627. Battle of Nineveh; the Romans under Heraclius defeated the Persians after a contest from daylight to the eleventh hour; 28 standards were wrenched from the hands of the conquered, and the cities and palaces of Assyria were opened for the first time to the Romans.801. Alcuin, preceptor of Charlemagne, presented his illustrious pupil with a magnificent folio Bible, bound in velvet, the leaves of vellum, and the writing in double columns, and containing 449 leaves. Prefixed is a richly ornamented frontispiece, in gold and colors. It is enriched with four large paintings exhibiting the state of the art at this early period; there are moreover thirty-four large initial letters, painted in gold and colors, and containing seals, historical allusions, and emblematical devices, besides some smaller painted capitals. (See April 27th, 1836.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

1666. James Ware died, a celebrated antiquary and historian, of Ireland.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1803. Thomas Astle, an eminent English antiquary, died.

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

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

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

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

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

1848. Hungary declared itself an independent republic.

1849. Ebenezer Elliott, called the corn law rhymer, died in England.

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

DECEMBER 2.

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

1549. Margaret de Valois, a French princess, died; noted for her learning and the encouragement she gave to commerce, agriculture and the arts among her subjects.

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

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

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

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

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

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

1779. Alexander Albani died; a Roman cardinal and a man of great merit.

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

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

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

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

1792. The French under Dumourier took possession of Louvain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DECEMBER 3.

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

1553. Pedro de Valdivia, having conquered the greater portion of Chili, and founded the city of Conception, was attacked by the Araucanians, defeated and made prisoner.

1557. The bond or covenant signed at Edinburgh, by the duke of Argyle and others, renouncing the congregation of Satan, with all the superstitious, abominations and idolatry thereof.

1586. In Verde, in Hanover, there fell large quantities of matter, partly red, partly blackened, accompanied by lightning and thunder, a fiery meteor, which burst with a loud noise. This matter burnt the boards on which it fell.

1610. The new bell of the cathedral church of Lincoln, called Great Tom, placed in the steeple of St. Mary. It is the largest bell in England, being seven feet in diameter at the mouth.

1632. De Vries, on his second voyage, arrived at the Delaware river. He found that the little colony, left here two years before (see Dec. 12), had been destroyed by the Indians, and the ground strewed with the skulls and bones of his murdered countrymen.

1647. Buonaventura Cavalieri, an Italian astronomer, died. He was the pupil of Galileo, and enjoyed a remarkable reputation in his day, but has descended to posterity solely through his method of indivisibles, one of the predecessors of the doctrine of fluxions.

1658. John Micrelius, professor of divinity at Stettin, died; a distinguished theological disputant.

1688. The abdication or flight of James II, and revolution in England.

1699. Captain Dampier arrived at the island of Papua or New Guinea, in Australasia, and named its eastern extremity New Britain.

1705. Pedro, king of Portugal, died in the 58th year of his age. Juan IV succeeded.

1758. Daring attempt to assassinate Joseph, king of Portugal. It was for this offence that the Jesuits were expelled the kingdom and their property confiscated—a judgment perhaps unequal to the crime.

1775. The continental flag was displayed for the first time, on board the flag ship of Esek Hopkins, who was commander-in-chief of the first American fleet.

1787. Delaware adopted the federal constitution, being the first state to do so. (7th?)

1798. Coni, the strongest fortification in Italy, was taken by the Austrians.

1800. Battle of Hohenlinden; the Austrians under the archduke John, defeated by the French under Moreau in a severe snow storm, with great slaughter, and night alone saved them from complete destruction. The Austrians lost nearly the whole of their baggage, a great number of cannon and ammunition wagons, 3 generals, and from 10 to 15,000 prisoners.

1809. Intelligence was received at London, that the Ionian isles, the principal of which are Zante, Ithaca and Cerigo, had submitted to the British. They form an independent state under the British government, and contain about 200,000 persons, who carry on a considerable commerce.

1810. The French, under general Decaen, surrendered the isle of Man to the British general, Abercrombie, with 209 pieces of ordnance.

1812. The 29th bulletin of the retreating French army was dated at Molodechno, describing their severe privations.

1814. The mayor of Lyons, in France, published an order forbidding all artists to engrave or paint the likeness of Napoleon Bonaparte.

1815. John Carroll, first catholic bishop in the United States, died, aged 80. He was born in the state of Maryland, and educated in France, where he became a Jesuit. On his return to America he rose from a parish priest to the dignity of archbishop.

1818. Illinois admitted into the union.

1821. Royal dance of torches, at Berlin, on the occasion of the marriage of the prince royal with the princess of Bavaria.

1823. John Baptist Belzoni, one of the most eminent travelers in Egypt, died. He was an Italian, who came to England, where he obtained a subsistence by exhibiting feats of strength and activity at the amphitheatre. He was afterwards engaged in exploring and bringing to light the antiquities of Egypt.

1826. John Flaxman, the celebrated English sculptor, died. His death is differently placed on the 7th and 9th.

1834. Simeon De Witt died, aged 79; surveyor-general of the state of New York. He had filled this office from the time of its establishment to that of his death, 50 years, with the highest satisfaction and ability, and was distinguished for his attainments in astronomy, engineering and physical science.

1838. John Bleecker Van Schaick, a poet of some merit, died at Albany, aged 35.

1839. Frederick VI, king of Denmark, died. He was a benefactor to his country, which is indebted to him for the liberty of the press, emancipation from the last remains of feudal authority, abolition of the slave trade, in which Denmark set the example to the rest of Europe, reforms of the laws, the establishment of schools for general education, the introduction of popular representation, and system, order and economy in the financial affairs of the kingdom.

1839. Pope Gregory XVI issued a bull for abolishing the slave trade; "urgently invoking all Christians of whatever condition, that none henceforth dare subject to slavery, unjustly persecute or despoil of their goods, Indians, negroes, or other classes of men, or be accessories to others in so doing; and on no account henceforth to exercise that inhuman traffic, by which negroes are reduced to slavery, as if they were not men but automata, or chattels," &c.

1849. William L. Hunter, a Rhode Island diplomat, died, aged 75. He studied medicine in London under his kinsman, John Hunter, but subsequently adopted the law. He was chargÉ at Brazil more than ten years.

1851. All attempts to oppose the assumption of power by Louis Napoleon were unsuccessful; the few barricades that were erected were soon torn or battered down.

1854. The people of Mexico completed three days' balloting, and decided with great unanimity that the republic should continue to be governed by Santa Anna.

DECEMBER 4.

1137. Lothaire II, emperor of Germany, died. He was king of Saxony when he was made king of Germany, and finally invested with the title of emperor.

1139. Roger, prior of Hexham, died; author of a history of the campaign of the Scottish army under king David.

1214. William (the Lion), of Scotland, died. He confederated with Henry of England against his father, and his inconsiderate valor at the siege of Alnwick, as well as many other rash acts, brought misfortunes on himself and disgrace upon his people.

1334. John XXII (James d'Eusse), pope, died. He rose under the patronage of Charles II, of Naples. He attempted the suppression of the Cordeliers; was an active pontiff, and respected for his frugality, prudence and sanctity.

1402. Charles VI granted letters patent to the priests to enact mysteries, or as they came to be called moralities, such as the conception of the Savior, &c.

1642. John Armand du Plessis de Richelieu, a celebrated French cardinal and statesman, died. He was a man of great capacity and boundless ambition, whose ministry forms an era in the French government, and prepared the way for the power and grandeur of the reign of Lewis XIV.

1649. William Drummond, a Scottish poet and historian, died. He preceded Waller in polishing English versification.

1654. The expedition under Venables and Penn, sailed for America.

1664. The English, under the duke of York, destroyed 130 of the Bordeaux fleet.

1672. The king of England shut up the exchequer, and suspended payment.

1679. Thomas Hobbes, a celebrated English writer, died. He published his religious, political and moral principles in a complete system, which he called the Leviathan. It is said that few writings have had a more pernicious influence in spreading irreligion and infidelity than his, and yet that none of them were directly leveled against revealed religion.

1679. John Birkenhead died; professor of moral philosophy at Oxford, a zealous royalist, and a popular courtier.

1680. Thomas Bartholine, a learned Danish physician, died. He lost his library by fire, but that his pursuits might not be interrupted he was made librarian to the university. His works are chiefly medical.

1717. Mr. Shippen, a member of the British parliament, from Salt Ash, sent to the tower for saying, "The king's speech was fitted rather for the meridian of Germany than England." The king had little acquaintance with the English language.

1732. John Gay, a celebrated English poet, died; whose fables will ever be admired. His play of the Beggar's Opera was received with greater favor than had ever been known on any former occasion.

1746. Genoa surrendered to the Austrians, and was subjected to the most cruel contributions.

1777. Sir William Howe marched the British army from Philadelphia, to Whitemarsh, for the purpose of attacking Washington, but marched back again without making the attack.

1783. Washington took leave of the officers of the American army in New York.

1789. The city and suburbs of London, overspread with a dense fog, so that the stages traveling between the city and the surrounding villages, were at five in the afternoon, obliged to be preceded by men with lanterns, a thing unprecedented in the memory of any one living.

1792. William Fordyce, an eminent Scottish physician and philanthropist, died in London where he enjoyed an extraordinary reputation.

1798. Minister Pitt's bill, establishing the ten per cent income tax, was introduced into the British parliament.

1808. Charles Louis Fernow died; a distinguished German writer on the fine arts. His father was a common laborer, and his early years were those of a talented youth struggling with poverty and other difficulties. After finishing an apprenticeship as an apothecary, he maintained himself by portrait painting and teaching drawing; and finally devoted his attention to the history of the fine arts and Italian literature. His productions are valuable.

1808. Madrid, being invested by Bonaparte, surrendered. The Spaniards were disarmed, and the town filled with the French army. The pavement had been taken up; the streets barricadoed; the houses on the outskirts loopholed; but in a few days tranquility seemed completely re-established; the French soldiery observed excellent discipline; the shops were re-opened, and the theatres frequented as usual. Such is in most cases the enthusiasm of a great city.

1808. The inquisition abolished by Bonaparte this day.

1815. Christian Godfrey Gruner, a celebrated German physician, died. He was one of the most prolific writers on medical science; having written 50 large works, and as many essays.

1819. Alabama admitted into the union.

1823. Susan Huntington died at Boston; an intelligent American authoress, whose Life of Wisner has passed through several editions in Europe and America.

1826. Abraham Robertson, an eminent English astronomer, died.

1829. Abolition of the rite of suttee, or immolation of Hindoo widows on the funeral pile of their husbands; the British government interposed to prevent its continuance.

1829. Commencement of a revolution in Mexico; Bustamente, the vice-president, issued a proclamation against the government of Guerero, demanding the resignation of his extraordinary powers.

1830. William B. Giles, died at his seat in Amelia county, Virginia. He was chiefly instrumental in getting up the celebrated resolutions of Virginia, 1798-99, and the no less celebrated Virginia report.

1831. General Torrijos, with 54 of his partisans, taken and executed, at Malaga, in Spain.

1836. Richard Westall, an eminent English artist, died. He was the author of a great number of works and designs, and well known for his numerous beautiful illustrations of elegant literature.

1839. Samuel Butler, an English prelate, died. He was the author of various publications, and collected a library valued at £30,000.

1840. John Robinson, an English prelate, died, aged 66. He compiled a theological dictionary, and a work on the antiquities of Greece, ancient and modern history, and some others.

1845. Elisha Blackman, the last survivor of the Wyoming massacre, died at his residence, in Hanover, Wyoming valley, aged 89, and was buried with military honors.

1851. George Crabbe, an eminent English author, died near London, aged 73.

1852. An earthquake at Acapulco did great damage to the city, though without destroying any lives. Shocks were continued for a considerable time.

1853. Kalafat attacked by the Russians, who were repulsed with great slaughter.

DECEMBER 5.

1056. Macbeth, usurper of the Scottish throne, slain by Macduff, after a reign of 17 years.

1492. Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola, called by the natives Hayti, or high country, from its mountains; Quesqueya, or the whole, from its dimensions; and Bohio, or house, from its very superior civilization.

1518. John James Trivulci, marshal of France, died. He was banished from Milan, his native country, and entered into the service of Charles VIII, under whom he distinguished himself repeatedly in battle.

1537. An order for the expulsion of all the gypsies from England.

1560. Francis II, of France, died, aged 17, after a reign of 17 months. He had lately married Mary, queen of Scots.

1639. Henry Wotton, an English statesman and poet, died, leaving many writings.

1712. Anne Mary de Tremouille Ursins died at Rome, aged 80. She was a woman of great powers of mind, who as maid of honor to the queen of Spain, possessed so much influence over the court as to give her the direction of the affairs of the nation.

1734. Peter Tillemans died; a distinguished landscape painter of Antwerp, who settled in England and enjoyed there the patronage of the great.

1754. Battle of Leuthen, or Lissa; the Austrians and Saxons under count Daun defeated by the Prussians under Frederick II, with the loss of 6,000 killed, 21,000 taken prisoners, 134 cannon, and 4,000 baggage and ammunition wagons.

1775. The Americans under Gen. Montgomery and Arnold appeared before Quebec.

1784. Phillis Peters, known to the literary world by her miscellaneous writings, died at Boston. She was an African who acquired the English language, and made some progress in Latin.

1784. A violent storm off the coast of England, which destroyed a vast amount of shipping. A British fleet of 150 sail went out of Yarmouth road that morning, and was totally dispersed, all the sails torn in shreds, and a great many of the ships foundered, their crews in some instances being lost entirely.

1788. Admiral Greig, a Scottish naval commander in the service of Russia, was buried at Revel with great honors.

1792. Johann Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart, a celebrated German musician, died. His works will ever rank with those of the greatest masters.

1793. Armand Guy Simon de Kersaint, a French count, and naval officer of high merit, beheaded at Paris.

1793. John Paul Rabaut de St. Etienne, a French protestant minister, guillotined for his bold and eloquent defence of the king.

1793. Battle of Martigne; the French under Danican defeated by the Vendeans.

1795. John Bewick died; an English engraver on wood, of great excellence; who with his brother carried the art to a state of perfection before unknown.

1806. The French under Murat crossed the Vistula and occupied Praga.

1808. William Hawes, an English physician and philanthropist, died. He was the founder of the Royal humane society, for the recovery of persons apparently dead by drowning, strangulation or suffocation; an institution which has renewed the lives of thousands that would otherwise have perished.

1813. Charles John Maria Denina, an Italian historian, died at Paris; the author of many excellent works.

1815. A foot-ball match at Carterhaugh, Ettrick forest, between the Ettrick men and the men of Yarrow. One party was backed by the earl of Home, the other by sir Walter Scott, sheriff of the forest, who wrote two songs for the occasion.

1819. Frederick Leopold Stolberg, a German writer, died. His works consist of travels, history, poems, dramas and translations.

1835. Thomas Pringle, the first editor of Blackwood's Magazine, and for many years secretary to the London anti-slavery society, died at London.

1837. James Marshman, an eminent and learned baptist missionary, died at Serampore, aged 70. He was the son of a poor English weaver, who having received his education, went to India in 1799. He published a Chinese grammar, and a translation of the entire scriptures.

1838. The French evacuated the city of Vera Cruz. In an engagement between the French and the Mexicans, Santa Anna, who commanded the Mexicans, was wounded so as to oblige an amputation of his leg.

1851. Kossuth, the Hungarian general, arrived at Staten island, and the next day, as the guest of the city of New York, reviewed the troops, which formed a military and civic procession in his honor.

1853. The steamer Humboldt, of the New York and Havre line, run upon a rock in attempting to enter the harbor at Halifax, and was lost.

DECEMBER 6.

342. St. Nicholas, an eminent Grecian bishop, and the patron of children, died. At the council of Nice he was said to be like a sun among so many stars.

884. Carloman, king of France, died.

1139. Alphonso I, king of Portugal, died; celebrated for the defeat of five Moorish kings at the battle of Ourique.

1216. Hertford, in England, taken by the French under Louis the dauphin.

1352. Clement VI (Peter Roger), pope, died. He was a doctor of the Paris university, and is represented by Petrarch as a worthy, generous and learned prelate; but is differently represented by others.

