Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre"

Chapter VIII: Part 8

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The French people were suffering much distress from the bad harvest of the previous year, and a great convoy of merchant ships laden with corn was expected from America. Admiral Vanstabel of the French navy had been sent to escort it with two ships of the line in December of 1793. He sailed with his charge from the Chesapeake on the 11th of April 1794. On the previous day six French ships of the line left Brest to meet Vanstabel in mid ocean. The British force designed to intercept the convoy was under Lord Howe, then in command of the channel fleet. He sailed from Spithead on the 2nd of May with 34 sail of the line and 15 smaller vessels, having under his charge nearly a hundred merchant ships which were to be seen clear of the Channel. On the 4th, when off the Lizard, the convoy was sent on its way protected by 8 line of battle ships and 6 or 7 frigates. Two of the line of battle ships were to accompany them throughout the voyage. The other six under Rear-admiral Montagu were to go as far as Cape Finisterre, and were then to cruise on the look-out for the French convoy between Cape Ortegal and Belle Isle. These detachments reduced the force under Lord Howe's immediate command to 26 of the line and 7 frigates. On the 5th of May he was off Ushant, and sent frigates to reconnoitre the harbour of Brest. They reported to him that the main French fleet, which was under the command of Villaret-Joyeuse, and was of 25 sail of the line, was lying at anchor in the roads. Howe then sailed to the latitude on which the convoy was likely to be met with, knowing that if the French admiral came out it would be to meet the ships with the food and cover them from attack. To seek the convoy was therefore the most sure way of forcing Villaret-Joyeuse to action. Till the 18th the British fleet continued cruising in the Bay of Biscay. On the 19th Lord Howe returned to Ushant and again reconnoitred Brest. It was then seen that Villaret-Joyeuse had gone to sea. He had sailed with his whole force on the 16th and had passed close to the British fleet on the 17th, unseen in a fog. On the 19th the French admiral was informed by the "Patriote" (74) that Nielly had fallen in with, and had captured, the British frigate "Castor" (32), under Captain Thomas Troubridge, together with a convoy from Newfoundland. On the same day Villaret-Joyeuse captured part of a Dutch convoy of 53 sail from Lisbon. On the 19th a frigate detached by Admiral Montagu joined Howe. It brought information that Montagu had recaptured part of the Newfoundland convoy, and had learnt that Nielly was to join Vanstabel at sea, and that their combined force would be 9 sail of the line. Montagu himself had steered to cruise on the route of the convoy between the 45th and 47th degrees of north latitude. Howe now steered to meet his subordinate who, he considered, would be in danger from the main French fleet. On the 21st he recaptured some of the Dutch ships taken by Villaret-Joyeuse. From them he learnt that on the 19th the French fleet had been in latitude 47 deg. 46' N. and in longitude 11 deg. 22' N. and was steering westward. Judging that Montagu was too far to the south to be in peril from Villaret-Joyeuse, and considering him strong enough to perform the duty of intercepting the convoy, Lord Howe decided to pursue the main French fleet. The wind was changeable and the weather hazy. It was not till the 28th of May at 6.30 A.M. that the British fleet caught sight of the enemy in 47 deg. 34' N. and 13 deg. 39' W.

The wind was from the south-east, and the French were to windward. Villaret-Joyeuse bore down to a distance of 10 m. from the British, and then hauled to the wind on the port tack. It was difficult for the British fleet to force an action from leeward if the French were unwilling to engage. Lord Howe detached a light squadron of four ships, the "Bellerophon" (74), "Russel" (74), "Marlborough" (74), and "Thunderer" (74) under Rear-admiral Thomas Pasley, to attack the rear of the French line. Villaret-Joyeuse stood on and endeavoured to work to windward. In the course of the afternoon Rear-admiral Pasley's ships began to come up with the last of the French line, the "Revolutionnaire" (110). A partial action took place which went on till after dark; other British vessels joined. The "Revolutionnaire" was so damaged that she was compelled to leave her fleet, and the British "Audacious" (74) was also crippled and compelled to return to port. The "Revolutionnaire" was accompanied by another liner. During the night the two fleets continued on the same course, and next day Howe renewed his attempts to force an action from leeward. He tacked his fleet in succession--his first ship tacking first and the rest in order--in the hope that he would be able to cut through the French rear and gain the weather-gage. Villaret-Joyeuse then turned all his ships together and again headed in the same direction as the British. This movement brought him nearer the British fleet, and another partial action took place between the van of each force. Seeing that the French admiral was not disposed to charge home, Howe at noon once more ordered his fleet to tack in succession. His signal was poorly obeyed by the van, and his object, which was to cut through the French line, was not at once achieved. But the admiral himself finally set an example by tacking his flagship, the "Queen Charlotte" (100), and passing through the French, two ships from the end of their line. He was followed by his fleet, and Villaret-Joyeuse, seeing the peril of the ships in his rear, wore all his ships together to help them. Both forces had been thrown into considerable confusion by these movements, but the British had gained the weather-gage. Villaret-Joyeuse was able to save the two ships cut off, but he had fallen to leeward and the power to force on a battle had passed to Lord Howe. During the 30th the fleets lost sight of one another for a time. The French, who had four ships crippled, had been joined by four others, and were again 26 in number, including the "Patriote."

