Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/114

 FISHERMAN'S

84

PITZALAN

the English mission in America. After enduring many hardships he was released, when he boldly returned to Maryland (Feb., 1648), where, after an absence of three years, he found his flock in a more flourishing state than those who had oppressed and plundered them. That he made an effort to enter the missionary field of Virginia, appears from a letter written 1 March, 164S, to the Jesuit General Caraffa in Rome, in which he says: "A road has lately been opened through the forest toVirignia; this will make it but a two days' journey, and both places can now be united in one mission. After Easter I shall wait upon the Governor of Virginia upon business of great importance." Un- fortunately there is no further record bearing on the projected visit. Neill, in his "Terra Marije" (p. 70), and Smith, in his " Religion under the Barons of Bal- timore" (p. VII), strangely confound this Father Thomas Copley of IMaryland with an apostate John Copley, who was never a Jesuit. Father Fisher is mentioned with honourable distinction in the mission- ary annals of Maryland, and, according to Hughes, was " the most distinguished man among the fourteen Jesuits who had worked in Maryland ".

Hughes, History of the Society of Jesus in North America (London and New York, 1907), Text, I, passim; Documents, I, part I; Shea, The Catholic Church in Colonial Days (New York, 1886), 38, 46-47. 53; Foley, Records of English Province S. J. (London, 1882), VII, 255; Dorset, Life of Father Thomas Copley, published in Woodstock Letters, XIV, 223; Woodstock Letters, XI, lS-24; XIII, 104-105; XV, 44, 47; Ol.n-ER, Collec- tions. . . Scotch, English and Irish Members of S. J. (Lon- don, 1845). 91, 92; Rdssell, Maryland, the Land of the Sanc- tuary (Baltimore, 1907). 88. 125,127. 156-1.59, 171-173; Diet, of Aalional Biography (New York, 1908), IV, 1114.

Edw.vkd p. Spillane. Fisherman's Ring. See Ri.vg.

Fitter, Daniel, b. in Worcestershire, England, 1G2S; d. at St. Thomas' Priory, near Stafford, G Feb., 1700. lie entered Lisbon C'oUege at the age of nine- teen, went through his studies with some distinction, and was raised to the priesthood in 1G51. A year or two later, he returned to England, and was appointed chaplain to William Fowler, Esq., of St. Thomas' Priory, near Stafford, where he remained until his death. During the reign of James II, he opened a school at Stafford, which was suppressed at the revolu- tion in IGSS. At the period of excitement ensuing upon the Titus Oates plot (1678), he, with a few others, upheld the lawfulness of taking the oath then tendered to every well-known Catholic. He himself subscribed it, rind defended his action on the ground of a common and legal use of the term "spiritual". In consequence of this, when the chapter chose him as Vicar-General of the Counties of Stafford, Derby, Cheshire and Salop, they required that he should "sign a Declaration made by our Brethren in Paris against the Oath of Supremacy".

In a letter to the clergy of England and Scotland (1G84), Carduial Philip Howard recommended warmly the "Institutum clericorum in communi viventium", founded in 1641 by the German priest Bartolomiius Holzhauser, and approved by Innocent XI in 1680 and 1684. The institute met with eager acceptance in England, and Fitter was appointed its first provincial president and procurator for the Midland district. The association was, however, dissolved shortly after his death by Bishop Giffard in 1702, on account of a misunderstanding between its members and the rest of the secular clergy. Fitter had bequeathed property to "The Common Purse" of the institute, with a life- interest in favour of his elder brother Francis; but when the institute ceased to exist, Francis, by a deed of as.signment, established a new trust (170.3), called "The Common Fund" for the benefit of the clergj' of the district. This fund became subsequently known as "The Johnson Fund" and still exists. Daniel Fit- ter also left a fund for the maintenance of a priest, whose duty it should be to reside in the county of

Stafford and take spiritual charge of the poor Catho- lics of the locality.

Kirk. Biog. of Eng. Cath. (London, 1909); Idem, Address to the Secular Clergy of the Midland District (1840); GiLLOW, BiU. Diet. Eng. Cath., s. v.; Idem, St. Thomas' Priory, Stafford (Lon- don, s. d.); Reports of the Nottingham Johnson Fund (1892, 1895); Archives of the Birmingham Johnson Fund.

Henry Parkinson.

Fitton, James, missionary, b. at Boston, Massa- chusetts, U. S. A., 10 April, 1805; d. there, 15 Sept., 1881. His father, Abraham Fitton, went to Boston from Preston, England; his mother was of Welsh origin and a convert to the Faith. His primary edu- cation was received in the schools of his native city, and his classical course was made at Claremont, New Hampshire, at an academy conducted by Virgil Hor- ace Barber, an early New England convert to the Faith. His theology he learned from the lips of Bishop Fenwick, by whom he was ordained priest, 23 Dec, 1827. Thenceforth for nearly a quarter of a century the whole of New England became the theatre of his zealous missionary labours. Carrying a valise containing vestments, chalice, and all necessaries for offering the Holy Sacrifice, his breviary under his arm, he travelled, often on foot, from Eastport and the New Brunswick line on the northeast, to Burlington and Lake Champlain on the northwest; from Boston in the east, to Great Barrington and the Berkshire Hills in the west; from Providence and Newport in the southeast, to Bridgeport and the New York State line in the southwest. In the course of his ministry he was often exposed to insult and hardship, but he considered these as trifles when souls were to be saved. During his missionary career he was pastor of the first Catholic church at Hartford, Connecticut, and at Worcester, Massachusetts. He erected the church of Our Lady of the Isle at Newport, Rhode Island. In 1S40, while pastor of the church at Worcester, he pur- chased the present site of Holy Cross College, and erectetl a building for the advanced education of Catholic yoimg men. In 1842 he deeded the grounds and building to Bishop Fenwick, who placed it under the care of the Jesuits. In 1855 he was appointed by Bishop Fenwick pastor of the church of the Most Holy Redeemer in East Boston. Here he laboured for the remaining twenty-si.x years of his life, and built four more chiu-ches. In 1877 he celebrated the golden jubilee of his priesthood.

Leahy, History of the Catholic Church in the New England States (Boston. 1899); Fitton, Sketches of the Establishment of the Church in New England (Boston, 1872); Shea, Hist. Cath. Ch. in V. S. (New York, 1904); McCarthy, Sketch of Life and Missionary Labors of Rev. James Fitton (N. E. Cath. Hist. Soc, Boston, 1908).

Arthur T. Connolly.

Fitzalan, Henry, twelfth Earl of Arundel, b. about 1511; d. in London, 24 Feb., 1580 (O. S. 1579). Son of William, eleventh earl, and Lady Anne Percy, he was godson to Henry VIII, in whose palace he was edu- cated. From 1540 he was governor of Calais till 1543, when he succeeded to the earldom. In 1544 he be- sieged and took Boulogne, being made lord-chamber- lain as a reward. In the reign of Edward VI he op- posed Protector Somerset and supported Warwick, who eventually unjustly accused him of peculation and removed him from the council. On the death of Edward he abandoned the cause of Lady Jane Grey and proclaimed Mary as queen. Throughout her reign he was in favour as lord-steward and was em- ployed in much diplomatic business. Even under Elizalicth he at first retained his offices and power though distrusted by her ministers. Yet he was too powerful to attack, and, being a widower, was con- sidered as a possible consort for the queen. But in 1564 he fell into disgrace, and Elizabeth did not again employ him till 1568. Being the leader of the Catholic party, he desireil a marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots, and his son-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk, but