Chapter XII: Part 12

1844. JOHN SANDERSON of Philadelphia, who wrote an account of the lives of the signers of the declaration of American independence, died. He had some reputation for wit.

1852. FELIX VON SCHWARTZENBERG died at Vienna, aged 52. He represented the Austrian empire at various courts, at different periods, the earliest being at the age of 15. In a military capacity he took the field in 1843 against Charles Albert of Sardinia, and half a year later succeeded prince Metternich, on his fall, as prime minister of the empire.

1853. A new planet was discovered by Prof. de Gasparis, at Naples.

APRIL 6.

323 B. C. ALEXANDER (_the Great_,) of Macedon, died of intemperance. The death of this famous hero took place at Babylon, on the 6th day of the Athenian month Thagelion, which then corresponded with the 28th of the Macedonian month Dæsius. He lived 32 years and 10 months, and reigned, computing from the Olympiad six months prior to the death of Philip, 12 years and 10 months--a brief career of extraordinary, but profitless glory.

1190. RICHARD I (_Cœur de Lion_), killed at the siege of Chalus, in France. He commenced his career by rebellion against his father. On ascending the throne of England, he plundered and massacred the Jews, and set sail for Palestine with the bravest of his subjects. Taking the lead in the crusade, he gained a series of victories over the Moslem. On his way home he was seized and imprisoned, and ransomed by his subjects with 150,000 marks. He was preparing for another crusade, when his career was suddenly terminated by a wound from a cross-bow, in the 42d year of his age.

1348. LAURA DE NOVES, Petrarch's mistress, died. She was descended of a Provencal family which became extinct in the 16th century, inherited a large fortune by the death of her father, and married Hugh de Sade of Avignon. She was considered the most beautiful woman of the city. Petrarch says it was 6 o'clock in the morning of the 6th April, 1327, that he first saw her in the church of the nuns of St. Clara; and it was at the same hour of the same day, 1348, that she died of the plague. Nearly two centuries after, some antiquarians obtained permission to open her grave. They found a parchment enclosed in a leaden box, containing a sonnet bearing Petrarch's signature.

1453. MOHAMMED II besieged Constantinople, which terminated in the overthrow of the Christian empire.

1528. ALBRECHT DUERER, a celebrated German painter and engraver, died. He is still esteemed in Germany as one of the brightest jewels in her crown of fame. He was the reformer if not the founder of the German school of painting, and was the first to bring the art of engraving to any degree of perfection.

1574. PAUL MANUTIUS, a learned Venetian printer, died, aged 62. He wrote valuable commentaries on Cicero, and four treatises on Roman antiquities.

1580. Earthquake which was felt throughout England. The bells rang, and chimneys toppled down.

1590. FRANCIS WALSYNGHAM, an English statesman, died, aged 90. He flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, and was of infinite service to the state, by the energy and zeal with which he performed the duties of his offices. Yet he died so poor that his remains were privately buried by night, without any ceremony.

1609. HENRY HUDSON departed from the Texel on his famous voyage of discovery, the object of which was to find a northern passage to India. Meeting with obstructions he determined to attempt a north-west passage; and this also being attended with disasters, he shaped his course south along the American continent, and discovered the noble river which bears his name, and gave him immortality.

1645. WILLIAM BURTON, an English antiquary, died. He published a history of the county of Leicestershire, which is valuable.

1655. DAVID BLONDEL, a French protestant minister, died. He had the misfortune to lose his sight by close application to study, but even under that calamity he dictated two folio volumes on the genealogy of the kings of France. He was a man of great learning.

1686. ARTHUR ANNESLEY, earl of Anglesey, died. He was a statesman of great utility, sagacity and learning, under Charles I.

1695. RICHARD BUSBY, a celebrated English schoolmaster, died. He was educated by the bounty of the parish, and became head master of Westminster school, which place he held during half a century. He educated most of the eminent men who flourished about the period of his death. They regarded him as a father, though a severe one.

1707. WILLIAM VAN DER VELDE (the younger), a Dutch painter, died. He was an admirable artist, distinguished for his excellence in marine subjects, painted in black and white, on a ground so prepared on canvas, as to give it the appearance of paper. It is said he has had no equal in his line.

1717. JAMES PERIZONIUS, a German professor at Leyden, died. He published various works in Latin, on history, classical literature and antiquities; and was a man of extensive erudition, great application and sound judgment.

1739. The workmen at Stocks market, England, disinterred a grave stone with antique letters, supposed to have been buried 297 years.

1743. WILLIAM MELMOTH, (the elder,) a learned English lawyer, died. He is better known by a treatise on religious life, of which immense editions have been published.

1751. FREDERICK, king of Sweden and landgrave of Hesse Cassel, died.

1755. RICHARD RAWLINSON, an English antiquary, died. He was an indefatigable collector, and made himself useful to his cotemporary antiquaries in the completion of their works. The sale of the printed books and pamphlets of his library occupied 60 days.

1760. CHARLOTTE CHARKE, the last surviving daughter of Colley Cibber, died.

1776. Action between the British ship Glasgow, of 20 ninepounders, and her tender, Capt. Howe, and American brigantine Cabot, 20 nines and 10 sixes; Columbus, 18 nines, 10 sixes; Annodine brig, 6 guns, and Providence sloop, 12 sixes, under Com. Hopkins. The British made the attack, and continued the engagement 3 hours, when the tender was captured, but the Glasgow escaped.

1793. The French army evacuated Antwerp and Mons in Belgium, and retreated towards Valenciennes and Lisle.

1794. The French took Oneglia, in Sardinia, where they captured 2 frigates and a few galleys.

1796. DAVID ALLAN, a Scottish painter, died. He practiced history, portrait and landscape; but exercised his talents chiefly on works of humor. Some of his pieces have been engraved.

1796. DAVID CAMPBELL, a Scottish divine, died. He was professor of divinity at Aberdeen, translated the gospels, and answered Hume on the miracles.