1527. Pope Clement VII escaped in disguise from prison, although, by a treaty with the emperor Charles V, he would have been liberated the following day.

1540. Diet of Worms; conference between the popish and protestant divines; Melanchton and Eckius maintained the principal part of the dispute.

1540. Thomas Davidson, licensed by the "rycht excellent prince James V, king of Scots, to print the new actis and constitutionis of parliament."

1541. Emperor Charles V, obliged by a storm to relinquish his attempt on Algiers and return to Europe.

1557. John Macchabaeus (or Macalpine) died. He was a Scotchman, who resided sometime at Wirtemberg, with Luther and Melanchton. He was afterwards invited to Copenhagen, where he assisted in translating the Danish Bible.

1648. Colonel Pride prevented about 200 members of parliament from entering the house. This is usually called Pride's purge.

1670. Henry Jenkins, an Englishman, died at the remarkable age of 169. He retained his faculties to the last, and was once examined in court on a circumstance that happened 140 years before. As he was born before parochial registers were kept, no parish would support him, and he was obliged to beg for a subsistence.

1672. Jasper Mayne died; an English divine, poet and dramatic writer.

1675. John Lightfoot died; an eminent English divine, distinguished as an able scholar and an eloquent orator.

1688. Flight of Mary d'Este, queen of James II, of England, with her child, afterwards the pretender.

1711. Jane Schrimshaw died in Rosemary hospital, near London tower, aged 127.

1718. Nicholas Rowe died; an eminent English poet and dramatic writer.

1726. Florence Carton d'Ancourt, an eminent French actor and dramatic writer, died. He was the author of 32 plays.

1734. Abigail Masham, the favorite of queen Anne, died; noted in the history of the time for her political intrigues.

1776. The capture of Rhode Island by the British under Gen. Clinton and sir Peter Parker. "It is called the Eden of America," says an English work, "and celebrated (very naturally) for the beauty of its women."

1787. La Perouse reached the Navigator's islands, in Polynesia.

1790. Kentucky was erected into an independent state.

1798. Turin and Piedmont relinquished to the French by the king of Sardinia.

1806. Thorn, in Prussia, taken by the French under marshal Ney, after a slight resistance.

1812. Boston privateer brig Montgomery, of 18 guns, captured British ship Surinam, 20 guns.

1815. A magazine at Dantzic containing 6,000 pounds of powder, with filled bombs and shells, blew up, destroying 700 houses and killing upwards of 600 persons.

1834. Edward Irving, a celebrated and eccentric Scottish preacher, died. He was minister of the Caledonian church in London, and, by the force and eloquence of his discourses, attracted large congregations; the greatest orators and statesmen, the wealthy and fashionable hurried to hear him. But he became finally subject to the wildest vagaries, in respect to the unknown tongues, and was ejected from his place.

1835. Nathan Smith, an eminent lawyer of Connecticut, died at Washington. He was several years United States attorney for Connecticut, and senator in congress, and was respected for his integrity and ability.

1843. John M. Taylor, commissary-general of the American army under Gen. Montgomery at Quebec, 1775, died at Philadelphia, aged 92.

1844. Nathan Rogers, an artist of merit and reputation, died, aged 57. He was a member of the national academy of design, and lent his aid to institutions of morals and charity.

1848. The king of Prussia dissolved his assembly and promulgated a new constitution.

1852. Horatio Greenough, an eminent American sculptor, died at Somerville, Mass., aged 47. He spent most of his life in Italy in the pursuit of his art, where he produced his colossal statue of Washington, and other works which stamp his fame.

1855. Anselm Rothschild died at Frankfort, Germany; the founder of the great financial house of the Rothschilds.

DECEMBER 7.

424 B. C. The accession of Darius II (Nothus). This is also the date of the battles of Delium and Amphipolis, where Xenophon and Thucydides were present, and of the occupation of Cytheria by the Athenians.

43 B. C. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the celebrated Roman orator, statesman and philosopher, assassinated at his villa, by Popilius, at the instigation of Antony.

983. Otho II (the Bloody), emperor of Germany, poisoned.

1154. Landing of Henry II in England from France.

1229. The boy bishop said vespers before Edward I at Heton near New Castle upon Tyne. On Childermas the scholars of St. Paul's and other schools were enjoined to hear the "Chylde Bishop's sermon."

1542. Mary Stuart, sole daughter and heir to king James V, born.

1626. John Davies, an eminent English lawyer and poet, died. His works on legal subjects are numerous and valuable.

1641. Ralph Brownrig, bishop of Exeter, died. He had the hardihood boldly to advise Cromwell to restore Charles II to his throne.

1657. Cromwell sent an agent to the duke of Savoy to negotiate respecting his protestant subjects.

1666. Ten of the Scottish covenanters executed at Edinburgh.

1672. Richard Bellingham, governor of Massachusetts, died. He had exercised the offices of governor or deputy for 23 years.

1683. Algernon Sidney, an English patriot and political writer, beheaded at the age of 66.

1721. Bernard Albinus, a celebrated German physician, died. He was professor at Frankfort and Leyden.

1741. Revolution in Russia.

1776. British under Cornwallis marched to Princeton.

1787. The deputies of the Delaware state convention signed the constitution of the United States, which they had agreed by vote to adopt the day previous. She was the first state that ratified the instrument.

1796. Washington met both houses of congress for the last time as president of the United States.

1799. Battle of Sediman, in Egypt; the French under Dessaix defeated 3,000 Mamelukes and 10,000 Arabs under Murad Bey.

1805. Action off cape St. Mary between the British ship Polyphemus, 64 guns, and Spanish ships Santa Gertruyda, with twelve hundred thousand dollars on board, and El Felix, valued at nearly one million, both of which were captured.

1812. Bonaparte in disguise with Caulincourt arrived at Wilna in a sledge.

1815. Michael Ney, a French marshal, shot. His career under Bonaparte was distinguished during ten years, by great military skill and daring bravery. On the second restoration of the Bourbons he was condemned to death.

1822. John Aikin, an English surgeon, died; better known as a writer of great erudition. He edited the first twenty volumes of the Monthly Magazine, the AthenÆum, various editions of the poets, and was one of the writers of the General Biographical Dictionary in 10 vols. quarto.

1832. Victor Jacquemont, a distinguished French naturalist, died at Bombay, aged 32.

1835. The rail road from Nuremberg to Furth, the first rail road in Germany, opened, and the journey made in 15 minutes. The monumental stone has the inscription: "Germany's first iron rail road, with steam power, 1835."

1842. Thomas Hamilton, the author of Cyril Thornton, a contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, &c., died at Pisa, in Italy.

1853. A statue inaugurated to marshal Ney at Paris, on the place where he was shot on this day of the month, in 1815.

DECEMBER 8.

1275. Meeting of Stationarii, or booksellers, at London. For a quarter of a century previous to this time, booksellers not unfrequently kept school in their porches. The portal at the north end of the cathedral in Rouen is still called Le Portail des Libraires, the porch of the booksellers.

1315. Battle of Morgarten, or Ægeri, in Switzerland; the Austrian army of 20,000 under the archduke Leopold, defeated by 1,600 mountaineers in the pass between the mountain and the lake.

1437. Sigismund, emperor of Germany, died. He volunteered his assistance to tranquilize the church, and proposed the famous council, which consisted of 14,000 ecclesiastics and 16,000 noblemen. His perfidy in allowing Huss and Jerome of Prague to be burnt, after giving them a passport of safety, armed against him the bravest of his subjects, and led to a civil discord and bloodshed of sixteen years' duration.

1493. Isabella, the first European town in America, founded by Columbus. All his men, provisions and utensils, were landed on a plain near a rock, on the island of Navidad, in the West Indies, and a fort erected. The town was named in honor of the Spanish queen, to whom the great navigator was much indebted.

1612. Great earthquake at Munster.

1643. John Pym died; a celebrated English republican, distinguished for his virulence against Charles I.

1660. First time of the appearance of a female on the public stage; the character was Desdemona.

1661. An order of both houses of parliament was passed for hanging the carcasses of Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, Henry Ireton and Thomas Pride upon the gallows at Tyburn, and then burying them under the gallows.

1677. Nicholas Pavillon, an eminent French ecclesiastic, made bishop of Alet by Richelieu, and afterwards deposed, died in exile.

1691. Richard Baxter, a celebrated English nonconformist divine, died. He wrote a vast number of books; his practical works were collected in 4 vols. folio.

1695. Bartholomew d'Herbelot, a French orientalist, died. He wrote a Universal Dictionary, "containing whatever relates to the knowledge of the eastern world."

1709. Thomas Corneille, a French dramatist, died. He wrote 42 dramatic pieces, which were received with greater applause than those of his brother Peter, but have been lost and forgotten.

1741. Vitus Behring, a Danish navigator, died. He was a commodore in the Russian service, and was employed in exploring some of the northern coasts of America, where he died, after having made some important discoveries, among which was the strait that bears his name.

1745. John Roque, a French traveler, died at Paris. He published an account of his travels in Arabia Felix, Palestine and Syria.

1746. Charles Ratcliffe, earl of Derwentwater, executed at Towerhill, London. He had resided 30 years in France.

1751. Louisa, youngest daughter of George II, queen of Denmark, died.

1775. A number of American whaleboats under captain Manly captured three British ships with various stores intended for the army.

1776. Washington retreated across the Delaware. The British, on the same day, blocked up commodore Hopkins' squadron and a number of privateers at Providence.

1792. Henry Laurens, a patriot of South Carolina, died. He was distinguished for talent and activity, and succeeded Hancock as president of congress. He was captured by the British on a mission to Holland, and confined a long time in the tower of London. At his death he left a property of about $250,000 to his son, on condition that he should burn his body on the third day after his death.

1803. Hippolytus Theodorovitch Bogdanovitch, a Russian poet, died. His poem of Dushenka procured him the favor of the queen and the whole nation. It is founded on the mythological story of Psyche, but so unlike any thing that had preceded it in that language that he immediately became the favorite of all classes.

1806. Andrew Dalsell, professor of Greek at Edinburgh, died; an amiable and a learned man.

1821. Ebenezer Cobb died at Kingston, Mass., aged 107. He was the cotemporary for ten years of Peregrine White, the first born child of English parents in America. His mode of living was extremely simple, having tasted tea but twice in his life. He shrewdly remarked, a short time before his death, that it was very unusual for persons of his age to die.

1847. The United States brig-of-war Somers thrown on her beam ends by a squall near Vera Cruz, and 2 officers with 39 out of 76 of her crew drowned. The French and Spanish men-of-war lying at Sacrificios rendered much assistance and received the thanks of congress.

1848. The first deposit of California gold made in the United States mint by David Carter.

1851. Battle of Longomilla, between the government troops of Chili under general Bulnes, late president, and the rebels under general Cruz, who was defeated and his troops dispersed.

1854. The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary proclaimed by the pope, in St. Peter's church, Rome, as a dogma of the catholic faith.

DECEMBER 9.

493 B. C. Menenius Agrippa met the plebeian seceders, encamped on the Mons Sacer, near Rome, and delivered to them there the memorable apologue of the belly and the members.

1150. A great frost in England mentioned by Matthew Paris, began on this day and continued about two months and ten days, so that "both foot and horse crossed the Thames." In that year all the prelates in council were shut up by king Stephen for refusing to crown his son; more remarkable for the appearance of Gratian's twenty-four years' labor, the Decretals.

1165. Malcolm IV, king of Scots, died of a lingering disease, at Jedburgh, after a short reign. His subjects were rebellious, but by his vigor he overcame them all.

1565. Pius IV (John Angelo de Medicis) died. He was not of the Florence family, but brother of the famous marquis de Marignan, and distinguished as an ambassador. He evinced his zeal for the church by his enmity against the Turks and heretics.

1641. Anthony Vandyck, the celebrated Dutch painter, died. He was a pupil of Rubens, and excelled his master in delicacy of coloring. His pictures preserve in high perfection the dress and costume of the times.

1669. Clement IX (Julius Rospigliosi) died of grief, at the loss of Candia, which was taken by the Turks. His reign was disturbed by the schisms of the Jansenists.

1674. Edward Hyde, lord of Clarendon, died at Rouen, in France, in exile. His name is immortalized by the History of the Rebellion, a splendid monument of his genius and impartiality, which he finished in exile.

1680. Comet seen at Albany.

1683. John Oldham, an eminent English poet, died of small pox. His genius lay chiefly in satire.

1694. Paul Signeri died at Rome; a theological writer, and a popular preacher and active missionary of the Jesuits.

1702. Haagen Swensden executed for stealing and marrying Mrs. Pleasant Rawlins, an heiress.

1708. John Higginson died; the first minister of Salem, Mass.

1788. Jonathan Shipley, bishop of St. Asaph, died. He was a distinguished prelate and eminent among his episcopal brethren for his firm and determinate opposition to the American war.

1798. John Reinhold Forster, an eminent English writer on natural history and philosophy, died at Halle, in Germany. He accompanied Cook in his second voyage round the world.

1804. The British under admiral Popham attacked fort Rouge at the entrance of Calais harbor with explosion vessels.

1808. The Chinese interdicted the English from trading until their soldiery were drawn from Macao.

1808. The British rejected the French and Russian proposals for peace.

1811. Americans under general Harrison left the battle ground at Tippecanoe, on their return to the United States.

1813. Battle on the Nieve, near Bayonne; the British under general Hope attacked the French under Soult, without obtaining any decisive advantage.

1814. Joseph Bramah, a very ingenious English engineer and mechanist, died.

1815. The exiled emperor Napoleon, took possession of the villa of Longwood. This year, at its dawn, found him sovereign of the little island of Elba; ere the vernal equinox he was again emperor of France; before the summer solstice he was finally defeated at Waterloo; the year closed over him a solitary exile.

1816. The bank of England commenced paying specie on one and two pound notes dated prior to 1812.

1824. Battle of Ayacucho, in Peru, between the royalists under La Serna, 9,310, and the patriots, 5,780, under Sucre, which terminated in the total defeat of the former, who lost 1800 killed, and their general taken prisoner. Loss of the patriots, 370 killed. This victory accomplished the delivery of Peru from the Spaniards.

1824. Jose La Serna, viceroy of Peru, wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Ayacucho, which put an end to his authority in that state. He commenced his career in the artillery, and served at Saragossa under the celebrated Palafox. His skill in the art of war did not avail him against the determined bravery of the revolutionists.

1831. Disturbances in Ireland; the soldiers fired upon a mob of 2000 Irish; whereupon the mob rushed upon the soldiery and killed 19 out of 34.

1831. Ibrahim Pasha completely defeated before St. Jean d'Acre.

1833. John Jebb, bishop of Limerick, died. He was an accomplished author, a learned theologian, and an amiable man. His publications, though not numerous, were of high merit.

1835. President's message reached Boston in 26 hours and 50 minutes from Washington. It was formerly announced as an instance of extraordinary speed that the message reached Boston in 64 hours. In 1841 the message reached New York in 8 hours 53 minutes, and probably was in Boston within another 8 hours. Dr. Franklin once expressed an opinion that the time would come when the mail might be conveyed from Philadelphia to Boston in a fortnight, and perhaps in a week. The regular time is now 24 hours.

1842. Samuel Woodworth, well known as an American poet, died in New York. He was the author of the popular song, the Old Oaken Bucket.

1850. Bem, the Hungarian general, died at Aleppo.

1853. The men and women of Harbor creek, near Erie, Pa., turned out in large numbers, tore up the rail road track, burnt the ties and bridges over the culvert, and plowed down the track to its former level.

1854. The king of the Sandwich islands to prevent the overthrow of his government by lawless violence, accepted the aid of the naval forces of the United States, Great Britain and France.

1856. Father Matthew, called the apostle of temperance, died at Cork, Ireland, aged 66. He devoted himself in early life to the regeneration of his countrymen among the poorer classes who had fallen under the tyranny of strong drink.

DECEMBER 10.

590 B. C. The tenth day of the month Thanet was observed as a fast in memory of the investment of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Zechariah promised the extinction of this day of grief, in joy and feasting, upon the restoration of the house of Judah, B. C. 518.

