to man's unbelief, and he described himself as not doubting that, when his work on earth was done, he should be translated to heaven without passing through death. Asgill's was not more foolish than a hundred other such speculations, but it accidentally made more noise at first, and, in its consequences, exhibited a disgraceful spirit of persecution. The essay was published on the eve of his leaving England to seek practice in the Irish law courts, where there was a rich harvest of litigation, arising from disputes as to forfeited lands. The fame of Asgill's book went before him, and the desire to see and hear a man, of whom much good and evil was said, aided him in obtaining business. He made some money, married a daughter of Nicholas Browne (James II.'s Lord Kenmare), bought a portion of the Kenmare property, which purchase led to years of litigation between him and the family. He was elected member of the Irish House of Commons; but his book was the cause, or the pretence, for expelling him on the ground of blasphemy, a few days after he had taken his seat. In 1705 he returned to England, and sat for the borough of Bramber, in Sussex. Barebone, it would seem, had left some property, which gave the right of nomination. He sat for a few years, enjoying the privilege of freedom from arrest. A dissolution left him unprotected. On the reassembling of parliament, he resumed his seat, but the house became scandalized at his thus defying his creditors, and took advantage of his book to expel him for blasphemy. Asgill's affair s went on from bad to worse. He retired, first to the Mint, then to the King's Bench, thence was removed to the Fleet, and for thirty years lived in the rules of one or other of these prisons. He published political pamphlets, and supported the House of Hanover, whose "hereditary" right to the crown of England he insisted on as against that of the Pretender. Most of Asgill's books were printed like verse, in lines of unequal length. This strange appearance of the page perhaps made them more read. He practised conveyancing, and drew bills and answers in Chancery. He is described as singularly cheerful in his conversation, and attaining a great age, nearly 100, with little perceptible decay of his mental faculties. The death of his wife seems to have been the only thing that deeply affected him. He died within the rules of the King's Bench, in November, 1738.—(See The Doctor, by Southey.)—J. A., D.
ASH, Edward, an eminent London physician, was born in Birmingham about the year 1770, and died in April, 1829. He was the first to discover the principles which have since been employed in the construction of the galvanic battery. He communicated his discovery to Humboldt, who, in 1797, published an account of it, together with additional observations of his own. He possessed considerable literary talent, and was engaged with some others in the publication of a weekly paper called "The Speculator," in which he wrote some critical articles.—(Paris, Life of Sir Humphry Davy.)—G. M.
ASH, John, an English physician, was born about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and died in London, June 18, 1798. He was held in high estimation for his professional skill, and practised with great success, first in Birmingham and afterwards in London. He devised a singular method of curing mental alienation, with which, in his old age, he was threatened. He sedulously applied himself to the study of botany and mathematics, and continued this exercise until his faculties regained their equilibrium. He published a number of medical works, and a Latin oration delivered before the London college of physicians.—G. M.
ASH, John, LL.D., a Baptist minister at Pershore, Worcestershire, and author of a dictionary of the English language, of considerable repute, and of other works. He was born near Loughwood, in Dorset; was educated under Bernard Foskett, at the academy in Bristol; and settled at Pershore in 1751, where he continued till his death in 1779. His dictionary is remarkable as containing many words not found in similar books, and still commands a good price.—J. A., L.
ASH, Simeon. See Ashe, Simeon.
ASHBURNE, Thomas d', a friar of the order of St. Augustine, was born at Ashburn, in Derbyshire, and lived about the middle of the fourteenth century. He took part in the controversy with the Lollards, and wrote a treatise against the "Trialogus" of Wickliffe. Other theological tracts, and some poems, have also been ascribed to him.
ASHBURNHAM, John, an adherent to the royal cause during the civil war, was the son of Sir John Ashburnham of Ashburnham in Sussex. He was long suspected of treachery to Charles I., as he had some concern in the flight from Hampton Court, and the surrender of his majesty into the hands of Colonel Hammond, governor of the Isle of Wight. He wrote a "Letter," printed 1648, and a "Narrative," not published till 1830, in which he attempts the vindication of his good name.—J. B.
