Chapter IV: Part 4

1547. HENRY VIII of England having grown so unwieldy and corpulent that he was raised up and let down the stairs by a machine, after an illness of some weeks, sank under his disease, and died in the 38th year of his reign, and the 56th of his age. He repudiated his first wife 20 years after marriage, and in the course of about ten years espoused five others. Henry's reign was one of the most remarkable in the annals of the kingdom. He made himself so much feared, that no English king had fewer checks to his power. No hand less strong than his could have snapped the chain which bound the nation to papacy, and have resisted successfully the power and influence of the pope.

1588. THOMAS CARN died in London, aged 207; an instance of longevity exceeding any other on modern record, but well authenticated in the parish register of St. Leonard, Shoreditch. An old man died at Ekaterinoslaf, Russia, in 1813, between 200 and 205 years of age; and Don John Taveira de Lima died in Portugal, 1738, aged 198.

1596. FRANCIS DRAKE, the first Englishman that circumnavigated the world, died on board his own ship. (See Jan. 9.)

1612. THOMAS BODLEY died. He was actively employed during the last fifteen years of his life in collecting manuscripts and books for the library at Oxford which bears his name, and which by his perseverance came to be one of the most celebrated in Europe.

1687. JOHN HEVELIUS died, an eminent German astronomer.

1725. PETER the Great, of Russia, died, aged 53. He devoted his life time to civilize his subjects, and raise the nation from barbarism and ignorance, to politeness, knowledge and power. He spared no pains or fatigue to obtain knowledge which he thought would be beneficial to his subjects.

1732. The protestants of Saltzburg being driven out of their country, settled by invitation of the king of Prussia in Brandenburg.

1738. The first stone of Westminster bridge over the Thames laid.

1782. JOHN BAPTISTE BOURGUIGNON D'ANVILLE, the French geographer, died. He was esteemed as well for the gentleness and simplicity of his manners, as for his extensive knowledge. He labored at his maps fifteen hours a day for fifty years.

1782. JAMES MURRAY, a very eminent historical writer, and pastor, died at New Castle upon Tyne, England.

1790. The Jews of Spain, Portugal and Avignon admitted to the privileges of French citizens.

1794. JOHN GOTTLOB IMMANUEL BREITKOPF died at Leipsic. He acquired great celebrity as a printer and type founder. His foundry contained punches and matrices for 400 alphabets. He improved the printing press, and discovered a new method for facilitating the process of melting and casting. From his foundry types were sent to Russia, Sweden, Poland, and even America. With the interruption of only five or six hours for sleep, his whole life was devoted to study and useful employment.

1796. Prince of Wales, regent of England, attacked in his carriage by the populace.

1797. Battle of Unroomster, in India; Zemaun Shah attacked the Seicks at 8 o'clock in the morning, by opening his _shutah renauls_, or wall pieces mounted on camels, and a heavy fire was kept up until 2 o'clock, when the Seicks gave a signal for a general charge, and agreeable to their mode in close combat, flung away their turbans, let loose their hair, put their beards in their mouths, and dashed into the midst of the Huddalah army. The two armies continued engaged in close combat four hours, when Zemaun's troops gave way, and were pursued to the very gates of Lahore. The loss of the Seicks was 15,000; that of the Shah 20,000 killed.

1803. Madame CLAIRON, a French actress, died. She evinced when very young a predilection for the stage, and adopting the theatrical profession, soon became the first tragic performer of her age, and long remained without a rival. She published _Mémoires et Réflexions sur la Déclamation Théatrale_.

1804. JOSEPH NICHOLAS D'AZARA, a Spanish diplomatist, died, aged 73. He became acquainted with Napoleon in 1796, who conceived great admiration of him. He was an ardent admirer of the arts and sciences, and collected an elegant library and a rich collection of paintings and antiques, which however he lost in the political changes of the times.

1816. RICHARD JOACHIM HENRY VON MOELLENDORF, a Prussian general, died. He commanded the Prussian troops employed in 1793 in the disgraceful dismemberment of Poland, on which occasion he did every thing consistent with his commission to alleviate the misfortunes of the Poles.

1818. NATHAN BIRDSEYE died at Stratford, Conn., aged 103. His funeral was attended by 100 of his descendants; the whole number of which was 258.

1836. WILLIAM SCOTT, Baron Stowell, died. He filled the office of judge of the court of admiralty in England, thirty years with distinguished ability. He is represented to have been the charm and ornament of every society of which he formed a part; and his unbounded charities acquired for him universal regard and esteem.

1841. WILLIAM HOGG died at Brownsville, Pa., aged 86, leaving an estate of one million dollars to his heirs. Fifty years previous to his death, he crossed the Alleganies with a pack of goods on his back, which was his whole property, and opened a small store soon after at Brownsville, the first in that region of country.

1842. The first stone of the Anglican cathedral at Jerusalem laid, at a depth of 35 feet from the surface. It stands upon mount Zion, and the state of the rubbish which had accumulated since the time of David, rendered it necessary to excavate to the depth of 42 feet to the natural rock.

1854. LEWIS W. CHAMBERLAYNE, a Virginia physician, died; one of the founders of the Richmond medical college, of which he was a distinguished professor.

1854. A ball-cartridge manufactory at Ravenswood, L. I., blew up killing 20 workmen and destroying 50,000 ball-cartridges.

1854. The steamer Georgia, from Montgomery, Ala., having 200 passengers and 1000 bales of cotton on board, took fire at New Orleans, and 60 passengers lost their lives.

1855. The Panama railroad being completed, the first train passed over it this day.

JANUARY 29.

164 B. C. ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, the great enemy of the Jews, died.

1559. THOMAS POPE, the founder of Trinity college, Dublin, died.

1597. ANTHONY SHIRLEY, commanding a British squadron, landed at Jamaica, and marched six miles to the principal town, _which submitted to his mercy_.

