Part 59

1821. CAROLINE AMELIA ELIZABETH, wife of George IV, of England, died, aged 53. She was abandoned by her husband, then prince of Wales, soon after their marriage, and the nation was repeatedly agitated by their disputes, for more than 20 years.

1830. The throne of France declared vacant by the chamber of deputies; after making various important modifications in the charter, they called to the throne Louis Phillippe, and his male descendants for ever.

1848. The great comet, whose revolution occupies 292 years, passed its perihelion in July, and was first seen on this day by a gentleman in Altona.

1854. The Turks entered Bucharest, which the Russians had previously evacuated.

1855. A severe and bloody riot occurred at St. Louis, Missouri, between the Irish and Americans, which continued for 48 hours, and resulted in the death of 10 persons, and the severe injury of 30 more.

1855. While two companies of militia were conducting to jail a prisoner named Debar, for the murder of a negro, at Milwaukie, the mob seized him and killed him without resistance.

1855. RICHARD SHEEPSHANKS, a British astronomer, died, aged 61. He made great efforts in determining the latitude and longitude of places in England and Ireland, and contributed a series of papers to the _Penny Cyclopedia_ on the science of astronomy.

AUGUST 8.

70. Capture of Jerusalem by Titus, the 8th day of the month Gorpieus, (Elul) upon his daughter's birthday.

1419. PETER D'AILLY, a French ecclesiastic, died. He was of an obscure family, and rose by his merit to the office of cardinal.

1503. ALEXANDER VI (_Roderick Borgia_), pope, died. He was of infamous notoriety before his elevation to the pontificate, and is supposed to have been poisoned by a draught which he had prepared for some of his guests.

1540. Nuptials of HENRY VIII and CATHARINE HOWARD, his fifth spouse. By "a notable appearance of honor, cleanness and maidenly behavior," she won the heart of old Harry, whose marriage with Anne of Cleves was annulled the 9th of July previous.

1588. EDWIN SANDYS, archbishop of York, died. He assisted in the translation of what is called the _Bishop's Bible_, and was one of the nine divines appointed by Elizabeth to dispute with nine catholics before the parliament.

1588. The English fleet under lord Howard attacked the Spanish armada. The engagement began at 4 o'clock in the morning and continued till 6 at night, and resulted in a total defeat of the armada. The Spanish admiral, apprehending the entire destruction of his fleet, resolved to sail northwards and make the circuit of the British isles. When he had rounded the Orkneys, the fleet was dispersed by a storm; horses, mules and baggage were thrown overboard to lighten the ships, some of which were wrecked, some sunk in the North sea, others wrecked on the coast of Scotland, and more than thirty were driven by another storm upon the coast of Ireland, where many of the crews were barbarously murdered. The duke of Medina finally reached Santardu with sixty-five sail in a shattered condition, out of 150 sail of noble vessels which entered the British channel, many of them of the largest class.

1641. Though Sabbath, both houses of the English parliament sat to prevent the king from going to Scotland.

1776. Force of the northern American army, under Washington, 10,514 fit for duty, 3,668 sick, 2,946 on command, 97 on furlough--total, 17,225. The small pox was committing great ravages at this time, 5,500 having died of it since April; inoculation being prohibited in general orders.

1778. Fort Boonesborough invested by 450 Canadians and Indians. The fort was garrisoned by 50 men, who defended it with great spirit against every stratagem till the 20th, when the siege was abandoned, and its capture never again attempted.

1780. The combined fleets of France and Spain captured five East Indiamen and fifty merchant ships bound for the West Indies.

1792. JOHN LEAKE, an English physician, died; founder of the Westminster lying-in hospital, and an esteemed author.

1794. The entrenchments of Pellingen, a series of redoubts raised by the Austrians in the most advantageous situations, in order to cover Treves, were carried by the French.

1804. ROBERT MACFARLANE, a Scottish miscellaneous writer, died. He translated Ossian into Latin.

1805. RICHARD WORSLEY, governor of the isle of Wight, died. During a tour in Europe he made a fine collection of statues and antiques, of which he published a description.

1808. JOHN BROOME, lieutenant-governor of the state of New York, died, and was buried in the presbyterian church yard in Wall street, in the city of New York.

1811. British under admiral Stopford took Batavia and a great part of the island of Java.

1812. The United States troops under general Hull evacuated Canada and entered Detroit.

1814. First meeting of the British and American commissioners at Ghent, to treat for peace.

1816. The meetings of freemasons and other secret societies prohibited by the king of Naples under penalty of banishment, fine and imprisonment.

