APRIL.

APRIL 1.

168 B. C. Emylius Paulus passed from Brundusium to Corcyra (the modern Corfu) on his famous Macedonian expedition, and on the 6th, sacrificed at the shrine of Delphi.

1386. James Audley, an English warrior, died. He distinguished himself under Edward III in the wars with France, and on their return was liberally rewarded by his sovereign for the deeds of heroism he had displayed in the service.

1405. Tamerlane, chan of the Tartars, died. He is supposed to have been the son of a shepherd, and raised himself by his courage and prudence to the sovereignty of nearly three quarters of the world. He was preparing for the invasion of China when death put a stop to his career at the early age of 36.

1506. Erasmus was entertained at London by the great and learned men of the day.

1614. Henry de Montmorency, constable of France, died. He distinguished himself in several famous battles. Catharine de Medici found means to disgrace him, when he retired to Savoy, and made successful war upon his country. He lived to be promoted to the highest office under the king.

1672. Archibald Armstrong, privileged jester or fool of Charles V, died. There is a little book high priced and of little worth entitled Archibald's Jests.

1696. Père Gerbillon, the Jesuit missionary (see May 30th), accompanied the imperial Chinese army into Tartary, in the suite of the emperor, being his fifth journey into that country.

1696. John Bigg, an English hermit, died, aged 97. He begged pieces of leather, which he nailed to his clothes, till he became a truly grotesque figure. One of his shoes is preserved in the Bodleian museum, and is made up of about a thousand patches of leather.

1712. Lord Bolingbroke stated in parliament, that in the great contest, called "the glorious wars of Queen Anne," the duke of Marlborough had not lost a single battle, and yet the French had carried their point, the succession to the Spanish monarchy, the pretended cause for so great an enterprise. Dean Swift called this statement "a due donation for all fools day."

1720. John Leake, an English admiral, died. He fought against the far famed Van Tromp, but the battle at La Hogue most distinguished him.

1729. The grand jubilee began at Rome.

1732. John Burchard Mencke, a learned German author, died at Leipsic, where he had conducted the Acta Eruditorum 25 years, a valuable work begun by his father in 1682, and which established a correspondence with the learned men of Europe.

1764. An annular eclipse of the sun was observed at London.

1764. At Monmouth assizes a girl, aged 18, was burned for murdering her mistress. This was among the last punishments by burning in England.

1775. Col. Daniel Boone, the Kentucky pioneer, began to erect the fort of Boonsborough, at a salt lick, 60 yards from the Kentucky river.

1779. John Langhorne, an English poet and divine, died. Besides poems, sermons and miscellanies, by which he is favorably known, the translation of Plutarch in common use bears his name.

1789. First meeting of congress under the federal constitution.

1794. The British under Sir John Jervis took the island of St. Helena.

1794. John Lewis Lombard, a German professor of artillery, died. He wrote several works on the movement of projectiles and the principles of gunnery.

1797. The French under Bernadotte entered Lauback, the capital of Carniola. At the same time Massena, commanding the advance guard of the French army, attacked the imperialists in the defiles near Neumark; the strife being between the flower of the Austrian army and the French veterans of Italy, was most obstinately contested. The French, however, carried the day.

1799. Assault upon the works of St. Jean d'Acre, in Palestine. The French were repulsed with great loss.

1808. Russian ukase prohibiting the introduction of British goods into the Russian ports.

1810. State marriage of Napoleon Bonaparte with the archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria celebrated at St. Cloud. The emperor caused a medal to be struck on the occasion, with the singular device of Love bearing a thunderbolt.

1826. Isaac Milner, an English mathematician and theological writer, died. He was brought up to the weaving business, but occupied his leisure with the classics and mathematics. He was the tutor of Wilberforce and Pitt.

1832. War broke out between the Winnebago and other Indian tribes and the United States.

1832. The London Penny Magazine, under the superintendence of the society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, commenced.

1833. John Hooker Ashmun, professor of law in Harvard university, died. He had not attained his 33d year, yet he had gathered about him all the honors which are usually the harvest of a riper life.

1837. Robert Hawker, an English divine, died at Plymouth, England. In 1814 he published the holy scriptures in penny numbers for the use of the poor.

1843. John Armstrong, aged 84, died at Red Hook, N. Y. He was the author of the celebrated Newburgh Letters, and a prominent soldier in the war of the American revolution, and for some time secretary of war under President Madison.

1844. Peter S. Duponceau so favorably known as a scholar and statesman, died at Philadelphia, aged 84. In his 78th year he published his Dissertation on the Chinese Language.

1853. Santa Anna arrived at Vera Cruz, having been elected president of Mexico by the vote of 19 out of 25 states.

1856. Isaac McKeever, an American commodore, died at Norfolk, Va., where he commanded the navy yard.

1856. The Emperor Alexander published at St. Petersburg a proclamation announcing the signing of the treaty of peace with England, France and Turkey which terminated the struggle between Russia on the one side, and England, France and Turkey on the other, and prolonged the salvation of the latter country.

APRIL 2.

1081. Constantinople besieged by Alexius Commenus.

1507. Francis, of Paula, founder of the order of Minims, died.

1512. Florida discovered by Ponce de Leon.

1594. A skirmish at Edinburgh between the earl of Bothwell and the cavalry of King James.

1640. Matthias Sarbieuski Cassimir, a Polish Jesuit, died. He was so excellent a Latin poet that his poems have been thought to be equal to some of the best Latin authors, not excepting Horace and Virgil. He had begun an epic in the style of Virgil, called The Lesciades, but died before it was completed. Many editions of his poems have been published.

1640. Paul Flemming, one of the best German poets of the 17th century, died.

1683. William Penn gave his colonists in Pennsylvania a new charter.

1696. There fell in many parts of Ireland a thick dew, which the country people called butter, from the consistency and color of it, being soft, clammy, and of a dark yellow. This phenomenon had for some time been of frequent occurrence; it fell always in the night, and chiefly in moorish low grounds, on the top of the grass, and on the thatch of the cabins. It frequently lay a fortnight without changing its color, and had a bad odor, like that of church yards or graves.

1698. The earl of Bellemont arrived at New York to succeed Fletcher as governor.

1736. Jacob Tonson the elder, a noted English bookseller, died.

1743. Birthday of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States.

1747. John James Dillenius, a German botanist, died in England. He is considered as the father of cryptogamic botany. His works were illustrated with plates, admirably drawn and engraved by himself.

1754. Thomas Carte, an English historian, died. He was engaged several years in writing a history of England, which was published in four vols. folio, and esteemed a work of great merit.

1755. Severndroog castle, on the coast of Malabar, the rendezvous of the celebrated pirate Angria, taken by the British under Com. Jones.

1768. John Baptist Boyer, a French physician, died. He distinguished himself by the skill which he displayed during the plague at Marseilles.

1784. County of Washington, in the state of New York, erected.

1791. Honore Gabriel Riquetti, count de Mirabeau, the French revolutionist, died. He was an extraordinary character, of great talent and ambition, but whose genius was controlled by the worst propensities. He was the master spirit of the revolution, and had he lived might have given it a different character. His funeral was conducted with great pomp by the enthusiastic populace.

1793. Dumouriez, the French general, arrested the minister of war and the commissioners of the convention, who had been sent to arrest him, and delivered them to the Austrian general, Clairfait.

1794. The British took the island of St. Lucia, in the West Indies, belonging to the French. It was ceded to the British in 1814.

1794. William Jones, a distinguished oriental scholar, died in India.

1801. Battle of Copenhagen, between the Danish and British fleets, the latter under Nelson and Parker. The Danish ships and batteries were entirely destroyed, with the loss of 1600 men killed and wounded. British loss, 254 killed, 689 wounded. Nelson was created viscount on his return home, and his honors made hereditary, even in the female line.

1804. Jean Mossequin died at Portieu, in France, aged 103. He was married the day before to his ninth wife, Marie Vascois, aged 19. He left twenty-nine children.

1817. Mrs. McCowen, aged 77, died at Lewistown, Pa. She was one of the first white women that came up the long narrows to that wilderness which is now a fruitful field.

1817. Kosciusko abolished servitude in his domain of Siechnowieze, in Poland, and declared all ancient serfs free, exempted from all charges and quit-rents, and fully entitled to their chattels and lands.

1821. Erie county, New York, erected.

1823. First paper in Syracuse.

1839. Hezekiah Niles died, at Wilmington, Delaware, aged 63. He is known as the founder, and for twenty-five years the intelligent and laborious editor of Nile's Weekly Register, a valuable journal published at Baltimore. In private life he was one of the most amiable of men.

1840. Richard Phillips, a self-educated English author, and editor of various publications, died, aged 73. His original name is said to have been Philip Richard, and he was many years an eminent London bookseller. He established the Monthly Magazine, which at one time had a great circulation. He was afterwards elected sheriff, and received the honor of knighthood.

1855. George Bellas Greenough, an English geologist, died, aged 77. He was one of the founders of the Geological society, of London, and constructed several valuable maps, the most celebrated of which is a geological and physical map of all India, giving the geological attributes of each district between the plateaux north of the Himalaya and cape Cormorin.

APRIL 3.

13. Augustus, emperor of Rome, signed his will, bequeathing to the Roman people 40,000,000 sesterces, (about $1,600,000,) and divorced the two Julias, his daughter and grand-daughter, from his sepulchre. It was written upon two skins of parchment.

33. Jesus Christ, our Savior, crucified.

68. Galba accuses Nero before the people of his enormities, and elects himself lieutenant of the state.

1068. William, the conqueror, again imposes the tax of Danegelt which occasioned an armed opposition at Exeter.

1143. John II (Commenus), emperor of the East, died. He ascended the throne of Constantinople on the death of his father; was victorious over the Mohammedans and other foes; and swayed the sceptre with wisdom and ability.

1367. Battle of Navarette, and victory of Edward the black prince, by which Peter the cruel was replaced on the Castilian throne.

1421. Battle of Beauge, in France, when the duke of Clarence and 1500 English were slain.

1617. John Napier, baron of Merchiston, died. He was born in Scotland, in 1550, and after completing his education traveled on the continent. On his return he devoted himself to the cultivation of science and literature, became a distinguished mathematician, and was regarded by Kepler as one of the greatest men of the age. He is known as the inventor of logarithms for the use of navigators.

