AMBROSE-AMERICA. 



Milan. At length he yielded, received baptism, for 

 he had hitherto ueeii only a catechumen, and, eight 

 days after, was consecrated a priest. The 7th of 

 December is still celebrated by the church on this 

 account. A. obtained great honour by his conduct 

 as bishop. He died in 397. Amiable, affable, mild, 

 and modest, he used his authority only to promote 

 the happiness of those around him, and the good of 

 the Catholic church. His writings (the best edition 

 is by the Benedictines, 2 vols. folio, J 686 90) bear 

 the stamp of his character. The Ambrosian Chant, 

 or Te Deum Laudamus, has been ascribed to him. 

 Later critics, however, have shown that he should 

 not be considered its author. A. improved the sing- 

 ing in the western churches. A Latin commentary 

 on the thirteen epistles of the apostle Paul, called 

 Amlrrosiaster, or Pseudo-Ambrosius, has been falsely 

 ascribed to him. 



AMBROSE, Isaac, a learned and pious presbyterian 

 clergyman, was born about the year 1591, educated 

 at Oxford, and appointed minister first at Preston, 

 and afterwards at Garstang in Lancashire, from 

 which latter place he was ejected, in 1662, for non- 

 conformity. He died in 1664, leaving several reli- 

 gious works, among which the most popular is the 

 one entitled " Looking unto Jesus." 



AMBROSIAN LIBRARY. This collection of books 

 at Milan, famous, in modern times, on account of 

 the discoveries made by Angelo Maio, was opened 

 to the public, in 1609, by cardinal Frederic Borro- 

 meo, a relation of St Charles Borromeo. The 

 cardinal, archbishop of Milan, a lover of knowledge, 

 caused the books to be purchased by learned men 

 whom he sent through Europe, and even through 

 -Asia. At the opening of the library, it contained 

 about 35,000 printed books, and 15,000 manuscripts 

 in all languages. It now contains 60,000 printed 

 books (according to Millin, 140,000). It was called 

 the Ambrosian Library, in honour of St Ambrose, 

 the patron saint of Milan. Angelo Maio, in his 

 preface to the fragments of the Iliad, which he ob- 

 tained from the treasures of this library, has shown 

 how the collection has been improved, particularly 

 by the addition of the Pinellian manuscripts. Its 

 learned founder wished to connect with it a college 

 of learned men, who should take charge of the 

 different departments of the library, and make 

 known its treasures, particularly to foreigners, who 

 wished for information. The want of funds reduced 

 tliis college from sixteen members to two, who yet 

 bear the title Doctores Bibli. Ambros., with a gold 

 medal, having Singuli singrila inscribed on it. Be- 

 sides the palimpsests discovered by Maio, this 

 library contains a Virgil, in which is the account of 

 Petrarch's first meeting with Laura, written by his 

 own hand. At a little distance from the library is a 

 Cillery of works of art, containing, besides casts in 

 plaster, several pictures of eminent masters, parti- 

 cularly the cartoon of Raphael's School of Athens, 

 and the studies of Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the 

 crly copies of this great painter's Last Supper (La 

 Ccna). Of the twelve volumes, containing manu- 

 scripts in the hand of Leonardo da Vinci, which 

 were formerly preserved as a treasure in the A. L., 

 only one volume, more interesting than the others 

 on account of the drawings in it, is to be found there 

 at present; all the others having been carried to 

 Paris. 



AMEN, a Hebrew word, originally signifying 

 verily, truly, lias been transferred from the religious 

 language of the Jews to that of the Christians. He 

 who pronounced the blessing, at the close of the 

 service in the Jewish synagogues, was answered by 

 the Jewish audience with the word amen. Also, in 

 the religious assemblies of the first Christians, the 



prayer made by the eldest of the worshippers, or by 

 a teacher, was concluded by the people with an 

 amen. Public prayers are still often concluded 

 with this word. By the amen of a composer of 

 music, we understand this word set to music to 

 enable the choir to respond to the prayer or blessing 

 chanted by the priest before the altar. Some amens 

 are famous. 



AMENDE HONOURABLE was an infamous kind of 

 punishment formerly inflicted, in France, upon 

 traitors, parricides, and sacrilegious persons. The 

 offender being delivered into the hands of a hang- 

 man, his shut was stripped off, a rope put about his 

 neck, and a taper into his hand ; then he was led into 

 court, where he was obliged to ask pardon of Go<i, 

 the king, the court, ana his country. Sometimes 

 the punishment ended here ; but sometimes it was 

 only a prelude to banishment to the galleys, to im- 

 prisonment in the Bastile, death, or torture. 

 Amende honourable is also a trm used for making 

 recantation in open court, or in presence of the 

 person injured. 



AMENDMENT, in law; the correction of any error 

 committed in a process. An error in judgment can- 

 not be amended, but an error after judgment may 

 be. A writ of error must be brought by the party 

 aggrieved by an error in judgment. Any error 

 after judgment, in plea or otherwise, may always 

 be amended, by leave of the court. Amendment, in 

 parliament or congress, denotes an alteration made 

 in the original draught of a bill, whilst it is passing 

 through the houses. Amendments may be made so 

 as totally to alter the nature of the proposition ; and 

 it is a way of getting rid of a proposition, by making 

 it bear a sense different from what was intended by 

 the movers, so that they vote against it themselves. 

 A member who has spoken to the main question 

 may speak again to the amendment. See, for this 

 and other points respecting amendments, both in 

 England and the United States, Jefferson's Manual 

 of Parliamentary Practice, sect. 35. 



AMERICA. Eastward of Asia, westward of 

 Europe and Africa, between the Atlantic and Pacific 

 oceans, lies the continent of America. It extends 

 from lat. 56 S. to an unknown northern latitude, 

 and consists of two great divisions, North and South 

 America (q. v.), which are connected by the isthmus 

 of Darien or Panama. The whole continent is 

 upwards of 9,000 miles in length, and from 1,500 to 

 1,800 in average breadth. The number of square 

 miles which it contains is stated differently by dif- 

 ferent authorities. Templemann gives 14,323,000 ; 

 Balbi, 14,622,000; Graberg, 15,737,000; Hassel, 

 17,303,000. Between the two great divisions lie 

 the West India islands (q. v.), extending from the 

 gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea into the 

 Atlantic. North America includes Greenland, be- 

 longing to Denmark; British America, which com- 

 prises New Britain, tipper Canada, Lower Canada. 

 New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; the Russian 

 possessions in the north-west ; the United States ; 

 Mexico, and Guatimala. The principal ranges of 

 mountains are, the Alleghany mountains, the Kocky 

 mountains, and the Cordilleras of Mexico. Some 

 of the largest rivers are, the St Lawrence, Missis 

 sippi, Missouri, Rio del Norte, Colorado, Arkansas, 

 Red river, and Ohio. North America contains the 

 largest fresh-water lakes on the globe ; some of the 

 most extensive are, lakes Superior, Huron, Michi- 

 gan, Erie, Ontario, Winnipeg, Slave lake, Athapes- 

 cow, Champlain, and Nicaragua. The principal 

 bays and gulfs are, Baffin's oay, Hudson's bay, 

 James's Bay, the gulf of St Lawrence, Delaware 

 bay, Chesapeake oay, the gulfs of Mexico and 

 California, and the bays of Honduras and Cam- 



