Part 68

1813. Battle of lake Erie, and defeat and capture of the entire British fleet under Com. Barclay, by the United States fleet under Com. Perry. The British force consisted of 6 vessels, 63 guns; Americans had 11 vessels, 54 guns. The action commenced at 15 minutes before 12, and ended about 3 P. M. The loss of the British was estimated at 200; Americans lost 27 killed, 96 wounded--123.

1827. UGO FOSCOLO, a distinguished Italian writer, died. His works are numerous, but giving offence to the authorities, he was driven from country to country, and died from disease and penury.

1845. JOSEPH STORY, one of the most distinguished American jurists, died at Cambridge, Mass., aged 66.

1851. The steamer Pampero, which had been used in the Lopez expedition against Cuba, was seized by the United States revenue officers, at Dunn's lake, Florida, and subsequently condemned.

1852. URQUIZA, director of the Argentine confederation, was deposed.

1852. The Burmese evacuated and burned Prome.

SEPTEMBER 11.

1069. The Danes under Harold and Canute landed in England, at the mouth of the Humber, and laid waste the country.

1297. Battle near Cambuskenneth, on the Forth, between the Scots under Wallace, and the English, in which the latter were defeated with the loss of 5,000 slain. The victors, to show their utter detestation of that tool of Edward, Cressingham, flayed his body, and converted his skin into thongs for their horses.

1539. Date of the will of Henry Pepwell, a distinguished book publisher, who died this year.

1609. HUDSON while at anchor in the harbor of New York, was visited by the natives, who made a great show of friendship, giving tobacco and Indian corn.

1649. Drogheda, in Ireland, taken by assault by the English, under Cromwell. A universal massacre was permitted during five days. "I believe we put to the sword," is the general's despatch, "the whole number of the defendants. _This is a marvellous great mercy._" The garrison alone consisted of 2,500 foot and 300 horse. There was scarce thirty lives saved in the whole town, and these were by Cromwell reserved to be sent to Barbadoes.

1677. JAMES HARRINGTON, an eminent English political writer, died; author of the political romance of _Oceana_, in imitation of Plato's _Atlantic Story_.

1697. The famous peace of Ryswick proclaimed.

1709. Battle of Malplaquet, in Belgium; the allies under the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene, defeated the French army of 120,000 men, under Villars and de Boufflers. This was a dear victory to the allies, who lost 20,000 of their best troops.

1745. MARY CHANDLER died; an English lady, distinguished for her poetic talent.

1776. Great tempest on the coast of Newfoundland; a large amount of shipping, and a great number of lives lost.

1777. Battle of Brandywine; the Americans under Washington and Green entirely defeated by the British, under Cornwallis. The Americans lost about 1,300 killed, wounded and prisoners. This was the first battle Lafayette was in; he was wounded in the leg.

1781. JOHN AUGUSTUS ERNESTI died; professor of theology at Leipsic, and author of numerous literary and theological works.

1798. The Sublime Porte, incensed at the invasion of Egypt, declared war against France, and joined with his old adversary, the emperor of Russia.

1799. Tortona surrendered to Suwarroff. Thus was Italy nearly reconquered.

1813. Running action between the United States commodore, Chauncey, on lake Ontario, and the British commodore, Yeo; the latter succeeded in getting into Amherst bay.

1814. The British, 8,000 strong, commenced disembarking their troops at North Point, about 12 miles from Baltimore, for the purpose of attacking that city.

1814. Battle of lake Champlain and Plattsburgh. The British fleet 95 guns, under commodore Downie, defeated and captured by the United States fleet, Com. Chauncey, 86 guns. British loss 57 killed, 72 wounded; American loss 52 killed, 58 wounded. At the same time the British troops under general Provost, about 14,000 veterans, the flower of the duke of Wellington's army, attacked the American lines at Saranac, Plattsburgh, and were defeated by general Macomb. American loss, killed 38; wounded 64; missing 20.

1820. HOME RIGGS POPHAM died; a distinguished British naval officer.

1823. DAVID RICARDO, a celebrated English writer on finance and statistics, died. He was of Jewish descent, and abandoned by his father at an early age for marrying a quakeress. His talents however, procured him wealth and distinction.

