Some August Anniversaries

New Zealand Tablet, 9 August 1906, Page 34

Some August Anniversaries

Each month has its anniversaries, apart from those- of "a religious character (says a writer in the Montreal ' True Witness '), which are certainly of interest, but which are not always known. If we take the trouble to look for them we will find that even each day of the year is many times over an anniversary. We will briefly run over a few of this month. Friday, the 10th of August, is to us a very important day. On the 10th August— feast of St. Lawrence — Jacques Carter discovered Canada, and called the majestic river that flows by our city after the saint whom the Church honors on that day. It was on the 10th of August, 14-08, that Columbus discovered the* continent of South America. Two great discoveries, with a distance of only thirtyseven -years between them, yet both affecting the world in general in a most sensible manner. On the 10th August, 1702, the Palace of Tuillerics was stormed, in Paris, by the revolutionists, and the fearful Reign of Terror, the most tragic episode in the world's history, commenced. On the 10th August, 1636, the famed h our Masters completed those Annals which have ever since been one of the glories of Irish literature. And on the 10th August, 1675, the famed Observatory of Greenwich was founded , an institution of scientific value that has ever since held sway in its particular sphere of utility. The 11th August, 17(53, saw tho birth ol one destined to make a great name for himself as Gen. Victor Moreau. lie who fought so many famous battles and whose invincible sword carved many a path to glory for the armies of Fiance. On the 12th August, 1676, King Philip, the good and brilliant patron of letters, departed this life. Another death, but of another character, and of a man of a very different character, took place on the 12th August, 1822, when Lord Castleicagh committed suicide. The first Mass was offered up in Canada on the 121 h August, 1615. That is to say in Western Canada. Two memorable births also are commemorated on the 12th August: one of Patrick McDowell, the great Irish sculptor, in 17flU ; the other of the poet South ey, in 1774. The Act of the Re-settlement of Ireland by English Protestants was passed on the 12th August, 1652. And tvo hundred and fifty-one years later, in I HIM, the House of Lords passed the Irish Land Bill. What a mighty change in two centuiies and a half. The 13th August seems to have been a fateful, if not to say a fatal day, as far as anniversaiies go. Anyone who clings to the old superstition of the 13th may find consolation — if they consider it as sueh — in the fact that it was on the 13th August, 1822. that the great Syrian earthquake took place, whereby 20,000 people were killed. On the i:Un August, 1020, the first cargo of slaves was brought to Virginia — the initial step in that abominable traffic which led, two hundred and forty years later, to the outbreak of the American Civil War. On the 13th August, 582, the great Emperor Tiberius 11. died, ami Pope Sixtus IV. died on the 13th August, 1481. The 14th August is a day of fatal anniversaries, save in one case. On 14th August, 14(54, Pope Pius 11. departed this life. It was the anniversary of the death of the cruel tyrant and persecutor of the Christians, Emperor Valeus, who had paid his last debt in 375. But the 14th August, 1598, witnessed the great Irish victory of Yellow Ford. The 15th August seems to have been a day of happier anniversaries. On that day, I7«y, Napoleon Bonaparte was born ; and on-the same day, 1771, Sir Walter Scott came into the Tvoiid. In 1858, on the 15th August, the coiner stone of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York city, was laid. And away back in the glorious past, on the 15th August, 1599, Red Hugh O'Donnell routed the entire English army from Sligo. We pass over all such historical events and >ye seem not to recall them ; but it is of benefit sometimes to bring them to memory.