12 



AMERICA. 



AMPEEE, J. J. A. 



cabinet of Marshal Narvaez insisted upon 

 abandoning San Domingo. (See SPAIN and 

 SAN DOMINGO.) 



The war which existed at the beginning of 

 the year between the United States of Co- 

 lombia and Ecuador was soon after terminated 

 by a compromise. A revolution in Ecuador 

 against the Conservative Government of Gen. 

 Moreno was promptly suppressed and the 

 leaders executed. In Venezuela the civil war 

 was brought to a close. 



The civil war in the republic of Uruguay 

 continued throughout the whole year. Toward 

 the close of the year the Government of Bra- 

 zil, on the ground that the Government of 

 Uruguay refused to give satisfaction for some 

 grievances, threatened the latter republic with 

 a declaration of war and even with annexation 

 to Brazil. These reported intentions of Brazil 

 produced a great excitement in the upper prov- 

 inces of the Argentine Republic and in Para- 

 guay,both of which feel deeply interested in with- 

 holding from Brazil the control of the mouth of 

 the river La Plata. Both seemed to be determin- 

 ed to aid Uruguay. {See BRAZIL and URUGUAY.) 



Chili, the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, and 

 the republics of Central America, enjoyed an 

 undisturbed peace, and made considerable pro- 

 gress in material prosperity. The cultivation 

 of cotton, in particular, is increasing in all the 

 republics of Central and South America, and 

 largely adding to their exports and their wealth. 



In all parts of the American continent the 

 question of Inter-Oceanic Railroads, connecting 

 the Pacific with the Atlantic, is exciting a 

 great interest. The most important of these 

 roads, the Union Pacific Railway, in the United 

 States, is rapidly approaching completion. 



In British America, the plan of an inter- 

 oceanic railway, connecting the Atlantic and 

 the Pacific provinces of the British dominions, 

 has gained new importance in view of the 

 projected confederation of all the provinces. 

 In Chili, a passage through the Andes was dis- 

 covered, which will greatly facilitate a con- 

 nection, by railway, of the two oceans. The 

 Imperial Government of Mexico is again in- 

 viting the attention of capitalists to the import- 

 ance of the transit of Tehuantepec. It was 

 also found that the Amazon is navigable nearly 

 as far as its source, thus affording another 

 transit route between the two oceans. 



President Geffrard, of Hayti, in December, 

 issued a proclamation to his people in which 

 he tells them that though three insurrections 

 had broken out within the past six months, 

 they were all quelled and order completely 

 restored. The condition of this republic, both 

 politically and materially, is favorable. A treaty 

 of _ amity, commerce, navigation, and extra- 

 dition, was concluded between the United States 

 and Hayti on the 3d of November. A similar 

 treaty was concluded between Hayti and Libe- 

 ria, which provides that slave trade shall be as- 

 similated to piracy, and the vessels of the two 

 States which may be engaged in the traffic 



shall be judged and punished according to the 

 laws in force in their respective countries 

 against piracy. 



AMPERE, JEAN JACQUES ANTOINE, a French 

 author, born in Lyons, Aug. 12th, 1800; 

 died March 27, 1864. He was the son of the 

 celebrated mathematician Andre Marie Am- 

 pere, under whose direction his education was 

 conducted, and who permitted, if he did not 

 encourage him, to gratify an ardent taste for 

 belles lettres and poetry, to which his own 

 studies and inclinations were rather hostile. 

 Of a natural independence of character, young 

 Ampere early left the beaten tracks of litera- 

 ture, and associated himself with those new 

 ideas about philosophy, literature, and history, 

 which formed so remarkable a feature in the 

 intellectual history of the early part of the 

 19th century. He evinced, in particular, a 

 lively enthusiasm for the master-pieces of 

 foreign literature, and before the age of 20 

 had acquired a considerable knowledge of the 

 English, German, and Italian languages, beside 

 acquainting himself with the best productions 

 of French authors. Thrown from boyhood 

 into the companionship of the scholars and 

 men of letters who frequented his father's 

 house, he gained the esteem of Balzac and 

 Chateaubriand, by whom he was introduced to 

 the polished circle which assembled at the sa- 

 loon of Madame Recamier. To the influence 

 which this association produced may be traced 

 the refined judgment and artistic spirit which 

 characterize the productions of his pen. 



He commenced his literary career as a writer 

 in the Globe and the Revue Fran$aise, estab- 

 lished by Guizot to oppose the reactionary 

 ministry of Charles X., and in 1830 com- 

 menced a course of lectures on literary history 

 at the AthenaBum in Marseilles. The first of 

 these discourses appeared in 1831, under the 

 title of "Essay on the History of Poetry." 

 After the July revolution of 1830 he returned 

 to Paris, lectured for a year or two at the Sor- 

 bonne, and in 1833 succeeded Andrieux in the 

 chair of History and French Literature at the 

 College of France, which, he filled with great 

 reputation for many years. Among the fruits 

 of his labors in this field are his " Literary 

 History of France previous to the 12th Cen- 

 tury" (3 vols.,1839-'40), an introduction to the 

 " History of French Literature in the Middle 

 Ages " (1841), and "Formation of the French 

 Language" (3 vols., 1841). He was also a 

 frequent contributor to the Revue des Deux- 

 Mondes and the National. In 1842 he suc- 

 ceeded Gerando at the Academy of Inscrip- 

 tions, and in 1847 Guiraud at the French 

 Academy. An irresistible love of travel led 

 him at various times to visit many parts of the 

 Old and of the New "World, of which accounts 

 appeared from time to time in the columns 

 of the Revue des Deux-Mondes. Archaeologist, 

 philosopher, and poet, as well as tourist, ho 

 endeavored, whether in Scandinavia, Germany, 

 Italy, Egypt, Nubia, or North America, to sea 