493 B. C. The immortal day when tribunes for the Roman people were first chosen; the anniversary also of their authority afterwards.

270 B. C. Epicurus, the Athenian philosopher, died on the 10th day of Gamelion, having three days before observed his 71st anniversary. He taught a rational philosophy and with his disciples lived conformably to the rules of wisdom and frugality, although his name is unjustly associated with folly and feasting. His academy was the best regulated society that had ever been seen.

536. Rome opened her gates to Belisarius; the garrison departed without molestation along the Flaminian way, and the city, after sixty years of servitude, was delivered from the yoke of the barbarians. Leutherius, the Gothic chief, was sent to bear the keys of the city to his imperial master.

1282. Llewellyn ap Grufydd, a Welsh prince, killed. He heroically resisted the invasion of Edward I of England; but fell, and the liberty of his country perished with him after an independence of 800 years.

1506. Bologna captured by pope Julius I, who entered in triumph.

1508. The league of Cambray formed against the Venitian power. The pope, the emperor of Germany, and the kings of France and Spain, were the parties to it.

1520. Luther destroyed the papal bull against himself, with the works of the anti reformers, in a public fire behind the walls of Wittemberg.

1548. Battle of Pinckney field, near Musselburgh, in which 13,000 of the Scots were slain.

1577. On Sanctobertis eve a great number of persons paraded the streets of Perth in disguise. One clad in the devil's coat; the horse of another walked in men's shoes.

1586. Elizabeth signed the warrant for the execution of Mary.

1626. Edmund Gunter, an English mathematician and astronomer, died. He distinguished himself by many important improvements in mathematical instruments for the use of navigation, &c.

1672. A monthly post established from New York to Boston.

1674. John Vaughan, an eminent English law reporter, died; "more admired for his talents than loved for his courteous manners."

1681. The British factor, captain Drew, arrived at Chester, on the river Delaware, from England, with settlers for Pennsylvania; they remained there all winter, the river having frozen over that night. She was one of the three ships that left England with the first settlers. One of them, the Amity, arrived before her; the third was blown off the coast to the West Indies, and did not arrive until the next spring.

1688. James IV deserted the English throne, embarked for France, and ordered his army to be disbanded.

1697. The peace of Ryswick, which had been signed in September, proclaimed in Boston, and the colonies had repose from war. Some of the Indians continued their hostilities, but finding themselves unsupported by the French, they took measures for peace.

1697. The population of New France, exclusive of Acadie, was 8,515, and could arm about 1,000 men.

1747. Duncan Forbes, an eminent Scottish lawyer, died. He wrote chiefly on theological subjects.

1757. Breslau retaken from the Austrians by Frederick II of Prussia. The Austrians lost 13 generals and 18,000 men prisoners.

1768. The royal academy of London instituted.

1792. John Joseph Sue died; professor of anatomy at Paris, and a writer on anatomy and surgery.

1801. Jonathan Battishill, an eminent English musical composer, died. "To a profound knowledge he added great taste and a fine imagination."

1804. New York historical society instituted.

1807. Kingdom of Etruria dissolved and annexed to France.

1808. James Sullivan, governor of Massachusetts, died. He rose to great usefulness unaided by opulence or family connexions.

1809. Gerona in Spain surrendered to the French after a siege of six months.

1813. French under Soult endeavored to force the British under Wellington to repass the Nieve but were repulsed.

1813. The United States troops under general McClure burnt Newark adjoining fort George, destroyed that fort, removed the public stores, and retired to the south side of the Niagara river.

1817. Mississippi admitted into the confederacy.

1833. The house of assembly in Jamaica passed a bill for the abolition of slavery.

1834. Alexander Chalmers died; one of the most eminent biographers that Great Britain has produced. He commenced a laborious literary life in London and no man, it is said, ever edited so many books for the booksellers. He published a General Biographical Dictionary in 32 volumes.

1835. The fortress of San Antonio surrendered by the Mexicans to the Texans under colonel Milan; the captors found 1900 rounds of powder and ball, 24 pieces of cannon, and a large amount of military stores, &c.

1836. A decree of the queen of Portugal published, abolishing the slave trade in the Portuguese dominions.

1842. Pleasant Henderson, a soldier of the revolution from North Carolina, died in Tennessee. He was a companion of Daniel Boone in many of his wanderings and was for more than thirty years a clerk of the North Carolina house of commons.

1842. Rowland Hill, viscount Hill, the well known coadjutor of the duke of Wellington in the peninsula campaigns, died in his 70th year, near Shrewsbury, England.

1845. Jesse D. Elliot, an American commodore, died at Philadelphia, aged 62. He contributed much to Perry's success on lake Erie.

1846. James Grierson died at Masharene, New Brunswick, aged 105. He was one of the loyalists that left the United States during the revolution.

1848. Louis Napoleon elected president of the French; 5,534,520 voting for him.

1852. William Empson, professor of law in the East India college at Hoxley, England, died, aged 62. He was editor of the Edinburgh Review.

1855. The emperor Faustin I left Port-au-Prince with 30,000 men to subjugate the Dominican republic; his forces were completely routed and dispersed.

DECEMBER 11.

361. Julian, the new emperor, made his triumphal entry into the eastern capital, having traversed with victory the whole continent of Europe, from the Atlantic.

1282. Michael VIII (PalÆologus), emperor of Rome, died. He was regent of the eastern empire, and took advantage of his situation to assume the supreme power. He retook Constantinople, which had been 58 years under the power of the French, and labored to reconcile the eastern and western churches.

1595. Philippe de Croi, duke of Aarschot, died; a Flemish nobleman and general, who, in an attempt to free his country of Spanish dictation, was unsuccessful, and exiled.

1620. The Plymouth adventurers, having sounded the harbor, and found it fit for shipping, went ashore and explored the adjacent land, where they saw cornfields and brooks; and judging the situation to be convenient for a settlement, they returned with the welcome intelligence to the ship.

1652. Dionysius Petavius died; a French Jesuit of great erudition, and an author.

1657. Writs issued by Cromwell to sixty individuals, to meet at Westminister, and compose a house of lords.

1697. Joachim Kuhnius, a learned Pomeranian, died. He was principal of the college of Octigen, and acquired great celebrity by his publications.

1699. The king of Sweden defeated the Muscovites at Narva.

1704. Roger L'Estrange, an English gentleman and scholar, died. He was unsuccessful in his enterprises in favor of Charles I; but on the restoration he returned to England, and printed the first regular English newspaper, 1663, under the title of the Public Intelligencer. He was the author of some political tracts, and translations from different languages.

1714. George I, and his cabinet, issued an order forbidding the clergy to meddle in their sermons with the affairs of state.

1718. Charles XII, of Sweden, killed; supposed to have been struck by a cannon ball in the trenches, at Frederickshall; a fortress which he was then besieging near the bay of Denmark.

1747. Edmund Curl died; one of the characters mentioned in Pope's Dunciad. His character for morality was not without blemish, and he was highly injurious to the literary world, in his profession of book maker and seller, by his piracies and forgeries. He lost his ears in the pillory, by sentence of the law, for issuing obscene publications.

1753. The dey of Algiers assassinated by a soldier, as he was distributing pay to about 300 in the court yard of his palace. The assassin seated himself in the chair of state, and was taking measures to secure his power, when he was shot with a carbine.

1756. Theodore Newhoff, king of Corsica, died in England, where he had been long confined in prison for debt.

1758. The old castle of the Douglasses, so famed in Scottish history, was accidentally burned to the ground.

1794. Assault on the works of Nijmegen, a strong city of Holland; general Bushe, of the allies, was killed by an 8lb. cannon ball.

1794. Battle of Roussilon; the Spaniards and Portuguese defeated the French, killed 800, took 600 prisoners, and 50 cannon.

1806. Saxony erected into a kingdom, under Frederick Augustus, by the treaty of Posen, between Bonaparte and the elector.

1807. The Dutch fleet burnt at Greisse, in Java, by the British squadron, under sir Edward Pellew.

1812. Wilna entered by the Russians, where they found vast magazines, 30 cannon, upwards of 5,000 in the hospitals, including some distinguished officers, and took about 10,000 prisoners.

1813. The French, under Soult, again repulsed in an attempt to force the British under lord Wellington to repass the Nieve.

1816. Indiana admitted as a new state into the Union of the United States.

1828. Beranger was sentenced by the French court of correctional police, to pay 10,000 francs ($1,800) fine, and to undergo nine months' imprisonment, for having attacked the dignity of the church, and of the king, in his poems.

DECEMBER 12.

1656 A. M. The rain of the deluge having ceased to fall, having continued 40 days, from the 17th of the 2d month, answering to our 2d Nov., q. v.

404 B. C. Darius II (Nothus), king of Persia, died, after a reign of nineteen years, and was succeeded by Artaxerxes Mnemon, his son. Cyrus, the younger, another of his sons, carried on several successful wars during the reign of Darius.

1271. Richard, king of the Romans, died, at Berkhamstead, England.

1600. John Craig, a Scottish ecclesiastic, died. He was at first a Dominican, and by his talents recommended himself to cardinal Pole. But, becoming a heretic, narrowly escaped being burnt. He afterwards became the coadjutor of Knox, the great reformer.

1611. Thomas Sutton, a rich English bachelor, died. He was the founder of the Charter house.1630. David Pieterszen de Vries, who had associated himself with Samuel Godyn, Kilian Van Rensselaer, Samuel Bloemart, and Jan de Laet, sailed from Texel for the South (Delaware) river, intending to plant a colony there. Godyn being informed that whales were plenty in those regions, and fish oil being 60 guilders the hogshead, the vessel was laden with utensils for fishing, and planters and cattle for the colony.

1653. Oliver Cromwell declared lord protector of England for life, and the same day dissolved the convention called Barebones's parliament, by the corporal of the guard and a file of soldiers.

1671. Vopiscus Fortunatus Polempius, a Dutch physician and professor at Louvain, died, leaving several valuable works.

1676. William Morice, a learned Englishman, died; secretary of state under Charles II.

1680. The extraordinary comet of this year observed throughout Britain.

1685. John Pell died; an English divine, and very eminent mathematician.

1688. James II, of England, made his escape from London.

1731. John Horsley died; author of a very learned and excellent work entitled Britannia Romana; being an ample account of the vestiges of the Romans in Britain.

1733. The bills of mortality in London this year, showed the death of 14,372 males, and 14,861 females.

1753. An act passed the provincial assembly, of New York, that mortgages should be subjected to public registry for the prevention of frauds. But this act, though a useful one, did not reach all the mischiefs intended to be prevented.

1757. Colley Cibber, poet laureate to George II, died. He was also a very noted comedian. He wrote a curious apology for his life.

1764. John Otho Tabor died at Frankfort. He was a native of Lusatia, became counselor to the landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, and wrote several works on law.

1776. The neighborhood of Philadelphia having became the seat of war, congress adjourned to Baltimore.

1777. Albert Haller, an eminent Swiss physician, died. He was a voluminous writer, and one of the most acute, various and original men that have appeared since Boerhaave.

1781. Action between the British fleet, 12 sail, under Kempenfelt, and a French convoy, protected by 19 heavy ships of the line, and 2 armed en flute. Of the merchantmen, 20 were captured, having on board 1,100 troops, and about 600 seamen, besides valuable cargoes of military stores, cannon, &c.

1782. Action between British ship Mediator, and American ship Alexander, 24 guns, captain Gregory, and French ship Menagerie, 212 men, laden with powder, naval stores, &c. The two latter were captured without any loss on the part of the British.

1783. John Scott died; an English quaker poet, called the poet of Arnwell.

1787. Pennsylvania (the second state), ratified the constitution of the United States, without amendments.

1789. Richard Alton, an Austrian general, died. He commanded in the Low countries, in 1787, and though a strict disciplinarian and a man of bravery, betrayed so much weakness during the insurrection in Brabant, that he was sent for to answer charges, and died on the journey.

1793. Battle of Mans; the royalists of La Vendee defeated with great slaughter by the French under Marceau.

1804. John Boydell died; a most distinguished encourager of the arts of painting and engraving, in England.

1809. Action at night between British sloop Trincomale, and French privateer Iphigene. The sloop was blown up and all on board but two perished; the privateer had her side stove in and her masts forced out by the shock, and lost 115 men.

1822. Napoli di Romania, the ancient Nauplia, surrendered to the Greeks, after a long and tedious blockade, during which the Turkish garrison was reduced to feed on the corpses of their companions. The crescent had been flying on the fortress uninterruptedly since 1714, at which time it was treacherously given up to the Coumourgi, and made the seat of the Turkish government for the Morea.

1830. Benjamin Constant, a distinguished French author, and one of the greatest orators of his day, was honored with a magnificent funeral.

1834. The Carlists, of Spain, under Gen. Eraso, defeated at Soraida, by the troops of the queen, under general Mina.

1834. The government of Greece transferred from Napoli to Athens.

1836. John Davidson, an English traveler, murdered by the El Hareb tribe of Africans, on his way to Tombuctoo. He commenced traveling in 1826, and had visited North and South America, India, Egypt, as far as the second cataract, Syria, Palestine, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France and Germany, and had proceeded to within 25 days' journey of the city of Tombuctoo. He was conversant with the different languages of the east, and possessed extraordinary enterprise and great accomplishments as a traveler.

1838. Charles Philip Wrede, a Bavarian field-marshal, died. He distinguished himself under Bonaparte, in the war against Austria, and was severely wounded at the battle of Wagram. In the celebrated Russian campaign he commanded, with great credit, the Bavarian contingent army.

1840. J. D. E. Esquirol, who so successfully introduced a new mode of treating the insane, died.

1842. Elkanah Watson, a great friend of and writer on internal improvements, died at port Kent, Essex county, N. Y., aged 86.

1847. James Kent, so long distinguished as an American jurist and philanthropist, died at New York, aged 84.

1849. Isambard Brunel, the celebrated engineer of the Thames tunnel, died at London.

1856. Herman E. Ludewig, a Saxon scholar, died in Brooklyn, N. Y., aged 47. He is known by his Literature of American Local History.

DECEMBER 13.

405. B. C. Battle of Ægospotami. This celebrated Spartan victory of Lysander over a vast Athenian fleet, happily closed the 27 years' war in the Peloponesus. Conon fled to Cyprus, and the admiral took possession of Athens in the following spring.

126. B. C. A league of friendship referred to the Roman senate assembled in the temple of Concord, on behalf of the Jews, who had sent three ambassadors with a shield of gold as a mark of confederacy.

1250. Frederick II, emperor of Germany, died. He was successful in his wars against the Saracens, but was forced to return to wage war with the pope, whom he also conquered. He was deposed, however, in 1245 by Innocent IV.

1254. Innocent IV (Sinibaldi de Fiesque) died. He was early engaged in a quarrel with Frederick of Germany, whom he excommunicated and deposed. He was the first who invested the cardinals with a red hat as a mark of dignity.

1502. A water spout at Porto Bello greatly alarmed the Spaniards. Ferdinand Columbus says "if they had not dissolved it by saying the gospel of St. John, it had certainly sunk whatsoever it fell upon."

1521. Emanuel (the Great), king of Portugal, died. He distinguished himself by the liberal manner in which he patronized commercial enterprises, by which the cape of Good Hope was rounded, and Brazil visited.

1542. James V, of Scotland, died. He assumed the government at the age of 17, and was admired for his virtues.

1542. An act passed permitting those deemed the better sort to read the Bible in England.

1545. The great council of Trent opened.

1565. Conrad Gesner, a Swiss botanist, died. It has been said that botany owes to him its very existence as a science.

1577. Drake sailed from Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, on his voyage round the world, which he was the second navigator that accomplished.

1621. Robert Cushman having visited the colony of Plymouth with supplies, took in a cargo of beaver skins and clapboards, the first export from New England, which was valued at £500. The vessel was captured and carried into France.

1642. New Zealand discovered by Tasman.

1648. In order to enforce an ordinance of Cromwell, Capt. Bethan was appointed provost marshal, "with power to seize upon all ballad singers, and to suppress stage plays."

1702. The motto semper eadem first attached to the arms of England.

1721. Several alterations made in the form of the affirmation of the English quakers. About 20 years previous to this their affirmation was accepted instead of their oath.

