Chapter XXXVIII: Part 38

1652. The province of Maine was, by the request of its inhabitants, taken under the protection of Massachusetts; it was made a county, by the name of Yorkshire, and sent deputies to the general court at Boston.

1680. A brilliant comet appeared in England. First seen at Bristol.

1685. CLAUDE NICOLE, a French lawyer, died. He was a good linguist and poet, and translated several of the classics.

1714. SAMUEL REYHER died; professor of mathematics and jurisprudence at Kiel, and counselor of state to the duke of Saxe Gotha. His writings are theological.

1723. PHILIP, regent of France, duke of Orleans, &c., died at Versailles, aged 50.

1747. JOSEPH TRAPP, an able English divine, died; leaving behind him an excellent character as a critic, a scholar, a preacher and a man.

1771. Mr. STEPHEN was expelled from the Temple in London, by the benches, for writing a book on the impolicy of imprisonment for debt.

1774. ROBERT CLIVE, baron Plassy, a wealthy English nobleman, died by suicide; a striking instance of the insufficiency of wealth or external honors alone to produce happiness. While a colonel in the service of the East India company, he retook Calcutta from the nabob Surajah Dowlah, and defeated his immense army in the plains of Plassy, and thereby laid the foundation of the present extensive British empire in Hindostan. He was made governor of India, and died immensely rich.

1775. CHARLES HENRY DE FUSSE DE VOISENON, a French ecclesiastic, died. He abandoned his profession for the pleasures of the world and of authorship, and his works were collected in 5 vols.

1775. The Americans, about 1000 in number, took possession of Cobble or Miller's hill, near Boston, and erected entrenchments on it.

1784. PAUL FRISI, an Italian mathematician and philosopher, died at Milan. He was self-taught; and introduced into the Milanese the use of conductors to secure buildings from lightning, and contributed greatly to root out the superstitious notions of the people respecting sorcerers and magic. His works on hydraulics, astronomy, and many other sciences, are numerous and valuable.

1795. Battle of Loano, in Italy; the French under Scherer defeated the Austrians and obliged them to retreat with the loss of 8,000.

1798. THEOBALD WOLFE TONE, an Irishman having a commission in the French army, committed suicide in prison. He had been taken in arms against the British government, tried by a court martial, and sentenced to death.

1807. British Admiral SMITH declared Lisbon and the river Tagus in a state of blockade.

1812. Action between the United States brig Vixen, 14 guns, 120 men, Lieut. Reed, and British frigate Southampton, 32 guns, Capt. Yeo. The Vixen was captured, and Lieut. Reed died in the West Indies before he could be exchanged.

1814. LAVALETTE, the French general, sentenced to death for joining Bonaparte the preceding March.

1814. EDWARD RUSHTON, an independent politician, bookseller and elegant writer, died. He nearly lost his sight on the west coast of Africa.

1815. JAMES LACKINGTON, a celebrated London bookseller, but chiefly distinguished for his work on the evil consequences of girls being educated at boarding schools, died.

1821. ANSELM MARIE FUGGER, prince of Babenhausen, died. He was one of that great German family whose ancestor was a weaver, and which now consists of counts and princes, and whose property amounts to about 440 square miles, with 40,000 inhabitants.

1824. FRANCIS LEVAILLANT, the celebrated traveler, died at Paris, aged 70. He was born in the Dutch colony of Surinam. He early manifested a passion for the study of ornithology, and was encouraged by the patronage of Tenemink, of Amsterdam, to proceed to Africa in pursuit of that science. His long life was spent in research, and though he has added much to the stock of knowledge in that department, he was so unfortunate as to lose a great part of his valuable collections at sea.

1848. Great battle fought between the English and Seikhs near Ramuggur, in India, the British claiming the dearly bought victory.

1852. The shock of an earthquake was felt very severely at Exeter, N. H., and along the valley of the Merrimack, and in Salem and Newburyport, Mass., and in other places.

1852. The voting concluded throughout France and Algeria, upon the decree of the senate, relative to the reestablishment of the empire. The result was 7,824,189 votes in favor of the same, and 253,145 in the negative, and 63,326 void ballots.

NOVEMBER 23.

100. CLEMENS ROMANUS (_St. Clement_) died; a pupil of St. Paul and one of the fathers of the church. His epistle to the church of Corinth, though valuable for its antiquity, is excluded from the canon.

946. EDRED, the successor of Edmund I of England, died of quinsy.

1585. THOMAS TALLIS died; "one of the greatest musicians that England ever bred."

1610. BERNARD DE GIRARD DE HAILLAN, a French historian, died. His history reaches from Pharamond to the death of Charles VII, and he was the first who composed a body of French history in French.

1616. RICHARD HAKLUYT died; famous in English history for his naval skill. He is author of a collection of voyages and discoveries in 3 vols. folio, and of several other useful works.

1665. VALENTINE GREATBREAKES, an Irishman, appeared in England announcing his power to cure many diseases by stroking the patient. Flamstead, the astronomer, is said to have, when young, submitted to his art.

1679. WILLIAM WILDE, an eminent English lawyer, died. He published _Yelverton's Reports_, was created baronet, and made a judge of the common pleas, and afterwards promoted to the king's bench.

1683. A partition line agreed upon by governor Dongan and governor Treat, between New York and Connecticut, beginning at the mouth of Byam brook, in the sound, thence running up the brook to the road across the same, thence in a northerly line into the country, keeping at a distance of 20 miles from Hudson's river. (See May 14, 1731.)

1709. WILLIAM BENTINCK, earl of Portland, favorite of William III, and an eminent statesman, died.

1758. Battle of Crefelt; the French under St. Germaine defeated by the allies under the duke of Brunswick, with the loss of 6,000, among whom was the count de Gisors. The allies lost 1,500.

1763. ANTHONY FRANCIS D'EXILES, a French writer, died. He was educated among the Jesuits, but entered the army. He translated Richardson's novels into French.

1775. The British lieutenant-colonel JOHN CONNELLY captured near Hagerstown by the Americans, on his way to Detroit with papers and despatches of great importance.

1794. JOACHIM IBARRA, an eminent Spanish printer, died. He raised the art of typography to an excellence before unequaled in Spain. As he never left his country, most of the improvements he introduced were of his own invention.