ASHBURTON, Lord. See Baring.
ASHBURY, Joseph, an English comedian, who was born in London in 1638, and died at Dublin, 24th July, 1720. He received an excellent education, and having entered the army, he rose to the rank of captain, in Ireland. He could not, however, repress his passion for the stage, and after a successful debut at Dublin, in the character of Othello, he resolved to adopt the stage as a profession. He afterwards visited London, where his reputation was confirmed by public opinion. Having engaged a company, he returned to Dublin, and re-opened a theatre, of which he continued manager till his death.—G. M.
ASHBY, Rev. George, born 1724, was educated at Eton and St. John's College, Cambridge, of which he was many years master. He was well known in the literary circles of the day, more from the valuable assistance he rendered to others than from his own publications. Bishop Percy, and many others, have acknowledged their obligations to him. He died at Barrow in Suffolk, of which he was rector, in 1808, aged 84.—J. B., O.
ASHBY, Henry, a celebrated engraver of writing, was born 17th April, 1744, at Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, and died at Exning, in Suffolk, 31st August, 1818. Many specimens of his calligraphy are preserved, and are justly admired.
ASHBY, Sir John, an English naval commander, born in 1642; died 1693. He took a prominent part in the famous battle of La Hogue.—(Naval History, iii. 148-154.)
ASHE´ Rab or Rav, a celebrated Babylonian rabbi, was born 353; died 427. He is said to have been elected president of the college of Sora, or Sura, in the province of Babylon, when only fourteen years of age. He held that office till his death. He was one of the first, as Rabbi Abina, about 120 years after, was one of the last, to form the Talmud of Babylon into a codex.
ASHE, St. George, D.D., a distinguished Irish prelate, was born in the county Roscommon In the year 1658. He was educated in Trinity college, Dublin, of which he became a fellow in 1679, and professor of mathematics. He left Ireland, however, some years after, and became secretary and chaplain to Lord Paget, ambassador to the court of Vienna, in the reign of William III. After the act of settlement, Dr. Ashe returned to Ireland, and was in 1692 made provost of the college by letters patent. He was promoted to the bishopric of Cloyne in 1695, where he remained till 1697, when he was transferred to Clogher, and from the latter see he was promoted to that of Derry in 1716. He was also a member of the Royal Society, and some communications from him appear in its proceedings; these, with some mathematical papers and a few sermons, are all that he has left to the world. He bequeathed his mathematical library to Trinity college, Dublin.—J. F. W.
ASHE, Simeon, a distinguished puritan minister, ejected from his living about 1633, was a warm supporter of the parliament till the death of the king, but his sympathies were never with Cromwell and the Commonwealth, and he took an active part in the Restoration. He died in 1662, just when he was preparing to leave his charge in consequence of the act of uniformity.—J. B.
ASHE, Thomas, born toward the end of the 16th century; was author of several tables intended to facilitate the use of the Year-books and English Law Reports.
ASHER, Ben Jechiel, a Jewish rabbi, born at Rothenburg about the end of the thirteenth century, died in 1321. He was for some time chief rabbi in his native city, and afterwards head of the Jewish university at Toledo.
ASHFIELD, Edmund, a painter of the time of Charles II.
'ASHIK (he who is in love), a celebrated Turkish poet, was born of good family at Perserin, in Roumelia, in 1518. His numerous erotic poems, and his lives of the Turkish poets, are highly commended. He died in 1571.
ASHLEY, John, an English musician and trader in music, under whose management Haydn's "Creation" was first performed in England. He had four sons also distinguished as musicians:—General, noted as a violinist, was a pupil of Giardini and Barthelomon: he died in 1818. Charles Jame, a performer on the violoncello. John James, an organist; and Richard, principal viola at the Italian Opera House.
