Part 70

880. ABBATEGNIA decided the obliquity of the ecliptic to be 23° 25´.

1356. Battle of Poictiers, between the English army of 12,000 men, under Edward, the _Black Prince_, and the French, 60,000 under king John. The battle ended in the utter rout of the French army and the capture of their king, who was afterwards led in triumph through the streets of London.

1471. The first book known to have been printed in the English tongue bears this date, and is entitled _The Recuyell of the History of Troy_, translated from the French, and printed by William Caxton, at Cologne. (See Oct. 4.)

1524. The imperialists under Pescara raised the siege of Marseilles and retired with precipitation towards Italy.

1587. JAMES PAMELIUS, a learned Flemish writer, died.

1650. STUYVESANT, the Dutch governor of New-Netherland, arrived at Hartford and demanded of the commissioners for the united colonies, a full surrender of the lands on Connecticut river. After an altercation of several days, articles of agreement in relation to boundaries were settled.

1665. The number of deaths by plague in London for the week ending on this day was reported to be 10,000; the greatest weekly mortality reported during the scourge.

1678. BERNARD VAN GALEN, a Westphalian bishop and general died. His ecclesiastical office was of minor importance with him, and he contrived to keep up a perpetual war with one state or another; so that when he died, his loss was little regretted.

1681. Desperate engagement between a Moorish vessel, the Half Moon, 32 guns, from Angier, and the English galleys James and Sapphire. Of the Turks and Moors 93 were killed; English loss 95 killed and wounded.

1693. At St. Malo three hundred houses were unroofed by the blowing up of a fire vessel sent in by captain Benbow.

1710. OLAUS RŒMER, a Danish astronomer, died.

1736. Mrs. MAPP, the famous bone setter, of Epsom, having set up a fine equipage, came to Kensington and waited on the queen.

1737. Gottingen university opened.

1745. The celebrated JONATHAN SWIFT died, aged 78.

1761. PETER VAN MUSSCHENBROEK, a distinguished Dutch philosopher, died.

1777. Battle of Stillwater, between the British under Burgoyne and the Americans under general Gates. The action was continued with great valor on both sides during 4 hours. The Americans retired to their camp at night, with the loss of 319 killed, wounded and missing. British loss over 500.

1778. Action between American privateer Hancock and British frigate Levant, 32 guns. The Levant blew up, and only 18 of her crew were saved.

1793. The new French calendar commenced. It divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each with 5 intercallary days, called _Sansculotides_.

1798. ELIHU H. SMITH, a physician and poet, died in New York.

1803. Dutch colonies of Demerara and Essequibo surrendered to the British.

1804. GEORGE ZABIRA, a learned Greek, died.

1810. JAMES CHEETHAM, a noted political editor, died in New York, aged 37. He was the biographer of Thomas Paine, and published the _American Citizen_.

1814. The boats of the British ship Forth, under the direction of lieutenant Neville, carried by boarding and destroyed the American letter of marque brig Regent, 5 guns and 35 men, at the mouth of Little Egg harbor.

1851. Battle of Camargo, between the forces of the Mexican government and those of Carvajal, in which the latter were victorious.

1851. FREDERICK WHITTLESEY, a New York jurist, died at Rochester, aged 54.

1852. Great inundation in the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhone.

1854. The allied forces which had landed at Old Fort, to operate against Sebastopol, commenced their march to that fortress. They consisted of 25,000 British, 25,000 French, and 8,000 Turkish troops.

1855. A terrible gale swept lake Borgne and the Gulf coast, causing loss of life and great destruction of property at Pass Christian, Mississippi city, Biloxi, and other points in the vicinity.

SEPTEMBER 20.

377 B. C. On this day was fought the famous naval battle of Naxus, in which the Lacedemonians were totally defeated.

331 B. C. ALEXANDER crossed the Tigris and entered Assyria. The army encountered great difficulties in the passage, both from the depth and force of the current, and the slippery nature of its bed. The cavalry formed a double line, within which the infantry marched with their shields over their heads, and their arms interlinked. In this manner they crossed without loss of lives. Their entrance into Assyria was signalized by an almost total eclipse of the moon, by which the date of the event is determined.

92 B. C. LUCIUS LUCINIUS CRASSUS died; a Roman orator, greatly commended by Cicero.

692. ABDULLAH IBN ZOBEYR, khalif of Mecca, having been besieged nine months in his capital until he was deserted by his friends and family, put himself at the head of five faithful followers, and rushed upon the besiegers, by whom he was slain, at the age of 72.

