of the edifice, but as the only durable cement to hold the fabric of a representative government, not to say the very structure of society, together. Contrary, however, to the sentiments of others, he did not think his habits altogether such as were calculated to fit him for the chief of a college.

In relation to the closing years of the life of Mr. Ames, we find that we cannot do better than to copy the language of his biographer of Boston, who, as formerly stated, appears to have been in the number of his personal friends.

"From 1795," says this interesting writer, "his health continued to decline, with partial and flattering intermissions, till his death. He was a striking example of magnanimity and patience under suffering. Retaining always the vigour and serenity of his mind, he appeared to make those reflections which became his situation. When speaking of his first attack, he observes, "I trust I realize the value of those habits of thinking, which I have cherished for some time. Sickness is not wholly useless to me. It has increased the warmth of my affection to my friends. It has taught me to make haste in forming the plan of my life, if it should be spared, more for private duties and social enjoyments, and less for the splendid emptiness of public station, than yet I have done.”

"At length," continues his biographer, "after an extreme debility for two years, the frame which had so long tottered, was about to fall. With composure and dignity he saw the approach of his dissolution. He had many reasons for wishing to live. The summons came to demand of his noon of life the residue of a day which had been bright and fair; of his love of fame, the relinquishment of all that respect and honour, which the world solicited him to receive; of his patriotism, the termination of all his cares and labours for a country, which he loved with inextinguishable ardour; of conjugal affection, a separation from an object inexpressibly dear; of his parental tenderness, the surrender of his children to the chances and vicissitudes of life with out his counsel and care.

"But these views of his condition did not sink his heart, which was sustained by pious confidence and hope. He appeared now what he always was, and rose in virtues in proportion to

his trial, expressing the tenderest concern for those he should leave, and embracing in his solitude his country and mankind. He expired on the morning of the fourth of July, 1808. When the intelligence reached Boston, a meeting of the citizens was held, with a view to testify their respect for his character and services. In compliance with their request, his remains were brought to the capital for interment, at which an eulogy was pronounced by his early friend Mr. Dexter, and every mark of respectful notice was paid.

"Funeral honours to public characters, being customary offices of decorum and propriety, are necessarily equivocal testimonies of esteem. But Mr. Ames was a private man, who was honoured because he was lamented. He was followed to the grave by a longer procession than has, perhaps, appeared on any similar occasion. It was a great assemblage, drawn by gratitude and admiration, around the bier of one exalted in their esteem by his preeminent gifts, and endeared to their hearts by the surpassing loveliness of his disposition."

That Mr. Ames held a place in the foremost ranks of intellect, and is, in that respect, entitled to a conspicuous station in the temple of fame, those who knew him best are most ready to allow. Even his enemies-if, indeed, he left any behind himwill not deny, that he was endowed, in an eminent degree, with all the powers and qualities of a man of genius. Whatever his imagination conceived and his judgment approved, his fancy decorated in the most vivid colours, and his ardour carried home with irresistible effect.

Although eminent as a jurist, and still more so as a writer, he was most distinguished as a statesman, and an orator. The style of his eloquence was peculiar to himself. We know of no model, either ancient or modern, to which it can, in strict propriety, be compared. Too rich to borrow, and too proud to imitate, he looked into himself, and drew on his own resources for whatever the subject and occasion demanded. He sought, indeed, for information from every quarter; through the abundant channels of reading and conversation, no less than those of observation and reflection. But when knowledge once entered his mind, it experienced so many new combinations, and underwent

such a thorough digestion, as to be completely assimilated to his own genius. Although it entered as knowledge derived from another, it soon took the character of the intellect it nourished, and went forth again, when required, to appear in a renovated, expanded, and more radiant form.

In relation to the modes of debate it pursued, and the abundance of instruments it was in the habit of using, a more pregnant, plastic, and versatile mind perhaps never existed. Nature and art were alike tributary to its amazing resources. With an easc and velocity which we never, we think, witnessed in any other being, it would bound through the range of space from pole to pole, and from earth to heaven, returning fraught with the choicest lights and happiest allusions; with all that was rare, and new, and beautiful, as means in illustration of some topic of debate. Capable of sporting with the lightest objects and of wielding the mightiest, it passed, with equal familiarity, from the dew-drop to the ocean, and from the whispering of the breeze, to the roar of the elements. As circumstances demanded, its subject appeared either in a dress, " simplex munditiis," elegantly simple, of clothed in a style of oriental magnificence.

