assistance (as is tans)

[Early mod. E. and ME. a istence, later, after F., a istance, tant.] 1. (a) A being present; presence; attendance. (b) The persons present; spectators; audience. [In these uses obsolete, or in conscious imitation of the French.] -2. Help; aid; furtherance; succor; a contribution in aid, by bodily strength or other means. Where we do reign, we will alone uphold, Without the a istance of a mortal hand. Shak., K. John, iii. 1. IMG:content-1267.png:[blocks in formation] Hence, specifically-4. In Eng. common law and Amer, colonial law, a general name for a somewhat undefined body of subordinate parish or town officers or auxiliaries, apparently including, as sometimes used, the ex-officers, in their customary function of advisers. - Court of a istance. See court. - Divine a istance, in Cartes i an philosophy, the act of God in moving the body when the soul forms a volition. See occasionalism. Writ of a istance. (a) A writ commanding the sheriff to put into po e ion the succe ful party in a decree of chancery awarding po e ion of land: so called because it was in a istance of the execution of the decree. (b) In Amer. hist., a writ i ued by a superior colonial court, on alleged precedents of the English Court of Exchequer, authorizing any officers of the crown, in the proce of executing the acts of trade, to summon a istance and enter and search any premises. The attempt to use such writs in Ma achusetts, defeated in 1761, was one of the abuses which led to the revolution. = Syn, 2. Aid, support, backing, relief. IMG:content-1268.png:[blocks in formation] No prophane thing ought to have acce e, nothing to be a istant but sage and Christianly Admonition, brotherly Love, flaming Charity, and Zeale. Milton, Ref. in Eng., ii. 2. Present to help; helpful; aiding or fitted to aid and support; auxiliary: with to. Mutually and greatly a istant to each other. Beattie, Moral Science, i. 1. A istant engine, a steam or hydraulic motor used to control the reversing-gear of a marine engine, or to turn the shaft when the main engine is at rest. See engine. A istant form. See form. II. n. 11. One who stands by; a bystander; one who takes part in anything: usually in the plural. The growing circumference was observed with astonishment by the a istants. Gibbon , Decline and Fall, II. 11. 2. One who stands by to help; one who helps; a helper; an auxiliary; specifically, one who is a ociated with another as an auxiliary in carrying on some systematic work or undertaking, or in discharging the duties of an office: as, the harbor-master and his a istants ; a bookkeeper's a istant .-3. An official auxiliary to the father-general of the Jesuits. Erroneously called adjutant - general .-4. [Sp. asistente .] The chief officer of justice at Seville. The a istant sits to-morrow. Fletcher ( and another ), Spanish Curate, iii. 1. 5. In the Ma achusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, one of the elected councilors who constituted the governor's council and the upper house of the legislature. The number of a istants in the former was eighteen; in the latter, originally five, later seven.-6. In dyeing, a substance, such as tartaric acid, acetate of lime, or sulphate of soda, added to the dye-bath, to effect a brightening of the color. - Court of As sistants. See court. IMG:content-1269.png:[blocks in formation]