APRIL. (continued 2)

1471. Battle of Barnet, between Edward IV and the great earl of Warwick, in which the latter was defeated and slain, together with his brother and 10,000 men. Margaret (the queen of Henry VI, who was confined in the tower,) landed from France on the same day with troops, only to hear the tidings of the disaster which had befallen her cause.

1558. Marriage of the dauphin of France with Mary Stuart, queen of Scots, to whom he had been affianced ten years.

1619. John van Oldenbarneveldt, a statesman in the time of Elizabeth, beheaded for his praiseworthy attempts to limit the power of the stadtholder Maurice, which were construed into crimes. His noble lady, who witnessed his death without emotion, was afterwards solicitous for the pardon of a son, telling the astonished Maurice that she did not ask pardon for her husband for he was innocent, but she entreated for her son for he was guilty.

1662. William Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele, died. He was a troublesome subject under Charles I and Cromwell; but became tractable under Charles II (as he had been under James I), and was promoted, instead of others who had been more devoted to the royal cause.

1685. Thomas Otway, an English dramatist, died. His tragedy of Venice Preserved still keeps the stage; and though his pieces were generally successful, he died at a public house (where he had secreted himself from his creditors) in a state of great destitution, at the early age of 34.

1707. Battle of Almanza, in which the combined English and Portuguese armies were totally defeated by the French and Spaniards under the duke of Berwick, with the loss of 5,000 killed and wounded, and 10,000 prisoners.

1711. Louis, the dauphin of France, died of smallpox, aged 50.

1743. Thomas Rundle, a learned English prelate, died. He was the intimate friend of the learned and polite of his age. A volume of his letters has been published.

1760. Louis Silvester, an eminent French painter, died. He was ennobled by the king of Poland.

1769. John Gilbert Cooper, an English miscellaneous writer, died. He was a man of wealth, who made literature his amusement. His works, original and translated, are lively and elegant.

1780. Battle of Monk's Corner in South Carolina; the American cavalry surprised and defeated by Tarleton.

1783. Michael Francis Dandre-Bardon, a French painter, died. He was professor in the academy of painting, and admired for his historical writings.

1785. William Whitehead, an English poet, died. His principal works are the Roman Father and Creusa, dramas, which were received with great applause.

1793. Action between the British ship Phæton and French privateer Dumourier, with a Spanish prize in tow. The prize was taken; her cargo was valued at £1,300,000, and £935,000 was adjudged salvage for her recapture.

1793. John Baptist Gobel, a French bishop, guillotined. He took an active part in the revolution, abjured religion, and was condemned by Robespierre for atheism, and executed.

1795. A cargo of boards arrived at Newburyport, the first arrival through the locks and canals on Merrimack river—an expensive project of inland navigation, which was the best then in vogue.

1796. Battle of Millesimo, Italy; the French under Napoleon defeated the Austrians and Sardinians, who lost 2,500 killed, about 8,000 prisoners, and 22 cannon.

1801. Lemuel Hopkins, a Connecticut physician and poet, died. He was singular in his appearance and habits, but possessed great skill and assiduity in his profession; and as a man of learning and a poet entitled to more fame than is awarded him.

1803. John F. Hamtramck, an officer of the revolution, died at Detroit, where he was stationed as colonel of the first regiment of United States infantry, and commandant of Detroit and its dependencies. He served during the whole war of the revolution, with such distinguished merit as to receive the particular approbation of Washington.

1809. Beilby Porteus, bishop of London, died. His talents and acquirements procured him honors and wealth; and his writings will perpetuate his name.

1814. Congress repealed the embargo law of Dec, 1813.

1855. The office of the Industrial Luminary in Parkville, Missouri, was broken into, and ransacked, and the press thrown into the Missouri river, and the editors ordered to leave the state. The mob voted that no person belonging to the northern methodist church should preach in Platte county under "the penalty of tar and feathers for the first offence, and a hemp rope for the second."

APRIL 15.

1491 B. C. The Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sin, on the 15th of Jiar, just a month after their departure from Ramasses.

43 B. C. First battle of Mutina, the modern Modena, in which Marc Antony was repulsed by the two consuls Hirtius and Pansa, assisted by Octavius Cæsar. Pansa died of the wounds he received in this conflict, and Hirtius was slain after he had achieved a second and more decisive victory.

1053. Godwin, earl of Kent, died. He was a powerful Saxon baron, who distinguished himself under Canute in the war with Sweden.

1205. Baldwin I, emperor of Constantinople, defeated by Joannices, king of the Bulgarians, and taken prisoner.

1415. Emanuel Chrysoloras, a learned Greek, died. He was employed by John Palæologus as ambassador to different courts of Europe, where he acquitted himself with honor.

1513. The English fleet under sir Edward Howard defeated off Brest by the French.

1521. The faculty of divines of the university of Paris, after many meetings held in the Sorbonne, drew up a censure of the heresies of Luther, which was solemnly proclaimed in a general assembly on this day.

1558. A volcano burst out near a spring in the isle of Palma, one of the Canaries.

1570. William Alley, bishop of Exeter, died. During the reign of Mary he retired, and kept a school and practiced physic, in order to avoid persecution; but on the accession of Elizabeth he was promoted. He wrote the Poor Man's Library, and other works.

1611. Richard Mulcaster, a celebrated scholar and English writer, died at Stanford Rivers, where he was rector.

1632. George Calvert, lord Baltimore, died. He was a learned, amiable and accomplished man, who resigned his offices under James I on embracing the catholic faith. The king, however, raised him to the Irish peerage of Baltimore. He obtained a grant for a plantation in Newfoundland; but the invasions of the French obliged him to abandon it, after he had spent £25,000 in its settlement. In the place of it, he received a territory on the continent, now known as the state of Maryland.

1642. Battle of Killrush in Ireland, in which the Roman catholic army was signally defeated by the duke of Ormond.

1659. Simon Dach, a German poet, died. He lived in a humble condition until he was appointed professor of poetry in the university of Konigsberg. His secular songs are said to be lively and natural; his sacred songs distinguished for deep and quiet feeling.

1670. John Daillie, a distinguished French protestant divine, died. His works evince great learning and judgment, and excited much interest.

1697. Charles XI of Sweden died. He was successful in war, and respected as a just prince.

1702. The proprietaries of East and West Jersey surrendered the government to queen Anne, after which it continued under one government, called New Jersey.

1715. The Yamasses, a powerful tribe of Indians in South Carolina, having meditated the extirpation of the English settlements in that state, fell upon Pocataligo and the neighboring plantations, and massacred all who fell into their hands.

1719. Frances d'Aubigne, madame de Maintenon, a celebrated French lady, died. From a state of want and dependence she rose to be the wife of the king of France, though not publicly married. Her exemplary life and extensive charity after that event, made amends for many errors committed in reaching the height of her ambition.

1720. Luke Melbourne, an English divine, died. He was a prose and poetical writer of considerable ability, and his name is frequently introduced by Dryden and Pope in their works.

1754. The first theatre opened in Philadelphia, at the west corner of Cedar and Vernon streets, with the Fair Penitent and Miss in her Teens.

1755. The counters of the bank of England were broken down by the crowd in their eagerness to obtain lottery tickets.

1756. James Cassini, a French astronomer, died. He succeeded his father as astronomer royal, and made many important discoveries.

1758. The strong fortress of Schweidnitz, in Prussia, taken by assault, by the Prussians, and count Theirhaimb with 5,000 Austrians surrendered.

1761. James Cawthorne, an English poet, died. His poems were collected and published quarto, in 1771.

1761. William Oldys, a famous English antiquary, died. He was well versed in English antiquities, a correct writer and a good historian.

1764. Jane Antoinette Poisson, marchioness de Pompadour, died. She was the favorite of the licentious Louis XV. The patronage she extended to literature and the arts in some degree atoned for the follies she committed.

1764. Archibald Laidlie, having accepted a call from the reformed protestant Dutch church in New York, preached the first English sermon before that congregation.

1768. The populace at Peterborough, England, demolished a house that had been opened for the inoculation for small pox. The pretence was to prevent the spreading of a new disease.

1776. James Granger, a learned and ingenious English divine, died. He is the author of a valuable Biographical History of England, 4 vols, quarto.

1777. A party of 100 Indians attacked the settlement of Boonesborough, in Kentucky, and killed 4 of colonel Boone's men.

1777. Congress resolved that no distinction be made between the troops, and that the titles of Congress's Own Regiment, Washington's Life Guards, &c., be abolished.

1777. British picket near Bonumtown, N. J., stormed by a detachment under captain Patterson.

1786. Andrew Wilson executed at Edinburgh. This execution occasioned the subsequent Porteous mob.

1788. Mary Delany, an ingenious Irish lady, died, aged 88. She corresponded with some of the learned men of the day; but is chiefly known by an ingenious Flora which she commenced at the age of 74, and labored at with taste and assiduity nearly ten years, when her sight began to fail her. It was constructed of paper, cut and painted to resemble nature, with great accuracy of form and color.

1791. The first corner stone in the district of Columbia was laid at Jones's point, near Alexandria, with the imposing masonic ceremonies of the time, and a quaint address by Rev. James Muir. By the retrocession of Alexandria, a little more than fifty years after, the corner stone was no longer within the district.

1793. Forster Powell, the celebrated English pedestrian, died, aged 59. His favorite walk was from the monument in London to the cathedral in York and back again, a distance of 340 miles, in less than six days.

1793. Philibert Francis Rouxelle de Blanchelande executed; distinguished in the American war, and at the taking of Tobago.

1796. Second battle of Dego, Italy. The Austrians under Beaulieu surprised the French and carried the village. Massena, who attempted to stop their progress, was repulsed; Bonaparte with Victor and Lannes finally succeeded in driving them out.

1813. Alexander Murray, a Scottish linguist, died. His History of European Languages, which was published after his death, is a work of great research and merit. His application hastened his death, which took place at the early age of 37.

1816. A brick-red snow fell on Tonal and other mountains in Italy.

1817. The memorable law upon which the system of internal improvement of the state of New York is based, passed the legislature.

1820. John Bell, an eminent surgeon of Edinburgh, died at Rome. He is well known for his valuable works on surgery and anatomy.