1794. Fort St. Fernando de Figueras capitulated to the French; 9,107 prisoners, 171 cannon, and great quantities of ammunition and stores were taken.

1795. Manheim surrendered to the imperialists under Wurmzer with more than 10,000 men.

1795. Battle of Geresio, in Italy; the Austrians defeated by the French under Angereau and Chastel.

1796. Battle of Castella Nuovo, in Italy; the Austrians defeated by the French under Massena, with the loss of 6,000. This closed the campaign, Bonaparte having defeated three armies and four generals.

1798. The king of Naples accompanied by the Austrian general Mack and 80,000 men, entered the Romish territories, but were soon compelled to retreat and act on the defensive.

1804. STEPHEN BORGIA, an Italian cardinal eminent for his piety and learning, died at Lyons, while attending the pope on his journey to Paris.

1808. Battle of Tudela, in Spain; the French under Lannes, attacked and defeated the Spaniards under Castanos.

1812. American privateer Tom, of Baltimore, captured British packet Townsend. The British captain and 4 men were killed.

1812. The northern army under Gen. Dearborn went into winter quarters at Plattsburgh, Burlington and Greenbush.

1814. ELBRIDGE GERRY, vice-president of the United States, died at Washington, aged 70. He was a signer of the declaration of independence, a member of the congress of 1776, and of the convention which formed the constitution. He transacted business as usual in the morning, was attacked about 10 o'clock, and died in 15 minutes.

1833. JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, a celebrated French general of the revolution, died. In 1794 he conquered Belgium, and in 1796 subdued Franconia. "Jourdan," said Napoleon at St. Helena, "is a poor general, but he possessed the virtues rare among his competitors, of honor, integrity and humanity."

1849. The bones of Col. JOHN DIXWELL, the regicide, were removed from the grave of the centre churchyard, New Haven, where they were deposited in 1688, and reinterred with a view to the erection of a monument over them. The skeleton was in a good state of preservation.

1852. JOHN SERGEANT, an eminent Philadelphia lawyer, died, aged 73. For more than half a century he was known and honored for his ability and integrity.

NOVEMBER 24.

30. Eclipse of the sun in Palestine, accompanied by an earthquake, which overthrew several edifices at Niceas, in Bythinia. By the calculations of several eminent astronomers, it is demonstrated that this great eclipse, which is mentioned by Phlegon, and in the Grecian monuments, as having happened in the 202d Olympiad, took place on this day and year. Phlegon says, the day was changed into night at the 6th hour (noon), and the stars were seen. Between Cairo and Jerusalem it was wholly obscured for about two minutes, and by calculation, it is supposed, the middle of the eclipse happened at Jerusalem, an hour and fifteen minutes after noon.

62. AULUS PERSIUS FLACCUS, a Roman satirist, died, aged 28. He was a native of Etruria, studied at Rome, and imbibed the stoic philosophy of Cornutus, to whom he bequeathed his library and 25,000 crowns. His satires, animated and often beautiful, have been translated by several of the British poets.

1213. The possessions of the knights templars, in England appropriated by the crown, in obedience to a papal mandate, in trust for the knights hospitalers. That distinguished order was instituted in 1118, and consisted originally of nine poor knights, who for _Christ's love_ protected the avenues of his shrine from infidels and robbers.

1230. MATTHEW DE MONTMORENCY, constable of France, died. He distinguished himself on many important occasions in the field, and proved himself equally capable as a statesman.

1516. JAMES V'S charter of the town of Maybole, in Ayrshire, Scotland, bears this date. A room in the Red Lion inn in this town, is shown as having been that in which John Knox and the abbot Kennedy had the debate on the mass.

1567. The laird of Airth and the laird of Wemyss met upon the high street of Edinburgh, with their followers, when a furious encounter took place, "many being hurte on both sides by shote of pistoll." Three days afterwards a strict proclamation was issued, forbidding "the wearing of guns or pistolls, or aney sick like fyerwork ingyne, under ye paine of death, the king's guards and shouldours only excepted."

1572. JOHN KNOX, the celebrated Scottish reformer, died. He fiercely inveighed against the established religion, and succeeded in reforming the doctrines of the church in his country.

1638. Quinnipiack, now New Haven, purchased of Monauguin, sachem of the country, in consideration of protection from hostile Indians, and a payment of 12 coats of English cloth, 12 alchymy spoons, 12 hatches, 12 hoes, 2 dozen knives, 12 porringers, and 4 cases of French knives and scissors.

1675. Tea and coffee houses in London permitted by royal proclamation to be reopened, on condition that the keepers should prevent sedition, and the reading of libels in them.

1694. JOHN TILLOTSON, archbishop of Canterbury, died, aged 65. He was a popular preacher, who exerted himself strenuously against popery, and was finally elevated to the highest dignity in the church.

1704. LANDAU surrendered to the imperialists after a loss of 4,000 men.

1728. FRANCIS MASCLEF, a French ecclesiastic, died. A difference in theological opinions from his bishop led to his dismissal. From this time he devoted himself to study with so much application as to bring on a disease that hastened his death. His principal work was a Hebrew grammar, in which he discarded the vowel points, and embodied an elaborate argument against them.

1732. OTTOMAR ELLIGER, a distinguished Prussian painter, died by intemperance.

1751. GEORGE GRAHAM, an ingenious watch maker, died. He was not only the most eminent of his profession, but the best mechanic of his time, and had a complete knowledge of practical astronomy.

1755. LAWRENCE RICCI, an illustrious Florentine, died. He embraced the order of the Jesuits, of which he was general at the time of its suppression; was imprisoned by the pope, and died in confinement.

1758. Pittsburgh evacuated by the French.

1759. Fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, taken by general Forbes.

1759. One of the most violent eruptions of mount Vesuvius ever known, which took place without any of the usual preceding symptoms.

1776. THEOPHILUS BORDEN, an eminent French physician, died. He gained great reputation at Paris, where he published nine medical works.

1789. Assignats, the name given to paper money, first issued in France.

1790. ROBERT HENRY, a Scottish clergyman, died; author of a history of Great Britain "on a new plan."

1814. Treaty of peace signed at Ghent, between the United States and Great Britain.

1819. Champlain canal declared to be navigable.

1828. CLARKE ABEL, a medical officer and naturalist, who accompanied the embassy of lord Amherst to China in 1816, died.

1835. WILLIAM DUANE died at Philadelphia; many years editor of the _Aurora_, one of the most able and distinguished papers which supported Mr. Jefferson and his measures.