1646. Thomas Lydiat, an English chronologer, died. He early devoted himself to literature, became an able scholar, and was deservedly esteemed by the learned of the times.

1707. Edmund Dickinson, a learned English physician, died. He was appointed physician to Charles II and his successor; and retired from practice to become an author.

1717. James Ozenham, an eminent French mathematician, died. He taught mathematics at Paris, and acquired property; but the Spanish war reduced his finances, and the death of his wife and twelve children embittered his last days. His works are numerous and valuable.

1736. John Albert Fabricius, a learned German, died at Hamburgh. He was an indefatigable scholar, of great modesty and simplicity of manners, and so highly esteemed by the citizens of Hamburgh, that when invited elsewhere, the senate prevailed on him by a superior salary, not to relinquish his residence among them.

1760. James Benignus Winslow, an eminent Danish anatomist, died. He went to Paris, where his talents were appreciated and rewarded.

1763. All the gibbets on the Edgeware road, on which many malefactors were hung in chains, near London, were cut down by unknown persons.

1764. The archduke Joseph chosen and crowned king of the Romans.

1775. New York colonial legislature held its last session.

1783. Treaty of amity and commerce for fifteen years between the United States and Sweden concluded by Franklin.

1791. John Berkenhout, a literary and medical character, died. He was the son of a Dutch merchant, and experienced many vicissitudes; first served in the Prussian and afterwards in the English army; studied medicine at Leyden; and in 1778 came with certain commissioners to America, where he was imprisoned by congress, on which account he enjoyed a pension from the British government.

1792. George Pococke, an English admiral, died. He signalized himself by the capture of Havana, and many other important services.

1793. Dumouriez, the French general, who escaped from the lines, under the repeated fire of three battalions, joined the Austrians, accompanied by several other officers.

1811. Partial action on the Coa, near Sabugal, between the advanced posts of the British, and a division of the French army under Massena, who was defeated, and the French expelled from Portugal.

1813. Action near Urbanna, on the Chesapeake, between 17 British barges and 2 schooners, and 3 letters of marque and 1 privateer of Baltimore; the latter were captured.

1814. The French conservative senate solemnly decreed that Bonaparte had forfeited the throne, and released all persons from their oaths of allegiance to him.

1815. Eruption of mount Tomboro, on the island of Sumbawa, distant about 800 miles from Batavia, in the Indian Ocean.

1816. Treaty of peace concluded by Lord Exmouth, commanding a British fleet before Algiers, between the Dey and Sardinia, and 51 Sardinian prisoners liberated.

1816. Thomas Machin, an officer of the revolution, died at his residence in Schoharie county, N. Y., aged 72. He was a British officer at the battle of Minden, and an American officer during the whole war of the revolution. The chain across the Hudson at West Point was constructed under his direction, and he was wounded at Bunker Hill and Fort Montgomery.

1826. Reginald Heber, bishop of Calcutta, died. He was zealous in his calling, and no doubt accelerated his death by his devotion to the cause of his master. He ranks high among the British poets.

1829. Safety banking fund in the state of New York established.

1833. Nicholas Ipsilanti, an officer of the Greek revolution, died, at the age of 35.

1838. M. Antomarchi, physician of Napoleon at St. Helena, died at St. Jago de Cuba. He was a native of Corsica, and left a professorship at Florence, in order to accompany the exiled emperor. He attended him in his last moments, of which he has given an account, and received a legacy of 100,000 francs. He afterwards practiced medicine in Paris, where he published a series of beautiful and expensive anatomical plates. On the revolt of the Poles he hastened thither, and took the direction of the medical establishments.

1854. John Wilson, a Scottish author, died, aged 69. He is well known as the Christopher North of Blackwood's Magazine.

1856. Gorham A. Worth, a New York financier, died, aged 72.

1856. President Commonfort returned to the city of Mexico after a triumph at Puebla, where the rebel army surrendered to him, and where the rebel generals were reduced to the rank of privates.

APRIL 4.

357. B. C. A transit of the moon over the planet mars observed by Aristotle.

397. Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, died. He was famous for the zeal which he manifested in the cause of the church, and the severity with which he censured the emperor Theodosius, who had barbarously ordered several innocent persons to be put to death at Thessalonica. The Te Deum is attributed to him.

1284. Alphonso X, of Castile, died. He was elected emperor of Germany 1258, but neglecting to visit the empire, Rodolphus was chosen in his place. He was dethroned by his own son, and compelled to seek protection among the Saracens. His fame as an astronomer and a man of letters, is greater than as a monarch. He is the first Castilian king who had the public laws and the scriptures drawn in the vulgar tongue.

1581. Drake, the navigator, was knighted on board his famous ship, the Pelican, at Deptford.

1588. Frederick II, of Denmark, died. He was a liberal and enlightened ruler, who enlarged the happiness of his people and patronized learning. The astronomer Tycho Brahe, particularly, was indebted to him for munificent protection and advancement.

1589. Lady Burleigh, eldest daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, and a highly distinguished literary character, died, aged 63. This age was prolific of literary women.

1593. Three Samuels of Warboys condemned for bewitching the children of Mr. Throgmorton at Huntington, England.

1594. Sylvester Wyet, of Bristol, England, made a voyage up the gulf of St. Lawrence, for the barbs or fins of whales and train oil. He met with 60 sail of French, and 28 sail of Englishmen, engaged in fishing at this early day.

1634. Robert Naunton, an English statesman, died. He was secretary of state to James I, and published some curious anecdotes of the reign of Elizabeth, under the title of Fragmentia Regalia.

1638. Massachusetts patent demanded. A quo warranto having been brought by the attorney general of England against the governor and corporation of Massachusetts, and judgment given that the liberties and franchises should be seized into the king's hand, the council made an order requiring that the charter should be returned by the next ship. Arbitrary measures were pursued in reply to the petitions of the colony, and 8 ships prepared to sail for New England were detained in the Thames by order of the privy council. By this order, Oliver Cromwell, Arthur Hazelrig, John Hambden and other malcontents, were forcibly prevented from emigrating to America. How little did Charles anticipate that by this high-handed measure he was detaining the very men who were destined to overturn his throne, and terminate his career by a violent death.

1643. Simon Episcopius, an able Dutch divine, died. He embraced the doctrines of Arminius in relation to predestination, which exposed him to much persecution and obloquy, and finally led to his banishment from the commonwealth: he afterwards was permitted to return, and became minister of the remonstrant church. His death happening at the moment of an eclipse of the moon, was considered as an emblem of the departure of the brightest ornament of the church.

1656. Andrew Rivinus, (alias Barchmann) a Saxon physician, died. He became professor of poetry and philosophy at Leipsic, and published several works of considerable merit.

1669. Johann Michael Moscherosch, a German writer, died. His celebrity consisted chiefly in some satirical pieces entitled Wunderliche und wahrhafte Geschichte Philanders von Sittewald.

1704. The first newspaper printed in the United States, appeared at Boston, called the Boston News Letter.

1706. John Bayles, an English buttonmaker, died, aged 130. He used to walk to the neighboring markets with his buttons till he was 120 years of age.

1720. Knightly Chetwode, dean of Gloucester, died. He wrote several poems, and a life of lord Roscommon.

1743. Robert Ainsworth, an English teacher, died. In 1714 he was invited by the English booksellers to undertake the compilation of an English and Latin dictionary, on the plan of Faber's Thesaurus. The task proved to be more difficult than had been anticipated, and was not completed till 1736.

1747. Number Four (Charlestown, N. H.) attacked by a large body of French and Indians under M. Debeline, and gallantly defended by 30 men, under major Stevens. The enemy kept up a brisk assault night and day; when, on the third day, being in a starving condition, and finding it impracticable to force or persuade a surrender, they retired and were seen no more. This was considered one of the most chivalrous feats of the time.

1764. Michael Lomonozof, a Russian poet, died. From the occupation of a fishmonger he rose to be the "father of Russian poetry," and a philosopher of no mean pretensions. He published a history of the Russian sovereigns, and an ancient history of Russia, from the origin of the nation. His odes are greatly admired for the originality of invention, sublimity of sentiment, and energy of language.

1769. Hyder Ally, the adventurous East India chief, compelled the English to form a treaty with him.

1770. James Parsons, an eminent English physician, died. He was the correspondent of Buffon and other learned characters on the continent, and an able writer on physic, anatomy, natural history, antiquities, language, and the fine arts.

1774. Oliver Goldsmith died, aged 46. He received a partial education at Dublin college, after which he strayed from home, and making a tour on the continent, afoot and alone, with a flute in his hand, fixed himself, on his return, in London, as a builder of books. The details of his life are interesting, chequered as they are with vicissitudes. As a bookseller's hack he was particularly successful; but the liberality of his disposition and want of economy, contributed to keep him in want, and sometimes brought him to starvation. He died about £2,000 in debt. His works, though most of them were produced on the spur of the moment, to procure the necessaries of life, are still found in almost every library.

1777. John Swinton, an English antiquary, died. His literary productions, which are numerous, appeared originally in the Philosophical Transactions, and relate principally to antiquities.

1786. Columbia county, in the state of New York, erected.

1793. General Dumouriez, accompanied by General Valance and young Egalite (Louis Philip), afterwards king of France, narrowly escaped to the Austrians.

1794. Battle of Raclawice, Poland, between the Russians and 4,000 Poles under Kosciusko, mostly armed with scythes. The battle lasted five hours, and ended in the defeat of the Russians, who left 3,000 killed on the spot.

1795. Barrere a lawyer, Varennes a monk, Collot de Herbois a comedian, and Vadier a counsellor, members of the French convention, sentenced by a decree of that body to be transported to Guiana. Barrere was president of the convention, and as such passed sentence of death upon the king; and they all voted for the king's death.

1799. Battle of Tauffers and St. Marie, in Germany. The French under Jourdan lost upwards of 4,000 men, and fell back to the heights of Villengen.

1802. Lloyd Kenyon, an English judge, died. He filled the offices entrusted to him with distinguished integrity, and to him England is indebted for much of that reform which has been introduced into the practice of the law.

