Chapter V: Part 5

1802. The French and Spanish troops landed at Hayti and captured forts Dauphin, Bizoton and St. Joseph. Christophe, the black general, set the town on fire and massacred many of the white inhabitants.

1805. The East Indiaman, earl of Abergavenny, wrecked on the shambles off the bill of Portland, and sunk in twelve fathoms of water. Of 402 persons on board, only 139 were saved. Her cargo was valued at £200,000, exclusive of 275,000 ounces in dollars.

1807. PASCAL DE PAOLI, a celebrated Corsican general, died near London. While endeavoring to rescue his native island from the tyranny of the Genoese government, and defending its liberties against Gallic encroachments and invasion, being overpowered by the French, he retired with a few of his followers to England, where in a few years he ended his illustrious career.

1807. The French under Soult, Davoust and Ney, surrounded and cut to pieces a Russian column of 9000 men, took 1000 prisoners and 16 cannon.

1809. British ship Loire, Capt. Schomberg, captured the French national ship Hebe, 20 guns, with 600 barrels of flour.

1810. The French under Sebastiani and Milhaud defeated the Spaniards and took Malaga with its immense stores, 171 cannon, &c. The same day two French frigates of 40 guns each, full of troops, destroyed off Guadaloupe.

1811. Royal assent given by commission to the act appointing a regent of Great Britain, in the person of the prince of Wales.

1813. British Admiral WARREN declared the ports and harbors of the bay of Chesapeake to be in a state of blockade.

1814. Seventeen British officers put in close confinement at Chilicothe, on the principle of retaliation.

1814. The advance of Gen. De York made a successful charge upon the rear of Macdonald's army at La Chaussee, between Vitry and Chalons, took 3 cannon, and 100 Frenchmen prisoners.

1815. British ship Grannicus, Capt. Wise, captured the American privateer brig George Little, 8 guns, 58 men.

1816. RICHARD, Viscount Fitzwilliam, died, leaving to the university of Cambridge his splendid library and £60,000 for the erection of a museum for its reception and exhibition. In his collection there are more than 10,000 proof prints of the first artists, a very extensive library of rare and costly works, among which are nearly 300 Roman missals, finely illuminated. There is also a very curious collection of the best ancient music, containing the original _Virginal_ book of Queen Elizabeth, and many works of Handel in the handwriting of that great master.

1818. CHARLES XIII of Sweden died. He was the second son of Adolphus Frederick, and appointed at his birth high admiral of Sweden. His education was directed chiefly to naval tactics, but the revolutions of the time called him finally to the throne, where he conducted with great prudence, and gained the confidence of the people.

1822. ALI, pacha of Yanina, generally called Ali Pacha, killed. He was a bold and crafty rebel against the Porte; an intelligent and active governor of his province; as a warrior, decided and able; as a man, a very fiend. His early life was unfortunate, but his extraordinary strength of mind, which shrank from no danger or crime, united to great address, raised him to princely independence. His enormities at length attracted the wrath of the sultan. Finding it vain to withstand so powerful a foe, he sued for pardon, gave up his fortress, and was treacherously cut down, with six of his companions.

1823. Yates county, New York, erected.

1823. JUAN ANTONIO LLORENTE died. He was induced by Bonaparte, who placed in his hands the papers of the inquisition, to write a history of that tribunal. When the fortunes of the Bonapartes declined, he was banished from his country, and lived in France in indigence, supporting himself by teaching Spanish in the boarding schools; but the university at last forbid him that means of support. The rage of his enemies was raised to the highest pitch by the publication of his _Portraits Politiques des Papes_, and the old man was ordered in the middle of winter to leave Paris in three days, and France in the shortest possible time. He was not allowed to rest one day, and died exhausted, a victim to the persecutions of the 19th century, a few days after his arrival in Madrid.

1824. HENRY CALLISEN, a German physician and surgeon, died. He was the son of a poor clergyman; educated himself; served in the army and in the fleet; afterwards in the hospitals in Copenhagen; and finally accepted a professorship in the university.

1831. The Russian army of 160,000 men enter Poland at several points, Count Diebitsch commander-in-chief.

1835. Tremendous eruptions of volcanoes, attended with destructive earthquakes, occurred in Central America, sinking several towns and villages, and destroying a large part of St. Miguel and St. Salvador.

1837. JAMES CERVETTO the younger died, aged 90. He first brought the violincello into favor in England. He excelled his father as a musician, was leader of the orchestra of Drury lane theatre in the time of Garrick, and 72 years member of the royal society of musicians.

1839. ASAHEL STEARNS, professor of law at Cambridge, died, aged 64. He published a learned and accurate work on real actions, and was one of the revisers of the statutes of Massachusetts.

1841. The Pennsylvania bank of the United States, after having, from the time of the resumption of specie payments on the 15th January, paid out an amount little if at all short of six millions of dollars in coin or specie funds, again suspended specie payments. The exhibition of its affairs, which soon followed, were so unfavorable as to cause great surprise. The suspension was followed by that of nearly all the banks south and west of New York and New England.

1851. JOHN PYE SMITH died, aged 77; a religious controversial author of note, and nearly half a century principal of a dissenting college in England.

1853. The Sloo treaty signed at Mexico, for opening a communication across the isthmus of Tehuantepec.

1854. JAMES B. COOPER, an American naval officer, died, aged 94. He was a member of Lee's legion in the war of the Revolution, and served in the navy during the war of 1812.

A day of dire calamity, says Hesiod, in which certain _Greek_
ladies, called "the Furies," make their round, "_about, about,
about_."

FEBRUARY 6.

129 B. C. Three ambassadors from John Hyrcanus, the Jewish pontiff, were received at Rome, when the senate decreed a renewal of the league of amity and assistance with that "good and friendly people," and dismissed the delegates with presents.

1554. JOHN WYATT and a number of others executed for an insurrection and riot, on account of Queen Mary's marriage with Philip II of Spain.

1593. JAMES AMYOTT, grand almoner of France, died; a writer on various subjects, but chiefly known as the translator of _Plutarch's Lives and Morals_.

