Part 86

1632. The king of Bohemia died; on whose youngest daughter, Sophia, by Elizabeth, sister of Charles I, and her issue, the crown of England was finally settled.

1643. WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT, an English dramatic poet, died.

1652. The Dutch fleet under Van Tromp defeated the English, and Van Tromp sailed through the channel with a broom at the mast head.

1661. BRIAN WALTON, an English bishop, died; editor of the Polyglot Bible, in 6 vols.

1662. Count D'ESTRADES took possession of Dunkirk, purchased by the French king of Charles II of England.

1682. Prince RUPERT, son of Frederick, king of Bohemia, died. He acquired military fame in the English civil war, but is better known for his discoveries in the arts and sciences. He invented what is called after him prince's metal, and discovered the art of engraving in mezzotint.

1694. MARCELLO MALPIGHI, an Italian physician, died. His discoveries in anatomy were curious and important. By his delicate dissections he found out the lobules of the liver, and the nature of the formation and mechanism of the kidneys, and of the veins and heart.

1695. ANTHONY WOOD, a famous English antiquary, died.

1710. Battle of Villa Visciosa; the left wing of the allies under Staremberg defeated by the French and Spaniards under the duke de Vendome; but the victors instead of following the blow began to plunder the baggage; Staremberg with his right wing fought their left with such valor and perseverance till night, that they retired in disorder with the loss of 6000 killed, leaving him master of the field and all their artillery.

1732. The city of Aveline and nearly all of the city of Oriano, in Naples, destroyed by an earthquake.

1759. WILLIAM DICKINS died at Kysoe, England. His life is remarkable for a single feat. While engaged in building the spire of a church, he fell from the height of 132 feet. In his descent he struck the battlements with such force as to fracture his leg and foot severely, and bring part of the stone work to the ground with him. He sustained so little injury in other respects, that he was soon enabled to reascend and finish his work. He lived 40 years afterwards.

1775. Captain MANLY, of Marblehead, in a privateer, took an ordnance brig from Woolwich containing a large brass mortar, several pieces of fine brass cannon, a large quantity of small arms and ammunition, with all kinds of tools, utensils and machines necessary for camps and artillery; and a few days after three ships from London, Glasgow and Liverpool, with various stores for the British army.

1780. MARIA THERESA, archduchess of Austria, queen of Hungary, and empress of Germany, died. She will ever rank high among illustrious women, and among those sovereigns who have been the benefactors of mankind.

1781. The British evacuated Dorchester on the approach of the Americans under general Greene; by which all the rice plantations between the Edisto and Ashley rivers were saved to the Americans.

1792. DAVID DALRYMPLE, lord Hailes, died. He was noted for his knowledge of law, and as an antiquarian, and was intimate with the most eminent men of the age.

1793. ANTHONY PETER JOSEPH MARIE DE BARNAVE, a French avocat, guillotined. He displayed great eloquence and strong powers of mind in the national assembly; but failing to keep pace with the terrorists, was imprisoned fifteen months, and finally brought to the block.

1793. M. F. DUPORT DU TERTRE guillotined at Paris; a modest and studious man, whose philosophical ideas led him to declare in favor of the revolution, in which he always displayed great moderation.

1793. The Austrians under Wurmzer defeated the French with great slaughter, and drove them beyond Strasburg. Loss of the French estimated at 15,000.

1793. Battle near Lautern; the duke of Brunswick defeated the French in two attacks, with great slaughter.

1794. CAESAR BONESANA BECCARIA, an Italian philosopher, died. He published a treatise on crimes and punishments, which became a popular work, and was translated into various languages.

1802. Ohio admitted into the Union.

1807. The royal family and court of Portugal emigrated to Brazil, on the invasion of the Portuguese kingdom by the French.

1812. British schooner Subtle, in chase of the American privateer Favorite, upset in a squall, and sunk before the Favorite could come to her assistance. All the crew perished.

1812. The American troops, 1400, embarked for the invasion of Canada under general Smyth.

1812. Battle of Autosse, between 950 Georgia militia and about 400 friendly Indians and a body of Creek Indians. The Creeks were defeated with the loss of 200 killed, among whom was the Autosse and Talisse kings.

1813. GIAMBATTISTA BODONI, a celebrated Italian printer, died. He was placed at the head of an establishment at Parma, in 1766, which he made the first of the kind in Europe, and gained the reputation of having surpassed all the splendid and beautiful productions of his predecessors in the art.

