travelling the public roads without the aid of horses. A
mammoth’s bones found by Captain Vetch, on the west bank of the
Medway, near Rochester. Mr. Kent of Glasgow, invented a machine
for walking on the surface of the water, at the rate of three
miles an hour. A penknife, containing 2,016 blades, was presented
to the Queen, by a Sheffield manufacturer; another was afterwards
made containing 1,821 blades. Duel between Mr. Scott, of the
London Magazine, and Mr. Christie, of an Edinburgh Magazine,
in which the former was mortally wounded. News received of a
dreadful massacre in Manilla, arising from religious fanaticism.
A gambling-house, in London, entered by the police, and about
70 individuals held to bail. The Discovery-ships sailed from
Deptford, for the American Arctic Seas. Sale of a collection of
Pictures, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which produced £15,000. A bog
burst forth from Kilmalady, in Ireland, and in an hour covered
100 acres from 20 to 60 feet deep; it proceeded to a great
extent, 200 yards wide, and 80 feet deep, at the rate of two
yards per hour. Roads and bridges were covered, communications
cut off, and great damage done. Queen Caroline died at
Hammersmith, after an illness of eight days. Loss of the Juliana,
East-Indiaman, in the Margate-roads, in which 38, out of the 40
individuals on board, perished.
1822 The King surrendered £30,000 per annum of the civil list.
A coroner’s jury decided that publicans are legally bound to
receive into their houses all persons in extremity. Fifteen
thousand Greeks massacred in the island of Scio, by the Turks. A
south-west gale so retarded the flow of the tide in the Thames,
that it was fordable at London bridge. Subscriptions opened
for the starving Irish peasantry, which amounted to £300,000.
Dreadful cases of misery and oppression published. Upwards of 800
Greek virgins exposed in the slave markets, and 20,000 Christians
slaughtered in various villages. The Marquis of Londonderry,
cut his throat at his house, North Cray. Mr. Canning appointed
Secretary of State, in lieu of the Marquis of Londonderry. Grand
eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the most tremendous since 1794.
Fonthill abbey purchased by Mr. Farquhar, for £330,000. Sir
William Herschell, the celebrated Astronomer, died. Canova, the
celebrated Sculptor, died. Madame Lætitia Bonaparte, mother of
the late Emperor of France, died.
1823 George IV presented to the nation the library of his late
father, at Buckingham House, consisting of 120,000 vols. An
insurrection of the Negroes at Martinique detected: several
planters had died by poison. Two hundred Negroes ordered for
execution. Captain Parry arrived from his exploratory voyage
to the Polar regions; he had failed in the chief object of the
expedition. Three grand Musical Festivals held within a month,
at York, Birmingham, and Gloucester, produced the enormous sum
of £30,500. By the melancholy accident from fire damp, at the
William Pitt colliery near Whitehaven, 14 men, 16 boys, and two
girls, lost their lives; 17 horses were also killed. Dr. Jenner,
discoverer of Vaccination, died. Mrs. Radcliffe, authoress of the
Mysteries of Udolpho, &c., died. At Rochetts, Earl St. Vincent
died. At Kincardine, Admiral Lord Keith, died. At Rome, Pope Pius
the Seventh, died.
1824 A subterraneous forest of oak was discovered, on the
shores of the Solway Frith, beyond Brough, imbedded in a stiff
blue clay; the trees were of large dimensions, and the wood so
perfect as to be scarce perceptible from new timber, although
it must have lain there many thousands of years. Mr. Mantell
discovered, in the iron sand-stone of Sussex, the teeth of a
herbivorous reptile of gigantic magnitude, being of the lizard
tribe; from a thigh bone found, it must have equalled the
elephant in height, and been more than 60 feet long. The pictures
of J. J. Angerstein, 38 in number, purchased by Government for
£57,000 to begin a national gallery; Sir G. Beaumont liberally
presented his collection to the public for that purpose. The
Hecla, discovery ship, with Captain Parry left her moorings on a
voyage of discovery to the Arctic region. Mr. Harris, accompanied
by Miss Stocks, ascended in a balloon, when the former was
killed by being thrown from the car. The remains of Lord Byron
were conveyed from London, amidst a concourse of people, for
Newstead Abbey. A copy of Columbus’ letter to the King of Spain,
on the discovery of America, sold for 34 guineas. Particulars
were received respecting the death of the celebrated traveller
Belzoni, at Gato on his journey to Timbuctoo. Mr. Sadler, jun.,
the aëronaut, was killed on descending in his balloon, near
Blackburn in Lancashire. The enormous timber ship, called the
Columbus, arrived at Blackwall, from the river St. Lawrence,
being 300 feet long, 50 broad, and 30 deep. Patrick Grant died,
aged 111; to this venerable Highlander, His Majesty had granted
a pension of a guinea a week.
