. He was eminent for his talents, integrity and virtue.

1733. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, died. His court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe, and he filled with dignity his station among the European powers. In his character generous ideas were united with despotic feelings; a taste for pleasure with the cares of ambition; and the restlessness of a warlike spirit with the effeminacy of a luxurious life. Instances of his prodigious strength are recorded, which appear almost incredible.

1775. The new congress of Massachusetts met at Cambridge and chose John Hancock their president.

1781. Lord CORNWALLIS with the British army, passed the Catawba at M'Cowan's ford. His passage was disputed by Wm. Davidson, lieut. col., commandant of the North Carolina line, and brigadier general of militia, with 300 militia. Davidson was overpowered, and killed by a ball in the breast. Cornwallis had his horse killed under him.

1789. The first president of the United States elected.

1793. War declared against England and Holland by the French.

1796. A stone was thrown at the carriage of George III, king of England, as he was returning from Drury lane theatre. It hit the queen in the face.

1800. Battle between the United States frigate Constellation, Capt. Truxton, and the French frigate La Vengeance of 54 guns. The action lasted from 8 o'clock in the morning until after noon, when the Vengeance was completely silenced; but taking advantage of a squall made her escape to Curacao, where she arrived in a shattered condition, having lost 160 men killed and wounded.

1801. DANIEL NICHOLAS CHODOWIECKI, a German painter and engraver, died. He practiced miniature painting with great assiduity to support his mother. His first trials at engraving excited the astonishment of connoisseurs; and at length scarce a book appeared in Prussia for which he did not engrave at least a vignette. He was universally esteemed for his integrity.

1804. J. PACKER died at Spinningfield, England, aged 33, weighing 29 stone.

1813. American privateer schooner Hazard, Capt. Le Chartier, of 3 guns and 38 men, captured the British merchant ship Albion of 12 guns and 15 men; on the 23d she was re-captured by the British cutter Caledonia of 8 guns and 38 men; on the 26th the Hazard fell in with and took both of them; but succeeded in bringing the Albion only into St. Mary's. The Hazard had her first lieutenant and 6 men wounded, but she was much shattered. Great part of the Caledonia's crew were killed or wounded.

1814. BONAPARTE defeated by the allied army near Chaumenil.

1814. A destructive eruption of Albay in Luconia, one of the Phillipines.

1815. Eruption of the volcano of Albay, in the province of Camarines, on the southern part of one of the Phillipine islands, in the Indian ocean; by this awful catastrophe five populous towns were entirely destroyed and more than 1200 of the inhabitants perished.

1824. HENRY BATE DUDLEY died. He was born in England 1745, educated for the pulpit, and succeeded to his father's benefice. He established the _Morning Post_, and subsequently several other papers, and manifested his literary abilities by the production of several successful comedies. He obtained a baronetcy, and at the time of his decease was a magistrate for eleven counties.

1824. JOHN LEMPRIERE died, author of the _Biographical Dictionary_. He was an English prelate, and an excellent classical scholar.

1833. ELIZABETH MOORE died, in Pitt county, North Carolina, aged 101.

1837. A memorial was presented to congress, signed by 56 authors of Great Britain, praying that body to secure to them the exclusive right to their respective writings in the United States.

1837. EDWARD DONOVAN died, near London, a celebrated author on natural history.

1837. SIMPSON, in the service of the Hudson Bay company, reached Athabasca, having completed since the first of December a journey of 1277 statute miles, the _preliminary_ step of the expedition.

1845. SAMUEL MCGWINN, known as the _Caithness Veteran_, died at Andover, New-Hampshire, aged 110.

1851. MARY WOLSTONECRAFT, widow of Percy Bysshe Shelley, died, aged 53; known in authorship by her _Travels_ and _Frankenstein_.

1852. Ohio state house burnt, and a large mass of valuable papers perished with it.

1854. SILVIO PELLICO died near Turin in Italy. In 1820 he was seized by the Austrians as a carbonaro, while employed as a tutor, and confined in the fortress of Spielberg ten years. On his release he was employed as librarian by the Marchesa Barolo until his death.

1854. The splendid Parliament house at Quebec, with the government library and philosophical apparatus, were destroyed by fire.

1855. The United States surveying steamer Water Witch, ascending the Paraguay in violation of the ordinance that no man of war should enter that river, was fired at from the fort, and one man killed. The Water Witch returned the fire and backed down the stream.

1856. IVAN FEDOROWITCH PASKIEWITSCH, vice-roy of Poland, died, aged 74. He distinguished himself in all the wars of the Russian empire, beginning with that of the invasion of 1812.

FEBRUARY 2.

1141. Battle of Lincoln, and defeat of Stephen, king of England, by the earl of Gloucester. The king, whose valor deserved a better fortune, was taken prisoner, loaded with irons, and Matilda proclaimed queen.

1421. HENRY V entered London from the complete conquest of France, which had been accomplished in about five years, and was received by the people amidst such pageants and popular rejoicings as that capital had never witnessed.

1461. Battle of Mortimer's Cross near Ludlow, where the king's forces were defeated, Owen Tudor taken and beheaded.

1529. BALTHAZAR CASTIGLIONE, an Italian nobleman and poet, died. He was also so well skilled in painting, sculpture and architecture, that it is said Raphael and Michael Angelo, though incomparable artists, never thought their works perfect unless they had his approbation.

1626. CHARLES I of England crowned at Westminster. He wore the white rather than the purple robe, and to prevent the increase of the plague omitted the usual ceremony of riding in state.

1643. Prince RUPERT took Cirencester for Charles, by storm; 200 slain.

1653. New York city incorporated.

1682. JOHN PAUTRE died; an eminent French designer and engraver. His works were published in 3 vols. folio, and contained more than 1000 engravings.

1688. ABRAHAM DU QUESNE died. He was a native of Normandie in France, and distinguished himself in the navy by a series of valorous and successful engagements.

1705. A new eruption of the peak of Teneriffe, forming the third volcanic mouth.

1723. RICHARD SARE, an eminent printer, died. A sermon preached at his death was well received and went through many editions.

1745. A conspiracy of 900 negroes to murder their masters in Jamaica was discovered by a negress to her mistress, because the plotters would not save a child she had nursed.

1752. The contributors to the Pennsylvania hospital, having rented a house, admitted their first patients.

1768. ARTHUR ONSLOW died. He was 33 years speaker in the English house of commons and the third of his family that had been nominated to that office.

1771. JOHN LOCKMAN, an English dramatic writer, died.

1787. Gen. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR elected president of the American congress.

1788. JAMES STUART died; sometimes called Athenian Stuart, a very celebrated traveler and delineator of Athenian architecture.

1794. The French convention decreed it treason for any officer to surrender his ship to a force less than double his own!

1797. Mantua surrendered to the French, who now became entire masters of the pope's dominions; whereupon Napoleon dictates to his holiness those pious terms of pacification signed ten days after.

1798. The Federal street theatre, in Boston, entirely destroyed by fire.

1799. THOMAS PAINE, often called the _Literary Merchant_, died. Few mercantile men become literary men.