1827. GEORGE CANNING, an eminent English statesman, died. He was of humble origin, but rose to the premiership by his great talents, and sustained himself against a powerful opposition.

1828. FREDERIC BOUTERWEK, a German litterateur, died; author of _Geschichte der neueren Poesie und Beredsamkeit_, containing separate critical histories of the belles-lettres of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, England and Germany, from the revival of letters to the close of the 18th century, 12 vols.

1836. FREDERICK CARL LUDWIG SICKLER died at Heldburghausen; an eminent archæologist, and author of various learned works on archæology, antiquities and philology.

1838. The Chilian squadron of 32 vessels landed 5000 men at Ancon, and demanded two millions of dollars, which not being granted, they advanced and took Callao and Lima, after an action in which 2000 were killed. Gomarra was proclaimed president, and Orbegozo fled to the mountains. (See July 26.)

1840. CHARLES OTTFRIED MULLER, of Gottingen, died at Athens, from an illness brought on by fatigue and exposure in copying inscriptions, and making excavations at Delphi. The object of his investigation was connected with a great work on which he was engaged, upon the general history of Greece. He was buried on the summit of a little hill above the academy. (July 31.)

1851. SAMUEL EMERSON, an eminent physician, died at Kennebunk, Me., aged 87.

1853. A strike at Stockport, England, for an advance of ten per cent in wages, ceased, 20,000 workmen resumed their labors, having accomplished their object.

1856. Mrs. MATTHEWS (madame Vestris), long a celebrated dancer and pantomimist, died in England, aged 59. Her maiden name was Lucia Elizabeth Bartolozzi; she married Armand Vestris in 1813, and it was under this name that she was well known in Europe and America. She married Matthews in 1838.

AUGUST 9.

357 B. C. An eclipse of the moon which preceded the departure of Dion from Zacynthus (Zante) upon his celebrated expedition against the tyrant Dionysius the Younger. He entered Syracuse with his little band of 800 veterans in September, and in three days became master of the empire. The deaths of Democritus and Hippocrates, each 104 years old, and of Timotheus, the Milesian poet and musician, took place in that year.

378. The great and disastrous battle of Adrianople, second only to that of Cannæ, in which the Roman legions under Valens, were for the first time defeated by the Cythian Goths. The wounded emperor was removed to a cottage, which was fired, and he perished in the flames.

1342. Sir WALTER MANNY raised the siege of Hennebon in Brittany, so nervously and heroically defended by Jane, countess of Montford, against the power of France.

1611. JOHN BLAGRAVE died; an early English mathematician of considerable eminence and a laborious author on his favorite science.

1634. NOY, attorney-general to Charles I of England, died at London. He is supposed to have devised the plan of levying ship money, which went into operation the day after his death.

1641. DAVID BAKER, an English Benedictine monk and ecclesiastical historian, died. He collected the records of the ancient congregation of the black or Benedictine monks in England, 6 vols. folio, and his religious treatises filled 9 folio vols. in manuscript.

1694. ANTHONY ARNAULD, a French theological and philosophical writer, died. He was one of the most learned men of his age, and did much for the improvement of morality in the catholic church. His works were printed in more than 100 volumes of various sizes.

1710. French and Spaniards defeated at Saragossa, with the loss of 5,000 killed, 7,000 prisoners, and all their artillery, and the allies entered the city.

1718. Action off cape Passaro, between the British fleet, 20 sail, admiral Byng, and the Spanish fleet, 27 sail of the line. The Spaniards were defeated with the loss of 21 of their ships, either taken or destroyed.

1719. DOMINICO DE ANGELIS, an Italian scholar, died. He made the tour of France and Spain, and was everywhere received with honor by the learned.

1720. SAMUEL OCKLEY, an English divine, died; a very learned man, and well skilled in oriental literature.

1744. JOHN BRIDGES, duke of Chandos, died. Few particulars are known of this peer, except of his munificence. The earlier part of his manhood was spent in reflection and observation; his middle age in business, honorable and useful; and his advanced years in deeds of benevolence. He erected the princely seat of Canons, near London, where he lived in a splendor to which no other subject had ever aspired. His liberality was equaled only by his generous forgiveness of injuries. Pope made him the subject of his satire, which Hogarth punished by representing the poet on a scaffold whitewashing Burlington house, and bespattering the duke of Chandos's carriage as it passed. Yet Pope's verse respecting the short-lived magnificence of Canons was prophetic:

Another age shall see the golden ear Embrown the slope, and nod on the parterre: Deep harvests bury all his pride has planned, And laughing Ceres reassume the land.