1799. CLAYTON MORDAUNT CRACHERODE, an English antiquary, died. He was a man of great wealth and literary attainments, and his library and cabinet was one of the most select and valuable in the kingdom. His immense collection of books, medals, drawings, &c., &c., he bequeathed to the British museum.

1804. CHARLES PICHEGRU, the French general, died. He was born 1761, of poor parents, educated in a monastery, and was a tutor of Bonaparte at Brienne. He came to America with a French regiment near the close of the revolution. At the outbreak of the revolution in France he distinguished himself so much that he rose to be the first in command, and achieved a series of most brilliant and important victories, which resulted in the conquest of Holland. He was detected in a plot for the restoration of the Bourbons, which cut short his career, and he died in prison by strangulation.

1808. Corner stone laid of the vault prepared for the relics of the American seamen, soldiers and citizens, who perished in the British prison ships at the Wallabout, during the war of the revolution.

1810. Three days' rioting commenced in London on account of Francis Burdett's budget.

1811. French privateer Revance de Cerfe, burnt at Norfolk, Va. She was fired by 15 men in 2 boats, at about 2 A. M.

1812. Badajos, in Spain, taken by storm, at ten at night, by the British and Portuguese troops under Wellington; loss of the allied army 4000; the defence made by the French governor was brave, determined and noble.

1813. Lewistown, Delaware, cannonaded about 20 hours by the British frigate Belvidere. The defence was conducted in such a manner that but little injury was done.

1814. The French provisional government proposed, and the conservative senate adopted the form of a constitution; a limited monarchy, founded on the French and American constitutions, and declared Louis XVIII king.

1815. The American prisoners in Dartmoor prison fired upon by their guard, and many of them killed and wounded. The prince regent pointedly disapproved of their conduct, censured the officers and soldiery, and offered to make provision for the widows and families of the sufferers; this, however, was rejected by president Madison.

1829. HENRY NICHOLAS ABEEL, one of the most acute mathematicians of the present age, died.

1831. Revolution in Brazil. Don Pedro abdicated in favor of his son, who was proclaimed Don Pedro II.

1853. The Mexican Governor TRIAS issued a proclamation at Chihuahua, relative to the possession of the Mesilla valley, threatening to resist the occupation of New Mexico by the United States.

1855. An asteroid was discovered by M. Chacornac, at the imperial observatory of France.

1856. The constitution of the new state of Deseret was established by a people's convention at Salt Lake city, Utah territory.

APRIL 7.

1118. BALDWIN I, king of Jerusalem, died, and was buried on mount Calvary. He accompanied his brother, Godfrey de Bouillon, to Palestine during the crusades, and on the death of Godfrey was made king.

1141. MAUD declared queen of England in a national synod.

1196. WILLIAM LONGBEARD, a factious priest, executed. He was notorious for raising seditions in London, during the reign of Richard I. He was torn to pieces by horses, and then hung upon a gallows.

1498. CHARLES VIII, (_the affable_,) king of France, died. He was crowned king of Naples, and emperor of Constantinople, but afterwards met with reverses, and was driven back into France.

1521. MAGELLAN erected the Spanish standard on one of the Philippine islands.

1656. JEROME BIGNON, a French statesman, died. He was born 1590, and his attainments were so rapid that at the age of 10 he published a description of Palestine, and at the age of 14 a treatise on the election of the popes.

1668. WILLIAM DAVENANT, an English poet and dramatist, died. He succeeded Ben Jonson as poet laureate, and obtained a patent for a theatre in Lincoln's Inn fields, which was in operation a number of years.

1684. Dublin castle in Ireland burned.

1710. THOS. BETTERTON, the actor, died. He was esteemed the greatest master of tragic action in his time.

1710. EDWARD CODRINGTON died at Barbadoes. He was a native of the West Indies, and distinguished himself by his learning, and by his courage in defence of the British islands against the French.

1712. RICHARD SIMON, a French critic and historian, died. His works are numerous, and evince extensive learning and strong judgment.

1766. TIBERIUS HEMSTERHUYS, a Dutch critic, died. He was appointed professor of mathematics and philosophy at Amsterdam at the early age of 19, and is the author of several learned works.

1776. CHARLES PETER COLARDEAU, a French poet, died. He translated a part of Pope and Young with great spirit and elegance, and also wrote for the stage.

1780. ROBERT WATSON, a Scottish historian, died; author of _Philip III of Spain_.

1785. First paper issued in Hudson, Columbia county, New York.

1786. The celebrated catacombs of Paris consecrated, with great solemnity. They lie under a part of the city which was undermined some centuries ago, to furnish stone for the ancient edifices of Paris, and at length became closed up. This cemetery had been used more than a thousand years by twenty parishes, and it is estimated that more than three millions of people had been inhumed within its inclosures. In process of time, as the city extended, palaces and churches were built over the subterranean caverns, and were in imminent danger of sinking into the pit below, before it was again discovered. The mighty city of Paris had until now but one burial place, where a pit was dug, and the bodies laid side by side, without any earth being put over them, till the first tier was full; then a thin layer of earth covered them, and another tier of dead came on; thus by layer upon layer, and dead upon dead, the hole was filled up. These pits were emptied every thirty or forty years to receive new tenants. The last grave digger, Francis Pontraci, had by his own register, in less than thirty years, inhumed more than 90,000 bodies in that ground. The great increase of burials rendered the cemetery still more inconvenient, and it was at last happily thought of converting the quarries under the city into a receptacle for the dead.

1788. The first settlement in Ohio began, at Marietta, by 47 persons from New England.

1789. PETER CAMPER, a Dutch physician and naturalist, died. He was distinguished for the extent of his knowledge. A splendid edition of his works was published in 6 vols. accompanied by 100 folio plates.

1789. ACHMET IV, one of the most enlightened of the Turkish rulers, died. The first act of his successor Selim was the execution of the grand vizier, on the pretext that he had occasioned the loss of Oczakov.

