Part 88
1834. SIMEON DE WITT died, aged 79; surveyor-general of the state of New York. He had filled this office from the time of its establishment to that of his death, 50 years, with the highest satisfaction and ability, and was distinguished for his attainments in astronomy, engineering and physical science.
1838. JOHN BLEECKER VAN SCHAICK, a poet of some merit, died at Albany, aged 35.
1839. FREDERICK VI, king of Denmark, died. He was a benefactor to his country, which is indebted to him for the liberty of the press, emancipation from the last remains of feudal authority, abolition of the slave trade, in which Denmark set the example to the rest of Europe, reforms of the laws, the establishment of schools for general education, the introduction of popular representation, and system, order and economy in the financial affairs of the kingdom.
1839. Pope GREGORY XVI issued a bull for abolishing the slave trade; "urgently invoking all Christians of whatever condition, that none henceforth dare subject to slavery, unjustly persecute or despoil of their goods, Indians, negroes, or other classes of men, or be accessories to others in so doing; and on no account henceforth to exercise that inhuman traffic, by which negroes are reduced to slavery, as if they were not men but automata, or chattels," &c.
1849. WILLIAM L. HUNTER, a Rhode Island diplomat, died, aged 75. He studied medicine in London under his kinsman, John Hunter, but subsequently adopted the law. He was chargé at Brazil more than ten years.
1851. All attempts to oppose the assumption of power by Louis Napoleon were unsuccessful; the few barricades that were erected were soon torn or battered down.
1854. The people of Mexico completed three days' balloting, and decided with great unanimity that the republic should continue to be governed by Santa Anna.
DECEMBER 4.
1137. LOTHAIRE II, emperor of Germany, died. He was king of Saxony when he was made king of Germany, and finally invested with the title of emperor.
1139. ROGER, prior of Hexham, died; author of a history of the campaign of the Scottish army under king David.
1214. WILLIAM (_the Lion_), of Scotland, died. He confederated with Henry of England against his father, and his inconsiderate valor at the siege of Alnwick, as well as many other rash acts, brought misfortunes on himself and disgrace upon his people.
1334. JOHN XXII (_James d'Eusse_), pope, died. He rose under the patronage of Charles II, of Naples. He attempted the suppression of the Cordeliers; was an active pontiff, and respected for his frugality, prudence and sanctity.
1402. CHARLES VI granted letters patent to the priests to enact mysteries, or as they came to be called moralities, such as the conception of the Savior, &c.
1642. JOHN ARMAND DU PLESSIS DE RICHELIEU, a celebrated French cardinal and statesman, died. He was a man of great capacity and boundless ambition, whose ministry forms an era in the French government, and prepared the way for the power and grandeur of the reign of Lewis XIV.
1649. WILLIAM DRUMMOND, a Scottish poet and historian, died. He preceded Waller in polishing English versification.
1654. The expedition under Venables and Penn, sailed for America.
1664. The English, under the duke of York, destroyed 130 of the Bordeaux fleet.
1672. The king of England shut up the exchequer, and suspended payment.
1679. THOMAS HOBBES, a celebrated English writer, died. He published his religious, political and moral principles in a complete system, which he called the _Leviathan_. It is said that few writings have had a more pernicious influence in spreading irreligion and infidelity than his, and yet that none of them were directly leveled against revealed religion.
1679. JOHN BIRKENHEAD died; professor of moral philosophy at Oxford, a zealous royalist, and a popular courtier.
1680. THOMAS BARTHOLINE, a learned Danish physician, died. He lost his library by fire, but that his pursuits might not be interrupted he was made librarian to the university. His works are chiefly medical.
1717. Mr. SHIPPEN, a member of the British parliament, from _Salt Ash_, sent to the tower for saying, "The king's speech was fitted rather for the meridian of Germany than England." The king had little acquaintance with the English language.
1732. JOHN GAY, a celebrated English poet, died; whose fables will ever be admired. His play of the _Beggar's Opera_ was received with greater favor than had ever been known on any former occasion.
1746. Genoa surrendered to the Austrians, and was subjected to the most cruel contributions.
1777. Sir WILLIAM HOWE marched the British army from Philadelphia, to Whitemarsh, for the purpose of attacking Washington, but marched back again without making the attack.
1783. WASHINGTON took leave of the officers of the American army in New York.
1789. The city and suburbs of London, overspread with a dense fog, so that the stages traveling between the city and the surrounding villages, were at five in the afternoon, obliged to be preceded by men with lanterns, a thing unprecedented in the memory of any one living.
