ASGILL, JonN, an eccentric English lit*ateur, b. about the middle of the 17th century. Ile studied for the bar, and at intervals during the whole of his checkered life transacted legal business in some form or other; but having early displayed a predilection for writ ing political pamphlets, he soon became involved, in spite of his cleverness, in serious pecuniary difficulties. Fortunately for him, parliament had just passed an act (1699) for the resumption of forfeited estates in Ireland. and commissioners were appointed to settle claims. A bright vision-flitted across; the mind of the much-harassed man. Ile sailed for the sister isle, and found the whole country wrangling in law-suits. Ills talents, and the favor of the commissioners, secured to him a lucrative practice; and he even acquired sufficient influence to obtain a scat in the Irish parliament. Some time, however, before taking possession of his seat., A. had published a most extraordinary pamphlet, entitled An Argument proving that, according to the Covenant of Eternal Life revealed in the Scrip tures, Man may be translated hence into that Eternal Life without passing through Death, although the Humane Nature of Christ himself could not thus be translated till he had passed through Death (1700). Much to A.'s surprise, the public flew into a rage against this absurd production; the Irish parliament voted it a blasphemous libel, and the astonished author was expelled from the house after four days. In 1703. A. returned to England, and entered the English parliament as member for Brambcr, in Sussex. But the fame of his unlucky pamphlet haunted him perpetually, and at last proved a Nemesis; for the English house, resolving to be not less virtuous than the Irish one, took up the treatise. eondcmned it to be burnt by the common hangman, as profane and blasphemous, and expelled A. on the 18th Dec., 1707. After this his circumstances rapidly grew worse, until at last lie found something like peace in the King's Bench and the Fleet, between which two places his excursions were confined for the term of his natural life. Here he continued to practice professionally, and—for he never succeeded in overcoming this Weakness—to indite innumerable pamphlets on political and theological topics. lie d. in Nov., 1738.
ASH, F1'ax'inus, a genus of trees belonging to the natural order oleacecr, and distin guished by very imperfect flowers, in which the calyx is obsolete, and the corolla either wanting or 3 to 4-partite; the fruit is a samara, a seed-vessel foliaceous at the extremity. The leaves are deciduous, and are pinnate with a terminal leaflet. There are about fifty species, natives of Europe and of North America.—The COMMON Asti (F. e.ree eior) grows wild in the middle and s. of Europe and n. of Asia. It is an undoubted native of Britain. The flowers are quite naked; the leaves have five or six pairs of leaf lets. The flowers appear before the leaves hi spring, and the tree is not covered with leaves until the season is far advanced, losing them again early in autumn. It is, however, a most beautiful and umbrageous tree, highly ornamental in parks; but in parks or hedgerows it is extremely injurionS't6 the grass or crops immediately around it. It rises to the height of 100 to 1•0 ft., generally with a smooth stem. The wood is white, tough, and bard, much valued by wheelwrights, cartwrights, coach-makers, joiners, and turners. It is also excellent for fuel. Sometimes it becomes irregular in the disposi tion of its fibres, and finely veined, and is then prized by cabinet-makers. The wood of the young trees is almost as valuable as that of the old. lucked, the value of the timber is greatest in trees of which the growth has been rapid, as it exhibits the char acteristic toughness in the highest degree The A. prefers a loamy soil, but grows in
almost any, and succeeds in situations too elevated or too exposed for most other trees. It has of late been extensively planted in elevated situations in some parts of the n. of Scotland, and there, in the more sheltered glens, it grows to n large size. Cultivation has produced and perpetuated a number of varieties, of which the most remarkable are the weeping A., with boughs bent almost straight down to the ground; the curl-leaved A.. with (lark-green wrinkled or curled leaves; and the entire-feared A., a very curious vari ety, with many or all of the leaves simple knot pinnated), which has been erroneously regal ded by some botanists as a distinct species, and named F. E hetero phylla,atc.—The SMALL-LEAVED A. (F. parvfolia) and the LEETISK A. (F. lentiscifolia)aw both natives of the shores of the Mediterranean, and are very graceful and ornamental trees.—The AMERICAN A., or \\rum A. (F. americana), is readily distinguished from the common A. by its lighter bark and paler green leaves. The flowers have a calyx, and the leaflets are shortly stalked and entire (those of the common A. being sessile and ser rated). It is abundant in New Brunswick and Canada, but becomes rare to the s. of New Jersey. The trunk often rises more than 90 ft. undivided. The wood is used for the Mille purposes as that of the common A.—The BED A., or BLACK A. (F. pubescent?), is very similar, but of smaller size, and has a deep brown bark. It is most abundant in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 'Virginia, especially in swampy ground.—The 13LAcx A., or WATER A. of the New England states, New Brunswick, etc. (F. sambucifolia), is a large tree with buds of a deep blue. color.—The BLUE A. of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. (F. quadrangidata), is also a large tree. The branches arc quadrangular, the young shoots having on the angles four membranes which extend their whole length.—The. GREEN A. (F. jupiandtfolia), readily recognized by the brilliant green of its young shoots, is chiefly found in the middle states; and the CAROLINA A. (F. caroliniana), remarkable for the great size of its leaflets, chiefly in the southern states. Besides these, North America produces a considerable number of other species or varieties. The wood of all of thent is used for somewhat similar purposes to that of the common A.—In the s. of Europe grows the MANNA A., or FLOWERING A. (F. ornus, called ornus europaa by some botanists), whose flowers have a 4-partite calyx, and four small yellowish-white petals. The tree has much resemblance to the common A. From it the substance called Manna (q.v.) is obtained by means of transverse incisions in the bark; but in very favor able situations, it flows spontaneously during the greatest heat of summer. Manna is chiefly collected in Calabria and Sicily. A nearly allied species, F. rotundifolia, a native of Greece and the Ionian islands, yields it also in perhaps equal quantity. The common A. is said sometimes to produce the same exudation in the same warm climates.
The MOUNTAIN A. is the Rowan Tree (q.v.), and belongs to a different natural order. Its resemblance to the A. is chiefly in its leaves.
The A. has a peculiar importance in Scandinavian mythology. The first man and woman formed were Ask and Embla (Ash and Elm). The court of the gods is repre sented in the Edda as held under an A., called Yggdrasil (q.v.). Connected, perhaps, with these traditions is the superstitious belief in A. twigs as a charm against witchcraft and magic.