1623. JUAN MARIANA, a Spanish historian, died. He wrote several works, theological and historical; the most considerable of which is his _History of Spain_.

1649. The Rump parliament voted the house of peers to be useless and dangerous, and accordingly that branch of the legislature and the office of king, were abolished by two brief resolutions.

1685. CHARLES II, king of England, died. At the time of the death of his father he was a refugee at the Hague, on which he immediately assumed the royal title. In 1660 he entered London amidst the universal acclamations of the people. He was a confirmed sensualist and voluptuary, says Lardner, and owing to the example of him and his court, his reign was the era of the most dissolute manners that ever prevailed in England. His career was terminated by a fit of apoplexy, at the age of 55. It was during this reign that the great plague and the great fire of London occurred. He was the twenty-sixth king of England.

1693. A party of about 700 French and Indians fell upon the Mohawk villages near Schenectady, and took about 300 prisoners in the English interest, without doing much other damage. They were pursued by Col. Schuyler with a party from Albany, and several skirmishes ensued. The French escaped by crossing the north branch of the Hudson, on a cake of ice. They lost in this enterprise 80 men killed, and were reduced to great want before they got home.

1696. A plot to assassinate WILLIAM III of England, was discovered.

1736. Earthquake in New England.

1738. JOSEPH MITCHELL, a Scotch dramatic poet, died.

1740. CLEMENT XII (Laurence Corsini), pope of Rome, died. He was very popular, and corrected many abuses in the church.

1755. MAURICE JOHNSON, a noted English antiquary, died.

1756. Birthday of AARON BURR, at Newark, N. J. His father was the Rev. William Burr, second president of New Jersey college at Princeton, and his mother a daughter of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, third president of that institution. His wife is well known.

1777. Great Britain granted letters of marque and reprisal against America.

1778. The French avowed the independence of the United States, by concluding a treaty of defensive alliance with them.

1778. New York acceded to the confederation.

1783. LAUNCELOT BROWN died. He invented a new system of horticulture, and carried ornamental gardening to a high degree of perfection. Many delightful places of resort in England will stand for ages as memorials of his superior taste and abilities.

1783. The first ship which displayed the thirteen stripes in any British port, was recorded at the London custom house. She was loaded with 587 butts whale oil, belonged to the island of Nantucket, and was manned wholly with American seamen.

1788. Massachusetts adopted the constitution of the United States, being the 6th state which ratified that instrument. The vote stood 187 to 168.

1792. The city of Morocco, which had shut its gates against the emperor Muley Yazid, was attacked by his forces and carried. The greatest excesses were committed by the soldiery, against friends as well as foes, and the Jews were as usual given up to be plundered. (See 12th and 16th.)

1796. The state of Vermont adopted its constitution.

1798. The bank of England subscribed £200,000 to assist government to repel the threatened invasion. By the assistance of manufacturers, &c., this sum was increased to £1,500,000.

1799. British ship Arago, Capt. Bowen, captured off Mahon, at midnight, the Spanish frigate Santa Teresa, 42 guns and 350 men.

1800. The duke of ORLEANS (Louis Phillip, afterwards king,) asked pardon of Louis XVIII, and swore that he was ready to shed the last drop of his blood in his service. He was graciously received.

1803. GIAMBATTISTA CASTI, a Florentine historian, died, aged 82. His works are full of wit and originality, and some of them have been translated into English.

1804. JOSEPH PRIESTLY died. He was the son of a Calvinistic clothier, in whose rigid principles he was educated. His heresy ripened into unitarianism. His publications had already made him extensively known, when in 1766 he became acquainted with Franklin, by whom he was encouraged to compose a work on electricity. This was followed by several scientific works, till in 1794, on the anniversary of the capture of the Bastile, the mob at Birmingham, where he then resided, proceeded to his house, which, with his library, manuscripts and apparatus, fell a prey to the flames. Finally, goaded by party enmity, he sought an asylum in the United States, and took up his residence at Northumberland, Pa. Here his devotion to his favorite pursuits brought on a disease, which hastened the end of his existence, in the 71st year of his age. His works amount to about 70 volumes, octavo.

1806. Action between the British fleet under Admiral Duckworth, and the French under Lessiegues, off St. Domingo, which resulted in the destruction of the latter, consisting of four large ships of war.

1807. The French under Murat, defeated the Prussians under Hoff, in Prussian Poland.

1811. The prince regent of Great Britain took the oath prescribed by the regency act, and was installed.

1813. The United States government ordered all alien enemies to report themselves to the marshals of the districts in which they resided.

1814. Lord CASTLEREAGH, with other diplomatic characters, met at Chartillon-sur-Seine, for the negotiation of peace.

1815. Full pardon granted to the Barratarian pirates by the president of the United States, in consequence of their fidelity and courage in the defence of New Orleans.

1832. The crew of the United States frigate Potomac, made an attack upon Qualla Battoo, in Sumatra. The town was destroyed and 150 Malays killed; loss of the Potomac 2 killed, 14 wounded.

1833. PIERRE-ANDRE LATREILLE, a French naturalist, died at Paris. He particularly distinguished himself in entomology.

1834. The celebrated and enterprising traveler, Lander, died of a shot wound in Africa.

1853. President CAVALLOS resigned, and Gen. Lombardini chosen president of Mexico with dictatorial powers.

1853. The insurrection of Mazzini at Milan, which was unsuccessful.

1853. WILLIAM PETER, British consul at Philadelphia, died. He translated the _Prometheus_ of Æschylus, was an accomplished scholar and talented poet.

FEBRUARY 7.

1451. B. C. The Jews place the death of Moses on this day.

1642. WILLIAM BEDELL, bishop of Kilmore, died; one of the most exemplary prelates of the 17th century. He was so greatly respected even by the papists, that when the Irish rebellion of 1641 broke out, his was for some time the only English house in the county that stood unviolated. But refusing to submit to the orders of the council of state, interfering with his religious duties, he was thrown into prison, and his death was occasioned by the rigors of confinement. He translated the old testament into Irish.

