Joel Munsell

“ Vermont declared itself a free and independent state. It had been settled as a part of New Hampshire, but was claimed as a part of New York, and so decided to be by the British crown. But by the dissolution of the bonds which had held America in subjection to the crown of Britain, they considered themselves free from New York, to which the most of them had never voluntarily submitted; and being, as they said, reduced to "a state of nature," they assumed the right to form such connections as were agreeable to themselves. ”

“ The attack was commenced by the allies under Blucher upon the French centre, with a fury irresistible. The battle was for a long time maintained by both armies with obstinate energy. It was the more desperate and deplorable, says sir Walter Scott, that on the one side fought the flower of the Russian youth, which had left their universities to support the cause of national honor and freedom; and on the other, the young men of Paris, many of them of the best rank, who bravely endeavored to sustain their country's long pre-eminent claim to victory. ”

“ Notwithstanding the very limited advantages of his education, and his laborious employment through life for the support of his family, yet by his extraordinary genius and economy of time, he made great acquisitions in learning and science, gained most of the languages, and made himself the most eminent mathematician and astronomer that America has produced. ”

“ In 1779 he distinguished himself in the defence of Charleston against the British, who afterwards ravaged his plantation and rifled his mansion, by which he suffered an immense loss of property; and in the following year he was taken prisoner. On the termination of the contest he returned to his native seat, and spent the remainder of his life in elegant and philosophical ease—a model of private wealth and public virtue; a firm patriot and an enlightened philanthropist. ”

“ He was a staunch defender of liberal principles, and opposed first the arrogant pretensions of the privileged class, although himself one of their number: afterwards he arrayed himself against the intrigues of Mirabeau, the violence of the mountain party, and the usurpations of Bonaparte, in the face of destruction. The object of his wishes was constitutional liberty. He escaped the axe of the revolution, and was even promoted to office by Napoleon. ”

“ German thirty years' war concluded by the treaty of Westphalia. It commenced 1618, having grown out of the reformation. It spread from one end of Germany to the other, and left the country a scene of desolation and disorder, wasted by fire, sword and plague, which was followed by a great scarcity, owing to a deficiency of laborers. The art of war was the only one that had gained any thing, and that principally by the genius of Gustavus Adolphus, who made an era in military tactics, and was the first who had a train of artillery in his army. ”

“ Ferdinand V of Spain died. He inherited the crowns of Aragon and Sicily, and united to them the kingdom of Castile by marriage. In 1492 he added to these the kingdom of Granada, the last possession of the Moors, by conquest; at the same time Columbus was discovering for him the new world. By force and treachery he acquired the kingdom of Naples, and by similar means Navarre was also added to his dominions. Thus the whole of Spain was united under him; so that he may be considered as the restorer if not the founder of the Spanish monarchy. He was the most powerful monarch of his time ”

“ Archbishop Sens, premier of France under Louis XVI, seeing the finances of the state utterly desperate, and fearing for the king and more for himself, retired from the administration, and left the monarch, while bankruptcy and famine threatened the kingdom, to manage as he might, amid the storms which the measures of the minister himself had provoked to the uttermost. He fled to Italy with the greatest expedition, after having sent his resignation to his unfortunate sovereign. ”

“ Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, a soldier, scholar and poet, beheaded on Tower hill for treason. In his youth he made the tour of Europe, and at Florence signalized his courage and romantic spirit, by publishing, in the style of a knight-errant, a challenge to all comers, Christians, Jews, Saracens, Turks and Cannibals, in defence of the surpassing beauty of his mistress, the fair Geraldine; and was victorious at the tournament instituted by the grand duke on the occasion. He served in the army sent against Scotland in 1542, and in 1544 accompanied the troops with which the king invaded France. ”

“ Cortez, with 250 men, without horses, or any other arms than pikes, swords, shields and daggers, attacked the well appointed expedition under Narvaez, sent against him by the governor of Cuba, consisting of about 1400 men, which was defeated and gained over to his party. Thus the almost dispirited adventurer suddenly found himself again at the head of a more numerous army than ever, consisting of nearly 2000 Spanish troops, about a hundred horses and 18 vessels, and a great sufficiency of ammunition. ”

“ The royal family of Spain sent prisoners to France. At the sight of this procedure, there was a general insurrection of the inhabitants of Madrid, who attacked the French soldiers with knives, and a bloody contest took place, which was only quelled by scouring the streets with grape shot. The Spaniards finally desisted on seeing their resistance fruitless. It is estimated that 4,000 French and 6,000 Spaniards lost their lives. ”

“ Henry VIII of England having grown so unwieldy and corpulent that he was raised up and let down the stairs by a machine, after an illness of some weeks, sank under his disease, and died in the 38th year of his reign, and the 56th of his age. He repudiated his first wife 20 years after marriage, and in the course of about ten years espoused five others. Henry's reign was one of the most remarkable in the annals of the kingdom. He made himself so much feared, that no English king had fewer checks to his power. ”

