FISCHER,

Bishop of Rochester.

THE fate of this celebrated prelate was intimately connected with that of sir Thomas More, the subject of the succeeding article. Both were alike the victims of the tyrannic vengeance of Henry VIII. and martyrs to popery. Bishop Fischer was born in 1459, and was the son of a merchant of Beverly, in Yorkshire. He received the rudiments of his education under the tuition of a priest of the collegiate church in that town; and entered at Cambridge, in 1484, where he

grees in arts in 1488, and 1491.

took his de

He was ap

pointed in 1495, one of the proctors of the university, and elected master of MichaelHouse, (now Trinity-College) his own college. In 1501, he took the degree of doctòr, and the

same year was elected chancellor of the university; which, however, he resigned in 1514, recommending as his successor, Wolsey, bishop of Lincoln, who was accordingly chosen. But he thinking proper to decline the honour, the university, indignant at his rejection, and bound in gratitude to Fischer, immediately chose the latter perpetual chancellor, or during life; which is the first instance of such a choice.

Prince Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII. was at this time living; and prince Henry, (afterwards Henry VIII.) being designed for an ecclesiastic, was placed under the tuition of Fischer, who hence became acquainted with Margaret, the famous countess of Richmond, and mother of Henry VII. His merit soon obtained him the office of chaplain and confessor to her ladyship, whose confidence in him was unbounded. In 1504, he was promoted to the see of Rochester; and though it was the least valuable of the bishoprics at that time, he refused, with a disinterested magnanimity, ever to exchange it for a better.

On the 29th of June, 1509, death deprived both him and the public of their noble benefactress, whose virtues and accomplishments

he celebrated in a funeral sermon. Three years after, he was nominated to attend the Lateran council at Rome, as appears by the archives of St. John's College, though from some cause or other, he was prevented from undertaking the journey.

It was in the year 1527 that Henry VIII. first proposed to him the dangerous question respecting the validity of his marriage with queen Catharine; when the upright bishop, in obedience to the dictates of his conscience, declared it to be legal in the sight of God and man, and that from this opinion he would never depart. Accordingly, when the oath required by the act of supremacy was tendered to him, he refused to take it, was sent prisoner to the Tower, and his bishopric declared void from the second of January, 1535.

In May of the same year, and while he was in the Tower, the pope, Paul III. in consideration of his virtues, and of his faithful attachment to the religion of Rome, created him cardinal, by the title of cardinal priest of St. Vitalis. The king, enraged at his receiving the cardinal's hat, prohibited its being brought to England; exclaiming with facetious cru

elty" Well, let the pope send him a hat when he will; mother of God! he shall wear it on his shoulders then: for I will leave him never a head to set it on." He was beheaded on the 22d of June, 1535, and the next day his head was fixed upon London Bridge.

In his person, bishop Fischer was tall, comely, and robust. For the superiority of his talents as a scholar, as likewise for the excellence of his moral character, when uninfluenced by superstitious bigotry, we have the testimony of Erasmus; who says of him"That he was a man of the highest integrity, profound learning, incredible sweetness of temper, and uncommon greatness of soul." The words of Erasmus are remarkable, and deserve to be quoted." Reverendus Episcopus Roffensis, vir non solum mirabili integritate vitæ, verum etiam altâ et reconditâ doctrinâ, tum morum quoque incredibili comitate commendatus maximis pariter ac minimis. Aut egregie fallor, aut is vir est unus, cum quo nemo sit hac tempestate conferendus, vel integritate vitæ, vel eruditione, vel animi magnitudine."

It is remarkable, that even in his old age, his literary ardour urged him to learn Greek of Erasmus.

But notwithstanding his virtues, and the ge neral benevolence of his character, the persecuting and odious principles of his religion, rendered him inhumanly severe against the reformers. In conjunction with his friend sir Thomas More, he seized all the books of Lutheranism, as well as of the Lollards, punishing with severity those in his diocese who followed the errors, as he called them, of those arch-heretics, Wicliffe and Luther.

He was the author of various works, the greater number of which are in Latin.-1. Assertionum Martini Lutheri Confutatio-2. Defensio assertionis Henrici octavi de septem sacramentis, &c.—Henry VIII.'s book against Luther was ascribed, at the time, to the united labours of Fischer and More, in conjunction with Lea, afterwards archbishop of York; and sometimes to each of the two first separately. Collyer, in his Ecclesiastical History, on the authority of lord Herbert, is not of this opinion; but thinks that at the request of the king, they might have looked it over, and probably have suggested some alterations; and that the bulk of the work was composed by his majesty.-3. Episto