Chapter XXXVII: Part 37

1002. Massacre of the Danes, throughout England, by order of king Ethelred, one of those infamous shifts by which coward tyranny secures its sinister purposes. Neither age nor sex was spared, and among the victims was Gunilda, sister of Sweyn, king of Denmark. Her husband and children were butchered before her eyes. In the following year Sweyn invaded England and swept the country with fire and sword.

1004. ABBON DE FLEURY, a French ecclesiastic of note, who encouraged learning among the monastics, died of a wound he received in attempting to allay a brawl.

1499. VINCENT YANES PINZON sailed from Palos, in Spain, for America, with four caravals, and was the first Spaniard who ventured to cross the equinoctial line. He explored a part of the coast of South America, and named the river which is still called Amazon--so named from the Spaniards observing that the women fought with the same bravery as the men in the common defence.

1503. FRANCISCO ALMEIDA, the first Portuguese viceroy of India, having surrendered his office to Albuquerque, sailed from Cochin for Portugal.

1539. The Bible, called _Matthew's Bible_, was permitted to be read in private houses, "of the royal liberality and goodness."

1549. Pope PAUL III died, and was succeeded by cardinal de Monte, who took the name of Julius III.

1553. Arraignment of lady JANE GREY at Guildhall.

1558. Cardinal POLE, since the death of bishop Cranmer, bishop of Canterbury, died.

1620. The Plymouth colonists disembarked on cape Cod, and proceeded to make discovery of the country, and search for a convenient place of settlement. In the course of this search they found baskets of corn concealed under heaps of sand, a quantity of which they brought away in a great kettle found at the ruins of an Indian house. This gave them seed for a future harvest, and preserved the infant colony from starvation.

1624. THOMAS ERPENIUS died at Leyden; a most learned Dutch writer, and incomparably skilled in the oriental tongues.

1646. A new volcano in the island of Palma, one of the Canaries, near Teneriffe.

1647. Battle of Knockinoss, in Ireland, during the rebellion, when the Irish army of 8,500 strong, under lord Taafe and sir Alexander MacDonnel, were routed by 5,200 under lord Inchiquin. The Irish left 4,000 in the field of battle. The British parliament voted lord Inchiquin £1,000 for his conduct on the occasion.

1650. THOMAS MAY, an English dramatic poet and historian, died.

1654. WILLIAM HABINGTON, an English poet and historian, died.

1690. LEWIS DE WOLZOGEN died; a divine of Amsterdam, and a zealous partisan of the Socinians.

1712. JOHN ERNEST GRABE, a Prussian divine, died in England, where he published an edition of the _Septuagint_, and wrote some valuable works on divinity.

1712. ARTHUR MAYNWARING, a learned Englishman, died. He was a member of parliament under queen Anne, and wrote in prose and verse.

1715. Battle of Dumblane between the king's troops under the duke of Argyle, and those of the pretender under the earl of Mar, not decisive.

1715. Defeat of the pretender's forces at Preston, and many persons taken, among whom was their leader Mr. Foster.

1726. SOPHIA DOROTHY, only child of the duke of Zell, and wife of George I, of England, died. The malice of another subjected her to 32 years' captivity.

1770. GEORGE GRENVILLE, a celebrated English statesman, died. He was distinguished for his eloquence in the senate.

1771. Eruption of Solway Moss, in England. It is about seven miles in circumference, and composed of mud and putrid fibres of heath, diluted by internal springs. It burst its barrier in the night, and laid a large tract of country in ruin.

1781. JOHN MOODY hanged at Philadelphia as a spy. He intended to have seized the books and papers of congress.

1798. JEAN FRANCOIS CALLET, a French mathematician, died. It was to prevent the occurrence of errors in his tables that Didlot attempted the art of stereotyping.

1805. BONAPARTE entered Vienna; the commencement of a favorite plan of his to dictate peace to the conquered monarchs of Europe in their own capitals.

1810. JAMES ALLEN, the Northumbrian piper, died.

1812. BONAPARTE on his retreat from Moscow, quitted Smolensk for Krasnoy. His army was now reduced to 43,000.

1813. The junta, under the title of national assembly, declared the independence of Mexico.

1817. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN, an eminent Irish barrister, died; celebrated for his eloquence and wit.

1832. A French army of 75,000 men entered Belgium and marched for Antwerp to assist in establishing the independence of the country.

1833. Remarkable meteoric phenomenon, which extended over a large portion of North America. The first appearance was that of fireworks of the most imposing grandeur, covering the entire vault of heaven with myriads of fire balls resembling sky rockets, and showers of fiery snow driven with inconceivable velocity to the north-west. Similar phenomena were witnessed in Arabia on this day the previous year. It was observed again on this day, 1837, at New York and New Haven.

1835. HENRY FREDERICK STORK died at St. Petersburg. He was an eminent writer as well on belles lettres as political economy.

1835. CHARLES AUGUSTUS BOTTIGER died; an eminent German scholar and archæologist, author of various learned works, and aulic counselor to the king of Saxony.

1836. CHARLES SIMEON, a most able and zealous English prelate, died at Cambridge. His works were published in 21 large octavo volumes. His funeral was attended with great solemnity by the whole town; the shops were closed and 1,300 persons joined the procession in the deepest mourning.

1839. The town of Kelat, in Beloochistan, taken by the British army. Mehrab Khan was killed, his principal sirdirs killed or taken, and hundreds of others captured.

1854. A great tempest raged over the Black sea, which continued several days; 18 British and 12 French ships were lost near Balaclava, together with 340 men and a large amount of property.

NOVEMBER 14.

332. B. C. Era of the accession of Alexander the great to the Persian rule.

565. JUSTINIAN I, emperor of Rome, died. He built St. Sophia's church at Constantinople, and reduced the Roman laws into a code, which was called the Digests or Pandects.

1318. The greatest earthquake ever known in England.

1524. FRANCISCO PIZARRO sailed from Panama for the conquest of Peru. Diego de Almagro, and Hernando de Luque a priest, associated with him under bonds and oaths for mutual protection. This expedition was a failure; they were repulsed and compelled to leave the country. More than six years afterwards the attempt was renewed with success.

