Part 78

1854. PIERRE SOULE, the United States minister to Spain, on landing at Calais from England, en route for Spain, was stopped by the French police, and returned to London.

1855. ROBERT H. MORRIS, a distinguished New York politician, died at Astoria, aged 51.

1855. JAMES OLIVER VAN DE VELDE, second bishop of Natchez, died, aged 63. He was a Belgian, who early united with the Jesuits, and was sent to America. He was sometime president of the catholic college at St. Louis, and afterward bishop of Chicago. He was held in very high estimation by all denominations.

OCTOBER 25.

322 B. C. DEMOSTHENES, the Athenian orator, died at the isle of Calauria, as is supposed by poison, to save himself from falling into the hands of his enemies alive.

1154. STEPHEN, king of England, died. He usurped the throne, which belonged to Matilda, wife of Henry IV, of Germany, whose son Henry II, succeeded him.

1400. GEOFFREY CHAUCER, the father of English poetry, died.

1415. Battle of Agincourt, in France; the English army had been reduced by disease and sword from 30,000 to 15,000, when on ascending the heights of Blangi they saw the French army of 50,000 men drawn up to oppose their progress. There was no alternative but to give battle, which resulted in the defeat of the French, who lost 10,000 killed, and 14,000 taken prisoners; while the loss of the English was but 40 men.

1499. The bridge of Notre Dame, at Paris, fell.

1555. CHARLES V resigned the sovereignty of the Low Countries, in the presence of the states at Brussels, in favor of his bigoted son Philip.

1691. GEORGE LEGGE, an able English naval officer, died in the Tower, whither he had been sent on suspicion of favoring the revolution.

1692. PETER SCHUYLER was admitted by Gov. Fletcher to the council board, his peculiar qualifications being required by the administration.

1701. Philadelphia first chartered by William Penn; Edward Shippen was appointed mayor.

1714. SEBASTIAN LE CLERC died; a French engraver, who rose from obscurity to eminence.

1731. Several valuable manuscripts destroyed in the Cottonian library at Westminster, by a fire.

1735. CHARLES MORDAUNT, a renowned English naval officer, died. To bravery and heroism he added a penetrating genius and a mind highly polished.

1751. An extraordinary eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

1757. AUGUSTINE CALMET, a learned French ecclesiastic, died. He was well acquainted with the oriental languages and published several learned works, which are still in use.

1760. GEORGE II, of England, died suddenly at Kensington from the extraordinary circumstance of a rupture of the right ventricle of the heart, in the 77th year of his age and the 34th of his reign.

1764. WILLIAM HOGARTH died; one of the most original of painters. He was originally destined for a copperplate engraver, to which art he served an apprenticeship.

1779. The British evacuated Newport, R. I.; to the honor of Gen. Pigot, no wanton injury was committed.

1780. JOHN HANCOCK chosen first governor of Massachusetts, under their new constitution.

1780. Gen. MARION attacked near the high hills of Santee, 200 British and tories, under Col. Tyne; killed or took nearly half of them, and most of their horses, &c.

1781. Americans under Col. Willett, of New York, defeated 600 British under major Ross.

1788. WILLIAM JULIUS MICKLE, an English poet, died. He commenced life as a brewer, but failing in business took up literature in which he succeeded.

1793. Battle of Wazenau; the Austrians under Wurmzer defeated the French, who lost 3,000 men, all their baggage and 10 cannon.

1794. Venlo, an important fortress on the Meuse, surrendered to the French republicans; the commandant, Gen. Puffer, first requiring the French Gen. Lourent to assure him upon the honor of the French nation, that the garrison had no hopes left of being relieved by the allied powers.

1798. NELSON arrived at Malta with 14 ships of war and summoned Valetta to surrender, offering to transport the French home. The offer being refused the place was invested, and the siege left in charge of Capt. Ball, Nelson being forced to depart to refit his ships, which were damaged at the recent battle of Aboukir.

1806. HENRY KNOX died; major-general in the army of the United States during the war of the revolution, and secretary of war under Washington.

1806. The French under Davoust entered Berlin, the capital of Prussia, where they found 500 cannon, several hundred thousand pounds of powder and some thousands of muskets.

1806. Spandau, a fortress nine miles from Berlin, surrendered to the French under Victor; they found there oats and provisions for the French army for two months, and ammunition sufficient to double the stores of the artillery.