1796. The British squadron under Warren captured 3 French brigs and 1 sloop, laden with provisions.

1797. Suspension of arms between Napoleon and the Archduke Charles.

1797. WILLIAM MASON, an English poet, died. He was chaplain to the king till the American war, when his name was erased from the list in consequence of the sentiments he entertained in regard to the liberties of the subject.

1800. Action between the British ship Leviathan, admiral Duckworth, and the Spanish frigates Carmen and Florentia, 36 guns each, and 650 men, with 3000 quintals of quicksilver on board. The Spaniards were captured, together with 7 vessels under convoy.

1806. Alleghany county in western New York erected.

1807. LALANDE (see April 4: by some authorities his death is put down on the 7th.)

1812. Capt. AGAR, a celebrated English pedestrian, undertook to walk a distance of 59 miles in 8½ hours, for 200 guineas. He won the match 3 minutes within the time.

1812. Mrs. BUMBY died at Ekring, England, aged 80; remarkable for a horn growing from her forehead in a spiral form to the length of nearly six inches.

1814. About 200 British marines and sailors landed at Saybrook, in Connecticut, spiked the cannon and destroyed several vessels, and escaped in the night to their shipping.

1817. The county of Tompkins in the state of New York erected.

1835. JAMES BROWN, an American statesman, died. He rose to a high rank at the bar, and was several years minister to France.

1836. WILLIAM GODWIN, an English novelist, and political and miscellaneous writer, died, aged 81. He commenced his career as a dissenting minister, which station he relinquished to gain a subsistence by literature. His works are numerous, and acquired him much celebrity, though tinctured more or less with skepticism.

1844. MORGAN LEWIS, a distinguished American military officer and statesman, died at New York, aged 90. He served with fidelity under the colonial government, and with honor and gallantry in the war of the revolution, and in the war of 1812. He held various important civil offices from 1791 to 1810.

1849. IRVINE SHUBRICK, an American naval officer, died. He had been thirty-five years in the service, and fought under Decatur and Downes. He commanded the expedition against the island of Sumatra in 1832, which captured Qualla Battoo, and broke up a horde of pirates who molested vessels there.

1850. JAMES EMOTT, a distinguished member of the New York bar, died at Poughkeepsie, aged 80.

1854. All English and French vessels were ordered out of the port of Odessa.

1856. The steamship Adriatic, the largest vessel of the kind that had ever been built, was launched at New York.

APRIL 8.

431 B. C. A body of 300 Thebans surprised the town of Platæa, in Greece, in the dead of night, and were all destroyed or captured by the inhabitants.

46. Battle of Thassus, in Africa; Scipio and Juba defeated by Julius Cæsar.

217. CARACALLA, the Roman emperor, assassinated at Edessa.

1341. PETRARCH crowned with laurels at Rome, with great pomp. This distinction was awarded him on the appearance of his Latin poem entitled _Africa_, in which he celebrates Scipio, his favorite hero. This poem he considered his best, yet it was never finished. His reputation now rests as a poet, on his Italian poems.

1364. JOHN I, king of France, died. He was taken by Edward III at the battle of Poictiers, and conducted to England, where he was retained in captivity four years. He returned from France in 1363, which he had visited on parole, and died at his palace in London, aged 45, after a reign of 14 years, which had been extremely calamitous to France.

1492. LORENZO DE MEDICIS, surnamed _the Great_, and the father of letters, died at Florence. He was a great merchant, and an eminent statesman; whose public services so recommended him to the Florentines that he was declared chief of the republic; and whose wisdom and judgment were so conspicuous, that foreign princes made him the arbiter of their differences.

1546. The council of Trent declared against the Lutheran system, and adopted the Latin or vulgate translation of the Bible by St. Jerome.

1663. The first play bill issued from Drury Lane theatre. The play was advertised to be acted "by his majesty's company of comedians," and was entitled the _Hvmovrovs Lievtenant_, and was to commence at three o'clock precisely.

1679. Bosia, a village near Piedmont, in Italy, suddenly sunk into the earth, by which about 200 persons perished.

1702. THOMAS GALE, an English divine, died. Though engaged the best part of his life in active and laborious employments, he yet found much time to devote to literature and classical learning. His publications are numerous and display great ability.

1704. JOB LUDOLPHUS, a German linguist, died, aged 80. He was one of the most eminent orientalists of his time, and the first European who acquired the Ethiopic language, of which he published a grammar and dictionary, and a history of the country. He was well versed in twenty-five languages.

1704. HENRY SIDNEY, earl of Romney, died. He was brother to the famous Algernon Sydney, and an accomplished statesman.

1731. ELIZABETH CROMWELL, grand-daughter of the lord protector of England, Oliver Cromwell, died at Bedford row in her 82d year.

1735. FRANCIS LEOPOLD RAGOTZKI, prince of Transylvania, died. He wrote an interesting memoir on the revolutions in Hungary.

1793. EDMUND C. GENET, first minister from the French republic to the United States, arrived at Charleston. He was superseded by Fauchet at the request of Washington the next year.

1801. The French surrendered Rosetta, in Egypt, to the British troops under Col. Spencer.

1803. LOUIS FREDERICK ANTOINE ARBOGAST, a French mathematician, died. He was a member of the national convention, but appears not to have taken any active part in politics, his name appearing only to some report on scientific subjects. His works place his name high among the distinguished men of the day; his character was blameless.

1806. HERRING, aged 60, and his wife, executed at Newgate, London, for coining money.

1808. County of Cortland in New York state erected.

1811. First law passed by the New York legislature respecting the Erie canal.

1812. Louisiana became a member of the United States confederacy.

1821. SIMON ASSEMANNI, one of the most learned of Maronites in modern times, died at Padua, where he had long been a professor. His explanation of the Arabian antiquities is much esteemed.

1832. ROBERT SIMSON died at Montreal, aged 101. He was at the attack on Quebec under Wolfe.

1835. Mr. CLAYTON, an American æronaut, made an ascension at Cincinnati, which proved an extraordinary affair. The spot at which he came to the earth was on Stevenson's knob, a mountain in Virginia, 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and 350 miles from Cincinnati, which distance he was wafted in 9½ hours.