1720. JOHN ADAMS, a celebrated English preacher, died.

1728. Dean Swift's STELLA died at Dublin.

1743. ANDREW HERCULE DE FLEURY, cardinal and prime minister of Louis XV, died, aged 90. He was 73 years of age when he was placed at the head of the ministry, at which time the state was in a miserable condition. He healed the wounds of his country, and without bloodshed or cruelty established and increased the internal happiness of France, and its national glory.

1762. From Christmas to this day the weather was severely cold in England. The ice on the Thames it is said was over five feet thick!

1780. The coldest day for 25 years at Philadelphia.

1812. Desperate attempt by a black man, a negro, to fire the British privateer Speedwell. He was killed after 7 shots had been fired at him.

1814. Battle of Brienne, in which the French under Napoleon gained an inconsiderable victory over the allies under Blücher, who narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. It was at this place that Bonaparte acquired the rudiments of that skill in the military art with which he had almost prostrated the world.

1820. GEORGE III died. It was during his reign that the discontents in America burst into an open flame, and an empire was lost to the British throne. In 1810 he retired from the government, and the interval which elapsed from that time until his death was a period of insanity. He died in the 82d year of his age and the 59th of his reign.

1824. LOUISA MARIA CAROLINE, countess of Albany, died at Florence, aged 72. She was the daughter of a German prince, and married Charles Stuart, the English pretender, whence she derived the title of countess of Albany. They resided at Rome, and had a little court, and were addressed as king and queen. The connection, however, was an unhappy one, and to escape from the barbarity of her husband she retired to a convent, and afterwards went to France. On the death of Charles, 1788, she returned to Italy. She was then secretly married to Alfieri, the poet; the French court conferred on her an annuity of 60,000 livres. Alfieri confesses that to her he owed his inspiration, and that without her friendship he should never have achieved anything excellent. Their ashes repose under a common monument in the church of Santa Croce, between the tombs of Machiavelli and Michael Angelo.

1829. PAUL FRANCIS JEAN NICHOLAS DE BARRAS, a French revolutionist, died. As a member of the national convention, he voted for the king's death; and subsequently, having offended Robespierre, he headed the force that captured the tyrant. As commander-in-chief of the troops of the convention, he entrusted Bonaparte with the post in which he first distinguished himself, on the 5th Oct., 1795. His political career ended 1799, when he received a passport to his estate from Napoleon, then first consul.

1829. TIMOTHY PICKERING, an American soldier and statesman, died. In public life he was distinguished for energy, ability and disinterestedness; as a soldier he was brave and patriotic; and his writings bear ample testimony to his talents and information. He was one of the leaders of the federal party.

1834. Duel at Paris between Gen. Bugeaud and M. Dulong, members of the chamber of deputies; Dulong was killed.

1855. NICHOLAS ordered the formation of a general militia of the Russian empire.

JANUARY 30.

422 B. C. A census of the inhabitants of Athens was taken, and reported the number of males to be 20,000.

405 B. C. Sophocles died at Athens.

1560. A phenomenon observed at London, called the _burning spears_, being one of the earliest records of that appearance now well known by the name of aurora borealis.

1601. SCIPIO AMMIRATI, an Italian historian, died. He wrote a history of Florence, published in 2 vols, folio.

1606. EVERARD DIGBY hanged, drawn and quartered at the west end of St. Paul's church, London. He was concerned in the gunpowder plot, having offered £1500 towards defraying the expenses of that dreadful affair. He also entertained Fawkes, who was to have executed it in his house, and was taken in open rebellion with other papists after the plot was detected and had miscarried.

1644. WILLIAM CHILLINGWORTH died; celebrated for his skill as a religious controversialist, and a defender of protestantism against popery.

1647. King CHARLES I delivered up to parliament by the Scots for £200,000. Some think it unworthy of the nation.

1649. CHARLES I beheaded. He was born in Scotland 1600, and succeeded to the British throne 1625. His reign was signalized by a struggle with his parliaments, in procuring supplies, which finally ended in his execution. He was tried for treason against the people, and condemned with only three days' grace.

1660. WILLIAM OUGHTRED, an English divine and mathematician, died, it is said, in consequence of excess of joy at the restoration of Charles II, whom he called Christ's anointed.

1661. The heads of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, and Henry Ireton set on poles at Westminster hall, and their bodies buried under the gallows at Tyburn, where their disinterred bodies had been hung.

1678. The expense of the equestrian statue of Charles I at Charing Cross, London, was defrayed with part of £70,000, voted for his funeral celebration.

1691. Pope ALEXANDER III died, after a reign of only 15 months.

1735. GEORGE GRANVILLE, viscount Lansdowne, an eminent English poet, died. Having vainly endeavored to get employment in arms for the defence of James II, to whose cause he was warmly attached, he retired to private life, enjoying the company of his muse, which he employed in celebrating the reigning beauties of the age, in imitation of Waller.

1757. Calcutta retaken by Col. Clive.

1766. JAMES BARTHOLOMEW BECCARIA, an Italian physician and professor of natural philosophy, died. His writings are highly esteemed.

1766. SUSANNA MARIA CIBBER died. She was not only considered the best actress in England, but supposed by many to excel the celebrated Madame Clairon, of Paris, her contemporary.

1805. JOHN ROBINSON, a celebrated Edinburgh mathematician, died.

1809. Assault upon Saragossa in Spain by the French under Junot, Lannes and Mortier. The Spaniards made a most desperate resistance; a corps of women even being formed for its defence. The houses were taken one by one; they were compelled to undermine upwards of 600 in order to get possession of them.

1810. Several meteoric stones fell in Caswell county, North Carolina.

1826. The mails were first carried over the Menai suspension bridge, which connects the island of Anglesey with the Welch shore.

1833. JOSEPH BLUYDENBURGE died at Smithtown, L. I., aged 101, retaining the vigor of perfect health to the last week of his life.

1834. Attempt to assassinate the president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, made by Richard Lawrence.

1834. RUDOLPH ACKERMAN, who so much improved lithography, and the first to use gas-light in England, died.

1837. Explosion of the magazine of the French garrison at Bona in Algiers, containing 12,000 pounds of powder and 1 million musket cartridges. The commandant with 108 men were killed, and 102 wounded.

