381 



ASKEW, ANNE. 



ASMON^EANS. 



383 



without at the same time forgetting to make arrangements for instruct- 

 ing the colonists, and even the surrounding natives, in the arts of 

 civilisation. His progress was stopped by sickness, which attacked all 

 but two of the recent immigrants, and carried off Mrs. Ashmuu on the 

 15th of September. The colony was also subjected to several hostile 

 attacks from surrounding tribes, which Ashmun was able successfully 

 to resist, inflicting at the same time great loss upon the assailants. 

 From that time the colony was left iu peace, and Ashmun devoted 

 himself entirely to the civil interests of the settlement. Although 

 retarded by frequent illness, which proved so fatal to others that on 

 seven different occasions he was the only white man left in the colony, 

 and although harassed by a misunderstanding with his principals at 

 home, he had the satisfaction to see it making rapid progress. By the 

 end of 1826 he had established a complete system of law ; had founded 

 new settlements inland, as well as on the coast ; had erected two 

 churches, besides a variety of other public buildings at the capital, 

 Monrovia ; had built a colonial schooner ; had set up a printing-press, 

 and opened a public library consisting of 1200 volumes. The popula- 

 tion had increased during his administration to upwards of a thousand, 

 and a considerable trade had sprung up. 



Ashmuu's constitution, which had been impaired even in his college 

 days by severe study and frequent preaching, was completely destroyed 

 by the climate of Africa and hia never-ceasing exertions. In the midst 

 of hia arduous duties, having still some idea of entering the legal pro- 

 fession, he spent four hours each day in the study of Blackstone's 

 'Commentaries,' besides going through a great amount of miscellaneous 

 reading. His only relaxation consisted in a voyage to the Cape de 

 Verd Islands, in 1823, which greatly recruited his health. His 

 departure for hia native laud became at length a matter of necessity, 

 ami on the 25th of March, 1828, he left the colony, then recently 

 named Liberia, in the brig ' Dorris." After touching at the island of 

 St. Bartholomew, the brig reached Newhaven, Connecticut, in July. 

 Ashmun landed in a state of great exhaustion, revived for a few days, 

 relapsed, and then expired on the 28th of August, 1828, in his thirty- 

 fifth year. His remains were honoured with a public funeral. A 

 memoir of his life, by R. R. Gurley, a fellow-labourer in the cause 

 of Liberia, appeared at Washington in 1835, in 1 vol. 8vo, with a 

 portrait. 



(Abridged from the Biographical Dictionary of the Useful Knowledge 

 Society.) 



ASKEW, ANNE, or Aicough, the second daughter of Sir William 

 Askew of Kelsey, in Lincolnshire, has obtained mention in most histo- 

 ries of England as one of those sufferers who, before the final completion 

 of the Reformation, abjured in part the doctrines of the Romish Church. 

 She was more highly educated than was ordinary in that day, and by 

 stmly of the Scriptures became a convert to the opinions of the 

 reformers, at which her husband, one Kyme, a violent papist, was so 

 much displeased that he turned her out of doors. She came up to 

 sue for a separation, and although she did not obtain a legal divorce, 

 she refused to return to her husband, and resumed her maiden name. 

 She was arrested in March 1545, and accused of holding heretical 

 doctrines concerning the sacrament, and denying the corporal presence 

 of Christ's body in the elements after consecration ; and on this charge 

 she waa committed to prison. Being examined before the chancellor, 

 the bishop of London, and others, she is said to have replied boldly 

 to the lord mayor's question, " Whether the priests cannot make the 

 body of Christ ? " "I have read that Qod made man, but that man 

 can make God I never yet read." (Strype, ' Memorials,' i. p. 387.) 

 Bishop Bonuer was anxious to persuade her to recant, but her admis- 

 sions were not satisfactory, or at least not effectual, for she was soon 

 after again examined closely as to her belief and doctrines, and com- 

 mitted to Newgate. While there she waa again strictly questioned as 

 to what ladies at court had shown her favour and encouragement. 