1729. Anthony Collins died; an English polemical writer, whose numerous works were warmly attacked by the orthodox writers of the day.

1737. John Strype died, aged 94; an English divine, industrious as a historian and biographer.

1738. Philip Frowde died; a writer of English and Latin poetry, and of tragedy.

1754. Mahomet V, emperor of Turkey, died. He was more eminent for his pacific disposition than for his military exploits.

1759. At Leipsic the cold was so intense that ten sentinels were frozen to death.

1769. Christian Furchtegott Gellert, a German comic poet, died.

1775. Congress first determined to build a navy, to consist of 5 frigates of 32 guns, 5 of 28 guns, and 3 of 24 guns.

1776. American Gen. Lee surprised and made prisoner by a British patrole in New Jersey.

1783. Peter Wargentin died; a learned Swede, who published tables for computing the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites.

1784. Samuel Johnson, the English lexicographer, died; a writer of great eminence and celebrity.

1788. Charles III, king of Spain, died. His policy was censured for endangering the Spanish empire in America by supporting the independence of the British colonies.

1788. David Macbride, an Irish physician of great celebrity, died. His Theory and Practice of Medicine was formerly in great request.

1797. Lewis le Gendre, a prominent actor in the French revolution, died. He proposed in the Jacobin club that the body of the king should be cut into 84 pieces, and one sent to each of the departments.

1803. Francis Lewis, one of the signers, died, aged 90. He was a merchant of New York, had visited Russia, and was employed in the importation of military stores, and other secret services.

1809. Desperate action between British frigate Junon, 40 guns, Capt. Shortland, and three French frigates of 88 guns in all. The Junon was captured, after losing 90 men killed and wounded; among the latter was the captain, who received several shots before surrendering. His vessel was so much shattered that the French burnt her the next day.

1811. A dog which had been accidentally shut into a house in Albany, on the 1st day of November, was taken out alive on this day, after a fast of 42 days, and recovered.

1813. Battle near Bayonne, between the French under Soult, and the allies under Wellington, in which the former were defeated and driven into the city with the loss of 6,500 men. British loss about half the number.

1814. Charles Joseph, prince De Ligne, an Austrian field marshal, died. He was born at Bruxelles, 1735, and devoted his early years to science and learning. His writings were numerous, of which 30 vols. have been published.

1850. The steam boat Anglo Norman, while on a pleasure trip for the day, at New Orleans, exploded both boilers, and nearly a hundred persons were either killed or wounded.

1854. A Russian decree ordered an additional levy of ten men in every thousand, in the eastern half of the Russian empire, Jews not excepted.

DECEMBER 14.

402. Anastasius I, pope, died. He reconciled the eastern and western churches, and was much respected for his sanctity and virtue.

628. Pilgrimage of the emperor Heraclius at Jerusalem.

1417. John Oldcastle, "the good lord Cobham," the first author and an early martyr of the reformation, hung alive in chains and burnt to death.

1622. Valentine Smalcius, a celebrated Socinian writer, died at Cracow.

1624. Charles Howard, an intrepid English admiral, died. He commanded the English fleet at the defeat of the Spanish armada.

1681. Francis Vavasseur, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished as a teacher of rhetoric and belles lettres at Paris, and as a lecturer on the scriptures.

1704. Joseph Duche de Vancy died; a French poet, author of several scripture tragedies.

1710. Henry Aldrich died; an eminent English scholar, divine, architect and musician.

1713. Thomas Rymer, a famous English antiquary, died.

1715. Thomas Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury, died; a celebrated polemical writer against popery.

1716. William Trumbull died; an English statesman, ambassador to France and afterwards secretary of state.

1735. Thomas Tanner, a learned English antiquary, died, leaving behind him a valuable work, upon which he had been employed 40 years.

1759. Prof. Braun ascertained the congelation of quicksilver.

1769. Samuel Kneeland, an eminent Boston printer, died. He published the first edition of the Bible in America, which was in 4to, with a London imprint, to evade the patent which was held by English and Scottish publishers, cum privilegio.

1774. The citizens of New Hampshire attacked and carried the king's castle, and removed the powder.

1775. Gen. Howe ordered the old North Meeting and 100 other wooden houses, to be taken down in Boston and used for fire wood.

1775. British lord Dunmore defeated by the Americans at Norfolk, Va.

1776. British overran New Jersey.

1780. Ignatius Sancho, an African author, died at London, aged 51. He was born on board of a slave ship. His Letters possess great originality. (15?)

1781. Gen. Greene informed the board of war that he had been unable to advance on the British for ten days for want of ammunition; that he had not paper with which to make returns, no camp kettles, &c.; that he lay within a few miles of the enemy and had not six rounds per man; that he had been seven months in the field without taking off his clothes one night.

1782. British under Gen. Leslie evacuated Charleston, S. C., and embarked under cover of the king's ship Caroline. The Americans under Gen. Wayne took immediate possession of it.

1785. John Baptist Cypriani, a famous Italian painter, died. He settled in England, but his numerous pieces were spread over Europe by the graver of Bartolozzi.

1789. Caleb Elliott died of starvation. He was a visionary enthusiast who imagined that he was called upon to fast 40 days, and actually lived 16 days without food of any kind, having refused all sorts of sustenance.

1792. Arthur Lee, an American statesman, died. He was an ardent friend of the rights of the colonies, which he rendered essential services as agent at London, and afterwards as minister with Franklin in France. He is represented as a man of uniform patriotism, sound understanding, great probity, plain manners and strong passions.

1796. Anthony Wayne, commander-in-chief of the United States troops, died at Presque isle, aged 51. He distinguished himself in the wars of the revolution by his bravery and untiring patriotism.

1797. Great earthquake at Cumana; more than four-fifths of the city was entirely destroyed, and a number of persons perished.

1799. George Washington, the American hero and statesman, the man on whom, in times of danger, every eye was turned and all hopes were placed, expired without a struggle, at Mount Vernon, in the 68th year of his age.

1803. The British under Maj. Gen. Wellesley, since lord Wellington, carried by storm the almost impregnable fortress of Gawilghar, in the East Indies.

1807. An extraordinary large and brilliant meteor was seen in Connecticut, exploding at three different times, each explosion accompanied with a fall of meteoric stones, one of which was probably 200 pounds weight.

1814. British flotilla of 45 boats with 1,200 men and 43 cannon captured several American gun boats on lake Borgne near New Orleans, manned by 23 guns and 182 men, after an action of about three hours.

1815. The prince regent of Portugal at Rio de Janeiro, proclaimed the Brazils to be a separate kingdom.

1816. Charles Stanhope, an English statesman, died. He is better known by his numerous mechanical inventions, and as a man of science.

1818. Edward Law, lord Ellenborough, an eminent English lawyer, died.

1826. Conrad Malte-Brun, a Danish poet, political and philosophical writer, and geographer, died at Paris. He was forced to leave his own country for the tendency of his writings to liberty.

1829. Commencement of a civil war in Chili, by an action between the armies of Luctra and Pietro, in which the latter were defeated.

1843. Charles Goldsborough, author of the naval history of the United States, died at Washington, D. C., where he was engaged in the navy department.

1849. Edward Doubleday, a distinguished British naturalist, died at London, aged 39. He visited the United States in 1835, and returned with a large and rare collection of specimens in most of the branches of natural history, which he distributed to several of the public institutions of England.

1851. Joel R. Poinsett, an American statesman, died, aged 72. He was a native of South Carolina, was secretary of war under Mr. Van Buren, and opposed to the revolutionary schemes of some of the politicians of his native state.

1852. Madame d'Arusmont, better known as Fanny Wright, died at Cincinnati, aged 57. She was born at Dundee, Scotland, and came to America with considerable property, where she gained great notoriety by her lectures and writings.

1855. Joel Abbott, commanding the United States squadron in the East Indies, died at Hong Kong, China; a brave and energetic officer, who discharged his duties with signal ability and discretion.

DECEMBER 15.

337 B. C. Timoleon, an illustrious Corinthian, died at Syracuse. He went to the assistance of the Syracusans against the tyrant Dionysius, and became there a most benevolent and popular character.

215. B. C. Hieronymus, tyrant of Syracuse, slain. From his fall is dated the three years' siege of Marcellus, and the death of Archimedes at the end of it.

168. B. C. Antiochus Epiphanes set up his abomination, the statue of Jupiter, in the sacred temple, it being the anniversary of his own birthday.

533. Tribonian began the Digests or Pandects, that astonishing labor, which condensed within fifty books a body of three million sentences from dead civilians, and which he finished by the aid of seventeen associates in exactly three years.

882. John VIII, pope, died. He held a council at Troyes, but was called back to Italy by the invasion of the Saracens, who were so successful that they obliged him to pay an annual tribute. Three hundred of his letters are preserved.

1347. Abdication and exile of Rienzi the Roman tribune.

1582. The Gregorian style adopted at Paris, omitting ten days.

1683. Izaak Walton, an English writer, died, aged 90. He acquired a fortune and occupied his time in writing and angling; his little treatise called the Complete Angler is unique.

1692. George Adam Struvius died; professor of jurisprudence at Jena, and counselor of the king of Saxony.

1715. George Hicks died, an English divine, antiquary, critic and polemical writer of great learning and abilities.

1725. John Johnson, an English non-juror divine, died. Although promoted to various dignities in the church, he entertained a contempt for its articles and liturgy.

1745. Battle of Kesseldorf; the Prussians under the prince of Anhalt, defeated the Austrians and Saxons, who lost 3,000 killed and 6,500 prisoners.

1751. Henry St. John, viscount Bolingbroke, for many years busily engaged in the politics, literature and philosophy of his times, died of cancer in the face, aged 73.

1764. Robert Lloyd, an English poet and miscellaneous writer, died in the Fleet prison.

1771. Benjamin Stillingfleet, a distinguished poet and naturalist, died.

1778. French admiral count d'Estaing, arrived from America at St. Lucia and attacked unsuccessfully the British fleet and batteries in the bay of Grand Cul de Sac, in which he sustained great loss.

1782. William Francis Berthier, a French Jesuit, died; known as the conductor for many years of the Journal de Travaux, royal librarian and preceptor of Lewis XVI.

1782. American ship Commerce, 16 guns, Capt. Truxton, engaged a British brig of 18 guns and a schooner of 14 guns; he was obliged to make off on the appearance of two other British vessels. He saved his convoy, and they all arrived at St. Thomas in safety, a few hours after the action.

1794. Carrier, Pinard and Grand Maison guillotined at Paris. The former was noted for his refined cruelty to the numerous victims which power placed in his hands. On the fall of the mountain party he was consigned to punishment, which he well merited.

1810. Sarah Trimmer, an English authoress, died. She is well known by her various works designed for the use of children.

1814. Meeting of the Hartford convention, which consisted of 26 members from the new England states, to consult upon the exigencies of the times, and the defenceless condition of the coast.

1831. Hannah Adams, an American authoress, died. She was a native of Massachusetts, a woman of great excellence and purity of character, and a writer of very fair reputation. Her monument is to be seen in the Mount Auburn cemetery, near Boston.

1834. Andrew Frank, a colored man, died at Johnston, R. I., aged 104.

1836. The United States post office, the patent office and the Washington city post office, together with the contents of the two latter, destroyed by fire. In the patent office were 7,000 models of patents, out of 10,000 which had been granted by congress; 163 large folio volumes of records; 26 port folios containing 9,000 drawings, many of them beautifully executed and valuable.

1837. John Cox died, aged 85. He was a captain in the naval service of Virginia in the early part of the revolutionary war, and was one of the most efficient and distinguished patriots during the contest.

1837. Philip Sing Physic, a Philadelphia physician and surgeon of great eminence, died, aged 70. He was long a celebrated professor of anatomy and surgery in the university of Pennsylvania.1840. The remains of Bonaparte were removed from Cherbourg, where they were disembarked, to the Church of the invalides at Paris. The procession was splendid beyond all precedent, the number assembled being computed at 500,000. The king and royal family were present at the ceremony, and 60,000 national guards were in attendance.

1842. John R. Watrous, an eminent physician and revolutionary surgeon, died at Colchester, Conn., aged 91.

1842. Benjamin Parkhurst died at Royalton, Vt., aged 97. He was the first settler of that town, living in it over 78 years, and of a family famed for longevity. His parents died at the age of 97. His grandfather reached 100, and his grandmother 104 years.

1848. The postal convention between Great Britain and the United States signed at London by lord Palmerston and Mr. Bancroft.

1854. Kamehameha III, king of the Sandwich islands, died, aged 41, and was succeeded by prince Alexander Liholiho, aged 20, under the title of Kamehameha IV.

DECEMBER 16.

714. Pepin (the Fat), mayor of Paris, died; a man of wisdom and vigor.

1215. A special excommunication of the English barons fulminated at Rome, and towered London laid under an interdict.

1515. Alfonzo Albuquerque died, Portuguese viceroy of India, surnamed the Great and the Portuguese Mars.

1653. William Gouge died; a minister of the famous assembly of divines, and appointed one of the annotators of the Bible.

1653. Oliver Cromwell appointed lord protector of England.

1656. Edmund Wingate died; an English writer on arithmetic and mathematics.

1657. Joshua Reynolds, commander of the English forces in Mardyke, was cast away with the whole ship's company, on Goodwin's sands.

1684. The statue of Charles II in the Royal Exchange at London, was erected by the Hamburg company.

1687. William Petty, an eminent English physician, died; chiefly celebrated for his knowledge in mathematics and mechanics, and for his writings on political arithmetic.

1703. Julius Mascaron, a most eminent preacher, died. His eloquence was astonishing, and it is related that his preaching had such an effect upon the Huguenots, that of 30,000 Calvinists which he found on coming to the see of Agen, 28,000 forsook their church.

1710. Gerona, the key of Catalonia in Spain, surrendered to the French.

1723. John Trenchard died; an eminent English patriot and political writer.

1745. Peter Francis Guyot des Fontaines died; a French critic, historical writer and translator.

1767. James Grainger, a Scottish physician and poet, died in the West Indies.

1770. Roger Long, an eminent English astronomer, died.

1773. Destruction of 340 chests of tea in Boston harbor by a party of citizens disguised as Indians. There was but one survivor of that event, in 1840.

1782. The British burnt fort Arbuthnot and a new fort on Sullivan's island.

1783. William James died; an English baronet, who rose from the humble occupation of a plowboy to the chief command of the East India company's marine forces.

1788. Oczakow taken from the Turks by storm by the Russians under prince Potemkin, who had about 1,000 killed in the assault.

1798. Thomas Pennant died; an Englishman of eminent knowledge in natural history and antiquities, and the author of a number of valuable books.

1800. Convention of the northern powers of Europe for an armed neutrality, signed at St. Petersburg between Russia and Sweden.

1809. The most ceremonious and extraordinary divorce in the world took place between Bonaparte and Josephine.

1809. Anthony Francis Fourcroy died; a very eminent French writer on chemistry, and a member of the Institute.

1811. An earthquake was experienced in the southern states and in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Charleston, Savannah, Pittsburgh and Circleville especially suffered from it.

1825. James Watt, the original publisher of the Montrose, Arbroath and Brechin Review, fell over board in Yarmouth Roads and was drowned.

1832. Robert C. Sands, an American author and editor, died. He was a man of genius, a scholar, and an elegant writer.

1835. The coldest day on record, from sunrise to sunset. The thermometer ranged from 12° to 16° below zero all day, in the vicinity of Boston. The winter was remarkable for the lowness of its mean temperature, the number of extremely cold days, and the great quantity and long duration of snow.

1835. Great fire in New York, the most destructive that ever took place in this country, by which the entire seat of the greatest commercial transactions of the city, was destroyed. The number of buildings destroyed was 529, including the Merchant's Exchange, valued at $150,000, and the Garden street church $50,000. The total loss was estimated at $17,000,000.

1848. A little after midnight the Park theatre at New York was burned to the ground.

1852. Samuel Lee, canon of Bristol, and the profoundest orientalist of the age, died, aged 69. He rose from the sphere of a carpenter's apprentice.

DECEMBER 17.

