219

No. VIII.

THE RIGHT REVEREND JOHN FISHER, D. D.

LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURY; CHANCELLOR OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER; PROVINCIAL PRECENTOR OF CANTERBURY; AND F.S.A.

WE scarcely know of any literary desideratum more called for at the present crisis, than a biographical history of the church of England, written in chronological order, and exhibiting a candid and perspicuous view of the progress of religious knowledge from the time of the Reformation. Such a work, properly executed by a mind free from prejudice, and accustomed to the investigation of moral causes in the affairs of the world, would, we are persuaded, be extremely serviceable. It would be a pleasing thing to contemplate the gradual operation of the national creed and liturgical services, upon the opinions and manners of the people, from age to age; but it would be particularly worthy of notice, to trace the connexion between religion and learning, as furthered by the instrumentality of a body of ecclesiastics, specially designated to the purposes of education.

That laymen of excellent natural gifts and high attainments, have been, and are, both well and successfully employed in the important office of tuition, cannot be denied; but the fact is indubitable, that the best scholars, and most accomplished personages, who, from time to time, have adorned this country, were brought up under clergymen, either in some of the great foundations of learning, or in private seminaries. To this circumstance, in a main degree, we scruple not to attribute that moral strength of constitution, which, amidst successive revolutions, has rendered Britain an object

of admiration, and an example of imitation, even to those states that combined for her humiliation, and which still, perhaps, repine at her prosperity.

We are not disposed, however, to confine the advantages of a clerical education to the pale of the establishment; because it is certain that the dissenters of different denominations have most honourably contributed, in this respect, to the support and improvement of the national character. Yet the principle is the same, and the closer the subject is investigated, the clearer will be the proof, that of the great mass of highly cultivated society, which distinguishes the British empire, a preponderating part has been indebted for its intellectual superiority to the labours of ecclesiastics.

In support of this position, we might enumerate a host of learned and reverend individuals, who have established a lasting reputation by their merits as the instructors of youth; though, while so employed, they were little known beyond the sphere of their useful occupation. Some, indeed, like Vincent and Parr, may have made themselves conspicuous by occasionally trimming the midnight lamp, and favouring the public with the fruits of their studious application; but the far greater number of preceptors have been too intensely engaged in the office of teaching, or too diffident of their talents, to appear before the world in the light of authors. This was the case with that illustrious ornament of Westminster, Archbishop Markham, and his no less learned friend, Dr. Cyril Jackson. We might also adduce other instances, as Sumner, of Harrow, Raine, of the Charter House; and lastly, Dr. John Fisher, the venerable bishop of Salisbury, of whom, though his modesty kept him from appearing in the walk of literature, it may be said, in the language of Xenophon, Toyaρour πoru μεν αύτος διέφερον εν πας το καλον εργον, πολυ δε ὁ περι εκεινος, δια ἡ αει μελετη. "He therefore excelled much in all noble actions, and much also did those about him, by virtue of his example."

This eminent prelate was the eldest of the ten sons (nine of whom grew to man's estate) of the Rev. John Fisher. He was

born in 1748, at Hampton, in Middlesex. His father having married Miss E. Laurens, of Hampton, of which village he was the curate, soon after became acquainted with Dr. Thomas, bishop of Winchester, the preceptor of His Majesty George III., was appointed the bishop's chaplain, and went with his lordship to Peterborough, of which place he became the vicar, as well as prebendary of Preston, in the cathedral of Salisbury. About the year 1768, Mr. Fisher removed with his family to the Isle of Wight, where his old patron gave him the living of Calbourn, in which he continued until his death.

