AMES AMHERST. 



139 



fiiinge, i" twenty-two pages, 4to; and Amerigo's 

 Letters, which appeared at Florence after liis death, 

 published by John Stephen di Carlo da Pavia. 

 Vespucci died at Seville, in 1512. Emanuel, king 

 of Portugal, caused^the remains of the ship Victoria, 

 in which he had made his last voyage to America, to 

 be hung up in the cathedral at Lisbon, and Flo- 

 rence conferred marks of distinction on his family. 

 The accounts of his life are full of contradictious 

 and perplexities. See Irving's Life of Columbus, 

 3d vol., Appendix, No. ix. 



AMES, Fisher, one of the most eloquent of 

 American statesmen and writers, was bom at Ded- 

 ham, in Massachusetts, April 19, 1758, of very 

 respectable parents. Soon after the completion of 

 his 12th year, he was admitted to Harvard college, 

 with the reputation of uncommon talents and 

 attainments. Diligence, regularity, and success 

 marked his collegiate course of four years. After 

 receiving his degree, in 1774, the narrow circum- 

 t^nces of his widowed mother compelled him to 

 postpone, for several years, the accomplishment of 

 his original purpose of studying the law. In the 

 interval, he acted as an assistant teacher in a public 

 school, and continued to cultivate classical litera- 

 ture, to the signal improvement of his taste and 

 fancy. At length, in 1781, he commenced the 

 practice of the law, with the stock of knowledge 

 which he had acquired in the office of a member of 

 tde profession, in Boston. Opportunity soon oc- 

 curred for the display of his superior qualifications, 

 both as a speaker and essay writer. The fame 

 which followed his early efforts conduced to place 

 him in the Massachusetts convention for ratifying 

 the constitution, in 1788. From this sphere, in 

 which lie made a deep impression by some of his 

 speeches, particularly tliat on biennial elections, he 

 passed to the house of representatives in the state 

 legislature. Here, he soon became so eminent as 

 an orator and man of business, that the voters of 

 the Suffolk district elected him their first represen- 

 tative in the congress of the United States. He 

 had not been long in that assembly before his 

 friends and admirers were satisfied that they had not 

 overrated his abilities. He won there the palm of 

 eloquence, besides proving himself equal to the dis- 

 cussion of the deepest subjects of politics and finance, 

 and the execution of the most arduous committee 

 labours. He remained in congress during eight 

 years, the whole of Washington's administration, 

 which he constantly and zealously defended. " His 

 speech on the British treaty," says'his distinguished 

 biographer, doctor Kirkland, " was the era of his 

 political life. For many months, he had been sink- 

 ing under weakness, and, though he had attended 

 the long and interesting debate on the question 

 which involved the constitution and the peace of 

 the United States, it was feared he would be unable 

 to speak. But when the time came for taking a 

 vote so big with consequences, his emotions would 

 not suffer him to be silent. His appearance, his 

 situation, the magnitude of his subject, the force and 

 the pathos of his eloquence, gave this speech an 

 extraordinary power over the feelings of the digni- 

 fied and numerous assembly who heard it. mien 

 he had finished, a member in opposition moved to 

 postpone the decision of the question, that they 

 might not vote under the influence of a sensibility 

 which their calm judgment might condemn." On 

 the retirement of Washington, Mr A. returned to 

 liis residence at Dedham, where he occupied himself 

 with the management of his farm, and the practice 

 t Che law. The latter he relinquished in a few 

 years, owing to the decline of his health ; but he 

 felt too deep an interest in the welfare of his country 



to withdraw his mind and pen from politics. He 

 published a considerable, number of essays, relating 

 chiefly to the contest between Great Britain and re- 

 volutionary PYance, as it might affect American 

 liberty and prosperity. No writer evinced more 

 ardour for the success of Britain, or more horror of 

 the character and tendencies of the French despo- 

 tism. In 1804, Mr A. was chosen president of 

 Harvard college, an honour which he declined. 

 When Washington died, Mr A ., then a member of 

 the council of the commonwealth, was appointed to 

 pronounce his funeral eulogy before the legislature 

 of Massachusetts. The injury which his constitution 

 sustained in 1795 was never fully repaired. From 

 that period his health declined, until, at length, 

 after an extreme debility for two years, death ended 

 his sufferings. He expired July 4, 1808; arid, 

 when the intelligence of tin's event was received, a 

 public meeting of citizens was held, in order to 

 testify the general respect for his character. His 

 remains were carried to Boston, where they were 

 interred with honours such as had not been before 

 paid to those of any private citizen. In 1809, his 

 works were issued in a large octavo volume, with 

 prefatory notices of-his life and character, from the 

 pen of the reverend doctor Kirkland, president of 

 Harvard college, who had enjoyed his personal 

 friendship and intimacy. The volume is fraught 

 with profound remarks, various historical lore, and 

 eloquent declamation. Although the political inter- 

 est of most of the topics is gone, there remains 

 much to captivate and reward attention in the rich- 

 ness of fancy, warmth of feeling, beauty of lan- 

 guage, and felicity of copious illustration, which 

 distinguish almost every page. Fisher Ames left 

 seven children and a wife, to whom he was tenderly 

 attached. In person, he exceeded a little the 

 middle stature, was well-proportioned, and perfectly 

 erect. His features and countenance were fine, and 

 his manners easy and aflable. Of his delivery as 

 an orator, his biographer states, that he did not sys- 

 tematically study the exterior graces of speaking, 

 but his attitude was firm, his gesticulation natural 

 and forcible, his voice clear and varied, and his 

 whole manner earnest and expressive. According 

 to the same authority, all the other efforts of his 

 mind were probably surpassed by his powers of 

 conversation. 



AMES, Joseph, the historian of British typo- 

 graphy, was born at Yarmouth, 1688 9. He 

 published, in one vol., 4to, 1749, " Typographical 

 Antiquities, being an historical Account of Printing 

 hi England, with some Memoirs of its ancient 

 Printers, and a Register of the Books printed by 

 them from 1471 to 1600 ; with an Appendix con- 

 cerning Printing in Scotland and Ireland to the 

 same time." Mr A. died in 1739. Besides his 

 great work, he wrote a Catalogue of English 

 Printers from 1471 to 1700, 4to, and several other 

 works. An enlarged edition of the Typographical 

 Antiquities was published by the late Mr W. Her- 

 bert, vol. 1, 1785, vol. 2, 1786, and vol. 3, 1790. 

 A new and splendid edition of Ames and Herbert 

 has since been presented to the world by the Rev- 

 T. F. Dibdin. 



AMETHYST. See Quartz. 



AMHERST ; a pleasant and flourishing post-town of 

 America. It is situated in the province of Massa- 

 chusetts, county of Hampshire ; eight miles N. E. of 

 Northampton, 90 W. of Boston; pop., in 1820, 1917. 

 It is noted chiefly for its literary institutions, which 

 consist of a college, an academy, and a seminary 

 styled the Mount Pleasant Classical Institution, Am- 

 herst college was opened in 1821, and incorporated 

 in 1825. It is a flourishing institution, and has three 