1142. MAUD, queen of England, besieged in Oxford by the forces of Stephen, but escaped on foot.

1384. LOUIS I, duke of Anjou, died at Paris, of a broken heart, in consequence of the ill success of his measures.

1415. OWEN GLENDOWER, a celebrated Welch warrior, died; he opposed the sovereignty of Henry IV of England more than fourteen years, by force of arms, declaring him to be an usurper and the murderer of Richard II.

1527. JANUS GRUTERIUS, an eminent Dutch philologer, died. He was an able critic, a man of extensive erudition, and a very voluminous and respectable writer.

1581. HUBERT LANGUET, an eminent French statesman, died. He was a man of great political knowledge, and deservedly esteemed by the wisest and most eminent men of his age.

1586. ANTHONY BABINGTON with others cruelly executed in St. Giles's fields for a conspiracy against queen Elizabeth.

1639. JOHN MEURSIUS, a learned Dutch scholar, died. His works were printed at Florence in 12 vols. folio.

1643. Battle of Newbury, between the royalists under prince Rupert, and the parliamentary forces under the earl of Essex. Night put an end to the action, and left the victory undecided. Lucius Carey, lord Falkland, and the earls of Sunderland and Carnaervon, were killed.

1653. The New England colonies declared war against Ninigret, sachem of the Niantick Indians, and voted that 250 foot soldiers should be immediately raised in the four colonies: Massachusetts to send 166, Plymouth 30, Connecticut 33, New-Haven 21.

1662. JOHN GAUDEN, an English prelate, died. He published the _Icon Basilike_ of Charles I, and had the good fortune to escape the search of the parliament for the publisher of that popular book.

1668. VINCENT WING died; a famous English astronomer and astrologer, who published _The Celestial Harmony of the Visible World_, and other works.

1736. JOHN BERNARDI died in Newgate prison, England, aged 79. He had been confined there 40 years on a false charge of plotting the assassination of William III.

1740. CHARLES VI died; sixteenth and last emperor of Germany of the house of Austria, in the male line; he was succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresa.

1746. The _Young Pretender_, CHARLES EDWARD, having been completely defeated at Culloden, embarked for France at Lochmannoch, in a privateer of St. Malo, and arrived safe. His followers were less fortunate.

1759. JULIAN LE ROY, a distinguished French mechanic, died. His watches acquired great celebrity.

1761. Auto-da-fé at Lisbon; there were 54 criminals, 3 of them in effigy.

1770. Captain PHIPPS returned to London from his voyage to the polar seas, being stopped by ice, latitude 81° 30´ north.

1783. Captain TURNER, the traveler, was received at Jikadze, the capital of the lama of Thibet.

1791. LOUIS XVI, for the first time after his return from Varennes, repaired to the hall of the national assembly, in order to give his adhesion, viva voce, to the new constitution.

1792. Battle of Valmy, between the French and allies. It is stated that although more than 40,000 cannon shot were fired in this engagement, not more than 400 men were killed.

1805. PIERRE FRANÇOIS ANDRE MECHAIN died at Castillon, in Spain. His theory of eclipses and other astronomical phenomena has much merit.

1814. The British under general DRUMMOND, in consequence of the losses sustained on the 17th, raised the siege of fort Erie.

1814. AUGUSTUS WILLIAM IFLAND, a German actor and dramatic writer, died at Berlin, and was interred with great pomp.

1815. WILLIAM HUTTON died; the historian of Birmingham, and author of various other works.

1831. JOHN HENRY HOBART, bishop of the protestant episcopal diocese of New York, died; a man of vigorous intellect and great decision of character.

1840. FRANCIA, dictator of Paraguay, died at Paraguay, at a very advanced age.

1842. WILLIAM MAGINN died in England. He was a contributor to the London _Literary Gazette_, and in 1818-20 to _Blackwood's Magazine_ under the signature of O'Doherty.

1849. JONATHAN H. HUBBARD, a distinguished American statesman, of Vermont, died, aged 81.

1852. PHILANDER CHASE, bishop of Illinois, died at Peoria, aged 76. He was a native of New Hampshire; was bishop of Ohio 12 years, of Illinois 17 years; laid the foundation of Kenyon college, and was president of Jubilee college.

1854. The allies attacked the Russians under Menschikoff, who 40,000 in number, were strongly entrenched upon the heights of Alma, and after a contest of four hours drove them from the ground with great loss. The allies had about 500 killed and 2,500 wounded; the Russian loss said to have been more than 7,000.