1835. WILLIAM VON HUMBOLDT, a distinguished philologist, died, near Berlin, Prussia. He was elder brother of the celebrated traveler of that name, and distinguished as a statesman and a scholar.

1838. JOHN, a negro, drowned at Washington, aged 115.

1854. An explosion on the steam boat Gazelle, at Canemah, Oregon, destroyed the boat and killed 21 persons.

1854. A fire at Salonica, in Greece, destroyed 600 houses and warehouses.

1854. The Ganges canal, a work of vast magnitude, was opened by the lieutenant-governor of Agra, with great ceremony and a display of troops.

APRIL 9.

1483. EDWARD IV, of England, died. He disputed the crown with Henry VI and involved the kingdom in war and bloodshed, till the death of the latter, when he ascended the throne unmolested. He became a voluptuary, and died from excessive eating.

1483. Dr. SHAW, brother to the lord mayor of London, preached a sermon on the text "_Bastard slips shall not thrive._" It was not productive of many converts.

1547. EDWARD VI succeeded to the throne of England on the death of Henry VIII.

1589. THOMAS SAMPSON, a noted English nonconformist divine, died. During the reign of Mary, he fled to Geneva, where he was engaged in the translation of the _Genevan Bible_.

1609. HUDSON left the Texel on his memorable voyage of discovery, in the yacht "Halve Maan," of forty lasts (80 tons) burden; a size which easily admits the supposition that he ascended the river as far as Half-Moon, or Waterford.

1626. FRANCIS BACON, an English philosopher, died, aged 66. At the age of 13 he entered the university, where he made the most astonishing progress in all the sciences then taught, and at the age of 16 attacked the Aristotlean philosophy. He succeeded rapidly in office under government, and in 1619 was appointed lord high chancellor of England and baron of Verulam. Here, unfortunately, he sullied his name, and was fined, imprisoned and degraded, for bribery and corruption. This extraordinary man is justly entitled to the appellation of "the father of experimental philosophy."

1648. A great insurrection of the people of London by reason of the parliament abolishing holydays.

1670. SAMUEL SORBIERRE, a French writer, died. He was educated for the protestant ministry, but abandoned that faith for popery, without much advantage to himself, as his sincerity was suspected. His literary reputation is also somewhat tarnished.

1697. WILLIAM, earl of Craven, died in his 89th year. The nobility of England are famed for longevity.

1747. SIMON FRAZER, Lord Lovat, executed on Towerhill, aged 80. He was a Scottish statesman, educated among the Jesuits in France. His life was a scene of treachery and misdemeanor, which compelled him to fly from one country to another. Finally, joining the rebellion of 1745, he was seized and condemned, and died like a martyr.

1754. CHRISTIAN WOLFF, a Prussian philosopher, died. In consequence of a Latin oration on the Chinese, which gave offence to the clergy, he was expelled from the country; but the honors conferred upon him by other countries, led to his recall by the king, when his merits were duly rewarded, and his former injuries obliviated. His whole life was devoted to advance the interests of science and virtue.

1759. NICHOLAS HARDINGE died, an eminent English scholar, and author of some Latin poems.

1761. WILLIAM LAW, an English dissenting divine, died. He is well known as the author of the _Serious Call_.

1780. Charleston invaded by the British land and naval forces under Sir Henry Clinton.

1790. NICHOLAS SYLVESTER BERGIER, a French ecclesiastic, died. He is the author of several learned and valuable works. His talents and worth commanded preferments, until he declined any more, replying that he was rich enough!

1795. An act for the encouragement of common schools passed by the legislature of New York.

1796. A British squadron under Sir Edward Pellew captured a large French convoy, under the protection of La Volage, 26 guns, which was driven on shore.

1804. JAMES NECKER, a Swiss statesman, died. He was sent as ambassador to France, where his abilities were so much respected, that he was twice elevated to the rank of prime minister. But the revolution destroyed his popularity, and he retired to Copet, where he died. He is the author of a work on the finances of France.

1807. JOHN OPIE, an eminent English painter, died. He was the son of a humble carpenter, and was drawn from obscurity by the patronage of Dr. Wolcott (alias _Peter Pindar_). He not only became an excellent artist, but also an admirable writer on the art.

1813. The Chesapeake frigate, Capt. Evans, returned to Boston from a cruise, having captured during an absence of four months, 2 British brigs and 1 ship, 1 American brig with a British license, and a schooner.

1831. Battle near Siedlce, in Poland, in which the Russians were defeated.

1854. The English and French vessels on the coast of Thessaly were directed to search all vessels suspected of having munitions of war on board, and to seize such as were so found.

1855. All the English and French batteries opened on Sebastopol, and continued incessantly through the night and following day. The Russian loss was acknowledged by Gortschakoff at 833 killed and wounded.

APRIL 10.

879. LOUIS II. of France, died. He is characterized as a weak prince, who had not sufficient firmness to maintain his rights.

1534. JAMES CARTIER sailed from France with two small ships and 122 men, with a view to the establishment of a colony. He arrived at Newfoundland in May, and named the gulf St. Lawrence, from his entering it on the day of that festival. He returned without effecting a settlement.

1563. The city of Goa in India introduced printing.

1599. GABRIELLE D'ESTREES, a mistress of Henry IV, died. She was descended from an illustrious house, and was 20 years of age when her beauty captivated the king. He procured a divorce from Margaret of Valois, in order to raise Gabrielle to the throne; but her sudden death, probably by poison, frustrated the plan, and plunged him in excessive grief. Her amiable disposition, gentleness of character and modesty, won her general favor, and she was universally lamented by the French.

1603. A couple of vessels, fitted out by the mayor and aldermen of Bristol, under the command of Martin Pring, to make discoveries on the north of Virginia, and collect sassafras, sailed for the American coast. The sassafras, which was greatly overrated for its medicinal virtues, formed a profitable article of traffic, and is still extensively exported to Great Britain. Of this, they procured a cargo near Bristol, Rhode Island.

