murder of a public personage by one who aims solely at the death of his victim. In ancient times assassination was not unknown, and was often even ap])lauded. as in the scriptural in- stances of Ehud and .lael, and in the murder of Hipparclnis by ITannodius and .risl<)},'iton. The followini; list includes the most important assas- sination^, arranged in chronolof;ical order: Philip of Maccdon. n.c. XW: .Julius Osar, ii.c. 44: Tliomas it Becket, 1170; Albert 1., Emperor of Germany, 1308: .lames I. of Scotland, 14.37; .VIessandro de' iledici, 1.5.S7; Cardinal Beaton, 1.540; David llizzio, 1500; Darnlcy, 1507; .James, Earl of JIurray, Regent of Scotland, 1570; Wil- liam of Orange, 1.584; Henry III. of France, by .lacques t'lOment, 1589; Henry IV. of France, bv liavaillae, 1010; Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, by Felton, 1628; Wallenstein, 1634; .rchbisliop Sharp, 1679; Gustavus III. of Swe- den. 179L'; Marat, by Charlotte Corday, 1793; General Kleber, at Cairo, 1800; Paul, Czar of Russia, 1801 ; Perceval, English premier, by Bel- liiigham, 1812; Kotzebue, the dramatist, 1819; Due de Berry, 1820; Charles III., Duke of Panna, 1854; .braham Lincoln, bv Booth, 1865; Jlichael, Prince of Scrvia, 1868 : Marshal Prim, 1870; Georges Darlioy, Archbishop of Paris, by com- munists, 1871; Earl of JIavo, Governor-General of India, 1872: Abdul Aziz,'l876; Alexander II., Czar of Russia, 1881; President J. A. Garfield, at Washington, bv Guiteau, 1881 ; Lord Frederick Cavendish and T. H. Burke, Phoenix Park, Dub- lin. 18S2; President Carnot of France, at Lvons, 1894; Stefan Stambuloff, in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1895; Empress Elizabeth, of Austria, at Geneva, hy an anarchist, 1898; King Humbert I., of Italy, at Moiiza, bv an anarchist, Brcsci. 1900; Presi- dent Williain McKinley, at Buffalo, N. Y., 1901. Xo mention is made here of the unsuccessful at- tempts at assassination, which would include nearly all the crowned heads of Europe and many of the prominent statesmen of Europe and America in the list of prospective victims. For the origin of the word, see As.s.s.siNS.
ASSAS'SINS (Fr. assassin, OF. plur. has-
sasis. from Ar. hnshashin, plur. of liashash. hash-
ish-eater). A secret order of Islam, partly re-
ligious and ])artly secular in character, and an
offshoot of the sect of Ismaili, which was in turn
a branch of the great Shiite faction. The mem-
bers of the Order of Ismaili derived their name
from Ismail, a descendant of .li, in whose line
they considered the religious headship of the
Mohammedan world to be rightfully vested.
They iinited to this tenet the belief in the moral
indifference of all actions and in the worthless-
ness of jxipular religion. Toward the middle of
the Eleventh Century, Hassan ben Sabbah, a
Persian of gifted mind and energetic character,
came to Cairo and attained to a high rank
among the Initiated of the Ismaelite Order. Po-
litical reasons forced him to flee to Persia. In
109(1 be acquired the fortress of Alamut, in the
district of Riidba, and made it the home of a
new organization, whose ])rinciples were in the
main those of the Ismailites, with the addition
of a new feature, namely: the ))ractice of the
secret assassination of all enemies of the Order.
At the head of the new ora.inization stood an
absolute ruler, the Sheikh-al-.Jebal, or, as he
became known in media-val folk-lore, 'The Old
Man of the ilountain.' Below him were three
deputy-masters, in the provinces of Jebal, Ko-
histan, and Syria. Next in rank were the Dais,
or Initiated, and the Refiks, or Students, who
were only partially acquainted with the secrets
of the Order, but were graduated in time into
the rank of Dais. Below these came the active
members of the Order, the Fedavis, or Fedais,
meaning 'The Devoted Ones,' young men who
were kept in absolute ignorance of the teachings
of the Order, but from whom complete obedience
was expected. These were the blind instruments
in the work of assassination planned by the
leaders. Before they were assigned to their
tasks these youths were stupefied by means of
hashish, or the liemi) plant, and while in an
ecstatic condition they were plunged into all
the pleasures of the S'^nscs as f- foretrste of the
bliss which awaited them in Paradise if they
should faithfully execute the commands of their
superiors. But the word hnshashin, or hemp-
eaters, was changed by the Europeans into as-
sassins, and acquired the common meaning of
murderers, which it bears at present. The nov-
ices, mechanics, and laborers formed the sixth
and seventh classes of the Order, and upon them
the observance of Islam was strictly enjoined,
though the Initiated were exempted from its
precepts. For 150 years the Order of Assassins
held Asia ilinor and Persia in terror. !More
than one caliph fell a victim to their knives.
Princes paid tribute to the 'Old Man of the
Mountain,' and the services of his followers
were even hired by contending political factions.
In all, there were si.x Grand Masters of the Order
besides Hassan, who died in 1124. Of these,
Hassan II., in 1163, extended the secret privilege
of the Initiated (that is, exemption from the
precepts of religion) to the people generally, and
abolished Islam in his <lomiiuons; but he was
speedily assassinated, and under his grandson,
Hassan III., the old institutions were restored.
Under Mohammed II. the Deputy Grand Master
of Syria made himself independent, and during
the wars of the Crusades wielded a terrible
])ower. The murder of Conrad of Jlontferrat
and other distinguished victims of assassination
was attributed to him. The Jlongol rulers of
Persia broke up the Order in 1255. The Syrian
branch was put down by the Mameluke Sultan
Bibars; but remnants of the sect lingered in
Kohistan, and are still said to exist in different
parts of India, Persia, and Syria.
Consult: Hammer-Purgstall, Geschichte der Assassinen (Stuttgart and Tiibingen, 1818) ; F. Walpole, The Ansai/rii, or Assassins (London, 1851) : Heckethorn's Secret Societies of All Af/es and Countries ( Xcw York, 1807), which contains much curious information, but is ill-digested and iinreliable: Guyard, Frmiments relatifs a la doc- trine des IsnuK'lis (Paris, 1874-77).
ASSASSIN-BUG. A bug of the bloodsuck-
ing family Reduviidae. See Cone-nose; and
Insect, paragraph Poisonous Insects.
ASSAULT (Lat. ad, to, at -f saltare, to
jump, leajpi. A military term signifying to
attack. L'ntil very recent times, troops would
be told off to ass.iult ;i fortified post, or position, being divided into three divisions: 'storming parties,' 'supports,' and 'firing parties.' It has always been a costly undertaking, and is
now practically impossible owing to the modern
guns and magazine rifles with which all armies
are equipped. In the assault on the fortified
