Part 82
1616. ARGAL returned to Virginia from his expedition against the French settlements in Acadia. At St. Savior he broke in pieces the cross which the Jesuits had erected, and set up another inscribed with the name of the king of Great Britain; at St. Croix he destroyed all the remains of De Monts' settlement; at Port Royal the entire settlement was reduced to ashes in the short space of two hours.
1620. The _pilgrims_, after a boisterous passage, at break of day discovered the land of cape Cod. Finding that they had been carried north of their destination (see Sept. 6) they sailed southward; but falling among shoals, and the season being late, the captain gladly took advantage of their solicitude to put about, for he had been clandestinely promised a reward by the Dutch if he would not carry them to Hudson's river. Steering northward again they were clear of the danger before night, and the next day, a storm coming on, they dropped anchor in cape Cod harbor.
1623. WILLIAM CAMDEN, an illustrious English historian, died. He is styled the Pausanias of England.
1641. FRANCIS DE ST. PREUIL, a distinguished French officer, and governor of Arras, beheaded at Amiens.
1677. GILBERT SHELDON, archbishop of Canterbury, died. It appeared, after his death, that he had bestowed, during 14 years, about $250,000 in private and public charities.
1704. Admiral LEAKE obliged the French and Spanish blockading squadron to retire from Gibraltar.
1732. ROBERT STEPHENS died; an eminent English antiquary and historiographer royal.
1775. ARNOLD, at the head of 1,000 men, arrived before Quebec. The unexpected appearance of an army, emerging out of the depths of an unexplored wilderness, threw the city into the greatest consternation; but want of boats to cross gave the citizens time to rally, and the critical moment was lost. The sufferings of this detachment were incredible. They ate their horses and dogs, and, after soaking their cartouch boxes, belts and leather breeches, absolutely ate them.
1794. The Jacobin society attacked by the Parisian mob, and several persons severely wounded by stones thrown into the windows of the hall of their sitting.
1794. MAASTRICHT, after a bombardment of some days, capitulated to the French; 8,000 men surrendered prisoners of war. The place was invested on the 10th Sept. by 50,000 republicans, and the first parallel was opened on the 23d October.
1799. The celebrated but bloodless revolution at Paris, of the 18th Brumaire, which, dissolving the directory, invested Bonaparte with the supreme authority. "You are the wisdom of the nation;" he addressed the council, "I come, surrounded by the generals of the republic, to promise you their support. Let us lose no time in looking for precedents. Nothing in history resembles the close of the 18th century--nothing in the 18th century resembles this movement. Your wisdom has devised the necessary measure; our arms shall put it in execution."
1802. THOMAS GIRTEN, an English artist, died. He introduced the practice of drawing upon cartridge paper, by which he avoided certain appearances incident to the drawings on white paper.
1803. BENJAMIN LEDYARD, an officer in the revolutionary war, died at Scipio, N. Y. He was a meritorious soldier; at the time of his death held the office of clerk of Cayuga county.
1806. ELEAZER BROOKS, an officer of the revolution, died at Concord, Mass. He commanded a regiment at White Plains and Stillwater, and distinguished himself by his cool courage and determined bravery.
1806. BONAPARTE levied a contribution on the Prussian dominion and its allies of 160,000,000.
1812. BONAPARTE, on his retreat from Moscow, had his head quarters at Smolensk. When he left Moscow his army amounted to 100,000; it now scarcely numbered 60,000.
1813. British repulsed in an attack on Ogdensburgh.
1813. Commodore CHAUNCEY'S squadron, the whole carrying but 36 guns, again discovered the Royal George, 26 guns, and chased her under the batteries, which he engaged one hour and forty-five minutes. He had 1 killed and 3 wounded.
1839. GILBERT Y. FRANCIS died at New Orleans, of yellow fever. His life was romantic and eventful. He was in early life attached to the navy; then to the stage; had traveled over the four quarters of the globe; was two years a prisoner in the great desert of Arabia; a slave to the bashaw of Tunis; lieutenant of a guerilla party in Spain; master of a Dutch luggar trading to the Malaccas; overseer of a sugar estate in Jamaica; a cutter of logwood in the forest of Campeachy; a prisoner among banditti in Mexico; a captive among the Camanches; ransomed by some Oregon fur traders; employed by the governor of the Russian settlements to command a brig in the wheat trade with Chili; married in Virginia; and was extensively engaged in the Texan operations when death arrested him.