1807. Joseph Jerome la Francais de Lalande died at Paris, aged 70. He received a minute religious education, and displayed his abilities while quite young by his sermons and mystical romances. His attention was first drawn to astronomy by the remarkable comet of 1744; and he pursued the study with so great success that he was sent to Berlin by the academy at the age of 19, to make some observations on the moon's parallax, when Frederick the Great could not conceal his astonishment at the phenomenon of so young an astronomer. He became editor of the Connaissance des Temps, published several works on astronomy, and wrote all the astronomical articles for the great Encyclopedie. In 1778 he published a folio volume on canals, containing a general history of all the ancient canals which had been previously undertaken, accomplished and even projected. Although a sceptic, he is said to have been "religious, in his own way."

1809. The legislature of Pennsylvania passed a law directing the poor to be sent to the most convenient school and their tuition paid.

1812. Congress passed an embargo law for 90 days.

1814. Bonaparte having received the opinions of his marshals abdicates the imperial throne in favor of his son, only to be succeeded the next day by a relinquishment in favor of his heirs also.

1815. Hostilities between France and the allied powers ceased. Alexander I, in the name of the allies, recommended Bonaparte to choose a place of retreat for himself and his family.

1817. Andrew Massena, prince of Essling, one of the ablest of Bonaparte's field marshals, died. He commanded in chief in the memorable campaign in Switzerland; when at the battle of Zurich he had to contend against the archduke Charles and prince Suwaroff; yet the fruits of this campaign were 70,000 prisoners. He ended his military career in 1810, by the command of the army of Portugal, where he was defeated by Wellington.

1831. Isaiah Thomas, a distinguished American printer, died. He was born in Boston, 1749, served an apprenticeship of 11 years, and commenced business at a very early age at Newburyport. In 1770 he printed the Massachusetts Spy at Boston, where he annoyed the provincial officers by the boldness and freedom of his articles on the difficulties that agitated the country. He was also one of the most active and dexterous of the skirmishers on the plains of Lexington. A few days after that affair he removed his paper to Worcester; and gradually established presses and book-stores in different parts of the Union, to the number of twenty-four; so that he nearly supplied the entire country with books. His Bibles, school books and almanacs, were in great repute for a long time. He was the founder of the American antiquarian society, and author of the History of Printing in America, a valuable work to the profession and the antiquary.

1841. William Henry Harrison, president of the United States, died at Washington, aged 69. He was a distinguished patriot of the revolution, one of the signers of the declaration of independence, governor of Virginia, and long a leader of the United States armies in the severe contests with the British and Indians.

1855. The Baltic fleet, fitted out by the French and British governments to act against the northern ports of Russia, sailed from Portsmouth.

APRIL 5.

2348 B. C. The ark of Noah rested on mount Ararat.

347 B. C. Plato, the Athenian philosopher, died. He was the pupil of Socrates, and on the death of his master went into foreign countries in search of knowledge. His works have come down to us, and confirm the opinions of his contemporaries by whom his talents and learning were highly appreciated.

33. The day of our Savior's resurrection called Easter.

1242. Battle of lake Peipus, in Russia; the Russians under Alexander Jaroslawitz gained a decisive victory over the Swedes under Eric XI. The battle was fought on the ice; 400 Teutonic knights were slain, and 50 made prisoners. The German knights were pardoned, but the Esthonians were ordered to be hung as Russian rebels.

1470. An instrument similar to a warranty deed given to William Tourneville, bishop of Angers, with a copy of Faust and Schoeffer's Bible for the sum of 40 crowns, bears this date.

1605. John Stow, an English antiquary and historian, died, aged 80. He was born in London, 1525, and initiated by his father into all the mysteries of tailoring as practiced at that period. But he discovered a penchant for musty relics and antiquarian lumber, and finally quitted his business to compose a history of England. He at length got together such a medley of antique and diabolical books and parchments, that he became suspected of some heretical designs against religion, so that the bishop of London ordered an investigation of his library. He published A Summarie of the Englyshe Chronicles, and in 1598 a Survey of London, on which he was long employed, and which has been often reprinted. He was reduced to live by charity, and at length fell a victim to poverty and disease. His labors formed a rich legacy to future historians.

1621. John Carver, first governor of Massachusetts, died. He conducted the colonists over from Leyden, and managed the affairs of the settlement with great prudence and address.

1676. John Winthrop, first governor of Connecticut, died. He was the eldest son of the governor of Massachusetts, and a man of great learning and talents. He was one of the founders of the Royal society, distinguished as one of the greatest chemists and physicians of the day, and one of the most noted men in New England. In 1635 he came over to settle a plantation on Connecticut river, and began the town of Saybrook at the mouth of that river.

1677. Cambray, a fortified city of France, surrendered to Louis XIV, who commanded in person.

1684. William Brouncker, an English mathematician, died. He is celebrated for his attachment to the royal cause during the civil wars. On the institution of the Royal society, he was the first president, and adorned the office by his polite manners and extensive erudition.

1707. Battle of Almanza, in Spain; the allied British, Dutch, and Portuguese army defeated with the loss of 1000, attributed to the bad conduct of the Portuguese troops.

1725. Benjamin Ibbot, an eloquent English divine, died. A selection of his sermons was published after his death by his friend Dr. Samuel Clarke.

1735. William Derham, an able English philosopher and divine, died. He accomplished much in the advancement of science by a long life of industry; his publications amounting to not less than 40, mostly on philosophical subjects.

1746. Thomas Hanmer, an English statesman, died. He was for 30 years a distinguished member of Parliament, from which he retired to devote himself to literary pursuits.

1748. Unsuccessful attempt by the British under admiral Knowles on St. Jago de Cuba.

1753. Parliament passed an act to raise £20,000 by lottery to purchase the library of Sir Hanse Sloane, of his daughters, for the public use. It formed the basis of the British museum.

1758. The first number of Johnson's Idler appeared.

1762. Granada surrendered to the British.

1776. Grainger, vicar of Shiplake and author of the Biographical History of England, died suddenly while administering the sacrament.

1779. The refugees plundered Nantucket and carried off with them two loaded brigs, and several other vessels.

1780. Alexis Hubert Jaillot, a French geographer, and sculptor to the king, died.

1790. Elizabeth Welsh died at New York, aged 104.

1794. George James Danton, a French Revolutionary Leader, guillotined. Robespierre, dreading the dauntless intrepidity of Danton, Fabre d'Eglantine, Bazire, Chabot, and others of the most noted of his fellow desperadoes in the convention, caused them to be arrested as conspirators against the republic, and after a summary trial, they were executed by the guillotine on this day. The government of France was now almost entirely vested in one man, under whose sanguinary administration the prisons of Paris contained at one time more than seven thousand persons, and a day seldom passed without sixty or eighty executions by the revolutionary axe.

1794. Marie Jean Herault de Sechelles, a French statesman, guillotined. He conducted before the revolution as an able and upright officer; but as the scene progressed he became identified with the terrorists, and went to the scaffold with Danton, Desmoulins, (q. v.) and others. The two conducted with as much levity in their last moments as if they had been going to a party of pleasure.

1794. Benedict Camille Desmoulins, one of the founders of the Jacobin club in France, guillotined. He was the friend of Danton, and one of the most bloody and reckless of the revolutionists. When arraigned by order of Robespierre, he was asked his age, to which he replied "33 ans, l'age du sans culotte Jesus Christ." His wife, whom he adored, a beautiful, courageous and spirited woman, desired to share her husband's fate, which Robespierre seems not to have been slow to grant.

1795. Treaty of peace concluded at Basle, Switzerland, between France and Prussia.

1795. County of Schoharie, in New York, erected.

1797. The first Turkish ships arrived at London.

1799. The British forces under Gen. Harris, called the Madras army, arrived at Seringapatam, within Tippoo Saib had retreated after the defeat of Seedasere.

1799. Battle of Villingen and Rothweil in Germany; the French under Joubert defeated by the Austrians under the archduke Charles.

1800. British captured Goeree; admiral Duckworth's squadron on the same day, fell in with and captured two Spanish frigates and eleven merchantmen from Lima. The admiral's share of the spoil amounted to £75,000.

1804. Robert Raikes, an English printer and philanthropist, died. He succeeded his father in the printing business and having realized a good property, he employed it, with his pen and his influence, in relieving such objects as stood in need of his benevolent assistance. He is however best known as the originator of sabbath schools.

1811. Henry I (Christophe), king of Hayti, created an hereditary nobility, consisting of 4 princes, 7 dukes, 21 counts, 9 barons and chevaliers, and appointed persons to those ranks.

1811. James Traquair died; the first man in America who procured busts to be carved in American marble. They were likenesses of Washington and Penn, and executed by an Italian.

1814. Bonaparte accepted the island of Elba as his residence, and renounced for himself and heirs the throne of France.

1815. Continued eruption of Tomboro, which began April 3. (See April 12.)

1817. Battle of Maypu, which sealed the independence of Chili. The patriots under San Martin and Las Heras defeated the royalists, 5000, under Osorio; 2000 were killed and 2500 taken.

1830. The bill to remove the civil disabilities of the Jews introduced into the British parliament.

1832. Ratification of the treaties of commerce, navigation and limits, between the United States and Mexico, exchanged at Washington.

1837. Henry Bathurst, bishop of Norwich, died in London, aged 93. He was distinguished for the liberality of his principles, and was exemplary in the exercise of his duties—the father of 36 children, 22 by his first wife, 14 by his second.

1842. Patrick Kelly died at Brighton, England. He is well known for his valuable writings on science, but his great work the Universal Cambist entitles him to lasting distinction.

1843. Valnier, a native of St. Domingo, died at Merida, Yucatan, aged 117. He retained his sight until the age of 105, and his intellect was unimpaired till the time of his death.

1844. John Sanderson of Philadelphia, who wrote an account of the lives of the signers of the declaration of American independence, died. He had some reputation for wit.

1852. Felix von Schwartzenberg died at Vienna, aged 52. He represented the Austrian empire at various courts, at different periods, the earliest being at the age of 15. In a military capacity he took the field in 1843 against Charles Albert of Sardinia, and half a year later succeeded prince Metternich, on his fall, as prime minister of the empire.

1853. A new planet was discovered by Prof. de Gasparis, at Naples.

APRIL 6.