1556. JOHN DE LA CASA, an Italian writer, died. Besides some beautiful Italian poems, he wrote the lives of cardinals Contarini and Bembo, and various other works.

1574. An aurora borealis appeared in England.

1672. FRANCIS DE LA BOE SYLVIUS, an eminent Dutch physician, died. He was professor of medicine at Leyden, where he ably demonstrated the truth of Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood.

1690. Capt. JAMES CAMPBELL, brother of the duke of Argyle, with the assistance of sir J. Johnstone, seized a rich heiress and married her, for which Johnstone was afterwards hung and Campbell divorced.

1716. GODFREY WILLAM LEIBNITZ, a German philosopher, died. He had in his life the singular felicity of being esteemed the greatest and most learned man in Europe.

1736. GEORGE SALE, a learned Englishman, died. He was well skilled in oriental literature, and contributed much to the completion of the _Universal History_, but his chief work is a translation of the _Koran_.

1770. Bruce discovered the sources of the mighty Nile.

1785. A chebeck with 19 men and 23 passengers, passing from Majorca to Ivica, was attacked by an Algerine pink, and boarded by about 100 men, in spite of the firing of two cannon and the musketry. A bloody engagement ensued, in which all the Moors but 6 or 7 were killed. These were assaulted by a volley of hail shot, which fired some powder casks, and blew up the vessel, destroying all on board but the captain and 3 passengers, who got to Ivica in a boat, badly wounded.

1800. MARQUIS DE BOUILLE, a celebrated French general, died; during the American war he served with credit in the West Indies, but being opposed to the enormities of the French revolution he was compelled to seek an asylum in England.

1804. JACOB BRYANT, an English philologist and antiquary, died. He was a learned and indefatigable writer, but fond of paradox.

1809. BONAPARTE was congratulated on his return from Austria, by the public bodies of Paris, as "the greatest of heroes, who ever achieved victories but for the happiness of the world."

1809. FREDERICK MORTON EDEN, an English diplomatist and writer on political economy, died.

1812. Battle of Smolnya; the French under Victor and Oudinot defeated by the Russians under Wittgenstein, with the loss of 1,500 dead on the field, and 800 prisoners. Russian loss 1,000.

1825. JEAN PAUL FREDERICK RICHTER, a German writer of the first rank in belles lettres, died. He is known as Jean Paul among the Germans, and his numerous works are held in very high repute.

1827. THOMAS ADDIS EMMETT, an eminent Irish lawyer, died in New York, aged 63.

1828. ANDRE JOSEPH ABRIAL died; a French statesman under Napoleon and his successor.

1831. GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK HEGEL, the distinguished German philosopher, died by cholera at Berlin. His philosophy partakes of much of German mysticism.

1832. CHARLES ABBOTT, lord Tenterden, died, aged 70. He was the son of a London hairdresser, who by great application became one of the most learned jurists of England.

1832. CHARLES CARROL died, aged 96; the last of the signers of the declaration of independence. He studied the law in France and England, and returned to America at the age of 27, where he was soon known as an advocate for liberty, and as one of the best political writers in Maryland. He quitted public life in 1810.

1835. JAMES FREEMAN, pastor of the Stone chapel society, in Boston, died. He was chosen pastor of the episcopal society that worshiped there in 1783. Having rejected the trinitarian doctrine, the greater part of his hearers responded to his sentiments and resolved to alter their liturgy and retain their minister. Thus did the first episcopal church in New England become the first unitarian church in the new world. He was a man of talent and learning, and one of the founders of the Massachusetts historical society.

1840. JOHN A. G. DAVIS, professor of law in the university of Virginia, died of a pistol shot discharged by a disguised student. He was a man of extraordinary intellect, of untiring industry, of amiable and philanthropic character. He published a valuable treatise on criminal law.

1840. ZACHARIAH LEWIS, senior vice-president of the American Bible society, died at Brooklyn, N. Y. He was educated for the ministry, and was for 17 years editor of the _Commercial Advertiser_ and _New York Spectator_.

1855. TOBIAS WATKINS died at Washington, aged 75. He was a physician by education, had contributed largely to the public press, and figured as a politician.

NOVEMBER 15.

26. AGRIPPINA, the mother of Nero, perished by order of her ungrateful son. She married the emperor Claudius, whom she poisoned to raise Nero to the throne.

1213. The first regular English parliament assembled by writ at Oxford.

1280. ALBERTUS MAGNUS, a Swabian philosopher of extraordinary genius, died. His writings have been collected in 21 vols. folio.

1577. FRANCIS DRAKE sailed from England with five ships and 164 men, professedly on a voyage to Egypt, but really with the intention of sailing into the Pacific, where no English flag had ever been.

1591. BARNABAS BRISSONIUS strangled at Paris. He was an eminent French lawyer, and ambassador to England.

1647. JOHN VICTOR ROSSI (_Janus Nicius Erythræus_) died; a Roman of noble birth, who devoted himself to literary pursuits.

1653. ALOYSIUS JUGLARIS, an Italian Jesuit, died. He wrote 100 panegyrics on Jesus Christ, and 40 on Lewis XIII!

1680. The bill excluding JAMES, duke of York, from the succession to his brother's throne, passed by the commons, was defeated in the house of lords, all the bishops voting against it.

1695. In the neighborhood of Limerick and Tipperary, Ireland, a shower of matter fell resembling butter or grease, and was gathered into pots by some of the inhabitants. When laid on the hand it melted, but placed by the fire it dried and became hard, emitting an offensive odor.

1712. A duel was fought in Hyde Park, London, when the duke of Hamilton and lord Mohun were both killed.

1745. The town of Carlisle surrendered to the troops of the pretender to the English throne.

1747. JOHN PETER DE MENDAJORS, a French historian, died. He wrote a history of Gaul.

1751. HENRY SAINT JOHN, viscount Bolingbroke, a celebrated English politician and philosopher, died, aged 80. A panegyrist has observed that in his writings he united the wisdom of Socrates, the dignity and ease of Pliny, and the wit of Horace.

1761. JOHN SAUVE DE LA NOUE, a French actor and dramatic writer, died. It was on his account that Voltaire wrote the _Princess of Navarre_, that he might act the chief character.