The 31st of May passed without a hostile meeting and in thick weather, but by the evening the British were close to windward of the French. As Howe, who had not full confidence in all his captains, did not wish for a night battle, he waited till the following morning, keeping the French under observation by frigates. On the 1st of June they were in the same relative positions, and at about a quarter past eight Howe bore down on the French, throwing his whole line on them at once from end to end, with orders to pass through from windward to leeward, and so to place the British ships on the enemy's line of retreat. It was a very bold departure from the then established methods of fighting, and most honourable in a man of sixty-eight, who had been trained in the old school. Its essential merit was that it produced a close _melee_, in which the better average gunnery and seamanship of the British fleet would tell. Lord Howe's orders were not fully obeyed by all his captains, but a signal victory was won,--six of the French line of battle ships were taken, and one, the "Vengeur," sunk. The convoy escaped capture, having passed over the spot on which the action of the 20th May was fought, on the following day, and it anchored at Brest on the 3rd of June. Its safe arrival went far to console the French for their defeat. The failure to stop it was forgotten in England in the pleasure given by the victory.

See James's _Naval History_, vol. i. (1837); and Tronde, _Batailles
navales de la France_ (1867). (D. H.)

FIRTH, CHARLES HARDING (1857- ), British historian, was born at Sheffield on the 16th of March 1857, and was educated at Clifton College and at Balliol College, Oxford. At his university he took the Stanhope prize for an essay on the marquess Wellesley in 1877, became lecturer at Pembroke College in 1887, and fellow of All Souls College in 1901. He was Ford's lecturer in English history in 1900, and became regius professor of modern history at Oxford in succession to F. York Powell in 1904. Firth's historical work was almost entirely confined to English history during the time of the Great Civil War and the Commonwealth; and although he is somewhat overshadowed by S.R. Gardiner, a worker in the same field, his books are of great value to students of this period. The chief of them are: _Life of the Duke of Newcastle_ (1886); _Scotland and the Commonwealth_ (1895); _Scotland and the Protectorate_ (1899); _Narrative of General Venables_ (1900); _Oliver Cromwell_ (1900); _Cromwell's Army_ (1902); and the standard edition of _Ludlow's Memoirs_ (1894). He also edited the _Clarke Papers_ (1891-1901), and Mrs Hutchinson's _Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson_ (1885), and wrote an introduction to the _Stuart Tracts_ (1903), besides contributions to the _Dictionary of National Biography_. In 1909 he published _The Last Years of the Protectorate_.

FIRTH, MARK (1819-1880), English steel manufacturer and philanthropist, was born at Sheffield on the 25th of April 1819, the son of a steel smelter. At the age of fourteen Mark, with his brother, left school to join their father in the foundry where he was employed, and ten years later the three together started a six-hole furnace of their own. The venture proved successful, and besides an extensive home business, they soon established a large American connexion. Their huge Norfolk works were erected at Sheffield in 1849, and still greater were afterwards acquired at Whittington in Derbyshire and others at Clay Wheels near Wadsley. The manufacture of steel blocks for ordnance was the principal feature of their business, and they produced also shot and heavy forgings. They also installed a plant for the production of steel cores for heavy guns, and for some time they supplied nearly all the metal used for gun making by the British government and a large proportion of that used by the French. On the death of his father in 1848 Mark Firth became the head of the firm. In 1869 he built and endowed "Mark Firth's Almshouses" at Ranmoor near Sheffield, and in 1875, when mayor, he presented to his native place a freehold park of thirty-six acres. He founded and endowed Firth College, for lectures and classes in connexion with the extension of university education, which was opened in 1879. He died on the 28th of November 1880, and was accorded a public funeral.

FIRUZABAD, a town of Persia, in the province of Fars, 72 m. S. of Shiraz, in 28 deg. 51' N. Pop. about 3000. It is situated in a fertile plain, 15 m. long and 7 m. broad, well watered by the river Khoja which flows through it from north to south. The town is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch. Three or four miles north-west of the town are the ruins of the ancient city and of a large building popularly known as the fire-temple of Ardashir, and beyond them on the face of the rock in the gorge through which the river enters the plain are two Sassanian bas-reliefs.

The river leaves the plain by a narrow gorge at the southern end, and according to Persian history it was there that Alexander the Great, when unable to capture the ancient city, built a dike across the gorge, thus damming up the water of the river and turning the plain into a lake and submerging the city and villages. The lake remained until the beginning of the 3rd century, when Ardashir, the first Sassanian monarch, drained it by destroying the dike. He built a new city, called it Gur, and made it the capital of one of the five great provinces or divisions of Fars. Firuz (or Peroz, q.v.), one of Ardashir's successors, called the district after his name Firuzabad ("the abode of Firuz"), but the name of the city remained Gur until Azud ed Dowleh (Adod addaula) (949-982) changed it to its present name. He did this because he frequently resided at Gur, and the name meaning also "a grave" gave rise to unpleasant allusions, for instance, "People who go to Gur (grave) never return alive; our king goes to Gur (the town) several times a year and is not dead yet."

The district has twenty villages and produces much wheat and rice. It is said that the rice of Firuzabad bears sixty-fold. (A. H.-S.)

FIRUZKUH, a small province of Persia, with a population of about 5000, paying a yearly revenue of about L500. Its chief place is a village of the same name picturesquely situated in a valley of the Elburz, about 90 m. east of Teheran, at an elevation of 6700 ft. and in 35 deg. 46' N. and 52 deg. 48' E. It has post and telegraph offices and a population of 2500. A precipitous cliff on the eastern side of the valley is surmounted by the ruins of an ancient fort popularly ascribed to Alexander the Great.