1837. The town of Jaffa in Palestine destroyed by an earthquake. Of 15,000 inhabitants, only 2,000 escaped burial in the ruins.

1837. ADAM AZELIUS, the last remaining pupil of Linnæus, died; celebrated for his travels in Asia and Africa.

1841. The town of Mayaguez, Porto Rico, consisting of about 600 buildings, was consumed by fire. Loss estimated at from two to four millions of dollars.

1852. The king of Naples by decree confiscated the property of Neapolitan emigrants.

1855. HERMAN KNICKERBACKER died, aged 75; known as the prince of Schaghticoke, being the third in descent from the original settler there.

JANUARY 31.

1000 B. C. It is usual to fix the finishing of the temple of _Hercules_ at _Tyre_ on this day, and the death of _Anchises_, 183 years earlier.

1574. Birthday of BEN JONSON.

1578. Battle of Gemblours, in the Netherlands, by which the Spanish recovered their superiority in the Walloon provinces which were zealously catholic.

1606. GUIDO FAWKES executed. He was an officer in the Spanish service, concerned in the gunpowder plot, and discovered in the vault below the House of Lords, prepared to fire the train which was to involve the enemies of the catholic religion in one common ruin.

1616. JACOB LE MAIRE, a Dutchman, discovered cape Horn, the southern extremity of the American continent.

1686. In Norway, Courland and Pomerania, there fell a great quantity of a membraneous substance, friable, and blackish, somewhat like burnt paper. Baron Grotthus analyzed a portion of this substance, which has been preserved in a cabinet of natural history, and it is found to consist of silex, iron, lime, carbon, magnesia, a trace of chrome and sulphur, but not a particle of nickel.

1692. Massacre of Glencoe, Scotland. King William, whose chief virtue was not humanity, signed and countersigned the warrant, which was transmitted to the secretary for Scotland, who particularly charged the ministers of destruction to take no prisoners. The population was barbarously massacred, and the spot disemboweled of every social appearance.

1718. ASHTON LEVER died at Manchester, England. He was a collector of specimens in natural history, and possessed one of the finest museums in the world.

1750. The _Student_, a paper of much merit, issued at Oxford, England, appeared this day.

1754. The 1st number of the _Connoisseur_ appeared, conducted by Coleman, Bonnell Thornton, Chesterfield and others.

1775. Capt. COOKE discovered Southern Thule, soon after Sandwich land which from the vast quantities of ice seen he conjectured might be a continent.

1737. The attorney general stated to the Irish parliament that an insurrection existed in the county of Kerry, the people having taken an oath to obey the laws of _Captain Right_ (a fictitious name), and to starve the clergy.

1788. CHARLES STUART, the pretender to the throne of England, died at Rome. He was the grandson of James II, born at Rome 1720. In 1745 he landed in Scotland, with only seven companions, and marched south gaining strength and carrying every thing before him till he arrived within 100 miles of London. Here his career was arrested, and the battle of Culloden decided his fate. He wandered about the wilds of Scotland five months, often without food, and the price of £30,000 set upon his head. He finally escaped in a French vessel, and ended his days in dissipation.

1795. The assembly of the states of Holland passed at the Hague the first public instrument in the shape of a declaration of rights.

1801. Sale of fine wheaten bread prohibited in London and that of brown substituted.

1813. SAMUEL M'KEEHAN, surgeon's mate in the Ohio militia, ordered by General Harrison, with a flag of truce, and money for supplies, for the wounded prisoners taken January 22d, put up for the night in a cave at the foot of the Miami, leaving his horse and cabriole at the entrance, and the flag stuck up; about midnight a party of Indians fired on them, wounded the doctor in the foot, killed and scalped his companion, Mr. Lamont, and stripped him, they took the money, horse, blankets, &c., and compelled the doctor to travel 20 miles that night on foot.

1826. FRANÇOIS D'ETIENNE LANTIER, a dramatic writer of no small celebrity in France, died at Marseilles.

1828. ALEXANDER YPSILANTI, a Greek patriot, died at Vienna, aged 36. He attempted the liberty of his country, but was discountenanced by the emperors of Russia and Austria, and imprisoned by the latter seven years. His early death is attributed to his incarceration.

1833. OTHO, prince of Bavaria, arrived at Napoli di Romania as the first king of restored Greece; at which time he had not attained his 18th year.

1838. OSCEOLA, the celebrated Seminole chief, died at Charleston, S. C., aged 35. From a vagabond child he became the master-spirit of a long and desperate war. He was a subtil and sagacious savage, who established gradually and surely a resistless ascendancy over his adopted tribe, by the daring of his deeds, the constancy of his hostility to the whites, and the profound craft of his policy.

1839. JAMES BYLES died at Oyster bay, N. Y., aged 118. He was a native of France, came to this country while a boy, was a soldier under Wolfe, and in the battle of Quebec.

1843. Was living at Caraccas, South America, MARIA DE LA CRUZ CARVALLO, aged 144. Her hair, which had been white with age, returned to black at the age of 133; and her sight, which was entirely lost at the age of 118, returned, at the age of 138, so that she could thread a needle.

1854. The rail road track at Erie, Pa., torn up the second time by a mob.

1855. The western rail roads blocked with snow, and travel almost wholly obstructed for several days. No communication was had between St. Louis and Chicago for eleven days. Seventeen locomotives were frozen in or buried by the snow on the Chicago and Mississippi rail road.

FEBRUARY.

FEBRUARY 1.

107. ST. IGNATIUS died, or was murdered.

1461. Battle of Mortimer's Cross, in which Edward, duke of York (afterwards Edward IV), revenged his father's death by a signal victory over the royalists, commanded by Jasper, earl of Pembroke.

1642. EDWARD FINCH died. He was vicar of Christ church, London, from which he was expelled for preaching in a surplice and associating with women.

1681. JOHN EDWARD NIDHARD, an Austrian jesuit, died. He was appointed inquisitor-general and minister of Spain.

1684. ROBERT LEIGHTON, a Scotch prelate, died. He for a number of years employed his talents and influence in a vain endeavor to bring about a reconciliation between the presbyterians and episcopalians. As a preacher he was admired beyond all his contemporaries, and his works have not yet lost their popularity.