1825. Henry Fuseli, a Swiss painter, died. He was induced to visit England, where he distinguished himself.

1828. Michofsky, a Russian farmer, died at Pleskow, in the government of Novogorod, aged 165. He led a very sober life, though occasionally he partook of ardent spirits. He never ate meat more than twice a week. At 120 he still labored in the field. His mother lived to the age of 117, and one of his sisters 112, but his father died at 52.

1834. Aylet Hawes, a distinguished philanthropist, died in Culpepper county, Virginia. He manumitted his slaves, 110 in number, and provided for their removal to Liberia.

1840. James Browne, a Scottish author, died at Edinburgh; a man distinguished for his learning and research, for several years editor of the Caledonian Mercury, and a writer of valuable articles in the Encyclopedia Britannica, particularly on grammar, history, biography, &c.

1843. Charles Bulfinch, an eminent American architect, died in Boston, Mass. The state house at Boston and the capitol at Washington were built after his designs.

1846. At an eruption of mount Hecla the pillars of fire rose from a new crater to the height of 14,000 feet. The ice and snow which had covered the mountain for many centuries were wholly melted, and pieces of scoriæ weighing 200 pounds were thrown a league and a half.

1852. Alexander Mackay, an English political economist and reformer, died, aged 33. He was many years connected with the Morning Chronicle newspaper; traveled in the United States in 1846-7, and published his observations in three volumes, under the title of Western World.

1854. James Moore died at Metrechin, N. J., aged 100. His death was occasioned by a fall, before which he was accustomed to walk 12 miles a day.

1854. The steam boat Secretary, while crossing San Pablo bay, from San Francisco to Petaluma, burst her boiler, by which the boat was blown to pieces, and more than 50 persons perished.

1856. An affray occurred at Panama between the passengers of the American transit company and the natives, in which 30 passengers were killed and 20 wounded.

APRIL 16.

29 B. C. Octavius Cæsar entered Rome and celebrated the grand triple triumph of nine days, for his victories at Dalmatia, at Actium and Alexandria, and shut the gates of the temple of Janus Quirinus the second time. This is also the anniversary of his being saluted Emperor. The city at this time was 50 miles in circumference, containing 4,000,000 inhabitants, and the annual revenue of the state amounted to about $180,000,000,000!

66. The massacre and crucifixion of 3600 Jews took place at Jerusalem, on the 16th Artemisius, (Jiar) under the procuratorship of Gessius Horus.

1546. Paul III excommunicated the bishop of Cologne for heresy in countenancing Lutheranism. The bishop resigned rather than expose his people to the miseries of war.

1548. Evening prayer began to be read in English in king Edward VI's chapel.

1551. A pestilence broke out at Shrewsbury, in England. It reached London in July, and the weekly mortality was upwards of 700. It ravaged the eastern and northern parts of the kingdom till September, when it stopped suddenly.

1564. Birthday of William Shakspeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon.

1629. The lord treasurer's warrant issued, giving liberty for 60 women and maids, 26 children, and 300 men, with victuals, arms, apparel and tools, 140 cattle, some horses, sheep and goats, to go to America. They sailed in 6 ships, and landed at Naumkeak, in Massachusetts, now Salem, a name which was chosen in place of the aboriginal one, as expressive of the peaceful asylum they found in the American wilderness.

1634. Of seven sailors left by the Dutch on the coast of Greenland, for the purpose of establishing a wintering place, the first one died. These sailors were amply supplied with every article of clothing, provisions and utensils thought necessary or useful in such a situation. A journal was kept by them, by which it appears that on the ninth October they began to make a constant fire to sit by; and soon after it was remarked that they experienced a considerable change in their bodies, with giddiness in their heads. At the time of the death of this man, they were all disabled but one person. This poor wretch continued the journal till the last day of April, when they were praying for a speedy release from their miseries. On the return of their countrymen in the spring, they were all found dead. (See Jan. 14th for a similar event.)

1639. William Kieft having become governor of New Netherland, took the affidavit of sundry persons to the effect that under the administration of his predecessor the public interests had been neglected, and the fortifications allowed to go to decay.

1644. William Brewster, one of the leading members of the Plymouth colony, died. He possessed a large property in England, which he lost in escaping from ecclesiastical tyranny, and supported himself in Holland by teaching a school.

1662. Three of the judges who condemned Charles I, namely Miles Corbet, John Ohey and John Barstead, were arrested in Holland, and sent to England for execution.

1681. The province of New Jersey offered for sale, at about $25,000. An original letter is still in existence, from the earl of Bath to lord Norbury, since sold by auction as a curious manuscript, containing a proposal for the sale, in which it is represented as "a country almost as large as England, belonging to the late George Carteret."

1689. Aphara Behn (alias Astrea) an English authoress, died. At Surinam, where her family resided, she became acquainted with the African prince Oroonooko, on whose story she founded a novel, which Southey has dramatized. Her works consist of novels, poems and 17 plays.

1743. Cornelius Van Bynkershoek, an eminent Dutch lawyer, died. He published several law works, which display great talents and research, and is characterized as "one of the most learned among modern civilians."

1746. Battle of Culloden, which terminated the Scottish rebellion. The forces of the pretender were defeated, with the loss of 1,200 slain, by the English under the duke of Cumberland, second son of George II, and the pretender himself compelled to flee to France.

1781. Naval action in the harbor of St. Jago, Cape de Verde, between the British fleet under Johnstone, and the French under admiral Suffrein, in which the latter were compelled to retire with considerable loss.

1788. George Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon, died. He was the greatest naturalist of the 18th century. His Natural History, to which he devoted fifty years of his life, was published in 36 vols. and opened a new science to the world.

1796. Samuel Pinnock, a negro, died at Kingston, Jamaica, aged 125.

1796. Battle of Cera; the entrenched Piedmontese camp attacked by the French under Augereau and Joubert; the former fought all day, and then evacuated their camp.

1799. Battle of Esdrelon and Mount Tabor; the Syrian army defeated by Bonaparte, with the loss of 5,000 men.

1811. A plantation at Port-Royal mountains, Jamaica, on which were about thirty acres of coffee, sunk down and disappeared, so that only the ridge of the house was discernible.

1812. Hugh White, founder of Whitestown, near Utica, New York, died.

1813. Part of the British squadron anchored off Petapsco river, within sight of Baltimore.

1814. Charles Philip, count d'Artois, declared the Capetan, or French monarchy, to be re-established.

1820. Arthur Young, a celebrated English agriculturist, died. He traveled extensively in Great Britain and on the continent with a view to the improvement of husbandry. Besides his works on agriculture he published his tours.

1823. William Aspinwall, an American physician, died, aged 80. He was a surgeon in the revolutionary army, and was famous for his skill in the treatment of smallpox. He erected hospitals, where he received patients to be inoculated for the disease; but on becoming convinced of the efficacy of vaccination, he closed them.

1830. Earthquake in Central America; several towns destroyed.

1831. National congress of Belgium dissolved.

1832. Muzio Clementino, the father of pianoforte music, died in England. He was born at Rome, 1752, and practiced in his profession as a musician with great applause in the principal cities of Europe.

1840. William Pitts, an eminent sculptor, died at London, aged 50.

1847. John Burnham, aged 93, and his wife, Mehitable, aged 90, died in Essex, Mass., and were buried in one grave. Two days previous Benjamin Burnham, aged 92, died at the same place. They were the three oldest inhabitants of that town.

1854. The city of San Salvador was wholly destroyed by an earthquake, causing the loss, in less than one minute, ofmore than 200 lives, and four millions worth of property.

1854. The ship Powhatan, from Havre for New York, having on board 311 emigrants, went ashore in a gale on Long Beach, near Egg Harbor, was totally wrecked, and not a single passenger was saved.

1856. Thacher Magoun, a noted American ship builder, died, aged 81. He laid the first keel of a ship at Midford, Mass., in 1802, and during half a century built a fleet.

APRIL 17.

1013. Abdullah, a Moorish historian, was killed at the taking of Cordova, his native city.

1421. An inundation of the rivers at Dort, in Holland, which swept away 100,000 persons, and destroyed 72 villages.

1434. The ice broke up at Paris, which had continued from the first of January. Snow fell in Holland forty days successively during the same winter.

1492. The Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, signed at Granada their grant to Columbus, constituting him hereditary admiral and viceroy over all the islands and continents he should discover during his expedition, with the benefit of a tithe of the profits arising from the merchandise found within his admiralty.

1537. The river Simeto, in Sicily, overflowed its banks, and destroyed 500 houses with the neighboring castles, and all the wood was uprooted by a storm.

1575. William Davenant, a learned German, died. He was the friend and confidant of the leaders of the reformation, as well as of every man of learning and consequence of the age. His works are numerous.

1610. Henry Hudson sailed on his last voyage.

1613. A "prodigious monster" born at Adlington, England, with two bodies joined to one back. It was described by a reverend gentleman, in a pamphlet entitled Strange News.

1670. Eric Daniel Achrelius, a Swedish philosopher and professor at Abo, died, aged 66.

1688. George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, died. He distinguished himself as a statesman, a poet and dramatic writer; but his character both in public and private life was extremely reprehensible.

1697. Charles XI, king of Sweden, died; successful as a warrior and accounted a just prince.

1704. The Boston News Letter, the first newspaper printed in the North American colonies, was commenced at Boston, by John Campbell, who was a bookseller and postmaster, and printed by B. Green.

1711. Joseph I, 15th emperor of Austria, died. He was crowned king of Hungary, 1687; elected king of the Romans, 1690, and succeeded to the empire of Germany, 1705.

1761. Benjamin Hoadley, bishop of Winchester, died, aged 85. He was a great controversialist, and started a question which occupied the press a number of years. His works comprise 4 volumes folio.

1765. Lord Byron convicted before the house of peers in London of manslaughter in slaying Mr. Chaworth in a duel. Being a privileged peer, burning in the hand was dispensed with, and he was discharged on the payment of fees.

1770. Great illumination of the city of London, on account of the liberation of the celebrated politician, Mr. Wilkes, from prison.

1777. Henry Woodward, a celebrated English comedian and harlequin, died, aged 60. His death was occasioned by an accident as he was jumping upon a table in the character of Scrub!

1780. Engagement between the British fleet under Rodney, and the French, admiral De Guichen, in the West Indies. The French took shelter under Guadaloupe, where the British were too much crippled to follow.