1806. A battalion of Saxons under baron Hund surrendered to the French at Little Somerda, in Thuringia.

1812. Action between American frigate United States, 54 guns, Com. Decatur, and British frigate Macedonian, 49 guns. The latter was captured after an action of an hour and a half, with the loss of 104 killed and wounded. American loss 12.

1813. Action between the United States frigate Congress, Capt. Smith, and British ship Rose, in which the latter was captured and destroyed.

1813. British and Indians repulsed in an attack upon the United States troops under Gen. Izard.

1826. First daily paper at Rochester, N. Y., issued.

1836. The Luxor obelisk erected in Paris in the Place of Louis XV, in the presence of the royal family and about 250,000 spectators.

1842. SAMPSON SALTER BLOWERS died at Halifax, aged 100. He was born in Boston, and studied law under Gov. Hutchinson; but adhering to the British party was proscribed. He was nearly 40 years a supreme court judge.

1844. The Providence theatre burnt, destroying the valuable scientific apparatus used by Dr. Lardner in his lectures.

1847. Tobasco was bombarded by a portion of the Gulf squadron under Com. Perry, and all the vessels in the port were captured or destroyed. Com. Perry lost 1 killed, 3 wounded and 2 drowned.

1848. DIXON H. LEWIS, an important member of congress from Alabama during a quarter of a century, died at New York, aged 46.

1849. TOBIAS E. STANSBURY, a revolutionary officer, died near Baltimore, aged 93. A great portion of his long life was spent in the service of his country.

1849. BENJAMIN ABBOT, for half a century an eminent New England teacher, died at Exeter, N. H., aged 87. As principal of Phillips Exeter academy, he directed the studies of pupils who became eminent men in the land.

1852. The grand duke of Tuscany refused to give audience to an English protestant deputation in favor of Rosa and Francisco Madiai, under confinement for distributing Bibles.

1854. LEWIS EDWARD NOLAN, a distinguished British cavalry officer, was killed at Balaclava. He was well versed in all the languages of modern Europe, and a military writer.

1855. The Russians under Gen. Liprandi, 30,000 strong, attacked the allies at Balaclava, carried and maintained two Turkish redoubts, and captured several guns; but were repulsed by the English and French.

OCTOBER 26.

1656 A. M. NOAH entered the ark on the 10th day of 2d month, answering to this day of our month. The ark was 525 feet long, 87 broad, and 52 deep; requiring about 245,000 cubic feet of timber; its capacity two millions cubic feet of space; was commenced about 1556 and completed 1656, having been 100 years in building.

1331. ISMAEL ABULFEDA, prince of Hamath, in Syria, died. Before he began his reign he distinguished himself by his researches in geography, and published in Arabic an account of the regions beyond the Oxus.

1455. The charter of the beautiful town of Kirkcudbright in Scotland was given. This town was much frequented in time of persecution.

1522. Donna MARIA PACHECO, the widow of Padilla, retired into the citadel of Toledo, which she defended four months against the royalists.

1594. WILLIAM ALLEN, usually called the great English cardinal, died, and was buried at Rome.

1645. Bloody battle of Routon Heath, in which king Charles was defeated and many of his officers slain.

1701. Birth day of HELEN and JUDITH, the united twin sisters, at Tzoni, in Hungary. They possessed a musical genius, were exhibited in England in 1708, and died 1723.

1703. Great storm in England, by which large tracts of country were overflowed, trees torn up by the roots, immense numbers of cattle perished, and 8000 human lives were lost on the Thames, Severn and coast of Holland alone.

1723. GODFREY KNELLER, an eminent German painter, died in England, where he was greatly honored for his skill in portraits.

1724. HILKIAH BEDFORD, who was tried and fined for publishing a work entitled the hereditary right of the crown of England, died at London.

1727. LEWIS DE SACY died; an eloquent _avocat_ of the parliament of Paris, and a learned member of the French academy.

1728. A dispatch was received in England that more than two thirds of the city of Copenhagen in Denmark was burned down. The fire commenced on the 20th and continued three days.

1751. PHILIP DODDRIDGE, an eminent English dissenting minister, died; author of the _Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul_, a standard work.