1814. The first newspaper printed by steam power. This was the _Times_, of London. The machine was the invention of a Saxon by the name of König, and printed at the rate of 1100 papers per hour.

1830. Revolt of Poland commenced at Warsaw, in consequence of the severe and insulting conduct of the grand duke Constantine. The insurrection extended quickly through the country, and into Lithuania and other parts of ancient Poland.

1842. EDMUND HAWLEY died at Hawley, Mass., aged 96. He erected the first frame house in that town (then called No. 7), was a soldier of the revolution, and a justice of the peace for more than 50 years.

1847. The presbyterian mission station of Wallah Wallah valley, in Oregon, assaulted by Indians and several of the missionaries slain.

NOVEMBER 30.

406 B. C. EURIPIDES, the Greek tragic poet, died at Barmiscus, in Macedonia. He wrote 92 tragedies which were greatly esteemed, but of which only 19 are extant.

69. ANDREW, one of the apostles, suffered martyrdom at Patræ in Achaia, upon the cross. He is the patron saint of Scotland.

1016. EDMUND II (_Ironside_), king of England, assassinated.

1093. MALCOLM III, king of Scots, who was the son of the gracious Duncan immortalized by Shakspeare in Macbeth, was slain in his 70th year.

1292. JOHN BALIOL crowned king of Scotland at Scone, after swearing fealty to the king of England.

1603. WILLIAM GILBERT, a learned English physician, died. He discovered some of the properties of the loadstone.

1654. JOHN SELDEN died; an English antiquary, historian and law writer, of most extensive learning.

1672. The English East India company lost the island of St. Helena; the Dutch taking it.

1700. Battle of Narva; the Russians under Peter the great defeated by the Swedes under Charles XII. The forces of the two armies were unequal; that of the Russians differently stated from 80 to 100,000, while that of the Swedes varies from 8 to 20,000. Charles had a horse killed under him, and was struck in the neck by a ball.

1718. CHARLES XII, king of Sweden, killed by a musket shot while attacking one of the forts in Frederickshall, Norway.

1733. In consequence of a vast exportation of grain from England, freights nearly doubled and the price of wheat rose in some places to four shillings per bushel.

1750. The nunneries of Begging Friars suppressed in Ireland by the pope for vile and disorderly practices.

1750. MAURICE of Saxe, marshal of France, died.

1751. NICHOLAS BOINDIN, a French dramatist, died. He left the pursuit of arms for that of literature, and became celebrated for his comedies.

1761. JOHN DOLLOND died; an eminent English optician, and inventor of the achromatic telescope.

1781. THEODORE TRONCHIN, an eminent physician of Geneva, died. He was the pupil of Boerhaave, and the author of several medical works.

1782. Preliminary articles of peace signed at Paris between England and America.

1793. Treaty between the United States and the Creek Indians.

1793. JEAN PIERRE BRISSOT guillotined; a very eminent Welch writer on philosophy, politics and legislation.

1793. WILLIAM LEWIS died in the act of drinking a cup of French ale, called a _tumbler maur_. He made it a rule to read a certain number of chapters in the Bible in the morning, and to drink eight gallons of ale in the evening. He weighed 40 stone, and his bulk was enormous. A machine in the form of a crane was constructed to hoist him on the carriage, and to let him into his grave. He had drank beer enough in his day to float a 74 gun ship.

1801. JOSEPH FRANCIS MAURICE DE LASCY, a Russian officer in the service of Austria, died. He gradually rose to a high rank by his talents displayed at several important battles.

1803. French port of St. Domingo evacuated by capitulation; the French under Rochambeau went as prisoners of war on board the British squadron, and the black prince Dessalines took possession. Almost all the whites that remained were massacred.

1811. British ship Rover captured French corvette Le Compte Reginaud, 14 guns, with a valuable cargo of sugar, coffee and spices. She had before belonged to the British navy.

1812. HARRIET NEWELL, an American missionary, died at the Isle of France. She was a woman of great excellence of character, who was the means of greatly exciting and extending the missionary spirit.

1813. The hereditary stadtholder of Holland arrived at the Hague from England to assume the sovereignty of the country.

1815. Fall of meteoric stones at the village of Chassigny, near Langres.

1828. JOHN BELL, a distinguished citizen of New Hampshire, died. He was a leading member of the senate during the revolutionary war, and possessed great judgment, decision and integrity.