1674. MARGARET LUCAS, dutchess of Newcastle, died; authoress of plays, poems, letters, essays, and philosophical fancies, filling 12 folio volumes, and the biography of her husband, William Cavendish, earl of Newcastle. She was a very singular character, and has been both ridiculed and extolled by the best English authors.

1693. PAUL PELISSON FONTANIER died. He gave a history of the French academy from its establishment.

1778. DANIEL BOONE, the first settler of Kentucky, taken by the French and Indians near the Blue licks. This was the second time he had fallen into the hands of the Indians. He made his escape about ten days after, and reached home in safety.

1788. The settlement at Botany bay abandoned, and this day the regular form of government was adopted, under Gov. Arthur Philip, and settlement made at Sydney cove, Port Jackson, New South Wales.

1791. Saratoga and Rensselaer counties in New York, erected.

1792. ATHANASE AUGER, a celebrated linguist, died. He was born at Paris, 1734, and became a clergymen. His studies of the Greek and Roman writers were indefatigable; the study of Cicero and of Roman history occupied the last thirty years of his life. His translations, &c., were published in 30 vols. Learning proved its worth in his character and life.

1796. The British admiral, Sir FRANCIS GEARY, died, aged 86.

1799. JOHN HEDWIG died; a German botanist, whose researches respecting the cryptogamia class of plants have established his name.

1807. Schweidnitz in Silesia surrendered to the French general Vandamme.

1810. British General PICTON tried for ordering Louisa Calderon to be put to the torture. He was killed at the battle of Waterloo.

1812. Earthquake at Philadelphia; duration 30 seconds. It was also observed in various parts of the United States to a less extent.

1813. Capt. FORSYTHE with 200 volunteers from Ogdensburgh, crossed at Morristown to Elizabethtown, surprised the British guard and took 52 prisoners, 140 guns and some munitions, and liberated from jail 16 British deserters.

1821. The Caxton printing office, on Copperas-hill, Liverpool, the property of Henry Fisher, totally destroyed by fire. It was the largest periodical warehouse in Great Britain.

1823. ANNE RADCLIFFE died. She was born in London, 1764, and married at the age of 23, William Radcliffe, editor of the _British Chronicle_. The _Romance of the Forest_, her third novel, gave her much celebrity, and the _Mysteries of Udolpho_ placed her at the head of a department of fiction then rising into esteem. These works still maintain their place among the more modern and fashionable productions of the kind.

1828. HENRY NEELE, an ingenious English poet and novelist, died by his own hand, in a fit of insanity, supposed to have originated from too intense an application to study. He was the son of an engraver, and educated for the bar. His literary remains were published after his death.

1834. CADWALLADER D. COLDEN, so favorably known as a philanthropist and scholar, died at Jersey city.

1837. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IV, ex-king of Sweden, died. He came to the throne at the age of 14, on the assassination of his father, 1792; but on account of his violent and impolitic conduct, he was deposed in 1809, and his heirs excluded from the throne. He afterwards traveled in different countries of Europe under different names, and died at St. Gall in Switzerland. The latter years of his life were spent in poverty; he was badly clothed and fed, and possessed only an annuity of £300.

1837. The royal palace at Naples took fire and was partially destroyed. The library and the magnificent collection of paintings belonging to the king were burnt.

1839. KARL AUGUST NICANDER, a recent Swedish poet of no small celebrity, died.

FEBRUARY 8.

293 B. C. PAPIRIUS CURSOR dedicated a temple to Quirinus, on which he placed a sun-dial, the first ever seen in Rome.

291 B. C. ESCULAPIUS, the Sanitary god, as it was fabled, was enshrined as a serpent on an island in the Tiber. As a physician he used the probe, cathartics, bandages, &c., hence the respect.

1250. ROBERT, count of Artois, killed. He was brother to Louis IX of France, refused the empire of Germany offered him by the pope, and accompanied his brother to the Holy Land, where he conducted himself with great valor. He fell in the battle of Massourah.

1574. GEOFFREY VALLEE, a French writer, author of _Béatitude des Chrétiens_, which drew upon him the censure of the inquisition, burnt at Paris.

1587. MARY STUART, queen of Scots, beheaded in the great hall of Fotheringay castle, at the age of 44. She was the daughter of James V, of Scotland. The misfortunes which it was the destiny of this beautiful and accomplished woman to undergo are well known. After an imprisonment of 19 years in England, she was brought to the scaffold on a conviction of conspiracy against the queen, Elizabeth.

1594. EDMUND BONNEFOY, a writer on oriental law, died at Geneva in Switzerland, at the age of 38. He was appointed professor in the university of Valence, in France, where he narrowly escaped assassination at the massacre of St. Bartholomews. He bore an excellent character, independent of his talents and learning.

1637. FERDINAND II of Germany, an enterprising monarch, died.

1664. MOSES AMYRAULT, an eminent French divine, died. He was a man of such remarkable benevolence, that he bestowed the whole of his salary upon the poor, without distinguishing between catholics and protestants.

1674. A resolution was adopted by the house of commons in England, that a standing army is a grievance; that the king should have no other guard than the militia.

1690. A party of about 300 French and Indians made an assault on Schenectady about 12 o'clock at night. The inhabitants were taken by surprise, and 60 men, women and children massacred, and the town destroyed. They took 27 prisoners, the remainder of the inhabitants fled to Albany, nearly naked through a deep snow, of whom 25 lost their limbs from the severity of the frost.

1716. Earthquake in Peru.

1724. PETER I, emperor of Russia, died.

1727. GEORGE SEWELL died; an English dramatic poet, physician and miscellaneous writer.

1750. An earthquake in London.

1750. AARON HILL, a celebrated dramatic and miscellaneous writer in the time of Garrick, died.

1752. GASPER DE REAL died at Paris, author of a valuable work on government.

1772. The princess dowager of Wales died in her 53d year. She is said to have given the peculiar tone to the first years of her son's administration by her laconic exhortation "George be king."

