APRIL 9.
1483. Edward IV, of England, died. He disputed the crown with Henry VI and involved the kingdom in war and bloodshed, till the death of the latter, when he ascended the throne unmolested. He became a voluptuary, and died from excessive eating.
1483. Dr. Shaw, brother to the lord mayor of London, preached a sermon on the text "Bastard slips shall not thrive." It was not productive of many converts.
1547. Edward VI succeeded to the throne of England on the death of Henry VIII.
1589. Thomas Sampson, a noted English nonconformist divine, died. During the reign of Mary, he fled to Geneva, where he was engaged in the translation of the Genevan Bible.
1609. Hudson left the Texel on his memorable voyage of discovery, in the yacht "Halve Maan," of forty lasts (80 tons) burden; a size which easily admits the supposition that he ascended the river as far as Half-Moon, or Waterford.
1626. Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, died, aged 66. At the age of 13 he entered the university, where he made the most astonishing progress in all the sciences then taught, and at the age of 16 attacked the Aristotlean philosophy. He succeeded rapidly in office under government, and in 1619 was appointed lord high chancellor of England and baron of Verulam. Here, unfortunately, he sullied his name, and was fined, imprisoned and degraded, for bribery and corruption. This extraordinary man is justly entitled to the appellation of "the father of experimental philosophy."
1648. A great insurrection of the people of London by reason of the parliament abolishing holydays.
1670. Samuel Sorbierre, a French writer, died. He was educated for the protestant ministry, but abandoned that faith for popery, without much advantage to himself, as his sincerity was suspected. His literary reputation is also somewhat tarnished.
1697. William, earl of Craven, died in his 89th year. The nobility of England are famed for longevity.