1830. The two LANDERS in descending the Niger, reached the sea, completing the discovery of that river; having ascertained that the Benin, the Nun and the New Calabar rivers, are all mouths of the great river Niger, with a direct communication with the Tschad lake.

1833. GWYLLYM LLOYD WARDLE, an English statesman, died at Florence. He obtained great notoriety for his successful motion in the British parliament in 1809 for inquiring into the conduct of the duke of York as commander-in-chief.

1833. WILLIAM MACLEOD BANNATYNE died, aged 90; a celebrated Scottish justice, one of the contributors to the _Mirror_ and _Lounger_, and the last survivor of that phalanx of genius which shed a brilliant lustre on the periodical literature of Scotland near the close of the 18th century.

1838. Battle of Tampico; the Mexicans under general Piedra defeated by the federalists under general Urrea, with the loss of 500.

1848. Major JOHN ROBERTS died. He served in the revolutionary war, and negotiated the exchange of prisoners obtained by the convention of Saratoga, 1777.

1850. SERENO EDWARDS DWIGHT, a noted New England preacher, died, aged 65. He published a life of Edwards, whose works he edited.

1853. ANSON G. PHELPS, a prominent, wealthy and benevolent merchant, died in New York, aged 74.

1853. Battle at Sinope; the Turkish squadron, consisting of 3 frigates, 2 steamers and some transports, was destroyed by the Russians; 5000 Turks were killed, and Osman Pasha was taken prisoner.

1856. HENDERSON YOAKEM, the historian of Texas, died at Houston, aged 46. He possessed a high order of legal attainments.

DECEMBER.

DECEMBER 1.

627. Battle of Nineveh; the Romans under Heraclius defeated the Persians after a contest from daylight to the eleventh hour; 28 standards were wrenched from the hands of the conquered, and the cities and palaces of Assyria were opened for the first time to the Romans.

801. ALCUIN, preceptor of Charlemagne, presented his illustrious pupil with a magnificent folio Bible, bound in velvet, the leaves of vellum, and the writing in double columns, and containing 449 leaves. Prefixed is a richly ornamented frontispiece, in gold and colors. It is enriched with four large paintings exhibiting the state of the art at this early period; there are moreover thirty-four large initial letters, painted in gold and colors, and containing seals, historical allusions, and emblematical devices, besides some smaller painted capitals. (See April 27th, 1836.)

1135. HENRY I, king of England, died of a surfeit of lampreys. He is characterized as wise and valiant, and ranks among the most accomplished of the English kings.

1252. BLANCHE, (_of Castile_,) queen of France, died. She married Lewis VIII of France, after whose death she was regent of the kingdom during the minority of her son, and governed with spirit and ability.

1521. LEO X (_John de Medicis_), pope, died. He was the patron of learning and learned men; but is to be remembered as the cause of the reformation, in attempting to raise money by an unlimited sale of indulgencies.

1581. EDMUND CAMPRIAN executed. He was a learned English writer, who became a Roman catholic, and was hanged with three others for aiding the cause of the pope, and drawn and quartered.

1640. MICHAEL VASCONCELLOS, a Portuguese statesman devoted to the interests of Spain, was murdered during a political convulsion, and his body treated with ignominy.

1640. Portugal, of which Philip II of Spain had made himself master in 1580, became an independent kingdom by a revolution, which placed John, duke of Braganza, on the throne.

1666. JAMES WARE died, a celebrated antiquary and historian, of Ireland.

1722. ANNA LOUISA KARSCHIN, a German poetess, born. She was deprived of almost every literary advantage by the peculiar circumstances under which she was placed, until she attracted the attention of some influential persons, who published some of her poems. She acquired the title of the _German Sappho_, and died in October, 1791.

1723. SUSANNAH CENTLIVRE, author of several English dramas, died. She was born in Ireland, and becoming an orphan at an early age, set out for London on foot. Her adventures were romantic. Several of her dramas still keep possession of the stage.

1750. A wager was decided at Malden, England, that five men could be buttoned within the waistcoat of a person who had died a short time previous, without breaking a stitch or straining a button. Upon trial, the five persons were buttoned into the waistcoat, and two more with them. The person who wore it died at the age of twenty-nine, and weighed at the time of his death 646 pounds, and notwithstanding his corpulency, he was remarkably agile. There is a print representing the ludicrous appearance of the seven persons buttoned up in the vest.