1773. Conspiracy of Palermo.

1774. The first congress of North America, having finished their deliberations, adjourned.

1788. THOMAS REED died at Bordentown, N. J.; a captain in the navy of the revolution.

1794. SUWARROW, having defeated the Polish van guard, invested Praga, the suburb of Warsaw.

1795. The French national assembly dissolved itself, after three years' duration.

1796. MOREAU crossed the Rhine.

1798. A violent insurrection was raised against the French at Cairo in Egypt.

1800. Earthquake at Constantinople, destroyed the royal palace and many other buildings.

1803. EDMUND PENDLETON, a distinguished Virginia statesman, died. He was a member of the first congress.

1803. JOHN PENN, one of the signers of the declaration of American independence from Virginia, died.

1807. Treaty of Fontainbleau, between Bonaparte and Spain, for the conquest of Portugal.

1807. Russia declared war against Great Britain.

1811. Saguntum surrendered by the Spanish to the French under Suchet. Same day the Spaniards defeated the French at Puycezda, and pursued them into the French territories, where they levied heavy contributions.

1816. DOCTOROW, the Russian general, died at Moscow.

1822. It was ordered in the Netherlands that the national language alone, the Dutch or Flemish, should be used in schools.

1825. Canal celebration at Albany.

1831. Cholera first appeared in England at Sunderland.

1836. GEORGE COLEMAN (_the Younger_) died in London, aged 74. He was the author of numerous comedies which were eminently successful, but failed to procure him a decent livelihood, so that many of the last years of his life were spent in great poverty.

1836. CHARLES DAY, a wealthy blacking manufacturer, of the firm of Day & Martin, died in London. He had been totally blind for many years. He left an estate valued at about two millions of dollars, and directed about half a million to be devoted to establish a charity, to be called The Poor Blind Man's Friend.

1837. Harlem, N. Y., rail road completed.

1841. THOMAS CADWALLADER died at Philadelphia, aged 61. He was a lawyer by profession, and a brigadier general in the last war with Great Britain. He was distinguished for his military talents, and greatly respected for his private virtues and public usefulness.

1842. DAVID TRIMBLE, distinguished as a statesman and patriot, died at Trimble Furnace, Kentucky. Few had been more useful than he in developing the resources of that important state.

1843. ALDEN BRADFORD, a New England historian, died at Boston, aged 78. He was secretary of the commonwealth from 1812 to 1824.

1845. Disturbances and civil war in Hayti; the Dominicans surprised the Haytien garrison at Laxaron, the chief frontier town on the cape side of the island, and after killing 128 men, took the fort, which they soon after evacuated.

1850. JOHN MCDONOUGH died at New Orleans, aged 72, who by untiring industry and the narrowest economy amassed immense wealth, which was principally divided between the cities of New Orleans and Baltimore.

1850. The northwest passage discovered by captain McClure, of the Investigator.

1851. RICHARD COWLING TAYLOR, an English naturalist and antiquary, died at Philadelphia, aged about 60.

1852. A violent storm at Athens; one of the columns of the temple of Jupiter Olympus overthrown.

OCTOBER 27.

42 B. C. Battle of Philippi, and death of MARCUS JUNIUS BRUTUS. This eventful day threw into the hands of two autocratical magistrates, of no tried reputation, and rivals by nature, the universal rule, with the liberties of their country. There were just twenty days between the deaths of Cassius, "the last of the Romans," and his friend Brutus, in the two great battles of Philippi.

251. VALERIAN elected in full senate to the restored Roman censorship, an office which had dropt with the life of Titus, from the modesty of his successors. The Roman virtue stood below correction.

1492. COLUMBUS discovered Cuba, and made a landing on the following day.

1553. MICHAEL SERVETUS, a learned and ingenious Spaniard, burnt at Geneva by the Calvinists, for the heresy of Arianism.

1617. RALPH WINWOOD died; an English statesman, and secretary of state under James I.

1644. Second battle of Newberry, in England; the royalists under Charles I defeated by the parliament army. Night favored the escape of the vanquished.

1650. The prince of Orange died of the small pox.

1675. GILES PERSONNE ROBERVAL, a French mathematician, died; author of a work on mechanics, &c.

1722. Third immigration of Palatines to the United States.

1775. The British under lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, cannonaded Hampton, but were repulsed.

1795. The French directory, which succeeded the national assembly, entered upon the duties of their appointment as the executive government.

1802. HENRY HUNTER, an eminent Scottish divine and author, died.

1805. WALTER BLAKE KIRWAN died; an Irish divine, eminent for his popularity as a preacher, which was so great that it was often necessary to keep off the crowds from the churches in which he preached by guards and palisades. He died exhausted by his labors.

1810. BONAPARTE ordered all British goods found in France to be burned. Not the surest way to discourage manufactures.

1822. WILLIAM LOWNDES, a distinguished statesman of South Carolina, died. He was respected and beloved even by his political enemies, and stood in the first rank of American statesmen.