1826. WILLIAM MORGAN, a freemason in western New York, abducted by his fellows of the craft for revealing their secrets.

1833. Deaths by cholera in the city of Mexico, from the 5th August to this date, 10,000.

1840. LONG-KIEWA, a Chinese linguist, died at Calcutta, aged 59. He was inspector of the tea plantations established by an English company at Assam, but was obliged to exile himself on account of a family misdemeanor. He is represented to have been a man of immense knowledge. Besides his erudition in the sciences, he was proficient in all the principal languages spoken in Europe and Asia, as well as Hebrew, Greek and Latin. He made for the most part the Chinese translation of the scriptures published by Marshman, and left in MS. a Chinese-Latin-English dictionary. He bequeathed to the Asiatic society of Calcutta his library, containing 30,000 volumes, more than 20,000 of which are in the Chinese language.

1840. The town of Beyrout, in Syria, fired upon, reduced to a mass of ruins, and taken, by the British and Austrian fleets.

1842. A Mexican army 1,300 strong, took possession of Texas, but soon retreated.

1851. A riot at Christiana, Pa., upon the attempt to remove a fugitive slave. Mr. Gorsuch, the owner of the slave was killed and his son mortally wounded; the United States marshal and his posse were driven from the ground by armed negroes, and the slave escaped.

SEPTEMBER 12.

284. MARCUS AURELIUS NUMERIANUS, the Roman emperor, died, or was assassinated. He was admired for his learning and moderation, was naturally eloquent, and was esteemed one of the best poets of the age.

1362. INNOCENT VI (_Stephen Albert_), pope, died. He was of a peaceful disposition, and labored earnestly to reconcile the kings of England and France.

1382. LOUIS I, king of Hungary and Poland, died. One of his acts was to expel the Jews.

1504. COLUMBUS sailed from San Domingo--that great man's last voyage. His crazy and shattered bark, like his body, landed at St. Lucar in November.

1528. ANDREW DORIA, a noble Genoese, and the ablest seaman of his age, retook Genoa from the French, and restored its independence.

1553. ALBERT, of Brandenburgh, defeated by Henry of Brunswick. He was placed under the ban of the empire, and fled to France, where he died.

1609. HUDSON weighed anchor in the harbor of New York, and commenced his memorable voyage up the river which bears his name.

1651. The Scots prisoners taken at the battle of Worcester, &c., brought before Cromwell and the parliament at Acton, and sold to the West Indies for slaves or given away as dogs.

1660. JAMES CATS, a Dutch statesman and poet died, aged 83. His poems are much admired by his countrymen.

1665. JOHN BOLLANDUS, a Flemish Jesuit, died. His judgment, learning and sagacity led to his appointment to collect materials for the lives of the saints of the Romish church. He lived to complete 5 vols. folio, and the work was continued to 47 vols. by his successors.

1672. TANNEGUI LE FEVRE, a learned French author, died. He was the father of Madam Dacier.

1683. The allies under John Sobieski and the duke of Lorraine, routed the vast Turkish army under the walls of Vienna, and compelled them to raise the siege. Sobieski sent a post to his queen, saying that the grand vizier had made him his sole heir, including 70,000 dead men.

1683. ALPHONSO VI, king of Portugal, died. His conduct displayed the tyrant and the madman, and he resigned his crown.

1703. The emperor and king of the Romans, resigned their right to Spain to the archduke Charles, who was thereupon declared king of Spain.

1714. Barcelona surrendered to the duke of Berwick.

1729. Birthday of MOSES MENDELSOHN, a learned Jew of Berlin. He was of obscure origin, and became a merchant; but quitted commerce for literature, and acquired great reputation.

1764. JOHN PHILIP RAMEAU, a French musician, died. His writings on music procured him the title of the Newton of the science.

1776. WASHINGTON, with the remains of his army, entered Philadelphia, after his disastrous defeat at Brandywine. The same night a party of the British made an excursion to Wilmington, took the governor of Delaware out of his bed, and captured a shallop richly laden with public and private property, and the public records.

1784. The Spanish fleet under Don Barcelo, bombarded Algiers. The Spaniards fired 600 bombs, 144 balls and 260 grenades. The Algerines fired 202 bombs, and 1,164 balls. Great damage was done to the city.

1804. The American squadron captured near Tripoli, two vessels laden with wheat for that city.

1806. EDWARD THURLOW, an eminent English nobleman, died. He possessed a vigorous and active mind, added to close application, which gave him a high rank among the professional men of that day.