1763. The British parliament by a vote 273 to 111, resolved that the _North Briton_, a paper conducted by the noted Wilkes, was a scandalous and seditious libel, and ordered it to be burned by the common hangman. Great riot in consequence.

1777. Fort Mifflin evacuated by the Americans, after a most noble and gallant defence. The British fired 1,030 cannon shot at the fort during the day.

1787. CHRISTOPHER GLUCK, an eminent German musical composer, died. He introduced a new style of music into Paris.

1793. JOHN NICHOLAS HOUCHARD guillotined at Paris. He raised himself to the highest rank in the army, and displayed his abilities in several important victories.

1793. JEAN MARIE BAPTISTE ROLAND DE LA PLATIERE stabbed himself to the heart on receiving news that his wife had been guillotined. His knowledge of commerce and political economy led to his appointment of minister under Louis, and under the republic.

1793. Fort Lewis taken by the Austrians under Wurmzer, and 4,000 French and 112 cannons captured.

1794. JOHN WITHERSPOON, a signer of the declaration, died. He was a Scotchman, who came over to take the presidency of Nassau Hall. His influence upon literature was greatly beneficial, and his talents as a preacher of the most popular kind.

1797. JOSEPH MILNER, a learned Scottish divine and historian, died, aged 54.

1802. GEORGE ROMNEY died; an eminent English painter.

1811. FREDERICK JAMES BAST, an eminent German scholar, died. He took advantage of a diplomacy at Paris to make some valuable researches among the treasures of the Vatican which had recently been transported there.

1812. The Cossacks under Platoff fell in with 12 pieces of French cannon, and an immense train of carriages filled with plunder, abandoned by the French army. The horses lay dead in their harnesses, and mingled with them lay hundreds of human bodies, which had perished from the intense severity of the cold, from hunger and fatigue, in their retreat from Moscow.

1816. The bells of Notre Dame, Paris, were _formally baptized_ under the names of the duke and Duchess of Angouleme.

1827. GEORGE TOMLINE, an eminent English bishop, died. His works display great erudition.

1828. Cayuga and Seneca canal completed.

1848. General MESSENHAUSEN, the commander of the national guard at Vienna, executed.

1849. The steam boat Louisiana exploded her boilers at New Orleans, when 60 persons were killed, and a great many wounded who afterwards died.

1852. The Lobos islands difficulty between the United States and Peru was settled, by the withdrawal of the American pretensions.

1852. JOHN HAMILTON REYNOLDS, an eminent English poet, contemporary with Byron, died in the Isle of Wight, aged 56.

NOVEMBER 16.

534. JUSTINIAN published his immortal _Code_ of civil ordinances, amended in conformity with the Pandects which issued from the legal armory in the year preceding. It is called the second edition, although enriched with two hundred of his own laws, and fifty decisions of obscure points in jurisprudence.

1093. MARGARET, of Scotland, died. She was the sister of Edgar Atheling, fled to Scotland on the invasion of William the Conqueror, and married Malcolm, king of the country. She was an amiable and benevolent princess.

1272. HENRY III, eighth king of England, died. He succeeded John; was defeated in his wars abroad, and imprisoned by his barons at home.

1272. EDWARD I, of England, commenced his reign, and immediately expelled the Jews from the kingdom; their libraries were dispersed, their goods seized, and many of them barbarously murdered.

1326. EDWARD II, king of England, taken prisoner and delivered into the hands of his queen Isabella, by whom he was imprisoned and finally put to death.

1499. PERKIN WARBECK, an aspirant to the crown of England, executed at Tyburn. He gave himself out as the second son of Edward IV, who was supposed to have been murdered in the Tower by Richard III, and made a descent upon England, but was worsted and captured.

1538. Proclamation of HENRY VIII, following the formal trial and condemnation of the shrine and goods of Thomas Becket, declaring that he was no saint, but a rebel to his prince, and his bones were caused to be burnt by the hangman.

1603. PETER CHARRON, a learned French ecclesiastic, died. His _Book of Wisdom_, spread his fame through the country, and has been twice translated into English.

1613. TRAJAN BOCCALINI, an Italian wit, died at Venice; probably assassinated by the emissaries of the court of Spain. His works have been translated into several languages.

1644. HUGH MCMABONE executed at Tyburn for conspiring the Irish massacre.

1695. PETER NICOLE, an eminent French divine, died. He is the author of more than one hundred works.

1745. WILLIAM BROOME, a celebrated English poet, died.

1745. A party of French and Indians from Crown Point surprised the village of Saratoga, leaving the country uncovered to Schenectady and Albany.

1773. Destruction of the tea in Boston harbor. The duty imposed by the British parliament was 3 cents per pound; the quantity destroyed 342 chests.

1773. JOHN HAWKESWORTH, an English writer, died. He compiled a narrative of the discoveries in the South seas, and wrote the _Adventurer_.

1773. JOHN BRADLEY BLAKE, an English chemist, botanist and mathematician, died. He went to China, from whence he sent home all the valuable seeds and plants of the country, and began a collection of its ores and fossils, but his application destroyed his health.

1776. JAMES FERGUSON, the celebrated Scottish astronomer, died. He was an extraordinary instance among self taught men, having emerged from a shepherd's boy, to the highest rank in science.

1776. Fort Washington surrendered to the British under general Cornwallis. Col. Magaw, finding the fort too small to contain all the men, the ammunition nearly exhausted, and the force of the assailants too great to be resisted, surrendered the garrison, 2,800 men, prisoners of war. It is supposed that 1,200 of the British were killed or wounded.

1796. Battle of Arcola, which lasted two days, terminated in favor of the French. This determined the fate of Mantua.

1806. SCHAH ALLUM, the great mogul or emperor of Delhi, died, aged 82.

1811. Serious riots in Nottingham, Eng.; the journeymen weavers destroyed the articles of machinery which diminished labor.

1812. The French under DAVOUST left Smolensk, having set fire to it in every quarter, and blown up the fortifications; and amidst this immense burning shower they issued forth like destroying angels, to join Bonaparte at Krasnoy.

1813. WILLIAM FRANKLIN died in England, aged 82. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and formerly British governor of New Jersey.