FISCHART, JOHANN (c. 1545-1591), German satirist and publicist, was born, probably at Strassburg (but according to some accounts at Mainz), in or about the year 1545, and was educated at Worms in the house of Kaspar Scheid, whom in the preface to his _Eulenspiegel_ he mentions as his "cousin and preceptor." He appears to have travelled in Italy, the Netherlands, France and England, and on his return to have taken the degree of _doctor juris_ at Basel. From 1575 to 1581, within which period most of his works were written, he lived with, and was probably associated in the business of, his sister's husband, Bernhard Jobin, a printer at Strassburg, who published many of his books. In 1581 Fischart was attached, as advocate to the Reichskammergericht (imperial court of appeal) at Spires, and in 1583, when he married, was appointed _Amtmann_ (magistrate) at Forbach near Saarbrucken. Here he died in the winter of 1590-1591. Fischart wrote under various feigned names, such as Mentzer, Menzer, Reznem, Huldrich Elloposkleros, Jesuwalt Pickhart, Winhold Alkofribas Wustblutus, Ulrich Mansehr von Treubach, and Im Fischen Gilt's Mischen; and it is partly owing to this fact that there is doubt whether some of the works attributed to him are really his. More than 50 satirical works, however, both in prose and verse, remain authentic, among which are--_Nachtrab oder Nebelkrah_ (1570), a satire against one Jakob Rabe, who had become a convert to the Roman Catholic Church; _Von St Dominici des Predigermonchs und St Francisci Barfussers artlichem Leben_ (1571), a poem with the expressive motto "Sie haben Nasen und riechen's nit" (Ye have noses and smell it not), written to defend the Protestants against certain wicked accusations, one of which was that Luther held communion with the devil; _Eulenspiegel Reimensweis_ (written 1571, published 1572); _Aller Praktik Grossmutter_ (1572), after Rabelais's _Prognostication Pantagrueline_; _Floh Haz, Weiber Traz_ (1573), in which he describes a battle between fleas and women; _Affentheuerliche und ungeheuerliche Geschichtschrift vom Leben, Rhaten und Thaten der ... Helden und Herren Grandgusier Gargantoa und Pantagruel_, also after Rabelais (1575, and again under the modified title, _Naupengeheurliche Geschichtklitterung_, 1577); _Neue kunstliche Figuren biblischer Historien_ (1576); _Anmahnung zur christlichen Kinderzucht_ (1576); _Das gluckhafft Schiff von Zurich_ (1576, republished 1828, with an introduction by the poet Ludwig Uhland), a poem commemorating the adventure of a company of Zurich arquebusiers, who sailed from their native town to Strassburg in one day, and brought, as a proof of this feat, a kettleful of _Hirsebrei_ (millet), which had been cooked in Zurich, still warm into Strassburg, and intended to illustrate the proverb "perseverance overcomes all difficulties"; _Podagrammisch Trostbuchlein_ (1577); _Philosophisch Ehzuchtbuchlein_ (1578); the celebrated _Bienenkorb des heiligen romischen Immenschwarms_, &c., a modification of the Dutch _De roomsche Byen-Korf_, by Philipp Marnix of St Aldegonde, published in 1579 and reprinted in 1847; _Der heilig Brotkorb_ (1580), after Calvin's _Traite des reliques_; _Das vierhornige Jesuiterhutlein_, a rhymed satire against the Jesuits (1580); and a number of smaller poems. To Fischart also have been attributed some "Psalmen und geistliche Lieder" which appeared in a Strassburg hymn-book of 1576.

Fischart had studied not only the ancient literatures, but also those of Italy, France, the Netherlands and England. He was a lawyer, a theologian, a satirist and the most powerful Protestant publicist of the counter-reformation period; in politics he was a republican. Above all, he is a master of language, and was indefatigable with his pen. His satire was levelled mercilessly at all perversities in the public and private life of his time--at astrological superstition, scholastic pedantry, ancestral pride, but especially at the papal dignity and the lives of the priesthood and the Jesuits. He indulged in the wildest witticisms, the most abandoned caricature; but all this he did with a serious purpose. As a poet, he is characterized by the eloquence and picturesqueness of his style and the symbolical language he employed. Thirty years after Fischart's death his writings, once so popular, were almost entirely forgotten. Recalled to the public attention by Johann Jakob Bodmer and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, it is only recently that his works have come to be a subject of investigation, and his position in German literature to be fully understood.

Freiherr von Meusebach, whose valuable collection of Fischart's works
has passed into the possession of the royal library in Berlin, deals
in his _Fischartstudien_ (Halle, 1879) with the great satirist.
Fischart's poetical works were published by Hermann Kurz in three
volumes (Leipzig, 1866-1868); and selections by K. Goedeke (Leipzig,
1800) and by A. Hauffen in Kurschner's _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_
(Stuttgart, 1893); _Die Geschichtklitterung_ and some minor writings
appeared in Scheible's _Kloster_, vols. 7 and 10 (Stuttgart,
1847-1848). _Das gluckhafft Schiff_ has been frequently reprinted,
critical edition by J. Baechtold (1880). See for further biographical
details, Erich Schmidt in the _Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_, vol.
7; A.F.C. Vilmar in Ersch and Gruber's _Encyclopaedie_; W.
Wackernagel, _Johann Fischart von Strassburg und Basels Anteil an ihm_
(2nd ed., Basel, 1875); P. Besson, _Etude sur Jean Fischart_ (Paris,
1889); and A. Hauffen, "Fischart-Studien" (in _Euphorion_, 1896-1909).