1606. The colony of Virginia, as it was called, divided by the king into two colonies. Although 109 years had elapsed since the discovery of the country by the Cabots, in the service of Henry VII, the English had made no effectual settlement in the new world. Twenty years had elapsed since Walter Raleigh attempted the settlement of a colony in Virginia, but not an Englishman was now to be found in the country.

1630. WILLIAM HERBERT, earl of Pembroke, died. He was the son of the illustrious Mary Sidney, and united in himself the virtues of his mother with the manners and accomplishments of a scholar. He is the author of a volume of poems.

1651. Birthday of EHRENFRIED WALTER VON TSCHIRNHAUSEN, an ingenious Lusatian mathematician, and founder of the celebrated Dresden porcelain manufactory. He also constructed, about the year 1687, an extraordinary burning mirror.

1653. OLIVER CROMWELL, having turned out the long parliament, locked the doors upon them.

1703. ANDREW MOREL, a Swiss antiquary died. He was a diligent and curious collector of medals, and in a work published in 1683 promised to give a description of twenty thousand medals, exactly designed. A part of this great work appeared after his death, in two vols., folio, describing 3,539.

1728. ROBERT WOODCOCK, an eminent English musician and composer, died. He also excelled as a painter of sea pieces.

1736. FRANCIS EUGENE, prince of Savoy, died, aged 73. He was born at Paris, and destined for the church, against his own inclinations. He applied to the king for a company of dragoons, and on being refused, entered the Austrian service. His first campaign was in capacity of a volunteer against the Turks; where he acquitted himself with so much distinction, that he was appointed to the command of a company of dragoons. He finally rose step by step to the rank of commander in chief of the Austrian army, and achieved a succession of brilliant victories and enterprises in Europe, which humbled the arms of the French, and rendered his name immortal in the annals of fame. His successful campaign in conjunction with the duke of Marlborough, rendered him so popular in England, that a maiden lady bequeathed him £2500, and a gardener £100. [By some authorities, 21st.]

1741. Battle of Molwitz, between the Prussians and Austrians. The latter were defeated with the loss of 7000 men and 180 officers. The Prussians took 1200 prisoners; their loss was 1500 killed, and 3000 wounded.

1752. WILLIAM CHESELDEN, an eminent English surgeon and anatomist, died. He acquired great professional reputation, and published several popular works. He was the first foreigner admitted into the French royal academy of surgery.

1756. JOSEPH VAISSETTE, a French ecclesiastic, died. He published a _History of Languedoc_, and a _Universal Geography_.

1774. JOHN SAAS, a French canon and librarian, died. He wrote an abridgment of the French _Historical Dictionary_, and other works.

1786. JOHN BYRON, the English admiral, died. He enjoys a high and merited reputation for courage and professional skill.

1794. The islands of the Saints, in the West Indies, captured by the British.

1795. Action between the British ship Astrea, Capt. Pawlet, and French ship La Glorie, 24 guns: the latter was captured.

1796. Battle of Montenotte, which was attacked by the Austrians under Beaulieu, and defended by the French under Rampon, with such desperate resistance that Bonaparte had time to come up and obtain a victory, taking 2000 prisoners.

1797. Miss FARREN, the actress, took leave of the stage, after the performance of her part in the _School for Scandal_, to marry the earl of Derby.

1798. BERNADOTTE, the French ambassador at Vienna, in obedience to the Directory, displayed the tri-colored flag at his lodgings; but the populace in a rage tore it down. Not receiving the satisfaction he desired, he left the court.

1806. HORATIO GATES, a distinguished officer in the revolutionary war, died. He came over from England as a soldier, and at the defeat of Braddock, 1755, was shot through the body. He joined the American army in 1775, and in 1777 captured Burgoyne. He was afterwards defeated by Cornwallis, at Camden. In 1790 he liberated his slaves in Virginia, and removed to New York, where he died.

1813. VON BERGER and FINK executed at Oldenberg, Germany. When the Russians approached the town, the French magistrates fled, leaving a committee of regency of which the above were members. This committee were summoned before a court martial, at which Vandamme presided, and these two excellent men were unjustly condemned to death, although their accuser had only proposed their imprisonment.

1813. JOSEPH LOUIS LAGRANGE, a Sardinian mathematician, died. He went to Paris 1787, where he met with great favor, and under Bonaparte was invested with honors and dignities. His chief work is the _Méchanique Analitique_.

1814. Battle of Toulouse, at which the French under Soult were defeated by Wellington.

1816. The bank of the United States incorporated by act of congress, with a capital of $35,000,000.

1818. JOHN CLEVES SYMMES, "of Ohio, late captain of infantry," promulgated "to all the world," his theory that the earth is hollow, containing a number of solid concentric spheres, one within the other, and that it is open at the poles 12 or 16 degrees. His theory amused the world for a number of years.

1823. CHARLES LEONARD REINHOLD, an Austrian philosopher, died. He was sent to study with the Jesuits, whose order was abolished while he was a student. In 1787 he settled at Jena, which owes much of its reputation to him, and in 1797 at Kiel, where he died. His works are numerous.

1835. JACOB SCHMUCK, a distinguished officer in the war of 1812 with England, died. He was a native of Pennsylvania, died at St. Augustine.

1842. JOHN SUTHERLAND, commonly called _Killyman_, died at Merigonisbe, aged 116. He was born in the last year of the reign of George I, and consequently lived under all the sovereigns of the house of Hanover, six in number. He emigrated to Nova Scotia about 1822, and continued to wear the kilt to the end of his life, declaring that he would never disgrace his country by adopting a foreign garb.

1856. The Americans under Lieut. Green attacked 200 Costa Ricans, killed 27 of them and dispersed the rest. American loss 1 killed and 2 wounded.

1856. A company of 208 men left New York to join Gen. Walker in Nicaragua.

APRIL 11.