1838. Battle near Prescott, Canada, between 100 insurgents posted at a windmill, and 1,000 British troops. The former surrendered unconditionally. Their loss in 4 days was 102 killed, and 162 taken prisoners; the rest escaped into the woods.

1847. Poland blotted from among the nations of Europe, by Prussia, Austria and Russia.

1848. Great popular movements in Italy. Count Rossi, the prime minister, slain, as he entered the senate chamber at Rome. The pope's palace besieged.

1855. The powder in the French siege train, at Sebastopol, 100,000 pounds, exploded, killing and wounding a great number.

NOVEMBER 17.

375. VALENTINIAN I, emperor of Rome, died. He rose by his merit to the throne, and divided the empire with his brother Valens. He defeated the Germans, and restored tranquility to his African provinces. In giving audience to the ambassadors of the Quadi, whose country he had subdued, he ruptured a blood vessel in a fit of passion, which proved fatal.

537. BELISARIUS, who was then defending Rome against the Goths, exiled pope Sylverius for treachery.

1292. The government of Scotland was adjudged to John Baliol, by the forty peers assembled at the congress in Berwick castle.

1307. The Swiss patriots met at night in the field of Rutli, to concert measures for their independence.

1338. EDWARD III, of England, issued a writ, permitting the coinage of money by the abbots of Reading.

1372. JOHN DE MANDEVILLE, the English warrior and traveler, died, aged 72. He received an education unusual for those times, and in 1327, went to Palestine, and joined the Turks. He afterwards served in India under the Sultan, and in Southern China, under the khan of Cathay. He resided three years at Pekin, and appears to have traveled over a large part of Asia. On his return to England, after an absence of about 33 years, he wrote a narrative of his travels.

1494. JOHN PICUS, earl of Mirandula, an Italian nobleman, and a prodigy of learning, died, aged 32. At the age of 23 he published 900 propositions in logic, mathematics, physics and divinity, drawn from classical, Jewish and Arabian authors, and challenged through Italy any philosopher or divine to enter the lists with him in disputation. He declared war against the astrologers, because they had foretold his death at the age of 32, which proved true.

1558. MARY, queen of England, died. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catharine of Arragon; was learned, but bigoted, jealous and resentful. Her memory is rendered detestable by the blood of the protestants whom she caused to be burnt.

1562. ANTHONY OF NAVARRE (_Pantagruel_), a Spanish prince, died of a wound received in battle. He was weak and irresolute; his son was afterwards the celebrated Henry IV, of France.

1604. Trial of sir WALTER RALEIGH for treason.

1615. THOMAS CHALONER, an English nobleman, tutor of the prince of Wales, died. He is celebrated for the discovery of the first alum mines known in England.

1640. HENRY DE SCHOMBERG, a distinguished French officer, died. For his distinguished services he was promoted; and also figured as a minister to Germany and England, and as a historian.

1664. NICHOLAS PERRET, a learned Frenchman, died; celebrated for his excellent translations of the Greek and Latin classics.

1664. A comet visible in New England, which appeared first in the east _bearded_, and disappeared in the west with a _tail_.

1665. JOHN EARLE, an English bishop, died; known by a work called the _Microcosmography, or a Piece of the World_, which has often been reprinted.

1679. In commemoration of queen Elizabeth's birth, the effigies of the pope, the devil, sir George Jeffries, Mr. L'Estrange, &c., were carried in procession, and burnt in Temple bar, by a _whig mob_, as it was then called.

1690. FABIAN PHILLIPS, a learned English antiquary, died.

1708. JEAN FRANCOIS FOY VAILLANT, a French antiquary and medalist, died. His father was the founder of the medalists in France, to whom Louis XIV was indebted for half his cabinet.

1747. ALAIN RENE LESAGE, the French novelist and dramatic writer, died.

1747. Great tumults in Boston, on account of the British commodore, Knowles, having ordered several inhabitants of that city to be impressed there.

1768. THOS. PELHAM HOLLES, duke of Newcastle, died in his 76th year. He played a bustling if not a brilliant part in the political movements of his day.

177-. BRUCE, the traveler, in passing the Taranta mountain, in Abyssinia, encountered an extraordinary phenomenon. The mountain tops were hid in the clouds, and loud thunder was heard. The river scarcely ran at the time of passing it, when suddenly a noise was heard in the mountain above, louder than the loudest thunder. His guides flew to the baggage, and removed it to the top of a green hill, which was no sooner done than the river was seen coming down in a stream about the height of a man, and the breadth of the whole bed it used to occupy. An antelope, surprised by the torrent, was driven to the station where they stood.

1775. Americans, under colonel Easton, took at the point of Sorel river, Canada, 11 British vessels with stores.

1782. EDWARD DRINKER, a quaker of Philadelphia, died, aged 103. He had been the subject of seven crowned heads, and lived to see a village become a great city.

1793. Battle of Sarbruck; the Prussians defeated by the French under Pichegru.

1794. N. DUGOMIER, a French revolutionary general, killed at the battle of St. Sebastian, in which his army was victorious over the Spaniards. His name was inscribed in the Pantheon.

1794. JAMES BENTHAM, an English prelate and historian, died. He also directed his attention to the introduction of turnpike roads, against the popular prejudice, and to the rendering of unfruitful into valuable fields by drainage.

1795. ALEXANDER ABERCROMBY died; a Scottish jurist, and a cooperator with Mackenzie in establishing the _Mirror_ and _Lounger_, to which he contributed.

1800. Battle of Mincio, in Italy; the Austrians defeated by the French under general Brune, with the loss of 24 cannon, and 4,000 men.

1804. Launch of the Hibernia, at Plymouth, England, of 130 guns; length of keel 167 feet, tonnage 2499--the largest man-of-war that had ever been built in England.

1812. Battle of Koutovo, near Krasnoy, in Russia; the Cossacks under Miloradovitch surrounded the French under Davoust, and defeated them with horrible slaughter. The French general, however, maintained his reputation for bravery, and cut his way through, with the loss of 4,000 killed, and 9 prisoners, and 70 cannon. The wretched beings who escaped the swords and bayonets of their conquerors sought shelter in the woods which skirt the Dnieper, and there, wounded, starving and naked, died in great numbers.