SEPTEMBER 21.

60. Saint MATTHEW, the apostle, died at Heliopolis, in Parthia.

1327. EDWARD II, 10th king of England, barbarously murdered at Berkley castle. Less wise and firm than his father, he forfeited the confidence of his people, and his wife Isabella joined the rebellion against him.

1520. SELIM I, sultan of Turkey, died. He came to the throne by causing the death of his father and two brothers. He conquered Egypt and crushed the power of the Mamelukes, which for 260 years had governed that country.

1534. ALCAZABA sailed from Cadiz on a voyage of discovery. He was murdered in the straits of Magellan by his crew, and the ship was wrecked at Brazil.

1558. CHARLES V, emperor of Germany, died. He ascended the throne of Spain 1518, and two years afterwards was elected to the empire. After a reign of 38 years he resigned and retired to a cloister. His death was caused by taking cold on getting out of his coffin after having gone through with a mock funeral, to gratify an idle whim.

1576. JEROME CARDAN died; an Italian physician, and one of the most extraordinary men of the age. His works were printed at Lyons in 10 vols. folio.

1609. HUDSON arrived in the vicinity of Albany, and having satisfied himself by despatching a boat seven or eight miles farther up, that he had gained the head of ship navigation, he prepared to retrace his course.

1659. First Esopus war began.

1704. BEAT DE ZURLAUBEN (_the younger_), a Swiss general in the French army, died at Ulm, in consequence of seven wounds which he had received at the battle of Hochstadt.

1723. The Irish house of commons addressed king George I on the evils of Wood's halfpence. For some time this subject was a theme for lampoons and Dean Swift's wit.

1733. NOEL STEPHEN SANADON, a learned French Jesuit, died; professor of rhetoric at Paris, and author of several much admired orations and poems.

1735. PETER ARTEDI drowned; a Swedish naturalist, so intimate with Linnæus that they made each other heirs of their manuscripts and other literary property.

1745. Battle of Prestonpans, in England, between the forces of the young pretender and those of the king. The former gained a complete victory with the loss of only 50; while 500 of the king's troops were killed on the field of battle, and lost their artillery, colors, tents, baggage and military chest.

1748. JOHN BALGUY died; an eminent English prelate, and controversial and metaphysical writer. He committed 200 of his sermons to the flames in presence of his son, afterwards prebendary of Winchester, whom he wished to excite to the same laudable application.

1757. ROBERT PARR died at Brignorth, England, aged 124. He was a great grandson of Thomas Parr who attained the age of 152. One of the sons of the latter attained the age of 109, and a grandson died at the age of 113. Their mode of living was simple and temperate.

1761. GABRIEL MALAGRIDA, an Italian Jesuit, burnt in Portugal as a false prophet. His zeal and eloquence rendered him popular, but he became obnoxious to the inquisition after the abolition of his order.

1776. Great fire in New York, then in possession of the British; 1,000 houses were burnt.

1777. British under general Grey, surprised the Americans under general Wayne in the night, killed about 300, and took a few prisoners and some baggage. The prudent dispositions of Wayne prevented their further success.

1780. Americans under colonel Davie surprised a party of British at Wahab's house, killed and wounded 60, and took 96 horses and equipments, and 120 stand of arms, with the loss of only 1.

1780. Major ANDRE, an adjutant-general in the British army, landed in the night from the British sloop of war Vulture, and proceeded to West Point to confer with Arnold.

1792. Royalty abolished, and France declared a republic, by acclamation, in the national assembly.

1795. The _Peep of day boys_, in Ireland, changed their name to _Orange men_, and opened their first lodge.

1802. Mons. GARNERIN ascended at London in a balloon about 4,000 feet, and descended in a parachute safely at St. Pancras. His balloon fell the next day near Farnham, in Surrey.

1803. ROBERT EMMET hanged in Dublin for high treason in conspiring the death of George III, and providing arms, &c., for the rebels. His speech in his defence is a masterly piece of eloquence.

1812. The Americans under captain Forsyth attacked and carried the village of Gananoque, in Canada.

1814. Action between the United States sloop of war Wasp, captain Blakely, and the British brig Atalanta, formerly the Siro of Baltimore. The Atalanta was captured, and made the 13th and last prize of the Wasp during that cruise; for nothing is known of her fate afterwards.

1814. The British under lieut. Drummond retreated from before fort Erie to Niagara.

1832. WALTER SCOTT, the most popular writer of his age, and the most distinguished novelist in English literature, died at Abbotsford, in Scotland. His fictitious prose works comprise 75 volumes, and his complete works about 100 volumes.