FISCHER, EMIL (1852- ), German chemist, was born at Euskirchen, in Rhenish Prussia, on the 9th of October 1852, his father being a merchant and manufacturer. After studying chemistry at Bonn, he migrated to Strassburg, where he graduated as Ph.D. in 1874. He then acted as assistant to Adolf von Baeyer at Munich for eight years, after which he was appointed to the chair of chemistry successively at Erlangen (1882) and Wurzburg (1885). In 1892 he succeeded A.W. von Hofmann as professor of chemistry at Berlin. Emil Fischer devoted himself entirely to organic chemistry, and his investigations are characterized by an originality of idea and readiness of resource which make him the master of this branch of experimental chemistry. In his hands no substance seemed too complex to admit of analysis or of synthesis; and the more intricate and involved the subjects of his investigations the more strongly shown is the conspicuous skill in pulling, as it were, atom from atom, until the molecule stood revealed, and, this accomplished, the same skill combined atom with atom until the molecule was regenerated. His _forte_ was to enter fields where others had done little except break the ground; and his researches in many cases completely elucidated the problem in hand, and where the solution was not entire, his methods and results almost always contained the key to the situation.

In 1875, the year following his engagement with von Baeyer, he
published his discovery of the organic derivatives of a new compound
of hydrogen and nitrogen, which he named hydrazine (q.v.). He
investigated both the aromatic and aliphatic derivatives, establishing
their relation to the diazo compounds, and he perceived the readiness
with which they entered into combination with other substances, giving
origin to a wealth of hitherto unknown compounds. Of such condensation
products undoubtedly the most important are the hydrazones, which
result from the interaction with aldehydes and ketones. His
observations, published in 1886, that such hydrazones, by treatment
with hydrochloric acid or zinc chloride, yielded derivatives of indol,
the pyrrol of the benzene series and the parent substance of indigo,
were a valuable confirmation of the views advanced by his master, von
Baeyer, on the subject of indigo and the many substances related to
it. Of greater moment was his discovery that phenyl hydrazine reacted
with the sugars to form substances which he named osazones, and
which, being highly crystalline and readily formed, served to identify
such carbohydrates more definitely than had been previously possible.
He next turned to the rosaniline dyestuffs (the magenta of Sir W.H.
Perkin), and in collaboration with his cousin Otto Fischer (b. 1852),
then at Munich and afterwards professor at Erlangen, who has since
identified himself mainly with the compounds of this and related
groups, he published papers in 1878 and 1879 which indubitably
established that these dyestuffs were derivatives of triphenyl
methane. Fischer's next research was concerned with compounds related
to uric acid. Here the ground had been broken more especially by von
Baeyer, but practically all our knowledge of the so-called purin group
(the word _purin_ appears to have been suggested by the phrase _purum
uricum_) is due to Fischer. In 1881-1882 he published papers which
established the formulae of uric acid, xanthine, caffeine, theobromine
and some other compounds of this group. But his greatest work in this
field was instituted in 1894, when he commenced his great series of
papers, wherein the compounds above mentioned were all referred to a
nitrogenous base, purin (q.v.). The base itself was obtained, but only
after much difficulty; and an immense series of derivatives were
prepared, some of which were patented in view of possible
therapeutical applications.[1] These researches were published in a
collected form in 1907 with the title _Untersuchungen in der
Puringruppe_ (1882-1906). The first stage of his purin work
successfully accomplished, he next attacked the sugar group. Here the
pioneer work was again of little moment, and Fischer may be regarded
as the prime investigator in this field. His researches may be taken
as commencing in 1883; and the results are unparalleled in importance
in the history of organic chemistry. The chemical complexity of these
carbohydrates, and the difficulty with which they could be got into a
manageable form--they generally appeared as syrups--occasioned much
experimental difficulty; but these troubles were little in comparison
with the complications due to stereochemical relations. However,
Fischer synthesized fructose, glucose and a great number of other
sugars, and having showed how to deduce, for instance, the formulae of
the 16 stereoisomeric glucoses, he prepared several stereoisomerides,
thereby completing a most brilliant experimental research, and
simultaneously confirming the van't Hoff theory of the asymmetric
carbon atom (see STEREO-ISOMERISM). The study of the sugars brought in
its train the necessity for examining the nature, properties and
reactions of substances which bring about the decomposition known as
fermentation (q.v.). Fischer attacked the problem presented by
ferments and enzymes, and although we as yet know little of this
complex subject, to Fischer is due at least one very important
discovery, viz. that there exists some relation between the chemical
constitution of a sugar and the ferment and enzyme which breaks it
down. The magnitude of his researches in this field may be gauged by
his collected papers, _Untersuchungen uber Kohlenhydrate und Fermente_
(1884-1908), pp. viii. + 912 (Berlin, 1909).

From the sugars and ferments it is but a short step to the subject of
the proteins, substances which are more directly connected with life
processes than any others. The chemistry of the proteins, a subject
which bids fair to be Fischer's great lifework, presents difficulties
which are probably without equal in the whole field of chemistry,
partly on account of the extraordinary chemical complexity of the
substances involved, and partly upon the peculiar manner in which
chemical reactions are brought about in the living organism. But by
the introduction of new methods, Fischer succeeded in breaking down
the complex albuminoid substances into amino acids and other
nitrogenous compounds, the constitutions of most of which have been
solved; and by bringing about the recombination of these units,
appropriately chosen, he prepared synthetic peptides which approximate
to the natural products. His methods led to the preparation of an
octadeca-peptide of the molecular weight 1213, exceeding that of any
other synthetic compound; but even this compound falls far short of
the simplest natural peptide, which has a molecular weight of from
2000 to 3000. He considers, however, that the synthesis of more
complex products is only a matter of trouble and cost. His researches
made from 1899 to 1906 have been published with the title
_Untersuchungen uber Aminosauren, Polypeptides und Proteine_ (Berlin,
1907). The extraordinary merit of his many researches has been
recognized by all the important scientific societies in the world, and
he was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1902. Under his
control the laboratory at Berlin became one of the most important in
existence, and has attracted to it a constant stream of brilliant
pupils, many of whom are to be associated with much of the
experimental work indissolubly connected with Fischer.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] For a brief review of the pharmacology of purin derivatives see
F. Francis and J.M. Fortescue-Brinkdale, _The Chemical Basis of
Pharmacology_ (1908).