1792. WILLIAM FORDYCE, an eminent Scottish physician and philanthropist, died in London where he enjoyed an extraordinary reputation.
1798. Minister PITT'S bill, establishing the ten per cent income tax, was introduced into the British parliament.
1808. CHARLES LOUIS FERNOW died; a distinguished German writer on the fine arts. His father was a common laborer, and his early years were those of a talented youth struggling with poverty and other difficulties. After finishing an apprenticeship as an apothecary, he maintained himself by portrait painting and teaching drawing; and finally devoted his attention to the history of the fine arts and Italian literature. His productions are valuable.
1808. Madrid, being invested by Bonaparte, surrendered. The Spaniards were disarmed, and the town filled with the French army. The pavement had been taken up; the streets barricadoed; the houses on the outskirts loopholed; but in a few days tranquility seemed completely re-established; the French soldiery observed excellent discipline; the shops were re-opened, and the theatres frequented as usual. Such is in most cases the enthusiasm of a great city.
1808. The inquisition abolished by Bonaparte this day.
1815. CHRISTIAN GODFREY GRUNER, a celebrated German physician, died. He was one of the most prolific writers on medical science; having written 50 large works, and as many essays.
1819. Alabama admitted into the union.
1823. SUSAN HUNTINGTON died at Boston; an intelligent American authoress, whose _Life of Wisner_ has passed through several editions in Europe and America.
1826. ABRAHAM ROBERTSON, an eminent English astronomer, died.
1829. Abolition of the rite of suttee, or immolation of Hindoo widows on the funeral pile of their husbands; the British government interposed to prevent its continuance.
1829. Commencement of a revolution in Mexico; Bustamente, the vice-president, issued a proclamation against the government of Guerero, demanding the resignation of his extraordinary powers.
1830. WILLIAM B. GILES, died at his seat in Amelia county, Virginia. He was chiefly instrumental in getting up the celebrated resolutions of Virginia, 1798-99, and the no less celebrated Virginia report.
1831. General TORRIJOS, with 54 of his partisans, taken and executed, at Malaga, in Spain.
1836. RICHARD WESTALL, an eminent English artist, died. He was the author of a great number of works and designs, and well known for his numerous beautiful illustrations of elegant literature.
1839. SAMUEL BUTLER, an English prelate, died. He was the author of various publications, and collected a library valued at £30,000.
1840. JOHN ROBINSON, an English prelate, died, aged 66. He compiled a theological dictionary, and a work on the antiquities of Greece, ancient and modern history, and some others.
1845. ELISHA BLACKMAN, the last survivor of the Wyoming massacre, died at his residence, in Hanover, Wyoming valley, aged 89, and was buried with military honors.
1851. GEORGE CRABBE, an eminent English author, died near London, aged 73.
1852. An earthquake at Acapulco did great damage to the city, though without destroying any lives. Shocks were continued for a considerable time.
1853. Kalafat attacked by the Russians, who were repulsed with great slaughter.
DECEMBER 5.
1056. MACBETH, usurper of the Scottish throne, slain by Macduff, after a reign of 17 years.
1492. COLUMBUS discovered the island of Hispaniola, called by the natives _Hayti_, or high country, from its mountains; _Quesqueya_, or the whole, from its dimensions; and _Bohio_, or house, from its very superior civilization.
1518. JOHN JAMES TRIVULCI, marshal of France, died. He was banished from Milan, his native country, and entered into the service of Charles VIII, under whom he distinguished himself repeatedly in battle.
1537. An order for the expulsion of all the gypsies from England.
1560. FRANCIS II, of France, died, aged 17, after a reign of 17 months. He had lately married Mary, queen of Scots.
1639. HENRY WOTTON, an English statesman and poet, died, leaving many writings.
1712. ANNE MARY DE TREMOUILLE URSINS died at Rome, aged 80. She was a woman of great powers of mind, who as maid of honor to the queen of Spain, possessed so much influence over the court as to give her the direction of the affairs of the nation.
1734. PETER TILLEMANS died; a distinguished landscape painter of Antwerp, who settled in England and enjoyed there the patronage of the great.
1754. Battle of Leuthen, or Lissa; the Austrians and Saxons under count Daun defeated by the Prussians under Frederick II, with the loss of 6,000 killed, 21,000 taken prisoners, 134 cannon, and 4,000 baggage and ammunition wagons.
