Chapter XIII: Part 13

1517. Cairo taken by the Turks under Selim, after a gallant resistance, and 50,000 of its inhabitants barbarously massacred. The sultan was hanged on one of the gates, Egypt was reduced to a province, and the power of the Mamelukes crushed, who for more than 260 years had swayed the land.

1584. An expedition fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh took possession of Wowoken, on the coast of America, since called Virginia. A colony was left there, but they were cut off by the Indians, and every one put to death.

1598. HENRY IV of France published at Nantes the memorable edict of toleration; it was revoked 1685, by Louis XIV.

1605. BORIS GODOONOFF, czar of Moscow, died. He was called to the throne by acclamation, on the death of Fedor, the last of the dynasty of Ruric. In abilities and vigor of character, he resembled Peter the great; and might be called one of the greatest of princes, was not his name tarnished by a crime that led his way to the throne.

1638. HENRY, duke of Rohan, a French warrior and historian, died. He signalized himself under Henry IV, both in the field and in the cabinet, but the jealousy of Richelieu drove him to Geneva. He joined the duke of Saxe Weimar against the imperialists, and was wounded in the battle, of which he died.

1640. The English parliament again met by royal mandate, after a refusal on the part of the king to call one for 12 years.

1641. RICHARD MONTAGUE, a learned English prelate, died. He published several controversial works.

1684. NICOLAO ANTONIO, a Spanish author, died. He published an account of all the Spanish writers, in 4 vols. folio, entitled _Bibliotheca Hispania_. He spent his income, which was large, in acts of charity, and in collecting a library, which at his death, amounted to 30,000 volumes.

1686. ANTONIO DE SOLIS, a Spanish author of note, died, aged 76. He was appointed historiographer of the Indies, and wrote the _Conquest of Mexico_, on which his fame as an author principally rests.

1699. Birthday of MARIA CATHARINA WALTER, in Germany. She died in Philadelphia, 1802, aged over 103, having lived in three centuries.

1722. CHARLES LESLIE, an Irish theologian, died. He was a magistrate under James II, and respected for his talents and integrity. His writings were numerous, and sought for with avidity.

1726. VELASCO Y. PALOMINO, a highly admired Spanish painter, died at Madrid.

1742. OLIVER REYLOF died at Ghent, eminent as a Latin poet.

1743. CHRISTOPHER PITT, an English poet, died. His translation of Virgil's _Æneid_ is said to be superior to Dryden's.

1759. GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, the illustrious German musical composer, died at London, aged 75. His grand oratorio, the _Messiah_, appeared in 1741.

1759. Battle of Bergen, in which the duke of Broglio defeated the allies under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who lost 2,000 men and the Hanoverian prince Ysemberg.

1777. Battle of Boundbrook, New Jersey, in which 500 Americans under Gen. Lincoln were attacked by 2000 British under Cornwallis, and effected a retreat with the loss of 60.

1782. Third action off Ceylon, between the British under Admiral Hughes, and the French under Suffrein; latter defeated.

1787. Board of regents of the university of the state of New York established.

1788. Great riot in New York, occasioned by the imprudent manner in which the physicians procured subjects from the burying grounds; several lives lost.

1794. PETER GASPARD CHAUMETTE, a French revolutionist, executed. He was the son of a cobbler, displayed great courage at the taking of the Bastile, and became one of the most sanguinary and reckless characters of the time, till his career was arrested by the guillotine.

1795. Riots in England on account of the high prices of food.

1796. Battle in the defiles of Millesimo, Italy, in which the French under Augereau and Joubert defeated the imperialists, who retreated to the mountains of Cossaria.

1799. Schaffhausen, on the Rhine in Switzerland, taken by the imperialists.

1801. The canal at Alexandria, Egypt, cut by the British, and the country inundated.

1804. Makey, a Malay settlement on the coast of Sumatra, destroyed by the British.

1807. ROBERT HERON, an erudite and popular writer, died. By unwearied industry he raised himself from an obscure to a prominent situation in society.

1813. Battle of Castilla, in Spain; the British under Sir John Murray, defeated the French under Suchet.

1815. The bill for the construction of the Erie canal from the Hudson river to lake Erie, passed the house of assembly, 84 to 15.

1818. THOMAS HATCHCOCK died in Richmond county, North Carolina, aged 125, leaving a son aged 93 and another 16, and a great progeny besides.

1827. HUGH CLAPPERTON, a Scottish traveler, died. He was employed by the British to explore the interior of Africa, and died at Sackatoo, on his second journey thither.

1832. SHADRACH BOND, first governor of Illinois, died at Kaskaskia.

1839. ROBERT HILLHOUSE, an English poet, died. He was a stocking-weaver of Nottingham, and had no advantages of education but such as were afforded by Sunday schools. His works "will insure his celebrity as a poet of no mean grade."

1850. Pope PIUS IX returned to Rome.

1853. WILLIAM R. KING, vice-president of the United States, died. He was for many years a diplomat abroad, and his career furnished a remarkable instance of the eminent and deserved success of probity, fidelity, industry, gentlemanly spirit and bearing, and inflexible honor.

1855. HENRY THOMAS DE LA BECHE, an eminent English geologist, died, aged 59. He was the author of many geological works, and director-general of the geological survey of the united kingdom, and was knighted in 1848, in recognition of his valued and long-continued services.

1856. Philadelphia visited by a tornado, 150 houses unroofed.

APRIL 14.

979. ETHELRED II, crowned at Kingston by the famous Dunstan, then archbishop of Canterbury. This was the first king in England who took a coronation oath, and the first it is said to institute trial by jury. In this reign priests were forbidden to marry.

1040. HAROLD I (_Harefoot_), king of England, died. He was succeeded by his brother Hardicanute, whose first act was to order the body of Harold to be dug up and thrown into the Thames.

1293. Naval engagement in the British channel, between the French and English fleets, by mutual agreement, with the whole of their respective forces. The English, under Edward I, were victorious, carrying off more than 250 sail of their opponents.