 Not being able to extract any information on this point, she waa placed 

 on the rack and cruelly tortured ; and in a narrative drawn up by her- 

 self she states that, because she did not answer, " my lord chancellor 

 (Wriothesley) and Master Rich took pains to rack me with their own 

 hands till I was nigh dead." But her patience and fortitude could not 

 be shaken, nor does it appear that she had any disclosures to make. 

 She was burnt with four others at the stake in Smithfield, July 16, 

 1546. (The Pint Examinacyon of Anne Askeme, lately Martyred in 

 Smythfelde by the Romish Pope's Upholder!, with the Elucydacyon of 

 Jo/tan aU; the Latin Examinacyon, tkc. ; Fuller, Church Jlislory, 

 book iv. ; Fox, Book of Martyrs.) 



ASMOX.K ANS. The Asmomcan family derived their name from 

 Asauiontcus, a Levite of the class Joiarib, who has been supposed to 

 have been contemporary with the immediate successors of Alexander 

 the Great. The son of Atamonams was Syiueou, or Simon, whose son 

 Johannes was the father of Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees. 

 The name Asamomeus, or Asmouxus, had probably, like other Hebrew 

 names, a significative meaning; the word Chahsmanim occurs only 

 once in the Old Testament, in Psalm Ixviii. 32. It there means ' fat 

 ones ;' that is, rich noblemen, princes ; hence the designation Asmo- 

 nietna implies nobles or princes emphatically so called. 



The Jews, while subjected to the Seleucidx, or Greek kings of Syria, 

 depended upon the priests as the organ of every interest, and the high- 

 priest in Jerusalem was the head of the nation. The Jews had for 

 many years been subject to the arbitrary rule and cruelty of the Syrian 



kings, when Mattathias and hia five heroic sons, John, Simon, Judas, 

 Eleazar, and Jonathan, commenced their victorious resistance to the 

 attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to compel the Jews to exchange their 

 ancestral monotheism for the idolatry of their Syro-Macedonian 

 oppressors. This struggle is described in the books of the Maccabees, 

 which are included among the books of the Apocrypha. It is also 

 detailed in the 'Antiquities of Joaephus," from book xii., cap. 6, to the 

 end of book xvi. 



The power of the Asmonsean dynasty lasted from the year B.C. 166 

 to B.C. 37, but the family survived the dynasty. The first descendants 

 of the Maccabees ruled without the title of king, but with sovereign 

 power : they united iu their persons the functions of the high-priest, 

 the chief civil magistrate, and the chief commander of the army. The 

 later Asmomcan monarchs adopted the title of king, but they lost, 

 with the pious virtue of their ancestors, the love of the nation ; and 

 subsequently, by family discord, the kingdom itself. 



After the death of Mattathias, Judas, at the head of those Jews who 

 had fled into the wilderness, made war (B.C. 166) against Antiochus 

 Epiphanes, overcame and killed Apollonius in battle, and thus became 

 chief of his people. The next year he vanquished Lysias and Gorgias, 

 two other generals of Antiochus ; he then purified the temple, and 

 restored the former worship. Antiochus, having heard of the defeat 

 of his troops, swore that he would destroy the whole nation. As hu 

 was hastening to Jerusalem he died miserably, B.C. 164 or 165. Antio- 

 chus Eupator, his son, made peace with the Jews, but the war was 

 soon renewed. Demetrius Soter, having put Antiochus to death, 

 usurped his kingdom, B.C. 162, and conferred the high-priesthood on 

 Alcimus. In a battle against Bacchides, one of the general.-* of Deme- 

 trius, Judas was killed, [JUDAS MACCABEUS.] Jonathan succeeded 

 his brother, and after some years of commotion was made high-priest, 

 B.C. 153. 



Jonathan entered into an alliance, B.C. 150, with the usurper, 

 Alexauder-Balas, who pretended to be the son of Antiochus Epiphaues. 

