FINLAY, GEORGE (1799-1875)

—Historian, of Scottish descent, was b. at Faversham, Kent, where his f. , an officer in the army, was inspector of government powder mills. Intended for the law, he was ed. at Glasgow, Göttingen, and Edin., but becoming an enthusiast in the cause of Greece, he joined Byron in the war of independence, and thereafter bought a property near Athens, where he settled and busied himself with schemes for the improvement of the country, which had little succe . His History of Greece , produced in sections between 1843 and 1861, did not at first receive the recognition which its merits deserved, but it has since been given by students in all countries, and specially in Germany, a place among works of permanent value, alike for its literary style and the depth and insight of its historical views. It was re-i ued in 1877 as A History of Greece from the Roman Conquest to the Present Time (146 B.C. to 1864). FISHER, JOHN ( c. 1469-1535). —Controversialist and scholar, b. at Beverley, and ed. at Camb., entered the Church, and became in 1504 Bishop of Rochester. He wrote in Latin against the doctrines of the Reformation, but was a supporter of the New Learning, and endeavoured to get Erasmus to teach Greek at Camb. Through his influence the Lady Margaret Profe orship of Divinity were founded at both the Univ. by Margaret Counte of Richmond, and in 1502 he became first prof. at Camb., where he was also (1505-8) Head of Queen's Coll. He was also instrumental in founding Christ's and St. John's Coll. For opposing the divorce proceedings of Henry VIII. he was burned. Made a cardinal in 1535, he was beatified in 1886.