AUGUST 5.
57 B. C. Cicero landed from Durazzo at Brundusium, and was met there by his excellent daughter Tullia, on the 20th anniversary of her birthday.
1100. Inauguration of Henry I, of England, who instantly granted a charter to the nation, restoring the laws of Edward the Confessor to the same state in which they had been settled by the Conqueror; and drove from his court the effœminati with their enormous and disgusting train.
1391. Charles VI, of France, surnamed the Well-beloved, seized by a mental distemper, which, as it deprived him of the sovereign authority, afterwards led, in bad hands to the ruin of his kingdom.
1407. Robert Knolles, so famed in the French wars of Edward III, died at Scenethorp, Norfolk, but was buried at White Friars church, London, which he had built.
1501. Reginald Bray, an English architect, died. He was also a distinguished warrior and statesman, and in the latter capacity acquired the title of "the father of his country."
1604. By royal proclamation this 5th day of August was appointed a holiday in celebration of king James's delivery from the conspiracy of the Gowries.
1633. George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He assisted in the translation of the Bible, being one of the eight divines to whom it was committed.
1704. Sanguinary battle at Hochstädt, in which the French, &c., were defeated by the confederates under Marlborough.
1717. Battle of Peterwaradein; the Turks defeated by the Austrians under prince Eugene, with great loss. (1716?)
1754. James Gibbs, an ingenious English architect, died; leaving a handsome property to public charities.
1759. Leipsic taken by the Austrians.
1778. The British burnt and destroyed their fleet off Rhode island on the appearance of the French fleet under count d'Estaing.
1781. Action off the Dogger bank, between the British fleet, 6 ships, 4 frigates and a cutter, under admiral Parker, and the Dutch, 8 ships, 10 frigates and 5 sloops, under admiral Zoutman. Both fleets were greatly damaged; the Dutch retired to the Texel; the British did not follow them.
1792. Lafayette accused of treason before the national assembly. He had previously been burnt in effigy in the Palais royal by the Jacobins.
1792. Frederic North, earl of Guildford, better known as Lord North, died, aged 60. As adviser to George III in the American war, he became and continued to his death unpopular.
1796. Battle of Castiglione, between the French under Bonaparte and the imperialists under Wurmzer. The latter were defeated, with the loss of 500 killed, 2,000 captured, and 8 cannon.
1799. Richard Howe, a celebrated English admiral, died. He entered the navy at the age of 14; rose through the usual gradations to the highest rank, distinguished himself on many occasions, and died at the age of 75.
1812. Battle of Brownstown; the British regulars and Indians attacked the United States troops, 150 men, under Van Horne.
1813. American privateer Decatur, 13 guns, captured British schooner Dominica, 16 guns, by boarding.
1814. Division of the Scheldt fleet, in virtue of the treaty of Paris, between France and the allies.
1815. Massacre of the protestants at Nismes, in France; these enormities continued nine days.
1816. First state election held in Indiana.
1833. George Gibbs died near New York. He was a practical mineralogist, and the collector of the extensive cabinet of minerals in Yale college.
1835. Thomas McCrie, a Scottish divine and ecclesiastical antiquary, died. He was distinguished for his patient research, candor and ability as a historian, and produced several works which have a high reputation.
1835. G. S. Newton, an eminent painter, died in England. He was a native of Halifax, N. S., became distinguished in his profession, and produced a number of works which are highly esteemed.
1839. The city of Cabul, Afghanistan, taken by the British, and the war in that country brought to an end.
1840. The city and island of Chusan, belonging to China, captured after a short resistance, by the British under brigadier general Burrell. The Chinese lost 25 killed; the British none.
1846. John Ward (Father of the City) died at St. Johns, New Brunswick, aged 92. He was born near New York, and adhering to the British interest, entered the army in 1776, and was frequently in action. At the peace of 1783, he embarked with his regiment, the Loyal Americans, to New Brunswick, where the corps was disbanded. He then embarked in commercial pursuits, and at the time of his death was the senior half pay officer, as well as the oldest merchant in the province. He filled several civil offices, and sustained an estimable character.
1849. The number of births in Connecticut for the year ending this day was 7,373; marriages 2,757; deaths 5,016.
AUGUST 6.
1577. Queen Elizabeth granted a license to John Day, and Richard Day, his son, during their lives, and that of the longest liver, to print the Psalms of David in metre.
1580. Andrea Palladio, a very distinguished Italian architect, died; many specimens of his designs yet remain.
1585. Davis, the navigator, reached the strait which bears his name, and cast anchor in Exeter bay, "beneath that brave mount, the cliffs whereof were orient as gold."