1293. The mariners of Portsmouth and the Cinque Ports captured the Norman fleet, of 200 ships, off Brittany, and massacred the crews.

1322. FITZ-SIMEON and HUGH the illuminator, two friars of Dublin, commenced their pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre.

1345. RICHARD AUNGERVILLE, an English scholar and statesman, died; better known as Richard de Bury. He may be classed as the first bibliomaniac upon record in England. He purchased thirty or forty volumes of the _Abbot of St. Albans_, for fifty pounds weight of silver; and so enamored was he of his collection, which became very large for that period, that he expressly composed a treatise on the love of books, entitled _Philobiblon_.

1471. Battle of Barnet, between Edward IV and the great earl of Warwick, in which the latter was defeated and slain, together with his brother and 10,000 men. Margaret (the queen of Henry VI, who was confined in the tower,) landed from France on the same day with troops, only to hear the tidings of the disaster which had befallen her cause.

1558. Marriage of the dauphin of France with Mary Stuart, queen of Scots, to whom he had been affianced ten years.

1619. JOHN VAN OLDENBARNEVELDT, a statesman in the time of Elizabeth, beheaded for his praiseworthy attempts to limit the power of the stadtholder Maurice, which were construed into crimes. His noble lady, who witnessed his death without emotion, was afterwards solicitous for the pardon of a son, telling the astonished Maurice that she did not ask pardon for her husband for he was innocent, but she entreated for her son for he was guilty.

1662. WILLIAM FIENNES, Lord Say and Sele, died. He was a troublesome subject under Charles I and Cromwell; but became tractable under Charles II (as he had been under James I), and was promoted, instead of others who had been more devoted to the royal cause.

1685. THOMAS OTWAY, an English dramatist, died. His tragedy of _Venice Preserved_ still keeps the stage; and though his pieces were generally successful, he died at a public house (where he had secreted himself from his creditors) in a state of great destitution, at the early age of 34.

1707. Battle of Almanza, in which the combined English and Portuguese armies were totally defeated by the French and Spaniards under the duke of Berwick, with the loss of 5,000 killed and wounded, and 10,000 prisoners.

1711. LOUIS, the dauphin of France, died of smallpox, aged 50.

1743. THOMAS RUNDLE, a learned English prelate, died. He was the intimate friend of the learned and polite of his age. A volume of his letters has been published.

1760. LOUIS SILVESTER, an eminent French painter, died. He was ennobled by the king of Poland.

1769. JOHN GILBERT COOPER, an English miscellaneous writer, died. He was a man of wealth, who made literature his amusement. His works, original and translated, are lively and elegant.

1780. Battle of Monk's Corner in South Carolina; the American cavalry surprised and defeated by Tarleton.

1783. MICHAEL FRANCIS DANDRE-BARDON, a French painter, died. He was professor in the academy of painting, and admired for his historical writings.

1785. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD, an English poet, died. His principal works are the _Roman Father_ and _Creusa_, dramas, which were received with great applause.

1793. Action between the British ship Phæton and French privateer Dumourier, with a Spanish prize in tow. The prize was taken; her cargo was valued at £1,300,000, and £935,000 was adjudged salvage for her recapture.

1793. JOHN BAPTIST GOBEL, a French bishop, guillotined. He took an active part in the revolution, abjured religion, and was _condemned by Robespierre for atheism_, and executed.

1795. A cargo of boards arrived at Newburyport, the first arrival through the locks and canals on Merrimack river--an expensive project of inland navigation, which was the best then in vogue.

1796. Battle of Millesimo, Italy; the French under Napoleon defeated the Austrians and Sardinians, who lost 2,500 killed, about 8,000 prisoners, and 22 cannon.

1801. LEMUEL HOPKINS, a Connecticut physician and poet, died. He was singular in his appearance and habits, but possessed great skill and assiduity in his profession; and as a man of learning and a poet entitled to more fame than is awarded him.

1803. JOHN F. HAMTRAMCK, an officer of the revolution, died at Detroit, where he was stationed as colonel of the first regiment of United States infantry, and commandant of Detroit and its dependencies. He served during the whole war of the revolution, with such distinguished merit as to receive the particular approbation of Washington.

1809. BEILBY PORTEUS, bishop of London, died. His talents and acquirements procured him honors and wealth; and his writings will perpetuate his name.

1814. Congress repealed the embargo law of Dec, 1813.

1855. The office of the _Industrial Luminary_ in Parkville, Missouri, was broken into, and ransacked, and the press thrown into the Missouri river, and the editors ordered to leave the state. The mob voted that no person belonging to the northern methodist church should preach in Platte county under "the penalty of tar and feathers for the first offence, and a hemp rope for the second."

APRIL 15.

1491 B. C. The Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sin, on the 15th of Jiar, just a month after their departure from Ramasses.

43 B. C. First battle of Mutina, the modern Modena, in which Marc Antony was repulsed by the two consuls Hirtius and Pansa, assisted by Octavius Cæsar. Pansa died of the wounds he received in this conflict, and Hirtius was slain after he had achieved a second and more decisive victory.

1053. GODWIN, earl of Kent, died. He was a powerful Saxon baron, who distinguished himself under Canute in the war with Sweden.

1205. BALDWIN I, emperor of Constantinople, defeated by Joannices, king of the Bulgarians, and taken prisoner.

1415. EMANUEL CHRYSOLORAS, a learned Greek, died. He was employed by John Palæologus as ambassador to different courts of Europe, where he acquitted himself with honor.

1513. The English fleet under sir Edward Howard defeated off Brest by the French.

1521. The faculty of divines of the university of Paris, after many meetings held in the Sorbonne, drew up a _censure_ of the heresies of Luther, which was solemnly proclaimed in a general assembly on this day.

1558. A volcano burst out near a spring in the isle of Palma, one of the Canaries.

1570. WILLIAM ALLEY, bishop of Exeter, died. During the reign of Mary he retired, and kept a school and practiced physic, in order to avoid persecution; but on the accession of Elizabeth he was promoted. He wrote the _Poor Man's Library_, and other works.