1825 In January, wool was exported from England to the United
States of America, being the first instance for two centuries.
Organic remains of antediluvian animals found in a cave near
Chudleigh. Steam engines in England, representing the power
of 320,000 horses, equal to 1,920,000 men, managed by 36,000
only, now add to the power of our population 1,884,000 men! A
phenomenon observed on the coast of Kent, being a cloud, resting
part on the sea, extending as far as the eye could reach,
reflecting two distinct images of every vessel passing, one
inverted, the other in its proper position, apparently sailing
in the air. An earthquake happened in Algiers, when the town of
Blida, was totally destroyed, and, of a population of 15,000
persons, scarcely 300 were left alive. £2,000 granted to Mr.
M‘Adam for improvement of the roads. The Tower of Fonthill-Abbey
fell, and destroyed great part of that elegant building.
1826 London was visited by such a dense fog, in the forenoon,
that candles were burned in all the shops. The abduction of Miss
Turner by E. G. Wakefield. The death of the celebrated composer,
Baron Von Weber, occurred, being in his 40th year. Mr. Canning
dined with the King of France, and Sir Walter Scott with the King
of England.
1827 Canal Excavation by the plough in lieu of manual labour.
It is remarkable, that England, which usually sets the example
to all Europe in the application of machinery as a substitute
for manual labour, should have been anticipated by the small
state of Wurtemberg; an extensive line of canal having been
projected, and sanctioned by the Government, an eminent engineer
constructed a set of ploughs of various forms to suit the nature
of the soil to be intersected, which, by the aid of from eight
to twelve horses, excavated the line of canal, at less than a
fourth of the price which would have been expended in manual
labour. His Royal Highness the Duke of York expired. Will of
Mr. Rundel, the silversmith, proved, whose personal property
amounted to £1,200,000. The steam vessel George the Fourth left
Portsmouth for Africa. Mr. Canning appointed chancellor of the
Exchequer, April 24. Mr. Canning expired, Aug. 8. Lord Goderich
appointed Premier. Death of Dr. Good, F.R.S., author of various
works on Science, &c. Death of Rebecca Fury, of Falmouth,
Jamaica, aged 140. Clapperton’s second voyage to Africa. Parry’s
attempt to reach the North Pole over the ice without success.
Lord Liverpool died, George Canning succeeded. Intervention of
England, France, and Russia in the affairs of Greece: battle of
Navarino. Premiership and death of Canning.
1828 Duke of Wellington premier. Russian invasion of Turkey. Capo
d’Istria President of Greece: a French army in the Morea. Don
Miguel usurps the throne of Portugal.
1829 The Russian Field-Marshal Diebitsch crosses the Balkan.
Treaty of Adrianople. Independence of Greece recognized by
Turkey. Catholic emancipation in England.
1830 Accession of William IV. Algiers taken by the French. July
25th, revolution at Paris: abdication of Charles X: Duke of
Orleans called to the throne, by the title of Louis Philippe,
King of the French, Belgian and Polish revolutions.
1831 The cholera appears in Europe. Polish insurrection
suppressed, and the kingdom of Poland incorporated with the
Russian empire. London conferences: Leopold of Saxe-Coburg chosen
King of Belgium.
1832 Civil war in Portugal betwixt Pedro and Miguel. The French
occupy Ancona, and lay siege to Antwerp. Parliamentary reform in
England.
1833 Meeting of the first reformed Parliament. Abolition
of slavery in the British colonies, with a compensation of
£20,000,000 to the slave-owners.
1834 Don Miguel expelled from Portugal. Civil war in Spain.
Formation of the German Zollverein. Accession of Queen Victoria.
Buckingham Palace completed. Insurrection in Upper Canada. A
meeting of the Provincial Convention called at Toronto. Colonel
Moodie killed. McKenzie, Van Egmont and others invest Toronto.