1775. The Americans under Gen. Montgomery and Arnold appeared before Quebec.
1784. PHILLIS PETERS, known to the literary world by her miscellaneous writings, died at Boston. She was an African who acquired the English language, and made some progress in Latin.
1784. A violent storm off the coast of England, which destroyed a vast amount of shipping. A British fleet of 150 sail went out of Yarmouth road that morning, and was totally dispersed, all the sails torn in shreds, and a great many of the ships foundered, their crews in some instances being lost entirely.
1788. Admiral GREIG, a Scottish naval commander in the service of Russia, was buried at Revel with great honors.
1792. JOHANN WOLFGANG THEOPHILUS MOZART, a celebrated German musician, died. His works will ever rank with those of the greatest masters.
1793. ARMAND GUY SIMON DE KERSAINT, a French count, and naval officer of high merit, beheaded at Paris.
1793. JOHN PAUL RABAUT DE ST. ETIENNE, a French protestant minister, guillotined for his bold and eloquent defence of the king.
1793. Battle of Martigne; the French under Danican defeated by the Vendeans.
1795. JOHN BEWICK died; an English engraver on wood, of great excellence; who with his brother carried the art to a state of perfection before unknown.
1806. The French under MURAT crossed the Vistula and occupied Praga.
1808. WILLIAM HAWES, an English physician and philanthropist, died. He was the founder of the Royal humane society, for the recovery of persons apparently dead by drowning, strangulation or suffocation; an institution which has renewed the lives of thousands that would otherwise have perished.
1813. CHARLES JOHN MARIA DENINA, an Italian historian, died at Paris; the author of many excellent works.
1815. A foot-ball match at Carterhaugh, Ettrick forest, between the Ettrick men and the men of Yarrow. One party was backed by the earl of Home, the other by sir Walter Scott, sheriff of the forest, who wrote two songs for the occasion.
1819. FREDERICK LEOPOLD STOLBERG, a German writer, died. His works consist of travels, history, poems, dramas and translations.
1835. THOMAS PRINGLE, the first editor of _Blackwood's Magazine_, and for many years secretary to the London anti-slavery society, died at London.
1837. JAMES MARSHMAN, an eminent and learned baptist missionary, died at Serampore, aged 70. He was the son of a poor English weaver, who having received his education, went to India in 1799. He published a Chinese grammar, and a translation of the entire scriptures.
1838. The French evacuated the city of Vera Cruz. In an engagement between the French and the Mexicans, Santa Anna, who commanded the Mexicans, was wounded so as to oblige an amputation of his leg.
1851. KOSSUTH, the Hungarian general, arrived at Staten island, and the next day, as the guest of the city of New York, reviewed the troops, which formed a military and civic procession in his honor.
1853. The steamer Humboldt, of the New York and Havre line, run upon a rock in attempting to enter the harbor at Halifax, and was lost.
DECEMBER 6.
342. St. NICHOLAS, an eminent Grecian bishop, and the patron of children, died. At the council of Nice he was said to be like a sun among so many stars.
884. CARLOMAN, king of France, died.
1139. ALPHONSO I, king of Portugal, died; celebrated for the defeat of five Moorish kings at the battle of Ourique.
1216. Hertford, in England, taken by the French under Louis the dauphin.
1352. CLEMENT VI (_Peter Roger_), pope, died. He was a doctor of the Paris university, and is represented by Petrarch as a worthy, generous and learned prelate; but is differently represented by others.
1527. Pope CLEMENT VII escaped in disguise from prison, although, by a treaty with the emperor Charles V, he would have been liberated the following day.
1540. Diet of Worms; conference between the popish and protestant divines; Melanchton and Eckius maintained the principal part of the dispute.
1540. THOMAS DAVIDSON, licensed by the "rycht excellent prince James V, king of Scots, to print the new actis and constitutionis of parliament."
1541. Emperor CHARLES V, obliged by a storm to relinquish his attempt on Algiers and return to Europe.
1557. JOHN MACCHABAEUS (_or Macalpine_) died. He was a Scotchman, who resided sometime at Wirtemberg, with Luther and Melanchton. He was afterwards invited to Copenhagen, where he assisted in translating the Danish Bible.
1648. Colonel PRIDE prevented about 200 members of parliament from entering the house. This is usually called _Pride's purge_.
1670. HENRY JENKINS, an Englishman, died at the remarkable age of 169. He retained his faculties to the last, and was once examined in court on a circumstance that happened 140 years before. As he was born before parochial registers were kept, no parish would support him, and he was obliged to beg for a subsistence.