1611. RICHARD MULCASTER, a celebrated scholar and English writer, died at Stanford Rivers, where he was rector.

1632. GEORGE CALVERT, lord Baltimore, died. He was a learned, amiable and accomplished man, who resigned his offices under James I on embracing the catholic faith. The king, however, raised him to the Irish peerage of Baltimore. He obtained a grant for a plantation in Newfoundland; but the invasions of the French obliged him to abandon it, after he had spent £25,000 in its settlement. In the place of it, he received a territory on the continent, now known as the state of Maryland.

1642. Battle of Killrush in Ireland, in which the Roman catholic army was signally defeated by the duke of Ormond.

1659. SIMON DACH, a German poet, died. He lived in a humble condition until he was appointed professor of poetry in the university of Konigsberg. His secular songs are said to be lively and natural; his sacred songs distinguished for deep and quiet feeling.

1670. JOHN DAILLIE, a distinguished French protestant divine, died. His works evince great learning and judgment, and excited much interest.

1697. CHARLES XI of Sweden died. He was successful in war, and respected as a just prince.

1702. The proprietaries of East and West Jersey surrendered the government to queen Anne, after which it continued under one government, called New Jersey.

1715. The Yamasses, a powerful tribe of Indians in South Carolina, having meditated the extirpation of the English settlements in that state, fell upon Pocataligo and the neighboring plantations, and massacred all who fell into their hands.

1719. FRANCES D'AUBIGNE, madame de Maintenon, a celebrated French lady, died. From a state of want and dependence she rose to be the wife of the king of France, though not publicly married. Her exemplary life and extensive charity after that event, made amends for many errors committed in reaching the height of her ambition.

1720. LUKE MELBOURNE, an English divine, died. He was a prose and poetical writer of considerable ability, and his name is frequently introduced by Dryden and Pope in their works.

1754. The first theatre opened in Philadelphia, at the west corner of Cedar and Vernon streets, with the _Fair Penitent_ and _Miss in her Teens_.

1755. The counters of the bank of England were broken down by the crowd in their eagerness to obtain lottery tickets.

1756. JAMES CASSINI, a French astronomer, died. He succeeded his father as astronomer royal, and made many important discoveries.

1758. The strong fortress of Schweidnitz, in Prussia, taken by assault, by the Prussians, and count Theirhaimb with 5,000 Austrians surrendered.

1761. JAMES CAWTHORNE, an English poet, died. His poems were collected and published quarto, in 1771.

1761. WILLIAM OLDYS, a famous English antiquary, died. He was well versed in English antiquities, a correct writer and a good historian.

1764. JANE ANTOINETTE POISSON, marchioness de Pompadour, died. She was the favorite of the licentious Louis XV. The patronage she extended to literature and the arts in some degree atoned for the follies she committed.

1764. ARCHIBALD LAIDLIE, having accepted a call from the reformed protestant Dutch church in New York, preached the first English sermon before that congregation.

1768. The populace at Peterborough, England, demolished a house that had been opened for the inoculation for small pox. The pretence was to prevent the spreading of a new disease.

1776. JAMES GRANGER, a learned and ingenious English divine, died. He is the author of a valuable _Biographical History of England_, 4 vols, quarto.

1777. A party of 100 Indians attacked the settlement of Boonesborough, in Kentucky, and killed 4 of colonel Boone's men.

1777. Congress resolved that no distinction be made between the troops, and that the titles of Congress's Own Regiment, Washington's Life Guards, &c., be abolished.

1777. British picket near Bonumtown, N. J., stormed by a detachment under captain Patterson.

1786. ANDREW WILSON executed at Edinburgh. This execution occasioned the subsequent Porteous mob.

1788. MARY DELANY, an ingenious Irish lady, died, aged 88. She corresponded with some of the learned men of the day; but is chiefly known by an ingenious _Flora_ which she commenced at the age of 74, and labored at with taste and assiduity nearly ten years, when her sight began to fail her. It was constructed of paper, cut and painted to resemble nature, with great accuracy of form and color.

1791. The first corner stone in the district of Columbia was laid at Jones's point, near Alexandria, with the imposing masonic ceremonies of the time, and a quaint address by Rev. James Muir. By the retrocession of Alexandria, a little more than fifty years after, the corner stone was no longer within the district.

1793. FORSTER POWELL, the celebrated English pedestrian, died, aged 59. His favorite walk was from the monument in London to the cathedral in York and back again, a distance of 340 miles, in less than six days.

1793. PHILIBERT FRANCIS ROUXELLE DE BLANCHELANDE executed; distinguished in the American war, and at the taking of Tobago.

1796. Second battle of Dego, Italy. The Austrians under Beaulieu surprised the French and carried the village. Massena, who attempted to stop their progress, was repulsed; Bonaparte with Victor and Lannes finally succeeded in driving them out.

1813. ALEXANDER MURRAY, a Scottish linguist, died. His _History of European Languages_, which was published after his death, is a work of great research and merit. His application hastened his death, which took place at the early age of 37.

1816. A brick-red snow fell on Tonal and other mountains in Italy.

1817. The memorable law upon which the system of internal improvement of the state of New York is based, passed the legislature.

1820. JOHN BELL, an eminent surgeon of Edinburgh, died at Rome. He is well known for his valuable works on surgery and anatomy.

1825. HENRY FUSELI, a Swiss painter, died. He was induced to visit England, where he distinguished himself.

1828. MICHOFSKY, a Russian farmer, died at Pleskow, in the government of Novogorod, aged 165. He led a very sober life, though occasionally he partook of ardent spirits. He never ate meat more than twice a week. At 120 he still labored in the field. His mother lived to the age of 117, and one of his sisters 112, but his father died at 52.

1834. AYLET HAWES, a distinguished philanthropist, died in Culpepper county, Virginia. He manumitted his slaves, 110 in number, and provided for their removal to Liberia.

1840. JAMES BROWNE, a Scottish author, died at Edinburgh; a man distinguished for his learning and research, for several years editor of the _Caledonian Mercury_, and a writer of valuable articles in the _Encyclopedia Britannica_, particularly on grammar, history, biography, &c.