1848. Pope PIUS IX, after a week's imprisonment in his palace, escaped in disguise to Mola di Geta.

1852. WALTER FORWARD, an eminent American statesman, died at Pittsburgh, aged 66. He was a native of Connecticut, but achieved his reputation at the west.

1854. The steamer Ocean, from Boston, for the Kennebec, came in collision in Boston harbor, with the Atlantic steamer Canada, took fire and was destroyed.

1855. LOUIS MATTHIEU, count Mole, formerly prime minister of Louis Philippe, died, aged 75. His abilities attracted the attention of Napoleon, and he filled various offices under the different rulers of France till his decease.

NOVEMBER 25.

165 B. C. Feast during eight days, commencing on the 25th of the Hebrew month Casleu, of the dedication of the temple, repaired and purified by the care of Judas Macabæus, being the anniversary of its profanation three years before by the order of Antiochus Epiphanes.

1185. LUCIUS III (_Humbaldo Allineigoli_), pope, died. He was twice compelled to fly from Rome to avoid the popular tumult. He established, with the countenance of the emperor Frederick, constitutions for the punishment of heretics, which may be considered as the origin of the inquisition.

1542. Battle of Solway Moss; the Scottish army under Sinclair defeated by an inferior force of English under Dacres and Musgrave.

1547. HENRY II, of France, caused the following to be proclaimed: "We forbid all booksellers, printers, &c., under pain of confiscation, to print any book relating to the holy scriptures."

1560. ANDREW DORIA, the famous Genoese admiral, died. He distinguished himself in the service of several Italian princes, and finally achieved the liberty of his own country, of which he refused to accept the sovereignty.

1624. RICHARD CRACKANTHORP, an eloquent English preacher, died. He was also an author of merit.

1626. EDWARD ALLEYN died; an actor of great reputation in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I, and founder of Dulwich college.

1651. HENRY IRETON, a republican general in the English civil war, died. He possessed great abilities and uncommon valor, and deserved the friendship of Cromwell, whose daughter he married. He died at the siege of Limerick, and was buried with great pomp in Westminster abbey; but at the restoration was dug up and exposed on Tyburn gibbet with Cromwell and Bradshaw.

1687. NICHOLAS STENO, an eminent Danish anatomist, died.

1694. ISMAEL BULLIALDUS, an astronomer of the isle of France, died.

1748. ISAAC WATTS, an English dissenting divine, died; author of several valuable works on subjects of divinity, and whose hymns and poetical version of the psalms are still in general use.

1758. Fort du Quesne taken by the British and provincial army, 8,000 men, under general Forbes; the French garrison, deserted by the Indians, being unequal to its maintenance. In compliment to the popular minister, William Pitt, it was named Pittsburgh, and has become an important place at the head of the Ohio.

1759. Battle of Chinchura, in the East Indies; the Dutch defeated by the British under colonel Forde.

1760. Tripoli nearly destroyed by an earthquake, shocks of which had continued nearly a month. Balbec was entirely ruined.

1766. ZACHARY GREY, an English scholar and divine, died. He was the author of thirty publications, the best known of which is an edition of _Hudibras_, with curious and interesting notes.

1770. PHILIP MORANT died; a learned and indefatigable English antiquary and biographer.

1774. HENRY BAKER, an ingenious English naturalist, died, aged 70.

1775. EUSEBIUS AMORT died; a distinguished Bavarian ecclesiastical and theological writer.

1780. NAPHTALI DAGGETT, fifth president of Yale college, died. He had previously been professor of divinity; was a good classical scholar and a learned divine.

1783. New York evacuated by the British. The Americans under general Knox took possession of it, and received general Washington and governor Clinton, who made a public entry into it.

1785. RICHARD GLOVER, an English poet, died. He was a merchant by profession, who made a proficiency in the belles lettres; and acquired an enviable reputation as a citizen.

1785. CHARLES DE MAUR, an eminent Spanish mathematician and engineer, died. He was employed in the army, and in the construction of canals and roads.

1789. A Jamaica paper of this date states, that 2,300 negroes had been imported into that island from Africa within the four weeks then preceding.

1792. Battle of Liege; the Austrians under Staray defeated by the French under Dumourier, and compelled to cross the river.

1795. STANISLAUS PONIATOWSKI, king of Poland, deposed by Catharine of Russia. He resigned his crown at Grodno, and was permitted to retire into Russia, where he died three years after.

1816. The new theatre, Philadelphia, illuminated with gas lights, under the direction of Dr. Kugler, being the first theatre on this continent thus illuminated.

1833. NICHOLAS ESTERHAZY died; prince of Este, field marshal and privy counselor of the emperor of Austria. He was at one time one of the richest subjects in Europe. The choice Tokay wine is made from his fruitful principality, upon whose estates were the largest flocks of sheep in Europe.

1835. ROBERT GOODACRE, a distinguished English lecturer on astronomy, died.

1837. St. Charles, in Canada, taken from the _patriots_ by the British troops. The Canadian force consisted of between 3 and 4,000; their loss was 200 killed, 300 wounded and 30 taken prisoners.

1840. A negro woman, in Virginia, gave birth to a lusus naturæ, in the shape of a child with two heads, four arms and two chests; but from the umbilicus downwards, the formation was that of a single child; it did not survive. A living and perfect child was born at the same time.

1851. Battle at Cerralvo; between Carvajal, with 350 men, and Jarregui, the Mexican general, with 320 men and 2 pieces of artillery. Jarregui was driven with loss into a storehouse, which he held until aid arrived, and Carvajal's troops were dispersed.

1852. The canton of Ticino, in Switzerland, suppressed the order of Capuchin monks, and expelled all of that order under 65 years of age.

1853. J. W. GUNNISON, an eminent United States topographical engineer, was killed by a party of Utah Indians, while engaged in the survey of a route across to the Pacific.

1854. JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART, an eminent Scottish author, died at Abbotsford, aged 59. He succeeded Gifford as editor of the _Quarterly Review_ in 1829, but is best known by his _Life of Walter Scott_.