1672. JASPER MAYNE died; an English divine, poet and dramatic writer.
1675. JOHN LIGHTFOOT died; an eminent English divine, distinguished as an able scholar and an eloquent orator.
1688. Flight of MARY D'ESTE, queen of James II, of England, with her child, afterwards the _pretender_.
1711. JANE SCHRIMSHAW died in Rosemary hospital, near London tower, aged 127.
1718. NICHOLAS ROWE died; an eminent English poet and dramatic writer.
1726. FLORENCE CARTON D'ANCOURT, an eminent French actor and dramatic writer, died. He was the author of 32 plays.
1734. ABIGAIL MASHAM, the favorite of queen Anne, died; noted in the history of the time for her political intrigues.
1776. The capture of Rhode Island by the British under Gen. Clinton and sir Peter Parker. "It is called the _Eden of America_," says an English work, "and celebrated (very naturally) for the beauty of its women."
1787. LA PEROUSE reached the Navigator's islands, in Polynesia.
1790. Kentucky was erected into an independent state.
1798. Turin and Piedmont relinquished to the French by the king of Sardinia.
1806. Thorn, in Prussia, taken by the French under marshal Ney, after a slight resistance.
1812. Boston privateer brig Montgomery, of 18 guns, captured British ship Surinam, 20 guns.
1815. A magazine at Dantzic containing 6,000 pounds of powder, with filled bombs and shells, blew up, destroying 700 houses and killing upwards of 600 persons.
1834. EDWARD IRVING, a celebrated and eccentric Scottish preacher, died. He was minister of the Caledonian church in London, and, by the force and eloquence of his discourses, attracted large congregations; the greatest orators and statesmen, the wealthy and fashionable hurried to hear him. But he became finally subject to the wildest vagaries, in respect to the _unknown tongues_, and was ejected from his place.
1835. NATHAN SMITH, an eminent lawyer of Connecticut, died at Washington. He was several years United States attorney for Connecticut, and senator in congress, and was respected for his integrity and ability.
1843. JOHN M. TAYLOR, commissary-general of the American army under Gen. Montgomery at Quebec, 1775, died at Philadelphia, aged 92.
1844. NATHAN ROGERS, an artist of merit and reputation, died, aged 57. He was a member of the national academy of design, and lent his aid to institutions of morals and charity.
1848. The king of Prussia dissolved his assembly and promulgated a new constitution.
1852. HORATIO GREENOUGH, an eminent American sculptor, died at Somerville, Mass., aged 47. He spent most of his life in Italy in the pursuit of his art, where he produced his colossal statue of Washington, and other works which stamp his fame.
1855. ANSELM ROTHSCHILD died at Frankfort, Germany; the founder of the great financial house of the Rothschilds.
DECEMBER 7.
424 B. C. The accession of Darius II (_Nothus_). This is also the date of the battles of Delium and Amphipolis, where Xenophon and Thucydides were present, and of the occupation of Cytheria by the Athenians.
43 B. C. MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO, the celebrated Roman orator, statesman and philosopher, assassinated at his villa, by Popilius, at the instigation of Antony.
983. Otho II (_the Bloody_), emperor of Germany, poisoned.
1154. Landing of Henry II in England from France.
1229. The _boy bishop_ said vespers before Edward I at Heton near New Castle upon Tyne. On Childermas the scholars of St. Paul's and other schools were enjoined to hear the "Chylde Bishop's sermon."
1542. MARY STUART, sole daughter and heir to king James V, born.
1626. JOHN DAVIES, an eminent English lawyer and poet, died. His works on legal subjects are numerous and valuable.
1641. RALPH BROWNRIG, bishop of Exeter, died. He had the hardihood boldly to advise Cromwell to restore Charles II to his throne.
1657. CROMWELL sent an agent to the duke of Savoy to negotiate respecting his protestant subjects.
1666. Ten of the Scottish covenanters executed at Edinburgh.
1672. RICHARD BELLINGHAM, governor of Massachusetts, died. He had exercised the offices of governor or deputy for 23 years.
1683. ALGERNON SIDNEY, an English patriot and political writer, beheaded at the age of 66.
1721. BERNARD ALBINUS, a celebrated German physician, died. He was professor at Frankfort and Leyden.
1741. Revolution in Russia.
1776. British under Cornwallis marched to Princeton.
1787. The deputies of the Delaware state convention signed the constitution of the United States, which they had agreed by vote to adopt the day previous. She was the first state that ratified the instrument.