1784. Universal religious equality created by law in New York.

1790. Benjamin Franklin, the American printer, statesman and philosopher, died. He was born at Boston, 1706, and went to Philadelphia at an early age, where he spent the remainder of his life. His public career is well known; his private life, written by himself, is full of counsel, and cautions, and examples of prudence and economy, and is the largest work he ever composed.

1794. The Russians expelled from Warsaw by the Poles.

1796. The French convention decreed that all printers of journals should be personally liable for the contents of their papers, as well as the hawkers, sellers and posters of periodical papers.

1816. An act for improving the internal navigation of the state of New York, embracing the Erie and Champlain canals, became a law. Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellison, and Myron Holley, were created commissioners, and seventy thousand dollars appropriated to the purpose.

1817. Seven Luddites hanged at Leicester, England. Luddites was a name given to malcontents who went about destroying labor-saving machinery.

1830. Navigation of the Black sea opened to American vessels.

1834. Ivan Petrovitch Martos, died; formerly director of the academy of fine arts at St. Petersburg, and one of the most eminent sculptors of the age. His works are found in the principal cities of Russia.

1835. William Henry Ireland died. He rendered himself notorious by an attempt to impose on society some dramatic compositions of his own, as relics of those of Shakspeare. He confessed himself the author, and fully exonerated his father who had been implicated in the fraud.

1837. Joseph Anderson, an American statesman, died at Washington, aged 80. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and served in the New Jersey line throughout the revolutionary war.

1837. Henry Vose died at Woodville, Mississippi, of small pox. He was distinguished at the West Point school as a proficient in mathematics, and was subsequently connected with the press in Mississippi, to which he contributed extensively in geography, statistics and history.

1837. United States sloop of war Natchez captured a Mexican brig of war, after having made a formal demand upon the Mexican authorities to release six American vessels which had been illegally captured.

1838. John Reilay died at Troy, aged 104.

1843. Alexander Proudfit, pastor of the Associate reformed church at Salem, Washington co., N. Y., and secretary of the New York Colonization society, died, aged 75.

1849. The steamer General Pike burnt on the Mississippi, when Col. Butler of Texas, with several others, perished in the flames.

1850. James Thom, the sculptor, died at New York.

1852. Etienne Maurice Gerard died in Paris, aged 74. He entered the army in 1791, and was engaged in the battles of Fleurus and Austerlitz, and in those of the disastrous Russian campaign; became a marshal and peer of France, and twice held the place of minister of war.

1854. Riot at Saginaw, Michigan; some 300 armed men attempted to burn the jail, and rescue certain prisoners. The sheriff and others were killed.

1854. The Winchester, an emigrant ship from Liverpool for Boston, was wrecked, and a large number of passengers lost.

1855. A new planet of the eleventh magnitude was discovered by Luther, at the observatory of Bilk, near Dusseldorf.

1855. Petropaulowski deserted by its inhabitants, and its fortifications destroyed, and what stores could not be removed were burned.

1856. The peace conference at Paris terminated, for the settlement of the war in the Crimea between Russia on the one side, and England, France and Turkey on the other.

APRIL 18.

515 B. C. The Jewish passover, a festival in commemoration of the destruction of the first born of the Egyptians, while the houses of the Jews were spared, was celebrated in the new temple.

1551. Nicholas Udall obtains a patent to print the works of Peter Martyr and the English Bible.

1552. John Leland, styled the father of antiquaries, died in London. He applied himself to his favorite pursuit with so much ardor as to impair his reason. He was the most accomplished writer of the age.

1556. Lewis Alemanni, a Florentine statesman, died. He was at the head of the faction that sought to expel the Medici; but finding himself unable to keep his popularity, he fled to France, where he was employed as a diplomatist.

1587. John Fox, the martyrologist, died, aged 70. His attention was early turned to the reformation, and he studied the early writers with so much devotion that his seclusion and frequent absence from church excited the persecution of his enemies, and occasioned him a great deal of misfortune.

1593. Shakspeare's poem of Venus Adonis entered in the books at Stationer's Hall.

1610. Robert Parsons, an English Jesuit, died at Rome. His abilities procured him the patronage of the pope, and he was employed in educating missionaries to convert protestants in England. He possessed the elements of turbulence and intrigue to a great extent, but his operations were entirely unsuccessful.

1630. Manors in America created.

1640. Peter Kirstenius, a German physician, died at Upsal. He applied himself with great assiduity to literature and science, acquired 26 languages, and published among other things an Arabic grammar.

1676. Sudbury, Mass., attacked by the Narragansetts. Several houses and barns were burnt, and a small party who had hastened from Concord to their relief were intercepted and cut off. Another party of 50, sent from Boston for the relief of Marlborough, which the Indians had totally destroyed the day before, went in pursuit of the enemy, were drawn into an ambush and suddenly surrounded by a body of 500. The gallant leader and his brave band fought with desperate valor to the last man: but they fell a prey to the numbers, the artifice, and the bravery of their enemies. The Indians lost about 120.

1689. Sir Edmund Andros, governor of Massachusetts, seized and imprisoned by the people, and the old magistrates reinstated. This revolution was brought about after the colonists had borne the impositions of the new administration about three years, on the circulation of a rumor that a massacre was intended by the governor's guards.

1689. George Jeffreys, baron Wem, the infamous lord chancellor under James II, died. He was never formally admitted to the bar, yet continued to practice unrestrained until he attained the highest employments in the law. He was one of the advisers and promoters of all the oppressive and arbitrary measures of the reign of James II, till the revolution transferred him to the tower, where he died.

1710. Alexander Lainez, a French poet, died. His pieces possess great vivacity and elegance.

1710. Four Indian chiefs from eastern New England and Canada, arrived at London and were carried in the royal coaches to their audience with the queen.

1768. Madame Bontems, a French poetess, died at Paris. She was respected for her wit and knowledge; she published a translation of Thompson's Seasons.

1781. British evacuated Camden, S. C., after burning the jail, mill, several houses, the greater part of their baggage and stores, and a large quantity of private stores. They left 31 American and 58 British soldiers, and 3 officers, all too badly wounded to be removed.

1782. Naval action between the French and British fleets, in which Rodney of England defeated and took prisoner Count de Grasse of France.

1791. Louis XVI and the royal family arrested by the populace, while on their way to St. Cloud, and compelled to return to Paris.

1794. Charles Pratt, earl of Camden, died, aged 80. He was an eminent English statesman and judge, and particularly distinguished himself by his animation and eloquence in parliament.

1794. Jean Joseph de Laborde, a wealthy French merchant, guillotined. At the breaking out of the American revolution, he alone furnished the government with twelve million livres in gold at Brest, which enabled the expedition under Rochambeau to set sail. He sustained an admirable character and bestowed immense sums for charitable and benevolent objects. He fell a sacrifice to the fury of the revolution, at the age of 70, for no offence but that of being rich.

1796. Sidney Smith was taken prisoner on the French coast, and sent strongly guarded to Paris.

1797. Austria made peace with France, ceding the Netherlands, free navigation of the Rhine, &c., to France.

1802. Erasmus Darwin, an English poet, died. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and first appeared before the world as a poet in 1781, by the publication of the Botanical Garden. He has left behind him the character of an able man of great eccentricity. His publications tended to materialism, and although popular for a time, have nearly fallen into oblivion.

1831. John Abernethy, an eminent English surgeon, died. During his studies he was remarkable rather for the oddity of his conversation and manners, than for any indications of genius; and passed by the name of the ostler, on account of his attending the lectures in the dress of a groom. His medical and surgical works are numerous, and his eccentricity was proverbial.

1838. Enactment of the New York general banking law.

1842. Charles Bell, a distinguished medical author, and brother to the anatomist, John Bell, died at Edinburgh.

1847. The American army carried the heights of Cero Gordo with much loss, but took many prisoners.

APRIL 19.

481 B. C. An eclipse of the sun noticed by Herodotus.

1110. Robert, abbot of Molesme, founder of the Cistersians, died. The Cistersian monks allotted several hours of the day to copying books, or sacred studies and manual labor. (See March 28, 1134.)

1390. Robert II, of Scotland, died, aged 84. He was the first of the house of Stuart who reigned, and was crowned in 1371. On the accession of Richard II of England a war commenced which continued during the greater part of his reign.

1529. The elector of Saxony, marquis of Brandenburg, landgrave of Hesse, dukes of Lunenburg, prince of Anhalt, together with 14 imperial cities, entered a solemn protest against the decree of the diet of Spires condemning their nonconformity to the Romish church by abolishing the mass, &c., declaring the decree unjust and impious. Hence they were distinguished by the name of protestants.

1560. Philip Melanchthon, a celebrated German divine, died. He was a coadjutor with Luther in the reformation, and one of the wisest and greatest men of his age.

1593. Giles Bays died; a celebrated Parisian printer, and the first after Ramas to make a distinction between j & i and u & v in printing.

1598. Henry IV of France published the memorable edict of Nantes, by which protestantism was tolerated in his dominions.

1608. Thomas Sackville, an English statesman and poet, died. He distinguished himself as a writer by the tragedy of Gorboduc, the first regular play on the English stage. As a statesman he has left a fair character.

1618. Thomas Bastard died, a poet and preacher of England, of considerable learning and ability.

1669. George Bate, an English physician, died. He had the talent and address to keep his situation as court physician to Charles I, Cromwell and Charles II. He wrote an account of the civil wars in Latin.

1684. The Synod of Edinburgh changed the year of confirmation for children from 8 to 16 years.

1689. Christina, queen of Sweden, died. She resigned the sceptre, 1654, became a catholic, and resided at Rome. She was a woman of great abilities and learning, and corresponded with the learned men of the day in different languages.

1689. The toleration act, so famous among dissenters and others in England, was passed.

1710. The 5 Mohawk chiefs, who were taken to England by Col. Schuyler, attended an audience of great state with the queen, and made a speech.

1739. Nicholas Saunderson, an English mathematician, died. He lost his sight from smallpox, at the age of one year; notwithstanding which he acquired a knowledge of Greek and Latin, pursued his studies with the assistance of friends, and was sent to Cambridge University, where he became acquainted with Newton, and was finally chosen professor of mathematics. His eminence in the science of certainties has rarely been equaled.