1830. Hard fighting at Antwerp, between the Dutch and Belgians; the former were driven into the citadel, where they commenced cannonading the town, and did great execution.

1840. JOHN THOMSON, a Scottish clergyman, died; distinguished as a landscape painter.

1844. WILLIAM CAMPBELL died at Cherry Valley, N. Y., aged 77. He was the only member of his family that escaped death or captivity at the massacre of Cherry Valley in 1778. He lived to fill many important stations with fidelity and ability.

1846. RANDOLPH RIDGELY, an officer in the Mexican war, was killed by a fall from his horse. He had greatly distinguished himself at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.

1851. WILLIAM WYON, a celebrated British medalist and die sinker, died at Brighton, aged 57. He belonged to a family of German descent, who wrought the great seals of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1853. Captain J. W. GUNNISON, of the corps of topographical engineers, with seven other members of the party of exploration, while attempting to survey the lakes in Utah territory, were massacred by the Indians.

OCTOBER 28.

312. Battle of Saxa Rubra, and overthrow of the tyrant Maxentius, by Constantine. The whole race of Maxentius was extirpated, and the prætorian guards abolished at Rome.

900. ALFRED (_the Great_), king of England, died, aged 51, in the 28th year of his reign. To him is ascribed the mode of trial by jury.

1216. The crown and other regalia of England being lost, Henry III was crowned with a plain circle of gold on his temples.

1485. RODOLPHUS AGRICOLA, a Dutch author, died. He was one of the most learned men of his age.

1541. Great storm accompanied by an earthquake, at Algiers, which destroyed 86 Spanish ships and 15 galleys with their crews, belonging to a powerful fleet fitted out for the reduction of that place by the emperor Charles V. He was compelled to raise the siege and return to his own dominions.

1572. Earl Mar, regent of Scotland, died, and was succeeded by Morton.

1592. AUGIER GHISLEN BUSBEQUIUS, a celebrated Flemish ambassador, died. He was learned and venerated.

1597. ALDUS MANUTIUS, an eminent Venitian printer, died. He was the third of a line of illustrious printers, celebrated for the elegance and correctness of their editions, and in his youth bid fair to excel his predecessors. But he met with reverses, and was compelled to sell the excellent library collected by his ancestors, of 80,000 volumes, to maintain himself. He wrote several learned works.

1646. WILLIAM DOBSON, an English painter, died. He was drawn from obscurity by Vandyke, after which he rose to great celebrity; but becoming addicted to pleasure before he had acquired a fortune, he became involved, and died at the age of 36.

1652. WILLIAM MEAD, an English physician, died, aged 149.

1652. Action between the English fleet under Blake and Penn, and the Dutch fleet under De Witt and De Ruyter. Three ships of the latter were destroyed and one taken.

1670. JOHN HACKET, an English prelate, died; eminent for his learning and exemplary virtues.

1681. Algiers bombarded by the French fleet under admiral Duquesne and Bernard Renaud. It is said that bomb vessels were first used on this occasion, being the invention of Renaud, who had five of them built.

1685. MICHAEL LE TELLIER, a French statesman, died. He had sufficient influence with the king, Louis XIV, to procure the revocation to the edict of Nantes. He lived to triumph in the cruel measures which followed but a few days.

1687. JAMES ATKINS, a learned Scottish bishop, died. He wrote against the presbyterians, but his writings are now almost unknown.

1699. Pope INNOCENT XII died.

1701. WILLIAM PENN granted a charter of privileges to Pennsylvania and the counties, now state of Delaware, in which the liberty of conscience was fully recognized.

1703. JOHN WALLIS, an eminent English divine and mathematician, died. His works are numerous; and though his theological writings are respectable, yet it is from his mathematical labors that he derives a lasting celebrity.

1704. JOHN LOCKE, the illustrious English philosopher, died.

1708. GEORGE of Denmark, husband of Anne, queen of England, died; "an illustrious instance of conjugal affection among the great."

1710. EZEKIEL SPANHEIM died; an eminent Swiss writer on history and antiquities.

1740. ANNA IWANOWNA, empress of Russia, died.

1741. BALTHAZAR GIBERT, a French writer, died. He was 50 years professor of rhetoric at the college of Mazarin.

1746. Earthquake at Lima, by which that city and the port of Callao were destroyed. The sea first receded, then rushed upon the shore, carrying everything before it. Of 23 ships in the harbor 19 were sunk, and 4 carried a considerable way up the country, and Callao became a part of the ocean.

