The
Year 1811
In
this year several events have occurred of no common
character. A brief notice of them may not be
unacceptable.
In the month of September, a comet made it appearance in
the northern part of the heavens, and passing across our
hemisphere, disappeared at the south about the end of
the year.
On the 10th of Sept. the city of Charleston, in South
Carolina, was visited by one of the most tremendeous
hurricanes that ever devastated any country.
On the 17th of Sept. the sun suffered an annular and
almost total eclipse. - - The day was remarkable serene,
and the skies entirely clear of clouds, so that its
appearance was the most solemn and impressive that we
could conceive.
On the 7th of November, the lives of many valuable
Americans were lost in a battle with the Indians [the Battle of Tippecanoe].
On the 16th and 17th of December, the western and
southern quarters of the United States were alarmed with
several shocks of an earthquake.
On the 26th of December, the Theatre at Richmond was
consumed by fire, and a great number of the most
respectable citizens of Virginia perished in the flames.
In the summer months the heat was, in many places, the
most intense that ever was known. In the principal
cities several lives were lost by the indiscreet us of
cold water.
The crops, in many parts of the United States, were
destroyed by drought and in many places immense damage
was done by overwhelming torrents of rain.
These are no common events, and without incurring the
charge of superstition, they may be deemed portentous of
still greater events.
Surely so many extraordinary occurrences, in the course
of a few months, ought to excite something of meditation
and reflection.
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