FISCHER, ERNST KUNO BERTHOLD (1824-1907), German philosopher, was born at Sandewalde in Silesia, on the 23rd of July 1824. After studying philosophy at Leipzig and Halle, he became a privat-docent at Heidelberg in 1850. The Baden government in 1853 laid an embargo on his teaching owing to his Liberal ideas, but the effect of this was to rouse considerable sympathy for his views, and in 1856 he obtained a professorship at Jena, where he soon acquired great influence by the dignity of his personal character. In 1872, on Zeller's removal to Berlin, Fischer succeeded him as professor of philosophy and the history of modern German literature at Heidelberg, where he died on the 4th of July 1907. His part in philosophy was that of historian and commentator, for which he was especially qualified by his remarkable clearness of exposition; his point of view is in the main Hegelian. His _Geschichte der neuern Philosophie_ (1852-1893, new ed. 1897) is perhaps the most accredited modern book of its kind, and he made valuable contributions to the study of Kant, Bacon, Shakespeare, Goethe, Spinoza, Lessing, Schiller and Schopenhauer.

Some of his numerous works have been translated into English: _Francis
Bacon of Verulam_, by J. Oxenford (1857); _The Life and Character of
Benedict Spinoza_, by Frida Schmidt (1882); _A Commentary on Kant's
Kritik of Pure Reason_, by J.P. Mahaffy (1866); _Descartes and his
School_, by J.P. Gordy (1887); _A Critique of Kant_, by W.S. Hough
(1888); see also H. Falkenheim, _Kuno Fischer und die
litterar-historische Methode_ (1892); and bibliography in J.M.
Baldwin's _Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology_ (1905).

FISH, HAMILTON (1808-1893), American statesman, was born in New York City on the 3rd of August 1808. His father, Nicholas Fish (1758-1833), served in the American army during the War of American Independence, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The son graduated at Columbia College in 1827, and in 1830 was admitted to the bar, but practised only a short time. In 1843-1845 he was a Whig representative in Congress. He was the Whig candidate for lieutenant-governor of New York in 1846, and was defeated by Addison Gardner (Democrat); but when in 1847 Gardner was appointed a judge of the state court of appeals, Fish was elected (November 1847) to complete the term (to January 1849). He was governor of New York state from 1849 to 1851, and was United States senator in 1851-1857, acting with the Republicans during the last part of his term. In 1861-1862 he was associated with John A. Dix, William M. Evarts, William E. Dodge, A.T. Stewart, John Jacob Astor, and other New York men, on the Union Defence Committee, which (from April 22, 1861, to April 30, 1862) co-operated with the municipal government in the raising and equipping of troops, and disbursed more than a million dollars for the relief of New York volunteers and their families. Fish was secretary of state during President Grant's two administrations (1869-1877). He conducted the negotiations with Great Britain which resulted in the treaty of the 8th of May 1871, under which (Article 1) the "Alabama claims" were referred to arbitration, and the same disposition (Article 34) was made of the "San Juan Boundary Dispute," concerning the Oregon boundary line. In 1871 Fish presided at the Peace Conference at Washington between Spain and the allied republics of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia, which resulted in the formulation (April 12) of a general truce between those countries, to last indefinitely and not to be broken by any one of them without three years' notice given through the United States; and it was chiefly due to his restraint and moderation that a satisfactory settlement of the "Virginius Affair" was reached by the United States and Spain (1873). Fish was vice-president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati from 1848 to 1854, and president-general from 1854 until his death. He died in Garrison, New York, on the 7th of September 1893.

His son, NICHOLAS FISH (1846-1902), was appointed second secretary of legation at Berlin in 1871, became secretary in 1874, and was _charge d'affaires_ at Berne in 1877-1881, and minister to Belgium in 1882-1886, after which he engaged in banking in New York City.

FISH (O. Eng. _fisc_, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch _visch_, Ger. _Fisch_, Goth. _fisks_, cognate with the Lat. _piscis_), the common name of that class of vertebrate animals which lives exclusively in water, breathes through gills, and whose limbs take the form of fins (see ICHTHYOLOGY). The article FISHERIES deals with the subject from the economic and commercial point of view, and ANGLING with the catching of fish as a sport. The constellation and sign of the zodiac known as "the fishes" is treated under PISCES.

The fish was an early symbol of Christ in primitive and medieval Christian art. The origin is to be found in the initial letters of the names and titles of Jesus in Greek, viz. [Greek: Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter], Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour, which together spell the Greek word for "fish," [Greek: ichthys]. The fish is also said to be represented in the oval-shaped figure, pointed at both ends, and formed by the intersection of two circles. This figure, also known as the _vesica piscis_, is common in ecclesiastical seals and as a glory or aureole in paintings of sculpture, surrounding figures of the Trinity, saints, &c. The figure is, however, sometimes referred to the almond, as typifying virginity; the French name for the symbol is _Amande mystique_.