1686. FRANCIS BLONDEL died; eminent for his knowledge of geometry and belles-lettres; was professor of mathematics and architecture, and tutor to the dauphin of France.

1702. Marshal VILLEROY, general of the French and Spanish armies in Italy, surprised in his bed at Cremona, and taken prisoner by the imperialists under Prince Eugene.

1708. Captain ROGERS discovered Alexander Selkirk on the island of Juan Fernandez, where he had lived alone four years and four months.

1718. DANIEL FRANCIS VOISIN, chancellor of France, died. He was eminent for his talents, integrity and virtue.

1733. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, died. His court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe, and he filled with dignity his station among the European powers. In his character generous ideas were united with despotic feelings; a taste for pleasure with the cares of ambition; and the restlessness of a warlike spirit with the effeminacy of a luxurious life. Instances of his prodigious strength are recorded, which appear almost incredible.

1775. The new congress of Massachusetts met at Cambridge and chose John Hancock their president.

1781. Lord CORNWALLIS with the British army, passed the Catawba at M'Cowan's ford. His passage was disputed by Wm. Davidson, lieut. col., commandant of the North Carolina line, and brigadier general of militia, with 300 militia. Davidson was overpowered, and killed by a ball in the breast. Cornwallis had his horse killed under him.

1789. The first president of the United States elected.

1793. War declared against England and Holland by the French.

1796. A stone was thrown at the carriage of George III, king of England, as he was returning from Drury lane theatre. It hit the queen in the face.

1800. Battle between the United States frigate Constellation, Capt. Truxton, and the French frigate La Vengeance of 54 guns. The action lasted from 8 o'clock in the morning until after noon, when the Vengeance was completely silenced; but taking advantage of a squall made her escape to Curacao, where she arrived in a shattered condition, having lost 160 men killed and wounded.

1801. DANIEL NICHOLAS CHODOWIECKI, a German painter and engraver, died. He practiced miniature painting with great assiduity to support his mother. His first trials at engraving excited the astonishment of connoisseurs; and at length scarce a book appeared in Prussia for which he did not engrave at least a vignette. He was universally esteemed for his integrity.

1804. J. PACKER died at Spinningfield, England, aged 33, weighing 29 stone.

1813. American privateer schooner Hazard, Capt. Le Chartier, of 3 guns and 38 men, captured the British merchant ship Albion of 12 guns and 15 men; on the 23d she was re-captured by the British cutter Caledonia of 8 guns and 38 men; on the 26th the Hazard fell in with and took both of them; but succeeded in bringing the Albion only into St. Mary's. The Hazard had her first lieutenant and 6 men wounded, but she was much shattered. Great part of the Caledonia's crew were killed or wounded.

1814. BONAPARTE defeated by the allied army near Chaumenil.

1814. A destructive eruption of Albay in Luconia, one of the Phillipines.

1815. Eruption of the volcano of Albay, in the province of Camarines, on the southern part of one of the Phillipine islands, in the Indian ocean; by this awful catastrophe five populous towns were entirely destroyed and more than 1200 of the inhabitants perished.

1824. HENRY BATE DUDLEY died. He was born in England 1745, educated for the pulpit, and succeeded to his father's benefice. He established the _Morning Post_, and subsequently several other papers, and manifested his literary abilities by the production of several successful comedies. He obtained a baronetcy, and at the time of his decease was a magistrate for eleven counties.

1824. JOHN LEMPRIERE died, author of the _Biographical Dictionary_. He was an English prelate, and an excellent classical scholar.

1833. ELIZABETH MOORE died, in Pitt county, North Carolina, aged 101.

1837. A memorial was presented to congress, signed by 56 authors of Great Britain, praying that body to secure to them the exclusive right to their respective writings in the United States.

1837. EDWARD DONOVAN died, near London, a celebrated author on natural history.

1837. SIMPSON, in the service of the Hudson Bay company, reached Athabasca, having completed since the first of December a journey of 1277 statute miles, the _preliminary_ step of the expedition.

1845. SAMUEL MCGWINN, known as the _Caithness Veteran_, died at Andover, New-Hampshire, aged 110.

1851. MARY WOLSTONECRAFT, widow of Percy Bysshe Shelley, died, aged 53; known in authorship by her _Travels_ and _Frankenstein_.

1852. Ohio state house burnt, and a large mass of valuable papers perished with it.

1854. SILVIO PELLICO died near Turin in Italy. In 1820 he was seized by the Austrians as a carbonaro, while employed as a tutor, and confined in the fortress of Spielberg ten years. On his release he was employed as librarian by the Marchesa Barolo until his death.

1854. The splendid Parliament house at Quebec, with the government library and philosophical apparatus, were destroyed by fire.

1855. The United States surveying steamer Water Witch, ascending the Paraguay in violation of the ordinance that no man of war should enter that river, was fired at from the fort, and one man killed. The Water Witch returned the fire and backed down the stream.

1856. IVAN FEDOROWITCH PASKIEWITSCH, vice-roy of Poland, died, aged 74. He distinguished himself in all the wars of the Russian empire, beginning with that of the invasion of 1812.

FEBRUARY 2.

1141. Battle of Lincoln, and defeat of Stephen, king of England, by the earl of Gloucester. The king, whose valor deserved a better fortune, was taken prisoner, loaded with irons, and Matilda proclaimed queen.

1421. HENRY V entered London from the complete conquest of France, which had been accomplished in about five years, and was received by the people amidst such pageants and popular rejoicings as that capital had never witnessed.

1461. Battle of Mortimer's Cross near Ludlow, where the king's forces were defeated, Owen Tudor taken and beheaded.

1529. BALTHAZAR CASTIGLIONE, an Italian nobleman and poet, died. He was also so well skilled in painting, sculpture and architecture, that it is said Raphael and Michael Angelo, though incomparable artists, never thought their works perfect unless they had his approbation.