1775. General MONTGOMERY, having sent several small detachments into the country to strengthen his interest with the Canadians, proceeded with the residue to Point aux Trembles, where he joined Arnold and marched directly upon Quebec.

1783. M. CHARLES, having made some improvements on balloons, ascended at Paris in one filled with inflammable air, the first which had been so filled. He ascended to the height of 9,000 feet. His predecessors had only reached a few hundred feet.

1787. The people at Worcester, England, rioted under the apprehension, that machines were to be introduced for spinning cotton.

1789. General WASHINGTON addressed a diplomatic letter from New York to his _great and magnanimous friend_ Sidi Mohammed, emperor of Morocco, inclosing a copy of the new American constitution.

1793. The commune of Paris ordered all the churches to be closed. But the act exciting general abhorrence was soon repealed.

1795. Battle of Mainz; the Austrians under Clairfait attacked and carried the French entrenchments, took 106 cannon, 200 ammunition wagons and 2000 prisoners.

1795. Kreutznach carried by storm twice by the French under Pichegru, who was at length obliged to retire by the Austrians.

1795. At Lauterbach two whole battalions of French were cut to pieces by the Austrians.

1797. OLIVER WOLCOTT, governor of Connecticut, died, aged 71. He was one of the signers of the declaration of independence, for which he was a bold advocate, and was in the army of general Gates at the surrender of Burgoyne. He was remarkable for intrepidity, integrity, strong and bold conceptions, and great decision of character.

1803. THOMAS ASTLE, an eminent English antiquary, died.

1808. Battle of the Samo-Sierra, a narrow pass which the Spaniards had fortified with 12,000 men and 16 pieces of cannon, which completely swept the road leading to Madrid. The French began the attack at daybreak. Three battalions scattered themselves over the opposite sides of the defiles and a warm skirmishing fire commenced. At this moment Bonaparte came up. He rode into the mouth of the pass, surveyed the scene for a moment, and perceiving that his infantry were making no progress, at once conceived the daring idea of causing his Polish lancers to charge right up the causeway in face of the battery. The smoke of the skirmishers on the hill sides mingled with the thick fogs and vapors of the morning, and under this veil the brave Krazinski led his troopers fearlessly up the ascent. The Spanish infantry fired as they passed them, threw down their arms, abandoned their guns and fled.

1814. Action between American privateer schooner Kemp, of Baltimore, and 9 British merchantmen, several of which were captured.

1814. GILLIS MCKERHNIE died at Gourock, Scotland, aged 104, supposed to be the last of the warriors that fought with prince Charles in 1754.

1825. ALEXANDER PAULOWITZ, emperor of Russia, died at Taganrog. His efforts to improve his country and people were unceasing and most extensive. It was during his reign that Russia was invaded by the most formidable army ever assembled in Europe, but which in a few months returned in the most wretched defeat ever known.

1840. Battle of Kotriah, in Scinde, between 4,000 Beloochees, posted among the hills, and commanded by Nusser Khan, and 900 Sepoys with 2 field pieces, under lieutenant colonel Marshall. Of the former 500 were slain, and 6 chiefs and 132 followers captured.

1848. Hungary declared itself an independent republic.

1849. EBENEZER ELLIOTT, called the _corn law rhymer_, died in England.

1852. The French senate went in a body to St. Cloud to announce officially to Louis Napoleon the result of the election, and to hail him as emperor.

DECEMBER 2.

1469. PIETRO DE MEDICI, governor of Florence, died, aged 53. He was of weak constitution, but well meaning and prudent, and was assisted by his son Lorenzo in affairs of state. Under his reign an attempt was made to wrest the reins of government from the family.

1549. MARGARET DE VALOIS, a French princess, died; noted for her learning and the encouragement she gave to commerce, agriculture and the arts among her subjects.

1552. FRANCIS XAVIER died; a French missionary, denominated the apostle of the Indies. He was one of the most zealous disciples of Ignatius Loyola; performed his mission in Hindostan, the Moluccas, and Japan, and was on the point of landing in China, when he died.

1554. FERDINAND CORTES, the conqueror of Mexico, died, aged 63, leaving a character eminent for bravery and ability, but infamous for perfidy and cruelty.