1779. MOSES ALLEN, chaplain to the Georgia brigade, was drowned in attempting to escape from a British prison ship. He was a native of Northampton, Mass.; his age 31.

1807. Battle of Preussish Eylau, between the French army of 90,000 under Bonaparte, and 60,000 Russians under Benningsen. The battle commenced at the dawn of day. At noon a storm arose, which drifted the snow in the eyes of the Russians. The contest ended at 10 o'clock at night, when each army, after 14 hours hard fighting, occupied the same position as in the morning. Twelve of Napoleon's eagles were in the hands of Benningsen, and the field between was strewed with 50,000 dead, dying and wounded. The Russians finally retreated, leaving 15,000 prisoners in the hands of the French.

1815. The congress of Vienna determined to abolish slavery.

1817. FRANCIS HORNER died, aged 39. He was distinguished alike for his spirited report of the bullion committee, and his rich contributions to the _Edinburgh Review_.

1819. JOHN DAVID ACKERBLAD died; a Swedish scholar, who distinguished himself by his researches in Runic, Phœnician, Coptic and Hieroglyphic literature.

1820. CHARLES JUSTUS GRUNER, a Prussian police officer, died. He was an active opponent of Napoleon during the whole of his career, and was finally imprisoned to appease the French. After the second fall of Bonaparte he was made Prussian director of the police for Paris and the environs, in which capacity he counteracted with great decision and dexterity, the cunning of Fouche, who employed every means to retain the works of art which had been collected at Paris. He wrote several valuable works on subjects connected with politics and the police.

1820. ROBERT COWLEY, an African, died at Richmond, Va., aged 125. He had been for many years door-keeper to the Capitol of Virginia, which office was bestowed upon him as a reward for revolutionary services.

1827. WILLIAM MITFORD, an eminent historical and philosophical writer, died. He is best known as the author of a popular history of Greece.

1842. Great earthquake at the Windward islands. Point Petre, in Guadaloupe, totally destroyed, and 10,000 lives lost. It extended over 46 degrees of latitude.

1851. NICHOLAS VAN SITTART, a British statesman, died, aged 85.

1856. M. CHACORNAC discovered the thirty-ninth asteroid.

FEBRUARY 9.

1450. AGNES SOREL died. She was the mistress of Charles VII, of France, distinguished for her beauty, strength of mind, and the influence she possessed over the king, whom she incited to deeds of glory.

1547. HENRY VIII was succeeded on the throne of England by his only son, Edward VI, in the ninth year of his age, who was crowned with great state at Westminster.

1555. JOHN HOOPER bishop of Gloucester, burnt. He was a dissenter in the time of Mary, and refusing to recant his opinions, was burnt in the city of Gloucester, and suffered death with admirable constancy.

1555. ROWLAND TAYLOR burnt at Hadleigh, in England, for resisting the establishment of papal worship in his church. Great efforts were made to induce him to recant, which he firmly rejected, and proceeded on his way to the stake with great courage and apparent unconcern. During the burning he stood without crying or moving, till one of the executioners struck him on the head with a halberd, when his corpse fell down into the fire.

1577. PHILIBERT DE LORME, an eminent French architect and antiquary, died. He left several works on architecture greatly esteemed.

1636. PHILEMON HOLLAND died at Coventry, England. He was a laborious translator of the Greek and Latin authors.

1660. The gates and portcullis, of London destroyed by Monk, who soon discovered his error.

1670. FREDERICK III, of Denmark, died. He succeeded his father, Christian IV, and improved the condition of his people by making them more independent of the nobles; the crown he also made hereditary.

1671. A speech on the enormous subsidies granted to Charles II, by Lord Lucas; though delivered in the king's presence, it was published, and burned by the common hangman.

1674. The city of New York surrendered to the British by the Dutch governor, Anthony Colve.

1674. Treaty of peace between England and the States General.

1675. The French fleet, under the duke of Vivonne, of 9 men-of-war and several fire ships, defeated the Spanish blockading fleet at Messina, and entered that port in triumph.

1680. J. CLAUDE DABLON, a Jesuit missionary in Canada, died. He contributed the two last volumes of the _Relacions_, which were sent to Europe; valuable for the geographical information they contain.

1734. PETER POLINIERE died at Coulonces in France. He was a mathematician, philosopher and chemist, and the first who read lectures on those sciences at Paris.

1751. HENRY FRANCIS D'AGUESSEAU, a French statesman, died. At the early age of 21 he was appointed to the office of advocate-general, ten years after solicitor general, and finally, in 1717, succeeded to the chancellorship. He retired from this office 1750, at the age of 82, when an annuity of about $25,000 was settled upon him. Voltaire pronounced him the most learned magistrate that France ever produced. His published speeches and pleadings form 13 quarto volumes.

1752. FREDERICK HASSELQUIST, a Swedish botanist and natural historian, died at Smyrna.

1765. The peruke makers, distressed that people wore their own hair, and that foreigners were employed, petitioned the king for redress. But the populace, not seeing the consistency of being compelled to take off their hair while the peruke makers wore their own, rose upon them, and cut it off.

1767. HUBERT DROUAIS died; a painter of Normandy, who by pencil raised himself from obscurity to fame and opulence.

1773. JOHN GREGORY, an eminent physician of Edinburgh, died. He taught that the medical art, to be generally admired and respected, needed only to be better known; and that the affectation of concealment retarded its progress, rendered it a suspicious art, and tended to draw ridicule and disgrace on its profession. His writings are spirited and elegant; among them _A Father's Legacy to his Daughter_ is well known and appreciated.

1778. Two clergymen having preached in a chapel in Clerkenwell street, London, without leave of the bishop, were prosecuted, and the chapel shut by a writ of monition.

1779. WILLIAM BOYCE died; an eminent English musician and composer, chiefly of sacred pieces.

1782. BENJAMIN MARTIN died in London; one of the most celebrated mathematicians and opticians of the age in which he lived.

1795. FERDINAND III of Austria recognized the French republic, and made peace with it. This was the first power that acknowledged the new dynasty.