52 B. C. Trial of MILO for the murder of Clodius, in the consulship of Pompey. All the unwashed industry of the city was crammed within the forum on that momentous day; but neither Cato's candid ballot, nor the splendid labors of Tully, were sufficient to save the tyrant-killer; so that he was banished to Marseilles, and his estate confiscated.

44 B. C. MARC ANTONY recorded in the senate a decree of Julius Cæsar, on behalf of the Jews, made thirty-four days before his assassination. The decree is addressed to the senate of Paros, who had forbidden the Delian Jews to worship in the manner of their forefathers.

1415. PIERRE PLAONT, bishop of Senlis, died. A large quarto Bible fairly written on vellum was presented by him to the House of the Sarbonne for the use of the poor, valued at £15.

1447. HENRY BEAUFORT, brother of Henry IV of England, died. He held the highest ecclesiastical and civil offices in England, under the king; was created cardinal and pope's legate in Germany; and is characterized as proud, haughty and ambitious.

1512. Battle of Ravenna, in Italy, between the Spanish and papal troops, and the French under the brave Gaston de Foix. The French were victorious, with the loss of their general, who was killed in endeavoring to cut off the retreat of the Spaniards. He was but 24 years of age.

1544. Battle of Cerisoles, between the imperialists under the marquis del Geasto, and the French, count de Enguin, who obtained the victory. The marquis was wounded, and 10,000 of his men slain; his tents, baggage and artillery, and many prisoners taken.

1555. THOS. WYATT beheaded; acquitting with his last breath the princess Elizabeth and the earl of Devonshire.

1585. GREGORY XIII, (Hugh Buoncompagno), pope of Rome, died, aged 83. He was an able pontiff, and has rendered his name immortal by the reformation of the calendar, and the adoption of the style which bears his name. This plan, necessary and useful, was long pertinaciously rejected by the protestants, and not adopted by them generally till about two centuries after, and not yet by Russia.

1644. The parliamentary forces under the two Fairfaxes victorious at Selby; 1600 common soldiers, 2000 stand of arms and 500 horses, the result. The parliament ordered a day of thanksgiving.

1669. CLIFFORD, ARLINGTON, BUCKS, ASHLEY, LAUDERDALE, constituted the cabinet council of Charles II. From the initials of their names, this was called the king's _cabal_.

1713. The celebrated peace of Utrecht concluded, and with it the twelve years' war for the throne of Spain, in which the principal powers of Europe had been engaged, at a vast expense of life and treasure.

1733. The sheriffs of London and eminent merchants in 200 carriages, went to the house of parliament with a petition against the excise bill, then pending.

1737. PHILIP HECQUET, a French physician, died. He is the original of the immortal Sangrado of _Gil Blas_. He was a man of great simplicity of diet, and a friend to bleeding and the use of warm water at proper times, whence the caricature. He published several medical works.

1758. The wooden bridge over the Thames at London was burned down.

1766. Above 100 convicts left Newgate, in London, for the American colonies. They passed along with music playing before them.

1786. The first commencement of Columbia college, New York, when, the papers of the day say, "the public with equal surprise and pleasure, received the first fruits of reviving learning, after a lamented interval of many years."

1798. STANISLAUS AUGUSTUS PONIATOWSKI, the last king of Poland, died. He was elected to the throne in 1764 under the influence of Russian bayonets; was an elegant and accomplished gentleman, with good intentions, but without the energy and firmness of purpose necessary to sustain a tottering throne, and bridle a licentious nobility. The three great robbers, Russia, Prussia and Austria, divided his kingdom between them, and he retired to private life at St. Petersburgh, on a pension, where he died.

1799. Battle of Ledjars, in Syria; the French under Kleber defeated the Turkish and Arabian army, consisting of 4000 cavalry and 5000 foot, and compelled them to retreat across the river Jordan.

1801. ANTHONY DE RIVAROL, a French author, died. He was a man of great acquirements, and associated with the learned men of France before the revolution.

1804. JAMES THOMAS died in Tatnal county, Georgia, aged 134.

1805. Treaty signed between Great Britain and Russia, the basis of the anti-Gallican alliance.

1808. British order in council encouraging evasions of the United States embargo law.

1812. Four British barges taken in Hampton roads by the frigate Constellation and revenue cutter Jefferson; prisoners 80.

1814. NAPOLEON subscribed the treaty of abdication at Paris. On the same day the white banner was advanced by lord Wellington on the ramparts of Toulouse.

1816. Act of the British parliament regulating the intercourse with St. Helena during Bonaparte's confinement there. It legalized the detention of the fallen emperor as a prisoner of war during the king's pleasure; British subjects aiding or assisting him to escape, to suffer death.

1817. WILLIAM BELOE, an English divine and critic, died. He is principally known as the translator of Herodotus and Aulus Gellius, though his works are numerous and highly creditable.

1817. At Dartmoor, England, a man sold his wife in the market place. She stood as in olden times, with a rope round her neck. Her first lover was the purchaser at the price of two guineas.

1823. County of Wayne erected in western New York.

1824. JEAN BAPTISTE DROUET, who arrested Louis XVI in his flight, and was expelled from France as a regicide, died under the assumed name of Meyer, at Macon in France.

1829. The catholic relief bill passed the house of peers, in the British parliament after much discussion.

1832. RAFFAELE MORGHEN, a celebrated Italian engraver, died at Florence, aged 72.

1833. ROWLAND HILL, an able and eccentric preacher, died, aged 89. He usually spent a considerable part of the summer in visiting various parts of England, preaching in churches of every denomination that would admit of his services, and occasionally to large assemblies in the open air. He preached for the last time to an immense audience, but three days before his death.

1837. KIRK BOOTT died at Lowell. He was a native of Boston, and received an excellent education, partly in England; went to Spain, and joined the British army as an officer under Wellington; spent two years at the military school at Woolwich, Eng.; on his return to Boston he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and subsequently was called to superintend the erection of manufacturing establishments at Lowell, where, by his enterprise, energy and extraordinary talent, his name became identified with the prosperity of that new and flourishing city.