Rebels dispersed and leaders flee to the United States.
1838 Second Insurrection in 1838. In Lower Canada, Mr. and Mrs.
Ellice of Beauharnois, taken prisoners by the rebels at that
place and given over for keeping to the Curé. The Caughnawaga
Indians take 64 prisoners and, tying them with their sashes
and garters, send them to Montreal. Affairs at Napierville and
Laprairie. Colonel Prince did, what should have instantly been
done to the Fenian prisoners in the late raid, viz., condemned
some of the insurgents by drum head Court Martial, and executed
them forthwith. Quiet restored.
1839 Treaty of peace betwixt Holland and Belgium. End of the
civil war in Spain.
1840 Intervention of England and Austria in the Egyptian
question. Thiers minister of France: apprehensions of a general
war: removed by the overthrow of Thiers: Guizot minister. Union
of the two Canadas.
1841 Resignation of Melbourne ministry. Peel becomes premier.
Death of Lord Sydenham in Canada. Fortification of Paris.
Bonaparte interred in Paris, 15th December.
1842 Affghan and Chinese wars: cession of Hong Kong to England:
opening of Chinese ports. Rising against the English at Cabul:
murder of Burnes and McNaughton: massacre at the Cabul Pass.
General Pollock forces the Khugher Pass, 5th April. Ashburton
Treaty with the United States, August 9th. Great fire at Hamburg.
1843 Activity of the Anti-Corn Law League. John Bright returned
for Durham. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visit the King of
the French and the King of the Belgians. Repeal meetings in
Ireland stopped by royal proclamation, and Mr. O’Connell and
other repealers arrested and tried for conspiracy and sedition.
1844 French hostilities with Morocco: Mogadore bombarded: King
of the French visits Queen Victoria at Windsor. Railway mania in
England. Campbell the Poet died, 15th June.
1845 Continued activity of the Anti-Corn Law League. Great bazaar
at London, where the receipts amount to £25,000. Railway mania in
England attains its height: scrip issued to the nominal amount
of several hundred millions sterling. Annexation of Texas to the
United States. Steam established between Liverpool and New York.
Sir John Franklin set sail 22nd May.
1846 The Spanish double marriages. Mexico annexed, 25th August.
Coolness betwixt the courts of St. James and the Tuilleries.
Abolition of the Corn Laws, followed by resignation of the Peel
ministry. Austria, in violation of the treaties of Vienna, seizes
on Cracow, and incorporates it with her own dominions. Louis
Napoleon escapes from the Castle of Ham, in Normandy. Gregory XVI
dies, and is succeeded by Cardinal Mastai Ferretti, who takes the
title of Pius IX. Revolution of Geneva, October 7th.
1847 Pope Pius introduces some reforms into the Papal States:
excitement in the rest of Italy. Civil war in Switzerland:
Sonderbund suppressed. Abd-el-Kader taken prisoner. The Duchy of
Lucca reverts to Tuscany. Failure of the potato crop in Ireland.
1848 Upper California and New Mexico ceded to the United States.
February revolution in Paris: flight of Louis Philippe, 24th
February: France a Republic: Cavaignac: Revolution at Vienna
6th October, and Berlin 12th November: Schleswig-Holstein
insurrection. Arctic ships deserted, 22nd April. Peace Congress
at Brussels, 20th September. Defeat of Sikhs at Mooltan, 7th
November. Napoleon III first elected President, 20th December.
Smith O’Brien defeated in his attempt to raise a resurrection in
Ireland.
1849 Death of Queen Adelaide. Punjaub war. Revolutions in
Rome and Tuscany: Mazzini: French invasion and occupation of
Rome. Revolutionary movements in Germany and Hungary. Kossuth.
Revolution in Baden suppressed by Prussia; in Hungary by Russia;
and Hungarians defeated by Hayman.
1850 Battle of Idstedt and suppression of the Schleswig-Holstein
insurrection. Peace between Denmark and Prussia. Louis Philippe
died 26th August. Sir Robert Peel died.
1851 Great industrial exhibition in London in Crystal Palace.
French coup d’état: National assembly broken up, and Napoleon
declared President of the Republic for ten years. Discovery of
gold fields in Australia.