“ Robespierre, dreading the dauntless intrepidity of Danton, Fabre d'Eglantine, Bazire, Chabot, and others of the most noted of his fellow desperadoes in the convention, caused them to be arrested as conspirators against the republic, and after a summary trial, they were executed by the guillotine [136] on this day. The government of France was now almost entirely vested in one man, under whose sanguinary administration the prisons of Paris contained at one time more than seven thousand persons, and a day seldom passed without sixty or eighty executions by the revolutionary axe. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Alexander Hamilton, an American statesman, died of a wound received in a duel with Col. Burr. Hamilton was born on the island of St. Croix 1757, and came to New York in 1773. At the commencement of the war he joined the army, and was an aid-de-camp to Washington, and afterwards a major-general. He continued in the service until the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, where the troops under his command stormed and took the British works. He afterwards commenced the practice of law in New York, and rose to the highest eminence in the profession. ”

“ Fernando Cortez, having taken possession of the Indian town of Tabasco on the day of his landing in the country of Mexico, now marched out with his troops to a plain, where he was attacked by an immense body of Indians, who wounded above seventy of his soldiers at the first discharge of their weapons. The Spanish artillery did great execution, but when the cavalry came to the charge, the Indians, imagining the horse and rider to be one, were extremely terrified, and fled to the woods and marshes, leaving the field to the Spaniards. ”

“ John Wilson, an eminent English botanist, died. His occupation was that of a shoemaker, and he ranks among the self-elevated men, who without a liberal education have distinguished themselves by scientific and literary abilities. He became an expert and accurate botanist before Linnæus's method of discriminating species improved the science, and published a Synopsis of British Plants. He was the first writer that attempted a systematic arrangement of indigenous plants in the English language. ”

“ Naval battle between the English fleet under Anson and Warren, and the French fleet under M. de la Jonquiere, which was convoying six East India ships and a number of transports and merchantmen to Canada. After a regular and well fought battle, the French struck their colors. The loss of the French killed and wounded was 700; that of the British 500. The trophies of the victory were six men of war and all of their East India ships, and between four and five thousand prisoners. The treasure taken on board these vessels was afterwards conveyed to the bank of England in 20 wagons. ”

“ He was educated a puritan, but for the reward of place, it is believed, became an anti-puritan and was made bishop of Oxford. He wrote a history of his own times, which appeared in Latin and English.
1727. Isaac Newton, the celebrated philosopher and mathematician, died, aged 84. He was so small and weak at the time of his birth, that his life was despaired of; and in his youth, his mother, finding him of no service in the management of the farm, sent him to finish his studies. From the success of his pursuits in after life, he has been styled the creator of natural philosophy. ”

“ Battle of Lodi, in which Bonaparte gained an important victory over the Austrians, under the veteran general Beaulieu. The long narrow bridge which led to the city, was defended by 30 pieces of cannon. The French generals put themselves at the head of 3000 grenadiers, and in the face of a murderous fire crossed the bridge over the dead bodies of their comrades, who were mowed down by hundreds, and took possession of the Austrian batteries. The loss was about 3,000 men on each side. This was one of the most striking military achievements of Bonaparte. ”

“ Frederick Augustus I, king of Saxony, died, aged 77; a wise and benevolent monarch, who devoted the energy of his mind to promote the welfare of his subjects.
1846. John Pickering, an eminent American philologist, died at Boston, aged 60. He commenced the practice of the law, and distinguished himself as a jurist; but his reputation rests chiefly on his attainments as a scholar, and on his literary and scientific labors, which were of great service to the cause of learning in this country. He published a vocabulary of Americanisms, and a Greek and English lexicon. ”

“ Roger Jones, an American military officer of distinction, died at Washington. He commenced his military career in 1809, and as a lieutenant of marines, and served in the war of 1812. His zeal and activity in the arduous campaigns on the Niagara frontier, and his distinguished gallantry as a major of the staff in the memorable conflicts of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, and the sortie of fort Erie, won for him universal respect and admiration, and the marked approbation of the government. ”

“ The French troops took possession of the fortifications of Malta, and the fleet anchored in the ports. They found two line of battle ships belonging to the Maltese, a frigate, three galleys, two galliots, and several guard boats; 1500 pieces of artillery, 35,000 stand of small arms, 12,000 barrels of powder, and a large quantity of shot and shell. The order of knights from this day became virtually extinct; from a position of political importance it fell to the level of an obscure association, and such, as far as human foresight goes, it is destined to remain. ”

“ John Theophilus Desaguliers died. He was the son of a French protestant clergyman, who resided in England. Having been educated for the ministry, he settled in London; there he acquired a turn for natural philosophy, and was the first person who lectured on experimental philosophy in the metropolis. He was a man of rare ability, and his income enabled him to keep an equipage. His coachman, Erasmus King, from the force of example, became a kind of rival to the doctor; for he also undertook to read lectures, and exhibit experiments in natural philosophy. ”

“ This was hailed with universal joy by the colonies, as the end of the cruel wars and bloody massacres which had hung over their towns and plantations nearly a century, in which the French and Indians had been uniformly the aggressors, and had vied with each other in murder, barbarity and [354] rapine. Under the brief repose which followed the colonies rapidly increased in number and wealth, till the gigantic struggle for independence again plunged the country in scenes of desolation and ruin, in which the British armies in a degree emulated the French and Indian foe. ”

“ 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. ”