1812. Fort Wayne relieved by the troops under general Harrison. The Indians raised the siege with great precipitation.

1813. EDMUND RANDOLPH died; whose history is blended with that of his country.

1814. Battle of fort McHenry, near Baltimore. The British, 8,000 men, under general Ross, were arrested in their march upon Baltimore, and general Ross was killed. The fort was bombarded incessantly 25 hours. Total American loss in killed and wounded 173; British official loss 290.

1819. GEBBARAL LEBRECHT, prince von Blucher, a celebrated Prussian field-marshal, died. He had been 45 years in the army, and for his celerity in the field, was called _Marshal Forwards_.

1820. FRANCIS CHRISTOPHER KELLERMAN, a French marshal, died. He entered the army at the age of 17 as a huzzar, and rose to the highest honors under Napoleon.

1829. Surrender of the Spanish army at Tampico, under general Barradas, to the Mexicans under Santa Anna. The Spaniards were to transport themselves to Havana, and pledged not to serve against Mexico in future. This terminated the expedition to subdue Mexico after five engagements.

1832. PRISCILLA WAKEFIELD, an English authoress, died, aged 82. She wrote many popular and useful works for children and youth, and promoted the institution of savings banks.

1838. HENRY RYALLS died at Darien, Ga., aged 110. He was a soldier of the revolution, and retained his faculties to the last.

1847. First day's battle of Chapultepec.

1849. MARIANO PAREDES, ex-president of Mexico, died in that city, after a long and painful illness.

1850. The fugitive slave bill passed by the house of representatives at Washington, as it had come down from the senate.

1854. DAVID LANSBOROUGH, a Scottish divine, died at Ayrshire, aged 73. He was distinguished as a naturalist, and contributed much to the knowledge of fossils, botany and shells.

1857. Steamship Central America, from Panama to New York, having 626 persons on board, and nearly two millions in treasure, was totally lost in a gale, and about 100 persons were saved.

SEPTEMBER 13.

507 B. C. The dedication of the Roman capital fell upon this day, about the full moon of the Greek month Matagitnion. Horatius Pulvillus, as supreme prætor, drove the first annual _nail_ in the wall of the temple, near the fane of Minerva.

44. CÆSAR executed his last testament at his seat near Lavicanum. He left the people his gardens near the Tiber, and 300 sesterces to each man.

81. TITUS FLAVIUS VESPASIANUS, emperor of Rome, died. He was an obscure native of Riti, who by his merits and virtues rose to consequence in the Roman armies, and headed the expedition against Jerusalem.

335. CONSTANTINE dedicated his great church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem, Saturday; and on Sunday exalted the relic of the cross.

1435. JOHN PLANTAGENET, duke of Bedford, regent of France, died. He was the brother of Henry V of England, and the most accomplished prince of Europe. He purchased and transported to London the Royal library of Paris.

1515. Battle of Marignano, in Italy, which lasted with great fierceness two days. The French commander, who had been in eighteen pitched battles, exclaimed that all other fights compared with this were but children's sports, that this was the war of giants. The French were victorious.

1529. Vienna besieged by the Turks.

1557. JOHN CHEKE, a learned Englishman, died. He was professor of Greek in the university, and held important state offices. On the accession of Mary, he preferred popery to the fagot, and abjured his faith.

1565. WILLIAM FAREL, a successful French reformer, died. He labored with great zeal against the Catholic church, and made many proselytes.

1592. MICHAEL DE MONTAIGNE died; a celebrated French writer, whose works are still quoted.

1598. PHILIP II, of Spain, died. He was made king of Sicily and Naples, 1554; became king of England by marriage with Mary, and two years after ascended the Spanish throne by the abdication of his father, Charles V. (See Sept. 4.)

1629. Nine sachems came to Plymouth and voluntarily subscribed an instrument of submission to the English, acknowledging themselves the loyal subjects of James, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c.

1629. JOHN BUXTORF, a German linguist, died. He was professor of Hebrew, at Basil, and is placed in the first rank of men who have been eminent for rabbinical learning.

1645. Battle of Philiphaugh near Selkirk, where the earl of Montrose was defeated.

1694. JOHN BARBIER D'ANCOUR, a French advocate and critic, died.

1748. The scaffolding used in Westminster Hall for the trial of the prisoners adhering to the pretender, Charles Edward Stewart, was pulled down and sold to the builder for £400.

1759. Quebec stormed and taken by the British under Wolfe, who was wounded and died in the arms of victory. The French lost 500 killed, and 1,000 taken; British loss 50 killed, 500 wounded.

1771. JOHN GAMBOLD, a noted Moravian preacher in London, died; a great enthusiast, but respected for his learning and abilities, and inoffensive manners.