1852 The Earl of Derby forms a protectionist ministry, dissolves
parliament, but is soon forced to resign: Lord Aberdeen becomes
Premier. On the 14th September, the illustrious Duke of
Wellington, the Iron Duke, died at Walmar Castle near Dover, aged
83. Louis Napoleon proclaimed Emperor of the French, as Napoleon
III. Amazon steamer burnt at sea, and 100 persons perished, 4th
January. The steamer Birkenhead with troops on board for the Cape
of Good Hope wrecked 26th February, and of 638 persons only 184
were saved; 454 of the crew and soldiers of the 12th Lancers,
2nd, 6th, 12th, 43rd, 45th, 60th Rifles, 73rd, 74th and 91st
Regiments perished by drowning or swallowed by sharks which were
seen swimming around.
1853 Marriage of Napoleon III to Eugenie de Montejo in January.
Fire which broke out in Windsor Castle, extinguished March 19th.
The Queen of Portugal died November 15th. The Porte formerly
declared war against Russia, October 5th. Russia invades the
Danubian principalities, crossing the Pruth in July, destroys the
Turkish fleet at Sinopé, hence called the “Massacre of Sinopé.”
Battle of Silistria. Death of Captain Butler.
1854 Great Britain and France declare war against Russia in
March. The Allies land at Varna. Dreadful attack of Cholera
in both armies--then the invasion of the Crimea. Battles of
the Alma, Balaklava, and Inkermann with all the minor sorties
and engagements, and the scenes of camp life, so graphically
described by military and civil correspondents. Bomarsund taken
by the Baltic Expedition, August 16th.
1855 Sardinia joins the Allies. South side of Sebastopol taken.
Battle of Tchernaya. Taking of Kertch and Kinburn. Battle of the
Heights of Kars. Fall of Sebastopol and Kars. Russia proposes
peace. Napoleon visited England, April 17th. Crimean medals
distributed, May 18th. Sebastopol evacuated by the Russians,
September 9th. Dreadful storm in the Black Sea, during which the
Prince, Resolute, &c., foundered. Insurrection at Madrid. Flight
of the Queen Mother Christina and dismissal of her favourites.
1856 Peace of Paris signed, March 31st. Victoria cross
instituted, January 29th. Lord Dalhousie ceased to be Governor
General of India, and was succeeded by Viscount Canning. War in
Persia, and capture by the British of Bushire; Persian King,
obliged thereafter to sue for peace. Great Britain involved in a
war with China. Commissioner Yeh made prisoner. Lord Elgin made
Ambassador to negotiate a settlement of difficulties. Seizure of
Lorch, October 8th. English Cathedral, Montreal, burnt.
1857 Shakspeare’s house bought. Kensington Museum opened.
Victoria cross distributed, and Victoria Asylum commenced. Indian
Mutiny begun, February 28th. Massacre of Cawnpore, July 16th.
Relief of Lucknow, November 17th.
1858 Close of the Mutiny and re-organization of the country.
Attempt on the life of Napoleon III by Orsini and others. Orsini
beheaded, March 13th. Princess Royal married to the Prince of
Prussia.
1859 Revolution in Tuscany. Victoria Bridge opened, 19th
December. Earthquake at Quito, 29th March. A Southern Convention
at Vicksburg, Miss., at which eight States are represented,
passes resolutions in favor of opening the slave trade. John
Brown and fifteen white men and five negroes seize the arsenal
at Harper’s Ferry and kill four of the inhabitants. The militia
and Federal troops arrive at Harper’s Ferry and besiege Brown
and his men in the armory buildings. The armory captured by
Colonel Lee (now General). One marine and twelve of Brown’s men
killed, Brown and four men taken prisoners, and two escape, but
are re-captured. The people of Charlestown, Va., excited by the
rumors of an attempt to rescue John Brown; and Governor Wise
calms their fears by guarding the place with a Richmond regiment.
In the House of Representatives of South Carolina a resolution
is offered that “South Carolina is ready to enter, together with
other slave-holding States, or such as desire present action,
into the formation of a Southern Confederacy.” John Brown and
two negroes hung. The medical students from Southern States in
Philadelphia colleges resolve to secede and join colleges in
their own States.
The following is a chronological table of the war in Italy. It is
taken from the Journal of Education and compiled by the esteemed
Superintendent of Education for Lower Canada, and will be found
valuable for History students.