46 B. C. MARCUS CATO killed himself, at the age of 48. He was a lover of
philosophy, in which he rigidly followed the doctrines of the stoics. He
was a soldier, and his first campaign was against Spartacus; afterwards
he led 1000 foot into Asia, where he was ridiculed for the small number
of his attendants, but was wholly unmoved by it. He sided with Cicero
against Catiline, and opposed Cæsar in the senate on that occasion. He
endeavored to bring about a reconciliation between Cæsar and Pompey, but
finding it in vain, sided with the latter. When Pompey was slain he fled
to Utica, and Cæsar pursuing him, he advised his friends to be gone, and
his son to trust to Cæsar's clemency; then lay down upon his bed, read
Plato on the immortality of the soul twice over, and rose and thrust
his own sword through his body.
41 B. C. AUGUSTUS, by a vote of the senate, in full assembly, their
brows crowned with laurel, saluted with the title of _Father of his
Country_.
1444. An eruption of Vulcano, one of the Lipari islands, which changed
the entire face of the local navigation. Aristotle records a dreadful
explosion, which is supposed to have formed the island as it stood in
the time of Pliny.
1552. JAMES MEYER, a Flemish historian, died, aged 61.
1556. A truce for five years was concluded between Charles V, emperor of
Germany, and Henry II of France.
1617. PROSPERO ALPINI, a famous Venitian physician and botanist, died,
aged 64.
1626. Three new committees, viz., one on religion, one on grievances,
one on secret affairs, were appointed in the parliament of Charles I.
1664. CHRISTIAN AAGAARD died, a distinguished Danish poet of the 17th
century, aged 48.
1674. A parhelion or mock sun observed near Marienburg in western
Prussia. It appeared in the horizon beneath the material sun, of a red
color.
1679. JOOST VAN VONDEL, a Dutch poet of considerable eminence, died,
aged 91.
1684. PHILIP DE MONTAULT, duke of Noailles, died. He renounced the
protestant faith, and rose to a high rank in the army.
1684. About the beginning of December commenced a frost at London, which
continued till this day. Coaches were run, oxen roasted, bulls baited,
&c., on the Thames.
1693. The Mohawk castles burned by the French.
1718. ADRIAN RELAND died; a learned orientalist and professor at
Utrecht.
1721. JAMES, earl of Stanhope, died. He distinguished himself in the
field and in the cabinet, under George I.
1729. JOHN TRUCHET died at Paris. He was distinguished for his knowledge
of geometry and hydraulics.
1751. The coffin and remains of a farmer were interred at Stevenage,
England. He died in 1721, bequeathing an estate worth £400 a year to his
two brothers, to be enjoyed by them during 30 years, at the expiration
of which time he expected to return to life, when the estate was to be
given up to him again. In order to his convenience on his reappearance,
he ordered his coffin to be placed on a beam in the barn, with the key
enclosed, that he might liberate himself. Four days grace being allowed
him for his resurrection, beyond the time specified in the will, and not
then presenting himself, his bones were consigned to the earth and his
estate forfeited.
1757. Battle of Plassy, in Hindostan, in which the British under Col.
Clive achieved an important victory.
1776. Georgia adopted a new government.
1780. The first shock of the earthquakes in Sicily and the two
Calabrias, was felt at Scylla on the same day. In the night a tremendous
wave swept from the coast 2473 inhabitants, with the prince of the
place. The work of destruction and terror continued for almost four
months, accompanied by incessant rains and bursts of thunder. Of 375
villages in Calabria, 320 were destroyed. It is estimated that 35,521
persons lost their lives in 33 towns only.
1782. The garrison at Minorca, 2692 men under Gen. Murray, surrendered
to the French and Spanish, 16,000, under the Duc de Crillon.
1788. Massachusetts adopted the federal constitution, proposing some
amendments. This was the sixth state in the list (ratified on the 6th,
q. v.)
1790. WILLIAM CULLEN, a celebrated Scottish physician and medical
writer, died, aged 77. He settled at Glasgow, and was for some time a
professor of the university there, which he left on an invitation to
Edinburgh. He successfully combatted the specious doctrines of
Boerhaave, depending on the humoral pathology; founding his own views on
an enlarged view of the principles of Hoffman.
1791. JOHN BEARD, an eminent and popular English theatrical vocalist,
died. He ultimately became joint proprietor and acting manager of Covent
Garden theatre, and continued on the stage till the loss of his hearing
forced him to leave it.
1792. JOHN EARDLY WILMOT, an English miscellaneous writer, died.
1795. Report of the committee of the assembly of the states of Holland,
respecting the state of the bank of Amsterdam, by which it appeared that
the bank had been for 50 years receiving as securities for large sums
advanced by it, a very considerable number of bonds instead of specie.
1795. The royal assent was given to the bill for suspending the habeas
corpus in Great Britain.
1796. Negombo, in the East Indies, captured by the British under Admiral
Elphinstone.
1797. The post of Corne, at the bridge head of Hueningen, was
surrendered to the Austrians by the French general, Sisce, Gen.
Abbatucci having died a few days before. Two days were allowed to
withdraw the garrison and every movable appertaining to the place.
1799. LEWIS GALVANI, an Italian philosopher, died, aged 62. His favorite
studies were anatomy and physiology. In his pursuits he was led
fortuitously to the discovery of a new branch of science, called
_Galvanism_. His manners are said to have been most unostentatious and
retiring, and his mind of a melancholy turn.
1802. The French and Spanish troops landed at Hayti and captured forts
Dauphin, Bizoton and St. Joseph. Christophe, the black general, set the
town on fire and massacred many of the white inhabitants.