1854. JOHN KITTO, author of many valuable works on Biblical literature, died at Stuttgart, aged 50.

1855. Admiral BRUAT, a noted French naval officer, died on board ship, aged 59. He had been governor of the French establishments in Oceanica, and was sent as commander of the French fleet in the Black sea.

1855. A revolution at Montevideo which lasted four days, in which 100 persons were killed, and many wounded.

1855. The town of Kars, after a siege of seven months, its garrison being reduced to extremities, surrendered to the Russians on honorable terms.

NOVEMBER 26.

380. GREGORY NAZIANZEN installed in the see of Constantinople, by the hand of Theodosius, upon the removal of Demophilus, and the fall of Arianism in the East soon followed.

1120. Prince WILLIAM, with Richard and Mary, children of Henry I, of England, with attendants and others, to the number of 180, wrecked in coming from Normandy, after which the king was never seen to laugh.

1504. ISABELLA, queen of Castile, died. Her reign was remarkable for the conquest of Grenada from the Moors and the discovery of America; but was disgraced by the introduction of the inquisition.

1678. STALEY, a catholic goldsmith, executed at Tyburn, London, for saying, as testified by a Scotchman, "Here's the hand that will kill the king."

1703. The great storm in England, the most violent on record. The Eddystone lighthouse was thrown down; 13 men-of-war and 1,500 seamen perished, with the admiral, Beaumont; bishop Kidder and a great number of persons were killed; and an immense number of animals, and a great amount of property destroyed.

1719. JOHN HUDSON died; an eminent English critic and keeper of the Bodleian library.

1763. ROBERT BOLTON, an English puritan, died; distinguished for his learning and eloquence, and the excellence of his writings.

1780. JEROME DAVID GAUBIUS died; a German professor of medicine, and lecturer on botany and chemistry.

1793. The French republican calendar was first used, but discontinued 31st Dec., 1805. The decade was seldom used in dates.

1799. JOSEPH BLACK, a celebrated Scottish chemist, died. He was professor of chemistry in the university of Edinburgh, and made important discoveries in that science.

1807. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, chief justice of the United States, died.

1812. Battle of Staroy-Borizoff, in Russia; a most sanguinary conflict, in which the French were defeated with great slaughter, after a conflict of four hours; 8,000 prisoners and a vast quantity of baggage were captured by the Russians; but the greatest trophy was two whole regiments of Saxon cavalry, fresh, and in excellent order.

1817. First newspaper in Wayne county issued.

1818. Field marshal COLLOREDO, Austrian minister of state, and director-general of artillery, died at Vienna, aged 84.

1826. JOHN NICHOLS, printer and editor of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, died at London.

1827. JOSE ALVAREZ, a famous Spanish sculptor, died at Madrid.

1829. BUSHROD WASHINGTON died; one of the judges of the supreme court of the United States.

1829. Great inundation of the Nile began, by which 30,000 persons perished.

1836. JOHN LOUDON MCADAM, died in Scotland, aged 80; the celebrated introducer of the system of road making which bears his name. He was 60 years of age when he commenced his public career as a reformer of roads; yet he became so great a benefactor that the British government made him a grant of nearly $50,000.

1842. ROBERT SMITH, a cabinet minister under presidents Jefferson and Madison, died at Baltimore, aged 85.

1851. PREISSNITZ, founder of the system of hydropathy, died at Graefenberg, in Bavaria, aged 52.

1851. Marshal SOULT, duke of Dalmatia, died in France, aged 82; terminating a long public career, both military and civil.

1852. An earthquake greatly damaged the city of St. Jago de Cuba.

1852. At Stafford house, in London, some English ladies, headed by the duchess of Sutherland, adopted an address to the women of America on the subject of negro slavery, which subsequently received 576,000 signatures.

NOVEMBER 27.

226 B. C. A solemn annual feast instituted at Rome, derived from the barbarians, when two Greeks and two Gauls, one of either sex, were inhumed alive, in the ox-market. It was instituted upon the invasion of the Boian Gauls, in order to _fulfill_ a sybilline prophecy, that those terrible nations should one day be masters of the capitol. At this period the city inrolled 770,000 infantry.

222 B. C. MARCELLUS carried off the _spoils_ of Viridomarus, which is the last single handed triumph.

8 B. C. QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS (_Horace_), an ancient lyric and satiric poet, died. He became the friend of Augustus, who offered him preferments, but he had the greatness of mind to refuse them all, and lived in retirement and study, free from the noise and hurry of ambition.

602. MAURITIUS TIBERIUS, emperor of Rome, died. He was a Cappadocian, distinguished himself at the head of the Roman armies, and was made emperor. But though valiant and successful, he was defeated by his own general Phocas, and put to death, together with his five sons.

1520. The Castilian insurgents under De Acuna, consisting of priests and men in holy orders, offered the royalists battle at Rio Seco; but the latter sued for terms, which not being accepted, the royalists struck a blow which turned the scale of fortune in their favor.

1520. FERNANDO MAGALHAENS entered the Pacific ocean, through the straits which bear his name. He navigated its waters three months and twenty days without finding an island; but during this course he enjoyed continuous fair weather, with such favorable winds, that he bestowed on the ocean the name of Pacific, which it still bears.

1627. The fall of a luminous stone or meteorolite, weighing 57 pounds, on Mt. Voisin, in Province, under a clear sky, observed by Gassendi.

1630. Great earthquake at Peru.

1666. Battle of Pentland hills, in which the persecuted covenanters were defeated by the king's troops.

1707. FITZ JOHN WINTHROP, governor of Connecticut, died. He was distinguished for his knowledge in philosophy and his skill in politics, and took a conspicuous part in the affairs of the colonies, both in peace and war.

1710. The British general Stanhope surprised at Briheuga, and compelled to surrender to the Spaniards with 2,000 men.

1714. Several persons tried for insulting the dissenters and breaking their windows at Bristol. This seemed to be an omen of the dawn of a more liberal day.

1754. ABRAHAM DEMOIVRE, a noted French mathematician, died. His abilities were so highly admired by the Royal society of London that they judged him a fit person to decide the famous contest between Newton and Leibnitz.