1848. The king of Prussia prorogued the general assembly, at Berlin, naming Brandenburgh as the place of next meeting.
1848. BLUM, a distinguished publisher at Leipsic, shot, at Vienna, as an insurrectionist and deputy for Frankfort.
1851. WILLIAM CROSWELL, an episcopal clergyman of Boston, died, aged 47. He was a man of eminent ability, piety, modesty and worth, and his poetical productions are of a high order of merit.
1853. The ceremony of inaugurating the Washington aqueduct took place at the great falls of the Potomac, president Pierce turning the first turf.
1854. ELIZABETH HAMILTON, widow of Alexander Hamilton, died at Washington, aged 93. She was a daughter of general Philip Schuyler, of Albany; married lieutenant colonel Hamilton, then an aid of general Washington, in 1780, with whom she lived 24 years, and survived him nearly half a century.
1856. N. CABET, founder of the Icarian community at Nauvoo, Illinois, died at St. Louis, aged about 69.
NOVEMBER 10.
1757. A. M. The waters of the deluge had subsided, and the earth became dry on the 27th of the 2d month, corresponding with this date (Nov. 10).
570. Birthday of MAHOMET, as settled by the Benedictines: by other authority, April 21, 571.
1202. Siege of Jadera, now Zara, by the Venitian crusaders. It was a Roman city, colonized by Augustus.
1270. EDWARD I joined the African crusade before Tunis, a few weeks after the death of Louis, in his tent.
1444. Battle of Varna, between the Turks under Amurath, and the Christians under Ladislaus of Hungary, in which the latter were defeated, and Ladislaus and 10,000 slain.
1549. PAUL III (_Alexander Farnese_), pope, died. It was with him that Henry VIII came to a rupture, which severed the church of England from that of Rome.
1558. Last auto-da-fé in the reign of queen MARY of England. It is supposed that in about three years 280 persons perished at the stake.
1567. ANNE DE MONTMORENCY, marshal of France, killed at the battle of St. Denis, after performing prodigies of valor. He commanded at many memorable battles.
1624. HENRY WROITESLEY, earl of Southampton, one of the most steady patrons of men of learning, died at Bergen-op-Zoom, in Holland.
1683. JOHN COLLINS, an eminent English mathematician, died; the intimate correspondent of the learned men of his times.
1715. GODFREY OLEARIUS, a learned German divine and historian, died.
1721. JOHN MAPLETOFT, an eminent English physician and divine, died, aged 91.
1722. The Royal Anne galley, cast away near Lizard point, and lord Bellhaven, governor of Barbadoes, with other passengers and ship's crew, perished. A boy and two sailors only saved.
1735. THOMAS DEAN, of Malden, a writer and printer, died in Kent, aged 102.
1750. EDWARD BRIGHT, an English grocer, died, aged 29. His height was 5 feet 10 inches, his bulk round the body, 6 feet 11 inches, and his weight, 537 pounds.
1758. The oldest lion in the Tower of London died. Said to be 68 years old. It had been presented to James II, by one of the Barbary states.
1769. Capt. HOLLYMORE died, at Vauxhall, Eng. His mother had prepossessed him when a child, that he should die on the 10th of November, 1769, and in consequence of that prepossession, he made his will, and gave orders about his funeral; and though seemingly in perfect health when he went to bed, was found dead next morning, without the least sign of violence of any kind.
1781. Negapatam, in the East Indies, surrendered by the Dutch to the British, with 8000 prisoners.
1794. The French convention closed the hall of the Jacobins, and banished the society. They also banished the emigrants forever from France, and confiscated their estates.
1795. The schooner White Fish arrived at Philadelphia, from Presque isle, on lake Erie. The White Fish was 17½ feet keel, and 5 feet 7 inches beam, and performed her remarkable voyage in 7 weeks, passing the falls of Niagara 10 miles by land, and proceeding by lake Ontario, the Oswego river, lake Oneida, Wood creek, the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, to her place of destination--947 miles. The vessel was built and navigated by two young men, who made their unique voyage without chart or compass.
1797. CATHARINE II, of Russia, died. She seized her husband and probably had him murdered, by which she became sole mistress of the throne. She possessed many bad qualities, mixed with some good ones.
1797. FREDERICK WILLIAM II, of Prussia, died.
1802. An island in latitude 5° 49´ N. longitude, 162° 23´ W. from London, discovered by captain Sowle, of the Palmyra, of Providence, R. I., which he called Palmyra island.
