ASS 



ASS 



Assise, Ctrujicnle of, \uLa'u-, a writ granted by flat. 

 Weftui. 2. c. 25. to a party agt^iieved, by a vcrJicl or judg- 

 ment given agaiiill him in an aflifK, when he had fumttl:ing 

 to plead, as a record or rekafc, whicli could not have been 

 pleaded by his bailiff, or when the alTife was taken againft 

 hinife'f by defanlt, to have the deed tried, and the record 

 brought in before the jilftices, and the former jury fum- 

 moned to appear before them at a certain day and place, for 

 a further examination and trial of the matter. This, in 

 reality, was neither more nor Itfs than a fecoiid trial of the 

 fame caule by the fame jur)'. Brafton, 1. 4. tr. 5. c. 6. §2. 

 F. N. B. 181. 2 Inft. 415. 



Assise, Conliiwancf of. See Continuance. 



Assise, Jifl'ices of. See Justices. 



Assise, Limilalion of. See Limitation. 



Assise, E.aits nf. See Rent. 



ASSISER, or Assizer, of ive'i^hli and meafures, is an 

 officer who has th_- care and overfight of thofe matters. 



ASSISI, in Geor^raphy, a town of Italy, belonging to 

 the dates of the church and duchy of Spoleto ; It is the fee 

 of a bilhop, and famous for being the native place of St. 

 Francis, and for the beautiful chuich belonging to the order 

 iaftituted by that faint, in which fome fay he is buried ; as 

 Well as for the great number of pilgrims reforting to it. It 

 is fifteen miles well of Nocera. 



ASSiSII, in EcckfiijUcal IFrilers, denote perfons bene- 

 ficed in a cathedral church, not in a rank below that of ca- 

 nons. The afTifii perhaps anfwereJ to our minor canor.s. 

 They were thus called, either becaufe they were allowed an 

 affifia or penfion ; or from ajfuluus, (I'lUgent. 



ASSISOR, the fame with affcfTor. In Scotland, afTi- 

 fors are the fame with our jurors. 



ASSISTANCE. See Aid. 



ASSISTANT is ufed for a perfon or officer appointed 

 to attend another principal of&cer, for the more cafy and re- 

 gular difcharge of his fuiiftion. — Suchabifhop or priell had 

 Icven or eight affillants. 



Assistant, in Roman Catholic countries, is particu- 

 larly applied to a kind of counfcllors,, cr comptrollers, 

 added to the generals or fuperiors of monafteries, &c. to 

 take care of the affairs of the community. 



The general of the Jefuits has live ailiftants, of confum- 

 mate experience, chofen by him out of all the provinces of 

 the order, and denominated from the kingdoms or countries 

 to which they belor.g, i. e. Italy, Spain, Germanv, France, 

 and Portugal. In a like fenfe, moll of our trading compa- 

 nies have their courts of alTiflants. 



Assistants are alfo thofe condemned to affifl: in the 

 execution of a criminal. 



ASSISUS, in Ancient Lanv Writers, denotes a thing de- 

 mifed or farmed out for fuch an affife or certain rent, in 

 money or provifions. Hence terra a[ffa was commonly op- 

 pofed to terra dominlca ; this lafl being held in demefne, or 

 occupied by the lord, whereas the former was let out to te- 

 nants. Hence alfo redditus ajjifus denotes the fct or {land- 

 ing rent. 



ASSITHMENT, or Assythment, in the Law of 

 Scotland, is a compenfation for a man flain. 



AfTithment is the fame with what, in the EngVifb Law, 

 is called Man-SOTE. 



ASSIUS Lapis, in Phyfwicgy. See Lapis Ajfins. 



ASSO, in Ancient Geography, a town of Hifpania Tar- 

 ragonenfis, in the country of the Eaftitani. Ptolemy. 



ASSOCIATE, compounded of ad, and foetus, cmpa- 

 nion, an adjunft, partner, or member. 



ASSOCIATION, AssociATio, the ad of aflbciating, 

 or forming a focicty or company. 



ACbciation is properly a contract or treaty of partner- 

 fhip, whereby tv,-o or more perfons unite together, either 

 for their mutual afliftance, or for the joint carr)'ing on 

 of an affair ; or even for a more comnfiodious manner of life. 



In a military fenfe, it denotes any number of men embo- 

 died in arms for mt'.tual defence in their diftrift, and for 

 preferving the public tranquillity againft foreign and do- 

 mellic enemies. 



The clofefl of all atTociations is that made by the band of 

 matrimony. See Society. 



Association of Ideas, is where two or more ideas con. 

 flantly and immediately follow or fncceed one another in 

 the mind, fo that one fhall almoft infallibly produce the 

 other ; whether there be any natural relation between 

 them or not. Or, it is that principle or faculty by which 

 two or more fenfations, ideas, or motions, are fo united 

 together, that any one imprcffed alone fhall excite all the 

 reft. 



Where there is a real affinity or connexion in ideas, it is 

 the excellency of the mind to be able to collect, compare, 

 and range them in order, in its inquiries : but where there 

 is none, nor any caufe to be afugned for their accompanying 

 tach other, but what is owing to mere accident or habit, 

 this unnatural affjciation becomes a great imperfeftion, and 

 is, generally fpeaking, a main caufe of error or wrong de- 

 duftions in reafoning. Thus, the idea of goblins and 

 fprights has really no more affinity with darknefs than with 

 light ; and yet let a foollfh maid inculcate thefe ideas often 

 on the mind of a child, and raife them there together, it is 

 poffible he (hall never be able to feparate them again fo long 

 as he lives, but darknefs fhall ever bring with it thofe fright- 

 ful ideas — Let cuHom, from the very childhood, have 

 joined the idea of figure and fhape to the idea of God, 

 and what abfurdities will that mind be liable to about the 

 Deity ! 



Such wrong combinations of ideas, Mr. Locke (hews, 

 are a great caufe of the irreconcileable oppofition between 

 the different fefts of philofophy and religion : for we can- 

 not imagine, that all who hold tenets different from, and 

 fometiraes even contradictory to one another, fliould wil- 

 fully and knowingly impofe upon themfelves, and, refufe 

 truth offered by plain reafoa : but fome loofe and indepen- 

 dent ideas are by education, cuiloin, and the conflant din 

 of their party, fo coupled in their minds, that they always 

 appear there together : thefe they can no more feparate in 

 their thoughts, than if they v.'ere but one idea, and they 

 operate as if they were fo. This gives fenfe to jargon, de- 

 monflration to abfurdities, confiftency to nonfenfe, and is 

 the foundation of the greateft, and almoft of all, the errors 

 in the world. 



Mr. Hume obferves (Effays, vol. i. p. 73.), that there is a 

 principle of conneftion between the different thoughts or 

 ideas of the mind ; and that, in their appearances to the 

 memory or imagination, they introduce each other with a 

 certain degree of method and regularity. Of this con- 

 neftion he alleges evidence from our more ferious thinking 

 or dilcourfe, from our wildeft and moft wandering reveries, 

 and even our dreams, and from our looftft and finefl con- 

 verfation. Among different languages alfo, words expref- 

 iive of ideas the moft compounded, nearly correfpoud to 

 each other ; and hence it is infeired, that the fimple ideas 

 comprehended in the compound ones are bound together by 

 fome univerfal principle, which has an equal influence on 

 all mankind. This writer afcribes the affociation or con- 

 nexion of ideas to three principles ; viz. " refemblance," 

 " contiguity" in time or place, and " caufe" or " effecl." 

 Thefe, he fays (p. 54.), aie the only bonds that unite our 



thoughts 