1778. General WASHINGTON broke up his camp and marched to Middlebrook, to go into winter quarters. The British expedition against Georgia, under colonel Campbell, 2,500 troops, sailed from Sandy Hook on the same day, escorted by a squadron under sir Hyde Parker.

1779. THOMAS, lord Lyttleton, a statesman of some merit, died in his 36th year. It is storied of him, that three days previous to his death a ghost admonished him that it would happen.

1781. Sortie from the garrison of Gibraltar, at 2 P. M., under Gen. Ross. They took and destroyed two mortar and three heavy cannon batteries, blew up several Spanish magazines, and returned before daylight with the loss of 4 killed, having destroyed property estimated at three millions.

1788. THOMAS HARMER died; an eminent English dissenting divine, and critical writer on Biblical literature.

1792. The national convention of France erected the duchy of Savoy into an 84th department of the French republic.

1807. The royal family of Portugal to avoid being made prisoners by Gen. Junot, who was approaching their capital, embarked at the mouth of the Tagus for Brazil.

1811. GASPAR MELCHIOR DE JOVELLANOS died; one of the most distinguished Spaniards of modern times, both as a statesman and a writer. The wretched state of the Spanish book trade does not allow a complete collection of his works to appear.

1812. Battle of Berezina; the Russian general Wittgenstein forced the French across the river, who were killed and drowned in great numbers in their flight. It is scarcely possible to calculate the loss of the French on this occasion. Cannon, bayonets, fire and water contributed to their destruction. A vast quantity of booty from Moscow fell into the hands of the Russians.

1812. British frigate Southampton, Capt. Yeo, and her prize the U. S. brig Vixen, totally lost on a reef of rocks 9 miles from the island of Conception. The officers and crews of both vessels were saved.

1812. A detachment of United States troops in ten boats made a successful attack upon the batteries opposite Black Rock, in Canada, spiked the cannon, and returned.

1814. Unsuccessful attack of the British on fort Kalunga, in the East Indies. British loss about 500.

1827. Eruption of the mud volcano of Jokmali, on the Caspian sea. The flames burst forth and blazed up to an extraordinary height for a period of three hours, so as to be seen at the distance of six German miles (31 Eng. ?), after which they scarcely rose three feet above the crater which discharged the mud.

1836. ANTOINE CHARLES HORACE VERNET died at Paris. He has produced some of the best paintings of the age. That of the battle of Fontenoy is much admired.

1838. The castle of San Juan de Ulloa at Vera Cruz, Mexico, taken by a French naval force. The castle was reputed a very strong one, but was taken after a bombardment of 5 hours. The French lost 4 men killed; loss of the Mexicans upwards of 400.

1843. SUSAN JOHNSTON, widow of the late John Johnston, Esq., of Ireland, died at Sault St. Marie. She was daughter of Wabojeeg, chief of the Chippewa nation.

1850. HARDIN BIGELOW, mayor of Sacramento, died of cholera. He had distinguished himself by his vigor and bravery in quelling the squatter riots in Sacramento, and in enforcing the laws, by which he was wounded, and lost an arm.

1852. ADA AUGUSTA, countess of Lovelace, and daughter of Byron, died, aged 37. Her tastes turned to metaphysics and mathematics.

1855. ROBERT BUNYAN died at Lincoln, England, aged 80; the last male descendant in a direct line from the author of _Pilgrim's Progress_.

1856. H. TOLLENS, the great national poet of Holland, died at Ryswick, aged 77. His poetry, remarkable for its ardent patriotism, enjoyed extraordinary popularity among all classes of his countrymen.

NOVEMBER 28.

411. FLAVIUS JULIUS CONSTANTINE put to death by order of Constantius. He was a private Roman soldier, who invested himself with the imperial purple in Britain, and added Gaul and Spain to his dominions.

741. GREGORY III, pope, died. He was a charitable but magnificent pontiff, who added great splendor to the holy see.

1285. PETER III, king of Arragon, died. He is notorious for the massacre of the French in the island of Sicily, called the _Sicilian Vespers_, by which he became master of the kingdom.

1443. Revolt of Scanderbeg from the Turkish power, holding the standard of his native mountains.

1499. EDWARD PLANTAGENET, earl of Warwick, beheaded.

1523. Election of CLEMENT VII (_Julius de Medici_), to the disappointment and deep resentment of cardinal Wolsey; an event which had its weight in the establishment of the English reformation.

1631. EDMUND RICHER, an eminent French theological writer, died. He possessed great powers of mind, and a lively imagination; but his writings became obnoxious to the pope's legate, and drew on him persecution.

1655. Peace between England and France proclaimed.

1680. GIOVANNI LORENZO BERNINI died; an Italian famous for his skill in painting, sculpture, architecture and mechanics. He left a large fortune and was buried with great magnificence.

1708. ANTHONY VANDALE died; an eminent Dutch physician and critic.

1776. WASHINGTON retreated across the Passaic before Cornwallis. The diminution of the American army by the departure of those whose terms of service had expired, encouraged the British to pursue the remaining force with the prospect of annihilating it. The pursuit was urged with so much rapidity, that the rear of the army, pulling down bridges, was often within sight and shot of the van of the other, building them up.

1778. EDWARD ROWE MORES, an able English antiquary, died.

1782. Edict of the emperor JOSEPH II, absolving religious orders in the Low Countries from all foreign dependence whatever.

1785. WILLIAM WHIPPLE, one of the signers, died. He was a native of New Hampshire, and employed several years in commercial voyages. In 1775 he was a representative from Portsmouth, and in 1777 was placed at the head of a brigade raised to oppose Burgoyne, which he commanded at the battle of Saratoga.

1789. The iron, lead and woodwork of the Bastile were sold at Paris by auction.

1794. FREDERICK WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, baron Steuben, died at Steubenville, N. Y., aged 61. He came to America from France in 1777, and joined the revolutionary army. His sound judgment and experience, attained in the army of Frederick the Great, was of incalculable advantage to the Americans in establishing discipline and a uniform system of manoeuvres.

1799. KIEN LONG, emperor of China, died, aged 90. He received addresses from Voltaire and Peter Pindar.

1800. MATTHEW YOUNG, an Irish bishop and mathematician, died.

1801. DEODAT GUY SILVAIN TANCREDE DE DOLOMIEU, an eminent French geologist, died, of a disease taken during an imprisonment. He was indefatigable in the pursuit of his favorite science.