1747. Thomas Coxeter, an English antiquary, died. He was a faithful and industrious collector of old English literature, amassed materials for a biography of the English poets, and assisted Ames in his History of English Typography.

1751. John Banks, an English author, died. He was originally a weaver's apprentice.

1751. La Caille arrived at the cape of Good Hope, for the purpose of observing the southern hemisphere. He remained there three years, during which period he determined the exact position of ten thousand stars, and fixed the situation of the isles of France and Bourbon.

1765. While at dinner with his family at Redriffe, in England, a blacksmith was killed by a cannon ball projected from an old cannon thrown into a neighboring furnace for fusion.

1775. Battle of Lexington, which commenced the revolutionary war. About 800 British grenadiers and light infantry, proceeding to destroy the military stores at Concord, fell in with about 70 militia, upon whom they fired and killed 8. The British proceeded to Concord, where they partially effected their purpose, but were compelled to retreat before the gathering provincials, although reinforced by 900 men and 2 pieces of cannon. In this excursion the British lost 65 killed, 180 wounded, and 28 prisoners. The provincials lost 88 killed, wounded and missing.

1779. Col. Van Schaick marched from fort Schuyler and destroyed Onondaga, N. Y., killed 12 Indians, took 34 prisoners, together with a large quantity of stores, arms, horses, &c. He returned without losing a man.

1782. Holland acknowledged the independence of the United States.

1783. Cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in the American army, just eight years from the day on which the war commenced. The loss of lives to the Americans during this war was estimated at 70,000 men, vast numbers of whom died on board of prison ships; not less than 11,000 died in the Jersey prison ship alone.

1787. Dr. Herschel observed three lunar volcanoes.

1791. Richard Price, an eminent English divine, died; celebrated for his great abilities in arithmetical calculations, and for very numerous and valuable writings, theological, political and scientific.

1797. Battle of Diersheim, between the Austrians under the veteran Gen. Kray, and the French under Hoche, &c. The former were defeated with the loss of 4000 prisoners, and all their cannon, baggage, ammunition, &c.

1797. The French under Moreau defeated the Austrians and entered Kehl. The Austrians fled, abandoning everything to the enemy.

1813. Benjamin Rush, a distinguished American physician and statesman, died. He was a member of Congress in 1776, and a signer of the declaration of independence. Few men have been greater ornaments to the country, and very few have acquired greater reputation both at home and abroad.

1824. George Gordon, lord Byron, died aged 36. At the age of 19 he published a volume of his juvenile poems, which were the precursors of some of the rarest productions which the language affords. His career was marked by singularities and dissipation. Having embarked in the struggle of the Greeks for liberty, he was attacked by fever and died at Missolonghi.

1833. James Gambier, a British admiral died. He commanded the fleet which took possession of the Danish navy in 1807. He was characterized by great piety and benevolence.

1837. M. Ancillon, a Prussian minister, died at Berlin, aged 70; eminent as a statesman, philosopher and publicist.

1839. Aaron Ogden, an American statesman and patriot, died. He served as an officer during the whole of the revolutionary war; after which he practiced law for many years with great reputation, and held important civil offices.

1854. John Davis, a Massachusetts statesman of great ability, died, aged 67.

1856. Thomas Rogers, a noted manufacturer of cotton machinery, died in New York, aged 64. He early turned his attention to the construction of iron work and machinery for rail roads, and in 1835 began the manufacture of locomotives, in the construction of which he became greatly distinguished.

APRIL 20.

69. Marcus Salvius Otho, emperor of Rome, died. He ascended the throne after the murder of Galba and Piso, and three months after, being defeated by Vitellus, killed himself, rather than fall into the hands of the conqueror.

332. Battle of Mæsia, in which Constantine defeated the Goths under Alaric, and compelled them to recross the Danube.

1314. Clement V (Bertrand de Goth), pope of Rome, died. He was a Frenchman, bishop of Bordeaux, elected pope, 1305; was accused of licentiousness and extravagance.

1534. Elizabeth Barton (the Holy Maid of Kent), and several other persons, hanged at Tyburn, and their heads set up in several parts of London, for practicing an imposture.

1558 (or 9). John Bugenhagen, a learned coadjutor of Martin Luther in translating the scriptures, and author of commentaries thereon, died.

1566. John Mason, an English statesman, died. He rose from obscurity to places of honor under Henry VIII, and maintained his influence at court under Edward, Mary and Elizabeth.

1579. A man named Hammond was burnt in a ditch at Norwich, England, for the crime of obstinate heresy, as charged by the bishop of Norwich.

1626. St. Salvadore, capital of Brazil, surrendered by the Dutch to the Portuguese.

1657. Naval battle in the harbor of St. Cruz, Teneriffe, in which Admiral Blake attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet of 16 ships, under the protection of the batteries on shore. This was his last and greatest achievement.

1708. Damaris Masham, a learned English lady, died. She was an authoress, and deservedly respected, not only for her learning, but for every virtue.

1718. James Petiver, an English botanist, died. He collected a valuable museum, and wrote several works on botany.

1743. French seigniories on Lake Champlain.

1750. John Lewis Petit, a celebrated French surgeon, died. He was invited to visit the king of Poland, and afterwards went to Spain to attend on Ferdinand. He invented some valuable surgical instruments, and published several works on surgery.

1775. General Putnam joined the patriot band at Concord, having rode his horse about 100 miles in 18 hours.

1777. First constitution of New York state adopted.

1792. French declared war against Francis I, as king of Hungary and Bohemia.

1795. Treaty between the French convention and the Chouans.

1798. Jenkins, known in London as the tall clerk, died. His outer coffin measured 8 feet. He was buried under the floors of the banking house which covered a part of St. Christopher's burying ground. £200 had been offered for his body.

1798. Engagement between the British ship Mars, 74 guns, Capt. A. Hood, and French ship L'Hercule, 74 guns, and 700 men. The British captured the Frenchman, but with the loss of Capt. Hood killed.

1809. Battle of Abensburgh; the Austrian army defeated by Napoleon, who took about 10,000 prisoners and 40 cannon. This defeat broke the lines of the Austrians, and exposed them to farther misfortunes.

1810. Great fire at Constantinople, 8,000 houses burnt.

1812. George Clinton, vice-president of the United States, died. He was a member of the colonial assembly at the breaking out of the revolution, when he received the appointment of brigadier-general. He was selected governor of New York five times.

1813. The advance of the British and Indians appeared before Fort Meigs.

1821. Frederick Charles Achard, a Prussian naturalist and chemist, died. He is principally known as the inventor of a process of manufacturing sugar from beets, which has since been brought to great perfection.

1835. Samuel Slater, "father of the cotton manufacturing business in the United States," died. The first cotton manufactory in this country was built by him at Pawtucket, R. I.; it was standing and in operation at the time of his death.

1838. A meteoric shower observed at Knoxville, Tenn.; 154 meteors being counted by two observers between the hours of 10 at night and 4 in the morning.

George Nugent, general and field-marshal, died in England at the age of ninety-two. He was the oldest field officer in service, having entered it in 1773. He served throughout the American revolutionary war, and was employed in the expedition up the Hudson for the relief of Burgoyne's army. He was also present at the capture of Forts Clinton and Montgomery.

1842. Bertrand Cassel, who for a time was a resident of the United States, and during that period was sentenced to death by the French government, died at Toulouse.

1845. William Read, a member of Gen. Washington's staff, died at Charleston, S. C., aged 91.

1847. Battle of Cherubusco.

1854. An offensive and defensive alliance was signed between Austria and Prussia.

1854. The bill of Miss Dix, the philanthropist, granting ten millions of acres of the public lands to be distributed among the states, to ameliorate the condition of the indigent insane, was vetoed by the president.

1856. Robert L. Stevens died at Hoboken, N. J., aged 68. He devoted much time to the improvement of steam machinery and steam boat models; was one of the projectors of the Camden and Amboy rail road, and at the time of his death was engaged by government in building an immense steam battery for harbor defence.

APRIL 21.

753 B. C. Anniversary of the foundation of Rome, in the 3d year of the 6th olympiad, 431 years after the destruction of Troy, and 116 years from the building of Carthage. Romulus was in his 17th year when he received the regal title, and his subjects consisted of a legion of 3,000 foot and 300 horse.

753 B. C. Remus, the brother of Romulus, slain by the workmen who were building Rome, for ridiculing the weakness of the walls. Thus marked with blood at the outset, the city became the sanctuary of refugees and criminals, and to increase the population, neighboring females were dragged within its boundaries.

323 B. C. Diogenes, the cynic, died at Corinth, aged 90. He was expelled from his native city, Synope, for coining false money. His smart sayings and repartees were taken for wisdom, and his misanthropy and residence in a tub for philosophy! He snarled at the follies of men—wherein he differed from two other great philosophers, one of whom laughed at, the other wept for, the foibles of the world.

248. The thousandth anniversary of the foundation of Rome celebrated, in the reign of the emperor Philip, when Pompey's famous theatre was burnt.

1073. Alexander II, pope, died. He possessed one Christian virtue, that was charity for the Jews, whom he protected from murder and rapine.

1109. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He was no sooner invested with the robes, than he began a quarrel with the king, in which he was worsted. He was a haughty prelate, and the first who insisted on the celibacy of his clergy in England. He was canonized under Henry VII.

1143. Peter Abelard, a learned Frenchman, died. His love and misfortunes have saved his memory from oblivion; and the man whom his own century have admired as a profound divine, is now celebrated as the martyr of love. The letters of Abelard and Heloise are frequently republished, and there is a voluminous life of the lovers by Berington.

1284. Alfonzo X (the wise), king of Castile and Leon, died. He was a man of great learning, and was the first king who had the public documents written in Spanish, which he did with a view to polish and enrich the language. His son usurped the throne, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he got it back again, by calling in the troops of the Moors; and the excommunication of the pope.

1480. William Caxton, the first English printer, finished the translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, as we learn from his own memorandum, as follows: "Ouyde his booke of Metamorphose Translated and fynnysshed by me William Caxton at Westmestre the xxii day of Apryll, the yere of our lord m.iiijc.iiijxx. And the xx yere of the Regne Kynge Edward the fourthe." This work is not known to have been printed, but there are several fragments of the work preserved in manuscript.