1795. The first parliament opened in Corsica, then subject to England.

1795. Treaty of peace signed between France and Tuscany.

1799. A naval action between the United States frigate Constellation, 36 guns, Capt. Truxton, and the French frigate Insurgent, 48 guns and 410 men. The engagement resulted in the capture of the Frenchman in one hour and a quarter. French loss, 29 killed, 44 wounded; American, 1 killed, 2 wounded. This was the first opportunity offered to an American frigate to engage an enemy of superior force.

1799. British ship Dedalus, captured the French frigate La Prudente in 57 minutes. French lost 27 killed, 22 wounded; British had 2 killed, 12 wounded.

1801. Definite treaty of Luneville signed.

1810. The French occupied Zafra in Estramadura.

1811. NEVIL MASKELYNE died at London, aged 79. This eminent mathematician and astronomer ardently devoted a long life to science, and mariners owe to his discoveries the method of finding the longitude at sea by lunar observations.

1815. CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN died. In scriptural erudition he had very few superiors. Deeply versed in oriental literature, he conceived the plan of giving every man to read the scriptures in his own tongue, and died while superintending an edition of the Bible in the Syriac language.

1834. BENJAMIN B. WISNER, a distinguished Calvinistic clergyman, of Boston, and for several years secretary to the A. B. C. F. M. died.

1845. JOB PALMER, one of the fathers of the city of Charleston, S. C., and a worthy of the revolution, died, aged nearly 98.

1849. On account of revolutionary movements the grand duke of Tuscany fled from Florence. The glorious Roman republic proclaimed.

FEBRUARY 10.

1024. ABDURRAHMAN IV, sultan of Cordova, dethroned by a relative and put to death. He was a patron of science, which he cultivated with success, and a poet.

1306. JOHN COMYN murdered by Robert Bruce in the convent of the minorite friars. They were rival nobles, who had recently settled their differences, and agreed upon a revolt from the dominion of England. Comyn had treacherously revealed the matter to Edward. Bruce hastened to accuse him of it, and after some altercation struck him with his dagger, and he was immediately despatched by Bruce's attendants.

1402. WALLERAN, count of St. Pol, issued against Henry IV, of England, his famous cartel of defiance.

1519. HERNANDO CORTEZ sailed from Cuba for the conquest of Mexico. His armament consisted of 11 ships, 508 soldiers and 109 mariners. This force was divided into 16 cavalry, 13 musketeers, 10 brass field pieces, 4 falconets, and 32 crossbows. This miniature army was destined to oppose more than 500,000 warriors before it reached the capital of the great Montezuma.

1539. JOHN STEPHEN DURANTI killed. He was the first president of the parliament of Toulouse; and made himself conspicuous by his efforts to preserve that city from the plague of 1538. He was killed by a mob.

1567. HENRY STUART, Lord Darnley, murdered, aged 21. The house in which he lay sick was blown up, it is supposed with the privity of his wife, Mary queen of Scots, by her favorite, the earl of Bothwell. Darnley had murdered Rizzio, the queen's musician, before her own eyes, whose blood was thus avenged. Mary perished on the scaffold, and Bothwell was taken by the Norwegians, and died insane after ten years' imprisonment.

1640. DE VRIES commenced a plantation about four miles above the fort at New Amsterdam, and complains that the director of the West India company had failed to send him people for his colony on Staten island, as had been agreed upon.

1658. GERARD LANGBAINE, an English writer, died. He acquired literary celebrity by his edition of Longinus.

1676. Attack on Lancaster, Mass., by the Indians under Pocanoket. The village contained 60 families; most of the houses that were not garrisoned were burnt; and the house of the clergyman, although defended by a competent number of inhabitants, was fired by the Indians, the women and children carried away, and the men either killed on the spot or reserved for further misery. Mrs. Rowlandson and her children, the family of the clergyman, were afterwards redeemed. The town was saved from entire ruin by the appearance of a company of 40 men from Marlborough.

1676. ALEXEI MICHAELOWITZ, czar of Russia, died. He was father of Peter the Great; distinguished for his wars, his munificence, and his improvements in the state.

1680. A great comet, which had alarmed the inhabitants of New England since the 18th November, disappeared. It was also observed in Europe, and Henault says that it was the largest which had ever been seen, and struck terror into the minds of the people of France. It was by the observation of this comet that Newton ascertained the parabolic form of the trajectory of comets, and demonstrated their orbits. This discovery contributed to the removal of those terrors with which the phenomenon had always been attended, in all ages, and among all nations, who viewed it as the presage of some direful event.

1686. WILLIAM DUGDALE, an eminent English antiquary and historian, died.

1689. ISAAC VOSSIUS, a German scholar, died. He is the author of various learned works in German, and edited several Latin and Greek works. In 1670 he visited England, was admitted to the degree of LL. D., and presented to a canonry at Windsor by Charles II, who afterwards took occasion to say that he was a strange divine, for he believed every thing but the Bible.

1711. RICHARD DUKE died. He was a poet of some credit in the last century, and by Dr. Johnson included among the classics.

1743. British sloop Squirrel captured the Spanish ship Pierre Joseph, with 195,000 pieces of eight on board and a valuable cargo of cochineal, indigo, &c.

1747. THOMAS CHUBB died. He was bred a glover, but when he arrived at the age of manhood, devoted great attention to the sciences and divinity, and gained great celebrity by a work on the latter subject.

1755. CHARLES DE SECONDAT, Baron Montesquieu, an illustrious Frenchman, died. His _Spirit of Laws_ has immortalized his name.

1763. Treaty of peace signed at Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain, by which the latter retained possession of Canada and Florida, besides many important islands in the West Indias, and along the coast, which had been recently captured by the British.

1773. JAMES FORTHON died at Grenada, one of the West India islands, aged 127.

1775. Lord NORTH, the prime minister, introduced a bill to restrain the trade and commerce of the New England states, which finally passed by a large majority on the 30th.

1783. JAMES NARES, a celebrated English musical composer, died. His anthems manifest great power of genius, and with his other works will perpetuate his name, and ever rank him with the first of his profession.

