15 passim; 1. Corinthians xiv:16; (2) To confirm one's own utterances, as in prayers and doxologies; e.g. Romans xv:33; Galatians vi:18; (3) In descriptions of God as Christ; e.g. Isaiah lxv:10; (Heb. translated "truth") Revelation iii:14; (4) To introduce an affirmation. This is only done by Christ; e.g. John xiii:21. In John the amen is doubled, for solemnity and emphasis, as elsewhere.
AMEN, Harlan Page (1853—). An American educator. He was born at Sinking Spring, O., and graduated at Harvard University in 1879, having won a scholarship in each year of his course. In 1895 he became principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, which under his management became one of the foremost educational institutions in the United States.
AMENDE HONORABLE, .i'milNd' 6'n6'ra1]l
(Fr.. honorable amends, satisfactory reparation).
Formerly an infamous punishment to which
criminals were condemned who had offended
against public decency or morality. It was first
introduced in France in the ninth century, and
remained in force there until formally abrogated
in 1791. It was restored as a punishment for
sacrilege in 1826, but disappeared finally in 1830.
It consisted of a confession made by a bare-
headed and kneeling criminal in open court, con-
ducted thither with a rope around his neck by
the common hangman. In popular language, the
phrase now denotes a public recantation and
reparation to an injured party for improper lan-
guage or treatment, or is still further extended
to mean an apology of any kind, an "honorable
compensation" for insult or injury.
AMEND'MENT. A term used with reference both to legislative action and parliamentary and judicial procedure. Amendment in legislation is the alteration of an existing statute by means of a new legislative enactment, which may expressly refer to and modify the earlier law. or which by reason of its inconsistency with the earlier law may impliedly modify its meaning. In general there is no limitation upon the power of legislative bodies to amend or repeal existing laws, except the provisions of the constitution to which the legislative body is subject. The British Parliament, being itself the constitution-making body, has unrestricted power to amend and repeal existing laws. In the United States. Congress has power to repeal laws of the United States, but it has no power to amend the provisions of the constitution. The method of amending the Constitution of the United States is provided by Article V. of that instrument, but the exercise of this power is limited by the provision "that no State without its consent shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." The United States Constitution contains no provision directly limiting the power of the State Legislatures to repeal the statute law of the several States: but Article I., Section 10, providing that "No State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contract," amounts to a restriction on the power of the State Legislature to repeal statutes which are in effect contracts with the citizen of the State. This construction was first established in the celebrated Dartmouth College case (q.v.). The several State constitutions may also, and frequently do. limit the power of the Legislature to amend or repeal existing laws. See Constitutional Law; Abrogation.
Amendment in parliamentary procedure is used in order to vary or to qualify a motion, bill, or resolution before the House. Amendment is usually offered by means of a motion, and when adopted in accordance with the rules of parliamentary procedure becomes a part of the original motion or bill, which may then be voted upon. In the case of bills before legislative bodies, amendment is not infrequently a method of changing the entire scope and meaning of a bill, or of dismissing it from any further consideration. See Parliamentary Law, and the authorities there referred to.
Amendment in the law of pleading and practice is the correction of an error or defect in a pleading or judicial proceeding in the progress of action or proceeding. The amendment may be "as of course," i.e., without application to the counsel or judge, or "on leave," as the statute or rules of pleading and practice may require. Amendment at common law independently of statute might be made to remedy formal defects, by leave of the court at any time before the signing of the judgment in the action. Leave to amend was a discretionary matter, and when granted, it might be on such terms as the court should direct, usually on payment of the costs of the action up to the time of amendment. By modern statutes amendments are allowed after judgment in furtherance of justice, and are more liberally allowed than formerly, when the defect is one of substance or affects the merits of the case. See Pleading; Practice; Statute of Jeofails, and the authorities there referred to.
A'MENEM'HAT. The name of four Egyptian kings of the twelfth dynasty. Amenemhat I. — He reigned for thirty years, beginning about 2130 B.C. How he came to the throne is not known, but on his accession he found Egypt in a state of great disorder. He thoroughly reorganized the government, restored order, and conducted a wise and vigorous administration. He checked the power of the great nobles, and personally superintended a new survey of the whole land. Amenemhat warred in Nubia and on the Asiatic frontier of Egypt, but his chief attention was devoted to internal affairs. He was a great builder, and his monuments are found from Nubia to the Delta. In later times he was esteemed a sage, and, in a work composed, apparently, under the nineteenth dynasty, he is represented as giving instructions in the art of government, based on his own experience, to his son Usertesen (afterward Usertesen I.). Amenemhat II. — He reigned for 35 years, beginning about 2066 B.C. During the first two years of his reign he was regent with his father, Usertesen I., and, for three years before his death, his son Usertesen II. was associated with him in the government. In the twenty-eighth year of his reign he sent an expedition to Punt on the Somali coast. Amenemhat III. — Son of Usertesen III. He reigned for 44 years, from about 1986 B.C. Monuments of this king are found throughout Egypt, but his greatest work was connected with the Fayum (Coptic, Phiom, "the lake"). Amenemhat I. (q.v.), had built a dam, reclaiming a considerable extent of land from the highest part of the bed of Lake Mœris. Amenemhat III. greatly extended this system of damming. By means of a large embankment, about 20 miles long, he reclaimed some 40 square miles of fertile land, and, at the same time, converted the lake into a gigantic reservoir, whose waters, replenished annually by the inundation of the Nile,
