373. ATHANASIUS, patriarch of Alexandria, died. His parents were pagans;
he became a Christian, and distinguished himself by his learning, and
the zeal with which he opposed the Arian heresy.
1450. The duke of Suffolk, prime minister to Henry VI of England,
beheaded in a boat at Calais. During his ministry England lost most of
her possessions in France. Yet his murder was resented by the formidable
rebellion of _Jack Cade_.
1487. LAMBERT SIMNEL, an impostor, crowned at Dublin, by the title of
Edward VI.
1494. COLUMBUS discovered the island of Jamaica.
1519. LEONARDO DA VINCI, a celebrated Italian painter, died. He
distinguished himself in early youth by the variety of studies which he
accomplished. He afterwards became the head of the Florentine school of
painting.
1520. SEBASTIAN BRANDT died; counsellor of Strassburg, a lawyer, and
author of a curious poem.
1550. JOAN BOCHER, of Kent, England, burnt for heresy.
1568. MARY, queen of Scots, aided by the gallant George Douglass,
escaped from the castle of Lochleven, where she was confined after the
murder of Darnley.
1595. ANTHONY, titular king of Portugal, died at Paris, a fugitive from
the victorious arms of the Spaniards.
1606. FERNAND DE QUIROS discovered the New Hebrides islands.
1611. The Half Moon, in which HUDSON made his memorable voyage of
discovery, sailed in company with another vessel to the East Indies,
under captain Laurens Redel, and was lost. (March 6.)
1635. HORACE VERE, an English general, died. He was created baron
Tilbury by Charles I for meritorious services.
1667. GEORGE WITHERS, an English pastoral poet, died. He was so zealous
a partisan of democracy, and of Cromwell, that the authorities
frequently placed him in a straight jacket. His poems were numerous and
quaint.
1679. JAMES SHARP, archbishop of St. Andrews, assassinated for his zeal
in the cause of the episcopacy in Scotland.
1691. GEORGE MACKENZIE, a Scottish lawyer, died. He figured
conspicuously in trials of witchcraft, which puzzled the best heads in
those days, and it is probable that he dealt with that sin most
thoroughly, for he received the appellation of "the blood thirsty
advocate." He was a literary character, however, of no small note, and
was among the first Scotchmen who wrote the English language in a style
approaching to purity.
1711. LAWRENCE HYDE, earl of Rochester, died; deservedly respected as an
able statesman.
1753. LEONOR JEAN CHRISTINE SOULAS D'ALLAINVAL died; a native of
Chartres, in France, and author of several comedies of merit.
1774. Permission was given to the society of antiquaries to open the
stone coffin of Edward I, and it was found that the body was in a
perfect state of preservation, and measured 6 feet 2 inches. It had been
placed in wax.
1777. DAVID WOOSTER, a revolutionary officer, died of a wound received
in pursuing the British from Danbury (April 27). He graduated at Yale
college, and at the commencement of hostilities was appointed to the
chief command of the Connecticut troops.
1785. JOHN LEWIS MOREAU DE BEAUMONT, a French political author, died.
His works are much and deservedly admired.
1795. The number of prisoners confined in the 12 prisons of Paris
amounted to 2338.
1802. BONAPARTE constituted first consul for a second term of ten years.
1808. Embargo laid on American shipping in France.
1808. The royal family of Spain sent prisoners to France. At the sight
of this procedure, there was a general insurrection of the inhabitants
of Madrid, who attacked the French soldiers with knives, and a bloody
contest took place, which was only quelled by scouring the streets with
grape shot. The Spaniards finally desisted on seeing their resistance
fruitless. It is estimated that 4,000 French and 6,000 Spaniards lost
their lives.
1808. JOHN COLLINS died; author of _The Evening Brush_, an oral
entertainment of story, song and sentiment, which he delivered many
years with great success, in all the principal towns in Great Britain.
In this sort of entertainment he has had many followers, among whom the
most noted was Charles Matthews.
1809. Battle of Amaranta, in Portugal, in which the Portuguese were
defeated by the French under Soult.
1813. Battle of Lutzen, between the French army under Bonaparte, and the
allies, under the kings of Russia and Prussia. The attack was commenced
by the allies under Blucher upon the French centre, with a fury
irresistible. The battle was for a long time maintained by both armies
with obstinate energy. It was the more desperate and deplorable, says
sir Walter Scott, that on the one side fought the flower of the Russian
youth, which had left their universities to support the cause of
national honor and freedom; and on the other, the young men of Paris,
many of them of the best rank, who bravely endeavored to sustain their
country's long pre-eminent claim to victory. Both combatted under the
eyes of their respective sovereigns, maintained the honor of their
country, and paid an ample tribute to the carnage of the day. The
victory finally resulted to the arms of the French, by the superior
generalship of their great leader, and the determined bravery of his
troops. The allies sustained a loss of 20,000, and among them several
experienced officers. The French loss was severe.
1817. CATHARINE RUSH died at Philadelphia, aged 110 years, 11 months.
1821. HESTER LYNCH PIOZZI, an English authoress, died. She is known as
Mrs. Thrale, the friend of Dr. Johnson.
1825. ADAM SEYBERT, an American statistical writer, died at Paris. He
was a member of congress from Philadelphia, and a man of science.
1836. JEREMIAH HOLME WHIFFEN, an English poet, died. He belonged to the
society of friends, published a variety of miscellaneous poems, a
translation of the Spanish poet Garcilasso de la Vega, and of Tasso.
1840. THOMAS MANNING, an eminent English linguist, died, aged 67. Having
made several ineffectual attempts to penetrate China, his services were
solicited by the British government, to accompany lord Amherst in his
embassy to that country. He made himself one of the first Chinese
scholars in Europe, and collected one of the finest Chinese libraries to
be found in that quarter of the world.
1844. WILLIAM BECKFORD, author of the Arabian tale entitled _Vathek_,
with many other works, died at Fonthill, England.
1855. GEORGE HEAD, a British commissariat, died, aged 73. He published
several valuable works, relating to different parts of the world, where
his duties called him, and was knighted in 1831.
1856. JAMES GATES PERCIVAL, an eminent American poet and philosopher,
died in Wisconsin, aged 60. He was a native of Connecticut, graduated at
Yale college, and studied medicine, but devoted himself to the
cultivation of poetry, and the pursuit of science. He assisted in
preparing _Webster's Dictionary_ for the press, and superintended the
publication of _Malte Brun's Geography_. He afterwards made a geological
survey of Connecticut, and in 1854 was appointed state geologist of
Wisconsin, in which service he died. Although distinguished for his
attainments in philology and general science, he will be chiefly
remembered as one of the eminent American poets.