1786. JOHN CADWALLADER, an officer of the revolution, died, aged 44. He commanded the Pennsylvania troops, and was in several important engagements as a volunteer; he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of Washington.

1786. Cardinal DE SOLIS died, aged 110. He was a native of Andalusia in Spain, and at the time of his death was in the enjoyment of every faculty but strength and quickness of hearing.

1787. CHARLES CHAUNCEY, a Boston divine, died. He was eminent for learning, independence and attachment to the civil and religious liberty of his country. His productions are numerous.

1790. The celebrated chess-player PHILLODOR won two games which he played with skilled players while he was blind folded. The moves being made by his directions.

1794. The British under Admiral Jarvis took Pigeon island, Martinique.

1795. The English garrison at Bergen-op-Zoom disarmed and sent prisoners to France. The French also took Groningen the same day.

1795. The tower of Martello in Corsica taken by the British under Admiral Hood.

1797. The French pillaged Loretto, a fortified town in Italy. The soldiers entered the cathedral which contains the _holy house_, in which it is said the Virgin Mary lived at Nazareth, and laid their republican hands upon the madonna, the famous _Lady of Loretto_, which they found standing upon an altar, in a niche of silver, surrounded by numerous gold and silver lamps, and adorned with jewels. She was sent to Paris.

1799. BONAPARTE set out from Cairo on his disastrous expedition to Syria.

1802. Port au Paix in Hayti taken by the French. The blacks set it on fire and blew up two forts.

1803. JEAN FRANCOIS DE LA HARPE, an eminent French orator, critic, poet and dramatic writer, died.

1804. His catholic majesty, CHARLES IV, renounced his protest against the alienation by France of Louisiana to the United States.

1807. Bill for abolishing the British slave trade passed the house of lords.

1808. Russia declared war against Sweden.

1809. Portugal invaded by the French under Soult.

1809. GEORGE ZOEGA, a celebrated Danish antiquary, died.

1818. THOMAS MORRIS, a British officer, died, aged 74. He fought by the side of Montgomery in Canada during the French war, was taken by the Indians, and narrowly escaped burning at the stake. On quitting the army he published an account of his captivity, and in the retirement of a small cottage passed some years in the pursuits of literature.

1841. Union of Upper and Lower Canada; Lord Sydenham taking the oath of office as governor of the united provinces.

1852. Gold medal presented to Henry Clay at Washington by New York friends.

1854. Gen. HERRERA, ex-president of the republic of Mexico, died. He was one of the veterans of the war of independence, and as a statesman, had given proofs of the loftiest patriotism and disinterestedness.

1856. President RIVAS decreed the annexation of the whole Mosquito territory to Nicaragua.

FEBRUARY 11.

641. HERACLIUS, emperor of the East, died. He was the son of a governor of Africa, conspired against Phocas, whom he beheaded, and ascended the throne of Constantinople.

1225. HENRY III subscribed the great charter of English liberties, which was witnessed by 13 bishops, 20 abbots, and 32 earls and barons.

1451. AMURATH II, emperor of the Ottomans, died. He was the first Turk who used cannon in battle.

1502. ELIZABETH of York, queen of Henry VII, died in childbirth, in the tower of London, on her birth day, aged 36. She married Henry in 1486, by which the antagonist houses of York and Lancaster were united.

1503. JAMES TYRELL supposed to be one of the murderers of Edward V, executed as a traitor. He is said to have confessed his agency in the death of both the young princes.

1543. An alliance was formed between Henry VIII of England, and the emperor Charles V.

1573. DRAKE the navigator was conducted by the Symerons to a tree notched with steps, which served them for a watch tower, and from the summit of which he had a view of the two oceans, one of which no English vessel had ever yet navigated.

1650. RENE DESCARTES, a celebrated French philosopher and mathematician, died, aged 54. His superior intellect early manifested itself. He embraced the military profession, and served in various countries, the better to make observations and form satisfactory conclusions on scientific subjects. He finally settled in Holland, where during the last 20 years of his life, the greater part of his works were written. It is said of him that he extended the limits of geometry as far beyond the place where he found them, as Sir Isaac Newton did after him.

1659. FRANCIS OSBORNE died; an English writer of great abilities.

1733. JOHN PERRY, a celebrated English engineer, died. He was patronized by czar Peter of Russia, of which country he wrote a history.

1761. A usurer fined at Guildhall, London, £300 for having exacted six guineas to discount £100 for six weeks.

1763. PETER CARLET DE MARIVEAUX, a French romancer, died. The great characteristic of his works, is to convey a useful moral under the veil of wit and sentiment.

1763. WILLIAM SHENSTONE died, aged 50. His father was a gentleman farmer, who cultivated a moderate estate, called the _Leasowes_, which were rendered celebrated by the taste of the son. Having finished his studies, and come into possession of the paternal property, he gave himself up to rural embellishments and the cultivation of poetry. He wrote for fame, which was not awarded him by his cotemporaries and he died broken hearted. "He was a lamp that spent its oil in blazing." His principal poem is _The Schoolmistress_.

1771. JEAN DE BEAURAIN died; a French negotiator and geographer. He was made geographer to Louis XV at the age of 25.

1771. JOHN BURTON, a learned English divine, died, leaving some ingenious writings, collected under the title of _Opuscula Miscellanea_.

1780. The British under Sir Henry Clinton landed in St. John's Island, about 30 miles from Charleston, S. C.

1793. Great Britain issued letters of marque and reprisal against France.

1797. FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, one of the signers of the declaration of independence, and a brave officer in the American revolution, died at Richmond, Va., aged 63.

1807. Revolution in St. Domingo, in which a profusion of blood was shed.

1810. The spire and part of the tower of St. Nicholas' church at Liverpool, fell through the roof and killed several in the church.

1811. Battle of Laffesat, in which the Prussians defeated the Turks, after a sanguinary contest.

1814. Battle of Montmirail between the French under Bonaparte, and the Russians under D'Yorck.

1815. Fort Boyer, Mobile, with a garrison of 375, surrendered to 5,000 British under Lambert, with a fleet of 13 ships of the line and 25 smaller vessels. Col. Lawrence received a wound, and seeing that it was useless to contend against such odds, struck his flag. British loss 31; American 10.