The word "fish" is used in many technical senses. Thus it is used of the purchase used in raising the flukes of an anchor to the bill-board; of a piece of wood or metal used to strengthen a sprung mast or yard; and of a plate of metal used, as in railway construction, for the strengthening of the meeting-place of two rails. This word is of doubtful origin, but it is probably an adaptation of the Fr. _fiche_, that which "fixes," a peg. This word also appears in the English form "fish," in the metal, pearl or bone counters, sometimes made in the form of fish, used for scoring points, &c., in many games.

FISHER, ALVAN (1792-1863), American portrait-painter, was born at Needham, Massachusetts, on the 9th of August 1792. At the age of eighteen he was a clerk in a country shop, and subsequently was employed by the village house painter, but at the age of twenty-two he began to paint portrait heads, alternating with rural scenes and animals, for which he found patrons at modest prices. In ten years he had saved enough to go to Europe, studying at the Paris schools and copying in the galleries of the Louvre. Upon his return he became one of the recognized group of Massachusetts portrait-painters. Along with Doughty, Harding and Alexander, in 1831, he held an exhibition of his work in Boston--perhaps the first joint display by painters ever held in that city. Though he had considerable talent for landscape, a lack of patronage for such work caused him to confine himself to portraiture, in which he was moderately successful. He died at Dedham, Mass., on the 16th of February 1863.

FISHER, GEORGE PARK (1827-1909), American theologian, was born at Wrentham, Massachusetts, on the 10th of August 1827. He graduated at Brown University in 1847, and at the Andover Theological Seminary in 1851, spent three years in study in Germany, was college preacher and professor of divinity at Yale College in 1854-1861, and was Titus Street professor of ecclesiastical history in the Yale Divinity School in 1861-1901, when he was made professor _emeritus_. He was president of the American Historical Association in 1897-1898. His writings have given him high rank as an authority on ecclesiastical history. They include _Essays on the Supernatural Origin of Christianity_ (1865); _History of the Reformation_ (1873), republished in several revisions; _The Beginnings of Christianity_ (1877); _Discussions in History and Theology_ (1880); _Outlines of Universal History_ (1886); _History of the Christian Church_ (1887); _The Nature and Method of Revelation_ (1890); _Manual of Natural Theology_ (1893); _A History of Christian Doctrine_, in the "International Theological Library" (1896); and _A Brief History of Nations_ (1896). He died on the 20th of December 1909.

FISHER, JOHN (c. 1469-1535), English cardinal and bishop of Rochester, born at Beverly, received his first education at the collegiate church there. In 1484 he went to Michael House, Cambridge, where he took his degrees in arts in 1487 and 1491, and, after filling several offices in the university, became master of his college in 1499. He took orders; and his reputation for learning and piety attracted the notice of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII., who made him her confessor and chaplain. In 1501 he became vice-chancellor; and later on, when chancellor, he was able to forward, if not to initiate entirely, the beneficent schemes of his patroness in the foundations of St. John's and Christ's colleges, in addition to two lectureships, in Greek and Hebrew. His love for Cambridge never waned, and his own benefactions took the form of scholarships, fellowships and lectures. In 1503 he was the first Margaret professor at Cambridge; and the following year was raised to the see of Rochester, to which he remained faithful, although the richer sees of Ely and Lincoln were offered to him. He was nominated as one of the English prelates for the Lateran council (1512), but did not attend. A man of strict and simple life, he did not hesitate at the legatine synod of 1517 to censure the clergy, in the presence of the brilliant Wolsey himself, for their greed of gain and love of display; and in the convocation of 1523 he freely opposed the cardinal's demand for a subsidy for the war in Flanders. A great friend of Erasmus, whom he invited to Cambridge, whilst earnestly working for a reformation of abuses, he had no sympathy with those who attacked doctrine; and he preached at Paul's Cross (12th of May 1521) at the burning of Luther's books. Although he was not the author of Henry's book against Luther, he joined with his friend, Sir Thomas More, in writing a reply to the scurrilous rejoinder made by the reformer. He retained the esteem of the king until the divorce proceedings began in 1527; and then he set himself sternly in favour of the validity of the marriage. He was Queen Catherine's confessor and her only champion and advocate. He appeared on her behalf before the legates at Blackfriars; and wrote a treatise against the divorce that was widely read.

Recognizing that the true aim of the scheme of church reform brought forward in parliament in 1529 was to put down the only moral force that could withstand the royal will, he energetically opposed the reformation of abuses, which doubtless under other circumstances he would have been the first to accept. In convocation, when the supremacy was discussed (11th of February 1531), he declared that acceptance would cause the clergy "to be hissed out of the society of God's holy Catholic Church"; and it was his influence that brought in the saving clause, _quantum per legem Dei licet_. By listening to the revelations of the "Holy Maid of Kent," the nun Elizabeth Barton (q.v.), he was charged with misprision of treason, and was condemned to the loss of his goods and to imprisonment at the king's will, penalties he was allowed to compound by a fine of L300 (25th of March 1534). Fisher was summoned (13th of April) to take the oath prescribed by the Act of Succession, which he was ready to do, were it not that the preamble stated that the offspring of Catherine were illegitimate, and prohibited all faith, trust and obedience to any foreign authority or potentate. Refusing to take the oath, he was committed (15th of April) to the Tower, where he suffered greatly from the rigours of a long confinement. On the passing of the Act of Supremacy (November 1534), in which the saving clause of convocation was omitted, he was attainted and deprived of his see. The council, with Thomas Cromwell at their head, visited him on the 7th of May 1535, and his refusal to acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the church was the ground of his trial. The constancy of Fisher, while driving Henry to a fury that knew no bounds, won the admiration of the whole Christian world, where he had been long known as one of the most learned and pious bishops of the time. Paul III., who had begun his pontificate with the intention of purifying the curia, was unaware of the grave danger in which Fisher lay; and in the hope of reconciling the king with the bishop, created him (20th of May 1535) cardinal priest of St Vitalis. When the news arrived in England it sealed his fate. Henry, in a rage, declared that if the pope sent Fisher a hat there should be no head for it. The cardinal was brought to trial at Westminster (17th of June 1535) on the charge that he did "openly declare in English that the king, our sovereign lord, is not supreme head on earth of the Church of England," and was condemned to a traitor's death at Tyburn, a sentence afterwards changed. He was beheaded on Tower Hill on the 22nd of June 1535, after saying the _Te Deum_ and the psalm _In te Domine speravi_. His body was buried first at All Hallows, Barking, and then removed to St. Peter's _ad vincula_ in the Tower, where it lies beside that of Sir Thomas More. His head was exposed on London Bridge and then thrown into the river. As a champion of the rights of conscience, and as the only one of the English bishops that dared to resist the king's will, Fisher commends himself to all. On the 9th of December 1886 he was beatified by Pope Leo XIII.