In the different views entertained on the subject by different individuals, the oratory of Mr. Ames has been compared suc cessively to that of most of the distinguished speakers, both ancient and modern-to the oratory, in particular, of Burke and Chatham, Cicero and Demosthenes. He has been even said, to have formed himself on the model of each of these illustrious standards in eloquence. The criticism is, in both its branches, erroneous. The oratory of Mr. Ames, although equally lofty, was less gorgeous than that of Burke, less full and swelling than that of Cicero, and, though somewhat similar in its sententious. ness, energy, and point, less vehement and abrupt than that of Chatham or Demosthenes. In unstudied ornament, striking antithesis, fertility of allusion, and novelty of combination, it was certainly far superior to either. Nor is it just to the reputation of Mr. Ames, to represent him as an imitator of either British, Roman, or Grecian eloquence. That he was familiar with the best models of the art, which every age and country have produced, will not be denied. He studied them, however, not with a

view to servile imitation, but merely for the purposes of instruction and improvement-with the intention, perhaps, of correcting faults, but certainly not of acquiring excellencies. Something negative might have been derived from them; but every thing positive originated in himself. After collecting the best lights that extensive reading and inquiry could bestow, he retired within himself, and followed the bent of his own genius.

In the various exterior qualifications of the orator, Mr. Ames, though not perfect, was highly accomplished. His figure, somewhat above the common size, was well proportioned, erect, and manly. His countenance, although not marked by the strongest lines, or the boldest features, was lively and intelligent, susceptible of great animation and variety of expression, when thoroughly warmed and illumined by debate. His voice was clear, distinct, and melodious, of sufficient compass to fill the largest of our public buildings, and capable of great variety in its intonations. His action, although not, perhaps, varied to the extent that was allowable and even desirable, was easy, graceful, and appropriate; and, in his more lofty and impassioned flights, became sometimes dignified, vehement, and commanding. Without ever descending to what might be denominated the stratagems of oratory, he, notwithstanding, practised that command of temper, and never failed in the observance of that regard to the feelings and disposition of the house, which are such powerful auxiliaries to argument and persuasion.

In endeavouring to give a view of the genius of Mr. Ames, it is proper to observe, that his imagination was the master faculty of his mind. Original, lofty, prolific, and inventive, yet, at the same time, inimitably sportive and gay, it was capable of every variety of exertion. It could mount, with the eagle, through tempests and storms, skim, with the swallow, along the surface of the pool, or, like our own sylph-winged Trochilus,* playfully dart from flower to flower, robbing each of its sweets, or plucking the fairest and weaving them into festoons of the choicest imagery. It was in his hours of relaxation and social intercourse, that these latter qualities of his imagination were displayed with

The humming bird.

a fencity that never was surpassed. It has been remarked, that those individuals most celebrated for their oratorical, are not generally distinguished in an equal degree, for their colloquial, talents. With him, however, the case was different. His powers in conversation were even paramount, in their kind, to his eminence in debate. It was within the circle of private friendship that he might be said to feel the influence of a peculiar inspiration. On these occasions, his mind never laboured, nor appeared to be sensible of its own exertions. Every thing came to it spontaneously and unsought for. Yet did it furnish forth such a rich and gorgeous intellectual banquet-the fruits of judgment, the stores of memory, and the decorations of fancy, delightfully arranged by the hand of taste, while the champaign of wit was brilliantly foaming around the board—that the scene was heightened almost to enchantment.

1

That he possessed, in an am

Criticism has not yet settled the rank and character of Mr. Ames as a writer. Nor, were we otherwise qualified for it, would either our functions or the limits of this article permit us, at present, to engage in the task. ple degree, the power to instruct by the variety and excellence of his matter, to surprise by the novelty of his combinations, and to delight by the sprightliness and beauties of his style, no one who has read his productions will deny. Notwithstanding this, we do not feel authorized to place his works in the highest order of prose composition. This, however, was the result of inauspicious circumstances, rather than of any deficiency in the powers of the writer. Excellency in composition is not attainable by a hasty effort. It is as much the work of time and the offspring of labour, as a highly finished painting, or an exquisite piece of sculpture. The first draught of an essay, however masterly the hand which executes it, is always, in some of its qualities, imperfect. That writer who does not carefully review the labours of his pen, will never rise to eminence in his profession. Even the productions of the great Johnson that were written in haste, and hurried to the press without correction, can be easily distinguished from those that received a careful revisal.

Hence arose the principal imperfections, in point of composition, that appear in the works of Mr. Ames. All his produc