1812. British gun boats cannonaded Ogdensburgh.

1818. CHARLOTTE, queen of England, died, aged 75.

1823. THOMAS ERSKINE, an English nobleman, and one of the most celebrated of modern forensic orators, died.

1832. THOS. TAYLOR, styled the patriarch of the states-right party of South Carolina, died at Columbus.

1835. Remarkable aurora borealis; in extent and magnificence one of the grandest forms of this mysterious phenomenon. It attracted notice throughout the United States and Canada, and on the 18th was seen in Europe.

1854. DUDLEY COUTTS STUART died at Stockholm, Sweden, aged 51; well known in England and elsewhere, for his devotion to Poland and the Polish exiles.

NOVEMBER 18.

1247. ROBIN HOOD, the leader of a band of robbers who infested the recesses of Sherwood forest, England, died. The chief, with his formidable band, continued their plundering life with success, and with little opposition, from the year 1189 to 1247. It has been attempted to identify him with Robert, earl of Huntington, whom the malice of his enemies banished from the court of Richard I. The following epitaph is said to have been engraven upon his tombstone at Kirklees:

Hear undernead dis laitl stean
laiz robert earl of huntington
nae arcir ner as hie sae geud
an pipl kauld im Robin Heud
sick utlawz as he an is men
vil England nivir si agen
obit 24 kal. dekembris 1247.

1518. CORTEZ sailed from Cuba for the discovery and conquest of Mexico. His force consisted of 10 vessels, 10 pieces cannon, 18 horsemen, 600 infantry--13 only of whom were musqueteers, and the rest cross bowmen.

1558. REGINALD POLE, an English cardinal, died. He entered college at the age of 12, and took his first degree at the age of 15. Refusing to sanction the divorces of Henry VIII, he was obliged to reside in Italy for safety. On the accession of Mary, however, he was restored.

1559. CUTHBERT TONSTALL, a learned catholic bishop of London, died, aged 85.

1624. JACOB BOEHMEN died; a noted Teutonic philosopher and visionary.

1636. King CHARLES I restored to sir Hugh Middleton a portion of his private property, expended on bringing a supply of water into the city of London. Middleton survived this event but a short time.

1665. BLAISE FRANCIS DE PAGAN, a valiant French officer and eminent mathematician, died. He lost his eyesight in the service of his country, after which he devoted himself to study, and wrote several works on fortifications, astronomy, &c.

1682. JOHN FINCH (_Heneage?_), earl of Nottingham and lord high chancellor of England, died. He was distinguished for his wisdom and eloquence and styled the English Cicero.

1751. ABRAHAM VATER died; an eminent German physician and anatomist, famous for his anatomical preparations, which form a curious cabinet at Wirtemberg.

1755. A great earthquake, extending from New England to the West Indies, damaging the houses throughout the whole extent of the coast. In the harbor of St. Martin the sea withdrew leaving the vessels dry and the fish on the banks; when it came in the water overflowed the lowlands.

1776. Fort Lee, near Haversack, N. Y., evacuated by the Americans under general Greene. The British, 6000 men under Cornwallis, advancing to its reduction, it was found that the conflict would be too unequal to attempt its defence. The British took several hundred barrels of flour, most of the cannon, baggage, &c.----Same day congress agreed upon a lottery to defray the expenses of the campaign, being the first lottery they sanctioned.

1777. Fort Mercer at Red Bank, on the Delaware, evacuated by the Americans on the approach of the British under Cornwallis.

1777. The British under governor Tryon burnt the houses at Philip's manor, N. Y., with circumstances of great barbarity; the women and children being turned out in a severe cold night, almost naked, and the men made prisoners and led with halters round their necks in triumph to the British camp.

1777. WILLIAM BOWYER, an eminent English printer, died. He was noted for the accuracy of his editions, and was a distinguished member of the antiquarian society, whose transactions he enriched with many valuable communications.

1784. M. LE ROY fixed a conductor on the Etoile galley, being the first conductor of lightning that had ever been placed on a French ship.

1785. Mrs. KELLY, the noted Irish fairy, died. She was only 34 inches long. Her child, which lived only two hours, was 22 inches.

1789. JOHN ELWES, the celebrated English miser, died, worth nearly five millions of dollars. This singular man, although he denied himself the necessaries of life, served twelve years in parliament, a most independent and incorruptible member. He would travel a whole day, eating only a hard boiled egg, and at night play for thousands in the most splendid apartments from whence he has been known to issue at four in the morning, and stand in a cold rain to dispute with a butcher for a shilling a head on his cattle.

1793. Battle of Bliescastle; the French general Pichegru stormed the Prussian camp.

1793. Battle of Dol; the French royalists defeated the conventional troops.

1803. Cape Francois surrendered to the blacks under Christophe.

1804. PHILIP SCHUYLER, a major general in the revolutionary army, died at Albany, aged 73. He was a member of the old congress, and of the federal congress.

1809. The French under Suchet attacked the Spaniards under Gen. Blake, posted on the heights of Beclhithe, and forced them to fall back.

1811. All differences between the United States and Great Britain on account of the attack made on the United States frigate Chesapeake amicably adjusted.

1813. Americans under general White, with a few Cherokee Indians, attacked Grayson's Farm, one of the Hillibee towns, of 20 houses, which they burnt, and killed 60 Creek warriors and captured about 256 more, without the loss of a man.

1824. Destructive hurricane on the coast of England. The river Neva overflowed its banks, and damaged the city of St. Petersburg.

1832. Violent eruption of mount Etna; the town of Bronte, containing 10,000 inhabitants, destroyed.

1848. The great dam at Hadley Falls, in Massachusetts, near Springfield, carried away by a flood.

1849. BENJAMIN SMITH, a very eminent and industrious American statesman, of Rhode Island, died at North Kingston.

1851. ERNEST AUGUSTUS, duke of Cumberland and king of Hanover, died, aged 81. He was the fifth son of George III, and distinguished himself as an officer on the continent during the last century.

1852. Duke of WELLINGTON'S funeral obsequies took place at London, with great pomp. The religious ceremonies were observed in St. Paul's cathedral, which was elaborately decorated for the purpose. The body was deposited in the crypt near that of Nelson.