1748. Gov. CLINTON signed the bill reviving the act to raise £1,800 by lottery, to build a college.

1776. Battle of White Plains. The brunt of this battle was sustained by the troops under McDougal, 600 men, who nobly sustained their post, though deserted by 4 regiments of militia, who fled on the approach of the British light horse. Both armies laid on their arms awaiting another attack.

1788. First court held at Plattsburgh, Clinton county, N. Y.

1791. GEORGE LOUIS OEDER, an eminent German physician and botanist, died.

1792. JOHN SMEATON, an eminent English mechanic and engineer, died; celebrated as the builder of the Eddystone lighthouse.

1793. Hurricane on the island of Cuba; several vessels driven out to sea, and 520 houses in Havana totally destroyed.

1800. ARTEMAS WARD, the first major-general in the American revolutionary army, died. He graduated at Harvard, was subsequently a member of congress, and noted for incorruptible integrity.

1806. CHARLOTTE SMITH, an English poetess and novelist, died. She long enjoyed great popularity.

1806. Battle of Prentzlow, in Brandenburg; the Prussian army of 16,000 compelled to surrender to the French under Murat. This was the remnant of the king's guard which escaped from the battle of Jena, and included several princes.

1823. WASSIL WASSILIJEWITSCH CAPNIST, a Russian counselor of state, died. He is better known as a poet and dramatic writer, in which he is entitled to much praise.

1838. The Mormons, comprising about 700 men under arms, with their leaders, surrendered at Far-West, Missouri, to a body of 3,000 militia, under Gen. Atchinson. The whole number captured was 5,000, miserably destitute of the means of subsistence.

1844. The Royal Exchange at London opened in an imposing manner, the queen being present and presiding at the ceremony.

1848. HARRISON GRAY OTIS, a Massachusetts statesman, died, aged 83; having filled with distinguished success the principal political offices in the gift of the people of the state.

1848. WINDISCHGRATZ, besieging the city of Vienna, entered the suburbs and began an attack; a succession of conflicts ensued, which lasted several days before the city was completely mastered.

1849. DAVID B. DOUGLAS, an eminent civil and military engineer, died at Geneva, N. Y., aged 56. He distinguished himself in the war of 1812, before he was 21 years of age. He was a man of extensive and varied learning.

1851. A meeting of cotton planters was held at Macon, Georgia, to devise ways and means to prevent fluctuations in the price of cotton. Little harmony of views or concord of action was manifested.

1854. A fire at Cleveland, Ohio, consumed property to the amount of $2,000,000.

1854. The Turks in the principalities attacked the Russians, and after a contest of two hours compelled them to cross the Danube and destroy the bridges.

OCTOBER 29.

1038. ANGELOTH, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He is noted for having refused to crown Harold, although he had enjoyed the patronage of his father Canute.

1268. CONRADINO, emperor of Germany, beheaded at Naples, at the age of 16. In a hazardous attempt to recover a part of his possessions which had been wrested from him, he fell into the power of his enemy.

1618. WALTER RALEIGH, an illustrious English nobleman, beheaded at the age of 66. He is memorable as a "statesman, seaman, soldier, chemist and chronologist." He obtained the patent of Virginia in 1584.

1666. JAMES SHIRLEY, an English dramatic writer, died. His death was occasioned by the great fire of London; both himself and his wife died of fright, and were buried in one grave. He wrote 37 plays and a volume of poems.

1666. EDMUND CALAMY, an eminent English divine, died, it is said by reason of the great fire at London.

1691. MELCHIZEDEC THEVENOT died; librarian to the king of France, and a celebrated writer of travels.

1727. Earthquake in New England. No event of the kind had been witnessed by the English, of equal violence, since their settlement of the country, and consequently they were greatly alarmed. It was felt along the coast 700 miles, though of only 2 minutes' duration; and the island of Martinique was in danger of being entirely destroyed by an earthquake the same day, which was felt at intervals during eleven hours.

1745. Battle of Freybourg; the Prussians under prince Henry defeated the allies, who lost 8,000 men.

1757. EDWARD VERNON, a renowned English admiral, died.

1776. The British and Hessians repulsed in an attack on the Americans under Col. Glover, at White Plains.

1777. JOHN HANCOCK resigned his office as president of Congress.

1777. The whole force of the Americans under Washington was 12,480 men, of whom 8,963 were regulars then called continentals.