 Jonathan was afterwards killed by Tryphon, a professed supporter of 

 the claims of Antiochus, the son of Alexander-Balas. [JONATHAN 

 APPHUS.] Simon, B.C. 144, shook off the yoke of the kings of Syria, 

 and took the city of Gaza and the fortress of Jerusalem. He made an 

 alliance with Antiochus Sidetes ; but it was soon after broken, and 

 Antiochus sent Cendebeus against him. Simon, now too old to go to 

 war, resigned the command to his sons, by whom Cendebeus waa 

 defeated. Ptolemseua, the son-in-law of Simon, aspiring to reign in 

 his stead, invited his father and brothers-in-law to a feast, at which 

 Simon and hia sons were assassinated, B.C. 135. [SIMON MATTHJSS.] 

 John Hyrcanus, the third sou of Simon, not being with him when he 

 was murdered, escaped assassination. Ptolemseus now called Antio- 

 chus Sidetes to his assistance. They besieged Jerusalem, which being 

 reduced to a state of famine, John was obliged to capitulate. John 

 went afterwards with Antiochus iu an expedition against the Parthiaus; 

 and for his exploits against the Hyrcanians was surnamed Hyrcanus. 

 [JOHN HYHCANUS.] 



Aristobulus, the son of Hyrcanus, became high-priest after the 

 death of his father. Hyrcanus bequeathed the sovereign authority to 

 his wife, but Aristobulus caused her to be shut up ; and, contrary to 

 former custom, assumed both the diadem and regal title, B.C. 106. In 

 an expedition against the Itureaus, he was attacked by illness, and 

 returned to Jerusalem, leaving his favourite brother Antigonus to 

 finish the war. The wife of Aristobulus took advantage of the absence 

 of Antigouus to weaken his influence with his brother ; and she 

 endeavoured to excite in her husband's mind the belief that Antigonus 

 Bought to obtain the royal dignity. Under her influence Aristobulus 

 caused Antigonus to be murdered on his return from the Itureau 

 campaign. He afterwards suffered great remorse for this deed, which 

 aggravated hia disorder, and he died at the close of the first year of 

 his reign. Three of his brothers whom he had kept in prison were set 

 at liberty on his death. The eldest, Alexander Jaumeus, succeeded 

 him in the royal title and office, B.C. 105. [ALEXANDER JANN^EUS.] 

 Alexauaer Jannceus reigned twenty-seven years, and was succeeded by 

 his wife Alexandra, B.C. 79. His son Hyrcanus became high-priest. 

 Alexandra reigned nine years. Upon her death, B.C. 70, the government 

 devolved upon Hyrcanus II., a prince of a weak character and inactive 

 disposition, who was dispossessed of his regal authority by his brother 

 Aristobulus, but permitted to retain the office of high-priest, with au 

 ample revenue. Hyrcauus after some time, being assisted by Aretas, 

 king of Arabia, attempted to resume his former rank. Aretas besieged 

 Jerusalem, and Aristobulus was reduced to great straits ; but having 

 gained to his party Scaurus, one of the lieutenants of Pompscus, 

 Aretas was obliged to raise the siege and to return to defend his own 

 dominions. Thus commenced the Roman power iu Jud;ca. The 

 authority of Aristobulus had not yet been sanctioned by the Romans ; 

 and on the appeal of Hyrcanus, Pompasus, having heard the arguments 

 of both parties, decided iu favour of Hyrcanus, whom he reinstated in 

 the government under Roman protection. Aristobulus upon this shut 

 himself up in Jerusalem. Pomjitcus besieged the city during tlirea 

 mouths; and took it at last by fixing his engines on the Sabbath. The 

 Jews would not violate the sanctity of that day hy offensive warfare, 

 although they were ready to repel attacks: I'^upseus accordingly 

 issued strict orders that nothing having the semblance of attack 

 should be suffered to occur, iu order that the Jews might have no 