546. The Goths under Totilla captured and plundered Rome.

1413. William Gascoigne, a noted English judge, died. His opinions, arguments and decisions occur in the old law reports.

1468. The first book printed in England bears this date at Oxford, and contains 41 quarto leaves.

1500. Columbus was introduced at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella at Grenada.

1538. Luther notes in his Table Talk, that he invited the singers and musicians to supper. "I always loved music; who so has skill in this art, the same is of good kind, and fitted for all things,"—a divine saying.

1593. Henry May, an English mariner, returning from the East Indies, was wrecked on the islands of Bermudas, and was the first Englishman, who set foot on those islands. The carpenter's tools having been saved, they built a cedar bark of about 18 tons, payed the seams with lime and turtle's fat, procured some rigging from the ship, and put in thirteen live turtles for provisions, when, having remained there nearly five months, they sailed for Newfoundland.

1615. Jacob le Maire, in his voyage to the straits, reports that he found this day at Port Desire, a skeleton of nearly 11 feet in length, entombed.

1657. James Naylor, a quaker, accused of blasphemy, convicted and ordered to be whipped and pilloried and his tongue bored through with a red hot iron.

1719. Aurora borealis first noticed in this country, and filled the people with alarm and consternation. It was of course viewed as a sign of the last judgment.

1724. Thomas Guy, founder of a hospital which bears his name, died in London, aged 81. He acquired great wealth as a bookseller, and left more than a million of dollars to one hospital, besides aiding others, and leaving nearly $400,000 to be divided among such as could prove themselves in any way related to him.

1731. Robert Bolton died; an English puritan, distinguished for his learning and eloquence, and whose high reputation is sustained by his numerous writings.

1742. Francis Joseph de Beaupoil de Saint-Aulaire, an ingenious French poet, died, aged 100. He wrote much in the manner of Anacreon, and it is remarkable, that his best pieces are those of his old age, when he had reached his 90th year.

1778. The theatre at Saragossa, in Spain, was burned, occasioning the death of 400 persons.

1788. The thermometer at Leipsic fell 27 degrees below zero.

1807. Milan decree issued by Bonaparte, denationalizing all such vessels as should submit to the British order in council.

1808. Charles Jenkinson, earl of Liverpool, died. He was a statesman of profound ability, but extremely unpopular, who rose from obscurity to wealth and rank.

1812. Mississinewa, an Indian town inhabited by Delawares and Miamis, attacked by 600 Americans under colonel Campbell. The town was burnt, with several others in the vicinity.

1812. British attacked Darby, Vt., and burnt the barracks and store houses, and carried off considerable quantities of stores.

1830. Simon Bolivar, a distinguished South American general, died. He headed the revolution of the provinces against the mother country, and having achieved their independence was elected president of Colombia.

1832. Prof. Zahn discovered a city buried under the lava, between Vesuvius and Pompeii.

1832. Robert C. Sands, the assistant editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, died by apoplexy while in the act of composing.

1843. Jacob Mann, supposed to be the oldest newspaper editor of the state of New Jersey, died in Morristown; having published the Genius of Liberty in 1798.

1852. William Jacob, an English agricultural writer, died at London, aged 89.

1853. Ralph Wardlaw, an eminent minister of the congregational dissenters, died at Glasgow, aged 73.

DECEMBER 18.

69. Vitellus abdicated the Roman empire, which "he had received against his will." The next day he desired to restore the dagger of his authority.

1551. George Martinusius (Visinovitsch), governor of Transylvania, assassinated by order of Ferdinand, king of the Romans and of Hungary. He was a native of Croatia, who rose from the humble occupation of a lighter of stoves.

1555. John Philpot, archdeacon of Winchester, an English reformer, convicted of heresy and burnt at Smithfield.

1621. The famous resolution of the commons of England against the usurped royal prerogative was adopted. King James did indeed tear it from the records with his own hand, but it had its effect.

1665. Benedict Varchi died; professor of morality at Padua, and distinguished for the purity and elegance of his language and writings.

1674. Gabriel Cossart died. He assisted Labbe in his grand collection of councils, which occupied 28 vols. folio.

1678. Robert Nanteuil, a celebrated French engraver and designer, died.

1682. Heneage Finch, lord high chancellor of England, died. He was distinguished for his wisdom and eloquence.

1686. Edward Bendlowes, an English poet, died in great want, the result of imprudence.

1692. Vitus Ludovicus de Sechendorf, a learned German, died; author of several works, among which is the best account of Luther.

1708. John Lovelace arrived at New York from England, as governor of the province.

1714. CÆsar d'Estrees, a French cardinal, died; an able negotiator and a benevolent man.

1733. John Potenger died; an English poet and miscellaneous writer.

1733. Emanuel Matti died; a Spanish poet of eminence, and member of the Arcadia at Rome.

1737. The cliff at Scarborough sunk.

1741. Remarkable meteor seen at noon near Canterbury, Eng., accompanied by an inverted rainbow and three mock suns next morning.

1745. The Prussians under Frederick II entered Dresden. They captured the younger sons of the king of Poland, and took 415 officers and 1500 men prisoners.

1760. Charles Hayes, an ingenious English mathematical writer, died.

1771. Philip Milla, an eminent Scottish botanist, died. He had charge of the apothecary company's physic garden at Chelsea, where he was visited by LinnÆus.

1775. Battle of Great Bridge, near Norfolk, Va.

1776. The constitution of the state of North Carolina was adopted.

1778. The French under count d'Estaing made another attack upon the British batteries at Grand Cul de Sac, St. Lucia, and after being three times repulsed, were compelled to retire with the loss of 400 killed and 1100 wounded. British general Meadows was wounded.

1780. Society of antiquaries first instituted in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1785. The sloop Experiment, captain Dean, of Albany, sailed from New York for China. She returned in 1787, with a valuable cargo, and was the second vessel that sailed from America to China.

1787. The convention of New Jersey unanimously assented to and ratified the new federal constitution, without amendments.

1787. Soame Jenyns, an English theological writer, died, aged 83. His writings are distinguished by purity of language, elegance of diction and critical knowledge.

1793. Toulon, which had revolted from the convention, after sustaining a murderous siege, was attacked by the revolutionists with a tremendous charge upon the fortifications. The English redoubt, defended by three thousand men and 20 pieces of cannon and several mortars, was carried in the space of an hour; and the town after being bombarded ten hours incessantly, was evacuated by the allies. Great efforts were made to carry away as many of the inhabitants as possible, but several thousand were left to the fury of their countrymen, who showed no mercy.

1796. The contemplated invasion of England, or rather Ireland, by an army of 25,000 under general Hoche, failed by a dispersion of the transport ships.

1799. Burial of Washington.

1799. Jean Etienne Montucla, an eminent French mathematician, died. His problems of the trisection of the angle, and the duplication of the cube, are curious and interesting.

1803. John Godfrey Herder, a German theological writer, died. Some of his writings have been translated.

1807. Counter declaration by the king of England against the emperor of Russia, and an order in council issued for granting letters of marque and reprisal against Russia.

1809. Alexander Adam, an eminent Scottish teacher, died. His Roman Antiquities is still in extensive use.

1810. Lucien Bonaparte with his family and a suite of thirty-five persons, arrived at Plymouth, England, and voluntarily placed themselves under the protection of the British government.

1812. Bonaparte arrived at Paris from his disastrous campaign in Russia.

1820. Guiseppe Bonzaniga, royal sculptor of Turin, died. By a persevering application of 40 years he raised the art of carving in wood and ivory to a high degree of perfection, and founded an establishment from which numerous works of art have been produced that are much sought for in all Italy, and valued by connoisseurs.

1828. Lord Liverpool, the English premier, was killed at the opening of the rail road at Liverpool.

1832. Philip Freneau, a poet of the American revolution, died in New Jersey, aged 80. His poems were collected in two volumes and have gone through several editions.

1832. Treaty of navigation and commerce concluded at St. Petersburg, between the United States and Russia.

1843. Smith Thompson, one of the justices of the supreme court of the United States, died at Poughkeepsie, aged 76.

1845. Samuel McClure died in Illinois. Having fought in the revolutionary wars, he at their close in removing his family to Kentucky was attacked by Indians, his wife taken prisoner, and his children slain. He escaped himself and returning severely punished the Indians and rescued his wife.

1847. Timothy Pitkin, a celebrated historical writer and statesman, died at his residence, New Haven, Conn.

1855. Samuel Rogers, the distinguished English poet, died, aged 92.

DECEMBER 19.

69. The Roman capitol burnt by Vitellius.

1567. The Burghley papers state from the diocesan's certificate, that there were then in London and its immediate vicinity, 3,838 Dutchmen, 720 Frenchmen, 137 Italians, 10 Venitians, 56 Spaniards, 25 Portuguese, 2 Grecians, 2 Blackmores, 1 Dane, and but 58 Scots.

1675. Attack on Narragansett, by the united forces of the New England colonies. The English having gained an entrance, and withstood the first fire of the Indians, poured in amain, and made such havoc with their enemies that they soon had possession of every part of the fort. The wigwams to the number of five or six hundred were fired. The loss of the Indians on this occasion was by their own account 1000 fighting men; the loss of old men, women and children could not be estimated, as they mostly perished in the flames. The loss of the English was 80 killed. The blow was irreparable to the Indians, who were deprived of their homes and provisions.

1728. White Kennet, an English prelate, died. He was an eloquent and popular preacher, and made a valuable collection of manuscripts.

1745. The avails of three nights' acting the Beggar's Opera, amounting to £600, given to encourage king George's army against France and the rebels.

1753. Styan Thirlby, an ingenious and learned English critic, died. He edited the works of Justin Martyr.

1777. Washington moved his troops from the Swedes ford to Valley Forge 16 miles from Philadelphia, where he hutted them. They were in great want of shoes and stockings. At one time his army was without bread four days; on the fifth day two regiments refused to perform duty, but finally returned to order on the prudent conduct and persuasion of Washington.

1793. The princess royal of France, the only remaining member of the family of the unhappy Louis XVI, was exchanged for the marquis Lafayette.

1793. The French troops entered Toulon, when such of the inhabitants as had favored the allies either put an end to their own existence or perished by the guillotine or musket.

1799. Charles Joseph Panckoucke, an eminent Parisian printer, died. He acquired great celebrity as an author and a man of letters, as well as by the excellence of his printing.

1806. Elizabeth Carter, a contributor to the Rambler, and a good Latin and Greek scholar, died at London.

1807. Frederick Melchoir, baron de Grimm, died. He is indebted for his fame to a correspondence with the duke of Saxe Gotha, from Paris, which was published in 16 vols.

1813. David Hartley, an English philanthropist, died. He is distinguished also as a politician and a projector. In parliament he steadily opposed the war with the colonies, and was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with Dr. Franklin at Paris.

1813. Fort Niagara captured by the British, who took the Americans by surprise. In the fort were 250 men and 25 cannon.

1813. Lewistown and Tuscarora village, near fort Schlosser, were burnt by the Indians.

1815. Benjamin Smith Barton, an eminent physician of Philadelphia, died. He held the professorships of natural history and botany, afterwards of materia medica, and succeeded Dr. Rush in theory and practice of medicine.

1831. The national assembly of Greece met at Argos, but in consequence of sedition was soon obliged to remove to Napoli.

1840. Felix Grundy, long a distinguished senator of the United States from Tennessee, died. He was a zealous supporter of the measures of general Jackson's administration.

1842. John Uncas, the last male descendant of the Mohegan chief of that name, died, aged 89, and was buried in the royal burying ground of the Mohegans in Connecticut.

1845. Charles Bowen, with his wife and oldest child, drowned by the sinking of the steamer Bellozane in the Mississippi. He was for many years publisher of the North American Review, the American Almanac, Token, &c., in Boston.

1851. J. M. William Turner, an unrivaled English landscape painter, died at Chelsea, aged 76. He was a man of miserly habits and great eccentricities.

1852. Sacramento in California inundated; the city submerged by the breaking through of a levee.

69. Aulus Vitellius, emperor of Rome, assassinated. After sharing in the debaucheries of Tiberius, and administering to the vices of Caligula, Claudius and Nero, he was proclaimed by his troops in Germany, in opposition to Otho. Though defeated in three battles, he triumphed in the fourth. He disgraced his reign by every species of licentiousness.

107. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, torn in pieces by lions at Rome, by order of the emperor Trajan. His epistles are very interesting remains of ecclesiastical antiquity.

860. Ethelbald, who married his mother-in-law, died, after having to the priests atoned for his offence by building and endowing many abbeys and monasteries.

912. Alphonso III (the Great), king of Asturias, in Spain, died. He wrote a chronicle of the Spanish monarchs, and a short time before his death obtained a memorable victory over the Moors.

1192. Richard of England seized in his disguise at Vienna.

1492. Columbus cast anchor in the bay of St. Thomas; the anniversary also of the interment of his venerable bones more than three centuries after (1795) at Cuba.

1494. Matteo Marie Bojardo, an Italian lyric poet, died.

1560. John Dryander, a Hessian medical and mathematical writer, died. His discoveries in astronomy and his invention of mathematical instruments are important.

1560. First general assembly of the Scottish church was opened.

1603. Mahomet III, sultan of Turkey, died of the plague. He began his reign by ordering 19 of his brothers to be strangled, and 10 of his father's wives to be drowned. He invaded Hungary with an army of 200,000 men, but after some successes his progress was checked, and he sued in vain for peace.

1686. Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Boston with a commission from king James as governor of New England. He was received with satisfaction only as he was less dreaded than Kirk.

1697. Thomas Firmin, an eminent English philanthropist, died. He devoted his time and money to charitable objects, and his benefactions were unequaled at the time when he lived.

1698. Bartholomew du Quental died; a Portuguese catholic priest, distinguished for his piety and learning.

1735. The Gentleman's Magazine announced the arrival of a dwarf in England from France, who at the age of 46, measured 21 inches in height.

1735. Part of the island of Portland sank into the sea.

1765. The dauphin of France died in his 36th year. He was a prince of benevolent character and exemplary piety, but little known in public life.

1766. Prayers were publicly read in all the popish chapels in Ireland for George III and family, being the first time prayers were made by Romanists for the protestant succession since 1688.

1770. John Senac died; physician to the king of France, counselor of state, and superintendent of the mineral waters of the kingdom. He wrote several works on anatomy and medicine.

1782. The United States frigate Charleston, 40 guns, captured by the British ships Quebec and Diomede, 76 guns, after a chase of 18 hours.

1790. The fortress of Ismael taken by storm by the Russians under Suwarrow; of 12,000 Turks all were put to the sword but 400.

1791. Bank of the United States commenced discounting in Philadelphia; $300,000 were discounted. Branches were established in New York, Boston, Baltimore and Charleston, which commenced business in January, 1792.

1793. John Strangeways Hutton died at Philadelphia, aged 110. He was born on Long Island in 1682.

1793. The first ambassador from the Porte arrived in London.

1795. The remains of Columbus removed to Cuba. In the presence of the dignitaries and military of San Domingo, assembled at the Metropolitan cathedral, a small vault was opened above the chancel, wherein were found the fragments of a lead coffin, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould, evidently the remains of a human body. These were carefully collected and put into a case of gilded lead secured by a lock, and enclosed in a coffin covered with black velvet, and ornamented with lace and fringe of gold. (See Jan. 19, 1796.)

1795. French under Jourdan made an attack on Kayserslautern, but were repulsed with a loss of 2000 men.

1803. Samuel Hopkins, an eminent New England minister, died. He published a work to show that it was the interest of all the American states to emancipate their slaves.

1804. Richard Humpton, adjutant general of the state of Pennsylvania, died. He was a native of England, who early entered the military service, and distinguished himself as a gallant soldier during the war of the revolution.

1809. Joseph Johnson, the fortunate publisher of Cowper's poems, died.

1815. Cambaceres arrested and sent to prison at Paris.

1849. William Miller, the founder of the sect of Millerites, died at Hampton, Washington co., N. Y., aged 68. He was a native of Pittsfield, Mass., and during the last war with England served as a captain of volunteers on the northern frontier. He began to speak in public assemblies upon the subject of the Millenium in 1833, and in the ten years which preceded the time which he had set for the consummation of all prophecy he labored assiduously in the middle and northern states, averaging, it is said, nearly one sermon a day for more than half that period. He was uneducated, and not largely read in even the common English commentaries; his views were absurd and supported but feebly; yet he succeeded in building up a sect of some 30 or 40,000 disciples, which disappeared rapidly after the close of the "day of probation" in 1843, after which time Mr. Miller himself did not often advocate or defend his views in public.