1519. The armament under Cortez arrived on the coast of Chalchiucuechan, a part of the Mexican empire.

1526. Battle of Paniput, in Hindostan, between Ibrahim Lodi, sultan of Delhi, and the Tartar prince Raber. Ibrahim was defeated and killed, which decided the conquest of Hindostan by the Tartars.

1545. The mines of Potosi opened. They were discovered by an Indian peasant, while hunting. A shrub which he had laid hold of to support himself, was torn up by the roots, and disclosed to the hunter a rich mass of silver. The population of the city increased so rapidly that in 1611, a little more than half a century afterwards, there were 160,000 inhabitants, but in 1826 they had decreased to 12,000. There are at present less than 100 mines worked, and these conducted with great ignorance and disadvantage.

1671. Anthony Godeau, a French divine, died. He was one of the first and brightest ornaments of the academy of belles-lettres, an active and attentive prelate, and exemplary in every part of his conduct. He wrote a valuable Ecclesiastical History, 3 vols. folio.

1679. The council of 30 constituted by Charles II. They consisted of 15 whigs and 15 tories—chosen by their property to balance the commons, the former valued at £300,000, that of the latter at £400,000.

1696. Brigadier Ambrose Rockwood with two others, convicted at Tyburn for high treason and executed on the 29th. They were the first prisoners having the benefit of council, &c.

1718. Philip de la Hire, a French mathematician, died, aged 78. He is characterized as a great and good man whose days were employed in study, and his nights frequently in astronomical observations. His scientific pursuits were various, and his works numerous and valuable.

1757. Battle of Reichenberg, in Bohemia; the Prussians under Schwerin defeated the Austrians under Count Konigseg. Austrian loss 1,000 killed, 400 prisoners; Prussian loss, 100 killed and wounded.

1765. David Mallet, a Scotch poet, died. His name is familiar as an author, although his place is not very high on the roll of fame; there is no species of composition in which he was eminent.

1770. Marriage of Louis XVI and Maria Antoinette, archduchess of Austria; when 4,000 persons perished in the crowd that assembled to witness the procession.

1773. Ali Bey, governor of Egypt, died. He was the son of a Greek sold by a band of robbers to the Janisaries, who raised him to power; and was finally enabled to throw off his obedience to the Porte. He was humane and generous, and possessed an elevated mind.

1794. Guadaloupe and its dependencies, Marigalante and Deseada, surrendered to the British.

1809. Battle of Landshut, in Bavaria, when Napoleon following up his victory of the previous day, attacked the Austrian army and defeated it. The Austrians lost 30 pieces of cannon, 9,000 prisoners, baggage, &c., and retreated to concentrate their forces at Eckmuhl.

1818. New York state library established.

1836. Battle of San Jacinto, in Texas, between the Mexicans, 1,500, under Santa Anna, and the Texans, 783, under Gen. Houston. The Mexicans were defeated, with the loss of 630 killed, 208 wounded, and 730 prisoners, among whom were Santa Anna and Gen. Cos; also 600 muskets, 390 sabres, 260 pistols, several hundred horses, and $12,000 in specie, fell into the hands of the victors, who lost 2 killed, 23 wounded.

1843. Augustus Frederick, duke of Sussex, died in London. He was an untiring patron of the deserving aspirants in any art.

1844. Henry Baldwin, one of the judges of the United States supreme court, died at Philadelphia.

1853. Lewis C. Beck, noted for his attainments in natural science, died at Albany, aged 53. He published works on botany and chemistry, and one on the mineralogy of New York.

1855. A riot broke out at Chicago, occasioned by the license question; the military were called out.

APRIL 22.

1369. Corner stone of the bastile, (a name used to denote a fortress or prison,) laid at Paris, by Hugues d'Aubriot, provost des marchands, and the founder of the Huguenots. It was not completed till 1383. It was demolished 1789.

1509. Henry VII of England died. The victory of Bosworth field and the death of Richard III left him in peaceable possession of the throne. He was an able and wise king, but insatiably covetous.

1519. Cortez arrived at San Juan Ulloa, in Mexico, where he received ambassadors from Montezuma, with rich presents, offering his services to the Spaniards, but declining to receive their visits at his court; and finally, after mutual messages and presents, refused to consent that foreign troops should appear nearer his capital, or remain longer in his dominions. "Truly this is a great monarch, and rich," said Cortez to his attendants; "with the permission of God we must see him."

1522. Battle of Villalar; count de Haro defeated Padillo, chief of the holy junta. Padillo was taken and executed next day, with John Bravo and Francis Maldonado, two of his chiefs.

1555. Sienna, in Tuscany, reduced by famine, surrendered to the Florentines, after a siege of 10 months.

1608. Hudson sailed from England on his second voyage of discovery; but returned after spending about four months in the search of a northwest passage to England.

1638. Wouter Van Twiller, having been superseded in the government of New Netherland, leased the farm or bouwery No. 1, belonging to the West India company, for three years, at an annual rent of 250 guilders ($100).

1697. Birthday of Belinda Crauford, who died in the beginning of June, 1812, aged 115, at Richmond, Galway county, Ireland. It is said that at the time of her death she could read and sew without spectacles, and what was more remarkable, looked as youthful as a girl of eighteen years, had a blooming complexion, her eyes animated and lively, and walked occasionally a distance of two miles to church.

1699. Hans Assman von Abschatz, a German statesman and poet, died.

1699. Jean Racine, a French tragic poet, died. His pieces were received with great applause, and he came to be generally preferred to his contemporary Corneille, who had been previously looked upon as inimitable.

1702. Francis Charpentier, a Frenchman of learning and abilities, died. He greatly contributed to the noble series of medals struck in the reign of Louis XIV.

1715. Total eclipse of the sun in England. It occurred at 9 in the morning, when the stars appeared, and the birds sunk within their nests.

1730. A public library founded in New York.

1741. Matthew Elias, a painter, died; who, under the patronage of Corbeen, rose to great eminence in his profession.

1751. One, Osborne, and his wife accused by a publican at Tring, in Hertfordshire, England, of witchcraft, were brutally murdered by the populace.

1758. Anthony de Jussieu, an eminent French botanist, died. He traveled over several countries of Europe in the pursuit of his favorite science, which he greatly improved.

1764. Edward Cobelen, an eminent English divine and theological writer, died. Although he enjoyed several clerical offices, he restricted himself to a small income, on which he lived with simplicity and contentment.

1792. Isaac Rene Guy de Chapellier, a native of Rennes, in France, and a zealous advocate of liberty, died.

1794. Christian William de Lamoignon Malesherbes, an able French advocate and author, beheaded. After serving his country 25 years he retired; but was recalled by Louis XVI to be minister of the interior. When the unfortunate king was dragged before the revolutionary tribunal, Malesherbes boldly appeared to defend him. He was himself condemned by the same tribunal, and ascended the scaffold with his daughter and a grandchild.

1796. Demerara and its dependencies in Guiana, surrendered to the British.

1801. Murad Bey, the celebrated Mameluke chief, died of the plague, while descending the Nile to join the English. He was succeeded by Tambourji, so named from having been a drummer.

1809. Battle of Eckmuhl, in which Bonaparte, having routed one division of the Austrian army two days in succession, executed a variety of movements, considered as among the most admirable displays of his science, by which he brought the whole of his force upon the army of the archduke Charles, which he had concentrated at Eckmuhl. The battle is said to have been one of the most splendid which the art of war could display. The Austrian army, of upwards of 100,000 men, were dispossessed of all their positions, by the combined attack of the French, whose divisions appeared on the field, each in its due place and order, as regularly as the movements of the various pieces in the game of chess. The battle commenced at two in the afternoon and continued till nightfall. It resulted in the complete overthrow of the Austrians; all their wounded, a great part of their artillery, fifteen stands of colors, and 20,000 prisoners, remained in the power of the French to which their loss in the field may be added. Their retreat was also attended with corresponding loss.

1826. Missolonghi taken by the Turks. It had been besieged several months, and was reduced to a heap of ruins by continued bombardments. The heroic garrison forced a passage through the besiegers, leaving the sick, aged and wounded in a mill containing a quantity of powder. An old wounded soldier took his seat on the mine, and fired it as soon as the Turks entered.

1829. Lepanto surrendered by capitulation to the Greeks.

1839. Thomas Haynes Bayly, an English lyric poet, died. He is the author of about 30 plays, and many beautiful and popular songs.

1846. The Chilian ship Maria Helena arrived at Edgartown, Mass., from Valparaiso Dec. 7th; said to have been the first Chilian ship that ever visited the United States.

1850. The last publication of the bans of marriage in Massachusetts. It was the case of a black man who declared his intention to marry a white woman.

1853. An insurrection attempted at Freiburg, in Switzerland, by the Jesuit party; but was soon suppressed, with some loss of life.

1854. Odessa was bombarded by the allied fleets, and in ten hours a large part of the city was laid in ruins.

APRIL 23.

997. Adalbert, the apostle of Prussia, murdered. He was archbishop of Prague, preached the gospel among the Bohemians, and afterwards among the Poles, where he was killed.

1016. Ethelred II, king of England, died. To deliver himself from the heavy tribute which he paid the Danes, called Danegelt, he caused them to be put to death; whereupon England was invaded by Sweyn, and Ethelred obliged to fly to Normandy, where he remained till Sweyn's death.

1349. The order of the Garter instituted by Edward III.

1408. The heroic earl of Warwick, Richard Beauchamp, on his way to the Holy Land, is challenged at Verona by Pandulph Malet, whose shoulder the English knight cleaved with his battleaxe.

1500. Brazil discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, a Portuguese adventurer; who immediately sent home a ship with the intelligence, and the king took possession of it. But as the pope had given all the western infidels to the Spaniards, it is probable a great deal of trouble would have arisen out of the case, had not the two monarchs been kinsmen and friends.

1547. Battle of Mulhausen, in which the emperor Charles V defeated the Saxons, who lost 1200 killed, and the elector was wounded and taken prisoner.

1557. Peter Danes, professor of Greek at Paris, died. He was a prelate of great eloquence and extensive learning.

1616. William Shakspeare, the English dramatist, died, aged 52. His history is shrouded in obscurity; but the success of his dramas, with the sobriety and moderation of his views, enabled him to retire early with a competence. The writings of this great poet of nature are found in the libraries of the greatest foes of the drama. This is also the anniversary of his birthday, 1564.