1843. CHARLES BULFINCH, an eminent American architect, died in Boston, Mass. The state house at Boston and the capitol at Washington were built after his designs.

1846. At an eruption of mount Hecla the pillars of fire rose from a new crater to the height of 14,000 feet. The ice and snow which had covered the mountain for many centuries were wholly melted, and pieces of scoriæ weighing 200 pounds were thrown a league and a half.

1852. ALEXANDER MACKAY, an English political economist and reformer, died, aged 33. He was many years connected with the _Morning Chronicle_ newspaper; traveled in the United States in 1846-7, and published his observations in three volumes, under the title of _Western World_.

1854. JAMES MOORE died at Metrechin, N. J., aged 100. His death was occasioned by a fall, before which he was accustomed to walk 12 miles a day.

1854. The steam boat Secretary, while crossing San Pablo bay, from San Francisco to Petaluma, burst her boiler, by which the boat was blown to pieces, and more than 50 persons perished.

1856. An affray occurred at Panama between the passengers of the American transit company and the natives, in which 30 passengers were killed and 20 wounded.

APRIL 16.

29 B. C. OCTAVIUS CÆSAR entered Rome and celebrated the grand triple triumph of nine days, for his victories at Dalmatia, at Actium and Alexandria, and shut the gates of the temple of Janus Quirinus the second time. This is also the anniversary of his being saluted _Emperor_. The city at this time was 50 miles in circumference, containing 4,000,000 inhabitants, and the annual revenue of the state amounted to about $180,000,000,000!

66. The massacre and crucifixion of 3600 Jews took place at Jerusalem, on the 16th Artemisius, (Jiar) under the procuratorship of Gessius Horus.

1546. Paul III excommunicated the bishop of Cologne for heresy in countenancing Lutheranism. The bishop resigned rather than expose his people to the miseries of war.

1548. Evening prayer began to be read in English in king Edward VI's chapel.

1551. A pestilence broke out at Shrewsbury, in England. It reached London in July, and the weekly mortality was upwards of 700. It ravaged the eastern and northern parts of the kingdom till September, when it stopped suddenly.

1564. Birthday of WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, at Stratford-upon-Avon.

1629. The lord treasurer's warrant issued, giving liberty for 60 women and maids, 26 children, and 300 men, with victuals, arms, apparel and tools, 140 cattle, some horses, sheep and goats, to go to America. They sailed in 6 ships, and landed at Naumkeak, in Massachusetts, now Salem, a name which was chosen in place of the aboriginal one, as expressive of the peaceful asylum they found in the American wilderness.

1634. Of seven sailors left by the Dutch on the coast of Greenland, for the purpose of establishing a wintering place, the first one died. These sailors were amply supplied with every article of clothing, provisions and utensils thought necessary or useful in such a situation. A journal was kept by them, by which it appears that on the ninth October they began to make a constant fire to sit by; and soon after it was remarked that they experienced a considerable change in their bodies, with giddiness in their heads. At the time of the death of this man, they were all disabled but one person. This poor wretch continued the journal till the last day of April, when they were praying for a speedy release from their miseries. On the return of their countrymen in the spring, they were all found dead. (See Jan. 14th for a similar event.)

1639. WILLIAM KIEFT having become governor of New Netherland, took the affidavit of sundry persons to the effect that under the administration of his predecessor the public interests had been neglected, and the fortifications allowed to go to decay.

1644. WILLIAM BREWSTER, one of the leading members of the Plymouth colony, died. He possessed a large property in England, which he lost in escaping from ecclesiastical tyranny, and supported himself in Holland by teaching a school.

1662. Three of the judges who condemned Charles I, namely Miles Corbet, John Ohey and John Barstead, were arrested in Holland, and sent to England for execution.

1681. The province of New Jersey offered for sale, at about $25,000. An original letter is still in existence, from the earl of Bath to lord Norbury, since sold by auction as a curious manuscript, containing a proposal for the sale, in which it is represented as "a country almost as large as England, belonging to the late George Carteret."

1689. APHARA BEHN (alias _Astrea_) an English authoress, died. At Surinam, where her family resided, she became acquainted with the African prince Oroonooko, on whose story she founded a novel, which Southey has dramatized. Her works consist of novels, poems and 17 plays.

1743. CORNELIUS VAN BYNKERSHOEK, an eminent Dutch lawyer, died. He published several law works, which display great talents and research, and is characterized as "one of the most learned among modern civilians."

1746. Battle of Culloden, which terminated the Scottish rebellion. The forces of the pretender were defeated, with the loss of 1,200 slain, by the English under the duke of Cumberland, second son of George II, and the pretender himself compelled to flee to France.

1781. Naval action in the harbor of St. Jago, Cape de Verde, between the British fleet under Johnstone, and the French under admiral Suffrein, in which the latter were compelled to retire with considerable loss.

1788. GEORGE LOUIS LECLERC, count de Buffon, died. He was the greatest naturalist of the 18th century. His _Natural History_, to which he devoted fifty years of his life, was published in 36 vols. and opened a new science to the world.

1796. SAMUEL PINNOCK, a negro, died at Kingston, Jamaica, aged 125.

1796. Battle of Cera; the entrenched Piedmontese camp attacked by the French under Augereau and Joubert; the former fought all day, and then evacuated their camp.

1799. Battle of Esdrelon and Mount Tabor; the Syrian army defeated by Bonaparte, with the loss of 5,000 men.

1811. A plantation at Port-Royal mountains, Jamaica, on which were about thirty acres of coffee, sunk down and disappeared, so that only the ridge of the house was discernible.

1812. HUGH WHITE, founder of Whitestown, near Utica, New York, died.

1813. Part of the British squadron anchored off Petapsco river, within sight of Baltimore.

1814. CHARLES PHILIP, count d'Artois, declared the Capetan, or French monarchy, to be re-established.

1820. ARTHUR YOUNG, a celebrated English agriculturist, died. He traveled extensively in Great Britain and on the continent with a view to the improvement of husbandry. Besides his works on agriculture he published his tours.