1808. GUY CARLETON, a distinguished British officer in America, and governor of Canada, died. His great exertions saved Canada, when besieged by the Americans under Montgomery and Arnold.
1812. United States schooner Growler, lieutenant Mix, having under convoy a British prize schooner, by a masterly manoeuvre saved his prize and captured another British schooner, under convoy of two armed ships, on lake Ontario. The schooner had $12,000 on board, and the private property and baggage of general Brock.
1813. The British under lord Wellington attacked the French position at Anhoue, in Spain, and took 51 cannon and 1400 prisoners. British loss, 2484, exclusive of the loss of the Spanish; French loss, 3000.
1825. Com. MCDONOUGH, who commanded the fleet at Plattsburgh in 1814, died of consumption at Middletown, Conn.
1832. JOHN GASPARD SPURZHEIM, the celebrated German phrenologist, died. He came to America in the same year of his death, after having traveled through several countries on the continent, for the purpose of propagating the science, and making investigations.
1834. EARL SPENCER, an English statesman, died. He was much respected for his talents and virtues, and possessed the finest private library in Europe.
1835. ANDREW LJUNGSTEDT died; a Swedish author of great learning, who resided at Macao, in China, 40 years, and wrote a history of the Portuguese settlements in China.
1837. ALBERT PAWLING died, aged 88; an officer in the revolutionary army, and engaged in several battles. He was the first sheriff of Rensselaer county, and first mayor of Troy.
1838. SANTA CRUZ, president of Bolivia, and protector of Peru, entered Lima at the head of a large army--Gomarra, with the Chilian army, having evacuated it.
1843. JOHN TRUMBULL, a celebrated American painter, and aid to general Washington during the war of the revolution, died in New York, aged 87. He was buried in New Haven, where fifty-five of his paintings are preserved in the college. His _chef-d'œuvre_ is the great painting of the signers of the declaration of independence.
1851. WILLIAM G. BELKNAP, an officer of the United States army, died, aged 56. He distinguished himself at Buena Vista.
1852. The punishment of death re-established in Tuscany, for treason, crimes against religion, murder, and robbery with violence.
1852. A treaty was ratified between the courts of Vienna and Rome, stipulating that the latter should support in the territories of the pope, 12,000 infantry and 1400 cavalry, for whom $18,000 per month was to be paid by the papal government.
1852. GIDEON ALGERNON MANTELL, an eminent English geologist, died in London, aged 62.
1853. THOMAS M. NELSON, an officer in the war of 1812, died at Columbus, Ga., aged 71.
1853. MARIA, queen of Portugal, died in childbed. She was buried on the 19th with great solemnity, and demonstrations of public regret.
NOVEMBER 11.
397. ST. MARTIN, the apostle of Gaul, died. He was a soldier, converted to Christianity, and made bishop of Tours. The festival of Martinmas was instituted in honor of him, in the year 560.
619. ST. JOHN (_the Almoner_) died. He was a native of Cyprus, raised to the see of Alexandria.
1100. Nuptials of HENRY I of England (_Beauclerk_) and MAUD, the fair daughter of Malcolm, king of Scots, and niece of Edgar Atheling, "of the right kingly kin of England."
1213. Date of the most ancient writ, summoning four discreet knights of the counties, to meet king John at Oxford, in 15 days from All Saints, _ad loquendum nobiscum de negotiis regni nostri_.
1400. TIMOUR the Mogul sacked Aleppo, the capital of the Mamelukes. He thus addressed one of the cadhis: "I am not a man of blood; and God is my witness, that in all my wars, I have never been the aggressor, and that my enemies have always been the authors of their own calamities."
1462. ANNE of Cyprus, died. She married Lewis, duke of Savoy, and showed herself able, active and discriminating at the head of public affairs.
1572. TYCHO BRAHE observed a new star in Cassiopeia, a phenomenon which had not been recorded since the age of Hipparchus. In splendor it was equal to Jupiter and Venus, and did not change its position in two years.
1620. The Plymouth pilgrims signed an instrument for their government, which was to go into force on their landing. It had the signatures of 41 of their number; and they with their families amounted to 101 persons. John Carver was chosen governor for one year. Thus did these intelligent colonists, says Holmes, find means to erect themselves into a republic, even though they had commenced their enterprise under the sanction of a royal charter; "a case that is rare in history, and can be effected only by that perseverance which the true spirit of liberty inspires."