Three years after his death the stately mansion was sold by auction, piecemeal, such was the rage to buy something at Canons. Its site was soon an arable.

1746. Battle of Rotto Fredo, between the allies and the Austrians; the former defeated with the loss of 8,000; Austrian loss about half that number.

1748. ALEXANDER BLACKWELL, a Scottish physician, beheaded in Sweden, on suspicion of treason. His wife, to support him in prison, published a _Herbal_ in two vols. folio, containing 500 plates, drawn, engraved and colored by herself.

1757. Fort William Henry with a garrison of about 2600 men under Col. Monroe, capitulated to Montcalm, who had invested the fort with an army of 11,500. The garrison was to be allowed the honors of war, and protected from the Indians; but with the characteristic perfidy of the French in all these colonial wars, the Indians were allowed to pillage and massacre the defenceless soldiers, so that their baggage was lost and 1500 slain or made prisoners.

1759. Birthday of JEAN BAPTIST ANNIBAL AUBERT DUBAYET, in Louisiana. He served in the American army during the war of independence, and went to France on the breaking out of the revolution there. He was appointed minister of war, and the next year ambassador to Constantinople, where he died.

1775. Captain LINZEE, of the British sloop of war Falcon, attempted to take an American schooner in Gloucester harbor, cape Ann, in two barges, a whale boat, schooner and cutter, all of which were captured by the Americans; in consequence of which he bombarded the town. American loss 1 killed, 2 wounded.

1778. General GREENE'S army crossed over from Tiverton to the north end of Rhode Island.

1778. Lord HOWE'S fleet arrived off Newport, in quest of count d'Estaing, who put to sea the next morning.

1782. DE LA PEROUSE, with a considerable French military and naval force, took fort Prince of Wales, at Hudson's bay, and soon after forts York and Severn; the settlements and forts were destroyed.

1787. The ship Columbia, captain GRAY, and sloop Washington sailed from Boston for the north west coast of America and China. They returned in 1790, being the first American vessels that circumnavigated the globe.

1793. ALEXIS BRULARD DE GENLIS, marquis de Sillery, a French general, guillotined at Paris. He was a deputy to the states-general, and an avowed enemy to the king, on whose trial he voted for detaining the royal family until the peace, and for their perpetual banishment after that event.

1796. Elba surrendered to the British under commodore Nelson.

1804. ROBERT POTTER, an English prelate, died; known by his elegant translations of Æschylus, Euripides and Sophocles, the three great dramatists of ancient Greece.

1805. Lieutenant ZEBULON M. PIKE commenced his voyage to the sources of the Missouri river, with a party of 22; they were taken by the Spaniards, and returned the next year.

1808. ROMANA, with 10,000 Spanish troops, deserted the French army under Bernadotte, and were conveyed to Spain in British transports.

1809. The president of the United States, THOMAS JEFFERSON, received official information of the non-ratification of the British treaty, and suspended all intercourse with that country.

1811. Battle of Baza; the Spaniards under Blake defeated by the French under Soult; of 20,000 Spaniards not more than 7,000 rallied again.

1812. Battle of Magauga; the British and Indians under major Muir and Tecumseh, defeated by the United States troops under general Miller, and driven into Brownstown, whence they escaped to Malden in boats. American loss 10 killed, 8 wounded.

1814. Bombardment of Stonington, by the British, commenced. It continued three days. British loss 21 killed, 50 wounded; American loss 6 wounded.

1815. Commodore DECATUR settled the differences between the United States and the dey of Tripoli. The dey made restitution of property and prisoners.

1815. The British ship Northumberland, 74 guns, admiral Cockburn, sailed from Torbay with the exiled Napoleon for St. Helena.

1818. Captain Ross discovered the Esquimaux tribe of Indians, situated at the north east corner of Baffin's bay, extending on the sea shore 120 miles, and not exceeding 20 miles in breadth, and bounded on the south by an immense barrier of mountains, covered with ice. They seemed utterly ignorant of other nations to the south, whence they are supposed to be the original race. They are destitute of boats, and furnish an unique instance of a fishing tribe unacquainted with the art of floating on the water.

