SEPTEMBER 5.
1548. Catharine Parr, the sixth and last queen of Henry VIII, died. She was learned, and had sufficient prudence and sagacity to direct the caprices of the monarch in his dotage.
1569. Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, died. He was of low parentage, and on coming to power, distinguished himself by a most cruel and bloody persecution of the protestants, 200 of whom he was instrumental in bringing to the stake, and is said to have whipped and tortured several with his own hands. On the accession of Elizabeth he was committed to prison, where he died.
1593. The river Thames in England almost dry from westerly winds and low tides.
1618. Jacques Davy Du Perron, a French cardinal, died; celebrated for his learning and political knowledge.
1654. Cromwell's first parliament assembled at Westminster. The speech explaining his policy occupied three solemn hours.
1655. Stuyvesant sailed from New York against the Swedes on the South or Delaware river.
1685. Francis North, an English statesman, died. He rose through his abilities, and found time amidst his arduous duties to prepare and publish several works.
1701. Edmund Boursault, a French dramatist, died. He received little or no education, yet became a correct and popular author.
1745. Simon Joseph Pellegrin, a French ecclesiastic and poet, died. He obtained the prize at the academy in 1704.
1752. The first play performed in America by a regular company of comedians, at Williamsburgh, then the capital of Virginia. The piece was the Merchant of Venice, and the afterpiece Lethe, written by Garrick. Thus Shakspeare had the first place, in time as in merit, as the dramatist of the western world, and Garrick the honor of attending on his master. Lewis Hallam made his "first appearance on any stage" at this performance. He had one line to speak, apparently an easy task, but when he found himself in presence of the audience, he was panic struck; he stood motionless and speechless, until bursting into tears he walked off the stage, making a most inglorious exit. It is scarcely necessary to add that he was afterwards the hero and favorite in tragedy and comedy for nearly half a century.
1765. Anne Claude de Caylus, a French writer, died. His Collection of Egyptian Antiquities, 7 vols. 4to, is valuable. He also discovered, from a passage of Pliny, the ancient mode of encausting painting, and of tinging marble.
1774. The first congress met at Philadelphia. There were 52 members present from eleven colonies. (Sept. 4?)
1778. British under Gen. Grey landed at Bedford or Dartmouth, and destroyed above 70 sail of shipping, besides small craft. They burnt the magazine, wharf, storehouses, vessels on the stocks, the dwelling houses and mills, and levied a contribution of all the public moneys, 300 oxen and 10,000 sheep.
1781. An indecisive engagement took place off the Chesapeake between the British fleet, admiral Graves, and the French fleet under de Grasse. While the two admirals were manœuvering, count de Barras with a French fleet of eight line of battle ships passed the British at night and got within the capes of Virginia; by this combination the French had a decided superiority, and the British took their departure.
1785. Lunardi made the first balloon ascent in Scotland. He ascended at Edinburgh, and traversed a distance of fifty miles over sea and land in one hour and a half.
1786. Jonas Hanway, an English merchant and philanthropist, died. He undertook a laborious and dangerous course of travels through Russia into Persia, with a view of opening trade. The city of London owes many useful improvements and institutions to his enterprise and benevolence.
1794. John Hely Hutchinson, an Irish lawyer and statesman, died. He was noted for his avidity after lucrative offices; of whom lord North remarked, that if England and Ireland were given him he would solicit the Isle of Man for a potato garden.
1800. The capitulation of the fortress of Valetta, at Malta, was signed, two years after it had been taken from the knights by the French. It was agreed that the French troops should march out with the honors of war as far as the sea shore, where they should ground their arms, and then be embarked for Marseilles as prisoners of war until exchanged, and Malta has remained in the hands of the British.
1808. Clement Cruttwell died; an
English divine and author, whose literary performances, for labor, extent and utility, have rarely been equaled.
1812. First battle of Borodino, in Russia; the French under Bonaparte and his favorite generals; the Russians under Koutousoff. The Russians made a desperate resistance, till night separated the combatants.
1813. Action off Seguin between United States brig Enterprise, 17 guns, Lieut. Burrows, and British brig of war Boxer, 18 guns, Lieut. Blythe; the latter was captured in 40 minutes, with the loss of upwards of 20 killed and 14 wounded; American loss 4 killed and 10 wounded. Both commanders were killed, and were buried together at Portland, on the eighth.
1819. At Studein, in Moravia, at noonday, the atmosphere being serene and tranquil, there was a fall of little pieces of earth from a small cloud isolated and very bright.
1824. Peter Louis Lacretelle died; a distinguished French lawyer and writer.
1837. Borowlaski, a celebrated Polish dwarf, died in England, aged 98. His height was short of 36 inches, though his person was of complete symmetry. In former years he traveled on the continent, but for the last 40 years had resided in England. He excelled as a wit and humorist, was acquainted with several languages, and his company was much courted. He had brothers and sisters, some of whom were above six feet in stature.
1841. Grenville Millen, an American poet, died at New York, aged 41. He relinquished the profession of the law to devote himself to poetry and literature, of which he published a volume in 1833.
1848. The city of Messina, in Sicily, was bombarded and taken by the king's troops.
1848. An insurrection occurred at Leghorn, and the city was placed by the insurgents in the hands of a provisional government.
1849. Samuel Bunch, a congressman from Tennessee, died, aged 63. He commanded a regiment under Gen. Jackson in the Indian war, and in the charge of the battle of the Horse Shoe, was the first or second man over the breast works of the enemy.
1852. William Macgillivray died; professor in the university of Aberdeen, who published works upon birds, and in other departments of natural history.
1852. John Pitkin Norton, professor of agricultural chemistry at Yale college, died, aged 30.
1853. I. L. Mason, a United States engineer, died at San Francisco. He was born in Providence, educated at West Point, and constructed the fortifications at fort Adams, and was one of the most skillful and scientific officers of the engineer corps. He was sent out to superintend the construction of the fortifications at San Francisco.
1853. George Poindexter, a Mississippi statesman, died at Jackson. He was the second governor of Mississippi, and in 1811 killed Abijah Hunt in a duel.
1854. Robert M. Patterson, director of the United States mint, died at Philadelphia. He was president of the American philosophical society, and had been a professor in the universities of Pennsylvania and Virginia.