1806. The French under Murat entered Warsaw, the capital of ancient Poland, which had been overawed by the Russian soldiery, kept there for the purpose.

1812. LOGAN, the Mingo chief, died; so well known by his misfortunes.

1812. Battle of Tchatchovo; the Russians again defeated the French on the left bank of the Berezina. This was the last battle of consequence in Russia. Bonaparte fled the field, and was no more seen in any conflict during this campaign. His army was reduced to a wretched band of the shadows of men.

1818. ANN DAWSON died at Harrowgate, England, aged 161.

1825. MAXIMILIAN SEBASTIAN FOY, a distinguished French officer and orator, died. His funeral was attended by thousands of his countrymen, and a monument erected to his memory.

1828. MILLER RITCHIE, justly considered the father of fine English printing, died.

1840. London enveloped in dense fog, which arrested business in the city and on the river. Serious accidents and loss of life occurred. Such an event had not occurred before in 20 years; it was impossible to find the way along the streets without lighted flambeaux.

1849. THOMAS H. BLAKE, an early settler at Terre Haute, Ind., and a distinguished American statesman, died.

NOVEMBER 29.

92. AGRIPPA observed at Bethynia a conjunction of the moon with the Pleiades about 7 o'clock in the evening.

511. CLOVIS, the conqueror of Gaul and the real founder of the French monarchy, died. He fixed the royal residence at Lusatia, the modern Paris, which was originally situated on the isle of France, in the Seine.

1268. CLEMENT IV (_Guy de Foulques_), pope, died. He was a Frenchman, of great moderation, prudence and impartiality.

1290. ELEANOR, queen of England, died. She was a Castilian princess, characterized as pious, prudent and charitable, elegant in her person, and gentle in her manners.

1314. PHILIP IV (_the Fair_), of France, died. He engaged in a long and bloody war with England, Germany and Flanders, and in a single engagement with the latter 25,000 of his enemies were slain.

1330. RODGER MORTIMER, earl of March, hanged near London. He was engaged as a principal actor in a complicated scene of guilt with Isabella queen of Edward II.

1378. CHARLES IV, emperor of Germany, died. His reign is famous for the _golden bull_, enacted by the diet of Nuremberg. He founded the university of Prague, and deserves the respect of the learned for the patronage he extended to literature.

1526. JOHN DE MEDICIS died, aged 28; a warrior in the service of Francis I of France, and surnamed the invincible.

1530. THOMAS WOLSEY, an English cardinal, died in disgrace. From a butcher's boy he rose to be archbishop of York, and prime minister of England. He even aspired to the popedom. At the height of his fortune he had in his retinue 800 servants, among whom were ten lords, fifteen knights and forty esquires. His expenses exceeded the revenues of the crown. All this he owed to the capricious favor of the king, Henry VIII, who suddenly stripped him of all his possessions.

1599. CHRISTOPHER BARKER, printer to queen Elizabeth, died at Windsor. His books were specimens of good workmanship of that time.

1632. The king of Bohemia died; on whose youngest daughter, Sophia, by Elizabeth, sister of Charles I, and her issue, the crown of England was finally settled.

1643. WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT, an English dramatic poet, died.

1652. The Dutch fleet under Van Tromp defeated the English, and Van Tromp sailed through the channel with a broom at the mast head.

1661. BRIAN WALTON, an English bishop, died; editor of the Polyglot Bible, in 6 vols.

1662. Count D'ESTRADES took possession of Dunkirk, purchased by the French king of Charles II of England.

1682. Prince RUPERT, son of Frederick, king of Bohemia, died. He acquired military fame in the English civil war, but is better known for his discoveries in the arts and sciences. He invented what is called after him prince's metal, and discovered the art of engraving in mezzotint.

1694. MARCELLO MALPIGHI, an Italian physician, died. His discoveries in anatomy were curious and important. By his delicate dissections he found out the lobules of the liver, and the nature of the formation and mechanism of the kidneys, and of the veins and heart.

1695. ANTHONY WOOD, a famous English antiquary, died.

1710. Battle of Villa Visciosa; the left wing of the allies under Staremberg defeated by the French and Spaniards under the duke de Vendome; but the victors instead of following the blow began to plunder the baggage; Staremberg with his right wing fought their left with such valor and perseverance till night, that they retired in disorder with the loss of 6000 killed, leaving him master of the field and all their artillery.

1732. The city of Aveline and nearly all of the city of Oriano, in Naples, destroyed by an earthquake.

1759. WILLIAM DICKINS died at Kysoe, England. His life is remarkable for a single feat. While engaged in building the spire of a church, he fell from the height of 132 feet. In his descent he struck the battlements with such force as to fracture his leg and foot severely, and bring part of the stone work to the ground with him. He sustained so little injury in other respects, that he was soon enabled to reascend and finish his work. He lived 40 years afterwards.

1775. Captain MANLY, of Marblehead, in a privateer, took an ordnance brig from Woolwich containing a large brass mortar, several pieces of fine brass cannon, a large quantity of small arms and ammunition, with all kinds of tools, utensils and machines necessary for camps and artillery; and a few days after three ships from London, Glasgow and Liverpool, with various stores for the British army.

1780. MARIA THERESA, archduchess of Austria, queen of Hungary, and empress of Germany, died. She will ever rank high among illustrious women, and among those sovereigns who have been the benefactors of mankind.

1781. The British evacuated Dorchester on the approach of the Americans under general Greene; by which all the rice plantations between the Edisto and Ashley rivers were saved to the Americans.

1792. DAVID DALRYMPLE, lord Hailes, died. He was noted for his knowledge of law, and as an antiquarian, and was intimate with the most eminent men of the age.

1793. ANTHONY PETER JOSEPH MARIE DE BARNAVE, a French avocat, guillotined. He displayed great eloquence and strong powers of mind in the national assembly; but failing to keep pace with the terrorists, was imprisoned fifteen months, and finally brought to the block.

1793. M. F. DUPORT DU TERTRE guillotined at Paris; a modest and studious man, whose philosophical ideas led him to declare in favor of the revolution, in which he always displayed great moderation.

