Arizona republican., 1893-12-14
AN HONOR TO AMERICA.
John Fiske, the Famous Historian
and Publisher.
His Remarkable Boyhood - At Eight
Years Of Age He Had Read All of
Shakespeare's Plays - Some of
His Greater Works.


Among theme of the present gener-
alton who by force and breadth of in
tellect have won the respect of scholars
and the admiration of the public, few,
if any, Americans stand higher than
John Fiske. Possessing mind of ex-
traordinary strength and clearness,
tenacious memory that places every
thing that he has ever read at his i'm
mediate disposal, and catholic and
highly cultivated tastes, his equipment
for the work of original investigation
in history or philosophy is unusually
complete. Added to these qualities is
a style of marvellous fexibility, sim
p1icity and lucidity, which is the
natural outgrowth of an orderly and
logical mind and which has been one
of the chief causes of the popularity of
his writings.
Mr.. Fiske is now in his ffty-second
year. His father was journalist. He
died in 1852, and in 1855, when her son
was thirteen years old, the widow
married Edward W. Stoughton, once
United States minister to Russia. Up
to this time the lads name had been
Edmund Fiske Green, but he now took
the name of his maternal great-grand
father, John Fiske He early showed
that he possessed extraordinary intel
lect. He had strong taste for science
and the languages. Before he was
eight years old he had read all of
Shakespeare's plays. At eighteen, be-
sides his Greek and Latin, he could
read fuently French, Spanish, Portu-
guese, italian and German, and had
gained a fair command of Dutch,
Danish, Sweden and Anglo-SaKon, be-
sides making beginning in IceIandic,
Gothic, Hebrew, Chaldee and Sanskirt.
In college the studies of which he was
especially fond were history, philoso-
ply and comparative philology. He
was graduated from the college in
1868 and from the Harvard law school
two years later.
Mr.. Fiske opened law office in Bos-
ton, and found it convenient place
for studying history while he waited six
months for clients. Then he made up
his mind to devote himself exclusively
to literature. He had already done
something in that line. In 1861, when
he was a junior in college, he contrib
uted to the National Quarterly Review
an article entitled Mr.. Buckles Fal-
lacies,' which is now included in his
"Darwinism, and Other Essays" Mr..
Fiske's first book, which was preceded
by many essays in reviews, magazines
and newspapers, was myths and
Myth-Makers, y published in 1872. This
was followed in 1874 by work which
Immediately attracted the notice of
many of the keenest minds in England
and the United States Outlines of
Cosmic Philosophy This work was
based upon a series of lectures which
Mr. Fiske had delivered at Harvard in
1869 and 1871, and which he repeated in
Boston, New York and London.
During the last ten years Mr.. Fiske
has devoted his time almost exclusive
ly to American history, and the beauty
of his style and the philosophical
spirit with which he traces cause and
effect in the development of political
ideas give a fascinating interest to
his historical works. These are
four in number -" American Po-
litical Ideas,' 1.-The Critical Period of
American History, 17S3-17S9," ''The Be-
ginnipgs of New England, and, in the
Riverside Library for Young People,
''The War of Independence" Since
1881 Mr.. Fiske has delivered an annual
course of lectures on American history
at Washington university, st. Louis,
and these lectures he has repeated in
mary towns and cities before publish
ing them in book form.
Mr.. Fishes home is in Cambridge,
Mass, where he spends all of his time
with his wife and six children when he
is not travelling about the country lee
turing. Since 1879 he has been mem
Der of the board of overseers of Har-
ward university, and from 1872 to 1879
hewas assistant librarian in that insti-
tute. He has visited Europe several
times, remaining for an entire year,
and has lectured before the Royal in
stitution in London and the Philosoph-
ical institution at Edinburgh. He
numbers among his friends most of the
men in England eminent in science
and literature, who were first attracted
by the skill with which he expounded
the philosophy of Spencer.