ASS 



427 



ASSASSINATION 



for the War of the Nations. Personally con- 

 sidered cold, somewhat unsympathetic, and 

 lacking in magnetism, Asquith yet was able to 

 hold together the Liberal party. 



Two years after his graduation with honors 

 from Balliol College, Oxford, Asquith began 

 the practice of law, and though not a brilliant 

 lawyer he was distinguished for sound judg- 

 ment and clear thinking, qualities which 

 marked him in Parliament. His long service 

 in the House of Commons began in 1886. In 

 1892 he became Secretary for Home Affairs in 

 : -tone's last ministry, and from 1895 to 

 1905 was one of the leaders of the opposition, 

 Dg the recognized spokesman of the Rose- 

 bery Liberal Imperialists, who supported the 

 government during the South African War. 

 He opposed Chamberlain's proposal of a pro- 

 ve tariff, and made skilful use of this issue 

 to unite the various Liberal factions. His 

 appointment to the Cabinet in 1905 was a 

 natural result, and as Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer he was really the government leader 

 because of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's 

 poor health. In 1908 he succeeded Campbell- 

 Hannerman as Prime Minister, thus becoming 

 leader in name as he had been in fact. The 

 Asquith Ministry underwent reorganization in 

 May, 1915, a number of prominent Conserva- 

 tives being included to form a coalition, and 

 in December, 1916, Asquith himself resigned, 

 being succeeded by David Lloyd George. 



ASS, an animal of the horse family, the 

 difference between them being observed in the 

 1 the shorter ears of the horse. 

 In shape the ass also resembles the zebra. In 

 its wild state, in the plains of Arabia, the ass 

 is a handsome animal, fleeter than the horse, 

 courageous ami intelligent. The domestic ass 

 is noted for its dullness, obstinacy and general 

 downtrodden appearance. In the East the ass 

 has been valued for centuries as a beast of 

 burden, and in Africa it is the only beast used 

 in certain districts deadly tsetse fly 



is found, for it is the only animal immune to 

 that insect's fatal \ 



The male ass is of high value for breeding 



cs, the offspring of an ass and a mare 



being called a mule, which is superior as a 



nurd The domestic ass is noted for 



its ability to subsist on the coarsest food, and 



.ntitiea of even that. It* responds 



quickly, however, to good treatment, which it 



too nlk of the ass is nutri- 



tfl of Nor? ica large 



herds arc kept solely as milk animals. 



The term ass, as one of contempt, is applied 

 to human beings who are dull, stupid or obsti- 

 nate. 



ASSAM, assam', a province of British In- 

 dia, with an area of 53,000 square miles. In 

 1905 Assam was politically joined to the prov- 

 ince of Bengal, but in the reorganization of 

 the Indian provinces in 1912 it was again 

 given its former position as a separate state. 

 It lies on the Indian frontier, to the south 

 of Tibet. The climate is marked by the 

 heaviest rainfall in the world, averaging 500 

 inches annually; it has reached 800 inches, or 

 nearly seventy feet, records show. Malarial 

 diseases are common in the low grounds ; other- 

 wise it is not unhcalthful. 

 A large part of the province may be desig- 

 nated as forests or jungle, the trees including 

 teak, date and sago palm and the Indian fig- 

 tree. In the jungles roam the elephant, rhi- 

 noceros, tiger, buffalo, leopard, bear, wild hog, 

 jackal, fox, goat and various kinds of deer. 

 Among serpents are the python and the cobra. 

 Pheasants* partridges, snipe, wild peacock and 

 many kinds of water-fowl abound. Coal, 

 petroleum and limestone are found in abun- 

 dance, iron is smelted to a small extent and 

 gold-dust is found in small quantities. The 

 article of most commercial importance is tea, 

 the yield of which is now over 295,000,000 

 pounds annually. Other crops raised are rice, 

 Indian corn, pulse, oil-seeds, sugar cane, hemp, 

 jute and potatoes. The population is about 

 6,713,700, nearly 4,000,000 of whom are Hindus, 

 1,886,500 Mohammedans, and a small part of 

 the rest Christians. The seat of the govern- 

 ment, at the head of which is a British chief 

 commissioner, is Shillong. 



ASSASSINA ' TION is murder done treacher- 

 ously, either for pay or for revenge. The 

 name came from Assassins, a society which in 

 the twelfth century was powerful in Persia and 

 Asia Minor and which caused the murder of 

 all who opposed the society. The work of 

 assassination fell upon a band chosen for the 

 purpose, and they were stimulated to carry 

 out their orders by the influence of hashish 

 which see). From this habit they obtained 

 the name hathuhin, or hi mp-> a ten. 



Assassination, as generally understood, means 

 the murder of a public personage. The assas- 

 sin may be hired by some one who hopes to 

 gain his end by the death of his victim, or he 

 may commit the murder to satisfy his desire 

 to avenge fancied or real grievance, or in 

 h<>i>r that through tin- death of hu victim he 