1821. ADAM WALKER died. He was apprenticed to a weaver; but ultimately became a lecturer on philosophy, which he adopted as a profession, and traveled in England for the purpose of lecturing on that science.

1827. JOSE MARIA ABRANTES, a Portuguese nobleman died in exile. He was the friend of Don Miguel, of infamous memory.

1828. DE WITT CLINTON died at his residence in Albany, aged 59. He was born in the town of Little Britain, Orange county, N. Y., 1769, and educated for the bar. He was at an early age elected to a seat in the legislature, and continued to hold offices of honor and emolument until the day of his death, at which time he was governor of the state of New York. It is to his perseverance in a great measure, that we owe the construction of the Erie canal. As a public character he is entitled to durable renown, and no one was ever more ambitious of a reputation for science and literature.

1837. JOHN LATHAM, an eminent English naturalist and ornithologist, died, aged 97. He was one of the founders of the Linnean society, and commenced the publication of his last work at the age of 82.

1844. HENRY KIFER, a soldier of the revolution, died at North Woodbury, Pa., aged 110½ years.

1856. CAROLINE LEE HENTZ, a well known American novelist, died.

FEBRUARY 12.

590. PELAGIUS II, pope of Rome, died. In his time a plague raged at Rome of so strange a nature, that persons seized with it died sneezing and gaping.

1401. WILLIAM SAWTRY, a Lollard, condemned and burned to death at London for heresy.

1448. A general poll tax of 6d. with 6s. 8d. on every merchant stranger, and 20d. on their clerks, granted by parliament to Henry VI.

1542. CATHARINE HOWARD, fifth wife of Henry VIII, beheaded. The execution of this ungrateful woman excited no commiseration, as she had been the principal instrument in the accusations against Anne Boleyn, her predecessor.

1554. JANE GREY beheaded, at the age of 17. She was the daughter of Mary, youngest sister of Henry VIII, and a woman of uncommon beauty, talents and learning, for her years, to which she added great amiability of disposition, and fortitude of mind. Her disastrous fate created an extraordinary interest in her favor, which has continued unabated. "Good Christian people, you come here to see me die; not for any thing I have offended, for I will deliver to my God a soul as pure from trespass, as innocence from injustice."

1589. BLANCHE PERRY died, chief gentlewoman to Queen Elizabeth, and a great lover of antiquities, besides a very tasteful writer.

1640. WILLIAM ALEXANDER, Lord Stirling, died; a dramatic poet and statesman in the time of James and Charles I. His poetry, for purity and elegance, is far beyond the generality of the productions of the age in which he lived.

1660. General MONK, now reconciled to the citizens of London, drew up his forces in Finsbury fields, makes an apology which is the signal of rejoicing. Burning lamps the principal pastime.

1689. The parliament of England chose William and Mary king and queen.

1706. Battle of Fraustadt, in Prussia, in which the Saxons and Muscovites under Gen. Schullemberg, were defeated by the Swedes under Marshall Renschild.

1733. The colony of Savannah commenced, under Gen. Oglethorpe. This was the first settlement in Georgia.

1744. The elector of Bavaria chosen emperor of Germany under the title of Charles VII.

1746. Birthday of THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO, the Polish warrior.

1757. Peace concluded between the English and Sourajah Dowlah.

1771. ADOLPHUS FREDERICK II, king of Denmark, died. He was the founder of the academy of belles-lettres at Torneo.

1782. The British surrendered the island of St. Christophers to the French, under the marquis de Bouille.

1787. JOSEPH ROGER BOSCOVICH, an Italian mathematician, died at Milan. He was also an elegant poet.

1789. GABRIEL BROTIER died at Paris; an illustrious and amiable Frenchman, and one of the most distinguished ornaments of the belles-lettres in that country.

1792. Battle on the plain of Morocco, between Yezid and Ishem, two brothers, contesting for the throne. The forces of the latter, about 30,000, were defeated by about half the number under the former. Both commanders were badly wounded. Ishem lost 1,300 killed, and 800 prisoners, who were all put to death by being nailed to the walls and floors and left without food.

1793. JOHN MANLEY died, aged 60. He was appointed by Washington a captain in the navy, was very successful in his captures, but was finally taken prisoner by the British and confined in the Mill prison.

1797. ANTHONY D'AUVERGNE died at Lyons. He was director of the opera at Paris, and an eminent composer.

1799. LAZARUS SPALLANZANI, an Italian writer, died. He is considered as one of the greatest naturalists of that age.

1802. A messenger from England to lord Cornwallis was attacked by two wolves near Boulogne, which tore off the lips of his horses.

1804. IMMANUEL KANT, a Prussian metaphysician, died. He was the son of a harness maker in the suburbs of Koningsberg. He continued by persevering industry to obtain a good education, and at the age of 22 successfully attacked the doctrines of the most eminent metaphysicians of the day. He was an original and profound thinker, as his numerous works attest: and his philosophy has been taught in all the German universities except some Catholic ones.

1807. Battle of Marienwerder, in Polish Prussia, in which the Prussians were defeated by the French under Lefebre.

1808. Remarkable duel at Bonnau, in Austria, between the Bavarian general Von Wrede, and a former Swedish minister, Von Duben. It was occasioned by the latter having cast reflections upon the Bavarian troops in 1805, in his dispatches to the Swedish government, and was fought in presence of a vast number of people.

1810. Badajos in Spain summoned to surrender by the French marshal, Mortier. The governor returned the summons unopened.

1814. Battle of Chateau Thierry, between the French and Russians, in which the general of the latter, Fredenrich, was taken prisoner.

1814. General WILKINSON burned his barracks at French Mills.

1817. Battle of Chacabuco, in Chili, in which the patriots under San Martin and O'Higgins, gained a decisive victory over the Spaniards under Maroto. This, with the victory of Maypu, which occurred afterwards, achieved the independence of the country.