323 B. C. Alexander (the Great,) of Macedon, died of intemperance. The death of this famous hero took place at Babylon, on the 6th day of the Athenian month Thagelion, which then corresponded with the 28th of the Macedonian month Dæsius. He lived 32 years and 10 months, and reigned, computing from the Olympiad six months prior to the death of Philip, 12 years and 10 months—a brief career of extraordinary, but profitless glory.

1190. Richard I (Cœur de Lion), killed at the siege of Chalus, in France. He commenced his career by rebellion against his father. On ascending the throne of England, he plundered and massacred the Jews, and set sail for Palestine with the bravest of his subjects. Taking the lead in the crusade, he gained a series of victories over the Moslem. On his way home he was seized and imprisoned, and ransomed by his subjects with 150,000 marks. He was preparing for another crusade, when his career was suddenly terminated by a wound from a cross-bow, in the 42d year of his age.

1348. Laura de Noves, Petrarch's mistress, died. She was descended of a Provencal family which became extinct in the 16th century, inherited a large fortune by the death of her father, and married Hugh de Sade of Avignon. She was considered the most beautiful woman of the city. Petrarch says it was 6 o'clock in the morning of the 6th April, 1327, that he first saw her in the church of the nuns of St. Clara; and it was at the same hour of the same day, 1348, that she died of the plague. Nearly two centuries after, some antiquarians obtained permission to open her grave. They found a parchment enclosed in a leaden box, containing a sonnet bearing Petrarch's signature.

1453. Mohammed II besieged Constantinople, which terminated in the overthrow of the Christian empire.

1528. Albrecht Duerer, a celebrated German painter and engraver, died. He is still esteemed in Germany as one of the brightest jewels in her crown of fame. He was the reformer if not the founder of the German school of painting, and was the first to bring the art of engraving to any degree of perfection.

1574. Paul Manutius, a learned Venetian printer, died, aged 62. He wrote valuable commentaries on Cicero, and four treatises on Roman antiquities.

1580. Earthquake which was felt throughout England. The bells rang, and chimneys toppled down.

1590. Francis Walsyngham, an English statesman, died, aged 90. He flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, and was of infinite service to the state, by the energy and zeal with which he performed the duties of his offices. Yet he died so poor that his remains were privately buried by night, without any ceremony.

1609. Henry Hudson departed from the Texel on his famous voyage of discovery, the object of which was to find a northern passage to India. Meeting with obstructions he determined to attempt a north-west passage; and this also being attended with disasters, he shaped his course south along the American continent, and discovered the noble river which bears his name, and gave him immortality.

1645. William Burton, an English antiquary, died. He published a history of the county of Leicestershire, which is valuable.

1655. David Blondel, a French protestant minister, died. He had the misfortune to lose his sight by close application to study, but even under that calamity he dictated two folio volumes on the genealogy of the kings of France. He was a man of great learning.

1686. Arthur Annesley, earl of Anglesey, died. He was a statesman of great utility, sagacity and learning, under Charles I.

1695. Richard Busby, a celebrated English schoolmaster, died. He was educated by the bounty of the parish, and became head master of Westminster school, which place he held during half a century. He educated most of the eminent men who flourished about the period of his death. They regarded him as a father, though a severe one.

1707. William van der Velde (the younger), a Dutch painter, died. He was an admirable artist, distinguished for his excellence in marine subjects, painted in black and white, on a ground so prepared on canvas, as to give it the appearance of paper. It is said he has had no equal in his line.

1717. James Perizonius, a German professor at Leyden, died. He published various works in Latin, on history, classical literature and antiquities; and was a man of extensive erudition, great application and sound judgment.

1739. The workmen at Stocks market, England, disinterred a grave stone with antique letters, supposed to have been buried 297 years.

1743. William Melmoth, (the elder,) a learned English lawyer, died. He is better known by a treatise on religious life, of which immense editions have been published.

1751. Frederick, king of Sweden and landgrave of Hesse Cassel, died.

1755. Richard Rawlinson, an English antiquary, died. He was an indefatigable collector, and made himself useful to his cotemporary antiquaries in the completion of their works. The sale of the printed books and pamphlets of his library occupied 60 days.

1760. Charlotte Charke, the last surviving daughter of Colley Cibber, died.

1776. Action between the British ship Glasgow, of 20 ninepounders, and her tender, Capt. Howe, and American brigantine Cabot, 20 nines and 10 sixes; Columbus, 18 nines, 10 sixes; Annodine brig, 6 guns, and Providence sloop, 12 sixes, under Com. Hopkins. The British made the attack, and continued the engagement 3 hours, when the tender was captured, but the Glasgow escaped.

1793. The French army evacuated Antwerp and Mons in Belgium, and retreated towards Valenciennes and Lisle.

1794. The French took Oneglia, in Sardinia, where they captured 2 frigates and a few galleys.

1796. David Allan, a Scottish painter, died. He practiced history, portrait and landscape; but exercised his talents chiefly on works of humor. Some of his pieces have been engraved.

1796. David Campbell, a Scottish divine, died. He was professor of divinity at Aberdeen, translated the gospels, and answered Hume on the miracles.

1799. Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode, an English antiquary, died. He was a man of great wealth and literary attainments, and his library and cabinet was one of the most select and valuable in the kingdom. His immense collection of books, medals, drawings, &c., &c., he bequeathed to the British museum.

1804. Charles Pichegru, the French general, died. He was born 1761, of poor parents, educated in a monastery, and was a tutor of Bonaparte at Brienne. He came to America with a French regiment near the close of the revolution. At the outbreak of the revolution in France he distinguished himself so much that he rose to be the first in command, and achieved a series of most brilliant and important victories, which resulted in the conquest of Holland. He was detected in a plot for the restoration of the Bourbons, which cut short his career, and he died in prison by strangulation.

1808. Corner stone laid of the vault prepared for the relics of the American seamen, soldiers and citizens, who perished in the British prison ships at the Wallabout, during the war of the revolution.

1810. Three days' rioting commenced in London on account of Francis Burdett's budget.

1811. French privateer Revance de Cerfe, burnt at Norfolk, Va. She was fired by 15 men in 2 boats, at about 2 A. M.

1812. Badajos, in Spain, taken by storm, at ten at night, by the British and Portuguese troops under Wellington; loss of the allied army 4000; the defence made by the French governor was brave, determined and noble.

1813. Lewistown, Delaware, cannonaded about 20 hours by the British frigate Belvidere. The defence was conducted in such a manner that but little injury was done.

1814. The French provisional government proposed, and the conservative senate adopted the form of a constitution; a limited monarchy, founded on the French and American constitutions, and declared Louis XVIII king.

1815. The American prisoners in Dartmoor prison fired upon by their guard, and many of them killed and wounded. The prince regent pointedly disapproved of their conduct, censured the officers and soldiery, and offered to make provision for the widows and families of the sufferers; this, however, was rejected by president Madison.

1829. Henry Nicholas Abeel, one of the most acute mathematicians of the present age, died.

1831. Revolution in Brazil. Don Pedro abdicated in favor of his son, who was proclaimed Don Pedro II.

1853. The Mexican Governor Trias issued a proclamation at Chihuahua, relative to the possession of the Mesilla valley, threatening to resist the occupation of New Mexico by the United States.

1855. An asteroid was discovered by M. Chacornac, at the imperial observatory of France.

1856. The constitution of the new state of Deseret was established by a people's convention at Salt Lake city, Utah territory.

APRIL 7.

1118. Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem, died, and was buried on mount Calvary. He accompanied his brother, Godfrey de Bouillon, to Palestine during the crusades, and on the death of Godfrey was made king.

1141. Maud declared queen of England in a national synod.

1196. William Longbeard, a factious priest, executed. He was notorious for raising seditions in London, during the reign of Richard I. He was torn to pieces by horses, and then hung upon a gallows.

1498. Charles VIII, (the affable,) king of France, died. He was crowned king of Naples, and emperor of Constantinople, but afterwards met with reverses, and was driven back into France.

1521. Magellan erected the Spanish standard on one of the Philippine islands.

1656. Jerome Bignon, a French statesman, died. He was born 1590, and his attainments were so rapid that at the age of 10 he published a description of Palestine, and at the age of 14 a treatise on the election of the popes.

1668. William Davenant, an English poet and dramatist, died. He succeeded Ben Jonson as poet laureate, and obtained a patent for a theatre in Lincoln's Inn fields, which was in operation a number of years.

1684. Dublin castle in Ireland burned.

1710. Thos. Betterton, the actor, died. He was esteemed the greatest master of tragic action in his time.

1710. Edward Codrington died at Barbadoes. He was a native of the West Indies, and distinguished himself by his learning, and by his courage in defence of the British islands against the French.

1712. Richard Simon, a French critic and historian, died. His works are numerous, and evince extensive learning and strong judgment.

1766. Tiberius Hemsterhuys, a Dutch critic, died. He was appointed professor of mathematics and philosophy at Amsterdam at the early age of 19, and is the author of several learned works.

1776. Charles Peter Colardeau, a French poet, died. He translated a part of Pope and Young with great spirit and elegance, and also wrote for the stage.

1780. Robert Watson, a Scottish historian, died; author of Philip III of Spain.

1785. First paper issued in Hudson, Columbia county, New York.

1786. The celebrated catacombs of Paris consecrated, with great solemnity. They lie under a part of the city which was undermined some centuries ago, to furnish stone for the ancient edifices of Paris, and at length became closed up. This cemetery had been used more than a thousand years by twenty parishes, and it is estimated that more than three millions of people had been inhumed within its inclosures. In process of time, as the city extended, palaces and churches were built over the subterranean caverns, and were in imminent danger of sinking into the pit below, before it was again discovered. The mighty city of Paris had until now but one burial place, where a pit was dug, and the bodies laid side by side, without any earth being put over them, till the first tier was full; then a thin layer of earth covered them, and another tier of dead came on; thus by layer upon layer, and dead upon dead, the hole was filled up. These pits were emptied every thirty or forty years to receive new tenants. The last grave digger, Francis Pontraci, had by his own register, in less than thirty years, inhumed more than 90,000 bodies in that ground. The great increase of burials rendered the cemetery still more inconvenient, and it was at last happily thought of converting the quarries under the city into a receptacle for the dead.

