Evening star., 1901-07-05

I ISL r --l
turer he in constant demand from all
parts of the world. His writings. both
philosophical and historical, were the de-
light of the literary world
John F'iSke. the eminent American his
torian. bore the name Of the maternal
great-grandfather. His original name was
Edmund Fiske Green, but his father died
when he was ten years of age. and his
mother afterward married Edwin w.
Stoughton. at one time minister to Russia
The son. whose home had been with his
grandmother at MiddletOwn, Conn, from
the time he was a year old soon after
changed his patrOnymic to be known
John Fiske He was born in Hartford.
editor, died in Panama. The education
of the boy. who was extremely precocious.
early took wide range. He began the
study of Latin when only six years old
At seven he was reading Caesar. and had
read Rollin. Josephus and Glodsmith's
Greece Before he was eight he had
read the whole of Shakespeare and a good
deal of Milton. Bunyan and Pope. He be-
gan Greek at nine. By eleven he had read
Gibbon, Robertson and Prescott. and most
of FrOisart, and at the same age wrote
from memory a chronological table from
l~9 B. c. TO 1920 A. D.. filling a auarto
blank book of sixty pages. At twelve he
had read most of the "Collectanea Graeca
Majora,' with the aid of Greek-Latin
dictionary. and the next year had read the
whole of Virgil Horace, Tacitus Sallust
and Suetoning, and much of Livy Cicero,
ovid. CatulIus and Juvenal. AT the same
time ne had gone through Euclid plane
and spherical trigOnOmetry, surveying and
navigation. and analytic geometry, and was
well on into the differential calculus At
hfteen he could read Plato and Herodotus
at sight and was beginning German With
IN the next year he was keeping his diary
In Spanish and was reading French Italian
and Portuguese. He began Hebrew at sew
gnr+pE md rpDE nm Ga he
Meanwhile he was deIving In science. get
ting his knowledge from books and not
from the laboratory or the field. He aver
aged twelve hours study daily twelve
months in the year. before he was sixteen
and afterward nearly fifteen hours daily.
working with persistent energy; yet he
maintained the most robust health and en-
tered with enthusiasm into out of door life
In 1859 he entered the sophomore class at
Harvard. although he had pursued many
studies beyond the limits of college
course, and he Investigated the subjects Of
history. philosophy and phiiology on his
own account. He pursued a two years
course in the Harvard Law School, and
took his degree In 1865, and opened an Of
nce In Boston. but never practiced law to
any extent. He had already begun to write
for magazines and reviews, and soon de-
pended on MS pen to support himself and
the wife ne had married while in the law
school His studies of philosophy led to
his giving course of lectures on positive
Phhosophy at Harvard in 1859 and the
tory there. From 1872 to 1879 he was as
sistant librarian of the college. Since 1879
he had been a member of the board of
OVerSeerS of the university Since 1874 he
had filled a nonresident professorship of
American history in Washington Univer-
sity. St Louis.
1t was as public lecturer on historical
themes that Prof. Fiske became most
widely known, both in this country and in
Great Britain. In both history and phllos-
ophy he contributed many works of perma-
nent literary value. His first important
work was Myths and Mythmakers" is
sued in 1872 Two years later he published
Outlines of COsmic Philosophy" the basis
OF which was series of thirty-five lee
lures. delivered at Harvard In 1871. He
was Regarded as an especially able ex-
FOUNDER OF the philosophy of Herbert Spen-
Ger and the theory of evolution with which
the name of Darwin is most closely identf-
fed. and two books, respectively entitled
The Destiny of Man, Viewed In the Light
OF His Origin. and The Idea of God as
Affected by Modern knowledge" had wide
circulation at that time. AS years passed
Prof. Fiske delved deeper into the sources
OF American history. and the fruits of his
study are found in number of volumes
some embodying matter first used In the
form OF lectures. and all containing much
of the greatest value in the study of events
on this continent These works bear the
following titles: THE Discovery of Amer
lea odd Virginia and Her Neighbors.
The Beginning OF New England" The
American Revolution" The Critical Pc
TlOu OF american history. liSS-lIS, and
The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in Amer
lea He also prepared for young people
The War of Independence" "A History of
the United States for Schools and Civil
Government in the United States" Prof
FiSke also wrote many delightful ESSAYS
published in the Atlantic Monthly and
other magazines. and collected under the
titles The Unseen World and Other Es-
says. Excursions of an Evolutionist"
"Darwinism and Other Essays Through
Nature to God" and "A Century of Science
and Other Essays"
1t in the application Of the evolu-
tionary philosophy to the treatment of
history that Professor Fiske showed his
originality. and with the charm of a lucid
style he was thought by critics TO have
succeeded in popularizing both history and
philosophy without compromising dignity
depth Professor F'iske made his home
at Cambridge. in Berkeley street not far
from the famous LOngfellow house. In
writing of his personal appearance and
rules of health last year. a friend said:
Mr.. Fiske is six feet in height: girth of
chest forty-siX inches; arms. sixteen inch
es. and weight. 40 pounds; is alert, ac-
tive, appetite voracious. digestion perfect
sleep sound and has never had a headache
physical discomfort of any kind. And
ha iS nd VIC faIIx