Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/175

ASSASSINATION. 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