1626. CHARLES I of England crowned at Westminster. He wore the white rather than the purple robe, and to prevent the increase of the plague omitted the usual ceremony of riding in state.

1643. Prince RUPERT took Cirencester for Charles, by storm; 200 slain.

1653. New York city incorporated.

1682. JOHN PAUTRE died; an eminent French designer and engraver. His works were published in 3 vols. folio, and contained more than 1000 engravings.

1688. ABRAHAM DU QUESNE died. He was a native of Normandie in France, and distinguished himself in the navy by a series of valorous and successful engagements.

1705. A new eruption of the peak of Teneriffe, forming the third volcanic mouth.

1723. RICHARD SARE, an eminent printer, died. A sermon preached at his death was well received and went through many editions.

1745. A conspiracy of 900 negroes to murder their masters in Jamaica was discovered by a negress to her mistress, because the plotters would not save a child she had nursed.

1752. The contributors to the Pennsylvania hospital, having rented a house, admitted their first patients.

1768. ARTHUR ONSLOW died. He was 33 years speaker in the English house of commons and the third of his family that had been nominated to that office.

1771. JOHN LOCKMAN, an English dramatic writer, died.

1787. Gen. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR elected president of the American congress.

1788. JAMES STUART died; sometimes called Athenian Stuart, a very celebrated traveler and delineator of Athenian architecture.

1794. The French convention decreed it treason for any officer to surrender his ship to a force less than double his own!

1797. Mantua surrendered to the French, who now became entire masters of the pope's dominions; whereupon Napoleon dictates to his holiness those pious terms of pacification signed ten days after.

1798. The Federal street theatre, in Boston, entirely destroyed by fire.

1799. THOMAS PAINE, often called the _Literary Merchant_, died. Few mercantile men become literary men.

1799. ELIZABETH WOODCOCK, an English woman, returning home from market in one of the most stormy nights ever known in England, was overwhelmed in a snow drift, where she remained eight days without sustenance. When discovered her mental faculties were unimpaired, but she had lost the use of her feet, and died some months after.

1801. The first imperial parliament of Great Britain assembled in London.

1804. GEORGE WALTON died, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was a native of Virginia, served an apprenticeship to a carpenter, removed to Georgia and studied law. He was foremost among the patriots of that state who assembled to devise measures of resistance to the acts of parliament in relation to American taxations.

1806. MIRANDA sailed from New York on his expedition to revolutionize South-America.

1806. THOMAS BANKS died. He was bred a wood carver, to which he served an apprenticeship. But having taken several premiums for models of sculpture he turned his attention to that art, and was sent to Rome to study at the academy's expense. From Italy he repaired to Russia, where he stayed two years; but not meeting with any adequate encouragement, he returned to his own country. A colossal statue of Achilles mourning the loss of Briseis is his masterpiece. He closed a life of arduous exertion, at the age of 70; and there are monuments, both in Russia and England that will long attest his skill.

1807. Battle of Bergfried near the lower Vistula. Bonaparte defeated the Russians after a severe and sanguinary contest, in which Soult, Augereau, &c., distinguished themselves very highly. The French took four pieces of cannon and 1700 prisoners. Same day, the French general Guyot captured the whole of the Russian magazines at Guttstadt.

1808. The French subverted the papal government at Rome.

1814. BONAPARTE defeated at Brienne with the loss of 173 cannons and 4000 men.

1817. The Scottish regalia, which had been deposited in a chest in 1707, (see March 26) was examined by a deputation. The doors were removed, and the floor was found covered with 6 inches of dust. No keys being found, the oaken chest was forced open, and found to contain the ancient crown, scepter and sword of state, as they had been deposited 111 years previous.

1820. BENJAMIN TRUMBULL died, aged 92, author of a _History of Connecticut_.

1831. A. BONPLAND, the celebrated traveler, permitted to leave Paraguay, where he had been detained about nine years, by the dictator Francia.

1834. RICHARD LANDER, the enterprising traveler and discoverer of the course of the Niger, died at Fernando Po, in Africa, of wounds received from the natives. All his papers were lost. The British government allowed his wife and daughter a pension of £150.

1834. LORENZO DOW died, aged 57; an eccentric traveling preacher. He was born in Connecticut and had a good elementary education; but in his youth acquired vicious habits which however he overcame at about the age of 14. At an early age he believed himself called to preach, and in obeying the impulse he commenced a career which has probably never been equaled; and in spite of acute bodily disease performed an amount of labor in traveling and preaching never before known. Before he had completed his twenty-fifth year, he once rode 1500 miles and held 184 meetings in ten weeks and two days; and about a year afterwards, traveled 4000 miles in the southern states, constantly preaching, in seven months, and finished his tour without stockings, shoes, or outer garment, and almost without a horse. For several years after he traveled from seven to ten thousand miles and held six or seven hundred meetings annually. It is thought that during the thirty-eight years of his public life he must have traveled two hundred thousand miles, including three voyages to England and Ireland. During these flying journeys he constantly refused donations and contributions, except for immediate want; and his traveling expenses exceeded his receipts more than one half, the first eighteen years. Afterwards, however, his books became a source of profit to him, and finally he became the maker and vender of a _family medicine!_ which was a matter of speculation purely. He was twice married; his second wife survived him. He was familiar to every body throughout the United States, for there were few places however obscure which he had not visited.

1839. DEBORAH LOGAN died at Stanton, Pa. She was a member of the Pennsylvania historical society, and more intimately acquainted with the early history of that state, than any other person living.

1840. OLINTHUS GREGORI, an English mathematician, died, aged 67. He was more than thirty years professor of mathematics in the royal military academy at Woolwich, and had the whole of the general superintendence of the almanacs published by the stationers' company, which had been for a long period conducted by Dr. Hutton. He published mathematics, biography and religion.

1841. WILLIAM BARTLETT, an eminent and wealthy merchant of Newburyport, and a munificent benefactor to the theological seminary at Andover, died, aged 93.

1851. JOANNA BAILLIE, a Scottish dramatic authoress, died, aged 85.

1852. A priest, aged 63, attacked the queen of Spain with a dagger, as she was returning from church; for which he was executed.