1637. Benjamin Jonson, the English poet and dramatist, died, aged 63. He was a bricklayer at the outset of life; but his inclinations turned to the building of monuments more imperishable than those of brick and stone. (16th, N. S.)
1638. Birthday of Nicholas Malebranche, a distinguished French philosopher. His works were highly esteemed for their genius and style; and for his manners, which were amiable and simple, he was greatly venerated.
1660. Don Diego Velasquez de Silva died; a distinguished Spanish painter.
1662. Metacom, sachem of Pokanoket, afterwards celebrated under the English title of king Philip, made his appearance at the court of Plymouth, and solicited the continuance of the amity and friendship which had subsisted between the governor of Plymouth and his father and brother; and promised for himself and his successors to remain subjects of the king of England.
1674. Thomas Willett, the first mayor of New York, died. He is buried at Seekonk, Mass.
1695. Francis de Harlay died; archbishop of Paris, the favorite of Louis XIV.
1701. Ulric Obrecht, a learned German critic and Latin historian, died. So extensive and various was his learning that he has been styled "the epitome of human science."
1706. John Baptist du Hamel died; a celebrated French philosopher and divine.
1725. Thomas Rawlinson (Tom Folio), an English antiquary, died. The sale of his collection of books and manuscripts, which were put up at auction after his death, occupied several weeks.
1745. David Wilkins died; an English librarian and antiquary, and a learned author.
1756. Eugene Aram, a self-taught English scholar, executed near York, for murder, and hung in chains on Knaresborough forest. He was a man of consummate abilities and wonderful erudition, but appears to have been a victim to covetousness.
1777. General Herkimer, marching with the forces of Tryon county to relieve Gen. Gansevoort at fort Schuyler, was ambushed by a strong detachment of British and Indians, and defeated with the loss of 400. The Indians lost several of their great chiefs and 70 warriors.
1778. Sieur Gerard, ambassador from France, introduced to congress. He was the first ambassador from any nation to the United States.
1780. Battle of Hanging-rock; 600 Americans under Sumpter attacked and defeated the British, consisting of the prince of Wales' regiment and a large body of tories. The regiment was almost entirely destroyed; from 278 it was reduced to 9 men.
1788. The last lit de justice in France, assembled at Versailles, by Louis XVI, to enforce upon the parliament of Paris the
adoption of the obnoxious taxes proposed by Calonne.
1796. Battle of Roveredo; the French under Bonaparte defeated the Austrians under Wurmzer, after an action of 16 hours, and entered Trent. Austrian loss 6,000 men.
1796. James Pettit Andrews died; author of several English histories and other works of merit.
1799. Marie Eliezer Block, an able German naturalist, died. He was of obscure parentage, and self-taught. Besides other valuable works on natural history and medicine, he published a History of Fishes, 6 vols. folio, colored plates.
1806. Francis II, emperor of Germany and king of Rome, resigned his titles and annexed his possessions in Germany to the Austrian empire. The millenium of the empire, founded by Charlemagne, fell upon the holiday of Christmas, 1800.
1815. Commodore Decatur arrived with his fleet off Tripoli.
1817. Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours, a French statesman, died. He was distinguished for his knowledge and talents, as well as his excellent character and principles. On the return of Bonaparte from Elba he came to America, where he died.
1818. David Ferguson, a Scottish soldier, died at Dunkirk, aged 124, very much respected and beloved.
1824. Battle of Junin, in Peru; the royalists defeated by the united Peruvian and Colombian forces, under Bolivar. The combatants fought hand to hand, with lance and sabre, those engaged being cavalry only.
1840. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, son of the late king of Holland, accompanied by about 60 men, made an attempt to effect an hostile descent upon France. The party landed about two leagues from Boulogne, directed their march to that city, and were soon taken prisoners. The prince was soon after placed in the castle of Ham.
1843. The Thousand Years' Jubilee celebrated in Germany, in commemoration of the settlement by which the empire was divided between the three brothers, sons of Philip the Devout. The festival occurred on Sunday, and was very generally and appropriately celebrated, more particularly in the Prussian states.
1846. A revolution took place again in Mexico, in favor of the exiled Santa Anna. The troops in Vera Cruz and its vicinity first declared in his favor, and were soon followed by those at the capital, who deposed and imprisoned general Paredes, the president of the republic, and proclaimed Santa Anna, and the constitution of 1824.
1849. A treaty of peace was signed between Austria and Piedmont.
1851. An eruption having taken place in the volcanic mountains of Martinique, columns of smoke were seen to issue from eight distinct craters.
1855. A riot at Louisville, Ky., between the Americans and foreigners; several were killed on both sides, and rows of houses belonging to the foreign population were torn down and burnt.