1616. Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, the Spanish novelist, died, aged 67. His life was attended with poverty and misfortune. The immortal Don Quixote, which wrought so great a change in the fashionable literature of the day, is still read and admired in almost every language.

1625. Maurice of Nassau, prince of Orange, died. He succeeded his father in the government of the Low Countries, added to his dominions by conquest, and was considered the ablest general of his time.

1662. Charter of Connecticut granted, with ample privileges, by Charles II. John Winthrop was appointed governor until a new election should be made. The colony of New Haven was included in the charter, but did not consent to be united with the other colonies under one government. The fact was, they considered their civil and religious code rather superior to any thing else of the kind in the world, and were exceedingly jealous of contamination.

1676. Engagement off Aosta, in Sicily, between the French fleet under admiral du Quesne, and the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter, who was mortally wounded.

1709. The first number of the Tatler was published by Steele, Addison and Swift.

1729. Jean Barbeyrac, an eminent French jurist, died. He has distinguished himself by many learned works, which show a high degree of erudition and a liberal spirit.

1740. Thomas Tickell, an English poet, died. He was the friend of Addison whose works he published, and translated the Iliad in opposition to Pope.

1750. Andrew Baxter, a Scottish metaphysician, died. His writings are highly lauded by Warburton. By one of them we learn that dreams are caused by the agency of separate immaterial beings.

1774. Battle between the forces of Rohilcund in Afghanistan, and the subahdar of Oude backed by a British force. The Rohilcas showed great bravery and resolution, and exhibited a considerable share of military knowledge; but after a cannonade of two hours and twenty minutes, they retreated with the loss of 2000 killed, including many of their chiefs; the country became tributary, and the people robbers and plunderers.

1775. A captain Sears and Mr. Lamb assembled the citizens of New York, shut up the custom-house, and prevented the sailing of vessels to Boston, Quebec and Georgia. They sent an express to Philadelphia, where the same measures were adopted.

1781. Fort Watson, in South Carolina, taken from the British, by the provincials under colonel Lee. The fort was built on an Indian mound 30 feet high; but the besiegers speedily erected a work which overlooked the fort, and fired into it with such effect that the garrison surrendered.

1794. James Duval d'Epremenie, a French advocate, executed. He was remarkable for the violence of his proceedings during the revolution, and was sent to the scaffold with his old opponent Chapellier.

1795. Warren Hastings acquitted after a trial of 7 years. His crime as charged by the house of commons to the peers was maladministration in India.

1808. Murat, at the head of 40,000 French soldiers, taking advantage of a faction among the people, entered Madrid and took possession of it.

1809. Battle of Ratisbon. The Austrians, having sustained defeat and losses four days successively, made some attempt to fortify this city, in order to protect the retreat of the army. The French, who had advanced to the storm, were cut down by the musquetry of the besieged. There was at length difficulty in finding volunteers to renew the attack, when the impetuous Lannes, by whom they were commanded, seized a ladder and rushed forward to fix it himself against the wall. "I will show," exclaimed he, "that your general is still a grenadier." The French rallied and carried the ramparts—the contest was renewed in the street, and the city fired. The Austrians were driven out of Ratisbon, leaving cannon, baggage and prisoners in the hands of the French. Thus in five days, in spite of the inferiority of numbers and the imperfect manner in which his troops were combined, Bonaparte, by the sole energy of his genius, triumphed over the main forces of his opponent, and opened the road to his capital. At no period of his momentous career, says Scott, did the genius of Napoleon appear more completely to prostrate all opposition; at no time did the talents of a single individual exercise such an influence on the fate of the universe.

1810. Fort Matagorda, having bean reduced to a heap of ruins, was evacuated by the British, in consequence of which the French were enabled to bombard Cadiz; 500 officers and 900 men fell into the hands of the French.

1810. Dinah, a black woman, died in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, aged 116.

1823. Aaron Arrowsmith, hydrographer to the king of Great Britain, died. He was distinguished as a constructor of maps and charts, and published a new General Atlas to accompany the Edinburgh Gazetteer.

1823. Joseph Nollekins, an eminent sculptor, died. He gained great reputation as an artist during his residence in Italy, and on his return to England was so extensively patronized that he acquired a large fortune.

1833. The foundation laid of the first protestant episcopal church ever built in France.

1838. The English steam packets Great Western and Sirius arrived at New York, forming a new era in navigation, and commencing a new and expeditious mode of intercourse between England and the United States. The Great Western, measuring 1,340 tons, made the passage in 14½ days, against head winds and a rough sea.

1839. H. V. Ducoudray Holstein died at Albany; formerly a distinguished officer under Bonaparte. After the fall of the emperor he came to this country, and gained a subsistence by teaching the French and German languages.

1847. N. P. Ames, the celebrated manufacturer of fire arms, swords, &c., died at Cabotville, Mass.

1848. The United States exploring expedition reached the Dead sea, which was circumnavigated for the first time in a boat. It was sounded to the depth of 600 fathoms, and the bottom found to be crusted with crystalized salt.

1850. Wm. Wordsworth, an eminent English poet, died, aged 80.

1852. Solomon Van Rensselaer, an officer in the war of 1812, died at Albany, aged 78. He commenced his military career at the age of 18, and was with Wayne in the battle of Miami, where he was dangerously wounded. He received six balls at the battle of Queenstown, one of which he carried to the time of his death. He also held several civil offices with distinction.

1852. Arthur Condorcet O'Connor died in France, aged 87. He was a native of Ireland, and one of the most conspicuous leaders of the rebellion in 1798, which made him an exile in France. He married a daughter of Condorcet, and adopted the name of the philosopher within his own.

1854. Fifteen firemen lost their lives by the sudden fall of a large store in Broadway, New York, while in the discharge of their duty.

1854. Great tornado at Burmah, which swept over several hundred miles of country, causing great loss of life on the Irrawaddy.

1856. A grand review of the fleet took place off Plymouth, England; it consisted of 240 ships of war, all but 2 being steamers.

1856. Joseph Roberts died, aged 81. He was cashier for the trustees of the first bank of the United States, the affairs of which institution he conducted to its final winding up.

APRIL 24.

1184 B. C. The conquest and destruction of the city of Troy by the Greeks, took place on the 24th of Thargelion.

339 B. C. Timoleon defeated the Carthagenians at the river Crimesus, near the mount Giuliano, in Sicily.

1016. Ethelred II buried in St. Paul's, London.

1254. Louis IX of France, embarked from Acre, in Palestine, on his return from the crusade, with his queen, children and troops, in 14 vessels, and arrived in Vincennes in September, after an absence of six years, and a most disastrous campaign.

1345. Richard Aungervyle, bishop of Durham, died. He was the tutor of Edward III, a learned man, and the author of a work on the right use of books.

1474. In Edward prince of Wales's procession there was a station with three patriarchs standing with Jacob's 12 sons, and many other personifications of scripture characters,—such was the amusement of the times.

1500. Brazil discovered by Pedro Alvarez de Cabral, who left two convicts.

1556. Osep Napea, the first ambassador from Russia to England, made his appearance at the court of Elizabeth, and delivered his master's presents.

1557. George Rorar (Rorarius), a learned corrector of the press at Wittemburg, died, aged 65. He had been the amanuensis of Luther, and assisted in editing some of the works of the great reformer.

1599. Birthday of Oliver Cromwell.

1603. James Beaton, bishop of Glasgow, died. He was raised to the see before the age of 25; when the reformation broke forth, he fled to France, with the records and sacred vessels of his cathedral, which were deposited with the Scotch college of Paris. He left a history of Scotland in manuscript.

1617. D'Ancre Concini, marechal of France, assassinated. He was a Florentine by birth, and acquired his offices by intrigue. The day following his burial, the body was taken from the grave, mutilated and dragged through the streets of Paris.

1645. Cromwell defeated the king's forces at Islip bridge, near Oxford, taking the king's standard and 200 prisoners.

1667. Matthew Wren, bishop of Hereford, died. During the civil wars his property was confiscated and himself confined in the Tower 18 years without being brought to trial.

1704. The Boston News Letter, the first paper printed in America, made its appearance at Boston, published by John Campbell, the postmaster. It was printed on a half sheet of writing paper. It was continued until the British evacuated Boston, in 1776.

1731. Daniel Defoe, a popular English author, died. He is best known as the author of Robinson Crusoe, which was supposed at first to be a true narrative, and afterwards as erroneously to have been founded upon the papers of Alexander Selkirk. It still enjoys an old age of honor and renown, which it is impossible for any eulogium to exalt. Like its hero, it has traveled into the most distant regions, and worn the costume of literature and the garland of fame in almost every civilized country of the globe.

1735. "Here lyes inter'd ye remains of deacon Christopher Huntington of Norwich, November 1st, 1660, and ye first born of males in ye town. He served near 40 years in ye office of a deacon, and died April ye 24th, 1735, to ye 75th yr. of his age. Memento mori."

1763. Charles Stephen Pesselier, a French dramatist and financier, died. He was early assiduously devoted to literature and the muses; but when entrusted with the finances of the kingdom, his application ruined his constitution, and he fell a victim to excessive mental fatigue.

1773. Philip Dormer, earl of Chesterfield, died. He was a polished courtier, and a writer on, rather than a practicer of, good manners.

1775. Josiah Quincy, Jr., an eminent American patriot, died. He was employed by the British officers, together with John Adams, to defend their cause in the case of the Boston massacre, and although warmly opposed to the measures of the British ministry, he conducted the defence with great propriety. He fell a victim to intense application, at the age of 31, and died at sea on his return from England.

1778. Action in the roads opposite the town of Carrickfergus, in Ireland, in which the British sloop of war Drake was captured by the United States ship Ranger, under Paul Jones.

1780. Claude Joseph Dorat, a French poet, died. He entered the military service as a musketeer, but abandoned it to pursue his favorite study. His works comprise 20 vols.

1780. John Nourse, a distinguished bookseller and mathematician, died.

1799. William Seward, an English antiquary, died. He was the son of a brewer, and being possessed of a competency devoted himself to literature. He published 7 volumes of anecdotes and notices of distinguished characters, compiled from scarce and curious books.

