low rate, the merchants of Bristol and Liverpool fearing the lessening of consumption on rum and other things distilled from molasses.
1737. Elizabeth Rowe died; an English lady distinguished for her piety and literary talents.
1745. British ship Chester, Capt. Geary, captured the French ship Elephant with $24,000 on board.
1749. Usher Gahagan, executed at Tyburn. He was a gentleman by birth, and a scholar; he edited a beautiful edition of the classics, and translated Pope's Messiah and Temple of Fame into Latin verse. His crime was that of clipping coin!
1762. Tobias Mayer, a distinguished mathematician, died at Gottingen. His lunar and solar tables, as well as his original suggestions on the repeating circle are of much value.
1771. John James de Mairan, a French philosopher, died. He succeeded Fontenelle as secretary to the academy of sciences, and is the author of a Treatise on Phosphoric Light, &c.
1772. The royal marriage act of England was passed. This was another of those attempts to perpetuate regal domination.
1778. Laura Bassi died; she was honored with the degree of doctor of philosophy, for the great mental acquirements displayed in her lectures on that subject, and was distinguished as possessing every amiable virtue.
1780. British under General Clinton invaded South Carolina.
1781. Robert Morris appointed by congress superintendent of finance.