1581. JOHN DEE, an English mathematician and sorcerer, died. He was a man of uncommon abilities, learning and application, but deluded himself with experiments in the occult sciences, which he continued till he reached the age of 80.

1594. GERARD MERCATOR, a Dutch mathematician, died. He was self-educated, but attained great eminence, and published numerous valuable maps and charts which he engraved and published himself, and which have been of great use to his successors.

1615. LEWIS DE BERTHON DE CRILLON, a French general and knight, died. He distinguished himself by his valor at the siege of Calais, at the age of 15, and during a long series of wars and perilous times displayed so much courage as to acquire the title of the brave Crillon.

1723. PHILIP, duke of Orleans, regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, died at Versailles in the 50th year of his age. He was a man of talent and political tact, but these qualities were much obscured by his love of pleasure.

1779. ALEXANDER ALBANI died; a Roman cardinal and a man of great merit.

1784. FRANCIS ARNAUD died; abbot of Grand Champs, in France, and distinguished by his literary labors.

1789. HERSCHELL announced the discovery of a 7th satellite to Saturn.

1791. HENRY FLOOD, the famed Irish orator and reformer, died. As a member of the house of commons his whole energies were devoted to the promotion of the political interests and internal resources of Ireland.

1792. Frankfort treacherously given up to the Austrians, when 1,300 Frenchmen, were massacred by the Hessians, and several whose lives were spared had their hands cut off.

1792. The French under Dumourier took possession of Louvain.

1794. The United States concluded a treaty with the Oneida, Tuscarora and Stockbridge Indians, residing in the Oneida country. The former engaged to pay the Indians $5,000 for their losses in the late war; to build them a complete grist and saw mill, and hire faithful men to attend said mills for three years, and instruct some of their young men in those arts; to provide teams for carrying on the work of the mills, and to apply $1,000 to rebuild the church burnt in the war.

1796. The adventurous MUNGO PARK departed from Pisania, 200 miles from the Gambia's mouth, to explore the interior of Africa.

1804. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE inaugurated emperor of France at the cathedral of Notre-Dame, at Paris, and was enthroned with Josephine.

1805. JOSEPH BERNARD DE CHABERT, a French navigator, astronomer and geographer, died. He lost his eye sight by intense application, but his powerful memory enabled him to make many additions to the stores of scientific facts.

1805. Battle of Austerlitz; the French under Bonaparte defeated the Austro-Russian armies, under Alexander I and Francis I, who had united to check the ambition of Napoleon. The defeat was attended with the loss of 35,000 killed or drowned, 20,000 prisoners, and their whole pack of artillery.

1806. BONAPARTE decreed at Posen, a monument to the French soldiers who fell at the great battles of Ulm, Austerlitz and Jena.

1812. British again cannonaded Black Rock; the fire was returned with so much spirit that their batteries were entirely silenced.

1816. French general VANDAMME, resident at Ghent, arrested and sent to Brussels.

1816. Meeting of the citizens of London at Spafields; about 20,000 assembled to receive the report of Mr. Hunt, who had been appointed to present a petition to the prince regent, praying that two or three hundred thousand pounds should be appropriated out of the civil list fund for the relief of the poor. Only five thousand was granted, whereupon great disturbances took place.

1848. FERDINAND I, emperor of Austria, abdicated the throne, and Francis Joseph, his nephew was proclaimed emperor.

1849. ADELAIDE, the queen dowager of England, died.

1851. LOUIS NAPOLEON decreed in the name of the French people, that the national assembly and council of state were dissolved, that universal suffrage was re-established, that the first military division was in a state of siege, and that the French people were convoked in the electoral colleges from December 14 to Dec. 21.

1852. LOUIS NAPOLEON publicly proclaimed emperor at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, under the name of Napoleon III. The emperor entered Paris from St. Cloud, and took up his residence in the Tuilleries. 80,000 troops were under arms, and the day was celebrated as a grand holiday in Paris, and in the evening there was a grand illumination.

1853. The steamer Winfield Scott, having on board 500 passengers and $1,100,000 in gold, was lost in a fog at night, about 500 miles from San Francisco; the passengers and treasure were saved.

DECEMBER 3.

69 B. C. The senate published a general thanksgiving in the name of Cicero for preserving the city from the Catalinian conspiracy. It was the first that had ever been decreed to any man in the gown; all other thanksgivings having been appointed for some particular _service_ only.