1788. The first settlement in Ohio began, at Marietta, by 47 persons from New England.

1789. Peter Camper, a Dutch physician and naturalist, died. He was distinguished for the extent of his knowledge. A splendid edition of his works was published in 6 vols. accompanied by 100 folio plates.

1789. Achmet IV, one of the most enlightened of the Turkish rulers, died. The first act of his successor Selim was the execution of the grand vizier, on the pretext that he had occasioned the loss of Oczakov.

1796. The British squadron under Warren captured 3 French brigs and 1 sloop, laden with provisions.

1797. Suspension of arms between Napoleon and the Archduke Charles.

1797. William Mason, an English poet, died. He was chaplain to the king till the American war, when his name was erased from the list in consequence of the sentiments he entertained in regard to the liberties of the subject.

1800. Action between the British ship Leviathan, admiral Duckworth, and the Spanish frigates Carmen and Florentia, 36 guns each, and 650 men, with 3000 quintals of quicksilver on board. The Spaniards were captured, together with 7 vessels under convoy.

1806. Alleghany county in western New York erected.

1807. Lalande (see April 4: by some authorities his death is put down on the 7th.)

1812. Capt. Agar, a celebrated English pedestrian, undertook to walk a distance of 59 miles in 8½ hours, for 200 guineas. He won the match 3 minutes within the time.

1812. Mrs. Bumby died at Ekring, England, aged 80; remarkable for a horn growing from her forehead in a spiral form to the length of nearly six inches.

1814. About 200 British marines and sailors landed at Saybrook, in Connecticut, spiked the cannon and destroyed several vessels, and escaped in the night to their shipping.

1817. The county of Tompkins in the state of New York erected.

1835. James Brown, an American statesman, died. He rose to a high rank at the bar, and was several years minister to France.

1836. William Godwin, an English novelist, and political and miscellaneous writer, died, aged 81. He commenced his career as a dissenting minister, which station he relinquished to gain a subsistence by literature. His works are numerous, and acquired him much celebrity, though tinctured more or less with skepticism.

1844. Morgan Lewis, a distinguished American military officer and statesman, died at New York, aged 90. He served with fidelity under the colonial government, and with honor and gallantry in the war of the revolution, and in the war of 1812. He held various important civil offices from 1791 to 1810.

1849. Irvine Shubrick, an American naval officer, died. He had been thirty-five years in the service, and fought under Decatur and Downes. He commanded the expedition against the island of Sumatra in 1832, which captured Qualla Battoo, and broke up a horde of pirates who molested vessels there.

1850. James Emott, a distinguished member of the New York bar, died at Poughkeepsie, aged 80.

1854. All English and French vessels were ordered out of the port of Odessa.

1856. The steamship Adriatic, the largest vessel of the kind that had ever been built, was launched at New York.

APRIL 8.

431 B. C. A body of 300 Thebans surprised the town of Platæa, in Greece, in the dead of night, and were all destroyed or captured by the inhabitants.

46. Battle of Thassus, in Africa; Scipio and Juba defeated by Julius Cæsar.

217. Caracalla, the Roman emperor, assassinated at Edessa.

1341. Petrarch crowned with laurels at Rome, with great pomp. This distinction was awarded him on the appearance of his Latin poem entitled Africa, in which he celebrates Scipio, his favorite hero. This poem he considered his best, yet it was never finished. His reputation now rests as a poet, on his Italian poems.

1364. John I, king of France, died. He was taken by Edward III at the battle of Poictiers, and conducted to England, where he was retained in captivity four years. He returned from France in 1363, which he had visited on parole, and died at his palace in London, aged 45, after a reign of 14 years, which had been extremely calamitous to France.

1492. Lorenzo de Medicis, surnamed the Great, and the father of letters, died at Florence. He was a great merchant, and an eminent statesman; whose public services so recommended him to the Florentines that he was declared chief of the republic; and whose wisdom and judgment were so conspicuous, that foreign princes made him the arbiter of their differences.

1546. The council of Trent declared against the Lutheran system, and adopted the Latin or vulgate translation of the Bible by St. Jerome.

1663. The first play bill issued from Drury Lane theatre. The play was advertised to be acted "by his majesty's company of comedians," and was entitled the Hvmovrovs Lievtenant, and was to commence at three o'clock precisely.

1679. Bosia, a village near Piedmont, in Italy, suddenly sunk into the earth, by which about 200 persons perished.

1702. Thomas Gale, an English divine, died. Though engaged the best part of his life in active and laborious employments, he yet found much time to devote to literature and classical learning. His publications are numerous and display great ability.

1704. Job Ludolphus, a German linguist, died, aged 80. He was one of the most eminent orientalists of his time, and the first European who acquired the Ethiopic language, of which he published a grammar and dictionary, and a history of the country. He was well versed in twenty-five languages.

1704. Henry Sidney, earl of Romney, died. He was brother to the famous Algernon Sydney, and an accomplished statesman.

1731. Elizabeth Cromwell, grand-daughter of the lord protector of England, Oliver Cromwell, died at Bedford row in her 82d year.

1735. Francis Leopold Ragotzki, prince of Transylvania, died. He wrote an interesting memoir on the revolutions in Hungary.

1793. Edmund C. Genet, first minister from the French republic to the United States, arrived at Charleston. He was superseded by Fauchet at the request of Washington the next year.

1801. The French surrendered Rosetta, in Egypt, to the British troops under Col. Spencer.

1803. Louis Frederick Antoine Arbogast, a French mathematician, died. He was a member of the national convention, but appears not to have taken any active part in politics, his name appearing only to some report on scientific subjects. His works place his name high among the distinguished men of the day; his character was blameless.

1806. Herring, aged 60, and his wife, executed at Newgate, London, for coining money.

1808. County of Cortland in New York state erected.

1811. First law passed by the New York legislature respecting the Erie canal.

1812. Louisiana became a member of the United States confederacy.

1821. Simon Assemanni, one of the most learned of Maronites in modern times, died at Padua, where he had long been a professor. His explanation of the Arabian antiquities is much esteemed.

1832. Robert Simson died at Montreal, aged 101. He was at the attack on Quebec under Wolfe.

1835. Mr. Clayton, an American æronaut, made an ascension at Cincinnati, which proved an extraordinary affair. The spot at which he came to the earth was on Stevenson's knob, a mountain in Virginia, 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and 350 miles from Cincinnati, which distance he was wafted in 9½ hours.

1835. William Von Humboldt, a distinguished philologist, died, near Berlin, Prussia. He was elder brother of the celebrated traveler of that name, and distinguished as a statesman and a scholar.

1838. John, a negro, drowned at Washington, aged 115.

1854. An explosion on the steam boat Gazelle, at Canemah, Oregon, destroyed the boat and killed 21 persons.

1854. A fire at Salonica, in Greece, destroyed 600 houses and warehouses.

1854. The Ganges canal, a work of vast magnitude, was opened by the lieutenant-governor of Agra, with great ceremony and a display of troops.

APRIL 9.

1483. Edward IV, of England, died. He disputed the crown with Henry VI and involved the kingdom in war and bloodshed, till the death of the latter, when he ascended the throne unmolested. He became a voluptuary, and died from excessive eating.

1483. Dr. Shaw, brother to the lord mayor of London, preached a sermon on the text "Bastard slips shall not thrive." It was not productive of many converts.

1547. Edward VI succeeded to the throne of England on the death of Henry VIII.

1589. Thomas Sampson, a noted English nonconformist divine, died. During the reign of Mary, he fled to Geneva, where he was engaged in the translation of the Genevan Bible.

1609. Hudson left the Texel on his memorable voyage of discovery, in the yacht "Halve Maan," of forty lasts (80 tons) burden; a size which easily admits the supposition that he ascended the river as far as Half-Moon, or Waterford.

1626. Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, died, aged 66. At the age of 13 he entered the university, where he made the most astonishing progress in all the sciences then taught, and at the age of 16 attacked the Aristotlean philosophy. He succeeded rapidly in office under government, and in 1619 was appointed lord high chancellor of England and baron of Verulam. Here, unfortunately, he sullied his name, and was fined, imprisoned and degraded, for bribery and corruption. This extraordinary man is justly entitled to the appellation of "the father of experimental philosophy."

1648. A great insurrection of the people of London by reason of the parliament abolishing holydays.

1670. Samuel Sorbierre, a French writer, died. He was educated for the protestant ministry, but abandoned that faith for popery, without much advantage to himself, as his sincerity was suspected. His literary reputation is also somewhat tarnished.

1697. William, earl of Craven, died in his 89th year. The nobility of England are famed for longevity.

1747. Simon Frazer, Lord Lovat, executed on Towerhill, aged 80. He was a Scottish statesman, educated among the Jesuits in France. His life was a scene of treachery and misdemeanor, which compelled him to fly from one country to another. Finally, joining the rebellion of 1745, he was seized and condemned, and died like a martyr.

1754. Christian Wolff, a Prussian philosopher, died. In consequence of a Latin oration on the Chinese, which gave offence to the clergy, he was expelled from the country; but the honors conferred upon him by other countries, led to his recall by the king, when his merits were duly rewarded, and his former injuries obliviated. His whole life was devoted to advance the interests of science and virtue.

1759. Nicholas Hardinge died, an eminent English scholar, and author of some Latin poems.

1761. William Law, an English dissenting divine, died. He is well known as the author of the Serious Call.

1780. Charleston invaded by the British land and naval forces under Sir Henry Clinton.

1790. Nicholas Sylvester Bergier, a French ecclesiastic, died. He is the author of several learned and valuable works. His talents and worth commanded preferments, until he declined any more, replying that he was rich enough!

1795. An act for the encouragement of common schools passed by the legislature of New York.

1796. A British squadron under Sir Edward Pellew captured a large French convoy, under the protection of La Volage, 26 guns, which was driven on shore.

1804. James Necker, a Swiss statesman, died. He was sent as ambassador to France, where his abilities were so much respected, that he was twice elevated to the rank of prime minister. But the revolution destroyed his popularity, and he retired to Copet, where he died. He is the author of a work on the finances of France.

1807. John Opie, an eminent English painter, died. He was the son of a humble carpenter, and was drawn from obscurity by the patronage of Dr. Wolcott (alias Peter Pindar). He not only became an excellent artist, but also an admirable writer on the art.

