Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/232

 224: FISHER rural life in which cattle are prominently in- troduced. He subsequently returned to por- trait painting, which he practised for many years in Boston. FISHER, George Park, an American scholar, born in Wrentham, Mass., Aug. 10, 1827. He graduated at Brown university in 1847, and studied theology in the divinity school of Yale college and in that at Andover, Mass. In 1853 he visited Germany, where he continued his theological studies. He was appointed profes- sor of divinity in Yale college on his return from Europe, and, in connection with his pro- fessorship, he was ordained as pastor of the college church, Oct. 24, 1854. After a period of seven years he resigned his office, and in 1861 was elected professor of ecclesiastical his- tory in Yale divinity school. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Brown uni- versity in 1866. He has been a frequent con- tributor to the "New Englander," of which quarterly he has since 1866 been one of the editors. In 1865 he published a volume enti- tled "Essays on the Supernatural Origin of Christianity, with special reference to the The- ories of Renan, Strauss, and the Tubingen School " (enlarged ed., 1871). He delivered in 1871 a course of lectures at the Lowell insti- tute, Boston, on the reformation, and from these resulted a volume on the " History of the Reformation" (1873). FISHER, John, an English prelate, a zealous opponent of the reformation, born in Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1459, beheaded June 22, 1535. Having become the confessor of Margaret, countess of Richmond, he induced that lady to found St. John's and Christ's colleges at Cam- bridge. In 1501 he became chancellor of that university, and in 1504 bishop of Rochester. He has been supposed to have written the treatise Assertio septem Sacramentorum, for which Henry VIII. obtained the title of " De- fender of the Faith." Though long favored by the king, Fisher fell under his displeasure by his opposition to the divorce of Catharine of Aragon. On the question of the king's spiritual supremacy being broached in 1531, the bishop firmly refused to acknowledge it. He further fell into disfavor, and was arraigned for misprision of treason, for concealing cer- tain prophecies of Elizabeth Barton, called the holy maid of Kent, respecting the king's death. For this offence he was condemned to imprisonment during the king's pleasure, but was released on paying a fine of 300. Re- fusing to take the oath of allegiance in 1534, he was committed to the tower, attainted, and his bishopric declared vacant. Pope Paul III. took the opportunity to create him a cardinal ; but Henry having sent Cromwell to interrogate him with regard to the appointment, and be- ing informed that he would accept the cardi- nal's hat, exclaimed : " Mother of God ! he shall wear it on his shoulders then, for I will leave him never a head to set it on ! " The a^ed bishop was at once condemned on the FISHERIES charge of denying the king's supremacy, and was beheaded. He wrote a commentary on the seven penitential psalms, sermons, and controversial and devotional treatises. His life has been written by the Rev. J. Lewis (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1854-'5). FISHERIES, the business of catching fish, and the localities frequented by the kinds of fish that are objects of capture, such as the cod, herring, mackerel, and salmon. The whale fishery and the seal fishery are terms employed to designate the pursuit of the whale and the seal, though those animals are not fishes. (See WHALE FISHERY, and SEAL FISHERY.) Among the ancients, fisheries were carried on extensive- ly from a very early period, and formed a valu- able branch of industry. Byzantium (the mod- ern Constantinople), and Sinope on the Black sea, were famous for their lucrative fisheries. From Suetonius we learn that the murcena or lamprey, the favorite fish of the Romans, was caught in the greatest abundance in the sea around Sicily, and in the Carpathian sea be- tween Crete and Rhodes. In the 3d century of our era the fishermen of the Mediterranean pursued their prey not only on the coasts, but in the open sea, making long voyages, and even passing the pillars of Hercules. The fisheries of Egypt were especially celebrated for their productiveness, but they were all inland, in lakes, canals, and the river Nile. The reve- nues arising from the fisheries of Lake Mceris were given to the queen of Egypt for pin money, and are said to have amounted to near- ly $500,000 annually. The earliest mention of the herring fishery that has reached us dates from A. D. 709. The cod fishery began to be regulated by legislation in western Europe to- ward the end of the 9th century. From an ordinance of Charles VI. in 1415 it appears that the mackerel fishery of France at that period was very extensive, and that the fish were sold at an extremely low rate in the markets of Paris. The development of the fisheries during the middle ages was greatly promoted by the demand for fish created by the fasts of the church. But the discovery, at the end of the 15th century, of Newfoundland and its fisher- ies, which to this day surpass all others in magnitude and value, gave the greatest impulse to the business. The cod, mackerel, and her- ring are the chief objects of pursuit, and their range is not limited to the neighborhood of Newfoundland, but they are caught in vast numbers on the coast of New England, in all the bays and inlets of the British maritime possessions, and on the coast of Labrador. The French were the first Europeans who engaged in the American cod fishery. They visited New- foundland as early as 1504. In 1508 Thomas Aubert made a fishing voyage from Dieppe to the gulf of St. Lawrence, and after that the Newfoundland fisheries increased so rapidly that in 1517 they gave employment to 50 ves- sels from different nations, chiefly, however, from France. In 1577 there were 150 French