1823. WILLIAM ASPINWALL, an American physician, died, aged 80. He was a surgeon in the revolutionary army, and was famous for his skill in the treatment of smallpox. He erected hospitals, where he received patients to be inoculated for the disease; but on becoming convinced of the efficacy of vaccination, he closed them.

1830. Earthquake in Central America; several towns destroyed.

1831. National congress of Belgium dissolved.

1832. MUZIO CLEMENTINO, the father of pianoforte music, died in England. He was born at Rome, 1752, and practiced in his profession as a musician with great applause in the principal cities of Europe.

1840. WILLIAM PITTS, an eminent sculptor, died at London, aged 50.

1847. JOHN BURNHAM, aged 93, and his wife, Mehitable, aged 90, died in Essex, Mass., and were buried in one grave. Two days previous Benjamin Burnham, aged 92, died at the same place. They were the three oldest inhabitants of that town.

1854. The city of San Salvador was wholly destroyed by an earthquake, causing the loss, in less than one minute, of more than 200 lives, and four millions worth of property.

1854. The ship Powhatan, from Havre for New York, having on board 311 emigrants, went ashore in a gale on Long Beach, near Egg Harbor, was totally wrecked, and not a single passenger was saved.

1856. THACHER MAGOUN, a noted American ship builder, died, aged 81. He laid the first keel of a ship at Midford, Mass., in 1802, and during half a century built a fleet.

APRIL 17.

1013. ABDULLAH, a Moorish historian, was killed at the taking of Cordova, his native city.

1421. An inundation of the rivers at Dort, in Holland, which swept away 100,000 persons, and destroyed 72 villages.

1434. The ice broke up at Paris, which had continued from the first of January. Snow fell in Holland forty days successively during the same winter.

1492. The Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, signed at Granada their grant to Columbus, constituting him hereditary admiral and viceroy over all the islands and continents he should discover during his expedition, with the benefit of a tithe of the profits arising from the merchandise found within his admiralty.

1537. The river Simeto, in Sicily, overflowed its banks, and destroyed 500 houses with the neighboring castles, and all the wood was uprooted by a storm.

1575. WILLIAM DAVENANT, a learned German, died. He was the friend and confidant of the leaders of the reformation, as well as of every man of learning and consequence of the age. His works are numerous.

1610. HENRY HUDSON sailed on his last voyage.

1613. A "prodigious monster" born at Adlington, England, with two bodies joined to one back. It was described by a reverend gentleman, in a pamphlet entitled _Strange News_.

1670. ERIC DANIEL ACHRELIUS, a Swedish philosopher and professor at Abo, died, aged 66.

1688. GEORGE VILLIERS, duke of Buckingham, died. He distinguished himself as a statesman, a poet and dramatic writer; but his character both in public and private life was extremely reprehensible.

1697. CHARLES XI, king of Sweden, died; successful as a warrior and accounted a just prince.

1704. _The Boston News Letter_, the first newspaper printed in the North American colonies, was commenced at Boston, by John Campbell, who was a bookseller and postmaster, and printed by B. Green.

1711. JOSEPH I, 15th emperor of Austria, died. He was crowned king of Hungary, 1687; elected king of the Romans, 1690, and succeeded to the empire of Germany, 1705.

1761. BENJAMIN HOADLEY, bishop of Winchester, died, aged 85. He was a great controversialist, and started a question which occupied the press a number of years. His works comprise 4 volumes folio.

1765. Lord BYRON convicted before the house of peers in London of manslaughter in slaying Mr. Chaworth in a duel. Being a privileged peer, burning in the hand was dispensed with, and he was discharged on the payment of fees.

1770. Great illumination of the city of London, on account of the liberation of the celebrated politician, Mr. Wilkes, from prison.

1777. HENRY WOODWARD, a celebrated English comedian and harlequin, died, aged 60. His death was occasioned by an accident as he was jumping upon a table in the character of Scrub!

1780. Engagement between the British fleet under Rodney, and the French, admiral De Guichen, in the West Indies. The French took shelter under Guadaloupe, where the British were too much crippled to follow.

1784. Universal religious equality created by law in New York.

1790. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, the American printer, statesman and philosopher, died. He was born at Boston, 1706, and went to Philadelphia at an early age, where he spent the remainder of his life. His public career is well known; his private life, written by himself, is full of counsel, and cautions, and examples of prudence and economy, and is the largest work he ever composed.

1794. The Russians expelled from Warsaw by the Poles.

1796. The French convention decreed that all printers of journals should be personally liable for the contents of their papers, as well as the hawkers, sellers and posters of periodical papers.

1816. An act for improving the internal navigation of the state of New York, embracing the Erie and Champlain canals, became a law. Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellison, and Myron Holley, were created commissioners, and seventy thousand dollars appropriated to the purpose.

1817. Seven Luddites hanged at Leicester, England. Luddites was a name given to malcontents who went about destroying labor-saving machinery.

1830. Navigation of the Black sea opened to American vessels.

1834. IVAN PETROVITCH MARTOS, died; formerly director of the academy of fine arts at St. Petersburg, and one of the most eminent sculptors of the age. His works are found in the principal cities of Russia.

1835. WILLIAM HENRY IRELAND died. He rendered himself notorious by an attempt to impose on society some dramatic compositions of his own, as relics of those of Shakspeare. He confessed himself the author, and fully exonerated his father who had been implicated in the fraud.

1837. JOSEPH ANDERSON, an American statesman, died at Washington, aged 80. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and served in the New Jersey line throughout the revolutionary war.

1837. HENRY VOSE died at Woodville, Mississippi, of small pox. He was distinguished at the West Point school as a proficient in mathematics, and was subsequently connected with the press in Mississippi, to which he contributed extensively in geography, statistics and history.

1837. United States sloop of war Natchez captured a Mexican brig of war, after having made a formal demand upon the Mexican authorities to release six American vessels which had been illegally captured.

1838. JOHN REILAY died at Troy, aged 104.

1843. ALEXANDER PROUDFIT, pastor of the Associate reformed church at Salem, Washington co., N. Y., and secretary of the New York Colonization society, died, aged 75.