1852. A convention was signed at London by England, France, Prussia, Bavaria and Greece, by which none but a prince of the Greek religion was thereafter to ascend the throne of Greece.

1854. GEORGE WILLIAM MAREBY, inventor of several kinds of apparatus for saving lives in shipwreck, died in England, aged 89.

NOVEMBER 19.

1231. ELIZABETH OF THURINGIA, a saint of the church, died. She was distinguished by the mild virtues of her sex, and when the country was oppressed with famine and pestilence, she caused hospitals to be erected, and fed and clothed a multitude of the poor, wandering about in a humble dress relieving the sorrows of the wretched. She was regarded as a saint during her life, and four years after her death was canonized. Her monument is one of the most splendid remains of Gothic architecture in Germany.

1530. The diet at Augsburg issued a severe decree against the protestants, which was sanctioned by the emperor Charles V.

1590. JEROME ZANCHIUS, a German protestant theologian, died. His commentaries on St. Paul's epistles were published after his death. He was a professor of theology at Heidelburg, and sustained the character of a learned, pious and benevolent man.

1628. JOHN FELTON, the assassin who killed the duke of Buckingham, favorite of Charles I of England, executed at Tyburn. The king proposed the rack previous to execution, that his accomplices might be discovered. But the judges unanimously declared that the English law did not allow of torture. This was the first adjudication on this subject.

1649. CASPAR SCIOPPIUS, a learned German, died, aged 73. He acquired the name of the grammatical cur, from his indiscreet attacks upon every person of eminence. His talents and acquirements were extraordinary, and his works more numerous than his years.

1665. NICHOLAS POUSSIN, an eminent French painter, died. He was long unable to maintain himself by his pencil, till his genius finally burst through the clouds of prejudice, and established his character as a great and sublime artist.

1672. JOHN WILKINS, bishop of Chester, died; a most ingenious and learned English theologian, critic and mathematician.

1674. SAMUEL DANFORTH, the colleague of John Elliot, the Indian missionary, died at Roxbury, Mass. When he was contracted in marriage the celebrated John Cotton preached the sermon, customary in New England on such occasions, before the nuptial ceremony. He published several almanacs, and an astronomical account of the comet which appeared in 1764.

1677. FRANCIS JUNIUS, a German linguist, died in England. He was highly distinguished for his skill and researches in the Anglo Saxon and Gothic languages, which he pursued at Oxford, England.

1703. THE IRON MASK (_Masque de Fer_), died at the Bastile in Paris, after an imprisonment of forty-two years. This mysterious personage is supposed to have been the twin brother of the king, and various authors have attempted to prove his identity with other characters of that day. It was at first believed that the mask which he was compelled to wear constantly on pain of instant death, was made of iron. But it was composed of black velvet, strengthened with whalebone, and fastened behind the head with a padlock. He was confined for imperious reasons of state, but was treated with the utmost deference and respect.

1731. WILLIAM EDIE, bellman of Canongate, in Edinburgh, died, aged 120. He had buried the inhabitants of Canongate thrice. He was 90 years a freeman, and married his second wife, a young woman, after he was 100 years old.

1741. ANTHONY BANIER, a celebrated French mythologist, died. His _Mythology and Fables of the Antients_ has been translated into English.

1744. A single battalion of Prussians under Wedel disputed the passage of the Elbe at Solnitz for five hours, against the whole Austrian army; and, under the fire of fifty cannons, thrice repulsed the Austrian grenadiers. Wedel lost two officers and 100 men killed, and acquired the title of Leonidas.

1761. NOEL ANTHONY PLUCHE, a French writer on natural history, died. His _Spectacle de la Nature_ is known to all the world.

1789. Junction of the Thames and Severn rivers by canal; an important event in English inland commerce. This canal ascends the vale of Calford to the height of 343 feet by 40 locks; there entering a tunnel through the hill of Saperton, for the length of two miles and three furlongs, and descends to the Thames by 22 locks.

1790. JAMES HAY BEATTIE died; a Scotchman of eminent talents, who was made assistant professor of moral philosophy and logic at Aberdeen at the age of 19.

1793. A number of persons met in Edinburgh and held a _convention_ similar to that in France, but were arrested and sent to prison.

1794. The treaty signed at London between England and America, called Jay's treaty.

1801. JOSEPH DE BEAUCHAMP, a French theologian and astronomer, died. During a residence in the Levant, he made many astronomical observations, constructed a map of the Tigris and Euphrates, and surveyed the Black sea.

1806. RICHARD WESTON died; an English thread hosier, who became eminent as a horticulturist, and published some useful tracts on that subject.

1806. Hameln, on the Weser, captured by the French, who took Von Schoeler and five other generals, 9,000 Prussians, some other troops, and great quantities of ammunition and stores.

1806. MORTIER entered Hamburg and confiscated all British property found there.

1806. NICHOLAS CLAUDE LEDOUX, a fortunate though vain French architect, died.

1809. Battle of Ocana; the French under Soult defeated 50,000 Spaniards. Joseph Bonaparte commanded in person in this battle under Soult.

1812. Battle of Koutovo; the French under Ney attacked in the defiles near Krasnoy, on the very spot where Davoust had been defeated two days before. Although the French fought with the greatest courage and most desperate intrepidity, they were defeated with terrible slaughter, and the loss of all their cannon, baggage and colors. Scarcely had this second victory been obtained, when the last columns of the rear guard appeared in sight, and were compelled to surrender, 100 officers and 11,000 men.

1812. Americans under colonel Pike made an incursion into Canada, assaulted and carried a British post, burnt their blockhouse, and returned with only five wounded.

1813. American Com. PORTER took possession of an island in the South sea, called by the natives Nooaheevah, which he called _Madison's island_, in honor of the president.

1816. Eclipse of the sun observed at Paris. It was total at Copenhagen.

1818. ABDULLAH IBN SAUD, the last emir of the Wahhabis, was beheaded at Constantinople, which put an end to the temporal power of that sect.

1835. CHARLES COOTE, an English author, died. He was for some years editor of the _Critical Review_, and wrote various historical and other works of merit.