Fisher's Latin works are to be found in the _Opera J. Fisheri quae
hactenus inveniri potuerunt omnia_ (Wurzburg, 1595), and some of his
published English works in the Early English Text Society (Extra
series. No. 27, part i. 1876). There are others in manuscript at the
P.R.O. (27, Henry VIII., No. 887). Besides the State papers, the main
sources for his biography are _The Life and Death of that renowned
John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester_ (London, 1655), by an anonymous
writer, the best edition being that of Van Ortroy (Brussels, 1893);
Bridgett's _Life of Blessed John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester_ (London,
1880 and 1890); and Thureau, _Le bienheureux Jean Fisher_ (Paris,
1907). (E. Tn.)

FISHER, JOHN ARBUTHNOT FISHER, 1ST BARON (1841- ), British admiral, was born on the 25th of January 1841, and entered the navy in June 1854. He served in the Baltic during the Crimean War, and was engaged as midshipman on the "Highflyer," "Chesapeake" and "Furious," in the Chinese War, in the operations required by the occupations of Canton, and of the Peiho forts in 1859. He became sub-lieutenant on the 25th of January 1860, and lieutenant on the 4th of November of the same year. The cessation of naval wars, at least of wars at sea in which the British navy had to take a part, after 1860, allowed few officers to gain distinction by actual services against the enemy. But they were provided with other ways of proving their ability by the sweeping revolution which transformed the construction, the armament, and the methods of propulsion of all the navies of the world, and with them the once accepted methods of combat. Lieutenant Fisher began his career as a commissioned officer in the year after the launching of the French "Gloire" had set going the long duel in construction between guns and armour. He early made his mark as a student of gunnery, and was promoted commander on the 2nd of August 1869, and post-captain on the 30th of October 1874. In this rank he was chosen to serve as president of the committee appointed to revise "The Gunnery Manual of the Fleet." It was his already established reputation which pointed Captain Fisher out for the command of H.M.S. "Inflexible," a vessel which, as the representative of a type, had supplied matter for much discussion. As captain of the "Inflexible" he took part in the bombardment of Alexandria (11th July 1882). The engagement was not arduous in itself, having been carried out against forts of inferior construction, indifferently armed, and worse garrisoned, but it supplied an opportunity for a display of gunnery, and it was conspicuous in the midst of a long naval peace. The "Inflexible" took a prominent part in the action, and her captain had the command of the naval brigade landed in Alexandria, where he adapted the ironclad train and commanded it in various skirmishes with the enemy. After the Egyptian campaign, he was, in succession, director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes (from October 1886 to May 1891); A.D.C. to Queen Victoria (18th June, 1887, to 2nd August 1890, at which date he became rear-admiral); admiral superintendent of Portsmouth dockyard (1891 to 1892); a lord commissioner of the navy and comptroller of the navy (1892 to 1897), and vice-admiral (8th May 1896); commander-in-chief on the North American and West Indian station (1897). In 1899 he acted as naval expert at the Hague Peace Conference, and on the 1st of July 1899 was appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. From the Mediterranean command, Admiral Fisher passed again to the admiralty as second sea lord in 1902, and became commander-in-chief at Portsmouth on the 31st of August 1903, from which post he passed to that of first sea lord. Besides holding the foreign Khedivial and Osmanieh orders, he was created K.C.B. in 1894 and G.C.B. in 1902. As first sea lord, during the years 1903-1909, Sir John Fisher had a predominant influence in all the far-reaching new measures of naval development and internal reform; and he was also one of the committee, known as Lord Esher's committee, appointed in 1904 to report on the measures necessary to be taken to put the administration and organization of the British army on a sound footing. The changes in naval administration made under him were hotly canvassed among critics, who charged him with autocratic methods, and in 1906-1909 with undue subservience to the government's desire for economy; and whatever the efficiency of his own methods at the admiralty, the fact was undeniable that for the first time for very many years the navy suffered, as a service, from the party-spirit which was aroused. It was notorious that Admiral Lord Charles Beresford in particular was acutely hostile to Sir John Fisher's administration; and on his retirement in the spring of 1909 from the position of commander-in-chief of the Channel fleet, he put his charges and complaints before the government, and an inquiry was held by a small committee under the Prime Minister. Its report, published in August, was in favour of the Admiralty, though it encouraged the belief that some important suggestions as to the organization of a naval "general staff" would take effect. On the 9th of November Sir John Fisher was created a peer as Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, Norfolk. He retired from the Admiralty in January 1910.