1849. The steamer General Pike burnt on the Mississippi, when Col. Butler of Texas, with several others, perished in the flames.

1850. JAMES THOM, the sculptor, died at New York.

1852. ETIENNE MAURICE GERARD died in Paris, aged 74. He entered the army in 1791, and was engaged in the battles of Fleurus and Austerlitz, and in those of the disastrous Russian campaign; became a marshal and peer of France, and twice held the place of minister of war.

1854. Riot at Saginaw, Michigan; some 300 armed men attempted to burn the jail, and rescue certain prisoners. The sheriff and others were killed.

1854. The Winchester, an emigrant ship from Liverpool for Boston, was wrecked, and a large number of passengers lost.

1855. A new planet of the eleventh magnitude was discovered by Luther, at the observatory of Bilk, near Dusseldorf.

1855. Petropaulowski deserted by its inhabitants, and its fortifications destroyed, and what stores could not be removed were burned.

1856. The peace conference at Paris terminated, for the settlement of the war in the Crimea between Russia on the one side, and England, France and Turkey on the other.

APRIL 18.

515 B. C. The Jewish passover, a festival in commemoration of the destruction of the first born of the Egyptians, while the houses of the Jews were spared, was celebrated in the new temple.

1551. NICHOLAS UDALL obtains a patent to print the works of Peter Martyr and the English Bible.

1552. JOHN LELAND, styled the father of antiquaries, died in London. He applied himself to his favorite pursuit with so much ardor as to impair his reason. He was the most accomplished writer of the age.

1556. LEWIS ALEMANNI, a Florentine statesman, died. He was at the head of the faction that sought to expel the Medici; but finding himself unable to keep his popularity, he fled to France, where he was employed as a diplomatist.

1587. JOHN FOX, the martyrologist, died, aged 70. His attention was early turned to the reformation, and he studied the early writers with so much devotion that his seclusion and frequent absence from church excited the persecution of his enemies, and occasioned him a great deal of misfortune.

1593. Shakspeare's poem of _Venus Adonis_ entered in the books at Stationer's Hall.

1610. ROBERT PARSONS, an English Jesuit, died at Rome. His abilities procured him the patronage of the pope, and he was employed in educating missionaries to convert protestants in England. He possessed the elements of turbulence and intrigue to a great extent, but his operations were entirely unsuccessful.

1630. Manors in America created.

1640. PETER KIRSTENIUS, a German physician, died at Upsal. He applied himself with great assiduity to literature and science, acquired 26 languages, and published among other things an Arabic grammar.

1676. Sudbury, Mass., attacked by the Narragansetts. Several houses and barns were burnt, and a small party who had hastened from Concord to their relief were intercepted and cut off. Another party of 50, sent from Boston for the relief of Marlborough, which the Indians had totally destroyed the day before, went in pursuit of the enemy, were drawn into an ambush and suddenly surrounded by a body of 500. The gallant leader and his brave band fought with desperate valor to the last man: but they fell a prey to the numbers, the artifice, and the bravery of their enemies. The Indians lost about 120.

1689. Sir EDMUND ANDROS, governor of Massachusetts, seized and imprisoned by the people, and the old magistrates reinstated. This revolution was brought about after the colonists had borne the impositions of the new administration about three years, on the circulation of a rumor that a massacre was intended by the governor's guards.

1689. GEORGE JEFFREYS, baron Wem, the infamous lord chancellor under James II, died. He was never formally admitted to the bar, yet continued to practice unrestrained until he attained the highest employments in the law. He was one of the advisers and promoters of all the oppressive and arbitrary measures of the reign of James II, till the revolution transferred him to the tower, where he died.

1710. ALEXANDER LAINEZ, a French poet, died. His pieces possess great vivacity and elegance.

1710. Four Indian chiefs from eastern New England and Canada, arrived at London and were carried in the royal coaches to their audience with the queen.

1768. Madame BONTEMS, a French poetess, died at Paris. She was respected for her wit and knowledge; she published a translation of Thompson's _Seasons_.

1781. British evacuated Camden, S. C., after burning the jail, mill, several houses, the greater part of their baggage and stores, and a large quantity of private stores. They left 31 American and 58 British soldiers, and 3 officers, all too badly wounded to be removed.

1782. Naval action between the French and British fleets, in which Rodney of England defeated and took prisoner Count de Grasse of France.

1791. LOUIS XVI and the royal family arrested by the populace, while on their way to St. Cloud, and compelled to return to Paris.

1794. CHARLES PRATT, earl of Camden, died, aged 80. He was an eminent English statesman and judge, and particularly distinguished himself by his animation and eloquence in parliament.

1794. JEAN JOSEPH DE LABORDE, a wealthy French merchant, guillotined. At the breaking out of the American revolution, he alone furnished the government with twelve million livres in gold at Brest, which enabled the expedition under Rochambeau to set sail. He sustained an admirable character and bestowed immense sums for charitable and benevolent objects. He fell a sacrifice to the fury of the revolution, at the age of 70, for no offence but that of being rich.

1796. SIDNEY SMITH was taken prisoner on the French coast, and sent strongly guarded to Paris.

1797. Austria made peace with France, ceding the Netherlands, free navigation of the Rhine, &c., to France.

1802. ERASMUS DARWIN, an English poet, died. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and first appeared before the world as a poet in 1781, by the publication of the _Botanical Garden_. He has left behind him the character of an able man of great eccentricity. His publications tended to materialism, and although popular for a time, have nearly fallen into oblivion.

1831. JOHN ABERNETHY, an eminent English surgeon, died. During his studies he was remarkable rather for the oddity of his conversation and manners, than for any indications of genius; and passed by the name of the _ostler_, on account of his attending the lectures in the dress of a groom. His medical and surgical works are numerous, and his eccentricity was proverbial.

1838. Enactment of the New York general banking law.

1842. CHARLES BELL, a distinguished medical author, and brother to the anatomist, John Bell, died at Edinburgh.

1847. The American army carried the heights of Cero Gordo with much loss, but took many prisoners.

APRIL 19.

