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 in consequence of his declining health; but he still continued a diligent writer of political essays. The purpose of these publications was generally to support the declining cause of the federalists,—to vindicate the policy of Britain,—and to awaken the jealousy of his countrymen against the hostile and ambitious views of France. His health, however, which had been on the decline since the year 1795, was now broken, and though he was chosen president of Harvard college, he was obliged to decline the office. He continued for two years in a state of extreme debility, and on the 4th July 1804 he expired. When intelligence reached Boston of his death, a meting of the citizens took place to testify their respect for his services and character, and at their request, his remains were brought to the capital for interment.

In America, the literary character of Fisher Ames appears to be held in high estimation; and some of his countrymen have even been absurd enough to compare him to Burke. We perused his essays with a curiosity greatly excited by so ambitious a comparison; but without being able to discover one trait of resemblance to that great master of political philosophy and eloquent composition;—without perceiving any thing much above mediocrity, either in thought or expression;—and with frequent feelings of tedium and disgust, excited by abortive strainings after imagery and eloquence. Having said thus much, we think it but right to add the opinion delivered by perhaps the ablest American writer of the present day, “that Ames, both as an orator and an author, would have reflected lustre on any country; and may be considered as the most perfect model for youthful emulation, which the United States have produced.” American Review, Vol. I, p. 89.

His works, with an account of his life, were published in an octavo volume, at Boston, in 1809; and the writer to whom we have just alluded pronounces this volume, “not only a treasure of political wisdom, but a literary monument, which every American should contemplate with gratitude and patriotic pride.”

AMMAN, a Physician, and one of the earliest writers on the instruction of the deaf and dumb, was born at Schaffhausen, but in what year is uncertain. In 1687, he graduated at Basle; and, his religious principles not permitting him to settle in his native country, he retired to Holland, where he appears to have devoted his time and attention chiefly to the cure of the defects and imperfections of speech. He first called the attention of the public to his method, in a paper which was inserted in the Philosophical Transactions; and which appeared in a separate form in the year 1692, under the title, ; and afterwards, with much additional matter, in 1702 and 1728, under the title, . In this work, which Haller terms “,” he developes, with great ability, the mechanism of language, and describes the process which he employed in teaching its use to the unfortunate class of persons committed to his care. This consisted principally in exciting the attention of his pupils to the motions of his lips and larynx while he spoke; and then inducing them, by gentle means, to imitate these movements, till he brought them to repeat distinctly letters, syllables, and words. As his method was excellent, we may readily give him credit for the success to which he lays claim. In a long course of practice, he says that he never failed in his endeavours but in two instances; one of which was that of a girl who was an idiot, and the other that of a Jew, from whose father he foresaw that he would not get any thanks for his trouble. The edition of Cælius Aurelianus, which was undertaken by the Wetstens in 1709, and which still ranks as one of the best editions of that author, was superintended by Amman.

 AMMAN, a Physician and Botanist, was born at Breslau in 1634. In 1662, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Leipsic, and, in 1664, was admitted a member of the Society Naturæ Curiosorum, under the name of Dryander. Shortly afterwards, he was chosen Extraordinary Professor of Medicine in the above-mentioned University; and, in 1674, he was promoted to the Botanical Chair, which he again, in 1682, exchanged for the Physiological. He died in 1691. Paul Amman seems to have been a man of an acute mind, and extensive learning; but a restless and irritable disposition led him to engage too much in controversy, and to indulge in a degree of raillery in his writings, which the nature of the subjects hardly warranted. By his first work, which was published in 1670, under the title, Medicina Critica, seu Centuria Casuum in Facultate Lipsiensi resolutorum variis discursibus aucta, he drew down upon himself the displeasure of the Faculty, who had certainly no cause to rejoice at this exposure of their decisions. In the Paracænesis ad discentes circa institutionum medicarum emendationem occupata, which appeared three years afterwards, and in the Irenicum Numæ Pompilii cum Hippocrate, which he published in 1689, he showed his independent turn of thinking, by boldly attacking the systems of Galen and Hippocrates, and the abuses to which the implicit adoption of them had given rise. But it is chiefly on his botanical writings that his fame ought to rest. The Suppellex Botanica, et Manuductio ad Materiam Medicam, which he committed to the press in 1675, contains a full, but somewhat prolix, catalogue of the plants of the botanic garden of Leipsic and its environs, with their synonyms; followed by a brief introduction to the study of the Materia Medica, which proves an accurate knowledge of the science he was then employed in teaching. His next publication was entitled, ''Character Plantarum Naturalis, ab ultimo fine, viz. fructificatione desumptus, et in gratiam philatrorum per canones et exempla digestus;'' to the second edition of which, in 1685, he prefixed a dissertation on the true classification of plants. In this work he adopted the arrangement of Morison, endeavouring to show, as the title imports, that the genera of plants were only to