Dr. Fisher received the earliest part of his education at the Free school in Peterborough, and was thence removed to St. Paul's school, under that able but eccentric scholar Dr. Thicknesse. Having acquired in this celebrated seminary a good stock of classical knowledge, he was sent by his father, in 1766, as a commoner to Peterhouse, Cambridge, over which society the learned recluse, Dr. Edmund Law, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, then presided. Here Mr. Fisher contracted an intimacy with the son of the master, Mr. Edward Law, afterwards Lord Ellenborough, and Chief Justice of England. He lived also on the same friendly footing with the other branches of that family, particularly Dr. John Law, then of Christ's-college, and afterwards bishop of Elphin, under whom, as one of the moderators with Mr. (now Sir) Robert Graham, baron of the exchequer, Dr. Fisher took his first degree in 1770, with extraordinary reputation among the leading wranglers of that year. Two years after this, he succeeded to an appropriated, or Northamptonshire fellowship, in St. John'scollege, and at the same time completed his degrees in arts. He now became a tutor of his college, in which capacity he acquired considerable distinction, and was greatly esteemed, not only for his various talents, but for the suavity of his temper, and the peculiarly felicitous manner with which he conveyed instruction. He was engaged He was engaged as private tutor to Prince Zartorinski Poniatowski, and afterwards to Mr. St. George, son of the late archbishop of Dublin, who dying,

Dr. Fisher was for some time with Sir J. Cradock, the late governor of the Cape of Good Hope. However, deriving no very great advantage from these connections, he accepted the curacy of Hampton.

An extraordinary and unforeseen event occurred about that period. The late eminent Dr. Powell, Master of St. John's-college, Cambridge, having been presented by that Society with the living of Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, contracted an intimacy with Dr. Fisher's father; and it was in consequence of Dr. Powell's recommendation, that Dr. Fisher became a candidate for the fellowship which he obtained in St. John's-college. Dr. Powell dying soon after, a strong contest took place for the vacant headship, between Dr. Chevalier and Dr. Beadon. Parties ran very high; and Dr. Fisher naturally engaged with his friends, the junior part of the college, in support of Dr. Chevalier, the known friend of his patron, Dr. Powell. Applications were made to Dr. Fisher's father, by the minister, Lord North, by Lord Sandwich, and by other men of high rank and station, his old and particular friends; and above all, by the late Bishop of Winchester, his immediate patron; calling upon him in the strongest terms to prevail on his son to vote in favour of Dr. Beadon. The good old man, however, was too honourable to wish his son to be induced by any motives of interest to desert what he considered a just cause, and to act in opposition to his conscience; and, therefore, left him to decide for himself; and Dr. Fisher being influenced by similar feelings, determined, notwithstanding all the entreaties he received, and the promises which were held out to him, to adhere to his friend's friend. The election was in Dr. Chevalier's favour; an event principally owing to Dr. Fisher's exertions.

To his conduct on this occasion, which in the first instance threatened him with worldly evil, Dr. Fisher was himself accustomed to attribute all the good fortune of his future life. Such was the high character which he obtained by his in

flexible integrity, that when our late revered Monarch applied to Bishop Hurd, to recommend him a person properly qualified to become the private tutor of Prince Edward, previous to his removal to Gottingen, that great prelate, without hesitation, named Dr. Fisher, who accepted the office, and removed to Windsor. This was in 1780; in which year he proceeded B. D. and soon after he was sworn in one of His Majesty's chaplains in ordinary, and appointed a deputy clerk of the closet, with a certain assurance of further advancement. With the King he soon became a very great and deserved favourite, on account of his unaffected piety, and the perfect simplicity of his manners. The fidelity with which he discharged his important trust as the tutor of Prince Edward is best illustrated in the history of his Royal Highness when he became Duke of Kent. Certain it is, that the conduct of the preceptor was duly appreciated both by the illustrious pupil, and by his august parent; the one treating him, through life, with gratitude, and the King with almost unbounded confidence. So pleased, indeed, was His Majesty with the facile mode of communicating knowledge which distinguished the instructor of his son, and so gratified was he with the solid foundation of moral principle laid in the mind of the Prince, without pedantry, that when, many years after, called upon to provide for the education of the presumptive heiress to the crown, though then in her infancy, the King found not the smallest difficulty in determining his choice of a teacher.

In 1783, Dr. Fisher was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1785, his attendance upon Prince Edward ceasing on his Royal Highness's going to Germany, to finish his education there, he went to Italy for his health; but was recalled from Naples in 1786, being appointed by His Majesty a canon of Windsor, upon the death of Dr. John Bostock, who had enjoyed that situation for thirty years.

On the 5th of September, 1787, Dr. Fisher married Dorothea, only daughter of John Freston Scrivenor, Esq., of