1824. JOSEPH NIGHTINGALE, an English dissenting minister, died. He possessed great literary talent, and published many excellent works.

1839. Pera, a suburb of Constantinople, nearly destroyed by fire; 3700 houses burnt.

1841. The steam boat Erie, on her passage from Buffalo to Chicago, took fire and was totally destroyed. Of 200 persons on board, principally Swiss and German emigrants, only 28 were saved. The boat was valued at $75,000; merchandise $20,000; specie $180,000.

1842. Treaty establishing the boundary line between the United States and Canada across the state of Maine; the British acquiring thereby a good portion of the latter state that of right belonged to the United States.

1844. Imprisonment for debt abolished in England; the act taking effect on this day.

1853. SAMUEL JONES, a New York jurist, died, aged 80.

1855. SANTA ANNA left the city of Mexico with 2600 men, under pretence of putting down the revolution at Vera Cruz; but signed an abdication at Perote, and sailed to Havana. On his departure a mob destroyed a large number of houses.

AUGUST 10.

353. MAGNENTIUS, emperor of Rome, killed. He was a German, and rose from a private soldier to the throne.

1506. The island of Madagascar discovered by the Portuguese.

1519. FERDINAND MAGELLAN sailed from Seville with 5 ships and 234 men, on his voyage of discovery, which was continued round the world.

1543. The Turks under Barbarossa and the French under count d'Enguein assaulted Nice, but were repulsed by Montford, a Savoyard gentleman, and obliged finally to raise the siege.

1557. Battle of St. Quintin; the French under Montmorency defeated by the allies under Phillibert of Savoy and the earl of Pembroke. The duke d'Enguein, 600 gentlemen and 4,000 French were killed; several dukes and many other officers of distinction, 300 gentlemen and 4,000 men were taken prisoners, and all their standards, cannon and ammunition fell into the hands of the victors.

1607. JAMES MENOCHIUS died; an Italian author of great repute in his day.

1630. Staten Island was purchased of the Indians by Michael Pauw, a Dutch subject. It was the favorite spot of the primitive settlers. The Indians sold it twice afterwards.

1633. ANTHONY MUNDAY, an English dramatic author, died.

1637. EDWARD KING, a young English poet, drowned. His death gave rise to the beautiful poem of Lycidias, by Milton, his friend.

1653. MARTIN HARPERTZOON VAN TROMP, a Dutch admiral, killed in an engagement with the English fleet off the Texel. He entered the navy at the age of 8, and rose from the lowest station to the chief command. This brave man refused all titles except that of father of the sailors. (July 31, O. S.)

1665. The French West India company, purchased of the order of Malta, the islands of St. Christopher, St. Cruz and St. Bartholomew, for 500,000 livres turnois.

1669. HENRIETTA MARIA, queen dowager to Charles I, died at St. Colombe, near Paris, in France.

1672. JOHN DE WITT, the famous pensionary of Holland, killed by a mob. "He was the zealous patron of the glory and liberty of his native country; the greatest genius of his time; the ablest politician in war as well as peace; the Atlas of the commonwealth."

1674. HUGH PAULIN CRESSY, an English divine, died. He became a catholic, was much respected, and published some valuable works, particularly an able ecclesiastical history.

1675. Corner stone for the foundation of the royal observatory was laid at Greenwich, England. The edifice was erected by Charles II, under the superintendence of sir Christopher Wren, and Flamsteed appointed astronomer-royal.

1675. PETER BALES, an early and eminent English writing master, finished a performance which contained the Lord's prayer, the creed, the decalogue, two short prayers in Latin, his own name, motto, the date, and the year of the reign of Elizabeth, within the circle of a penny, and so accurately wrought as to be plainly legible. It was enchased in a ring of gold, and presented to the queen.

1686. JOHN BAPTIST COTELERIUS, a learned Frenchman, died. He published the works of all the fathers in the apostolic age, with learned notes.

1702. Lord CUTTS carried, sword in hand, fort St. Michael, at Venlo, before any breach had been made. This was considered one of the greatest exploits during the wars of queen Anne.

1709. LEWIS ANTHONY PROSPER HERISSANT died; an eminent French poet and physician.

1723. WILLIAM DUBOIS, cardinal and prime minister of France, died. He rose from an apothecary's shop to rank, power, and immense wealth.

