APRIL 25.
68. Saint Mark, the evangelist, died at Alexandria.
1199. John, the 6th son of Henry II of England, seized the treasures of his late father, preparatory to taking possession of his throne and dukedom.
1284. Edward II born at Caernarvon, and styled the prince of Wales, the first who received that appellation.
1342. Benedict XII (James de Nouveau, the baker), died. When elected, unanimously, by the cardinals, pope of Rome, he had so little confidence in himself that he told them they had chosen an ass. His conduct, however, was firm and dignified, and gained him universal respect.
1513. Edward Howard, an English admiral, celebrated for his bravery, killed in an action with a French ship.
1520. Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese navigator killed in one of the Phillipine islands, fighting for the king of the country, who had become his ally. Of all his fleet, only one ship and 18 men returned to Spain, from whence the expedition sailed.
1536. Conflagration of mount Ætna, which overwhelmed the church of St. Leon, and the physician Piazzi.
1576. Treaty between Holland and Zealand, being the two first provinces that united for their liberty. William of Nassau, prince of Orange, drew up the treaty, and may be considered as the founder of the United Provinces.
1595. Torquato Tasso, an illustrious Italian poet, died. He was excellent in every kind of composition, but the Jerusalem Delivered procured him the offer of the laurel crown. He expired on the day appointed for the coronation.
1636. James Hay, earl of Carlisle, died. He was the first Scotchman raised to the English peerage, and was employed by James I in various embassies.
1660. Henry Hammond, an English divine, died. He published a commentary on the New Testament; and began a paraphrase and commentary on the Old Testament, which he did not live to finish.
1671. The city of Oxford, England, nearly destroyed by a great fire.
1728. John Woodward, an English natural philosopher, died. He was bound apprentice to a linen draper, but was attracted from the business by the charms of science.
1732. The corpse of bishop Atterbury who died in France arrived in the Thames. Four pieces of French silk brocaded with silver were found with the body, which the custom house officers seized!
1734. John Conrad Dippel, a German chemist and physician, died. He was an eccentric character, who pretended to have discovered the philosophers' stone, and yet was confined for debt. In pursuing his alchemical researches, he discovered Prussian blue, and the animal oil which bears his name.
1735. Samuel Wesley, an English poet, died. His writings made up in quantity what they lacked in quality. He wrote the Life of Christ, a heroic poem, in folio, and a history of the Bible in verse, 3 vols.
1764. Judah Monis, an Italian Jew, died at Northborough, Mass., aged 82. He was converted and baptized, and was the first Hebrew instructor at Harvard college.
1770. John Anthony Nollet, a learned Frenchman, died. His writings are valuable, and his experiments contributed much to the advancement of science.
1775. The Baltimoreans received the news of the battle of Lexington, and immediately seized upon the provincial magazines, containing 1500 stand of arms, &c.
1781. Battle of Camden, between the provincials, about 1200, and the British under lord Rawdon. In the beginning of the action the Americans had essentially the advantage; but the premature retreat of two companies occasioned a total defeat. Greene retreated in such order as to bring off all his wounded and cannon, and took 50 prisoners.
1781. British under Arnold and Philips took Petersburg, Va., after a smart action with baron Steuben. They burnt 400 hogsheads of tobacco, a ship, and several small craft.
1782. Adrian Balbi, the Venitian geographer, was born at Venice. The work by which he is best known is his Abrégé de Géographie.
1792. The convention having determined
on adopting the proposition of M. Guillotin, to substitute decapitation for hanging, the first criminal was executed by this mode on this day. M. Guillotin was actuated by benevolent motives in proposing the machine, which was called from him guillotine, and from which himself narrowly escaped.
1800. William Cowper, an excellent English poet, died. He commenced publishing at the age of 50, and three years after produced the Task, which excited universal admiration. He was subject to religious delirium, and died in a state of absolute despair.
1805. Thomas Pownall, an English antiquary, died. He was successively governor of New Jersey, Massachusetts and South Carolina under the crown. His works are numerous, and display a great deal of information.
1810. Sweden excluded British goods, conformably to the continental system established by Bonaparte.
1812. Baltimore privateer schooner Surprise, Capt. Cothell, of 10 guns, captured the British brig Kutousoff, of 12 guns, laden with coffee, &c., and brought her safe to port.
1820. Patrick Colquohun, a distinguished Scottish magistrate, died. He was a writer on police and political economy, and his works possess great merit.
1832 & 1833. Spring navigation of the Erie canal opened.
1835. Jonathan P. Cushing, president of Hampden Sidney college, died, aged 40. The institution, over which he had presided 14 years, was greatly indebted to his services, and he was highly esteemed for his virtues.
1838. The second centennial celebration of the settlement of New Haven.
1838. The steamboat Moselle burst her boiler with a tremendous explosion. She had just left the wharf at Cincinnati for Louisville, with 225 passengers on board, of whom but 124 were saved.
1839. Samuel Smith, an officer of the revolution, died at Baltimore, aged 87. His name is connected with some of the most important events of that struggle for freedom, and is identified with the history of the city of Baltimore for a great number of years; that city being indebted to his enterprise for a large share of its commercial thrift.
1840. M. Poisson, a peer of France, and president of the academy of sciences, died at Paris, aged 58. His life was devoted to analytical discovery and scientific investigation, and he was styled the first geometrician of Europe.
1849. The parliament house and library of the British provinces, at Montreal, burned by a mob.
1849. The French republican armament against republican Rome reached Civita Vecchia.
1854. The slaves of Venezuela became freemen by virtue of an act previously passed for their emancipation.
1855. Lieut. Col. St. Vrain, with a detachment of United States troops, came up with and captured a camp of Apache Indians, on the Purgatory, near the Raton mountains.