By a canal (Hoofdvart) it is connected with Meppel and the Zuyder Zee. Near the town are the 'Giants' Caves,' mentioned by Tacitus, with huge stones resembling those at Stonehenge. Population, 1900, 11,191.
ASSENT', Royal (Lat. assentari, to agree
with, assent, from ad, to + sentire, to feel).
The official act by which the sanction of the
Crown is given to bills M'hich have passed both
houses of Parliament. Under the modern par-
liamentary system this assent is given as a mat-
ter of course, the veto of the Crown on legisla-
tion being practically obsolete. But in theory,
the royal assent is still necessary, all acts of
Parliament being "by the King's majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the lords
spiritual and temporal, and commons in Parlia-
ment assembled." See the article Veto. Consult:
Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laics of Eng-
land; Amos, A Primer of the English Constitu-
tion and Oorcrnment (London, 1886).
ASSER, ;i'ser, Tom.s itiCHAEL Carel (1838
— ). A Dutch statesman, born in Amsterdam.
He was appointed in 1862 professor of law in
the Athenxum of Amsterdam, and from 1876 to
189.3 held a similar chair in the university. In
1875 he became counselor to the Foreign Office,
and in 1803 member of the Dutch Council of
State. He was delegated to represent Holland
in the Peace Conference at The Hague in 1899,
and in the International Court of Arbitration in
1900. A profound student of international law,
he has published f<chets i'oh het Nedcrhindsche
Enndelsrer/t (1899; "Outlines of Dutch Com-
mercial Law) ; fichets van het Internationaal
Privastreeit (1879; "Outlines of Private Inter-
national Law") ; La codification du droit inter-
national (1901), and other works.
ASSESS'ORS (Lat. assessor, one who sits
beside, from ud. to + sedere, to sit). In Roman
law, persons who were called in by those admin-
istering pidjlic justice to sit with them, and give
legal advice and assistance. The practice has
continued in those European countries in which
the Civil Law system prevails, and these asses-
sors constitute a regular part of the judicial
machinery. In Great Britain statutory provi-
sion is made for the employment of assessors in
various courts. The House of Lords may call in
the aid of one or more assessors in admiralty
appeals; the Privy Council, in ecclesiastical
cases; the Court of Appeal, in any cause or
matter; and the county courts, on the applica-
tion of either party. The admiralty division
may call in nautical assessor.s, and in ecclesias-
tical courts the bishop sits with assessors. It
is the practice in some of the United St;ites dis-
trict courts, sitting in adniir.ilty, for the judge,
even without statutory authority, to call in the
assistance, in diflicult negligence cases, of two
experienced shipmasters, who sit with the judge
during tlic argument, and give their advii-c upon
questions of seamanship or tlui weight of testi-
mony. Except in admiralty causes, the employ-
ment of assessors by courts does not obtain in
this country. Our foreign consuls are authorized
in various criminal cases to summon associates,
who act in the capacity of assessors. (U. S.
Rev. Stat., sec. 410(i.)
In this country, however, the term is applied generally to officers who assess or value ])roperty for taxation. Their functions are partly minis- terial and partly quasi-judicial. Where acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, they are not liable to a civil action for errors of judgment; nor in some States, e.g. New York, for willful miscon- duct. The only redress for the taxpayer harmed by such misconduct is by a proceeding tu re- view and correct the assessment, or l)y a criminal prosecution. Consult the works referred to under the titles Civil Law; Admiralty Law; and Tax.
ASSETEAGUE, as'sf-teg', IS'LAND. A
small island off the eastern coast of Virginia,
forming a part of Northampton County. It is
surmounted by a brick lighthouse 12'J feet high.
AS'SETS (Lat. ad satis, up to what is
enough). One of those terms in the law of Eng-
land which in itself bears evidence of a Nomian
origin. It is derived from the Frencli word
assez, or more exactly, in Norman-French, assetz,
'enough,' or 'sufficient,' signifying the property
of a deceased person, which is sufficient in the
hands of his executor and heir for the payment
of his debts and legacies. In strictness, there-
fore, the term is not applicable to the property
of a person who dies intestate, and without any
debts to be paid. In general acceptation, how-
ever, it is understood to mean the property left
for distribution bj' a deceased person, whether
testate or intestate; and in commerce, and also
in bankruptcy and insolvency, the term is used
to designate the stock in trade and entire prop-
erty of all sorts belonging to a merchant or trad-
ing association, or to a bankrupt or insolvent.
Assets, in the law of administration, are
either personal or real, the former comprehend-
ing such goods, chattels, and debts as devolve on
the executor, and the latter incliKling all real
estate, whether devised or descending to the
heir at law. In connection with this distinction,
assets are also said to be assets by descent, and
assets in hand, the former of these being recov-
erable from the heir to whom the land descends,
and so far as such lands will extend : assets in
hand, again, signifying such property as a per-
son leaves to his executors, sufficient for the clear-
ing of burdens and bequests affecting his personal
estate. Assets are also in their nature either
legal or r.qtiitahle, according to the nature of the
remedy which may be used by creditors against
the executor or heir. These distinctions were
important in connection with the common-law
rule that the realty of a deceased person was
lialile only for the payment of specialty debts (i.e.
debts secured by a sealed instrument, as a bond) ,
unless made liable for the payment of other debts
by will. In the former ease, the specialty cred-
itor was compelled to proceed against the heir
or devisee; and in the latter case, simple contract
creditors might proceed against the executor to
recover from other the real estate devised or
from the personal )iropcrty of the decedent. In the case of eipiilalile assets, courts of equity made no distinction between specialty and simple contract creditors, and distributed the assets among both classes of creditors without preference. Under modern statutes all creditors are placed on an equal footing, and, where there are several creditors, the executor or administrator is bound to pay him who first obtains judgment for his debt: and he cannot resist on the ground that nothing will be left for the other creditors. If, after exhausting the whole assets which have