1855. G. FLETCHER, an English Wesleyan preacher, died, aged 108. Until within six months of his decease he preserved an astonishing activity of mind and body, often preaching without fatigue three times a day.

1856. The house of representatives at Washington elected a speaker after a contest of nine weeks.

FEBRUARY 3.

1014. SWEYN, king of Denmark, died.

1399. JOHN OF GAUNT, duke of Lancaster, died. He was the son of Edward III; was a prince of distinguished valor and prudence, and a patron of the poet Chaucer.

1497. "Johannes Cabotus Venetus et Sebastianus illius filius," commissioned by Henry VII of England to take six ships of 200 tons burden from any port in the kingdom for the purpose of making a western voyage of discovery. This expedition was got ready by the beginning of May, and consisted of two caravals freighted by the merchants of London and Bristol, and some smaller craft.

1619. By letters patent dated this day, James I granted Ben Jonson a pension of 100 marks during life, "in consideration of the good and acceptable service heretofore done and hereafter to be done by the said B. J."

1649. CHARLES II proclaimed king by the Scots.

1660. CHARLES X of Sweden died. He ascended the throne 1654, and was a prudent though a warlike monarch.

1698. ERNEST AUGUSTUS, duke of Hanover, bishop of Osnabruck, and father of George I of England, died.

1700. FILIPPO ACCIAGUOLI, an Italian dramatic poet and composer, died. He effected many improvements in the machinery and internal arrangements of theatres.

1730. ELIZABETH THOMAS, an English poetess, died. She is known by the name of _Corinne_.

1761. RICHARD NASH, commonly called _Beau Nash_, died, aged 87. He was the most accomplished _gentleman_ in England.

1779. The American Gen. Moultrie defeated 200 British at Port Royal island, South Carolina, and drove them off that island. Moultrie had 1 lieutenant and 7 privates killed and 22 wounded. The British lost most of their officers.

1779. Mutiny suppressed on board the United States frigate Alliance, bound to France with M. de Lafayette and several French gentlemen of distinction on board. Half the crew were concerned in it, and measures were taken to quell it but a few hours before it was to have been carried into effect. Great inhumanity was meditated towards the officers and the French. This was the first organized mutiny ever known in the American service. The mutineers were 36 in number.

1781. The Americans, closely pursued by the British after the battle of the Cowpens, crossed the Yadkin and secured their boats on the north side, when a sudden rise of the river arrested the pursuit of the enemy. In this retreat the Americans endured extreme hardships with admirable fortitude, and their remarkable escape confirmed them in the belief that their cause was favored of heaven.

1781. St. Eustatia, one of the West-India islands, taken by the British under Rodney. The plunder amounted to above £3,000,000, besides 6 Dutch armed frigates and 150 vessels, many of them richly laden. The British kept the Dutch colors hoisted, by which means several Dutch, French and American vessels were decoyed and captured.

1782. Demerary and Essequibo surrendered by capitulation from the French.

1783. The ratification of the preliminary articles of peace exchanged at Paris.

1786. GASPARD RISBECK, a German author, died.

1794. GEORGE III and Queen CHARLOTTE went to Hay Market theatre, which attracted so great a crowd, that more than 15 persons were trampled to death.

1794. The French convention received the deputies from St. Domingo, one of whom was a black, one a mulatto, and one a white; and at the same time decreed that all men of color whom a tyrannical force had made slaves, were still free and equally citizens with whites.

1795. A tableaux of the victories of the French from Sept. 8th, 1793, to this date, presented to the convention by Carnot, gives the following result: 27 victories, 6 of which were gained in pitched battles; 120 combats of less importance; 80,000 enemies killed, and 91,000 taken prisoners; 117 important fortresses, 36 of which were taken after a close blockade; 230 forts; 38,000 pieces of artillery; 17,000 muskets; 19,000 pounds of powder, and 90 stands of colors.

1797. Faenza in Italy carried by assault by the French under Victor, afterwards duke of Belluno.

1800. Four British ships, carrying in all 106 guns, captured off Seven islands, after a close action of 2 hours 10 minutes, the French frigate Pallas of 42 guns and 350 men. British loss, 10 killed, 34 wounded.

1807. Montevideo taken by storm by the British.

1808. The Neapolitan garrison of Reggio surrendered to the French.

1809. The French national ship l'Iris, 24 guns, captured by the British ship, l'Amiable.

1809. The Spanish junta in Seville issued orders to their troops to give no quarter to the French found in Spain.

1810. British ship Valiant of 74 guns captured the French frigate Cannoniere, 14 guns, with a cargo worth $800,000.

1810. The French destroyed the quicksilver mines at El Almoden del Azoque, near Seville.

1810. Guadaloupe surrendered to the British.

1813. The Spanish cortez abolished the inquisition.

1814. BONAPARTE entered Troyes. Same day the Russians and Prussians bombarded Vitry, defended by the French under Gen. Montmartre.

1831. The duke of Nemours elected king of Belgium.

1832. GEORGE CRABBE died; one of the most popular of the modern British poets.

1832. CHARLES VICTOR DE BONSTETTEN died, aged 87; a distinguished Swiss moralist, politician, metaphysician, geologist and traveler.

1836. MARIE LETITIA BONAPARTE, mother of Napoleon, died. She was born at Ajaccio 1750; her maiden name Romolini; was one of the most beautiful women of Corsica; married, in the midst of civil discord, Charles Bonaparte, an officer who fought with Paoli; was left a widow 1785, having borne 13 children, of whom 5 sons and 3 daughters survived their father, and became celebrated. Madame Bonaparte was a woman of great force and energy of character.

1844. Continued cold weather in the northern parts of the United States. Long Island sound was frozen over a few miles above New York, and a canal, seven miles in length, was cut through the ice at Boston to allow the British steamer to go to sea.

1852. Battle of Santos Lugares, near Buenos Ayres, between the army of Urquiza, 30,000 men and 50 cannon, and Rosas, 25,000 men and 90 cannon. Rosas was defeated, and took refuge on board an English steamer. The city was saved from pillage by ships of war of all nations then in the harbor.