1840. ALEXANDER NASMITH, the father of the Scottish school of landscape painting, an eminent artist, and author of numerous productions, died at Edinburgh, aged 83.

1844. JAMES STEWART, commonly known as Jimmey Strength, died in England, aged 116. He was born at Charleston, S. C., 1728, and at the age of 20 enlisted as a soldier--was at the battle of Quebec and Bunker's Hill. He had five wives and 27 children. Ten of his sons were killed in battle. His strength was remarkable. During the last 60 years of his life he traveled the _borders_ as a wandering minstrel, scraping upon a wretched violin.

1854. One of the college buildings of the Indiana University was destroyed by fire; it contained a library of 2700 volumes.

1854. The emperor NICHOLAS issued a manifesto to all his Russian subjects, stating the object of the war with Turkey and the allied powers.

1855. Broussa, in Asia Minor, again visited by an earthquake, and the wooden buildings in the place were mostly destroyed by fire.

1856. The great bridge over the Mississippi at Rock Island completed, and locomotives passed from the Illinois to the Iowa side.

1856. Battle of Rivas; General WALKER, with 400 Americans and 300 natives, attacked the Costa Ricans, numbering 3000 men, who after a long contest left the city. The latter acknowledged a loss of 200 killed and 400 wounded; Walker's loss, 80 killed and disabled, including almost all of his official staff.

APRIL 12.

205 B. C. The shrine of the potent goddess Cybele received at Rome from Pessinus, and deposited in the temple of Victory; Scipio Africanus and Crassus Dives, consuls. This was done in pursuance of an oracle in the sybilline books, which affirmed that if a foreign enemy invaded Italy, they might be vanquished by introducing the goddess Cybele into the capital.

65. LUCIUS ANNÆUS SENECA, the Roman philosopher, destroyed himself by order of Nero. He was born in the first year of the Christian era, received a careful education, and became a disciple of the stoic school of philosophy. He was the tutor of Nero, who, listening to the calumnies of his enemies, had him accused of treason and condemned. He professed a contempt for luxuries, but was not indifferent to wealth, for he acquired an immense estate. His _Morals_ have often been republished in English.

276. MARCOS CLAUDIUS TACITUS, emperor of Rome, died, at Tyana upon Saurus. He claimed descent from Tacitus the historian, was a wise, benevolent and patriotic ruler, and had reigned but six months when he was snatched away by assassination or some violent disease.

1204. Siege of Constantinople by the French and Venitian crusaders. In the pillage which followed the conquest of this superb city, all the admirable monuments of Grecian art were demolished, including a colossal Hercules, by Lysippus. This deed by Christians is a great offset to the wanton depredations upon works of art of which the Turks and pagans are so often accused.

1443. HENRY CHICHELEY, archbishop of Canterbury, died. His talents fitted him for the office; and the office enabled him to exercise his benevolence and charity with munificence. He founded the college of All Souls.

1520. FRANCIS ALVARES, a Portuguese priest, arrived at the court of David, king of Abyssinia, where he remained six years, and on his return published an account of his embassy.

1549. JOAN of Kent, an anabaptist, condemned to be burned.

1646. FRANCIS DE BASSOMPIERRE, marshal of France, died. He was one of the most distinguished and the most amiable men of the court of Henry IV. Incurring the displeasure or the jealousy of Cardinal Richelieu, he was sent to the Bastile, where he remained 12 years, until the death of the cardinal. He wrote his own memoirs and a history of his embassies, while in prison.

1655. FRANCIS GUYET, an eminent French critic, died. He employed many years in traveling and study, and finally settled in Paris, where he became so much esteemed that he might have risen to the highest honors, had he not preferred retirement.

1678. THOMAS STANLEY, a learned English writer, died, aged 34. He published a _History of Philosophy_, containing the lives and opinions of philosophers, of every sect, a work of great merit and popularity, and which was translated into Latin for the use of the German literati.

1695. Votes of the assembly of New York first published.

1695. JOHN KITTLEWELL, an English divine, died. He acquired great reputation previous to the revolution, but refusing to take the oath of allegiance after that event, was deprived of his living, and devoted his time to writing.

1704. JAMES BENIGNUS BOSSUET, bishop of Meaux, in France, died. He distinguished himself as a preacher and a writer of great erudition. His works were published in 12 vols. quarto.

1709. First number of the _Tatler_ appeared.

1734. THOMAS FAUTET DE LAGNY died at Paris. His mathematical efforts and researches were directed more to subjects of curiosity than utility. He carried the quadrature of the circle to 120 decimal places.

1743. GEORGE CHEYNE, a Scottish physician, died. He was studious and abstemious in his youth, but on coming to London, cultivated the society of free livers for the advantages of trade! till he became at length extremely asthmatic, lethargic, listless, and corpulent, exceeding 32 stone in weight. Finding the power of medicine unavailing, he returned to a milk and vegetable diet, and recovered his strength, activity and cheerfulness, with the free and perfect use of his faculties; and by a regular observance of this regimen, reached the mature age of 72. His writings are numerous, and principally on health and longevity.

1749. British ships Namur, 74 guns, 700 men; Pembroke, 60 guns, 400 men; Apollo, 40 guns, 300 men; and a great many merchantmen, lost on the coast of Coromandel; 23 men only saved from the Namur.

1749. FRANCIS BELLENGER, a learned doctor of the Sarbonne, died at Paris. He translated some of the ancient historians, and wrote criticisms on Rollin's works, to show his ignorance of Greek.

1757. Subsidiary treaty between England and Prussia; England to pay annually 4,000,000 crowns to Frederick II.

1765. EDWARD YOUNG, the English poet, died, aged 84. He was educated for the church, but was unfortunately induced to abandon it for politics, in which he was unsuccessful. His _Night Thoughts_ had their origin in a melancholy state of mind, produced by his misfortunes.