1793. The Austrians under Wurmzer defeated the French with great slaughter, and drove them beyond Strasburg. Loss of the French estimated at 15,000.

1793. Battle near Lautern; the duke of Brunswick defeated the French in two attacks, with great slaughter.

1794. CAESAR BONESANA BECCARIA, an Italian philosopher, died. He published a treatise on crimes and punishments, which became a popular work, and was translated into various languages.

1802. Ohio admitted into the Union.

1807. The royal family and court of Portugal emigrated to Brazil, on the invasion of the Portuguese kingdom by the French.

1812. British schooner Subtle, in chase of the American privateer Favorite, upset in a squall, and sunk before the Favorite could come to her assistance. All the crew perished.

1812. The American troops, 1400, embarked for the invasion of Canada under general Smyth.

1812. Battle of Autosse, between 950 Georgia militia and about 400 friendly Indians and a body of Creek Indians. The Creeks were defeated with the loss of 200 killed, among whom was the Autosse and Talisse kings.

1813. GIAMBATTISTA BODONI, a celebrated Italian printer, died. He was placed at the head of an establishment at Parma, in 1766, which he made the first of the kind in Europe, and gained the reputation of having surpassed all the splendid and beautiful productions of his predecessors in the art.

1814. The first newspaper printed by steam power. This was the _Times_, of London. The machine was the invention of a Saxon by the name of König, and printed at the rate of 1100 papers per hour.

1830. Revolt of Poland commenced at Warsaw, in consequence of the severe and insulting conduct of the grand duke Constantine. The insurrection extended quickly through the country, and into Lithuania and other parts of ancient Poland.

1842. EDMUND HAWLEY died at Hawley, Mass., aged 96. He erected the first frame house in that town (then called No. 7), was a soldier of the revolution, and a justice of the peace for more than 50 years.

1847. The presbyterian mission station of Wallah Wallah valley, in Oregon, assaulted by Indians and several of the missionaries slain.

NOVEMBER 30.

406 B. C. EURIPIDES, the Greek tragic poet, died at Barmiscus, in Macedonia. He wrote 92 tragedies which were greatly esteemed, but of which only 19 are extant.

69. ANDREW, one of the apostles, suffered martyrdom at Patræ in Achaia, upon the cross. He is the patron saint of Scotland.

1016. EDMUND II (_Ironside_), king of England, assassinated.

1093. MALCOLM III, king of Scots, who was the son of the gracious Duncan immortalized by Shakspeare in Macbeth, was slain in his 70th year.

1292. JOHN BALIOL crowned king of Scotland at Scone, after swearing fealty to the king of England.

1603. WILLIAM GILBERT, a learned English physician, died. He discovered some of the properties of the loadstone.

1654. JOHN SELDEN died; an English antiquary, historian and law writer, of most extensive learning.

1672. The English East India company lost the island of St. Helena; the Dutch taking it.

1700. Battle of Narva; the Russians under Peter the great defeated by the Swedes under Charles XII. The forces of the two armies were unequal; that of the Russians differently stated from 80 to 100,000, while that of the Swedes varies from 8 to 20,000. Charles had a horse killed under him, and was struck in the neck by a ball.

1718. CHARLES XII, king of Sweden, killed by a musket shot while attacking one of the forts in Frederickshall, Norway.

1733. In consequence of a vast exportation of grain from England, freights nearly doubled and the price of wheat rose in some places to four shillings per bushel.

1750. The nunneries of Begging Friars suppressed in Ireland by the pope for vile and disorderly practices.

1750. MAURICE of Saxe, marshal of France, died.

1751. NICHOLAS BOINDIN, a French dramatist, died. He left the pursuit of arms for that of literature, and became celebrated for his comedies.

1761. JOHN DOLLOND died; an eminent English optician, and inventor of the achromatic telescope.

1781. THEODORE TRONCHIN, an eminent physician of Geneva, died. He was the pupil of Boerhaave, and the author of several medical works.

1782. Preliminary articles of peace signed at Paris between England and America.

1793. Treaty between the United States and the Creek Indians.

1793. JEAN PIERRE BRISSOT guillotined; a very eminent Welch writer on philosophy, politics and legislation.

1793. WILLIAM LEWIS died in the act of drinking a cup of French ale, called a _tumbler maur_. He made it a rule to read a certain number of chapters in the Bible in the morning, and to drink eight gallons of ale in the evening. He weighed 40 stone, and his bulk was enormous. A machine in the form of a crane was constructed to hoist him on the carriage, and to let him into his grave. He had drank beer enough in his day to float a 74 gun ship.

1801. JOSEPH FRANCIS MAURICE DE LASCY, a Russian officer in the service of Austria, died. He gradually rose to a high rank by his talents displayed at several important battles.

1803. French port of St. Domingo evacuated by capitulation; the French under Rochambeau went as prisoners of war on board the British squadron, and the black prince Dessalines took possession. Almost all the whites that remained were massacred.

1811. British ship Rover captured French corvette Le Compte Reginaud, 14 guns, with a valuable cargo of sugar, coffee and spices. She had before belonged to the British navy.

1812. HARRIET NEWELL, an American missionary, died at the Isle of France. She was a woman of great excellence of character, who was the means of greatly exciting and extending the missionary spirit.

1813. The hereditary stadtholder of Holland arrived at the Hague from England to assume the sovereignty of the country.

1815. Fall of meteoric stones at the village of Chassigny, near Langres.

1828. JOHN BELL, a distinguished citizen of New Hampshire, died. He was a leading member of the senate during the revolutionary war, and possessed great judgment, decision and integrity.

1830. The two LANDERS in descending the Niger, reached the sea, completing the discovery of that river; having ascertained that the Benin, the Nun and the New Calabar rivers, are all mouths of the great river Niger, with a direct communication with the Tschad lake.

1833. GWYLLYM LLOYD WARDLE, an English statesman, died at Florence. He obtained great notoriety for his successful motion in the British parliament in 1809 for inquiring into the conduct of the duke of York as commander-in-chief.

1833. WILLIAM MACLEOD BANNATYNE died, aged 90; a celebrated Scottish justice, one of the contributors to the _Mirror_ and _Lounger_, and the last survivor of that phalanx of genius which shed a brilliant lustre on the periodical literature of Scotland near the close of the 18th century.