1850. RICHARD M. JOHNSON, a Kentucky soldier and statesman, died at Frankfort, aged 70.

1853. SAMUEL H. CRAFTS died at Craftsbury, Vt., aged 84. On the organization of the town, which was settled by and named in honor of his father, in 1792, he was chosen town clerk, and held the office 37 years; and he filled every public office in the gift of Vermont during some part of his lifetime.

1855. THOMAS COPELAND, an eminent English surgeon and medical writer, died at Brighton, aged 74.

1855. THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK, an eminent medical writer, died at Albany, N. Y., aged 64. He was one of the originators and most ardent supporters of the geological survey of the state; but is best known by his _Medical Jurisprudence_. He was a member of many scientific societies at home and abroad, and his whole life was one of uninterrupted and efficient labor.

NOVEMBER 20.

63. Shipwreck of ST. PAUL. It was a fortnight from the fast, and about the present day, that Paul, by the occular testimony of Luke, was cast upon the shores of Malta, where they wintered three months until the period of navigation in March. Josephus, the Jewish historian, was wrecked in the same sea, and in or very near the same year.

303. DIOCLETIAN and MAXIMIAN celebrated in a grand triumph their victories and those of the two Cæsars, their associates, in Persia and Britain, on the Rhine, the Danube and the Nile; the last spectacle of the kind that Rome ever beheld.

870. EDMUND (_the Saint_), king of East Anglia, murdered by the Danes, who had him tied to a tree and shot to death with arrows. His kingdom comprised the present counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire.

1185. ABDURRAHMAN, surnamed Abn Zeyd, died. He was a Moslem divine and poet, and left several valuable works.

1191. BALDWIN, archbishop of Canterbury, died at Acre, in Palestine, whither he had followed the crusaders, whose cause he had exerted himself to promote.

1347. STEPHEN COLONNA defeated and killed at Rome by the tribune Rienzi.

1411. JOHANNES CANTACUZENUS, a Byzantine historian, died. His knowledge in literature and arms was so great that he became the favorite of the court and the people, and was finally persuaded to accept the throne, from which he retired again on the restoration of order.

1481. The _Last Siege and conquest of Jerusalem_, translated from the French "by me simple person, William Caxton," was printed at London in the Abby; one of the earliest specimens of English typography.

1497. The Portuguese admiral, VASQUEZ DE GAMA, doubled the cape of Good Hope, which, until then, had been considered the utmost boundary of navigation, and called the cape of Tempests.

1549. KETT, a tanner, rebelled against Edward, and was taken by Dudley, earl of Warwick, and hung in chains on the top of Norwich castle.

1571. The field of Craibstone stricken by John Master of Forbes, and Adam Gordon, brother to lord Huntley, where the said John lost the field, and was taken, and sundry of his friends slain, to the number on both sides of three score, or thereby, and good Duncan Forbes slain the same day.

1572. The first presbyterian meeting house in England erected at Wandsworth in Surrey.

1591. CHRISTOPHER HATTON, chancellor of England under Elizabeth, died. He was a man of learning and great integrity, and though placed in so high a situation, had not been bred to the law. It was by his advice that the unfortunate Mary submitted to her fatal trial.

1660. The bishops of England again took their seats in the house of lords, verifying the adage of the king's grandfather, "no bishop no king."

1672. The island of Tobago taken from the Dutch by the English.

1683. A book entitled _Julian the Apostate_, burnt by the hangman, and its author, Samuel Johnson, a clergyman, fined 500 marks for an alleged libel on the duke of York.

1729. NICHOLAS GERVAIS, a French missionary, massacred in Guiana with all his attendants.

1737. Queen CAROLINE of England died, aged 55. Her favorite study was theology, and she has been accused of scepticism; at her death she refused the sacrament, but joined cordially in the Lord's prayer.

1759. Naval battle off Belleisle; the French fleet under M. de Conflans defeated by the British under admiral Hawke. The French lost several large ships, and abandoned the project of invading Great Britain.

1769. CHARLES HUGH LE FEVRE DE ST. MARK, a French miscellaneous writer, died at Paris.

1773. CHARLES JENNENS died; an English gentleman of considerable fortune, who compiled the works of some of Handel's oratories, and began an edition of Shakspeare's works, which he did not live to complete.

1780. Battle of Blackstocks; the British under Tarleton attacked the American general Sumpter, but was repulsed with the loss of more than 30 killed or wounded. Sumpter and 4 others were wounded and 3 killed.

1789. RICHARD BURN, an English vicar, died; author of a work on ecclesiastical law, and on the office of justice of the peace, which have gone through several editions.

1789. North Carolina adopted the federal constitution, ayes 193, noes 75. This was the 12th pillar in the political edifice.

1789. A deputation was admitted to the French national assembly from the city of Issondein, with a patriotic offer of all the silver buckles of the inhabitants, to the value of 115 marks. Whereupon M. Dailly moved that all the members of the assembly should make a similar sacrifice, which was instantly agreed to.

1792. Battle of Cumptich, in which the French under Dumourier, after a long and bloody action, defeated the Austrians under the duke of Saxe Teschen, who exhibited great judgment and intrepidity in conducting his retreat.

1794. Figueras, an extensive and well provided fortress on the frontier of Spain, was taken by the French, when 9000 Spaniards were taken prisoners.

1798. Two French frigates attacked and captured U. S. schooner Retaliation.

1804. ARCHIBALD MACLAIN, an Irish protestant clergyman, died. He translated Mosheim's ecclesiastical history.

1804. The American expedition under Lewis and Clark went into winter quarters at fort Mandan, on the Missouri river, lat. 47° 21´ N.

1812. BONAPARTE evacuated Orcha on his retreat from Moscow. He left there 23 cannon, some prisoners, and an immense number of sick and wounded, who fell into the hands of the Cossacks.

1813. JOHN BAPTIST BODONI, the celebrated printer of Parma, and probably the most distinguished in his profession during the last century, died.

1815. France ceded to the kingdom of the Netherlands whatever it still retained of the Austrian Netherlands, particularly a rich mineral district situated in the center of the Ardennes, and the fortresses of Marienburg and Philippeville.

1840. A series of extensive hurricanes and storms, which commenced on the 13th and swept over England, Ireland and a part of France, ceased their fury. The destruction of lives and property, on land and at sea, was immense.