1621. ROBERT CUSHMAN arrived at Plymouth, in a ship from England, bringing 35 persons to remain in the colony, and a charter procured in London.
1623. PHILIP DE MORNAY, baron du Plesis Marly, died; an illustrious French protestant, a political and polemical writer, and privy counselor of the king.
1671. THOMAS FAIRFAX, one of the principal generals in the civil wars of England, died.
1673. Battle of Choczin; the Turks defeated by John Sobieski, with the loss of 28,000.
1692. The negroes of the Barbadoes conspired against their masters for which many of them were executed.
1714. GEORGE I issued an order of council against the clergy meddling with state affairs in their sermons.
1750. APOSTOLO ZENO, a learned Venitian, died. He was a poet, and historian to Charles VI; his works are numerous and popular.
1778. A body of tories, Indians and British regulars, under the notorious John Butler, attacked fort Alden, at Cherry Valley. After an attack of 3 hours, they retreated, having killed 10 soldiers, and massacred 32 inhabitants, mostly women and children.
1793. JOHN SYLVAIN BAILLY, a famous French astronomer, died. He was induced to leave his studies for political distinction, and lost his life by manifesting some regard for justice.
1793. The amount of gold and silver collected in Paris from all parts of the republic, for the purpose of carrying on the measures of the government vigorously, was about two hundred millions of dollars.
1794. A treaty was concluded at Canandaigua between the United States by Timothy Pickering, and the Six Nations by 58 of their chiefs, among whom were Red Jacket and Cornplanter.
1794. Marquis LAFAYETTE escaped from the prison at Olmutz.
1797. JOSEPH TOALDO, an Italian physician, died. He was professor of mathematics at Padua, and bestowed much attention on subjects of electricity, astronomy and meteorology.
1805. Battle of Diernsten; the French under Mortier defeated the Russians after a sanguinary battle.
1807. Three British orders in council restricting neutral trade with France and her allies. This was termed a paper blockade, was strongly resisted by America, and finally, with other aggressions, brought on a war in 1812.
1807. The decree of Napoleon restricting the trade of Holland went into operation, by which the commerce of that country, after a long declension, was totally ruined.
1813. Battle of Williamsburg, in Canada. The Americans under general Boyd, 1700, attacked the British, 2170. The victory was claimed by both parties, though it seems to have been with the British. American loss, killed 102, wounded 237; British loss, officially stated at 180--thought to exceed 500.
1817. FRANCISCO ESPOZ Y MINA, one of the most distinguished of the Spanish patriots, executed in Spain.
1835. Great tempest on lake Erie; a number of lives and vessels lost; the water rose higher than it was ever known before at Buffalo, and did great damage.
1837. THOMAS GREEN FESSENDEN, an American poet and agricultural writer, died. He conducted the _New England Farmer_ many years; was a man of extensive information and considerable literary acquirements.
1849. HENRY MAYNADIER, a revolutionary officer and army surgeon, died at Annapolis, Maryland, aged 93.
1855. THOMAS WILDE, baron Truro, died at London. As one of the best pleaders at the English bar, he was employed as one of the counsel for queen Caroline. He filled many offices of distinction and became lord chancellor in 1850.
1855. JEDDO, in the island of Japan destroyed by an earthquake.
NOVEMBER 12.
606. BONIFACE III, pope, died. He established the superiority of the popes over the patriarchs of Constantinople.
1035. CANUTE (_the Great_), king of Denmark, died. He took part of England from Edmund Ironsides, and afterwards seized the whole kingdom.
1041. The people rose on the tax collectors of Hardi Canute of England, and slew them.
1493. COLUMBUS arrived at Navidad, on the north side of Hispaniola, where he had left a colony on his first voyage, and had the mortification to find that the people were all dead, and the fort destroyed.
1550. PAUL FAGIUS (_Buchlin_), a learned protestant German minister, died in England. He undertook a new translation and illustration of the Old Testament under Cromwell, but died before he had made much progress.
1555. STEPHEN GARDINER, bishop of Winchester and chancellor of England, died. In his character as a minister, he had a large portion of haughtiness, boundless ambition and deep dissimulation; for he looked upon religion as an engine of state, and made use of it as such.