1856. Thermometer at 30° below zero in Kansas; and the cold extended over the United States, in some parts to a degree unknown before.

FEBRUARY 4.

211. LUCIUS SEPTIMUS SEVERUS, emperor of Rome, died at York, England. His sons, Geta and Caracalla, were by this event recalled from Scotland, where they were debating with Fingal over heath and mountain, her ancient stubborn independence.

836. EGBERT, the last king of the Saxon heptarchy, and the first of England, died.

856. MAGNENTIUS MAURUS RABANUS, a learned German divine, died. His works on theology are numerous.

1194. RICHARD, _Coeur de Lion_, released from his imprisonment.

1536. The parliament of England abolished every thing relative to the pope's power in their realm.

1555. JOHN ROGERS, prebendary of St. Paul's, and the protomartyr, burned at Smithfield.

1607. JAMES MENOCHIUS died; a civilian of Pavia, of distinguished abilities.

1644. A very large comet which had terrified the straight-bodied folks of New England with its prodigious length of tail, disappeared on this day, to their great relief.

1648. GEORGE ABBOT, an English statesman and religious author, died. He was one of the judges who sat at the trial of Charles I, and signed his death warrant.

1660. Gen. MONK, famous as the restorer of Charles II, marched into London and recommended a government moderately presbyterian.

1665. The first number of the _London Gazette_ appeared, published by Sir Roger l'Estrange.

1687. FRANCIS DE CREQUI, marshal of France, died. He was distinguished for his military enterprises and heroic courage.

1692. Goree taken from the French by the English under Gen. Booker.

1693. Earthquake of Sicily, which swallowed up Catania and 1800 citizens.

1746. ROBERT BLAIR, a Scottish clergyman and poet, died. The only production of his, which we possess, is _The Grave_, a poem, striking and vigorous.

1749. JOHN JAMES HEIDEGGER died at London. He was born in Switzerland, and came to England, where by his taste and judgment in operatic amusements, he was appointed to the management of the opera house and the masquerades. He was the ugliest featured man in the kingdom, but good-humored, benevolent and charitable.

1756. A mummy disinterred near Auvergne in France.

1762. SAMUEL DAVIES, an American divine, died, aged 36. He labored some years as a presbyterian pastor in Virginia, where the act of uniformity was enforced with great rigor, and was the founder of the first presbytery in that state. His sermons have passed through many editions on both sides of the Atlantic.

1774. CHARLES MARIE DE LA CONDAMINE died. He was possessed of a daring spirit, which led him to enter the army. But the restoration of peace cut off his hopes of promotion, and he traveled in Turkey and Asia. On his return to Paris, the academy were making arrangements to send a deputation to the equator for scientific purposes. The very desire of being connected with so perilous an undertaking made him an astronomer. The fatigues and hardships which he encountered in South-America, were heightened by the discord and jealousy which arose among his companions. He died while undergoing an operation for the removal of a malady contracted in Peru. He bore an excellent character, and left many valuable works.

1779. JOHN HAMILTON MORTIMER, an eminent English historical painter, died.

1783. Cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, and final conclusion of the seven years' war of the revolution, which freed the American colonies from the claims of the mother country, and gave a new nation to the world.

1787. JACOB WISMER died, aged 103. He was a German by birth, came to America in Queen Anne's reign, and settled in Pennsylvania; here he married his third wife, with whom he lived 67 years, and left 170 descendants.

1790. LOUIS XVI took the oath to maintain the new constitution.

1793. An embargo laid on all French vessels in Great-Britain.

1794. The legislature of Massachusetts having repealed the law against theatrical amusements, the Federal street theatre was opened as a regular, lawful theatre, with _Gustavus Vasa_ and _Modern Antiques_.

1796. British ship Aurora, one of Admiral Christian's fleet, having 160 men on board, who had kept her afloat three weeks by manual labor, was rescued by Capt. Hodges of the American ship Sedgley. The troops were principally Germans and offered Capt. Hodges 1000 guineas for his exertions in saving their lives, which he nobly refused.

1797. Earthquake at Quito, which threw down many valuable edifices, and destroyed several neighboring towns and plantations. A great number of persons were swallowed up.

1800. WILLIAM TASKER died, aged 60. He was 30 years rector of a church, but deprived of its income by unmerited persecutions and litigations, until near the close of his life. The works which he published added to his reputation with the learned, but contributed nothing to his support, and he continued to struggle against poverty and oppression.

1804. CHRISTIAN JOSEPH JAGEMANN, librarian to the duchess Amalia of Weimar, died. He was destined for the cloister, but escaped from the monastery, and became a distinguished writer on the fine arts and literature of Italy.

1804. The boats of the British ship Centaur cut out of Martinique the French corvette Le Curieux.

1805. The British sloop of war Arrow, 28 guns, and bomb vessel Acheron, 8 guns, having a fleet of merchantmen in convoy, were captured by two French frigates, but most of the convoy escaped.

1806. Gen. PHILEMON DICKINSON, who was in the battle of Monmouth, died at Trenton, New Jersey, aged 69.

1808. First legislative proceedings in relation to the New York canals.

1811. JONATHAN LAMBERT, of Salem, Massachusetts, took possession of the uninhabited island of Tristan d'Acunha, south of St. Helena. The British took possession of it in 1817, and fortified it.

1812. Peniscola, in Valencia, surrendered to the French under Suchet.

1813. The United States frigate Constellation chased into Norfolk, Virginia, by a British squadron.

1814. The ice formed on the Thames at London, above the bridges, and a fair was held upon it during eight days.

1817. LEWIS PENNOCK died at West Marlborough, Pennsylvania, aged 92; 11 of his survivors, within a mile, arrived at 83½ years.

1834. JOHN O'KEEFE, a British dramatic author, died at Southampton, England, aged 68.

1835. WADE HAMPTON died at Columbia, S. C., aged 81. He distinguished himself in the war of the revolution under Sumpter and Marion; and during the last war commanded a brigade on the northern frontier. He was reputed the most extensive planter in the United States; one of the wealthiest men in the whole southern country; and perhaps no other man in this country ever amassed so large a fortune by agriculture.