1842. JEREMIAH SMITH, for many years a member of congress from and ex governor of New Hampshire, died at Dover, aged 62, highly respected as a statesman and a jurist, as well as a scholar.

1842. JAMES IVORY, a distinguished Scottish mathematician, died near London. At the solicitation of lord Brougham, king William IV conferred on him the order of knighthood, with a pension of £300.

1846. First day's battle of Monterey.

1851. The stores of Spanish residents at Key West, Florida, were attacked and their contents destroyed, in consequence of the excitement about the Cuban expedition of Lopez.

1852. WILLIAM BADGER, a New Hampshire jurist, died, aged 73. He had long filled various offices of state with creditable ability.

1852. JOHN CHAMBERS, a pioneer Kentucky emigrant, died, aged 73. He was born in New Jersey, and went to Kentucky at the age of 13. He practiced law with success; was a volunteer aid-de-camp to Harrison at the battle of the Thames, and was one of the foremost in the pursuit of Proctor. He was the first governor of Iowa, and held other public offices.

1853. General PINEDA, sometime president of Nicaragua, died at Rivas.

1854. JONATHAN MAYHEW WAINWRIGHT, a New York episcopal bishop, died, aged 63; esteemed a learned theologian and a ripe scholar.

SEPTEMBER 22.

479 B. C. Battle of Mycale, between the Greeks and Persians. This victory happened in the 24th of the Bœotian month Panemus, observed as an anniversary by the Greek confederates. The Persians, computed at 100,000 men, were completely defeated and despoiled.

479 B. C. The battle of Platæa is also placed on the same day, in which 300,000 Persians under Mardonius were defeated by 100,000 Greeks under Pausanius and Aristides. The loss of the Greeks was inconsiderable; but of the Persians Mardonius was slain and scarcely one-tenth of his army escaped by flight. (See Aug. 3.)

19 B. C. PUBLIUS MARO VIRGILIUS, the most excellent of all the ancient Roman poets, died.

622. Flight of MAHOMET; an imposing event, which took place, it is ascertained with certainty, sixty-eight days _after_ the commencement of the great Arabian era, July 16th.

1193. HENRY IV, of Germany, and his captive, Richard the Lion, addressed letters from Spires to the primates and magnates of England, notifying the severe terms of ransom "agreed" upon between them.

1298. Battle of Stirlingbridge, between the Scots under Wallace and the English under Warrenne; the latter defeated and obliged to retire into England.

1415. HENRY V took Harfleur, in France, reducing it to an English colony.

1536. WILLIAM TYNDALE, one of the first publishers of the Bible in English, was burnt at the stake at Antwerp.

1554. The duke of Northumberland with Sir JOHN GATES and Sir THOMAS PALMER executed.

1559. ROBERT STEPHENS, the celebrated and learned Parisian printer, died, aged 56.

1604. Ostend, a seaport in Flanders, surrendered to the Spanish under general Spinola, after a close siege of upwards of three years. The Spanish are supposed to have lost 80,000 men during this siege; and not less than 50,000 English and Dutch perished in the town during that time.

1632. FREDERICK BORROMEO, archbishop of Milan, died. He sustained an excellent character, and founded the Ambrosian library.

1646. JOHN FRANCIS NICERON died; an eminent French mathematician and optician; and author of some valuable works.

1662. JOHN BIDDLE, styled the father of the English unitarians, died in prison, a martyr to principle.

1688. FRANCIS BERNIER, a celebrated French traveler and physician, died at Paris. He extended his travels to the Mogul empire, where he became physician to Aurungzebe.

1692. Two men and seven women executed at Salem for witchcraft. One of them was pressed to death for standing mute.

1703. VINCENT VIVIANI, a famous Florentine mathematician, died. He was the pupil and friend of Galileo.

1708. Battle near Smolensko, in which the Swedes under Charles XII, consisting of six regiments of horse and 4,000 infantry, attacked and defeated 10,000 horse and 6,000 Calmucks. The king killed above a dozen with his own hand.

1735. PETER BROWNE, bishop of Cork, died. He distinguished himself by some philosophical writings.

1738. JOSEPH AVERANIUS died; a Florentine philosopher, of great powers of mind.

1741. In the north of Ireland wheat sold at sixpence a stone of 14 lbs., and beef at one penny a pound.

1742. BENOIT, a learned Phœnician, died. He became a Hebrew professor at Pisa, and edited the works of Ephrem Syrus.

1743. GEORGE CLINTON arrived at New York, as governor of the province, "seeking nothing more than a genteel frugality and common civility, while he was mending his fortunes, till his friends could recall him, and with justice to their own characters and interests, to some indolent and more lucrative station."

