ASQUITH, Herbert Henry, English statesman: b. Morley, Yorkshire, 12 Sept. 1852. He was educated at City of London School, and Balliol College, Oxford, of which he was a distinguished student. He was called to the bar of Lincoln's Inn in 1876; early took a high place in his profession, was junior to Sir Charles Russel as counsel for the Irish Na tionalists in the Parnell Commission; and in 1890 was made King's Counsel. He supported the Home Rule policy of Mr. Gladstone, and was returned to the House of Commons as member for East Fife in 1886, a constituency he has since continued to represent. In 1892 he was chosen by Mr. Gladstone to move the vote of no-confidence in the Salisbury govern ment, and stepped at once into front rank as Secretary for Home Affairs in the subsequent Liberal administrations between 1892 and 1895. On the defeat of the Liberal government in the latter year he resumed his practice at the bar. In 1894 he married as his second wife Margot Tennant, a daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, Bart. At the time of the South African War he was attached to the Imperial ist wing of the Liberal party as opposed to the pro-Boer section led by Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, and consequently for a time lost favor with the majority of the party. He took a leading and indeed dominating part in the fiscal controversies raised by Mr. Cham berlain, and was the principal speaker on the Liberal side in combatting the arguments of the tariff reformers. On the accession of the Liberals to power in 1905 he became Chan cellor of the Exchequer, and as such intro duced the Old Age Pensions Bill which was subsequently passed into law. During the ill ness of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman he led the House of Commons with so much ability and address that on the death of the Prime Minister he was called upon to succeed him, 8 April 1908. Since then he has emerged from some great controversies with his posi tion and authority strengthened in the country. The rejection by the House of Lords of Mr. Lloyd George's budget of 1909 was followed by two successful appeals to the electorate on the part of Mr. Asquith, and as a result the Parliament Act was passed in 1911, which deals drastically with the powers formerly possessed by the upper House of mutilating and rejecting the measures sent up to it by Liberal governments. Mr. Asquith was for a long time regarded as lukewarm on the ques tion of Irish Home Rule; but a vital stage was passed in that old and much controverted issue when in 1914 he finally passed the Home Rule Bill. The Insurance Act (1912) and the Welsh Disestablishment Act (1914) stand also to the credit of his government. He is a be liever in the Gladstonian principle of never dealing with a question until it is fully ripe but once a resolution is taken, he acts witl; promptitude, as witness his assumption of the war secretaryship when civil control of the army appeared to be called in question during the crisis of the Ulster dispute. After the outbreak of the European War his cabinet passed through a series of crises, and he was constrained to form a national coalition min istry in May 1915. This coalition cabinet fell in December 1916. Attacks were made on it from all sides but more particularly from the °gin ger group," so-called because it wanted the gov ernment to inject more ginger into its actions and display more force. Differences also existed between Mr. Asquith and David Lloyd George. These came to a head when Lloyd George de manded a smaller war council which would have power to act independently of the cabinet as a whole. When Asquith refused his assent to this proposal Lloyd George resigned and forced the resignation of Mr. Asquith 5 Dec. 1916, after eight stormy years of domestic and foreign history. Lloyd George succeeded to the premiership 7 Dec. 1916.
ASS (As. assa, Goth. Rus. assyol, Lat. cultism., probably of eastern origin; cf.
Heb. dthOn, she-ass) or, when domesticated, DONKEY. A member of the family Equicla and usually placed in the genus Equus, with the horse, though sometimes made the type of a separate genus Annus. There are at least three species, one Asiatic, and the others Afri can. From the north African species the do mesticated ass or donkey has probably de scended, although many of its characteristics, particularly its spirit and bearing, are greatly altered. In size, in the short hair and termi nal tuft of the tail, and in the fact that only the fore-legs present callosities, the ass resem bles the zebra rather than the horse; and al though not striped like the zebra, it has a vaiy ing tendency to stripes on the legs. The Asi atic ass (Equus hemionus) is divided into three local varieties, of which the one found in Persia and Syria must be that which the Old Testament writers used as a type of unham pered wildness. Of the others, the kiang, koulan, or dziggetai of Tibet, is the largest and most strikingly colored. Its height is some times four feet at the shoulders. Like all asses, it is pale underneath, but the color above is a dark red with a narrow black stripe along the mane and backbone from head to tail. The third variety, the onager or ghorkhar, like the first, is smaller and paler; sometimes it is even silvery, and its dorsal stripe is broader in pro portion than that of the Tibetan ass. It in habits the plains of northwestern India, Af ghanistan and Baluchistan. Unlike the donkey, these wild asses are so extremely swift, en during and agile that on the plains they cannot be overtaken by a single horseman. In the mountains they are less shy and sometimes vol untarily approach travelers. Wild asses are hunted for sport and it is said of their flesh that, while resembling venison, it has an even finer quality. The asses of the plains migrate to the hills in summer when the plains are dry. See Kuno The African ass (Equus Africanus) differs widely from the Asiatic, being larger and hav ing a bluish tint rather than a tendency to red. It is sometimes as much as 14 hands high and has the very large ears which characterize the donkey. The dark stripe on the back begins only at the shoulder, but extends from the tail down the withers; the hair of the mane and tail is short, and varies little from that of the body in color. It is found in all the open re gions of northeastern Africa, and westward through the Sahara and Sudan. Like the Asi atic ass, it is extremely wild and fleet. A sec ond species of African wild ass (Equus somal icus) was found in Somaliland some years ago, which is distinguished by its grayer color and faintness of its stripes; it also has smaller ears and a more flowing mane. Living ex amples have been kept in London.
The donkey, or domestic ass, was probably first tamed in Egypt, where it was known be fore the horse, and has always been much used; some of the eastern breeds of the donkey are far larger and finer than those commonly seen in Europe, though in Spain and Italy, where they are more used, they are superior to those of other European countries. In England they are little employed, but in America are kept by stock raisers in the Middle and South ern States for the breeding of mules and hin nies. (See MULE). Their milk is recommended in capes of consumption and dyspepsia and their skins furnish the leather called shagreen, besides an excellent shoe-leather and the cov ering of drums.
ASS, Feast of The, a mock ceremony observed in northern France in the Mid dle Ages. It was originally a good-natured parody on the church service without inten tional irreverence, but degenerated into an in decent performance. It was in substance a brief farce in which Balaam's ass appeared be fore the church altar to prophesy the coming of Christ.