1836. WILLIAM GELL died at Naples. He was a classical antiquary, the illustrator of the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and author of various works on classical antiquity. He was admired alike for the depth and versatility of his erudition, the benevolence of his heart, and the suavity of his manners.

1850. Seventy-five persons killed by a steam explosion in Hague street, New York.

1854. Eight steamboats destroyed by fire at New Orleans, and 37 persons perished in the flames.

1856. Fort Nicholas at Sebastopol blown up by the allies, with the aid of 106,000 pounds of powder.

This day in the calendar of Hesiod, is auspicious for
marriages and the repairing of ships; but a day of _troubles_.

FEBRUARY 5.

46 B. C. MARCUS CATO killed himself, at the age of 48. He was a lover of philosophy, in which he rigidly followed the doctrines of the stoics. He was a soldier, and his first campaign was against Spartacus; afterwards he led 1000 foot into Asia, where he was ridiculed for the small number of his attendants, but was wholly unmoved by it. He sided with Cicero against Catiline, and opposed Cæsar in the senate on that occasion. He endeavored to bring about a reconciliation between Cæsar and Pompey, but finding it in vain, sided with the latter. When Pompey was slain he fled to Utica, and Cæsar pursuing him, he advised his friends to be gone, and his son to trust to Cæsar's clemency; then lay down upon his bed, read Plato on the immortality of the soul twice over, and rose and thrust his own sword through his body.

41 B. C. AUGUSTUS, by a vote of the senate, in full assembly, their brows crowned with laurel, saluted with the title of _Father of his Country_.

1444. An eruption of Vulcano, one of the Lipari islands, which changed the entire face of the local navigation. Aristotle records a dreadful explosion, which is supposed to have formed the island as it stood in the time of Pliny.

1552. JAMES MEYER, a Flemish historian, died, aged 61.

1556. A truce for five years was concluded between Charles V, emperor of Germany, and Henry II of France.

1617. PROSPERO ALPINI, a famous Venitian physician and botanist, died, aged 64.

1626. Three new committees, viz., one on religion, one on grievances, one on secret affairs, were appointed in the parliament of Charles I.

1664. CHRISTIAN AAGAARD died, a distinguished Danish poet of the 17th century, aged 48.

1674. A parhelion or mock sun observed near Marienburg in western Prussia. It appeared in the horizon beneath the material sun, of a red color.

1679. JOOST VAN VONDEL, a Dutch poet of considerable eminence, died, aged 91.

1684. PHILIP DE MONTAULT, duke of Noailles, died. He renounced the protestant faith, and rose to a high rank in the army.

1684. About the beginning of December commenced a frost at London, which continued till this day. Coaches were run, oxen roasted, bulls baited, &c., on the Thames.

1693. The Mohawk castles burned by the French.

1718. ADRIAN RELAND died; a learned orientalist and professor at Utrecht.

1721. JAMES, earl of Stanhope, died. He distinguished himself in the field and in the cabinet, under George I.

1729. JOHN TRUCHET died at Paris. He was distinguished for his knowledge of geometry and hydraulics.

1751. The coffin and remains of a farmer were interred at Stevenage, England. He died in 1721, bequeathing an estate worth £400 a year to his two brothers, to be enjoyed by them during 30 years, at the expiration of which time he expected to return to life, when the estate was to be given up to him again. In order to his convenience on his reappearance, he ordered his coffin to be placed on a beam in the barn, with the key enclosed, that he might liberate himself. Four days grace being allowed him for his resurrection, beyond the time specified in the will, and not then presenting himself, his bones were consigned to the earth and his estate forfeited.

1757. Battle of Plassy, in Hindostan, in which the British under Col. Clive achieved an important victory.

1776. Georgia adopted a new government.

1780. The first shock of the earthquakes in Sicily and the two Calabrias, was felt at Scylla on the same day. In the night a tremendous wave swept from the coast 2473 inhabitants, with the prince of the place. The work of destruction and terror continued for almost four months, accompanied by incessant rains and bursts of thunder. Of 375 villages in Calabria, 320 were destroyed. It is estimated that 35,521 persons lost their lives in 33 towns only.

1782. The garrison at Minorca, 2692 men under Gen. Murray, surrendered to the French and Spanish, 16,000, under the Duc de Crillon.

1788. Massachusetts adopted the federal constitution, proposing some amendments. This was the sixth state in the list (ratified on the 6th, q. v.)

1790. WILLIAM CULLEN, a celebrated Scottish physician and medical writer, died, aged 77. He settled at Glasgow, and was for some time a professor of the university there, which he left on an invitation to Edinburgh. He successfully combatted the specious doctrines of Boerhaave, depending on the humoral pathology; founding his own views on an enlarged view of the principles of Hoffman.

1791. JOHN BEARD, an eminent and popular English theatrical vocalist, died. He ultimately became joint proprietor and acting manager of Covent Garden theatre, and continued on the stage till the loss of his hearing forced him to leave it.

1792. JOHN EARDLY WILMOT, an English miscellaneous writer, died.

1795. Report of the committee of the assembly of the states of Holland, respecting the state of the bank of Amsterdam, by which it appeared that the bank had been for 50 years receiving as securities for large sums advanced by it, a very considerable number of bonds instead of specie.

1795. The royal assent was given to the bill for suspending the habeas corpus in Great Britain.

1796. Negombo, in the East Indies, captured by the British under Admiral Elphinstone.

1797. The post of Corne, at the bridge head of Hueningen, was surrendered to the Austrians by the French general, Sisce, Gen. Abbatucci having died a few days before. Two days were allowed to withdraw the garrison and every movable appertaining to the place.

1799. LEWIS GALVANI, an Italian philosopher, died, aged 62. His favorite studies were anatomy and physiology. In his pursuits he was led fortuitously to the discovery of a new branch of science, called _Galvanism_. His manners are said to have been most unostentatious and retiring, and his mind of a melancholy turn.