1749. THOMAS TOPHAM, an Englishman of remarkable strength, died. One of his feats was that of throwing his horse over the turnpike gate. He possessed the strength of six ordinary men.

1757. BENJAMIN HOADLEY, an English physician, died; distinguished by several able professional works, and a popular comedy, the _Suspicious Husband_.

1759. FERDINAND VI (_the Wise_), of Spain, died.

1760. Oswegatchie taken by the British.

1779. A destructive eruption of mount Vesuvius commenced and lasted several days. The country for several miles round was covered with lava.

1783. East India company's ship Antelope, wrecked on the coast of Oorolong, and the crew protected and aided by the king of the Pelew islands.

1790. Captain JOHN GORE, who circumnavigated the earth three times, on the third conducting home the ships after the death of Cooke and Clark, died, a captain in Greenwich hospital.

1791. WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, captain of the British provost in Boston and New York during the revolutionary war, executed in England for forgery. He confessed to have starved more than 2,000 American prisoners in New York, by stopping their rations, which he sold; and to have hanged upwards of 270 in a private manner.

1792. The alarm bells rung in every part of the city of Paris, and the drums beat to arms, when an immense multitude attacked the palace of the Tuilleries. The Swiss guard at first repelled the populace; but the assailants redoubling their efforts, the palace was carried by storm, the apartments, the passages and courts soon streamed with blood. The king, the queen, and the royal family, fled for refuge to the national assembly. Of the besiegers 3,740 were killed, and 852 of those in the palace. The Swiss guards, who heroically defended the king, were inhumanly butchered by the _Marsellois_.

1792. LOUIS BOUGAINVILLE, the French navigator, massacred at Paris. His discoveries were of importance to the French, but neither his services nor his virtues could shield him against the fury of the mob.

1793. Destruction of the tombs of the kings of France, at St. Denis, by order of the national convention. The body of marshal Turenne, deposited there 1675, was found apparently as fresh as ever.

1794. Calvi, in Corsica, surrendered to the British, lord Hood, with the whole of his army, after a siege of 51 days.

1796. Battle of Bassano, in Italy; Bonaparte defeated the Austrians under Wurmzer, took 5,000 prisoners, 25 cannon, &c.

1802. The sea at Teignmouth and coast of Devonshire, England, rose and fell several times two feet in _ten minutes_.

1812. The Russians under WITGENSTEIN attacked the French under Oudinot near Klaistitzy. The action continued into the following day, when the French were defeated with the loss of 5,000 killed, 3,000 prisoners, 2 cannon, and all their ammunition wagons.

1813. Partial action in the night, on lake Ontario, between the United States commodore Chauncy, and British commodore Yeo. The latter succeeded in capturing schooners Julia, 3 guns, and Growler, 5 guns.

1814. WILLIAM COWDROY, proprietor, editor and printer of the _Manchester Gazette_, died. Some of his best editorials were set in type without writing.

1821. Missouri became one of the members of the United States confederacy.

1821. The remains of the ill-fated Maj. Andre disinterred and taken to England.

1838. A papal decree issued at Rome by the congregation of the supreme inquisition, forbidding the introduction of infant schools into the pontifical states.

1843. ROBERT ADRIAN, a skillful mathematician, and for some time professor in Columbia college, N. Y., died in his 68th year.

1851. M. DAGUERRE, the inventor of the daguerreotype, died near Paris, aged 63. His peculiar process was published by him in the autumn of 1839, and the French government awarded him a pension of 6,000 francs for his discovery.

1854. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, king of Saxony, died at Munich, aged 57. His carriage was overturned as he rode into the city, and he was killed by a kick from one of the horses.

1854. A fire destroyed 180 houses at Varna, in Turkey, and destroyed vast quantities of stores belonging to the allies.

1854. A violent tornado swept along the track of the Cleveland and Pittsburg rail road, between Bedford and Macedonia, covering the track with large uprooted trees, and causing great obstruction to the trains upon the road.

1855. Delegates met at the city of Mexico, and chose general Carrera president for six months, and ordained the freedom of the press.

1856. Last island, a summer resort in the gulph of Mexico, was destroyed by a terrible storm of three days' duration. The island was entirely submerged, the houses swallowed up, and 173 persons lost.

1856. JAMES MURDOCK, an eminent American linguist and theologian, died, aged 80. He studied under president Dwight in 1802, and after preaching sometime became a teacher, and finally an author and translator.

AUGUST 11.