THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
it was compelled gradually to contract its operations. It withdrew from France in 1866, from Italy and Europe, and other foreign stations generally, in 1S73; and ultimately it limited its efforts to the support of the American Church in Paris. Its monthly periodical, The Christian World (35 vols., New York, 1850-84), gave an account of its work; the number for April, 1880, contains a historical sketch of the first thirty years; that for June, 1SS4, has the thirty- fifth annual report; consult also the last number (Nov., 1884).
AMERICAN LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS: A lectureship made possible by the union of a number of universities and theological seminaries in the United States, each of which provides a sum proportionate to the requirements of the year. The lectures are under the care of a committee consisting of representatives of the institutions which unite in furnishing the funds and hearing the lectures. The courses thus far delivered and published are:
1895: T. W Rhys Davids, Buddhism: Its History and Literature, New York, 1895.
1896: D. G. Brinton, Religions of Primitive Peoples, ib. 1S97.
1898: T. K. Cheyne, Jewish Religious Life after the Exile, ib. 1898.
1899: K. Budde, The Religion of Israel to the Exile, ib. 1899.
1903: G. Steindorff, The Religion of the Early Egyptians, ib. 1905.
1 906 : G. W . Knox, The Development of Religion in Japan, ib. 1906.
AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. See
CoNGREGATIONALISTS, I., 4, § 10.
AMERICAN REFORM TRACT AND BOOK SOCIETY. See Tract Societies.
AMERICAN SEAMEN'S FRIEND SOCIETY.
See Seamen, Missions for.
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. See Sunday-Schools.
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. See Tract Societies.
AMES, WILLIAM (Lat. Amesius): Puritan; b. at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, 1576; d. at Rotterdam Nov. 14, 1633. He studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, and became fellow. From the first he was a rigid and zealous Puritan and so without hope of preferment in the Church of England. In 1611 he went to Leyden, thence to The Hague, where he became chaplain to Sir Horace Vere, commander of the English troops in the Netherlands, but lost this post through intrigues of the High-church party at home. He was paid four florins a day by the States General to attend the Synod of Dort (1618-19) and assist the president; became professor of theology at Franeker in 1622, and rector in 1626; shortly before his death he became pastor of the English church in Rotterdam. He contemplated settling in New England, and his family went thither, taking with them his library. His influence on the Continent was considerable, and his reputation is greater there than in his native land. As a decided Calvinist he was active in the Arminian and other controversies of his time, both with voice and pen. His most noteworthy books were the Medulla theologica
(Amsterdam, 1623 ; Eng. transl., The Marrow of Sacred Divinity, London, 1642) and the De conscientia et ejus jure vel casibus (1632; Eng. transl., Conscience, 1639), an ethical treatise which was really a continuation of the old scholastic casuistry. A collected edition of his Latin works, with life by M. Nethenus, was published in five volumes at Amsterdam in 1658. (E. F. Karl Muller.)
AMICE, am 'is: A vestment worn by Roman Catholic priests when celebrating mass. See Vestments and Insignia, Ecclesiastical.
AMIOT(wrongly spelled Amyot), a"mi"o', JOSEPH MARIA: Jesuit missionary; b. at Toulon Feb. 18, 1718; d. at Peking Oct. 8, 1793. He joined the Jesuits in 1737 and entered China as a missionary in 1751. The reigning emperor, Kien-Lung, was hostile to the Christians, but the missionaries were allowed to proceed to Peking and to work there, if not in the provinces. Father Amiot devoted himself assiduously for the rest of his life to the study of Chinese history, language, and literature and was one of the first to give Europe accurate information concerning Eastern Asia. The results of his work were published for the most part in the Memoires concernant les Chinois (15 vols., Paris, 1776-91), in the proceedings of learned societies, and in the Lettres edifiantes et curieuses (34 vols., 1717-76). They include a life of Confucius (Memoires, vol. xii.) and a Dictionnaire tartare-mantchou-francais (ed. Langles, 3 vols., 1789-90).
AMISH. See Mennonites.
AMLING, WOLFGANG: German Reformed theologian; b. at Munnerstadt (35 m. n.n.e. of Wiirzburg), Franconia, in 1542; d. at Zerbst May 18, 1606. He studied at Tubingen, Wittenberg, and Jena; was appointed rector of the school of Zerbst in 1566, minister at Koswig in 1573, and, shortly after, minister and superintendent at St. Nicolai in Zerbst. He was vehemently opposed to the Formula Concordia, and led the population of Anhalt from Lutheranism to Calvinism. He wrote the Confessio Anhaldina (1578).
AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, am"mi-a'nusmar"sel-li'nus: Author of a Roman history (Rerum gestarum libri xxxi.) extending from Nerva to the death of Valens (96-378). He was a native of Antioch, and is said to have died about 400. He devoted himself to philosophical studies, entered the army under Constantius, accompanied Julian in the war against the Persians, and took part under Julian's successors in the wars both of the Orient and the Occident. He afterward retired to Rome and resumed his studies. The first thirteen books of his history are lost ; the remaining eighteen , beginning with the year 353, give much valuable information concerning the general state of the Church and many important particulars — the character of Julian, his proceedings, views held by the educated concerning Christianity, etc.
The question whether Ammianus was a Christian has often been raised. At present the generally accepted view is that he was not. His work contains many caustic remarks on the doctrines of Christianity. He speaks of the martyrs, of synods,