1813. The Chesapeake frigate, Capt. Evans, returned to Boston from a cruise, having captured during an absence of four months, 2 British brigs and 1 ship, 1 American brig with a British license, and a schooner.

1831. Battle near Siedlce, in Poland, in which the Russians were defeated.

1854. The English and French vessels on the coast of Thessaly were directed to search all vessels suspected of having munitions of war on board, and to seize such as were so found.

1855. All the English and French batteries opened on Sebastopol, and continued incessantly through the night and following day. The Russian loss was acknowledged by Gortschakoff at 833 killed and wounded.

APRIL 10.

879. Louis II. of France, died. He is characterized as a weak prince, who had not sufficient firmness to maintain his rights.

1534. James Cartier sailed from France with two small ships and 122 men, with a view to the establishment of a colony. He arrived at Newfoundland in May, and named the gulf St. Lawrence, from his entering it on the day of that festival. He returned without effecting a settlement.

1563. The city of Goa in India introduced printing.

1599. Gabrielle d'Estrees, a mistress of Henry IV, died. She was descended from an illustrious house, and was 20 years of age when her beauty captivated the king. He procured a divorce from Margaret of Valois, in order to raise Gabrielle to the throne; but her sudden death, probably by poison, frustrated the plan, and plunged him in excessive grief. Her amiable disposition, gentleness of character and modesty, won her general favor, and she was universally lamented by the French.

1603. A couple of vessels, fitted out by the mayor and aldermen of Bristol, under the command of Martin Pring, to make discoveries on the north of Virginia, and collect sassafras, sailed for the American coast. The sassafras, which was greatly overrated for its medicinal virtues, formed a profitable article of traffic, and is still extensively exported to Great Britain. Of this, they procured a cargo near Bristol, Rhode Island.

1606. The colony of Virginia, as it was called, divided by the king into two colonies. Although 109 years had elapsed since the discovery of the country by the Cabots, in the service of Henry VII, the English had made no effectual settlement in the new world. Twenty years had elapsed since Walter Raleigh attempted the settlement of a colony in Virginia, but not an Englishman was now to be found in the country.

1630. William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, died. He was the son of the illustrious Mary Sidney, and united in himself the virtues of his mother with the manners and accomplishments of a scholar. He is the author of a volume of poems.

1651. Birthday of Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhausen, an ingenious Lusatian mathematician, and founder of the celebrated Dresden porcelain manufactory. He also constructed, about the year 1687, an extraordinary burning mirror.

1653. Oliver Cromwell, having turned out the long parliament, locked the doors upon them.

1703. Andrew Morel, a Swiss antiquary died. He was a diligent and curious collector of medals, and in a work published in 1683 promised to give a description of twenty thousand medals, exactly designed. A part of this great work appeared after his death, in two vols., folio, describing 3,539.

1728. Robert Woodcock, an eminent English musician and composer, died. He also excelled as a painter of sea pieces.

1736. Francis Eugene, prince of Savoy, died, aged 73. He was born at Paris, and destined for the church, against his own inclinations. He applied to the king for a company of dragoons, and on being refused, entered the Austrian service. His first campaign was in capacity of a volunteer against the Turks; where he acquitted himself with so much distinction, that he was appointed to the command of a company of dragoons. He finally rose step by step to the rank of commander in chief of the Austrian army, and achieved a succession of brilliant victories and enterprises in Europe, which humbled the arms of the French, and rendered his name immortal in the annals of fame. His successful campaign in conjunction with the duke of Marlborough, rendered him so popular in England, that a maiden lady bequeathed him £2500, and a gardener £100. [By some authorities, 21st.]

1741. Battle of Molwitz, between the Prussians and Austrians. The latter were defeated with the loss of 7000 men and 180 officers. The Prussians took 1200 prisoners; their loss was 1500 killed, and 3000 wounded.

1752. William Cheselden, an eminent English surgeon and anatomist, died. He acquired great professional reputation, and published several popular works. He was the first foreigner admitted into the French royal academy of surgery.

1756. Joseph Vaissette, a French ecclesiastic, died. He published a History of Languedoc, and a Universal Geography.

1774. John Saas, a French canon and librarian, died. He wrote an abridgment of the French Historical Dictionary, and other works.

1786. John Byron, the English admiral, died. He enjoys a high and merited reputation for courage and professional skill.

1794. The islands of the Saints, in the West Indies, captured by the British.

1795. Action between the British ship Astrea, Capt. Pawlet, and French ship La Glorie, 24 guns: the latter was captured.

1796. Battle of Montenotte, which was attacked by the Austrians under Beaulieu, and defended by the French under Rampon, with such desperate resistance that Bonaparte had time to come up and obtain a victory, taking 2000 prisoners.

1797. Miss Farren, the actress, took leave of the stage, after the performance of her part in the School for Scandal, to marry the earl of Derby.

1798. Bernadotte, the French ambassador at Vienna, in obedience to the Directory, displayed the tri-colored flag at his lodgings; but the populace in a rage tore it down. Not receiving the satisfaction he desired, he left the court.

1806. Horatio Gates, a distinguished officer in the revolutionary war, died. He came over from England as a soldier, and at the defeat of Braddock, 1755, was shot through the body. He joined the American army in 1775, and in 1777 captured Burgoyne. He was afterwards defeated by Cornwallis, at Camden. In 1790 he liberated his slaves in Virginia, and removed to New York, where he died.

1813. Von Berger and Fink executed at Oldenberg, Germany. When the Russians approached the town, the French magistrates fled, leaving a committee of regency of which the above were members. This committee were summoned before a court martial, at which Vandamme presided, and these two excellent men were unjustly condemned to death, although their accuser had only proposed their imprisonment.

1813. Joseph Louis Lagrange, a Sardinian mathematician, died. He went to Paris 1787, where he met with great favor, and under Bonaparte was invested with honors and dignities. His chief work is the Méchanique Analitique.

1814. Battle of Toulouse, at which the French under Soult were defeated by Wellington.

1816. The bank of the United States incorporated by act of congress, with a capital of $35,000,000.

1818. John Cleves Symmes, "of Ohio, late captain of infantry," promulgated "to all the world," his theory that the earth is hollow, containing a number of solid concentric spheres, one within the other, and that it is open at the poles 12 or 16 degrees. His theory amused the world for a number of years.

1823. Charles Leonard Reinhold, an Austrian philosopher, died. He was sent to study with the Jesuits, whose order was abolished while he was a student. In 1787 he settled at Jena, which owes much of its reputation to him, and in 1797 at Kiel, where he died. His works are numerous.

1835. Jacob Schmuck, a distinguished officer in the war of 1812 with England, died. He was a native of Pennsylvania, died at St. Augustine.

1842. John Sutherland, commonly called Killyman, died at Merigonisbe, aged 116. He was born in the last year of the reign of George I, and consequently lived under all the sovereigns of the house of Hanover, six in number. He emigrated to Nova Scotia about 1822, and continued to wear the kilt to the end of his life, declaring that he would never disgrace his country by adopting a foreign garb.

1856. The Americans under Lieut. Green attacked 200 Costa Ricans, killed 27 of them and dispersed the rest. American loss 1 killed and 2 wounded.

1856. A company of 208 men left New York to join Gen. Walker in Nicaragua.

APRIL 11.

52 B. C. Trial of Milo for the murder of Clodius, in the consulship of Pompey. All the unwashed industry of the city was crammed within the forum on that momentous day; but neither Cato's candid ballot, nor the splendid labors of Tully, were sufficient to save the tyrant-killer; so that he was banished to Marseilles, and his estate confiscated.

44 B. C. Marc Antony recorded in the senate a decree of Julius Cæsar, on behalf of the Jews, made thirty-four days before his assassination. The decree is addressed to the senate of Paros, who had forbidden the Delian Jews to worship in the manner of their forefathers.

1415. Pierre Plaont, bishop of Senlis, died. A large quarto Bible fairly written on vellum was presented by him to the House of the Sarbonne for the use of the poor, valued at £15.

1447. Henry Beaufort, brother of Henry IV of England, died. He held the highest ecclesiastical and civil offices in England, under the king; was created cardinal and pope's legate in Germany; and is characterized as proud, haughty and ambitious.

1512. Battle of Ravenna, in Italy, between the Spanish and papal troops, and the French under the brave Gaston de Foix. The French were victorious, with the loss of their general, who was killed in endeavoring to cut off the retreat of the Spaniards. He was but 24 years of age.

1544. Battle of Cerisoles, between the imperialists under the marquis del Geasto, and the French, count de Enguin, who obtained the victory. The marquis was wounded, and 10,000 of his men slain; his tents, baggage and artillery, and many prisoners taken.

1555. Thos. Wyatt beheaded; acquitting with his last breath the princess Elizabeth and the earl of Devonshire.

1585. Gregory XIII, (Hugh Buoncompagno), pope of Rome, died, aged 83. He was an able pontiff, and has rendered his name immortal by the reformation of the calendar, and the adoption of the style which bears his name. This plan, necessary and useful, was long pertinaciously rejected by the protestants, and not adopted by them generally till about two centuries after, and not yet by Russia.

1644. The parliamentary forces under the two Fairfaxes victorious at Selby; 1600 common soldiers, 2000 stand of arms and 500 horses, the result. The parliament ordered a day of thanksgiving.

1669. Clifford, Arlington, Bucks, Ashley, Lauderdale, constituted the cabinet council of Charles II. From the initials of their names, this was called the king's cabal.

1713. The celebrated peace of Utrecht concluded, and with it the twelve years' war for the throne of Spain, in which the principal powers of Europe had been engaged, at a vast expense of life and treasure.

1733. The sheriffs of London and eminent merchants in 200 carriages, went to the house of parliament with a petition against the excise bill, then pending.

1737. Philip Hecquet, a French physician, died. He is the original of the immortal Sangrado of Gil Blas. He was a man of great simplicity of diet, and a friend to bleeding and the use of warm water at proper times, whence the caricature. He published several medical works.

1758. The wooden bridge over the Thames at London was burned down.

1766. Above 100 convicts left Newgate, in London, for the American colonies. They passed along with music playing before them.

