SEPTEMBER 14.
258. Thascius Cæcilius Cyprianus, beheaded. He was bishop of Carthage, and a principal father of the Christian church.
407. John Chrysostom, one of the most illustrious fathers of the church, died. His works were edited by Montfaucon in 13 vols. folio.
533. The Roman general Belisarius achieved the conquest of Africa, a chaotic waste of enslaved humanity, where the image of intelligence is unknown.
1321. Alghieri Dante, a celebrated Italian poet, died. His most considerable work is the Inferno.
1403. Battle of Homildon hill, in which the Scots were defeated.
1499. Vasco de Gama landed at Lisbon from his immortal adventure.
1523. Adrian VI, pope, died. He was of obscure birth, but his abilities raised him gradually to consequence.
1528. Richard Fox, bishop of Exeter and Durham, died. He was of obscure origin; besides his episcopal offices he was employed on several embassies.
1544. The English under the duke of Norfolk raised the siege of Montreuil in France.
1646. Thomas Howard, earl of Arundel, died; famous for the discovery of the Parian marbles which bear his name, and which he gave to the university of Oxford.
1661. The bodies of May the historian, the mother and daughter of Cromwell, Pym and several others, were removed from king Henry VII's chapel and buried in the churchyard.
1666. A French expedition, consisting of 28 companies of foot and all the militia of the colony, marched from Quebec for the purpose of destroying the Mohawks. This formidable army, entered the Mohawk country, after a march of 700 miles, and laid waste their villages; the Indians, retiring into the woods with their women and children, escaped. The expedition was commanded by M. de Tracy, then upwards of 70 years of age.
1677. Richard Atkins, a typographical author, who suffered much on account of his loyalty, died in Marshalsea prison, being confined for debt. His writings were all of the ultra kind.
1704. William Hubbard, a New England clergyman and historian, died, aged 83. He was settled at Ipswich, Mass., and was one of the best writers of the time in which he lived.
1711. The British fleet intended for the reduction of Canada having met with numerous reverses, arrived at Spanish-river bay, a council of land and sea officers, considering that they had but ten weeks' provisions, and could not depend upon a supply from New England, concluded to return home and abandon the enterprise.
1712. John Dominic Cassini, a celebrated Italian astronomer, died. He was invited by the senate to teach mathematics at Bologna, at the age of 15; and before his death had enriched science with a thousand new discoveries.
1714. Thomas Britton, a celebrated musical small coal man, died. He rented a house in London, commenced business, and occupied his leisure hours in learning chemistry and music. He became an adept in those sciences, and excelled in many curious arts and crafts, all which he had acquired without neglecting his business. During the day he was seen with his sack and measure crying small coal, and in the evening conducting a concert at his house, where men of fashion and well dressed ladies of high rank ascended to his room by a ladder, to regale their ears. He was a member of a weekly society of black-lettered literati, where leaving his sack at the door, he entered the room among noblemen in his checked shirt, and produced his books collected
from stalls and shops in blind alleys. His death was occasioned by a ventriloquial friend, who during a musical conversation pronounced these words distinctly as coming from a distance: "Thomas Britton, go home, for thou shalt die." Honest Tom, supposing the voice to have proceeded from an angel, went home depressed in spirits, took to his bed and died. He was twice induced to sit for his portrait. In one he is represented in a blue frock, with a small coal measure in his hand; and in the other tuning a harpsichord. One of them is in the British Museum.
1716. The Thames both above and below London bridge nearly dry, supposed to be caused by a strong west wind keeping back the tide.
1726. The Senecas, Cayugas and Onondagas surrendered to the English their habitations and country, from Cayahoza to Oswego, and sixty miles inland.
1741. Charles Rollin, the celebrated French historian, died, aged 81. He was the son of a cutler, and became famous not only as a writer, but also for his eloquence.
1751. James Philip d'Orville, a Dutch critic, died; professor of eloquence, history and Greek at Amsterdam.
1772. A bow and quiver were found in the new forest, England, supposed to have lain since the time of William Rufus, who was killed by an arrow in this forest in 1100.
1777. Burgoyne, having collected about thirty days' provision, and thrown a bridge of boats over the Hudson, crossed and encamped on the heights and plains of Saratoga.
1778. During the celebration of mass at Bourbon-les-bains, in Bassigni, France, the vault under the church gave way, which occasioned the death of 600 persons.
1784. James Essex died; an Englishman famous for his skill in Gothic architecture.
1788. Jordan Noel de Vaux, a celebrated French general, died. He was made governor of Corsica in 1769, and completed the conquest of that island; he was afterwards raised to the dignity of marshal of France. He had been present at 19 sieges and 14 battles.
1792. John Vander Mersch died. He headed the insurgents of Brabant against the imperial forces, in 1789, and distinguished himself by his valor and prudence.
1795. The English drove the Dutch from their camp at the cape of Good Hope, and captured the Williamstad of 26 guns.
1811. James Grahame, a Scottish poet and divine, died.
1814. The French advance guard under Murat and Beauharnois entered Moscow. No defence was made except by the populace in the Kremlin, who fired the palace, and the whole city was wrapt in flames. Of 4,000 superb stone houses, only 200 remained; of 800 churches, all were destroyed or heavily damaged, and of 8,000 wooden houses, about 500 escaped.
1814. Gloutzk attacked and stormed by the Russians; the Poles and French under Dombrofsky retreated with the loss of 1,000 men.
1816. William Bawdween, an English vicar, died. He was an excellent Saxon scholar, and translated the two first volumes of that curious national work the Domes-day Book, which was published by a vote of the British parliament. He proposed to publish the whole work, and is said to have left the other 8 vols. prepared for the press.
1835. John Brinkley, bishop of Cloyne in Ireland, died. He was distinguished as a mathematician and astronomer.
1836. Aaron Burr, third vice-president of the United States, died, aged 81. He possessed very distinguished talents, but manifested a lamentable want of principle.
1839. Don Carlos abandoned Spain and retired with his family into France, by which the long protracted civil war in Spain was regarded as at length closed.
1847. Battle of Gareta San Cosme in Mexico, which preceded the entrance of the Americans into the city.
1848. The British forces under Gen. Whish had besieged for several days the city of Moultan, in northern India. After much bloody fighting, the desertion of Shere Singh, an important ally, they were compelled to withdraw.
1851. James Fennimore Cooper, a distinguished American novelist, died, aged 62. He was born at Burlington, N. J., graduated at Yale, and adopted the navy as his profession. He stands at the head of nautical novelists, and is the author of historical works besides.
1852. The world-renowned duke of Wellington, died at Walmer Castle, in Kent, England, aged 83; and the numerous honors concentrated upon him were scattered in various directions. (See [Nov. 18].)
1852. Augustus N. W. Pugin, styled the Christian architect, died at Ramsgate, England, aged 41. The revival of Gothic architecture in England is associated with the names of himself and his father.
1853. The engine of a freight train on the Ohio and Pennsylvania rail road exploded while running, lifting the locomotive from the track and hurling it fifty feet.
1853. The first ground broken of the European and North American rail road, at St. John, by lady Head, assisted by the lieutenant-governor in the presence of 25,000 people.
1854. Alexander W. Stowe, chief justice of the state of Wisconsin, died at Milwaukee.