1781. Combined attack on Gibraltar by 10 Spanish floating batteries, and about 300 cannon, mortars and howitzers from the isthmus. Two of their largest ships were burnt and 2 feluccas taken. The British saved from one of the ships about 350 men; 8 other ships blew up or were burnt.

1787. MOSES BROWN, an English poet and divine, died.

1794. JOHN PETER CLARIS DE FLORIAN, an eminent French author, died. His dramas, pastorals, novels and fables, gave him great popularity as a sentimental writer.

1795. Captain VANCOUVER returned from his voyage of discovery after an absence of four years.

1797. JOHN FELL, an English dissenting minister, died. He is known as the author of several respectable works.

1806. CHARLES JAMES FOX, an eminent English statesman, died.

1808. XAVIER BETTINELLI, an elegant Italian writer, died. His works are published in 24 vols., two of which are tragedies, and two poems.

1814. British approached within 700 yards of fort Bowyer, Mobile, and opened their fire on it.

1819. Completion of the Mahmudie or Alexandria canal, in Egypt. This vast undertaking was commenced in January of the same year by Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt, under the superintendence of six European engineers, with about 100,000 laborers, and their number, though more than 7,000 died of contagious diseases, was gradually increased to more than 290,000, each of whom received about 17 cents per diem. It extends from below Soane, on the Nile, to Pompey's pillar, is 47½ miles long, 90 feet wide, and 18 feet deep.

1831. Albany and Schenectady rail road opened; the first in the state of New York.

1839. JAMES MAITLAND, earl of Lauderdale, died, aged 80. He was the author of various publications on finance and political economy.

1842. An Affghan army under Akbar Khan, numbering 13,000, defeated by the British under Gen. Pollock, at Tetzeen. Three days after the city of Cabul occupied by British forces.

1843. The town of Port Leon in Florida, was almost entirely destroyed by an inundation and hurricane. The inhabitants selected a new site upon which to rebuild, a few miles higher up the St. Marks, which was called Newport.

1847. LEVI TWIGGS killed at Chapultepec, Mexico; a distinguished officer of the United States army.

1848. ALEXANDER SLIDELL MACKENZIE, an American naval commander, died at Tarrytown, N. Y., aged 45. In 1842 he made a cruise in the Somers, in which he felt constrained to hang several mutineers to the yard arm. He published several works, and was a man of integrity and devotional feelings.

1850. The Advance and Rescue, American vessels in search of sir John Franklin, were completely fastened in the ice.

1855. The expedition in search of Dr. Kane, who was in search of sir John Franklin, arrived at Lievely, isle of Disco, Greenland, where they found Dr. Kane and his companions, who had left their ship in the ice, and traveled 83 days to a Danish settlement.

SEPTEMBER 14.

258. THASCIUS CÆCILIUS CYPRIANUS, beheaded. He was bishop of Carthage, and a principal father of the Christian church.

407. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, one of the most illustrious fathers of the church, died. His works were edited by Montfaucon in 13 vols. folio.

533. The Roman general Belisarius achieved the conquest of Africa, a chaotic waste of enslaved humanity, where the image of _intelligence_ is unknown.

1321. ALGHIERI DANTE, a celebrated Italian poet, died. His most considerable work is the _Inferno_.

1403. Battle of Homildon hill, in which the Scots were defeated.

1499. VASCO DE GAMA landed at Lisbon from his immortal adventure.

1523. ADRIAN VI, pope, died. He was of obscure birth, but his abilities raised him gradually to consequence.

1528. RICHARD FOX, bishop of Exeter and Durham, died. He was of obscure origin; besides his episcopal offices he was employed on several embassies.

1544. The English under the duke of Norfolk raised the siege of Montreuil in France.

1646. THOMAS HOWARD, earl of Arundel, died; famous for the discovery of the Parian marbles which bear his name, and which he gave to the university of Oxford.

1661. The bodies of May the historian, the mother and daughter of Cromwell, Pym and several others, were removed from king Henry VII's chapel and buried in the churchyard.

1666. A French expedition, consisting of 28 companies of foot and all the militia of the colony, marched from Quebec for the purpose of destroying the Mohawks. This formidable army, entered the Mohawk country, after a march of 700 miles, and laid waste their villages; the Indians, retiring into the woods with their women and children, escaped. The expedition was commanded by M. de Tracy, then upwards of 70 years of age.