1562. PETER MARTYR, a distinguished commentator on the Bible, died at Zurich.
1589. The first notice of the appointment of a licenser of stage plays, &c., in London.
1595. JOHN HAWKINS, an English admiral, died. He signalized himself in the reign of Elizabeth, by his encounters with the Spanish armada, and his expeditions to the West Indies.
1606. The expedition of the Plymouth company under Challons (See Aug. 12), on its passage from the West Indies towards the American coast, was captured by a Spanish fleet and carried into Spain, where the vessel was confiscated.
1684. Birthday of admiral EDWARD VERNON. The anniversary of his birthday was kept with great enthusiasm formerly, in England, especially about the year 1740.
1688. ANDREW ANDERSON commenced an auction sale of books, the first of the kind in Scotland.
1722. ADRIAN VAN DER WERF, a Dutch portrait painter of great reputation, died. He was held in great esteem, received a pension and the honor of knighthood.
1746. JACQ. ALEXANDER CÆSAR CHARLES, in his lifetime so well known as a natural philosopher, was born at Baujency, in France. He was the first to make use of hydrogen gas instead of heated air in balloons.
1775. Montreal surrendered to the Americans; general Prescott, and several officers with 120 privates were intercepted. Eleven sail of vessels, with all their contents, fell into the hands of the provincials.
1775. British ships Tamarand and Cherokee attacked the United States schooner Defence, off South Carolina. This was the commencement of open hostilities in that state. The Defence sustained but little injury.
1780. Battle of Broad river; a band of American volunteers under Sumpter attacked by the British under major Wemys, who were defeated and Wemys taken.
1783. The crew of the British ship Antelope, wrecked on the Pelew island (see Aug. 10), sailed for China in a vessel which they had constructed, taking the king's son, Lee Boo.
1793. BAILLY, late mayor of Paris, beheaded. He was a patriot and man of science. The first to take the famous oath never to separate till they had obtained a free constitution.
1799. Meteoric shower observed at Cumana, in South America; thousands of falling stars were seen to succeed each other during four hours.
1805. ROBERT HOLMES, an English divine, died. He was distinguished as a poet and scholar, and for his devotion to Biblical criticism.
1812. The Russians under Orloff Denizoff attacked a strong body of French with a large convoy of provisions, cattle, horses, &c., on their way to Smolensk. He killed 1500 and took 1300 prisoners, 400 wagons of biscuit, brandy and wine, and 200 head of cattle and 1000 horses destined for the artillery. Few of those who escaped ever reached Smolensk, for the inclemency of the weather destroyed what the sword had spared. It was a dreadful blow to the French army, which was reduced to such extremities that the smallest assistance was invaluable.
1813. British frigate Lacedemonian captured Philadelphia sloop Betsey off Carrituck. The British took out the crew, leaving the captain and one man and a boy on board, in charge of a prize master and five men. In the night the two Americans rose upon the crew, recaptured the vessel, and brought her safe to Washington, N. C., with their six prisoners.
1820. WILLIAM HAYLEY, an English poet and miscellaneous writer, died.
1824. County of Orleans, in western New York, erected.
1832. BARNABA ORIANI, an Italian astronomer, died, aged 80. He was director of the observatory, and one of the most accomplished astronomers of the day.
1845. MARIA BROOKS, an American poetess, died, aged about 50. Her principal poem is _Zophies_, which is pronounced one of the most original, passionate and harmonious works of the imagination ever conceived. Southey pronounced her "the most impassioned and imaginative of poetesses."
1848. Revolutionary movements in Prussia. The burger guard at Berlin refused to comply with the king's proclamation to give up their arms.
1849. The American ship Caleb Grimshaw took fire at sea, and burnt four days, when 339 of her passengers were rescued; 60 who left the vessel on a raft, perished.
NOVEMBER 13.
36 B. C. OCTAVIUS CÆSAR received the _oration_ for his great naval victory over Sextus, the younger Pompey, in the Sicilian war.
1002. Massacre of the Danes, throughout England, by order of king Ethelred, one of those infamous shifts by which coward tyranny secures its sinister purposes. Neither age nor sex was spared, and among the victims was Gunilda, sister of Sweyn, king of Denmark. Her husband and children were butchered before her eyes. In the following year Sweyn invaded England and swept the country with fire and sword.
1004. ABBON DE FLEURY, a French ecclesiastic of note, who encouraged learning among the monastics, died of a wound he received in attempting to allay a brawl.