481 B. C. An eclipse of the sun noticed by Herodotus.

1110. ROBERT, abbot of Molesme, founder of the Cistersians, died. The Cistersian monks allotted several hours of the day to copying books, or sacred studies and manual labor. (See March 28, 1134.)

1390. ROBERT II, of Scotland, died, aged 84. He was the first of the house of Stuart who reigned, and was crowned in 1371. On the accession of Richard II of England a war commenced which continued during the greater part of his reign.

1529. The elector of Saxony, marquis of Brandenburg, landgrave of Hesse, dukes of Lunenburg, prince of Anhalt, together with 14 imperial cities, entered a solemn protest against the decree of the diet of Spires condemning their nonconformity to the Romish church by abolishing the mass, &c., declaring the decree unjust and impious. Hence they were distinguished by the name of _protestants_.

1560. PHILIP MELANCHTHON, a celebrated German divine, died. He was a coadjutor with Luther in the reformation, and one of the wisest and greatest men of his age.

1593. GILES BAYS died; a celebrated Parisian printer, and the first after Ramas to make a distinction between j & i and u & v in printing.

1598. HENRY IV of France published the memorable edict of Nantes, by which protestantism was tolerated in his dominions.

1608. THOMAS SACKVILLE, an English statesman and poet, died. He distinguished himself as a writer by the tragedy of _Gorboduc_, the first regular play on the English stage. As a statesman he has left a fair character.

1618. THOMAS BASTARD died, a poet and preacher of England, of considerable learning and ability.

1669. GEORGE BATE, an English physician, died. He had the talent and address to keep his situation as court physician to Charles I, Cromwell and Charles II. He wrote an account of the civil wars in Latin.

1684. The Synod of Edinburgh changed the year of confirmation for children from 8 to 16 years.

1689. CHRISTINA, queen of Sweden, died. She resigned the sceptre, 1654, became a catholic, and resided at Rome. She was a woman of great abilities and learning, and corresponded with the learned men of the day in different languages.

1689. The toleration act, so famous among dissenters and others in England, was passed.

1710. The 5 Mohawk chiefs, who were taken to England by Col. Schuyler, attended an audience of great state with the queen, and made a speech.

1739. NICHOLAS SAUNDERSON, an English mathematician, died. He lost his sight from smallpox, at the age of one year; notwithstanding which he acquired a knowledge of Greek and Latin, pursued his studies with the assistance of friends, and was sent to Cambridge University, where he became acquainted with Newton, and was finally chosen professor of mathematics. His eminence in the science of certainties has rarely been equaled.

1747. THOMAS COXETER, an English antiquary, died. He was a faithful and industrious collector of old English literature, amassed materials for a biography of the English poets, and assisted Ames in his _History of English Typography_.

1751. JOHN BANKS, an English author, died. He was originally a weaver's apprentice.

1751. LA CAILLE arrived at the cape of Good Hope, for the purpose of observing the southern hemisphere. He remained there three years, during which period he determined the exact position of ten thousand stars, and fixed the situation of the isles of France and Bourbon.

1765. While at dinner with his family at Redriffe, in England, a blacksmith was killed by a cannon ball projected from an old cannon thrown into a neighboring furnace for fusion.

1775. Battle of Lexington, which commenced the revolutionary war. About 800 British grenadiers and light infantry, proceeding to destroy the military stores at Concord, fell in with about 70 militia, upon whom they fired and killed 8. The British proceeded to Concord, where they partially effected their purpose, but were compelled to retreat before the gathering provincials, although reinforced by 900 men and 2 pieces of cannon. In this excursion the British lost 65 killed, 180 wounded, and 28 prisoners. The provincials lost 88 killed, wounded and missing.

1779. Col. VAN SCHAICK marched from fort Schuyler and destroyed Onondaga, N. Y., killed 12 Indians, took 34 prisoners, together with a large quantity of stores, arms, horses, &c. He returned without losing a man.

1782. Holland acknowledged the independence of the United States.

1783. Cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in the American army, just eight years from the day on which the war commenced. The loss of lives to the Americans during this war was estimated at 70,000 men, vast numbers of whom died on board of prison ships; not less than 11,000 died in the Jersey prison ship alone.

1787. Dr. HERSCHEL observed three lunar volcanoes.

1791. RICHARD PRICE, an eminent English divine, died; celebrated for his great abilities in arithmetical calculations, and for very numerous and valuable writings, theological, political and scientific.

1797. Battle of Diersheim, between the Austrians under the veteran Gen. Kray, and the French under Hoche, &c. The former were defeated with the loss of 4000 prisoners, and all their cannon, baggage, ammunition, &c.

1797. The French under Moreau defeated the Austrians and entered Kehl. The Austrians fled, abandoning everything to the enemy.

1813. BENJAMIN RUSH, a distinguished American physician and statesman, died. He was a member of Congress in 1776, and a signer of the declaration of independence. Few men have been greater ornaments to the country, and very few have acquired greater reputation both at home and abroad.

1824. GEORGE GORDON, lord Byron, died aged 36. At the age of 19 he published a volume of his juvenile poems, which were the precursors of some of the rarest productions which the language affords. His career was marked by singularities and dissipation. Having embarked in the struggle of the Greeks for liberty, he was attacked by fever and died at Missolonghi.

1833. JAMES GAMBIER, a British admiral died. He commanded the fleet which took possession of the Danish navy in 1807. He was characterized by great piety and benevolence.

1837. M. ANCILLON, a Prussian minister, died at Berlin, aged 70; eminent as a statesman, philosopher and publicist.

1839. AARON OGDEN, an American statesman and patriot, died. He served as an officer during the whole of the revolutionary war; after which he practiced law for many years with great reputation, and held important civil offices.

1854. JOHN DAVIS, a Massachusetts statesman of great ability, died, aged 67.

1856. THOMAS ROGERS, a noted manufacturer of cotton machinery, died in New York, aged 64. He early turned his attention to the construction of iron work and machinery for rail roads, and in 1835 began the manufacture of locomotives, in the construction of which he became greatly distinguished.