FISHERIES,[1] a general term for the various operations engaged in for the capture of such aquatic creatures as are useful to man. From time immemorial fish have been captured by various forms of spears, nets, hooks and more elaborate apparatus, and a historical description of the methods and appliances that have been used would comprise a considerable portion of a treatise on the history of man. For the most part the operations of fishing have been comparable with those of primitive hunting rather than with agriculture; they have taken the least possible account of considerations affecting the supply; when one locality has been fished out, another has been resorted to. The increasing pressure on every source of food, and the enormous improvements in the catching power of the engines involved, has made some kind of regulation and control inevitable, with the result that in practically every civilized country there exists some authority for the investigation and regulation of fisheries.

The annexed table shows the department of state and the approximate expenditure on fisheries in some of the chief countries of the world. The figures are only approximate and are based on the expenditure for 1907. In the case of England and Wales the expenditure is not complete, as under the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act of 1888 the whole of the coast of England and Wales could be placed under local fisheries committees with power to levy rates for fishery purposes, and in a certain number of districts advantage has been taken of this act. But even with this addition, British expenditure on fisheries is less than that undertaken by most of the countries of northern Europe, although British fisheries are much more valuable than those of all the rest of Europe together.

_Administration of Fisheries._

The early years of the 20th century witnessed another great expansion of the sea fisheries of the United Kingdom. The herring fishery has been revolutionized partly by the successful introduction of steam drifters, which have markedly increased the aggregate catching power, and partly by the prosecution of the fishery on one part or other of the British coasts during the greater part of the year. The crews of many Scottish vessels which formerly worked at the herring and line fisheries in alternate seasons of the year now devote their energies almost entirely to the herring fishery, which they pursue in nomad fleets around all the coasts of Great Britain. The East Anglian drifters carry on their operations at different seasons of the year from Shetland in the north (for herrings) to Newlyn in the west (for mackerel). In Scotland the value of the nets employed on steam drifters has increased from L3000 in 1899 to L61,000 in 1906, and the average annual catch of herrings has increased from about four to about five million cwts. during the past ten years. In England also the annual catch of herrings, which reached a total of two million cwts. for the first time in 1899, has exceeded three millions in each year from 1902 to 1905.

In steam trawling also great enterprise has been shown. In 1906 Messrs Hellyer of Hull launched a new steam trawling fleet of 50 vessels for working the North Sea grounds, and the delivery of new steam trawlers at Grimsby was greater than at any previous period, these vessels being designed more especially to exploit the distant fishing grounds, the range of which has been extended from Morocco to the White Sea. About 100 vessels were added to the Grimsby fleet in the course of twelve months. These new vessels measure about 140 ft. in length and over 20 ft. in beam, and exceed 250 tons gross tonnage, the accommodation both for fish and crews being considerably in excess of that provided in vessels of this class hitherto.

Returns of the steam trawlers registered in 1907 in the chief European countries show the expanse of this industry, and the enormous preponderance of Great Britain. The numbers are as follows:--

Belgium 23
Denmark 5
France 224
Germany 239
Netherlands 81
Norway 20
Portugal 13
Spain 12-18
Sweden 11
Scotland 292
Ireland 6
England and Wales 1317

A simultaneous development of the sea fisheries has been manifested in other maritime countries of Europe, particularly in Germany and Holland, but the total number of steam trawlers belonging to those countries in 1905 scarcely exceeded the mere additions to the British fishing fleet in 1906.

The relative magnitude of British fisheries may best be gauged by a comparison with the proceeds of the chief fisheries of other European countries. The following table is based upon official returns and mainly derived from the _Bulletin Statistique_ of the International Council for the Study of the Sea. It represents in pounds sterling the value of the produce of the various national fisheries during the year 1904, except in the case of France, for which country the latest available figures are those for 1902.

_Values in Thousands of L._

+---------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-----------+
| |Herring.| Cod. |Plaice.| Other | Total. |
| | | | | Fish. | |
+---------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-----------+
| British Isles | 1870 |1015 |1100 |5496 | 9,481,000 |
| Norway | 352 | 834 | .. | 443 | 1,629,000 |
| Denmark | 117 | 60 | 171 | 223 | 571,000 |
| Germany | 220 | 64[2]| 40[2]| 512[2]| 836,000 |
| Holland | 575 | 53 | 58 | 311 | 997,000 |
| France (1902) | 635 | 851[3]| .. |3562 | 5,048,000 |
+---------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-----------+

The total value of the sea fisheries in the three chief subdivisions of the British Isles in the year 1905, according to the official returns, was as follows:

+------------------------+-------------+-------------+
| Fish landed in | Excluding | Including |
| | Shellfish. | Shellfish. |
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+
| England and Wales | L7,200,644 | L7,502,768 |
| Scotland | 2,649,148 | 2,719,810 |
| Ireland | 360,577 | 414,364 |
| +-------------+-------------+
| Total |L10,210,369 |L10,636,942 |
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+

These figures show an increase of L1,000,000 as compared with the total value in 1900, and of more than L3,000,000 as compared with 1895 (cf. Table I. at end).

In England and Wales the trawl fisheries for cod, haddock, and flat fish yielded about three-quarters of the total, and the drift fisheries for herring and mackerel nearly the whole of the remaining quarter. The line fisheries in England and Wales are now relatively insignificant and yield only about one-fortieth of the total (cf. Table VIII. at end).

In Scotland, on the other hand, there is not so much difference in the relative importance of the three chief fisheries. In 1905 herrings and other net-caught fish yielded rather more than one-half of the total, the trawl fisheries nearly three-eighths, and the line fisheries one-eighth (cf. Table X.).

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Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre"Chapter VIII: Part 8

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