1799. Peter Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a French dramatist, died. He was a watchmaker, and made some improvement in the escapement of a watch. His dramas are numerous, and some of them still popular.

1814. The British army took the city of Washington by surprise, and burnt the public buildings. The library of congress consisting of 3000 volumes of rare books was destroyed.

1824. Richard Payne, died at London; an eminent Greek scholar and antiquary.

1841. George Baxter, one of the most eminent of Presbyterian ministers, died at his residence in Virginia, aged 77.

1856. The sheriff of Kansas, who had been engaged in arresting some Free State men, as they were termed, was shot while sitting in his tent.

APRIL 25.

68. Saint Mark, the evangelist, died at Alexandria.

1199. John, the 6th son of Henry II of England, seized the treasures of his late father, preparatory to taking possession of his throne and dukedom.

1284. Edward II born at Caernarvon, and styled the prince of Wales, the first who received that appellation.

1342. Benedict XII (James de Nouveau, the baker), died. When elected, unanimously, by the cardinals, pope of Rome, he had so little confidence in himself that he told them they had chosen an ass. His conduct, however, was firm and dignified, and gained him universal respect.

1513. Edward Howard, an English admiral, celebrated for his bravery, killed in an action with a French ship.

1520. Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese navigator killed in one of the Phillipine islands, fighting for the king of the country, who had become his ally. Of all his fleet, only one ship and 18 men returned to Spain, from whence the expedition sailed.

1536. Conflagration of mount Ætna, which overwhelmed the church of St. Leon, and the physician Piazzi.

1576. Treaty between Holland and Zealand, being the two first provinces that united for their liberty. William of Nassau, prince of Orange, drew up the treaty, and may be considered as the founder of the United Provinces.

1595. Torquato Tasso, an illustrious Italian poet, died. He was excellent in every kind of composition, but the Jerusalem Delivered procured him the offer of the laurel crown. He expired on the day appointed for the coronation.

1636. James Hay, earl of Carlisle, died. He was the first Scotchman raised to the English peerage, and was employed by James I in various embassies.

1660. Henry Hammond, an English divine, died. He published a commentary on the New Testament; and began a paraphrase and commentary on the Old Testament, which he did not live to finish.

1671. The city of Oxford, England, nearly destroyed by a great fire.

1728. John Woodward, an English natural philosopher, died. He was bound apprentice to a linen draper, but was attracted from the business by the charms of science.

1732. The corpse of bishop Atterbury who died in France arrived in the Thames. Four pieces of French silk brocaded with silver were found with the body, which the custom house officers seized!

1734. John Conrad Dippel, a German chemist and physician, died. He was an eccentric character, who pretended to have discovered the philosophers' stone, and yet was confined for debt. In pursuing his alchemical researches, he discovered Prussian blue, and the animal oil which bears his name.

1735. Samuel Wesley, an English poet, died. His writings made up in quantity what they lacked in quality. He wrote the Life of Christ, a heroic poem, in folio, and a history of the Bible in verse, 3 vols.

1764. Judah Monis, an Italian Jew, died at Northborough, Mass., aged 82. He was converted and baptized, and was the first Hebrew instructor at Harvard college.

1770. John Anthony Nollet, a learned Frenchman, died. His writings are valuable, and his experiments contributed much to the advancement of science.

1775. The Baltimoreans received the news of the battle of Lexington, and immediately seized upon the provincial magazines, containing 1500 stand of arms, &c.

1781. Battle of Camden, between the provincials, about 1200, and the British under lord Rawdon. In the beginning of the action the Americans had essentially the advantage; but the premature retreat of two companies occasioned a total defeat. Greene retreated in such order as to bring off all his wounded and cannon, and took 50 prisoners.

1781. British under Arnold and Philips took Petersburg, Va., after a smart action with baron Steuben. They burnt 400 hogsheads of tobacco, a ship, and several small craft.

1782. Adrian Balbi, the Venitian geographer, was born at Venice. The work by which he is best known is his Abrégé de Géographie.

1792. The convention having determined on adopting the proposition of M. Guillotin, to substitute decapitation for hanging, the first criminal was executed by this mode on this day. M. Guillotin was actuated by benevolent motives in proposing the machine, which was called from him guillotine, and from which himself narrowly escaped.

1800. William Cowper, an excellent English poet, died. He commenced publishing at the age of 50, and three years after produced the Task, which excited universal admiration. He was subject to religious delirium, and died in a state of absolute despair.

1805. Thomas Pownall, an English antiquary, died. He was successively governor of New Jersey, Massachusetts and South Carolina under the crown. His works are numerous, and display a great deal of information.

1810. Sweden excluded British goods, conformably to the continental system established by Bonaparte.

1812. Baltimore privateer schooner Surprise, Capt. Cothell, of 10 guns, captured the British brig Kutousoff, of 12 guns, laden with coffee, &c., and brought her safe to port.

1820. Patrick Colquohun, a distinguished Scottish magistrate, died. He was a writer on police and political economy, and his works possess great merit.

1832 & 1833. Spring navigation of the Erie canal opened.

1835. Jonathan P. Cushing, president of Hampden Sidney college, died, aged 40. The institution, over which he had presided 14 years, was greatly indebted to his services, and he was highly esteemed for his virtues.

1838. The second centennial celebration of the settlement of New Haven.

1838. The steamboat Moselle burst her boiler with a tremendous explosion. She had just left the wharf at Cincinnati for Louisville, with 225 passengers on board, of whom but 124 were saved.

1839. Samuel Smith, an officer of the revolution, died at Baltimore, aged 87. His name is connected with some of the most important events of that struggle for freedom, and is identified with the history of the city of Baltimore for a great number of years; that city being indebted to his enterprise for a large share of its commercial thrift.

1840. M. Poisson, a peer of France, and president of the academy of sciences, died at Paris, aged 58. His life was devoted to analytical discovery and scientific investigation, and he was styled the first geometrician of Europe.

1849. The parliament house and library of the British provinces, at Montreal, burned by a mob.

1849. The French republican armament against republican Rome reached Civita Vecchia.

1854. The slaves of Venezuela became freemen by virtue of an act previously passed for their emancipation.

1855. Lieut. Col. St. Vrain, with a detachment of United States troops, came up with and captured a camp of Apache Indians, on the Purgatory, near the Raton mountains.

APRIL 26.

871. Ethelred I defeated the Danes, but died of his wounds. In his reign a great plague occurred.

1478. Lorenzo de Medici, duke of Florence, rescued by the populace from the hands of assassins. His brother Julian was less fortunate; he fell beneath their daggers. The duke was conducted back to his palace by the multitude with every demonstration of regard, while the archbishop, who became the tool of the pope for executing this foul and impious conspiracy, was suspended in his pontifical robes from the window of his own sanctuary.

1566. Diana de Poitiers, duchess of Valentinois, died. She captivated the heart of the king of France, Henry II, and for many years remained sole mistress, not only of his affections, but of the kingdom. Her unusual powers of mind, and firmness and dignity, constituted her the fittest sovereign of the two.

1595. Michael Neander, a learned German protestant, died. He was rector of the university of Ilfeldt 40 years, and published several learned works.

1607. Christopher Newport, with three vessels and 100 emigrants, forming the first permanent English colony, stood into Chesapeake bay, "which seemed to invite his entrance."

1616. John Somers, an English statesman, died. He was a patriot of the noblest and most extensive views, and justly celebrated as a man of learning, eloquent and refined.

1665. The great plague of this and the subsequent year broke out at St. Giles, London.

1726. Jeremy Collier, an English divine, died. In 1698 he made an attempt to reform the stage, which engaged him in a controversy, and exposed him to the satire of the wits of the day; but after a ten years' struggle he accomplished his object, and actually produced an amendment.

1734. John Baptist Morvan de Bellegarde, a French Jesuit, died. He was expelled from the order at Nantes, for being a Cartesian.

1777. Danbury, Conn., burnt, and the military stores destroyed, by a detachment of 2,000 British under Tyron. The place was guarded by 100 soldiers, who retired to await reinforcements. Eighteen houses, 800 barrels of flour, 800 barrels of pork and beef, 2,000 bushels of grain, and 1,700 tents were destroyed. The enemy were pursued and annoyed by a few hundred of the citizens under Wooster and Arnold; the former was killed.

1783. Eyre Coots, a celebrated commander of the East India Company's forces, died. He gained great renown by his victories over Hyder Ally; in one of which, near Porto Novo, with 10,000 men he defeated Hyder's army of 150,000.

1794. The Vendeans under Charette defeated by the French.

1794. Battle of Prisches; Austrians defeated by the French.

1794. Grand attack of the French upon the allies, from Trevers to the sea.

1805. William Woodville died; a distinguished English physician and medical writer.

1807. The planet Vesta observed in England by Groombridge, an ingenious and active astronomer, who had successfully devoted his leisure and fortune to the advancement of astronomy.

1815. Carsten Neibuhr, a Danish traveler, died, aged 82. He was employed by the Danish government in 1761, with four other learned men, to explore Arabia; was the only one of the company who returned, after an absence of six years, and was liberally rewarded. His publications were, Travels in Arabia and Description of Arabia.

1816. George Hardinge, an eminent English lawyer, died. He rose rapidly in his profession, became council for the East India Company, and attorney-general to the queen, and had a seat in parliament. His speeches and writings were numerous.

1831. Imprisonment for debt abolished in the state of New York.

1835 Henry Kater died at London. His experiments on the pendulum and Geodesic surveys rendered him famous.

1836. St. Jean d'Arc, in Palestine, surrendered to the Egyptian troops under Ibrahim Pasha. The governor of the fortress was provided with a safe residence in Egypt, and an annual pension of 75,000 piasters.

1837. The trial of Meunier for an attempt to assassinate the king of the French, terminated in his conviction. His sentence was commuted to perpetual banishment.

1838. Battle near Brugos, between Gen. Espartero and the Carlists under Negri, in which the latter were defeated, with the loss of 2,000 prisoners, their baggage and artillery.

1840. Bacchus, a negro slave, died at Friedland, in Virginia, aged 110. He had been in the family of his last owner more than 40 years; was employed as a teamster during the war of the revolution; and was in attendance with his team at the glorious and final siege of Yorktown. He saw Gen. Braddock as he passed on to his defeat, and could give a succinct account of that sanguinary action. The evening previous to his death he was walking about the farm, in the full possession of all his faculties of mind and body.