1761. GEORGE III and his queen CHARLOTTE, crowned at Westminster.

1769. ANTHONY GENOVESI died; a native of Castiglione, who acquired great celebrity as a lecturer on philosophy at Naples; and much odium by adopting the theories of Galileo, Grotius and Newton.

1770. Convention of the people of Massachusetts, consisting of delegates from 96 towns and 8 districts, met at Faneuil hall to consider the grievance of standing armies, &c.

1770. THOMAS LE SUER died at Rome, where he taught theology, philosophy and mathematics with great applause.

1774. CLEMENT XVI (_John Ganganelli_), pope, died. He was studious in his youth, and recommended himself to office by his abilities and merits.

1788. The Oneidas ceded all their lands to the state of New York.

1792. Commencement of the French republican era. It computes from midnight: "the 1st of the 1st decade of the 1st month (Vendemaire) of the 1st year of the French republic, one and indivisible."

1796. The English frigate Amphion blown up at Plymouth. Out of 220, 16 only saved.

1803. ANGIOLO FABRONI, an Italian ecclesiastic, died. He wrote an account of the learned men in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, in 21 vols.

1814. The celebrated colossal statue of sir William Wallace, the Scottish chief, finished under the direction of the earl of Buchan. This statue overlooks the grave of sir Walter Scott.

1837. DAVID UNWINS, a distinguished London physician, died. He was a man of literature and science, and author of several valuable medical works.

1846. The battle of Monterey, in Mexico, was fought. The Americans though signally victorious, yet lost many brave officers and men. It began on the 21st and was concluded on the 23d.

1851. LOUIS KOSSUTH, the Hungarian chief, and thirty-five of his country men, were sentenced to death _in contumaciam_, at Pesth, for not appearing after citation.

1851. MARY MARTHA SHERWOOD, an English writer of juvenile books, died at Twickenham, aged 77. Her works number about fifty, and were valuable and popular, particularly _Little Henry and his Bearer_.

1852. PHILIP MILLEDOLER, president of Rutgers college, died at Staten Island, aged 77. He was one of the framers of the American Bible society, and was an eminent minister of the Dutch reformed church.

1854. JOHN PURVIANCE, a Maryland jurist, died, aged 81. He was judge of the county court of Baltimore nearly thirty years, and left a fine library which was dispersed by auction after his death.

1854. THOMAS DENMAN, an English judge and peer, died, aged 75. He distinguished himself in parliament, and also in the trial of queen Caroline. He presided in the court of queen's bench more than 17 years.

SEPTEMBER 23.

67. Gamala, supposed impregnable, fell before Vespasian on the 23d Hyperbereteus (Tisri), nor age nor sex was spared.

768. PEPIN (_the Short_), king of France, died. He maintained respect at home and abroad by the valor and heroic firmness of his conduct.

1459. Battle of Bloreheath, in England. The Yorkists, under the earl of Salisbury, defeated lord Audley, who was slain.

1519. CORTEZ entered the Indian city of Tlascala; having in the short space of twenty-four days subdued a powerful nation.

1571. JOHN JEWEL, bishop of Salisbury, died; one of the most learned and prominent divines under Elizabeth.

1641. Irish rebellion and massacre. The number of protestants slain is variously estimated, probably, however, not less than 150,000. O'Niel was the instigator.

1641. The Merchant Royall, a fine ship, "having in her a world of treasure," was wrecked near Land's end.

1642. Battle of Worcester; the parliament forces under Sandys defeated by the royalists under Rupert.

1657. JOACHIM JUNGE died; a German philosopher of great ability, who arrayed himself against the Aristotelian philosophy.

1675. VALENTIN CONRART died; to whose influence, taste and love for literature, the French ascribe the origin of their academy, of which he is styled the father.

1709. Newburgh on the west side of the Hudson river settled.

1727. JAMES ABBADDIE, a learned French protestant minister, died. He was an elegant preacher, and his works were unusually popular.

1737. The Hebrews disfranchised by a vote of the New York legislature.

1738. HERMAN BOERHAAVE, an eminent Dutch physician, died. From his multifarious knowledge he has been styled the Voltaire of science.

1746. Namur, in Belgium, taken by the French, and with it 7,000 Austrians surrendered.

1777. The British army under general Howe crossed the Schuylkill.