1669. Clifford, Arlington, Bucks, Ashley, Lauderdale, constituted the cabinet council of Charles II. From the initials of their names, this was called the king's cabal.
1713. The celebrated peace of Utrecht concluded, and with it the twelve years' war for the throne of Spain, in which the principal powers of Europe had been engaged, at a vast expense of life and treasure.
1733. The sheriffs of London and eminent merchants in 200 carriages, went to the house of parliament with a petition against the excise bill, then pending.
1737. Philip Hecquet, a French physician, died. He is the original of the immortal Sangrado of Gil Blas. He was a man of great simplicity of diet, and a friend to bleeding and the use of warm water at proper times, whence the caricature. He published several medical works.
1758. The wooden bridge over the Thames at London was burned down.
1766. Above 100 convicts left Newgate, in London, for the American colonies. They passed along with music playing before them.
1786. The first commencement of Columbia college, New York, when, the papers of the day say, "the public with equal surprise and pleasure, received the first fruits of reviving learning, after a lamented interval of many years."
1798. Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of Poland, died. He was elected to the throne in 1764 under the influence of Russian bayonets; was an elegant and accomplished gentleman, with good intentions, but without the energy and firmness of purpose necessary to sustain a tottering throne, and bridle a licentious nobility. The three great robbers, Russia, Prussia and Austria, divided his kingdom between them, and he retired to private life at St. Petersburgh, on a pension, where he died.
1799. Battle of Ledjars, in Syria; the French under Kleber defeated the Turkish and Arabian army, consisting of 4000 cavalry and 5000 foot, and compelled them to retreat across the river Jordan.
1801. Anthony de Rivarol, a French author, died. He was a man of great acquirements, and associated with the learned men of France before the revolution.