1852. By a decree of the governor-general of British India, the province of Pegu was annexed to the British dominions.

1855. Thomas Cubitt, an eminent English builder, principally on works of great magnitude for the government, died, aged 68.

DECEMBER 21.

73. Festival of St. Thomas, the Christian apostle, whose counsels penetrated into India. He was killed by the Bramins, and buried at Meliapour, about ten miles from Madras.

1375. Giovanni Boccaccio, an eminent Italian writer, died; whose Decameron has been translated into all the European languages, although great pains were taken to suppress it.

1641. Maximilian de Bethune, duke de Sully, died; celebrated as the prime minister of Henry IV, and the most able and incorruptible statesman that France ever had. After the murder of the king he went into retirement, where he wrote his Memoirs, a minute history of his own times.

1667. Milton's widow disposed of her entire interest in the Paradise Lost for eight pounds; so that the sublimest poetical building in the world produced for its architect and his family, the sum of eighty dollars; ten pounds having been paid to the author in his life time!

1667. Sentence was executed upon many of those Scottish covenanters who had rebelled, it is supposed under persecution.

1670. The maiming of sir John Coventry for reflecting on the moral character of Charles II, which caused the Coventry act.

1705. Catharine, of Portugal, died; queen of Charles II, of England, by whom she was treated unkindly.

1706. Tumultuous meetings in Edinburgh, occurred on account of signing the articles of union with England.

1719. First No. of the Boston Gazette issued by William Brooker.

1741. Bernard de Montfaucon, a very learned French Benedictine, died; famous for his knowledge of ecclesiastic and pagan antiquities.

1774. Thomas Broughton, a learned English divine, died; author of the Bibliotheca Historica Sacra, and one of the original writers for the Biographia Britannica.

1775. An act of parliament confiscating all American vessels found floating on the water, and for impressing the crews of American vessels into the British navy, without distinction of persons.

1777. There were at this time 300 American officers and 900 privates confined as prisoners of war in New York by the British. They were mostly confined in sugar houses and the most loathsome jails. In Philadelphia there were 500 privates and 50 officers. They were generally stripped of what clothing they had when taken, and were sometimes confined several days with scarcely any food in order to induce them to enlist to save their lives. Frequent instances occurred of persons thus perishing from hunger.

1780. James Harris died; an English gentleman of uncommon abilities and learning, whose writings have been greatly admired.

1782. Francis Philip de Reyrac, a French ecclesiastic, died; a learned and amiable character.

1791. Arnauld de Barquin, a French miscellaneous writer died; whose works are known in our language. His Children's Friend was honored with the prize of the French academy, as the most useful book issued in 1784.

1807. The Danish islands of St. Thomas and St. Johns, in the West Indies, surrendered to the British.

1811. Peter Parker, the British admiral, died, aged 89.

1815. William Vincent, a learned English divine, died. As an author he is principally known by his commentary on Arrian's voyages of Nearchus.

1815. Lavalette, one of Bonaparte's ministers, escaped from prison in the disguise of his wife's dress, she having been permitted to visit him.

1831. Trial of the French ministers for high treason. The excitement was so great that a strong guard was required to save them from the popular violence. Above 70,000 men were under arms at one time. Their sentence was imprisonment for life, with the additional penalty of civil death on Polignac.

1832. William Bray, an eminent English antiquary, died, aged 97.

1833. John P. Hungerford died; an officer in the revolutionary war, and afterwards a member of congress from Virginia.

1835. John Sinclair, an eminent British Statesman, died, aged 82. He was also a very voluminous author, and was distinguished for his patriotism and philanthropy. During a public life of upwards of fifty years, there is scarcely any topic in the whole range of political, statistical or medical science, to which he did not turn his inquiring mind.

1840. Frank Hall Standish, an English author, died at Cadiz, aged 42. He wrote biography, travels, sketches and poems.

1845. The battle of Punjaub, between the English forces and the Sikh army, was fought, which issued in the defeat of the Sikhs, and the annexation of a large portion of their territory to that of the English.

1848. The Asiatic cholera broke out with great violence among the United States troops at port Lavaca, Texas.

DECEMBER 22.

640. Alexandria taken from the Greeks, by the Saracens, under Amri, after a siege of 14 months. "I have taken," he addressed the caliph Omar, "the great city of the west. It is impossible for me to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty; and I shall content myself with observing that it contains 4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 400 theatres, or places of amusement, 12,000 shops for the sale of vegetable food, and 40,000 tributary Jews." It is well known that the second Alexandrian library, established by Cleopatra, was then destroyed, to feed the baths. The collection consisted of 300,000 volumes, and those 200,000 rolls, brought by Mark Antony from Pergamus, with the accumulation of seven centuries.

937. A severe frost which lasted 120 days, began in England.

1332. Found in the library of St. Mary, at Florence, the whole of the New Testament in silk; at the end of it is this inscription in Greek: "By the hand of the Sinner, and most unworthy, Mark, in the year of the world 7840."

1483. William d'Estouteville, a Norman cardinal, died; who reformed the university of Paris.

1530. The famous protestant league of defence, against a decree of the imperial diet, was concluded this day.

1558. The great seal of England delivered to sir Nicholas Bacon, with the style of lord keeper, then first adopted.

1585. Virginia Accoramboni, celebrated for her beauty and poetical talents, was assassinated at Padua.

1592. Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma, and governor of the Low Countries, died of a wound given by Henry IV, of France, at the siege of Rouen.

1620. Landing of the first settlers at Plymouth. The total number of them was 101; of which 50 died during the winter.

1662. George Phillips, with three others, styled fanatics, executed for conspiring the death of Charles II.

1681. Richard Allein died; a puritan of great learning, whose writings are mostly on theology.

1694. Francis Nicholson made governor of Maryland.

1699. The protestants of Germany here introduced the Gregorian or new style of supputation, by the omission of ten days, concluding this year.

1715. The Pretender (Chevalier de St. George), son of James II of Scotland, the deposed king of England, arrived at Peterhead, and was proclaimed king of England.

1719. Andrew Bradford issued the first number of the American Weekly Mercury, the first paper printed in Pennsylvania, and the second in the United States.

1722. Pierre Varignon, a distinguished French architect and mathematician, died. He was professor of mathematics, and an able writer on that science.

1723. James Basnage, a French protestant minister, died. He was a man of talent and erudition. His works are numerous and valuable, particularly his History of the Jews, 15 vols.

1729. Michael Baron, the Roscius of the French theatre, died.

1753. A Mr. Braithwaite died at Carlisle, England, at the age of 110. In 1652 he commenced singing in the cathedral, and at the time of his death had continued singing one hundred years.

1768. Charles Littleton, bishop of Carlisle, died; an eminent English antiquary.

1788. Percival Pott, a very eminent English surgeon, died.

1789. A number of ice islands, of great magnitude, discovered, which had been wafted from the southern polar regions. The ship Guardian struck them near the cape of Good Hope, on her passage to Botany bay. These islands were wrapt in darkness; they were 150 fathoms long, and more than 50 fathoms above the surface of the waves. A fragment from the summit of one of them broke off, and plunging into the sea, caused a tremendous commotion in the water, and dense smoke all around it.

1796. Kehl, a fortress on the Rhine, surrendered by the French, under Dessaix, to the Austrians, under the archduke Charles, after a siege of 51 days, and a blockade of 115. The garrison were permitted to withdraw, with their artillery and baggage, with drums beating and colors flying.

1798. Bonaparte arrived at Suez, with several officers and men of science, and, having forded the Red sea, visited the fountains of Moses. Whilst here he received a deputation from the monks of mount Sinai, and countersigned the charter they had received from Mahomet.

1803. Louisiana taken possession of by the Americans.

1807. Embargo; the ports of the United States closed against British commerce.

1812. James Clinton, an American general, died. He was a firm and undeviating patriot of the revolution.

1812. Peter Henry Larcher, a French writer, died. He translated some of the principal Greek classics.

1813. The Indians attacked and defeated at Ecchanachaca, by the Americans under general Claiburn, who destroyed the town, 200 houses, with a large quantity of provisions.

1818. Philip Francis, an English statesman, died. He was an active promoter of the impeachment of the famous Warren Hastings, and was considered by some as the author of Junius's Letters.

1822. William Lowndes, a distinguished orator and patriot, of South Carolina, died at sea.

1828. William Hyde Wollaston died, aged 62; one of the ablest and most renowned of English chemists and natural philosophers. Very little of his personal history is known, his biography not having been written (1846).

1832. Francis Huber, a Swiss naturalist, died, aged 82. He lost his sight at the age of 17. Notwithstanding this difficulty in the way of scientific pursuits, with the assistance of his wife, he wrote and published a very accurate work on the habits of bees, and some other works.

1835. Edmund Fry died in London, at a very advanced age. He was a member of the society of Friends, originally bred to the medical profession, but was more generally known as an eminent and learned type founder.

1835. David Hosack, an eminent physician, died at New York, where he was professor of the theory and practice of physic, and was held in high estimation as a man of talent, learning and worth.

1838. Hugh James Rose, a talented and eloquent English divine, died. Besides numerous works of which he was the author, he projected the British Magazine, and edited the Theological Library.

1842. 250 troops from Texas invading Mexico, were defeated and taken prisoners.

1854. Martin Joseph Routh, president of Magdalen college, died at Oxford, England, aged 99; a man of great learning, talent and virtues.

1854. The British parliament passed a law permitting the enlistment of foreigners, as officers and soldiers, in her majesty's service.

1855. Valerian Krasinski, one of the most distinguished members of the Polish emigration, and an eminent author, died at Edinburgh, Scotland.

DECEMBER 23.

486 B. C. The accession of Xerxes the magnificent to the Persian throne, Nar. Era, 263. When Darius Hystaspes, his father, was cut off, he had reigned 36 years, from the thoth of N. E. 227, corresponding with the first day of January B. C. 521. The year 485, in which he died, is remarkable for two facts, the conquest of Syracuse under Gelon, and a comic work by Epicharmus, who added the Greek letters chi and theta to his native alphabet.

176. Marcus Antoninus entered Rome in triumph, after his German victories on the Danube, accompanied by his monstrous son Commodus.

400. Naval battle of the Hellespont, and defeat of Gainas the barbarian; who was despatched in Thrace.

558. Childebert I, king of France, died. His great military exploit was the defeat of the king of Burgundy.

679. Dagobert II, king of Austrasia, assassinated.

1588. Henry de Lorraine, duke of Guise, assassinated by order of the king. He was a turbulent and seditious subject of Henry III, of France.

1620. The Plymouth settlers having fixed upon a place for a town, on a high ground facing the bay, where the land was cleared and the water excellent, as many as could conveniently went on shore, and felled and carried timber to the spot designated for the erection of a building for common use.

1622. Redemptus Barenzano, a Piedmontese monk, died. He was professor of philosophy at Anneci, and a correspondent of the great Bacon.

1631. Michael Drayton, an English poet, died. His works which were numerous, and of great merit, were collected in 1748 in one volume folio.

1632. John Cotton, the first minister of Boston, died. He was a good scholar and a pious, able and benevolent man.

1688. James II, king of England, escaped from England to Calais, in France, and was declared to have abdicated his throne.

1715. The Freeholder, first No., appeared, in a great degree political. In this work the labors of Addison as an essayist were brought to a close.

1721. William Musgrave died; an eminent English physician and antiquary, and secretary of the Royal society.

1747. The colonial house and records at Boston destroyed by fire.

1757. British privateer Terrible, captain William Death, of 26 guns and 200 men, captured a large French ship, after an obstinate battle, in which he lost his brother and 16 men killed. A few days after he fell in with the privateer Vengeance, 36 guns and 360 men, who recaptured the prize, and having manned her, both ships bore down on the Terrible, whose main was shot away by the first broadside. After a desperate engagement, in which the French captain and his second were killed, with two-thirds of his company, the Terrible was boarded, when no more than 26 persons were found alive, 16 of whom had lost a leg or an arm, and the other 10 were badly wounded. The ship itself was so shattered that it could scarcely be kept above water. There was a strange combination of names in this affair; the Terrible was equipped at Execution dock; was commanded by Death, who had Devil for his lieutenant and Ghost for surgeon.

1777. Washington had 2,898 men unfit for duty, "owing to their being barefooted and otherwise naked." His whole force fit for duty amounted to 8,200.

1783. Samuel Cooper, one of the most celebrated divines and politicians of New England, died.

1783. General Washington delivered up his commission to congress at Annapolis.

1789. Charles Michael de l'Epee, a celebrated French teacher of the deaf and dumb, died. He devoted his time and money to the education of indigent mutes. Sacrificing his own comfort to promote theirs. Some of his pupils obtained academical prizes by poetical and literary works.

1804. Battle of Biezun; the French under Grouchy defeated 8,000 Prussians, and took 500 prisoners and 5 cannon.

1814. Battle at Villaret's plantation, near New Orleans, between 2000 Americans under general Jackson and about 4000 British under general Keene. American loss 213; British loss 305.

1816. Bible societies prohibited in Hungary.

1825. Samuel Parkes, an English chemist, died. He was no less distinguished for his benevolence than for his ardor, diligence and perseverance in the pursuit of science.

1832. Civil war in Mexico terminated by a convention at Zalaveta, of delegates from the armies of Bustamente and Santa Anna.

1846. James Stevenson, one of the oldest of the Seneca chiefs, and a friend of Red Jacket, died on the Cattaraugus reservation, aged 81. He was the son of an English officer, who vainly tried to persuade his beautiful Indian wife to accompany him to England.

1854. Simoda, Japan, destroyed by an earthquake. A wave from the bay overflowed the town, and on its return left but 16 buildings out of a thousand standing.

DECEMBER 24.

361. George of Capadocia, Arian bishop of Alexandria, was assassinated in consequence of his oppression.

705. Ælfrid, king of Northumberland, died.

1156. Peter (the Venerable), a French ecclesiastic, died. He was sprung of a noble family, and became general of the order of Cluni. He was a man of great learning and exemplary piety.

1247. Robin Hood, the English outlaw, has his death placed on this day (See Nov. 18).

1460. Battle of Wakefield Green; the Lancasterians under Margaret queen of Henry IV, defeated Richard duke of York, who was slain.

1525. Vasquez de Gama, the Portuguese navigator, died at Cochin in Malabar. He discovered the course to the East Indies, by the cape of Good Hope.

1535. Euricius Cordus died; a German physician and poet, the friend of Erasmus.

1560. At Lillebone, Lower Seine, France, a fiery meteor fell, attended with red rain.

1565. A Dutch church was opened at Norwich by order of queen Elizabeth.

1650. Edinburgh castle taken by Cromwell, said to be the first time ever reduced.

1664. A comet styled a blazing star appeared in England.

1704. First eruption on record of the peak of Teneriffe.

1728. Second newspaper established in Philadelphia, called the Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette, by Samuel Keimer. The first press had been established by Bradford about six weeks after the city was founded.

1736. Plot discovered to destroy the whole family of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel.

1740. Daniel Waterland, an eminent English divine and polemical writer, died.

1771. Charles John Francis Henault, an eminent French chronologist, died. His great work, the result of forty years' study, has gone through many editions and been translated into the Chinese and several European languages.

1775. John Campbell, king's agent for the province of Georgia, died. He was an eminent writer on biography, history and politics.

1793. The French convention decreed that the houses in Toulon should be leveled with the ground.

1794. South Hadley canal, or Connecticut river, opened. It was constructed to overcome a fall of 53 feet in the river; is upwards of 2 miles in length, including a cut of 300 feet in length through solid rock, 40 feet deep and 18 wide. The descent into the river was made by an inclined plane 230 feet in length, traversed by a carriage with six wheels, which was regulated by a water wheel. It was altogether quite an original affair.

