APRIL 21.
753 B. C. Anniversary of the foundation of Rome, in the 3d year of the 6th olympiad, 431 years after the destruction of Troy, and 116 years from the building of Carthage. Romulus was in his 17th year when he received the regal title, and his subjects consisted of a legion of 3,000 foot and 300 horse.
753 B. C. Remus, the brother of Romulus, slain by the workmen who were building Rome, for ridiculing the weakness of the walls. Thus marked with blood at the outset, the city became the sanctuary of refugees and criminals, and to increase the population, neighboring females were dragged within its boundaries.
323 B. C. Diogenes, the cynic, died at Corinth, aged 90. He was expelled from his native city, Synope, for coining false money. His smart sayings and repartees were taken for wisdom, and his misanthropy and residence in a tub for philosophy! He snarled at the follies of men—wherein he differed from two other great philosophers, one of whom laughed at, the other wept for, the foibles of the world.
248. The thousandth anniversary of the foundation of Rome celebrated, in the reign of the emperor Philip, when Pompey's famous theatre was burnt.
1073. Alexander II, pope, died. He possessed one Christian virtue, that was charity for the Jews, whom he protected from murder and rapine.
1109. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, died. He was no sooner invested with the robes, than he began a quarrel with the king, in which he was worsted. He was a haughty prelate, and the first who insisted on the celibacy of his clergy in England. He was canonized under Henry VII.
1143. Peter Abelard, a learned Frenchman, died. His love and misfortunes have saved his memory from oblivion; and the man whom his own century have admired as a profound divine, is now celebrated as the martyr of love. The letters of Abelard and Heloise are frequently republished, and there is a voluminous life of the lovers by Berington.
1284. Alfonzo X (the wise), king of Castile and Leon, died. He was a man of great learning, and was the first king who had the public documents written in Spanish, which he did with a view to polish and enrich the language. His son usurped the throne, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he got it back again, by calling in the troops of the Moors; and the excommunication of the pope.
1480. William Caxton, the first English printer, finished the translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, as we learn from his own memorandum, as follows: "Ouyde his booke of Metamorphose Translated and fynnysshed by me William Caxton at Westmestre the xxii day of Apryll, the yere of our lord m.iiijc.iiijxx. And the xx yere of the Regne Kynge Edward the fourthe." This work is not known to have been printed, but there are several fragments of the work preserved in manuscript.