SEPTEMBER 21.
60. Saint Matthew, the apostle, died at Heliopolis, in Parthia.
1327. Edward II, 10th king of England, barbarously murdered at Berkley castle. Less wise and firm than his father, he forfeited the confidence of his people, and his wife Isabella joined the rebellion against him.
1520. Selim I, sultan of Turkey, died. He came to the throne by causing the death of his father and two brothers. He conquered Egypt and crushed the power of the Mamelukes, which for 260 years had governed that country.
1534. Alcazaba sailed from Cadiz on a voyage of discovery. He was murdered in the straits of Magellan by his crew, and the ship was wrecked at Brazil.
1558. Charles V, emperor of Germany, died. He ascended the throne of Spain 1518, and two years afterwards was elected to the empire. After a reign of 38 years he resigned and retired to a cloister. His death was caused by taking cold on getting out of his coffin after having gone through with a mock funeral, to gratify an idle whim.
1576. Jerome Cardan died; an Italian physician, and one of the most extraordinary men of the age. His works were printed at Lyons in 10 vols. folio.
1609. Hudson arrived in the vicinity of Albany, and having satisfied himself by despatching a boat seven or eight miles farther up, that he had gained the head of ship navigation, he prepared to retrace his course.
1659. First Esopus war began.
1704. Beat de Zurlauben (the younger), a Swiss general in the French army, died at Ulm, in consequence of seven wounds which he had received at the battle of Hochstadt.
1723. The Irish house of commons addressed king George I on the evils of Wood's halfpence. For some time this subject was a theme for lampoons and Dean Swift's wit.
1733. Noel Stephen Sanadon, a learned French Jesuit, died; professor of rhetoric at Paris, and author of several much admired orations and poems.
1735. Peter Artedi drowned; a Swedish naturalist, so intimate with Linnæus that they made each other heirs of their manuscripts and other literary property.
1745. Battle of Prestonpans, in England, between the forces of the young pretender and those of the king. The former gained a complete victory with the loss of only 50; while 500 of the king's troops were killed on the field of battle, and lost their artillery, colors, tents, baggage and military chest.
1748. John Balguy died; an eminent English prelate, and controversial and metaphysical writer. He committed 200 of his sermons to the flames in presence of his son, afterwards prebendary of Winchester, whom he wished to excite to the same laudable application.
1757. Robert Parr died at Brignorth, England, aged 124. He was a great grandson of Thomas Parr who attained the age of 152. One of the sons of the latter attained the age of 109, and a grandson died at the age of 113. Their mode of living was simple and temperate.
1761. Gabriel Malagrida, an Italian Jesuit, burnt in Portugal as a false prophet. His zeal and eloquence rendered him popular, but he became obnoxious to the inquisition after the abolition of his order.
1776. Great fire in New York, then in possession of the British; 1,000 houses were burnt.
1777. British under general Grey, surprised the Americans under general Wayne in the night, killed about 300, and took a few prisoners and some baggage. The prudent dispositions of Wayne prevented their further success.
1780. Americans under colonel Davie surprised a party of British at Wahab's house, killed and wounded 60, and took 96 horses and equipments, and 120 stand of arms, with the loss of only 1.
1780. Major Andre, an adjutant-general in the British army, landed in the night from the British sloop of war Vulture, and proceeded to West Point to confer with Arnold.
1792. Royalty abolished, and France declared a republic, by acclamation, in the national assembly.
1795. The Peep of day boys, in Ireland, changed their name to Orange men, and opened their first lodge.
1802. Mons. Garnerin ascended at London in a balloon about 4,000 feet, and descended in a parachute safely at St. Pancras. His balloon fell the next day near Farnham, in Surrey.
1803. Robert Emmet hanged in Dublin for high treason in conspiring the death of George III, and providing arms, &c., for
the rebels. His speech in his defence is a masterly piece of eloquence.
1812. The Americans under captain Forsyth attacked and carried the village of Gananoque, in Canada.
1814. Action between the United States sloop of war Wasp, captain Blakely, and the British brig Atalanta, formerly the Siro of Baltimore. The Atalanta was captured, and made the 13th and last prize of the Wasp during that cruise; for nothing is known of her fate afterwards.
1814. The British under lieut. Drummond retreated from before fort Erie to Niagara.
1832. Walter Scott, the most popular writer of his age, and the most distinguished novelist in English literature, died at Abbotsford, in Scotland. His fictitious prose works comprise 75 volumes, and his complete works about 100 volumes.
1842. Jeremiah Smith, for many years a member of congress from and ex governor of New Hampshire, died at Dover, aged 62, highly respected as a statesman and a jurist, as well as a scholar.
1842. James Ivory, a distinguished Scottish mathematician, died near London. At the solicitation of lord Brougham, king William IV conferred on him the order of knighthood, with a pension of £300.
1846. First day's battle of Monterey.
1851. The stores of Spanish residents at Key West, Florida, were attacked and their contents destroyed, in consequence of the excitement about the Cuban expedition of Lopez.
1852. William Badger, a New Hampshire jurist, died, aged 73. He had long filled various offices of state with creditable ability.
1852. John Chambers, a pioneer Kentucky emigrant, died, aged 73. He was born in New Jersey, and went to Kentucky at the age of 13. He practiced law with success; was a volunteer aid-de-camp to Harrison at the battle of the Thames, and was one of the foremost in the pursuit of Proctor. He was the first governor of Iowa, and held other public offices.
1853. General Pineda, sometime president of Nicaragua, died at Rivas.
1854. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, a New York episcopal bishop, died, aged 63; esteemed a learned theologian and a ripe scholar.