1798. Robert Merry, author of the Pains of Memory, died at Baltimore.

1800. An attempt to assassinate Bonaparte at Paris by an infernal machine.

1804. Martin Vahl, a Norwegian naturalist, died. He extended his researches over various parts of Europe and the African coast.

1805. American exploring party under Capts. Lewis and Clark, went into winter quarters in huts on the shore of the Pacific, near the mouth of Columbia river.

1806. Battle of Nasielsk; the Russians under Kaminski defeated by the French under Davoust.

1806. Battle of Kursonet, on the Wrka; 15,000 Cossacks defeated by the French under Nansouty.

1808. Thomas Beddoes, an eminent English physician, died. He is known by his perseverance in making experiments to cure consumption by the application of pneumatics.

1814. Preliminaries of the treaty of peace between England and the United States signed at Ghent.

1824. Christopher Aretin, a learned German writer, died. On the abolition of the monastries in 1803 he was appointed to examine their libraries.

1830. Stephania Felicite de Genlis, a celebrated French authoress, died, aged 84. For the last thirty years of her life, her inexhaustible pen continued to pour forth a variety of works of which space is here wanted to enumerate even their names. The whole of her literary progeny falls little short of an hundred volumes, and are characterized by fertility of imagination and purity of style.

1831. A volcanic island, recently formed near Sicily, disappeared.

1832. The citadel of Antwerp, with 3,500 troops, surrendered to the French, after a brave resistance of 26 days. The French had thrown up 14,000 metres of trenches, and fired 63,000 rounds, by which 695 were wounded and 108 killed.

1836. Francisco Espoz y Mina, a distinguished Spanish constitutional general, died.

1836. Great snow storm in England, which blocked up the roads so as to prevent all traveling, and many lives were lost. In some places the snow drifted to the depth of forty feet, and in others avalanches buried houses and their inhabitants.

1846. Erastus Root, a distinguished statesman in the state of New York, died while on a visit to New York city, aged 74.

1849. Patrick Frazer Tytler, the Scottish historian, died.

1849. Great fire at San Francisco; property destroyed valued at a million and a half of dollars.

1851. The principal room of the library of Congress was destroyed by fire.

DECEMBER 25.

The commencement of what is usually called the vulgar era, was four years prior to the date now used as the beginning of the Christian era.

98. Christ mass was first used as a festival.

283. Marcus Aurelius Carus, the Roman emperor, killed by lightning, beyond the Tigris.

400. Gainas, a Goth of great valor, killed. He became a general under Arcadius, and desolated Thrace, because refused a church for the Arians.

496. Clovis, the first Christian king of France, crowned at Rheims; a glorious day among the Franks.

800. Charles, king of France, crowned at Rome emperor of the West. It was the commencement of a new Roman era, and he took the name of Charlemagne.

830. Leo V, emperor of Constantinople, assassinated. He was an Armenian, who became a general by his valor in the Roman armies, and prevailed on his troops to proclaim him emperor.

1066. William, the conqueror, was crowned at London, amid a tumult, and the better to secure the obedience of the citizens, granted them a charter.

1440. Gilles de Retz, the famous Bluebeard, executed at Nantes for his horrible crimes. The ruins of his castle, La Verriere, are seen on the banks of the Erde, in the Lower Loire.

1476. Geleas Marie Sforza, duke of Milan, assassinated. He rendered himself unpopular by his ferocity and debauchery.

1618. The first house erected at Plymouth, Mass., by the puritan settlers, after having spent more than a month in selecting a place for settlement. The company was divided into 19 families, and to each person was assigned a lot, half a rod in width, and three rods in length, for houses and gardens.

1658. Cromwell dispersed several congregations, met to celebrate the birth of the Savior.

1676. Matthew Hale, a learned English judge, died. He was conversant with almost every branch of science, and has left valuable works in law, philosophy and religion.

1678. John Newton died; an English mathematician and chaplain to Charles II.

1698. James Houbracken, the celebrated Dutch engraver, was born at Dordrecht.

1712. William King, an English poetical and political writer, died. His most useful work is an account of the heathen gods and heroes, necessary for the understanding of the ancient poets.

1715. James, the pretender to the English throne, landed at Peterhead, and formed his court.

1740. John Soanen, an eminent French ecclesiastic, having been deposed from his bishopric, died in exile.

1741. Robert Sanderson died; an English writer, distinguished as the continuator of Rymer's Foedera, from the 16th to the 20th volume.

1758. James Hervey, an English divine of exemplary virtue and piety, died. His Meditations and Letters are well known.

1762. Great riot at Drury lane theatre, because the managers would not admit at half price after the 3d October.

1770. Henry Mill, an ingenious English mechanic, died. He is said to have been unrivaled in the science of hydraulics.

1777. Vermont became an independent state. It was first settled in 1725, and claimed as part of New Hampshire.

1796. Kosciusko, with other Polish prisoners, liberated by the emperor Paul, when he came to America.

1801. Hester Chapone, an elegant English poetess and moral writer, died. Her works will long be popular.

1813. Violent eruption of mount Etna.

1816. Treaty between the United States and the dey of Algiers.

1822. A hurricane in Iceland, which overthrew the churches. The new volcano of Oefields Jokkelen, spouted burning stones and ashes.

1827. Enrico Acerbi, an Italian surgeon and medical writer, died.

1837. John Austin died at Philadelphia, aged 67; a native of Barbadoes, formerly a surgeon in the British army, and a practitioner at Barbadoes and Demarara, where he was greatly esteemed.

1853. John Macrae Washington, a brave American military officer, was swept from the wreck of the San Francisco, aged 60. After the close of the Mexican war he commanded an expedition across the plains of Mexico to the Pacific, and acted as military governor one year.

DECEMBER 26.

795. Adrian I, pope, died. He was a Roman patrician, who on his elevation to the pontificate highly embellished St. Peter's church, and displayed his benevolence and humanity during a famine occasioned by the inundation of the Tiber.

1135. Stephen crowned king of England on St. Stephen's day.

1292. John Baliol performed homage to Edward of England at New Castle.

1300. Edward I of England forbade the circulation of crockards, pollards, rosaries, and other foreign coins, as sterlings. They were all called in and a new sterling money coined, so called from the Easterlings, who were the first coiners of silver of that fineness in England.

1530. Zahir-Eddin Mohammed Baber, founder of the Tartar empire in Hindostan, died, aged 47. He made the first irruption into Hindostan in 1505, which was unsuccessful; but in 1524 he again undertook the invasion, defeated and killed the sultan in battle, and extended his conquests far and wide with astonishing rapidity. He was one of the most distinguished sovereigns that ever sat upon an Asiatic throne.

1552. Charles V raised the siege of Metz, with the loss of 30,000 men.

1679. Thomas Blount, an English barrister at law, died; distinguished for his talents and learning, and as a respectable writer.

1729. Honore Tournely, a distinguished French ecclesiastic, died. He was professor of philosophy at Douay, and a popular preacher.

1731. Anthony Houdart de la Motte, an ingenious French critic and miscellaneous author, died. His works consist of epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, lyric, pastoral, and fable; besides a vast variety of discourses, critical and academical.

1732. William Leland, of Lisnaken, in Ireland, died, aged 139. He was alike remarkable for his stature and longevity.

1762. Everard Titon du Tillet, a French Jesuit, died; distinguished for his learning, and for a brazen Parnassus which he planned and erected in honor of Louis XIV.

1771. Claude Adrian Helvetius, a French writer, died. He was a wealthy and benevolent man, but his works were irreligious.

1776. Battle of Trenton, New Jersey. The Americans under Washington crossed the Delaware on a cold and stormy night, and surprised the Hessians at sunrise. Col. Rhalle and 20 men were killed and the remainder surrendered, to the number of 1,000. Of the Americans 2 were killed and 2 frozen to death. This well judged and successful enterprise revived the depressed spirits of the colonists and produced an immediate and happy effect in recruiting the American army.

1780. John Fothergill, an eminent London physician, died. He was of the sect of quakers, and distinguished himself by his public and private benefactions, his encouragement of science, and attention to the health, the police and the conveniences of the city, as well as his great medical skill.

1782. Henry Home, lord Kaimes, died. He was one of the senators of the college of justice in Scotland, and eminent as a critical and philosophical writer.

1784. Otho Frederic Muller, a Danish naturalist, died. His works show much method and great accuracy.

1797. John Wilkes, a famous English politician and an elegant scholar, died. He was a member of parliament, lord mayor of London, and afterwards chamberlain.

1800. Mary Robinson died; an elegant English poetess, novelist and dramatic writer.

1806. Battle of Pultusk in Poland, between the Russians under Beningsen and the French under Lannes. The latter were defeated with the loss of 8,000; Russian loss 5,000. The French drew back with such haste that the advancing Cossacks were unable to overtake their rear guard next day. Lannes was glanced by a ball, and had two aids killed.

1806. Battle of Soldau; French under Ney defeated the Prussians under Lestocq.

1806. Battle of Alawa, in Prussian Poland; French under Marchand gained a brilliant victory.

1806. Battle of Golymin; Russians defeated by the French under Murat and Davoust. The Russians on this eventful day lost 80 cannon, 12,000 men, and a great amount of baggage, &c.

1811. Destruction of Richmond theatre, in consequence of the scenery taking fire, when 123 persons perished, among whom was the governor of the state, and a great number of females.

1812. Joel Barlow, an American poet and statesman, died at Garnowitch, in Poland, while on an embassy from the United States to Bonaparte. His principal work is the Columbiad, a poem.

1820. Joseph Fouche, duke of Otranto, died. He was one of the most flagrant of the French revolutionists; but had the adroitness to escape punishment by shifting his opinions with every variation of the public sentiment and policy.

1831. Stephen Girard, a wealthy Philadelphia banker, died. He was a native of France; was first a cabin boy, then mate of a ship, then keeper of a toy shop, afterwards a merchant, and finally a banker. He left an estate of ten or fifteen millions, which was bequeathed to charitable and public purposes.

1843. Rev. James Harvey Linsley, a writer in the American Journal of Science, died at Stratford.

1851. The town of Lagos, on the coast of Africa, destroyed by an English force, with a loss of 30 killed and 60 wounded, because the native chief refused to sign a treaty for the effectual suppression of the slave trade. The chief was deposed, and another substituted in his place.

1851. A large portion of the Chinese part of Hong-Kong destroyed by fire, including all the printing offices, the finest edifices and public buildings; involving the loss of nearly 500 houses and many human lives.

DECEMBER 27.

100. John (the Evangelist) died at Ephesus, aged 94.

1552. Catharine Von Bora, wife of Martin Luther, died. She was rescued from a nunnery with eight others by the assistance of the great reformer. She survived him several years.

1585. Peter de Ronsard died; a French elegiac and epigrammatic poet of a noble family.

1603. Thomas Cartwright, an English puritan of great eminence and learning, died. He was a sharp and powerful controversialist, author of a practical commentary on the gospels and proverbs. He was obliged to quit the kingdom to avoid persecution, and died in great poverty.

1605. John Davis, a famous English navigator, killed in a desperate fight with some Japanese near the coast of Malacca.

1669. Samuel Clarke died; a celebrated English oriental scholar.

1689. Peter Halle, an eminent French civilian and poet, died. He was offered the headship of five colleges, and accepted the professorship of canon law in the university of Paris, where he raised the character of that much neglected science.

1763. Lawrence Nattier died; a Swabian, who published a work on antient gems.

1763. The Paxton boys broke into Lancaster jail and massacred fourteen friendly Indians.

1771. Henry Pitot died; a celebrated French mathematician, and friend of the great Reaumur.

1779. The Spanish armament opened their batteries upon Gibraltar. It is supposed the general had no orders to fire until this time, but to remain on the defensive.

1784. Lee Boo, a prince of the Pelew islands, died in England, whither he had been sent to acquire an education.

1791. John Monro died; an English physician, celebrated for his skill in cases of insanity.

1800. Hugh Blair, a celebrated Scottish divine, died. His Lectures on Rhetoric delivered as professor at the Edinburgh university, are eminently distinguished by laborious investigation, sound sense and refined taste; and his printed sermons have had a success almost unparalleled in the annals of pulpit eloquence.

1808. The French under Lannes assaulted Saragossa, in Spain, and the convent of St. Eugratia carried. This was the second siege.

1814. Joanna Southcott, a noted English fanatic and imposter, died. At the age of 42 she claimed the character of a prophet, and for more than twenty years continued her rhapsodies, and drew after her several thousand adherents, who are not yet extinct.

1814. United States schooner Carolina, blown up on the Mississippi river by a red hot ball from the British batteries.

1820. John Keats, an English poet, died in Italy. He was originally a stable boy, subsequently apprenticed to a surgeon, but gave way to the ambition of becoming a poet. His poems though written at a very early age, possess merit.

1834. Charles Lamb, the poet Coleridge's friend, died. In some of his most popular works he was assisted by his sister Mary Lamb.

1835. Ephraim Williams, an eminent lawyer, died at Deerfield, Mass. He prepared the first volume of the Massachusetts reports.

1840. Jenny Kennison died at Brookfield, N. H., aged 110.

1842. Alexander Croke, quite a voluminous writer on law, politics, &c., died at Studley priory, England, aged 85.

1842. Francis Wrangham, distinguished as a poet and antiquary, died at Chester, England.

1851. Basil Montagu, an English author, died, aged 81. He edited the last and best edition of Bacon's Works, and was one of the earliest, most prominent and most zealous advocates of a mitigated penal code in England.

1853. The mammoth clipper Great Republic was burnt at her wharf in New York, together with several other vessels and five large flour warehouses.

1854. Thomas Wilson Dorr, the cause of what was called the Dorr war in Rhode Island, died at Providence, aged 49.

DECEMBER 28.

1065. St. Peter's church at Westminster dedicated by Edward the confessor.

1278. Injunction of the primate of England to the nunnery at Godstow, that public prayers on this day, Childermas, should not any more be said by little girls.

1377. Wickliff divulged his opinion upon the pope's mandate.

1499. Earl of Warwick, the last of the male line of the Plantagenets, beheaded on Tower hill.

1601. The town of Kinsale, head of the sea, in Ireland, garrisoned by Spaniards and Irish catholics, surrendered to the English armies.

1638. A Spanish ordinance establishing stamped paper in America.

1694. Mary II, queen of England, died of small pox, aged 33. She had reigned six years in conjunction with William III, and was greatly extolled for her virtues.

1697. Mary Beale, an English portrait painter, died. She is styled by Oldys "that masculine poet as well as painter, the incomparable Mrs. Beale."

1706. Peter Bayle, a most laborious and indefatigable French writer, died. He was an author of great ability, principally known by his Critical Dictionary.

1708. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, a famous French botanist and natural historian, died.

1733. Kouli Khan defeated the Turks before Babylon, killing 20,000, with the loss of 10,000.

1737. Victor Marie d'Estrees, a French admiral, died. He was also a man of literature, and member of several learned bodies.

1737. Singular sinking and rising of land at Scarborough, in Yorkshire, England.

1757. Caroline Elizabeth, 3d daughter of Geo. II, of England, died.

1757. Leignitz taken by the Prussians under Frederick II, by which the Austrians and French were compelled to abandon Silesia, with the loss of 4,000 men.

1758. The French settlement of Goree taken by the British admiral Keppel.

1775. John Campbell, an eminent Scottish historical, biographical and political writer died.

1778. The French under count d'Estaing re-embarked their troops at St. Lucia, and sailed on the following day.

1788. John Logan, a Scottish divine and poet, died. He obtained much distinction as an eloquent preacher.

1797. War with the pope renewed by the French, occasioned by the assassination of Duplot, a French general, who was sent to Rome as an ambassador.

1811. Funeral at Richmond, Va., of those who perished at the burning of the theatre.

1814. United States privateer Prince of Neufchatel, 18 guns and 130 men, captured by British ship Leander, two frigates in company.

1814. British cannonaded unsuccessfully the Americans under Gen. Jackson. The cannonade continued 7 hours; the British loss estimated at 120 killed; American loss 9 killed, 8 wounded.

1817. Charles Barney, an eminent English scholar, died. He greatly distinguished himself by the depth of his literary researches, and by his extraordinary skill in the Greek language.