1805. The East Indiaman, earl of Abergavenny, wrecked on the shambles
off the bill of Portland, and sunk in twelve fathoms of water. Of 402
persons on board, only 139 were saved. Her cargo was valued at £200,000,
exclusive of 275,000 ounces in dollars.
1807. PASCAL DE PAOLI, a celebrated Corsican general, died near London.
While endeavoring to rescue his native island from the tyranny of the
Genoese government, and defending its liberties against Gallic
encroachments and invasion, being overpowered by the French, he retired
with a few of his followers to England, where in a few years he ended
his illustrious career.
1807. The French under Soult, Davoust and Ney, surrounded and cut to
pieces a Russian column of 9000 men, took 1000 prisoners and 16 cannon.
1809. British ship Loire, Capt. Schomberg, captured the French national
ship Hebe, 20 guns, with 600 barrels of flour.
1810. The French under Sebastiani and Milhaud defeated the Spaniards and
took Malaga with its immense stores, 171 cannon, &c. The same day two
French frigates of 40 guns each, full of troops, destroyed off
Guadaloupe.
1811. Royal assent given by commission to the act appointing a regent of
Great Britain, in the person of the prince of Wales.
1813. British Admiral WARREN declared the ports and harbors of the bay
of Chesapeake to be in a state of blockade.
1814. Seventeen British officers put in close confinement at Chilicothe,
on the principle of retaliation.
1814. The advance of Gen. De York made a successful charge upon the rear
of Macdonald's army at La Chaussee, between Vitry and Chalons, took 3
cannon, and 100 Frenchmen prisoners.
1815. British ship Grannicus, Capt. Wise, captured the American
privateer brig George Little, 8 guns, 58 men.
1816. RICHARD, Viscount Fitzwilliam, died, leaving to the university of
Cambridge his splendid library and £60,000 for the erection of a museum
for its reception and exhibition. In his collection there are more than
10,000 proof prints of the first artists, a very extensive library of
rare and costly works, among which are nearly 300 Roman missals, finely
illuminated. There is also a very curious collection of the best ancient
music, containing the original _Virginal_ book of Queen Elizabeth, and
many works of Handel in the handwriting of that great master.
1818. CHARLES XIII of Sweden died. He was the second son of Adolphus
Frederick, and appointed at his birth high admiral of Sweden. His
education was directed chiefly to naval tactics, but the revolutions of
the time called him finally to the throne, where he conducted with great
prudence, and gained the confidence of the people.
1822. ALI, pacha of Yanina, generally called Ali Pacha, killed. He was a
bold and crafty rebel against the Porte; an intelligent and active
governor of his province; as a warrior, decided and able; as a man, a
very fiend. His early life was unfortunate, but his extraordinary
strength of mind, which shrank from no danger or crime, united to great
address, raised him to princely independence. His enormities at length
attracted the wrath of the sultan. Finding it vain to withstand so
powerful a foe, he sued for pardon, gave up his fortress, and was
treacherously cut down, with six of his companions.
1823. Yates county, New York, erected.
1823. JUAN ANTONIO LLORENTE died. He was induced by Bonaparte, who
placed in his hands the papers of the inquisition, to write a history of
that tribunal. When the fortunes of the Bonapartes declined, he was
banished from his country, and lived in France in indigence, supporting
himself by teaching Spanish in the boarding schools; but the university
at last forbid him that means of support. The rage of his enemies was
raised to the highest pitch by the publication of his _Portraits
Politiques des Papes_, and the old man was ordered in the middle of
winter to leave Paris in three days, and France in the shortest possible
time. He was not allowed to rest one day, and died exhausted, a victim
to the persecutions of the 19th century, a few days after his arrival in
Madrid.
1824. HENRY CALLISEN, a German physician and surgeon, died. He was the
son of a poor clergyman; educated himself; served in the army and in the
fleet; afterwards in the hospitals in Copenhagen; and finally accepted a
professorship in the university.
1831. The Russian army of 160,000 men enter Poland at several points,
Count Diebitsch commander-in-chief.
1835. Tremendous eruptions of volcanoes, attended with destructive
earthquakes, occurred in Central America, sinking several towns and
villages, and destroying a large part of St. Miguel and St. Salvador.
1837. JAMES CERVETTO the younger died, aged 90. He first brought the
violincello into favor in England. He excelled his father as a musician,
was leader of the orchestra of Drury lane theatre in the time of
Garrick, and 72 years member of the royal society of musicians.
1839. ASAHEL STEARNS, professor of law at Cambridge, died, aged 64. He
published a learned and accurate work on real actions, and was one of
the revisers of the statutes of Massachusetts.
1841. The Pennsylvania bank of the United States, after having, from the
time of the resumption of specie payments on the 15th January, paid out
an amount little if at all short of six millions of dollars in coin or
specie funds, again suspended specie payments. The exhibition of its
affairs, which soon followed, were so unfavorable as to cause great
surprise. The suspension was followed by that of nearly all the banks
south and west of New York and New England.
1851. JOHN PYE SMITH died, aged 77; a religious controversial author of
note, and nearly half a century principal of a dissenting college in
England.
1853. The Sloo treaty signed at Mexico, for opening a communication
across the isthmus of Tehuantepec.
1854. JAMES B. COOPER, an American naval officer, died, aged 94. He was
a member of Lee's legion in the war of the Revolution, and served in the
navy during the war of 1812.
A day of dire calamity, says Hesiod, in which certain _Greek_
ladies, called "the Furies," make their round, "_about, about,
about_."