1840. John Thornton Kirkland, president of Harvard university, died, aged 70. His father was more than 40 years a missionary among the Oneida Indians, during which he was born at Little Falls, 1770. His rank was with the most eminent among the constant and serviceable friends of good principles, good learning and good men. Some of his productions will continue to be esteemed among the gems of our literature.

1843. Hodijah Baylies died; a soldier of the revolutionary war, and for some time an aid to Gen. Washington. Like others of that noble band, he too was a distinguished civilian.

1853. Russell Jarvis died in New York, aged 63; widely known as a politician, and co-editor with Duff Green, of the United States Telegraph, at Washington.

1854. A day of humiliation was observed throughout England; divine service was performed in all the places of public worship, and collections taken for the benefit of the wives and children of the soldiers engaged in the war of the east.

1854. Gabriel Rosetti, an Italian poet and painter, died, aged 71. Setting up for a reformer, he was obliged to fly to England, where he spent the remainder of his days in teaching Italian.

1854. Henry T. Cochrane, a Scottish jurist, died; known as the biographer of his friend Lord Jeffrey.

1855. The emperor and empress of the French, having visited the queen of England, returned to France on this day.

APRIL 27.

1124. Alexander I of Scotland, son of Malcom Canmore, died. He ascended the throne on the death of his brother Edgar, 1107, and from the energy and impetuosity of his character he was called the fierce. There were several rebellions and insurrections against his reign, which he put down with vigor. A conspiracy was formed against his life, and the traitors got admission into his bed chamber at night. He cut his way through them, and after killing six made his escape.

1192. Conrad de Montferrat assassinated at Tyre.

1296. Battle of Dunbar, in which Edward I, of England, defeated the Scots under the king, John Baliol, who lost 20,000 slain. Baliol was taken prisoner to England, and confined in the tower.

1404. Philip (the bold), duke of Burgundy, died. He was a just and brave prince, but so profuse in his expenses, that his body was seized after death by his creditors, and it was with difficulty that his duchess could redeem it.

1573. The army or the States General seized Flushing, and hanged the Spanish commander.

1603. King James I, on his way to take possession of the English crown, was magnificently entertained at Winchinbrook by Sir Oliver Cromwell.

1610. Patent for Newfoundland granted to the earl of Northampton and 44 other persons, by the name of the treasurer and company of adventurers and planters of the cities of Bristol and London, for the colony or plantation of Newfoundland, from lat. 46 to 52 deg., together with the seas and islands lying within ten leagues of the coast.

1667. Milton disposed of the copy right of the Paradise Lost for £5! It was with much difficulty that he could find any one to undertake the publication of it.

1702. John Barth died; who by his bravery and skill rose to a high rank in the French navy.

1717. The Dissenters received £5,000 for damages done their meeting houses during the rebellion on account of the pretender to the English throne.

1742. Nicholas Amherst, an English political writer, died. He for a considerable time published the Craftsman, a paper conducted with unusual spirit and success, which guided the public taste and awed the administration.

1762. The Irish levelers suppressed by Lord Halifax.

1775. The Bostonians delivered up a large quantity of guns, &c., to the British general Gage.

1782. Edward Chamberlayne, an English statesman, died. He was one of the best scholars of his age.

1785. Prince Leopold of Brunswick, son of the reigning duke, having gone to the relief of the inhabitants of an inundated village on the Oder, near Frankfort, was upset in his boat and drowned. Thus dying as he had lived, in the highest exercise of humanity.

1792. John James Ankerstroom, a Swedish officer, executed for the murder of Gustavus, king of Sweden.

1794. William Jones died, a man who rose by the superiority of his genius, from a low station to a high judicial office in Bengal. By his unwearied industry and skill in the Asiatic languages, he successfully explored the hidden sources of oriental science and literature, and to whose translations we are indebted for many beautiful effusions of the Persian muse. As a linguist he has seldom if ever been surpassed. He was master of almost every language of Europe and Asia.

1794. James Bruce, the celebrated Scottish traveler, died. Being consul at Algiers, he found leisure to study the oriental languages, and formed the project of exploring the interior of Africa. He discovered the sources of the Nile.

1796. Charles Townsend, an English nobleman, was found dead in a post chaise on his return from Great Yarmouth, for which borough his brother Frederick had been elected to parliament. They both had exhibited marks of insanity, and in one of these paroxysms Charles shot himself.

1799. Battle of Cassano, in Italy; the French under Moreau totally defeated by the Russians and Austrians under Suwarrow.

1803. Toussaint l'Overture, a mulatto chieftain of St. Domingo, died. He possessed unbounded influence over the blacks of that island, and became the head of all power, civil and military, among them. He was treacherously betrayed by the French, and thrown into prison where he died.

1804. Jonathan Boucher, an English archæologist, died. He was an episcopal preacher in America, till the revolution drove him back to England. He prepared a glossary of provincial and archæological words, intended for a supplement to Johnson's Dictionary.

1806. The squadron under Miranda, intended to begin a revolution in South America, engaged two Spanish guardacostas. The Spaniards captured two schooners, having on board 22 officers and 30 men, all of whom were hanged or sent to the mines.

1813. The American army under Gen. Pike took York, the capital of Upper Canada. The British blew up the works, by which Gen. Pike was killed, as well as about 50 of the British, and 200 American soldiers killed or wounded.

1830. City of Guatemala nearly destroyed by an earthquake.

1834. Thomas Stothard died; celebrated for his illustrations to the Canterbury Tales, Rogers' Italy, Pilgrims' Progress and Robinson Crusoe.

1836. John Hart, an American physician, died. He joined the army at the outbreak of the revolution, and continued in it until it was disbanded. He was afterwards a member of the Massachusetts senate, and much esteemed as a physician and a patriot.

1836. Battle near Fort Brook, Florida, between the United States volunteer troops and the Indians. The Indians were defeated with the loss of 200 killed. Loss of the U. S. troops, 2 killed, 24 wounded.

1836. The celebrated Bible presented by Alcuin to Charlemagne, was sold at auction in London for £1,500 ($6,666). See Dec. 1, 801.

1838. Baroness Schopenhauer died at Jena; a woman of talent and celebrity, and author of various works, which were collected in 24 vols.

1838. Great fire at Charlestown, S. C., "which laid waste 145 acres of the most populous part of the city."

1849. William B. Cooper, ex-governor, and a highly respected citizen of the state of Delaware, died at his residence, Laurel hill.

1850. The Atlantic, first steamer of the Collins line, sailed from Liverpool.

1855. Col. Kinney arrested in New York on a bench warrant, for beginning a military enterprise against Nicaragua.

1856. Ratification of the treaty of peace between England, France and Turkey, and Russia, which terminated the Crimean war.

1856. Robert Kelly, a New York merchant, died, aged 47. Having acquired a fortune and a high reputation as a merchant, he devoted his attention to science, acquired eight languages, and filled many important offices. His superior talents and untiring industry were under the direction of philanthropic and Christian impulses.

APRIL 28.

1060 B. C. The 28th Jiar is kept as a fast by the Hebrews for the death of Samuel, which took place two years before the destruction of Saul.

492 B. C. Menenius Agrippa, a Roman patrician died; celebrated for appeasing a sedition by a fable of the belly and the limbs.

357. Constantius, the third and surviving son of Constantine the great, visited Rome for thirty days, when he displayed the magnificence of a triumph.

1489. Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, murdered.

1494. Joan Boughton, a widow, was burned for heresy; said to be the first female martyr of England.

1521. Cortez having constructed 13 brigantines with sails and oars, and transported them on the backs of 8000 Tlascalans, they were launched on this day in the lake of Mexico, with religious ceremonies under a discharge of the artillery and small arms, followed by the singing of Te Deum to the music of military instruments. They were provided with sails and twelve oars each, and a falconet, or small brass cannon. The final success of the enterprise was greatly indebted to these vessels.

1535. Albert Pio, a Spanish ecclesiastic buried with extraordinary pomp at Paris, in the church of the Cordeliers.

1552. The council of Trent was prorogued for two years; it did not assemble again until 1562.

1636. Julius Cæsar, an English statesman under Elizabeth, died. He was a man of great learning and integrity, charitable and benevolent.

1710. Thomas Betterton, an English, tragedian, died. He was a bookbinder previous to going upon the stage; and acquired a high degree of reputation as an actor.

1721. An order of the English council was issued to suppress Hellfire clubs.

1738. Shakspeare's tragedy of Julius Cæsar performed at Drury Lane theatre, for the purpose of raising a fund for the erection of a monument to his memory at Westminster.

1751. Thomas Gibson, an eminent English painter, died.

1752. Francis Oudin, a French Jesuit, died. He was professor of theology at Dijon, and an author.

1754. Washington attacked a French encampment at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela. The night was dark and rainy, and the enemy completely secure. His troops having surrounded the camp, fired and rushed upon the French, who immediately surrendered.

1760. Battle of Sillery, in Canada, between the British garrison at Quebec, 3000, under Gen. Murray, and the French under Levi, consisting of 10 battalions of regulars, 6000 Canadian militia, and a body of Indians. The British general finding himself in danger of being outflanked, retreated to his fortifications, with the loss of 1000 men. The French loss was still greater, and they reaped no essential advantage from the victory.

1772. The counts Struensee, and Brandt, the favorite of the king of Denmark, executed at Copenhagen. Their alleged crime was an intrigue with the queen of Denmark, princess Caroline Matilda, sister of George III, of England.

1779. Simon Barnard, a celebrated aid-du-camp of Napoleon, and for some time chief of the engineer corps of the United States, was born at Dôle, in France.

1786. Gustavus, king of Sweden, read the eulogy of Creutz, the poet and statesman, who died a short time previous. Creutz signed with Franklin a treaty of amity between the United States and Sweden, 1783.

1788. Maryland, the 7th state in succession, adopted the constitution of the United States; votes 63 to 12.

1789. Mutiny on board the ship Bounty on her voyage from Otaheite, whither she had sailed to procure fruit trees to stock the West India islands. The vessel had on board 1015 plants of the bread fruit tree. Lieut. Bligh and 19 of the crew were compelled to go into an open boat; "they reached the island of Timor in June, after a perilous voyage of 1200 leagues."