1838. Battle of Tampico; the Mexicans under general Piedra defeated by the federalists under general Urrea, with the loss of 500.

1848. Major JOHN ROBERTS died. He served in the revolutionary war, and negotiated the exchange of prisoners obtained by the convention of Saratoga, 1777.

1850. SERENO EDWARDS DWIGHT, a noted New England preacher, died, aged 65. He published a life of Edwards, whose works he edited.

1853. ANSON G. PHELPS, a prominent, wealthy and benevolent merchant, died in New York, aged 74.

1853. Battle at Sinope; the Turkish squadron, consisting of 3 frigates, 2 steamers and some transports, was destroyed by the Russians; 5000 Turks were killed, and Osman Pasha was taken prisoner.

1856. HENDERSON YOAKEM, the historian of Texas, died at Houston, aged 46. He possessed a high order of legal attainments.

DECEMBER.

DECEMBER 1.

627. Battle of Nineveh; the Romans under Heraclius defeated the Persians after a contest from daylight to the eleventh hour; 28 standards were wrenched from the hands of the conquered, and the cities and palaces of Assyria were opened for the first time to the Romans.

801. ALCUIN, preceptor of Charlemagne, presented his illustrious pupil with a magnificent folio Bible, bound in velvet, the leaves of vellum, and the writing in double columns, and containing 449 leaves. Prefixed is a richly ornamented frontispiece, in gold and colors. It is enriched with four large paintings exhibiting the state of the art at this early period; there are moreover thirty-four large initial letters, painted in gold and colors, and containing seals, historical allusions, and emblematical devices, besides some smaller painted capitals. (See April 27th, 1836.)

1135. HENRY I, king of England, died of a surfeit of lampreys. He is characterized as wise and valiant, and ranks among the most accomplished of the English kings.

1252. BLANCHE, (_of Castile_,) queen of France, died. She married Lewis VIII of France, after whose death she was regent of the kingdom during the minority of her son, and governed with spirit and ability.

1521. LEO X (_John de Medicis_), pope, died. He was the patron of learning and learned men; but is to be remembered as the cause of the reformation, in attempting to raise money by an unlimited sale of indulgencies.

1581. EDMUND CAMPRIAN executed. He was a learned English writer, who became a Roman catholic, and was hanged with three others for aiding the cause of the pope, and drawn and quartered.

1640. MICHAEL VASCONCELLOS, a Portuguese statesman devoted to the interests of Spain, was murdered during a political convulsion, and his body treated with ignominy.

1640. Portugal, of which Philip II of Spain had made himself master in 1580, became an independent kingdom by a revolution, which placed John, duke of Braganza, on the throne.

1666. JAMES WARE died, a celebrated antiquary and historian, of Ireland.

1722. ANNA LOUISA KARSCHIN, a German poetess, born. She was deprived of almost every literary advantage by the peculiar circumstances under which she was placed, until she attracted the attention of some influential persons, who published some of her poems. She acquired the title of the _German Sappho_, and died in October, 1791.

1723. SUSANNAH CENTLIVRE, author of several English dramas, died. She was born in Ireland, and becoming an orphan at an early age, set out for London on foot. Her adventures were romantic. Several of her dramas still keep possession of the stage.

1750. A wager was decided at Malden, England, that five men could be buttoned within the waistcoat of a person who had died a short time previous, without breaking a stitch or straining a button. Upon trial, the five persons were buttoned into the waistcoat, and two more with them. The person who wore it died at the age of twenty-nine, and weighed at the time of his death 646 pounds, and notwithstanding his corpulency, he was remarkably agile. There is a print representing the ludicrous appearance of the seven persons buttoned up in the vest.

1775. General MONTGOMERY, having sent several small detachments into the country to strengthen his interest with the Canadians, proceeded with the residue to Point aux Trembles, where he joined Arnold and marched directly upon Quebec.

1783. M. CHARLES, having made some improvements on balloons, ascended at Paris in one filled with inflammable air, the first which had been so filled. He ascended to the height of 9,000 feet. His predecessors had only reached a few hundred feet.

1787. The people at Worcester, England, rioted under the apprehension, that machines were to be introduced for spinning cotton.

1789. General WASHINGTON addressed a diplomatic letter from New York to his _great and magnanimous friend_ Sidi Mohammed, emperor of Morocco, inclosing a copy of the new American constitution.

1793. The commune of Paris ordered all the churches to be closed. But the act exciting general abhorrence was soon repealed.

1795. Battle of Mainz; the Austrians under Clairfait attacked and carried the French entrenchments, took 106 cannon, 200 ammunition wagons and 2000 prisoners.

1795. Kreutznach carried by storm twice by the French under Pichegru, who was at length obliged to retire by the Austrians.

1795. At Lauterbach two whole battalions of French were cut to pieces by the Austrians.

1797. OLIVER WOLCOTT, governor of Connecticut, died, aged 71. He was one of the signers of the declaration of independence, for which he was a bold advocate, and was in the army of general Gates at the surrender of Burgoyne. He was remarkable for intrepidity, integrity, strong and bold conceptions, and great decision of character.

1803. THOMAS ASTLE, an eminent English antiquary, died.

1808. Battle of the Samo-Sierra, a narrow pass which the Spaniards had fortified with 12,000 men and 16 pieces of cannon, which completely swept the road leading to Madrid. The French began the attack at daybreak. Three battalions scattered themselves over the opposite sides of the defiles and a warm skirmishing fire commenced. At this moment Bonaparte came up. He rode into the mouth of the pass, surveyed the scene for a moment, and perceiving that his infantry were making no progress, at once conceived the daring idea of causing his Polish lancers to charge right up the causeway in face of the battery. The smoke of the skirmishers on the hill sides mingled with the thick fogs and vapors of the morning, and under this veil the brave Krazinski led his troopers fearlessly up the ascent. The Spanish infantry fired as they passed them, threw down their arms, abandoned their guns and fled.

1814. Action between American privateer schooner Kemp, of Baltimore, and 9 British merchantmen, several of which were captured.

1814. GILLIS MCKERHNIE died at Gourock, Scotland, aged 104, supposed to be the last of the warriors that fought with prince Charles in 1754.