APRIL 20.

69. MARCUS SALVIUS OTHO, emperor of Rome, died. He ascended the throne after the murder of Galba and Piso, and three months after, being defeated by Vitellus, killed himself, rather than fall into the hands of the conqueror.

332. Battle of Mæsia, in which Constantine defeated the Goths under Alaric, and compelled them to recross the Danube.

1314. CLEMENT V (Bertrand de Goth), pope of Rome, died. He was a Frenchman, bishop of Bordeaux, elected pope, 1305; was accused of licentiousness and extravagance.

1534. ELIZABETH BARTON (_the Holy Maid of Kent_), and several other persons, hanged at Tyburn, and their heads set up in several parts of London, for practicing an imposture.

1558 (or 9). JOHN BUGENHAGEN, a learned coadjutor of Martin Luther in translating the scriptures, and author of commentaries thereon, died.

1566. JOHN MASON, an English statesman, died. He rose from obscurity to places of honor under Henry VIII, and maintained his influence at court under Edward, Mary and Elizabeth.

1579. A man named Hammond was burnt in a ditch at Norwich, England, for the crime of obstinate heresy, as charged by the bishop of Norwich.

1626. St. Salvadore, capital of Brazil, surrendered by the Dutch to the Portuguese.

1657. Naval battle in the harbor of St. Cruz, Teneriffe, in which Admiral Blake attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet of 16 ships, under the protection of the batteries on shore. This was his last and greatest achievement.

1708. DAMARIS MASHAM, a learned English lady, died. She was an authoress, and deservedly respected, not only for her learning, but for every virtue.

1718. JAMES PETIVER, an English botanist, died. He collected a valuable museum, and wrote several works on botany.

1743. French seigniories on Lake Champlain.

1750. JOHN LEWIS PETIT, a celebrated French surgeon, died. He was invited to visit the king of Poland, and afterwards went to Spain to attend on Ferdinand. He invented some valuable surgical instruments, and published several works on surgery.

1775. General PUTNAM joined the patriot band at Concord, having rode his horse about 100 miles in 18 hours.

1777. First constitution of New York state adopted.

1792. French declared war against Francis I, as king of Hungary and Bohemia.

1795. Treaty between the French convention and the Chouans.

1798. JENKINS, known in London as the _tall clerk_, died. His outer coffin measured 8 feet. He was buried under the floors of the banking house which covered a part of St. Christopher's burying ground. £200 had been offered for his body.

1798. Engagement between the British ship Mars, 74 guns, Capt. A. Hood, and French ship L'Hercule, 74 guns, and 700 men. The British captured the Frenchman, but with the loss of Capt. Hood killed.

1809. Battle of Abensburgh; the Austrian army defeated by Napoleon, who took about 10,000 prisoners and 40 cannon. This defeat broke the lines of the Austrians, and exposed them to farther misfortunes.

1810. Great fire at Constantinople, 8,000 houses burnt.

1812. GEORGE CLINTON, vice-president of the United States, died. He was a member of the colonial assembly at the breaking out of the revolution, when he received the appointment of brigadier-general. He was selected governor of New York five times.

1813. The advance of the British and Indians appeared before Fort Meigs.

1821. FREDERICK CHARLES ACHARD, a Prussian naturalist and chemist, died. He is principally known as the inventor of a process of manufacturing sugar from beets, which has since been brought to great perfection.

1835. SAMUEL SLATER, "father of the cotton manufacturing business in the United States," died. The first cotton manufactory in this country was built by him at Pawtucket, R. I.; it was standing and in operation at the time of his death.

1838. A meteoric shower observed at Knoxville, Tenn.; 154 meteors being counted by two observers between the hours of 10 at night and 4 in the morning.

GEORGE NUGENT, general and field-marshal, died in England at the age of ninety-two. He was the oldest field officer in service, having entered it in 1773. He served throughout the American revolutionary war, and was employed in the expedition up the Hudson for the relief of Burgoyne's army. He was also present at the capture of Forts Clinton and Montgomery.

1842. BERTRAND CASSEL, who for a time was a resident of the United States, and during that period was sentenced to death by the French government, died at Toulouse.

1845. WILLIAM READ, a member of Gen. Washington's staff, died at Charleston, S. C., aged 91.

1847. Battle of Cherubusco.

1854. An offensive and defensive alliance was signed between Austria and Prussia.

1854. The bill of Miss Dix, the philanthropist, granting ten millions of acres of the public lands to be distributed among the states, to ameliorate the condition of the indigent insane, was vetoed by the president.

1856. ROBERT L. STEVENS died at Hoboken, N. J., aged 68. He devoted much time to the improvement of steam machinery and steam boat models; was one of the projectors of the Camden and Amboy rail road, and at the time of his death was engaged by government in building an immense steam battery for harbor defence.

APRIL 21.

753 B. C. Anniversary of the foundation of Rome, in the 3d year of the 6th olympiad, 431 years after the destruction of Troy, and 116 years from the building of Carthage. Romulus was in his 17th year when he received the regal title, and his subjects consisted of a legion of 3,000 foot and 300 horse.

753 B. C. REMUS, the brother of Romulus, slain by the workmen who were building Rome, for ridiculing the weakness of the walls. Thus marked with blood at the outset, the city became the sanctuary of refugees and criminals, and to increase the population, neighboring females were dragged within its boundaries.

323 B. C. DIOGENES, _the cynic_, died at Corinth, aged 90. He was expelled from his native city, Synope, for coining false money. His smart sayings and repartees were taken for wisdom, and his misanthropy and residence in a tub for philosophy! He _snarled_ at the follies of men--wherein he differed from two other _great philosophers_, one of whom laughed at, the other wept for, the foibles of the world.

248. The thousandth anniversary of the foundation of Rome celebrated, in the reign of the emperor Philip, when Pompey's famous theatre was burnt.

1073. ALEXANDER II, pope, died. He possessed _one_ Christian virtue, that was charity for the Jews, whom he protected from murder and rapine.