1796. WASHINGTON met both houses of congress for the last time as president of the United States.
1799. Battle of Sediman, in Egypt; the French under Dessaix defeated 3,000 Mamelukes and 10,000 Arabs under Murad Bey.
1805. Action off cape St. Mary between the British ship Polyphemus, 64 guns, and Spanish ships Santa Gertruyda, with twelve hundred thousand dollars on board, and El Felix, valued at nearly one million, both of which were captured.
1812. BONAPARTE in disguise with Caulincourt arrived at Wilna in a sledge.
1815. MICHAEL NEY, a French marshal, shot. His career under Bonaparte was distinguished during ten years, by great military skill and daring bravery. On the second restoration of the Bourbons he was condemned to death.
1822. JOHN AIKIN, an English surgeon, died; better known as a writer of great erudition. He edited the first twenty volumes of the _Monthly Magazine_, the _Athenæum_, various editions of the poets, and was one of the writers of the _General Biographical Dictionary_ in 10 vols. quarto.
1832. VICTOR JACQUEMONT, a distinguished French naturalist, died at Bombay, aged 32.
1835. The rail road from Nuremberg to Furth, the first rail road in Germany, opened, and the journey made in 15 minutes. The monumental stone has the inscription: "Germany's first iron rail road, with steam power, 1835."
1842. THOMAS HAMILTON, the author of _Cyril Thornton_, a contributor to _Blackwood's Magazine_, &c., died at Pisa, in Italy.
1853. A statue inaugurated to marshal Ney at Paris, on the place where he was shot on this day of the month, in 1815.
DECEMBER 8.
1275. Meeting of _Stationarii_, or booksellers, at London. For a quarter of a century previous to this time, booksellers not unfrequently kept school in their porches. The portal at the north end of the cathedral in Rouen is still called _Le Portail des Libraires_, the porch of the booksellers.
1315. Battle of Morgarten, or Ægeri, in Switzerland; the Austrian army of 20,000 under the archduke Leopold, defeated by 1,600 mountaineers in the pass between the mountain and the lake.
1437. SIGISMUND, emperor of Germany, died. He volunteered his assistance to tranquilize the church, and proposed the famous council, which consisted of 14,000 ecclesiastics and 16,000 noblemen. His perfidy in allowing Huss and Jerome of Prague to be burnt, after giving them a passport of safety, armed against him the bravest of his subjects, and led to a civil discord and bloodshed of sixteen years' duration.
1493. Isabella, the first European town in America, founded by Columbus. All his men, provisions and utensils, were landed on a plain near a rock, on the island of Navidad, in the West Indies, and a fort erected. The town was named in honor of the Spanish queen, to whom the great navigator was much indebted.
1612. Great earthquake at Munster.
1643. JOHN PYM died; a celebrated English republican, distinguished for his virulence against Charles I.
1660. First time of the appearance of a female on the public stage; the character was Desdemona.
1661. An order of both houses of parliament was passed for hanging the carcasses of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, Henry Ireton and Thomas Pride upon the gallows at Tyburn, and then burying them under the gallows.
1677. NICHOLAS PAVILLON, an eminent French ecclesiastic, made bishop of Alet by Richelieu, and afterwards deposed, died in exile.
1691. RICHARD BAXTER, a celebrated English nonconformist divine, died. He wrote a vast number of books; his practical works were collected in 4 vols. folio.
1695. BARTHOLOMEW D'HERBELOT, a French orientalist, died. He wrote a _Universal Dictionary_, "containing whatever relates to the knowledge of the eastern world."
1709. THOMAS CORNEILLE, a French dramatist, died. He wrote 42 dramatic pieces, which were received with greater applause than those of his brother Peter, but have been lost and forgotten.
1741. VITUS BEHRING, a Danish navigator, died. He was a commodore in the Russian service, and was employed in exploring some of the northern coasts of America, where he died, after having made some important discoveries, among which was the strait that bears his name.
1745. JOHN ROQUE, a French traveler, died at Paris. He published an account of his travels in Arabia Felix, Palestine and Syria.
1746. CHARLES RATCLIFFE, earl of Derwentwater, executed at Towerhill, London. He had resided 30 years in France.
1751. LOUISA, youngest daughter of George II, queen of Denmark, died.
1775. A number of American whaleboats under captain Manly captured three British ships with various stores intended for the army.