69. SERGIUS GALBA, the Roman emperor, assassinated, at the age of 72. He
was the successor of Nero, and reigned but three months.
936. RODOLPH, king of France, died, in the 14th year of his reign, and
was succeeded by Lewis the Stranger.
1549. The liturgy of the English church established by parliament. All
the divine offices were to be performed according to the new liturgy,
and infringements were to be punished by forfeitures and imprisonments,
and for the third offence imprisonment for life. Visitors were appointed
to see that it was received throughout England. From this time we may
date the era of the Puritans.
1655. DANIEL HEINSIUS, a Dutch philologist, died. He made great progress
as a student, under Scaliger, and was appointed to a professorship at
Leyden. He was also successful as a Greek and Latin poet.
1559. Queen ELIZABETH, crowned at Westminster, by the bishop of
Carlisle, who was the only person that could be prevailed upon to
perform the ceremony.
1672. JOHN COSIN, bishop of Durham, died; a lover of literature and
prodigal in his expenditures on book-binding. He ordered that all his
books should be rubbed once a fortnight to prevent their moulding.
1693. An army of six or seven hundred French and Indians set out from
Montreal to invade the Mohawk castles. (See Feb. 6.)
1730. Gov. MONTGOMERIE granted the city of New York a new charter.
Although that city had been put under the government of a mayor in 1665,
it was not regularly incorporated until 1686.
1773. At Duff house, the residence of the countess dowager of Fife, the
first masquerade ever seen in Scotland was exhibited.
1777. Vermont declared itself a free and independent state. It had been
settled as a part of New Hampshire, but was claimed as a part of New
York, and so decided to be by the British crown. But by the dissolution
of the bonds which had held America in subjection to the crown of
Britain, they considered themselves free from New York, to which the
most of them had never voluntarily submitted; and being, as they said,
reduced to "a state of nature," they assumed the right to form such
connections as were agreeable to themselves. Accordingly they formed a
plan of government and a code of laws, and petitioned congress to
receive them into the Union.
1778. Nootka sound and the Sandwich islands discovered by Captain Cook.
1780. First exportation of woolen goods from Ireland to a foreign
market.
1780. Unsuccessful attack by the Americans under Lord Stirling on the
British at Long island.
1781. The traitor ARNOLD succeeded in burning some stores at Smithfield.
1783. WILLIAM ALEXANDER, Lord Stirling, an officer in the revolutionary
army, died at Albany, aged 57. He was of Scotch descent, and from early
youth a mathematician. Throughout the war he acted an important part,
and was warmly attached to Washington. He left behind him the reputation
of a brave, discerning and intrepid officer, and an honest and learned
man. He was generally styled Lord Stirling, and was considered the
rightful heir to the title and estates of that earldom in Scotland.
1794. A desperate engagement off the island of Corsica between three
Sardinian ships and two Barbary xebecs. One of the xebecs was captured,
but the other, rather than surrender, was blown up; upon which the
prisoners taken, Turks and Algerines, 92 in number, were put to death.
1795. The French attacked the British outposts at Rhenen.
1795. The French national convention liberated Gen. Miranda and Capt.
Lacrosse from prison.
1799. A revolution at Lucca in Italy, without bloodshed. Titles and
exclusive privileges were abolished, the sovereignty of the people
proclaimed, and a contribution of two millions of livres levied on the
nobility alone, which was immediately presented to the French general
Serrurier.
1805. ABRAHAM HYACINTHE ANQUETIL DU PERRON, the French orientalist,
died, aged 74. He studied theology, but afterwards devoted himself with
ardor to the study of the eastern languages. In 1754 he embarked for
India, and with difficulty succeeded in finding some priests to instruct
him in the sacred language of the Parsees. He returned to Paris in 1762
with a number of manuscripts, and proceeded to arrange them for
publication. During the revolution he shut himself up with his books;
but continued labors and an abstemious diet exhausted his constitution.
He was a learned and excellent man.
1807. Battle between the forces under Christophe and Petion for the
governorship of Hayti, which had been assumed by Christophe as the
oldest general, on the death of Dessalines; but Petion had been
subsequently duly elected. Christophe was defeated after a fierce
encounter. A separation of the republic followed. Petion instituted a
pure republic, while Christophe founded a monarchy.
1810. Masquerades and masked balls prohibited in the city of New York.
1815. The United States frigate President, Com. Decatur, captured by
four British vessels, after a sharp action, and a chase of 18 hours.
Loss of the Americans 22 killed, 59 wounded; British loss 11 killed, 14
wounded.
1825. ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER, an American statesman, died. He was born in
Virginia, of poor parentage; acquired the rudiments of a classical
education; served a campaign in the revolutionary army; after which he
entered Princeton college. He subsequently settled in South Carolina, in
the practice of the law, and acquired great reputation as a professional
man and a politician.
1827. JEAN DENIS LANJUINAIS died. He was a staunch defender of liberal
principles, and opposed first the arrogant pretensions of the privileged
class, although himself one of their number: afterwards he arrayed
himself against the intrigues of Mirabeau, the violence of the mountain
party, and the usurpations of Bonaparte, in the face of destruction. The
object of his wishes was constitutional liberty. He escaped the axe of
the revolution, and was even promoted to office by Napoleon.
1834. The city of Leira, in Portugal, taken by Count de Saldanha, and
the garrison, of Miguelites about 1500 in number, made prisoners.
1836. CHARLES LEWIS, one of the most eminent book binders in Europe,
died. The splendidly bound books in the duke of Sussex's library are of
his workmanship.
1842. JOSEPH HOPKINSON died. His speeches in congress on the Seminole
war were much admired. He was author of the song, _Hail Columbia_.
1844. The Fontaine Moliere, a monument to the great French dramatist, at
Paris, inaugurated. It combines a public fountain with a monument, and
stands opposite the house in which Moliere died.
1849. Reporters excluded from an adjourned meeting of a convention of
the southern states.