1817. American colonization society formed at Washington, having for its object the returning of free people of color to Africa.

1818. Alexander, emperor of Russia, gave to his peasant subjects the same right with his nobles to establish manufactures.

1825. J. D. Barbie-du-Bocage, a French geographer, died. He furnished plans and maps for the most celebrated works of the day, and published an atlas of 54 sheets to illustrate ancient history.

1825. John Thomas Serres, a French artist, died. His sea pieces possess much merit, and he is besides the author of the Little Sea Torch, a guide for coasting pilots.

1831. Insurrection of the slaves in Jamaica, in the course of which about 30,000 blacks were under arms, 4,000 of whom were killed. The amount of property destroyed was estimated at $15,000,000.

1835. Battle of Tampa bay; a company of 110 United States troops under major Dade, attacked by a large party of Seminole Indians, and all but three slain.

1853. A great snow storm commenced, which continued 36 hours, extending over the new England states, and causing great interruption to business and travel.

DECEMBER 29.

1170. Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated in his cathedral, aged 53.

1563. Sebastian Castalio, a French writer, died. His writings are very considerable, both for their number and quality, discover great knowledge of the languages, and are chiefly on scripture subjects.

1594. John Chastel, the son of a woolen draper at Paris, executed for an attempt to assassinate the king, Henry IV.

1674. Battle of Mulhausen; the French under Turenne, gained a victory over the Germans.

1680. William Stafford, an English nobleman, beheaded. He was convicted of high treason as a conspirator in the popish plot, said to have been contrived by the catholics for the assassination of Charles II.

1689. Thomas Sydenham died; an excellent English physician and medical writer.

1699. George Matthias Koenig, a learned German writer, died; distinguished for his knowledge of belles lettres, divinity and oriental languages; principally known by a biographical dictionary which has been of great service to subsequent compilers.

1713. John Chardin, a famous French voyageur, died. He was driven to England on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, where he was knighted by Charles II. His Voyages have always been much esteemed as very curious and accurate.

1731. Brook Taylor, an English mathematician and philosopher, died. His works were valuable and often republished.

1737. Joseph Saurin, a French mathematician, died. He devoted his life to geometrical pursuits, and is conspicuous for a controversy with Rousseau who wished to palm upon him some of his own libelous verses against persons of distinction.

1755. Gabrielle Susanne Barbot de Villeneuve, a celebrated French novel writer, died.

1761. Elizabeth, queen of Russia, died. She was the daughter of Peter the Great, and ascended the throne, 1741.

1774. Toussaint Gaspard Taconnet died; a French actor and dramatic writer, noted for his eccentricity.

1778. Savannah taken by the British. A negro conducted the British by a private path to the rear of the Americans, who being attacked in front and flank, made a fatal retreat. Upwards of 100 Americans were killed, 453 taken; the town and fort, 48 cannon, 23 mortars, with ammunition and stores, the shipping in the river, and large quantities of provisions fell into the hands of the enemy.

1783. Samuel Cooper, a Boston clergyman, died. His sermons were evangelical and perspicuous, and unequaled in America at that time for taste and elegance.

1783. Daniel Wray, a learned English antiquary, died, aged 82.

1790. John George la Franc de Pompignan, a learned French prelate, died. He was author of sixteen works on different subjects.

1794. The town of Grave, considered a masterpiece of fortification, surrendered to the French under Pichegru, after a blockade of two months.

1797. General Duphot, assassinated by the populace at Rome, which was made a pretext of the French directory for dethroning the pope, Pius VI. Duphot had distinguished himself on several memorable occasions, and had repaired to Rome for the purpose of espousing the sister of Bonaparte, afterwards married to Murat.

1798. American government issued orders to the commanders of their armed vessels to repel by force the mustering and searching their vessels, and detaining them; but when overpowered by a superior force, to strike their colors and surrender ship and men.

1812. Action between United States frigate Constitution, 54 guns, 480 men, Capt. Bainbridge, and British frigate Java, 49 guns and 500 men including supernumerary officers, which resulted in the capture of the latter in 55 minutes. Loss of the Java 60 killed and 101 wounded including the captain, Lambert, mortally. Constitution lost 34 killed and wounded.

1825. James Louis David, a celebrated French painter, died. He was one of the wildest idolators of Robespierre and Marat, but finally lost his repugnance to monarchy under Bonaparte. He was banished on the restoration of the Bourbons, and died at Brussels. His works are numerous, and attest a splendid genius.

1832. Baron Cotta died. He was the originator of the daily political paper, the Algemeine Zeitung, so extensively circulated in Europe.

1832. James Hillhouse, an American statesman, died at New Haven, Ct., aged 79. He took an active part in the revolution, and was eighteen years a member of congress. He was entrusted with the construction of the Farmington canal.

1834. T. R. Malthus, an English writer on political economy, died. His most celebrated work is an Essay on Population, which has passed through many editions, and been translated into various languages.

1836. Deborah Tripp died at Poughkeepsie, aged 10 years and six months, and weighing 360 pounds. A few years before, herself and a younger sister were exhibited about the country for their extraordinary fatness. The younger sister died two or three years previous.

1837. William Mavor, a popular English author and compiler, died, aged 80. His Voyages and Universal History, in 25 vols. each, are well known, and his English Spelling Book passed through between four and five hundred editions.

1837. The imperial palace at St. Petersburg burnt, the weather at the time being 22° below zero. The palace was built in the reign of Elizabeth, at a cost of upwards of $5,000,000, and was the largest in Europe, sufficient to lodge 12,000 persons. The loss of treasures, pictures, statues, ornaments and furniture was immense.

1837. Steamer Caroline, a vessel in the service of the Navy island patriots, destroyed.

1839. Battle of Cagancha between the forces of Uruguay, under Rivera, and those of Buenos Ayres under Echague. The latter had an army of 5,000 men, and was defeated with the loss of 800 killed, and prisoners, baggage, &c., taken. Rivera's loss about 200.

1845. Texas admitted into the union.

1848. Wisconsin admitted into the union.

1848. The Roman chambers were dissolved and a constituent assembly convened.

1849. Great crevasse in the Mississippi banks at Bonnet CarrÉ, about forty miles above New Orleans.

1850. The British forces had an engagement with the Caffres, in South Africa, were defeated with considerable loss, and obliged to retreat to their fort.

1852. Robert Forrest, an eminent Scottish sculptor, died, aged 63. He was originally a stone mason, in the quarries of Clydesdale; but the products of his chisel are seen in the most conspicuous points of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

1855. The French imperial guard made a triumphal entry into Paris on its return from the Crimea.

DECEMBER 30.

944 B. C. The winter solstice fell upon this day, according to the marble, by the table of Petavius; which places the period of Homer thirty-seven years later.

1535. The society of the Jesuits founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish monk, who entered into an agreement with five of his fellow students to undertake the conversion of unbelievers and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. From this small beginning it became a powerful society under the energy and shrewd policy of its leaders, and was raised to a degree of historical importance unparalleled in its kind.

1567. Bonhill field, the ancient burial place of the dissenters, surveyed, "containing 23 acres, 1 rod and 6 poles; butting upon Chiswell street on the south, and on the north upon the highway that leadeth from Wenlock's barn to the well called St. Agnes the Cleere." It was also the common place of interment for the victims of the great plague in 1665. Bunyan, Watts, Owen, De Foe, George Fox, are among the distinguished men who rest there.

1568. The learned Roger Ascham, died; sometime tutor to queen Elizabeth, and afterwards her Latin secretary.

1582. Emanuel Alvarez died; a Portuguese Jesuit, distinguished as a grammarian.

1596. Emanuel de Saa, a Portuguese Jesuit, died; professor of theology at Coimbra and at Rome, and author of several valuable works.

1644. John Baptist Van Helmont, a physician of Brussels, died. He was a man of great learning in physic and natural philosophy. His cures were so extraordinary that he was brought before the inquisition as a man that did things beyond the reach of nature. He cleared himself of the inquisition, but to be more at liberty retired into Holland.

1655. Several persons wounded at the door of the parliament house, England, by a quaker, who pretended that he was inspired to slay all in the house.

1661. The earl of Argyle committed to Edinburgh castle for high treason.

1688. The prince of Orange received the sacrament to allay suspicions of his wishing to change the liturgy of the English church.

1691. Robert Boyle, the distinguished philosopher and chemist, died. He was the seventh son and fourteenth child of Richard, earl of Cork, and secured immortal fame by his writings and discoveries in experimental philosophy.

1695. Samuel Morland, though a great favorite with king Charles, died in poverty. He constructed an arithmetical machine.

1721. Peter de Vallemont, a French ecclesiastic, died; known by his Elements of History, and other works.

1730. James Saurin, an eminent French divine and theological and controversial writer, died in Holland, where he took shelter from persecution.

1747. Edward Holdsworth, an English poet, died.

1765. Samuel Madden, an Irish divine and dramatic poet, died. He instituted the Dublin society, and set apart an annuity of £100 to be distributed as premiums for improvements in the useful arts.

1765. James Francis Edward (the Pretender), died at Rome. He was the son of James II of England, who was compelled to abdicate by his want of discretion in the government.

1774. Paul Whitehead died; an English poet of considerable eminence.

1777. Leopold Maximilian, elector of Bavaria, died. The succession to his dominions occasioned a war between Germany and Prussia.

1781. John Tuberville Needham, professor of philosophy in the English college at Lisbon, died. He wrote various philosophical and critical works; though a learned man he was a very superstitious character.

1800. Thomas Dimsdale, an eminent English physician, died. His celebrity was such that he was invited to the court of Russia, where he inoculated the empress Catharine and her son with small pox.

1809. Augustus Francis Julian Herbin died; a native of France, distinguished as an oriental scholar.

1813. Buffalo burnt. Fort George, or Newark, in Upper Canada, having been wantonly burnt down by the American troops, a part of the British army crossed over from fort Erie, and utterly destroyed the village of Buffalo, in retaliation. It contained 100 houses.

1833. William Sotheby, an English poet and translator, died. His translations from Virgil and Homer rank in the first class of that difficult and rarely successful branch of literature.

1834. The first reformed British parliament dissolved by royal proclamation.

1836. The plague continued to rage at Constantinople; having carried off during the summer and autumn no less than 100,000 citizens.

1837. An attack made by upwards of 100 Canadian loyalists upon the American steamboat Caroline, lying in the Niagara, at Schlosser, and of 34 Americans on board 22 lost their lives. The boat was towed into the current, with part of the men on board, and precipitated down the falls.

1853. John Avery Parker, a distinguished merchant and a millionaire, died in New Bedford, Mass.

1853. The ship Staffordshire, captain Richardson, from Liverpool to Boston, struck on a rock south of Seal island, and sunk, carrying down 177 of the passengers and crew.

71 B. C. Pompey and Crassus triumph at Rome. The former had closed the ten years' war in Lusitania, and Crassus the revolt of Spartacus at home. Marcus Lucullus triumphed the same year, bringing with him the Thracian colossus of Apollo.

192. Lucius Aurelius Commodus, a dissipated emperor of Rome, strangled, and Pertinax elected. It was in the reign of this emperor, A. D. 190, that the Capitoline library at Rome was destroyed.

406. The Huns, 100,000 strong, entered Gaul, and laid desolate her seventeen luxurious provinces with havoc and flame, from the banks of the Rhine to the PyrenÆan mountains.

535. The acquisition of Sicily from the Goths. Belisarius entered Syracuse in triumph, a city which once embraced 22 miles.

1384. John Wickliffe died; professor of divinity in the university of Oxford, and father of the reformation of the English church from popery.

1460. Battle of Wakefield, in England; the duke of York and 3000 of his followers slain.

1563. Charles de Cosse died; a French general of great military talents, and employed also as a diplomatist.

1583. Thomas Erastus, a celebrated German physician and divine, died. He wrote several works on philosophy, physic and divinity; but is chiefly memorable for his work on excommunication, in which he denies the power of the church, and affirms its censures to be incapable of extending beyond the present life.

1600. The East India company established by a charter from Elizabeth, granted to the earl of Cumberland and 215 knights, aldermen and merchants. The original capital was £22,000, divided into shares of £50.

1616. James Le Maire died at sea in returning with the Dutch navigator, Schouten. In this voyage, the straits that bear his name were discovered, between Staaten Land and Terra del Fuego.

1620. Era of the first settlement of New England. It being sabbath, they kept the day for the first time in their new house, and in grateful remembrance of the friends they found in the last town they left in their native country, they called it Plymouth.

1674. Battle of Mulhausen, in Alsace, in which the French marshal Turenne defeated the Austrians.

1679. John Adolphus Borelli, a distinguished philosopher and mathematician, of Naples, died; author of thirteen treatises in Italian and Latin.

1704. The peak of Teneriffe formed a lateral eruption in the plain de los Infantes, preceded by tremendous earthquakes.

1718. John Flamstead, an eminent English astronomer, died. He formed a new catalogue of the fixed stars, containing about three thousand.

1762. Mary Collyer died; the translator of Gesner's poem of the Death of Abel.

1771. Christian Adolphus Klotz, professor of philosophy at GÖttingen, died. He distinguished himself by his Latin poems, his numismatic treatises, his works on the study of antiquity, and on the value and mode of using ancient gems.

1775. Assault of the American forces under Montgomery and Arnold on Quebec. Montgomery was killed in advancing upon the barrier, at the head of the New York troops, and Arnold's division, after a desperate engagement, in which the Americans sustained the whole force of the garrison three hours were compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war. They lost 100 killed, 300 taken.

1781. Henry Laurens, ambassador from the United States to France, liberated from the tower of London in exchange for general Burgoyne.

1791. John Ellis, a London scrivner, died; the last of that ancient profession. He was an alderman of London nearly half a century, and was besides a man of literature, whose conversation was highly extolled by Dr. Johnson.

1792. The quantity of gold coined at the royal mint of Mexico this year was $969,430; of silver, $23,225,611; total, $24,195,041; the largest sum which had been coined there since the conquest of the country.

1793. Thomas Jefferson resigned the office of secretary of state to the United States.

1796. The thermometer 4° below zero in London. Several persons were frozen to death.

1799. John Francis Marmontel, a French novelist, died. He was admired for the vigor and delicacy of his writings, but was allowed to pass his last days in a state of retirement bordering on want.

1811. Tariffa, near Gibraltar, attacked by the French, who were repulsed with great loss by the British under colonel Skerritt.

1812. United States frigates President and Congress returned to Boston after an active cruise of three months, during which they passed over a space of about 8000 miles without meeting an adventure to test the courage and discipline of their crews. They, however, captured two British vessels, one laden with $300,000 specie and gold dust, the other with oil.

1816. Deaths in Boston this year, 904; in Paris, 19,992.

1820. Joseph Lathrop, an American clergyman, died. His publications were more numerous and highly esteemed than those of any contemporary theologian in America.

1826. William Gifford, an English poet and reviewer, died. He rose from a shoemaker's bench to an editor's stool where he acquired fame and fortune. He was a very good poet and critic, but a poor shoemaker.

1832. Insurrection of the slaves in Jamaica. More than 150 plantations were destroyed, and the loss of property was estimated at more than four millions of dollars. About 2000 negroes are supposed to have been killed.

1835. Battle of Withlacoochie; about 250 United States troops and militia engaged 300 Seminole Indians. Of the latter 40 were killed; of the former, 4 killed, 59 wounded.

1839. Hyacinthe Louis de Quelen, archbishop of Paris, died. At the revolution of 1830 his adherence to the Bourbons incensed the mob to level the archiepiscopal palace to the ground, by which he was reduced to poverty. He was a man of distinguished talents and learning.

1840. Prentiss Mellen, chief justice of Maine, died at Portland, aged 77. The first eleven volumes of the Maine Reports are a monument of his legal discrimination, great familiarity with practice, and high sense of justice.

1846. James Cochran died at Batavia, Genesee co., N. Y., aged 83. To him the world owes the invaluable invention of making cut nails, yet he died poor.

1849. Hudson river rail road opened to Poughkeepsie.

1852. Amos Lawrence, a wealthy and leading Boston merchant, died, aged 77. His charities amounted to several hundred thousands of dollars.

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