1786. The first commencement of Columbia college, New York, when, the papers of the day say, "the public with equal surprise and pleasure, received the first fruits of reviving learning, after a lamented interval of many years."

1798. Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of Poland, died. He was elected to the throne in 1764 under the influence of Russian bayonets; was an elegant and accomplished gentleman, with good intentions, but without the energy and firmness of purpose necessary to sustain a tottering throne, and bridle a licentious nobility. The three great robbers, Russia, Prussia and Austria, divided his kingdom between them, and he retired to private life at St. Petersburgh, on a pension, where he died.

1799. Battle of Ledjars, in Syria; the French under Kleber defeated the Turkish and Arabian army, consisting of 4000 cavalry and 5000 foot, and compelled them to retreat across the river Jordan.

1801. Anthony de Rivarol, a French author, died. He was a man of great acquirements, and associated with the learned men of France before the revolution.

1804. James Thomas died in Tatnal county, Georgia, aged 134.

1805. Treaty signed between Great Britain and Russia, the basis of the anti-Gallican alliance.

1808. British order in council encouraging evasions of the United States embargo law.

1812. Four British barges taken in Hampton roads by the frigate Constellation and revenue cutter Jefferson; prisoners 80.

1814. Napoleon subscribed the treaty of abdication at Paris. On the same day the white banner was advanced by lord Wellington on the ramparts of Toulouse.

1816. Act of the British parliament regulating the intercourse with St. Helena during Bonaparte's confinement there. It legalized the detention of the fallen emperor as a prisoner of war during the king's pleasure; British subjects aiding or assisting him to escape, to suffer death.

1817. William Beloe, an English divine and critic, died. He is principally known as the translator of Herodotus and Aulus Gellius, though his works are numerous and highly creditable.

1817. At Dartmoor, England, a man sold his wife in the market place. She stood as in olden times, with a rope round her neck. Her first lover was the purchaser at the price of two guineas.

1823. County of Wayne erected in western New York.

1824. Jean Baptiste Drouet, who arrested Louis XVI in his flight, and was expelled from France as a regicide, died under the assumed name of Meyer, at Macon in France.

1829. The catholic relief bill passed the house of peers, in the British parliament after much discussion.

1832. Raffaele Morghen, a celebrated Italian engraver, died at Florence, aged 72.

1833. Rowland Hill, an able and eccentric preacher, died, aged 89. He usually spent a considerable part of the summer in visiting various parts of England, preaching in churches of every denomination that would admit of his services, and occasionally to large assemblies in the open air. He preached for the last time to an immense audience, but three days before his death.

1837. Kirk Boott died at Lowell. He was a native of Boston, and received an excellent education, partly in England; went to Spain, and joined the British army as an officer under Wellington; spent two years at the military school at Woolwich, Eng.; on his return to Boston he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and subsequently was called to superintend the erection of manufacturing establishments at Lowell, where, by his enterprise, energy and extraordinary talent, his name became identified with the prosperity of that new and flourishing city.

1840. Alexander Nasmith, the father of the Scottish school of landscape painting, an eminent artist, and author of numerous productions, died at Edinburgh, aged 83.

1844. James Stewart, commonly known as Jimmey Strength, died in England, aged 116. He was born at Charleston, S. C., 1728, and at the age of 20 enlisted as a soldier—was at the battle of Quebec and Bunker's Hill. He had five wives and 27 children. Ten of his sons were killed in battle. His strength was remarkable. During the last 60 years of his life he traveled the borders as a wandering minstrel, scraping upon a wretched violin.

1854. One of the college buildings of the Indiana University was destroyed by fire; it contained a library of 2700 volumes.

1854. The emperor Nicholas issued a manifesto to all his Russian subjects, stating the object of the war with Turkey and the allied powers.

1855. Broussa, in Asia Minor, again visited by an earthquake, and the wooden buildings in the place were mostly destroyed by fire.

1856. The great bridge over the Mississippi at Rock Island completed, and locomotives passed from the Illinois to the Iowa side.

1856. Battle of Rivas; General Walker, with 400 Americans and 300 natives, attacked the Costa Ricans, numbering 3000 men, who after a long contest left the city. The latter acknowledged a loss of 200 killed and 400 wounded; Walker's loss, 80 killed and disabled, including almost all of his official staff.

APRIL 12.

205 B. C. The shrine of the potent goddess Cybele received at Rome from Pessinus, and deposited in the temple of Victory; Scipio Africanus and Crassus Dives, consuls. This was done in pursuance of an oracle in the sybilline books, which affirmed that if a foreign enemy invaded Italy, they might be vanquished by introducing the goddess Cybele into the capital.

65. Lucius Annæus Seneca, the Roman philosopher, destroyed himself by order of Nero. He was born in the first year of the Christian era, received a careful education, and became a disciple of the stoic school of philosophy. He was the tutor of Nero, who, listening to the calumnies of his enemies, had him accused of treason and condemned. He professed a contempt for luxuries, but was not indifferent to wealth, for he acquired an immense estate. His Morals have often been republished in English.

276. Marcos Claudius Tacitus, emperor of Rome, died, at Tyana upon Saurus. He claimed descent from Tacitus the historian, was a wise, benevolent and patriotic ruler, and had reigned but six months when he was snatched away by assassination or some violent disease.

1204. Siege of Constantinople by the French and Venitian crusaders. In the pillage which followed the conquest of this superb city, all the admirable monuments of Grecian art were demolished, including a colossal Hercules, by Lysippus. This deed by Christians is a great offset to the wanton depredations upon works of art of which the Turks and pagans are so often accused.

1443. Henry Chicheley, archbishop of Canterbury, died. His talents fitted him for the office; and the office enabled him to exercise his benevolence and charity with munificence. He founded the college of All Souls.

1520. Francis Alvares, a Portuguese priest, arrived at the court of David, king of Abyssinia, where he remained six years, and on his return published an account of his embassy.

1549. Joan of Kent, an anabaptist, condemned to be burned.

1646. Francis de Bassompierre, marshal of France, died. He was one of the most distinguished and the most amiable men of the court of Henry IV. Incurring the displeasure or the jealousy of Cardinal Richelieu, he was sent to the Bastile, where he remained 12 years, until the death of the cardinal. He wrote his own memoirs and a history of his embassies, while in prison.

1655. Francis Guyet, an eminent French critic, died. He employed many years in traveling and study, and finally settled in Paris, where he became so much esteemed that he might have risen to the highest honors, had he not preferred retirement.

1678. Thomas Stanley, a learned English writer, died, aged 34. He published a History of Philosophy, containing the lives and opinions of philosophers, of every sect, a work of great merit and popularity, and which was translated into Latin for the use of the German literati.

1695. Votes of the assembly of New York first published.

1695. John Kittlewell, an English divine, died. He acquired great reputation previous to the revolution, but refusing to take the oath of allegiance after that event, was deprived of his living, and devoted his time to writing.

1704. James Benignus Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, in France, died. He distinguished himself as a preacher and a writer of great erudition. His works were published in 12 vols. quarto.

1709. First number of the Tatler appeared.

1734. Thomas Fautet de Lagny died at Paris. His mathematical efforts and researches were directed more to subjects of curiosity than utility. He carried the quadrature of the circle to 120 decimal places.

1743. George Cheyne, a Scottish physician, died. He was studious and abstemious in his youth, but on coming to London, cultivated the society of free livers for the advantages of trade! till he became at length extremely asthmatic, lethargic, listless, and corpulent, exceeding 32 stone in weight. Finding the power of medicine unavailing, he returned to a milk and vegetable diet, and recovered his strength, activity and cheerfulness, with the free and perfect use of his faculties; and by a regular observance of this regimen, reached the mature age of 72. His writings are numerous, and principally on health and longevity.

1749. British ships Namur, 74 guns, 700 men; Pembroke, 60 guns, 400 men; Apollo, 40 guns, 300 men; and a great many merchantmen, lost on the coast of Coromandel; 23 men only saved from the Namur.

1749. Francis Bellenger, a learned doctor of the Sarbonne, died at Paris. He translated some of the ancient historians, and wrote criticisms on Rollin's works, to show his ignorance of Greek.

1757. Subsidiary treaty between England and Prussia; England to pay annually 4,000,000 crowns to Frederick II.

1765. Edward Young, the English poet, died, aged 84. He was educated for the church, but was unfortunately induced to abandon it for politics, in which he was unsuccessful. His Night Thoughts had their origin in a melancholy state of mind, produced by his misfortunes.

1770. George III gave his assent to the act for repealing the duties on glass, paper and colors, in America; but the duty was continued from a point of honor, and as a badge of sovereignty over the colonies.

1780. The British opened their fire upon the American batteries at Charleston, which they continued until the 20th.

1782. Pietro Metastasio, an Italian poet, died. He supplied the opera for a number of years with popular operas and oratorios. He has been styled the poet of love. In all his works he stands high; in his operas he is unrivaled.

1782. The French fleet under count de Grasse defeated by the British under Rodney, with the loss of 9,000 killed and wounded. A French 74 gun ship was blown up, and one of the same rate sunk; two 74's, one 64, and the Ville de Paris, of 110 guns, having on board the French admiral, were taken. Thirty-six chests of money, the whole train of artillery, battering cannon, and traveling carriages, were on board the captured vessels—a circumstance which totally disabled the French from carrying on offensive operations against the British possessions in the West Indies. British loss 1,050 killed and wounded. A new system of tactics for breaking through the line of an enemy was here made use of for the first time. It was invented by John Clerk, of Eldin, a country gentleman, unacquainted with navigation. His principles have since been applied by all the English admirals, and Howe, St. Vincent, Duncan and Nelson, owe to them their most signal victories.

1782. Action off Ceylon, between the French under Admiral Suffrein, and the British under Hughes. British loss, 144 killed and 400 wounded.

1784. Joseph Raulin, an eminent French physician, died. He was induced by Montesquieu to remove to Paris, where he acquired great reputation, and was employed by government to write medical works.

1788. The first power loom began to work at Philadelphia, and on the first of November following the quantity of cloths manufactured was 3,719 yards jean, 580 corduroys, 67 federal rib, 57 beaver fustian, 3,672 plain cottons, 123 birdseye, and 2,879 linen; total 11,197, besides the quantity then in the looms.