1677. RICHARD ATKINS, a typographical author, who suffered much on account of his loyalty, died in Marshalsea prison, being confined for debt. His writings were all of the ultra kind.

1704. WILLIAM HUBBARD, a New England clergyman and historian, died, aged 83. He was settled at Ipswich, Mass., and was one of the best writers of the time in which he lived.

1711. The British fleet intended for the reduction of Canada having met with numerous reverses, arrived at Spanish-river bay, a council of land and sea officers, considering that they had but ten weeks' provisions, and could not depend upon a supply from New England, concluded to return home and abandon the enterprise.

1712. JOHN DOMINIC CASSINI, a celebrated Italian astronomer, died. He was invited by the senate to teach mathematics at Bologna, at the age of 15; and before his death had enriched science with a thousand new discoveries.

1714. THOMAS BRITTON, a celebrated musical small coal man, died. He rented a house in London, commenced business, and occupied his leisure hours in learning chemistry and music. He became an adept in those sciences, and excelled in many curious arts and crafts, all which he had acquired without neglecting his business. During the day he was seen with his sack and measure crying small coal, and in the evening conducting a concert at his house, where men of fashion and well dressed ladies of high rank ascended to his room by a ladder, to regale their ears. He was a member of a weekly society of black-lettered literati, where leaving his sack at the door, he entered the room among noblemen in his checked shirt, and produced his books collected from stalls and shops in blind alleys. His death was occasioned by a ventriloquial friend, who during a musical conversation pronounced these words distinctly as coming from a distance: "Thomas Britton, go home, for thou shalt die." Honest Tom, supposing the voice to have proceeded from an angel, went home depressed in spirits, took to his bed and died. He was twice induced to sit for his portrait. In one he is represented in a blue frock, with a small coal measure in his hand; and in the other tuning a harpsichord. One of them is in the British Museum.

1716. The Thames both above and below London bridge nearly dry, supposed to be caused by a strong west wind keeping back the tide.

1726. The Senecas, Cayugas and Onondagas surrendered to the English their habitations and country, from Cayahoza to Oswego, and sixty miles inland.

1741. CHARLES ROLLIN, the celebrated French historian, died, aged 81. He was the son of a cutler, and became famous not only as a writer, but also for his eloquence.

1751. JAMES PHILIP D'ORVILLE, a Dutch critic, died; professor of eloquence, history and Greek at Amsterdam.

1772. A bow and quiver were found in the new forest, England, supposed to have lain since the time of William Rufus, who was killed by an arrow in this forest in 1100.

1777. BURGOYNE, having collected about thirty days' provision, and thrown a bridge of boats over the Hudson, crossed and encamped on the heights and plains of Saratoga.

1778. During the celebration of mass at Bourbon-les-bains, in Bassigni, France, the vault under the church gave way, which occasioned the death of 600 persons.

1784. JAMES ESSEX died; an Englishman famous for his skill in Gothic architecture.

1788. JORDAN NOEL DE VAUX, a celebrated French general, died. He was made governor of Corsica in 1769, and completed the conquest of that island; he was afterwards raised to the dignity of marshal of France. He had been present at 19 sieges and 14 battles.

1792. JOHN VANDER MERSCH died. He headed the insurgents of Brabant against the imperial forces, in 1789, and distinguished himself by his valor and prudence.

1795. The English drove the Dutch from their camp at the cape of Good Hope, and captured the Williamstad of 26 guns.

1811. JAMES GRAHAME, a Scottish poet and divine, died.

1814. The French advance guard under Murat and Beauharnois entered Moscow. No defence was made except by the populace in the Kremlin, who fired the palace, and the whole city was wrapt in flames. Of 4,000 superb stone houses, only 200 remained; of 800 churches, all were destroyed or heavily damaged, and of 8,000 wooden houses, about 500 escaped.

1814. Gloutzk attacked and stormed by the Russians; the Poles and French under Dombrofsky retreated with the loss of 1,000 men.

1816. WILLIAM BAWDWEEN, an English vicar, died. He was an excellent Saxon scholar, and translated the two first volumes of that curious national work the _Domes-day Book_, which was published by a vote of the British parliament. He proposed to publish the whole work, and is said to have left the other 8 vols. prepared for the press.

1835. JOHN BRINKLEY, bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, died. He was distinguished as a mathematician and astronomer.

1836. AARON BURR, third vice-president of the United States, died, aged 81. He possessed very distinguished talents, but manifested a lamentable want of principle.