1843. FERDINAND RUDOLPH HASSLER, aged 74, died at Philadelphia. He was director of the United States coast survey.

NOVEMBER 21.

53 B. C. MARCUS LICINIUS CRASSUS, one of the triumvirs with Cæsar and Pompey, killed at Haran in Syria. He was surnamed _Dives_, the rich, on account of his vast fortune. He once gave an entertainment to the whole people, in which 10,000 tables were set, and besides distributed corn enough to last each family three months. He perished, with a great part of his army, in an expedition against the Parthians, undertaken from motives of avarice and ambition.

533. The famous institutes, or system of elementary law, were completed by the delegates of Justinian. They were divided into four books, proceeding methodically, from 1, _persons_ to 2, _things_; and from things to 3, _actions_, and 4, _private wrongs_, terminated, as in Blackstone, by the principles of _criminal_ law.

1555. GEORGE AGRICOLA died; a physician of Glaucen, in Misnia, known for his learning and works on minerals.

1579. THOMAS GRESHAM, an eminent London merchant, died. His knowledge of commerce was considered complete, and he acquired a great fortune. He transacted the queen's commercial affairs, and his house was sometimes appointed for the reception of foreign princes. The first royal exchange was planned and executed by his munificence.

1616. RICHARD FIELD died; an English divine, eminent for his learning, benevolence and piety.

1638. A general assembly of the Scottish church met at Glasgow. It is said that not a few of the 260 commissioners of whom it was composed could neither read nor write.

1640. JOHN, duke of Braganza, proclaimed king of Portugal. He recovered the independence of that kingdom, which had been annexed to Spain by Philip II in 1580.

1692. THOMAS SHADWELL died; an English dramatic writer, historiographer and poet laureate.

1695. HENRY PURCELL died; a very eminent English musician and composer.

1736. Battle of Porto Bello. A squadron was fitted out in England for the purpose of destroying the Spanish settlements in the West Indies, and placed under admiral Vernon. The attack was made on Porto Bello by the English, and after a furious engagement on both sides, the town surrendered.

1763. Public notice given in London that East and West Florida should be laid out into townships, and granted to those who would actually settle there.

1775. JOHN HILL, an English apothecary and writer, died. He published a system of botany, and was engaged in a great number of literary labors at the same time. He was also famous for several medicines which he prepared.

1777. Congress recalled Silas Deane from Paris, and appointed John Adams to succeed him.

1780. At the bank of England 471,000 three per cent stock was transferred to Mr. Van Otten on account of the landgrave of Hesse, so much being due on Hessian soldiers lost in the American war, at 30_l._ per man. The number of men lost was 15,700.

1781. JEAN FREDERICK PHELLIPEAUX DE MAUREPAS died; a French statesman, eminent for his genius, activity and profound sagacity.

1782. JAMES DE VAUCANSON, a celebrated mechanician, died. He constructed with wonderful ingenuity various automata, and improved and simplified the machinery of silk mills, and advanced the interests of commerce and science by many other curious and useful inventions.

1783. The marquis D'ARLANDES and PILATRE ROSIER made an aerial voyage in a machine called a _Montgolfier_, in honor of the inventors, it being the first balloon raised by rarefied air.

1803. JOHN BUCKLER (_Schinderhannes_), the famous German robber, executed, with 19 of his band. He was the son of indigent parents, and entered into the service of an executioner. His first crime was a petty theft, which grew into the most extensive and expert robberies. He never committed murder, and expected pardon on that account, to the last moment.

1806. BONAPARTE'S famous Berlin decree, declaring the British ports in a state of blockade.

1807. ABRAHAM NEWLAND died at Highburg, in England; he was 60 years cashier of the bank of England.

1812. Battle of Borisoff; the French and Poles defeated by the Russians with great loss.

1812. Fort Niagara bombarded by the British from fort George and five other batteries. Above 2000 red hot shot and 180 shells were fired; which was returned with so much spirit, that the British had the worst of the battle. American loss 4 killed, 7 wounded.

1832. The emperor of Russia issued orders for the transportation of 5000 families of Polish gentlemen from the province of Podolia to the Steppes, on the line of the Caucasus. The university of Warsaw was abolished, except the faculties of divinity and medicine, and the library and collection of medals transported to St. Petersburg.

1832. Battle of Konich, between 75,000 Turks and 40,000 Egyptians, in which the former were defeated, and the grand vizier taken prisoner.

1832. Great riots at Lyons in France, which originated in a strike for higher wages by the operatives engaged in the silk manufacture, by which 30,000 persons were thrown out of employment, and the city was for some time at the mercy of the mob.

1835. JAMES HOGG (_the Ettrick Shepherd_), a Scottish poet, died. He was the son of a very poor shepherd, but his poems raised him to a high standing as a poet, and caused his society to be sought by the learned and the great.

1835. ALEXANDER CHEMIOTTE, one of the most learned orientalists of Europe, died. He wrote a history of all the Arabian emperors under the Abassides, and other works.

1848. LYNE STABLING died; one of the original proprietors of the soil on which the city of Columbus is located, and among its earliest inhabitants. He was one of the most wealthy men of the state, and was distinguished by private charities and public munificence.

1851. JAMES E. DE KAY, an eminent geologist, died at Oyster bay, aged 59. He was educated for a physician, but devoted himself from early years to natural history, and contributed the department of zoology to the publication of the New York survey.

1852. MARY BERRY, an English authoress, died aged 90; embalmed to posterity by the personal attentions and epistolary intercourse of Horace Walpole.

1856. SAMUEL SWARTWOUT died, aged 73. He was a noted politician, and during the presidency of Jackson was collector of the port of New York.

NOVEMBER 22.

1200. King JOHN, of England, held a famous parliament at Lincoln, where William, king of Scotland, did him homage in the sight of the people.

1419. BELTHAZAR COSA (John XXIII), pope, died. There was much opposition to his elevation, by rival claimants, and he was finally deposed and imprisoned three years. His liberty was purchased by acknowledging the election of Martin V.

1586. Sentence of death was announced to MARY queen of Scots, by lord Burkhurst, at Fotheringay.

1633. LEONARD CALVERT, brother of lord Baltimore, with 200 persons of good families, Roman catholics, embarked at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, for America, to settle Maryland.