1770. GEORGE III gave his assent to the act for repealing the duties on glass, paper and colors, in America; but the duty was continued from a point of honor, and as a badge of sovereignty over the colonies.

1780. The British opened their fire upon the American batteries at Charleston, which they continued until the 20th.

1782. PIETRO METASTASIO, an Italian poet, died. He supplied the opera for a number of years with popular operas and oratorios. He has been styled the poet of love. In all his works he stands high; in his operas he is unrivaled.

1782. The French fleet under count de Grasse defeated by the British under Rodney, with the loss of 9,000 killed and wounded. A French 74 gun ship was blown up, and one of the same rate sunk; two 74's, one 64, and the Ville de Paris, of 110 guns, having on board the French admiral, were taken. Thirty-six chests of money, the whole train of artillery, battering cannon, and traveling carriages, were on board the captured vessels--a circumstance which totally disabled the French from carrying on offensive operations against the British possessions in the West Indies. British loss 1,050 killed and wounded. A new system of tactics for breaking through the line of an enemy was here made use of for the first time. It was invented by John Clerk, of Eldin, a country gentleman, unacquainted with navigation. His principles have since been applied by all the English admirals, and Howe, St. Vincent, Duncan and Nelson, owe to them their most signal victories.

1782. Action off Ceylon, between the French under Admiral Suffrein, and the British under Hughes. British loss, 144 killed and 400 wounded.

1784. JOSEPH RAULIN, an eminent French physician, died. He was induced by Montesquieu to remove to Paris, where he acquired great reputation, and was employed by government to write medical works.

1788. The first power loom began to work at Philadelphia, and on the first of November following the quantity of cloths manufactured was 3,719 yards jean, 580 corduroys, 67 federal rib, 57 beaver fustian, 3,672 plain cottons, 123 birdseye, and 2,879 linen; total 11,197, besides the quantity then in the looms.

1800. FREDERICK CONRAD HORNEMANN, a celebrated German teacher, who had undertaken a journey into Africa for discovery, wrote that he was on the point of setting out with the great caravan of Bornou, since which nothing certain has been learned of him.

1804. JOSEPH DACRE CARLYLE, an English orientalist, died. He devoted much attention to the study of Arabic, traveled in the east, and on his return was employed in the publication of the Bible in Arabic, when his constitution gave way under the task imposed upon it.

1809. The French fleet in Basque roads destroyed by the British under Admiral Cochran. The British lost but 10 killed and about 40 wounded. The loss of the French in vessels and men was tremendous.

1810. The French captured the East India company's settlement at Tapanooly, in Sumatra.

1814. Count D'ARTOIS, brother of Louis XVI, entered Paris; Bonaparte set off for the island of Elba; intercourse between France and England opened; and a grand illumination in London, on account of the restoration of the Bourbons, and peace with France, which was continued three days.

1814. CHARLES BURNEY, an English musical composer, died. He commenced the study of music as an organist. At the age of 31 he undertook to write a _General History of Music_, upon which he bestowed nearly 40 years of labor and travel. He visited all the institutions of Europe at which he could obtain important information for his work. He furnished the musical articles for Rees' _Encyclopedia_, and is the author of several other valuable works.

1815. Great eruption of Tomboro, which commenced on the 5th. The explosions resembled the firing of cannon, and were heard at Sumatra, not nearer than 900 miles. Such were the tremendous effects of the burning lava, the overflowing of the sea, the falling of houses, and the violence of the whirlwind, that out of 12,000 inhabitants on this island, only 26 survived. At Java, 300 miles distant, the air was so full of ashes, as to produce profound darkness at mid-day; and at Bima, 40 miles distant, the roofs of many houses were crushed by the weight of ashes falling on them.

1816. Hamilton county in northern New York erected.

1829. FELIX NEFF, a Swiss preacher, died. He undertook to improve the education and domestic habits of the peasants of the dreary regions called the High Alps of France. He persevered a number of years with much success; but his unremitting labors destroyed his constitution, and led to a premature death.

1834. N. G. DUFIEF, a French linguist, died. His mother was distinguished for her heroism in the Vendean war; and the son was driven to America by political disturbances, and resided at Philadelphia. He just survived the publication of his great work, the _Pronouncing Dictionary_.

1839. JOHN GALT, the novelist, died at Greenock, Scotland, aged 60. Being unsuccessful in business in London, he visited the south of Europe in 1809, and soon after commenced an active literary career, which continued till near the close of his life.

1839. The justly celebrated Dr. Black, of Mareschall college, Aberdeen, Dr. Keith so well known as a writer on prophecy, with the devoted Messrs. McCheyne and Bonar of the Scottish church, sailed from Dover in England to inquire into and devise measures for the amelioration of the state of the Jews in Palestine. This mission proved of much benefit.

1840. FRANCIS ANTHONY, chevalier de GERSTNER, a distinguished Austrian engineer, died at Philadelphia, aged 44. He commenced at his own risk, the first rail road on the continent of Europe, from Budweis on the Moldau, to Lintz on the Danube, 130 miles. He suggested to the emperor Nicholas the project of a rail road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a portion of which was undertaken under his direction, and first opened in 1837, and since prosecuted by the government.

1848. New code of New York laws adopted.

1849. Signor GASPARIS, at Naples, discovered a new planet, making the fourth added to our system in four years.

1850. ADONIRAM JUDSON, a celebrated baptist missionary died at sea.

1854. A review of 25,000 troops in Paris, before the British officers.

1854. The French squadron under Admiral Parseval-Deschenes, sailed from Brest to join the British fleet in the Baltic.

1855. The United States gave the twelve months' notice to Denmark of their intention to terminate the treaty of 1826, by which the payment of sound dues was recognized.

APRIL 13.

58 B. C. JULIUS CÆSAR finished his famous wall of entrenchment, 16 feet in height and 17 miles in length, from Geneva to St. Claude; being a labor of only 6 days.

1436. Paris surrendered to the French under Charles VII, having been almost 14 years in the possession of the English.