1826. DEODATUS BYE, died. He edited _Cruden's Concordance_, _Diversions of Purley_, &c. Some fugitive pieces in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ bear his signature.

1831. Great solar eclipse (annular), visible in most parts of the United States.

1832. The cholera made its appearance in London.

1834. FREDERICK SCHLIERMACHER, a celebrated Prussian divine, died. He was professor of theology at Halle, and distinguished for the energy of his character and the extent of his acquirements.

1837. EDWARD TURNER, professor of chemistry, London, died, aged 40. He was an eminent chemist, a popular and much esteemed professor, and a very exemplary and benevolent character.

1840. ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, a highly distinguished English surgeon, died at London, aged 72. He was one of the first operators of his time, and carried on a practice unexampled for extent and emolument in the annals of surgery. His income from his practice was nearly one hundred thousand dollars per annum. In one instance he received a fee of one thousand guineas for an operation for the stone.

1855. The island of Cuba declared by the captain-general to be in a state of siege, and the coasts and circumjacent waters in blockade.

FEBRUARY 13.

This day was kept by the Jews as a fast, instituted by Esther
in memorial of the day appointed by Haman for the extirpation
of her countrymen. The same day was afterwards decreed as a
feast for the death of Nicanor, the Syrian captain, who was
slain at Bethhoron, B. C. 161.

1098. London bridge carried away by a flood and tax imposed to erect another.

1570. BENVENUTO CELLINI, a Florentine sculptor, engraver and goldsmith, died. His works in gold and silver are sold now at immense prices. In his autobiography, which has been translated, he claims to have aimed the balls which killed the constable of Bourbon, and the prince of Orange, at the siege of Rome.

1579. JOHN FOWLER, an eminent English printer, died at Louvain, in Belgium, where he had a press and issued various controversial treatises, leveled at protestantism. He was well skilled in languages, a tolerable poet and orator, a theologist not to be contemned, and well versed in criticism, and polite literature.

1585. ALPHONSUS SALMERON, of Toledo, died. He wrote commentaries on the scriptures, was a zealous follower of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and distinguished for his learning.

1602. ALEXANDER NOWELL, an English divine, died. His _Catechism_, published 1572, was in extensive use and much admired.

1662. ELIZABETH, queen of Bohemia, and eldest daughter of James I, of England, died and was buried in Henry VII's chapel.

1689. Revolution in England; William, prince of Orange, and the princess Mary, a daughter of the abdicating monarch, were proclaimed, by the lords and commons, sovereigns of England. (Holmes says 16th.)

1694. The highland massacre at Glencoe, in Scotland.

1699. The government of England sent an order to the play-houses that nothing should be enacted contrary to religion or good manners.

1726. WILLIAM WATTON died; an English divine, critic, historian, and miscellaneous writer of great learning.

1727. The British under Col. Campbell precipitately evacuated Augusta, Georgia, in the night.

1727. The Spaniards under the marquis de la Torras, commenced the siege of Gibraltar. This was the twelfth siege, and proved unsuccessful.

1727. COTTON MATHER died at Boston, aged 65. He was the most learned man in America, and one of the most superstitious. His achievements in one year were 72 sermons, 60 fasts, 20 vigils and 14 books. His publications amounted to 382, some of them being of large dimensions. The _Magnalia_ is his chef d'œuvre. He lived in the age of witchcraft, and fell in with the delusion, hand, heart and pen.

1752. SAMUEL CROXALL, an English author and translator of good repute, died.

1781. A troop of Tarleton's dragoons, under Capt. Miller, were cut to pieces by Lieut. Col. Lee: the captain and all were taken, except two; 18 were killed. Lee had ordered his Lieut. Lewis, to give no quarters, on account of Miller's having refused quarter to Lee's bugler, an unarmed boy, whom they had overtaken and sabred. Lee halted his men at a farm, was suddenly come upon by the advance of Cornwallis, but escaped by a sudden and bold movement.

1784. JEREMIAH MILES died; an eminent English divine and antiquary. He was ardently engaged in the Chattertonian controversy, and the author of the supposed Rowley's poems.

1787. CHARLES GRAVIER, count de Vergennes, a French statesman, died. As secretary of state for foreign affairs to Louis XVI, he assisted the Americans in their struggle for independence.

1789. ETHAN ALLEN, an officer in the revolutionary army, died. He took Ticonderoga and Crown-Point; was himself captured near Montreal, sent to England, and after experiencing much cruelty, exchanged. He sustained the character of an infidel, and in his writings ridiculed the scriptures.

1790. The French convention abolished monastic establishments, and confiscated their lands. (See Jan. 16.)

1794. The French convention ratified the treaty of peace with the grand duke of Tuscany.

1794. The canal of Merthyr Tydvil, in Wales, opened, another great improvement.

1798. CHRISTIAN FREDRICK SCHWARTZ, an eminent German missionary to Hindostan, died. His labors were of nearly half a century's duration, and had a great influence over the affairs of the country.

1801. British frigate Success, 40 guns, captured by a French squadron.

1805. Action between the British ship St. Fiorenza and the French frigate Psyche, 36 guns, and the prize ship Thetis, which resulted in the capture of the two latter. French loss 57 killed and 70 wounded; British 12 k., 36 w.

1814. General WILKINSON burned his boats in Salmon river, and broke up cantonment at French mills; Gen. Brown went to Sacketts harbor, and Gen. Macomb to Plattsburg; the snow being 2 feet 10 inches deep.

1817. GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE died; an officer in the service of Virginia against the Indians in the revolutionary war, where he distinguished himself greatly, and was for some time the protector of the people of the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania against the inroads of the tribes.

1817. The elegant sword voted by the state of New York to Com. McDonough, was presented to him at Hartford.

1820. CHARLES FERDINAND duc de Berri, assassinated. He was the youngest son of Charles X., a man of talents and intrepidity, and popular with the army. His assassin was actuated to the deed by a desire to exterminate the Bourbon family, which he had vowed to accomplish, and had begun with the duke, in whom the line was to be perpetuated. (See July 7, Louvel.)