Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/843

 ASH ASHBUKTON 807 The wood is valuable for many uses, and the branches were employed by the Druids in their rites. IV. Xanthoxylum (Gr. !-av66e, yellow, and f{i/W, wood), of the family xanthoxylacea, Juss., dicecia pentandria, Linn. X. Caroli- nianum (prickly ash, toothache tree), a mid- dle-sized tree with prickly branches. X. ma- crophyllon (pterota, bastard ironwood), in Ar- kansas and Florida ; from 15 to 20 feet high. This species, as well as others (called yellow wood, satin wood, &c.) of much greater size, have hard, cross-grained wood. ASH, John, an English Baptist divine, born in 1724, died in 1779. He was pastor of a con- gregation at Pershore, in Worcestershire, and published " A New and Complete English Dic- tionary" (2 vols. 8vo., London, 1775). ASIIAXTEE, the most notable of the existing savage kingdoms on the W. coast of Africa. Its boundaries are not accurately defined ; but approximately the kingdom may be consider- ed the region fronting the Gold Coast, between lat. 5 and 10 N. and Ion. 1 and 6 W. Un- til the commencement of the present centu- ry Asbantee was unheard of by Europeans, for the Fantees, a hostile tribe, occupied the coast. In 1807 Osai Tutu was king of Ashan- tee. He appears to have subjugated many of the neighboring tribes. Two of his tributary chiefs having fled to the Fantee country, Osai demanded that they should be given up to him. The demand was refused, and the Ashantee messengers were put to death. Osai thereupon made an incursion into the Fantee country, which he ravaged down to the coast. The British, who had a fort at Anamboe on the coast, undertook to shelter the flying Fan- tees. The Ashantees invested the fort and compelled the British governor to ask for peace. This peace was of brief duration. In 1817 the Ashantees again invaded the Fantee country, and took possession of it, their acqui- sition by right of conquest being recognized by the British governor of the fort. In 1823 the Fantees, encouraged by the British, rose against the Ashantees, who again marched into their country. Sir Charles McCarthy, the British governor of the Gold Coast, undertook to chas- tise the invaders. A sharp action took place, Jan. 21, 1824, in which the British were de- feated, the commander and nearly all his offi- cers being killed. The victorious Ashantees came near capturing the British stronghold of Cape Coast Castle; but sickness coming on, they were obliged to withdraw to their own country. Since that time the Ashantees have kept aloof from the seaboard, but appear to have extended their dominion into the interior. Now and then travellers have made their way to Koomassie, the Ashantee capital, in lat. 6 51' N"., Ion. 2 16' W., They report that the government is an absolute despotism. The king is the great property owner, and is the legal heir of all his subjects. Slavery exists on a large scale, many of the nobles having as many as 1,000 slaves. Up to within a few years the slave trade prospered and gave a large income to the masters; but now that the trade lias declined, slavery seems likely to die out. Po- lygamy may be considered the special institu- tion of Ashantee. The importance of a man is measured by the number of his wives ; for these are the cheapest laborers. The king, it is said, is limited to 3,333 wives, who during the work- ing season are scattered over his plantations. While at home in the capital they occupy two streets, where they are secluded from all but the king and his female relatives ; any other person who looks upon one of them, even by accident, is punished by death. As to their religion, human sacrifices seem to constitute the distinguishing feature. The soil is fertile, producing every kind of tropical grains and fruits. The abundance of gold displayed as ornaments shows that mines are common; many of the richest, however, are held sacred to the divinities, and so not worked. Among the special industries may be mentioned a beautiful fabric of cotton, woven in strips four inches wide, and afterward sewn together. A considerable commerce is carried on between Koomassie and Hoossa, Borneo, Timbuctoo, and other points in the interior ; the principal exports are gold dust and ivory. The popula- tion is estimated to reach, or even to exceed, 3,000,000. (See GOLD COAST.) ASHBURTON, Alexander Baring, baron, an Eng- lish merchant and statesman, born Oct. 27, 1774, died May 13, 1848. He was the second son of Sir Francis Baring, who sent him to the United States, where he married in 1798 the eldest daughter of William Bingham of Phila- delphia. After his return to England, he pub- lished in 1808 a pamphlet relating to the orders in council and to the conduct of Great Britain toward the neutral commerce of America, which passed through several editions. From a partner he became on the death of his father in 1810 the head of the house of Baring, and was a member of parliament from 1812 to 1835, when, after having been for four months president of the board of trade and master of the mint, he was raised to the peerage under the title of Baron Ashburton, which had become extinct in 1823 on the death of his first cousin. (See DUNNING, JOHN.) In the house of commons he had opposed the reform bill, and in the house of lords he opposed the repeal of the corn laws. The unsettled con- dition of the northeastern boundary question led Sir Eobert Peel to send him on a special mission to the United States, where he con- cluded, Aug. 9, 1842, the so-called "Ashbur- ton treaty." It was assailed by the opposition in England, led by Lord Palmerston, as the " Ashburton capitulation ; " and in the United States, Mr. Webster was charged with having been overreached ; but public opinion on both sides of the water has sanctioned it as a satis- factory adjustment of difficult matters of con- troversy, some of which had embarrassed the relations of the two countries for 60 years.