1800. Frederick Conrad Hornemann, a celebrated German teacher, who had undertaken a journey into Africa for discovery, wrote that he was on the point of setting out with the great caravan of Bornou, since which nothing certain has been learned of him.

1804. Joseph Dacre Carlyle, an English orientalist, died. He devoted much attention to the study of Arabic, traveled in the east, and on his return was employed in the publication of the Bible in Arabic, when his constitution gave way under the task imposed upon it.

1809. The French fleet in Basque roads destroyed by the British under Admiral Cochran. The British lost but 10 killed and about 40 wounded. The loss of the French in vessels and men was tremendous.

1810. The French captured the East India company's settlement at Tapanooly, in Sumatra.

1814. Count d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI, entered Paris; Bonaparte set off for the island of Elba; intercourse between France and England opened; and a grand illumination in London, on account of the restoration of the Bourbons, and peace with France, which was continued three days.

1814. Charles Burney, an English musical composer, died. He commenced the study of music as an organist. At the age of 31 he undertook to write a General History of Music, upon which he bestowed nearly 40 years of labor and travel. He visited all the institutions of Europe at which he could obtain important information for his work. He furnished the musical articles for Rees' Encyclopedia, and is the author of several other valuable works.

1815. Great eruption of Tomboro, which commenced on the 5th. The explosions resembled the firing of cannon, and were heard at Sumatra, not nearer than 900 miles. Such were the tremendous effects of the burning lava, the overflowing of the sea, the falling of houses, and the violence of the whirlwind, that out of 12,000 inhabitants on this island, only 26 survived. At Java, 300 miles distant, the air was so full of ashes, as to produce profound darkness at mid-day; and at Bima, 40 miles distant, the roofs of many houses were crushed by the weight of ashes falling on them.

1816. Hamilton county in northern New York erected.

1829. Felix Neff, a Swiss preacher, died. He undertook to improve the education and domestic habits of the peasants of the dreary regions called the High Alps of France. He persevered a number of years with much success; but his unremitting labors destroyed his constitution, and led to a premature death.

1834. N. G. Dufief, a French linguist, died. His mother was distinguished for her heroism in the Vendean war; and the son was driven to America by political disturbances, and resided at Philadelphia. He just survived the publication of his great work, the Pronouncing Dictionary.

1839. John Galt, the novelist, died at Greenock, Scotland, aged 60. Being unsuccessful in business in London, he visited the south of Europe in 1809, and soon after commenced an active literary career, which continued till near the close of his life.

1839. The justly celebrated Dr. Black, of Mareschall college, Aberdeen, Dr. Keith so well known as a writer on prophecy, with the devoted Messrs. McCheyne and Bonar of the Scottish church, sailed from Dover in England to inquire into and devise measures for the amelioration of the state of the Jews in Palestine. This mission proved of much benefit.

1840. Francis Anthony, chevalier de Gerstner, a distinguished Austrian engineer, died at Philadelphia, aged 44. He commenced at his own risk, the first rail road on the continent of Europe, from Budweis on the Moldau, to Lintz on the Danube, 130 miles. He suggested to the emperor Nicholas the project of a rail road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a portion of which was undertaken under his direction, and first opened in 1837, and since prosecuted by the government.

1848. New code of New York laws adopted.

1849. Signor Gasparis, at Naples, discovered a new planet, making the fourth added to our system in four years.

1850. Adoniram Judson, a celebrated baptist missionary died at sea.

1854. A review of 25,000 troops in Paris, before the British officers.

1854. The French squadron under Admiral Parseval-Deschenes, sailed from Brest to join the British fleet in the Baltic.

1855. The United States gave the twelve months' notice to Denmark of their intention to terminate the treaty of 1826, by which the payment of sound dues was recognized.

APRIL 13.

58 B. C. Julius Cæsar finished his famous wall of entrenchment, 16 feet in height and 17 miles in length, from Geneva to St. Claude; being a labor of only 6 days.

1436. Paris surrendered to the French under Charles VII, having been almost 14 years in the possession of the English.

1517. Cairo taken by the Turks under Selim, after a gallant resistance, and 50,000 of its inhabitants barbarously massacred. The sultan was hanged on one of the gates, Egypt was reduced to a province, and the power of the Mamelukes crushed, who for more than 260 years had swayed the land.

1584. An expedition fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh took possession of Wowoken, on the coast of America, since called Virginia. A colony was left there, but they were cut off by the Indians, and every one put to death.

1598. Henry IV of France published at Nantes the memorable edict of toleration; it was revoked 1685, by Louis XIV.

1605. Boris Godoonoff, czar of Moscow, died. He was called to the throne by acclamation, on the death of Fedor, the last of the dynasty of Ruric. In abilities and vigor of character, he resembled Peter the great; and might be called one of the greatest of princes, was not his name tarnished by a crime that led his way to the throne.

1638. Henry, duke of Rohan, a French warrior and historian, died. He signalized himself under Henry IV, both in the field and in the cabinet, but the jealousy of Richelieu drove him to Geneva. He joined the duke of Saxe Weimar against the imperialists, and was wounded in the battle, of which he died.

1640. The English parliament again met by royal mandate, after a refusal on the part of the king to call one for 12 years.

1641. Richard Montague, a learned English prelate, died. He published several controversial works.

1684. Nicolao Antonio, a Spanish author, died. He published an account of all the Spanish writers, in 4 vols. folio, entitled Bibliotheca Hispania. He spent his income, which was large, in acts of charity, and in collecting a library, which at his death, amounted to 30,000 volumes.

1686. Antonio de Solis, a Spanish author of note, died, aged 76. He was appointed historiographer of the Indies, and wrote the Conquest of Mexico, on which his fame as an author principally rests.

1699. Birthday of Maria Catharina Walter, in Germany. She died in Philadelphia, 1802, aged over 103, having lived in three centuries.

1722. Charles Leslie, an Irish theologian, died. He was a magistrate under James II, and respected for his talents and integrity. His writings were numerous, and sought for with avidity.

1726. Velasco Y. Palomino, a highly admired Spanish painter, died at Madrid.

1742. Oliver Reylof died at Ghent, eminent as a Latin poet.

1743. Christopher Pitt, an English poet, died. His translation of Virgil's Æneid is said to be superior to Dryden's.

1759. George Frederick Handel, the illustrious German musical composer, died at London, aged 75. His grand oratorio, the Messiah, appeared in 1741.

1759. Battle of Bergen, in which the duke of Broglio defeated the allies under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who lost 2,000 men and the Hanoverian prince Ysemberg.

1777. Battle of Boundbrook, New Jersey, in which 500 Americans under Gen. Lincoln were attacked by 2000 British under Cornwallis, and effected a retreat with the loss of 60.

1782. Third action off Ceylon, between the British under Admiral Hughes, and the French under Suffrein; latter defeated.

1787. Board of regents of the university of the state of New York established.

1788. Great riot in New York, occasioned by the imprudent manner in which the physicians procured subjects from the burying grounds; several lives lost.

1794. Peter Gaspard Chaumette, a French revolutionist, executed. He was the son of a cobbler, displayed great courage at the taking of the Bastile, and became one of the most sanguinary and reckless characters of the time, till his career was arrested by the guillotine.

1795. Riots in England on account of the high prices of food.

1796. Battle in the defiles of Millesimo, Italy, in which the French under Augereau and Joubert defeated the imperialists, who retreated to the mountains of Cossaria.

1799. Schaffhausen, on the Rhine in Switzerland, taken by the imperialists.

1801. The canal at Alexandria, Egypt, cut by the British, and the country inundated.

1804. Makey, a Malay settlement on the coast of Sumatra, destroyed by the British.

1807. Robert Heron, an erudite and popular writer, died. By unwearied industry he raised himself from an obscure to a prominent situation in society.

1813. Battle of Castilla, in Spain; the British under Sir John Murray, defeated the French under Suchet.

1815. The bill for the construction of the Erie canal from the Hudson river to lake Erie, passed the house of assembly, 84 to 15.

1818. Thomas Hatchcock died in Richmond county, North Carolina, aged 125, leaving a son aged 93 and another 16, and a great progeny besides.

1827. Hugh Clapperton, a Scottish traveler, died. He was employed by the British to explore the interior of Africa, and died at Sackatoo, on his second journey thither.

1832. Shadrach Bond, first governor of Illinois, died at Kaskaskia.

1839. Robert Hillhouse, an English poet, died. He was a stocking-weaver of Nottingham, and had no advantages of education but such as were afforded by Sunday schools. His works "will insure his celebrity as a poet of no mean grade."

1850. Pope Pius IX returned to Rome.

1853. William R. King, vice-president of the United States, died. He was for many years a diplomat abroad, and his career furnished a remarkable instance of the eminent and deserved success of probity, fidelity, industry, gentlemanly spirit and bearing, and inflexible honor.

1855. Henry Thomas de la Beche, an eminent English geologist, died, aged 59. He was the author of many geological works, and director-general of the geological survey of the united kingdom, and was knighted in 1848, in recognition of his valued and long-continued services.

1856. Philadelphia visited by a tornado, 150 houses unroofed.

APRIL 14.

979. Ethelred II, crowned at Kingston by the famous Dunstan, then archbishop of Canterbury. This was the first king in England who took a coronation oath, and the first it is said to institute trial by jury. In this reign priests were forbidden to marry.

1040. Harold I (Harefoot), king of England, died. He was succeeded by his brother Hardicanute, whose first act was to order the body of Harold to be dug up and thrown into the Thames.

1293. Naval engagement in the British channel, between the French and English fleets, by mutual agreement, with the whole of their respective forces. The English, under Edward I, were victorious, carrying off more than 250 sail of their opponents.

1293. The mariners of Portsmouth and the Cinque Ports captured the Norman fleet, of 200 ships, off Brittany, and massacred the crews.

1322. Fitz-Simeon and Hugh the illuminator, two friars of Dublin, commenced their pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre.

1345. Richard Aungerville, an English scholar and statesman, died; better known as Richard de Bury. He may be classed as the first bibliomaniac upon record in England. He purchased thirty or forty volumes of the Abbot of St. Albans, for fifty pounds weight of silver; and so enamored was he of his collection, which became very large for that period, that he expressly composed a treatise on the love of books, entitled Philobiblon.