Summary. B. 1707, ed. Eton, studied law at Leyden, came to London and wrote dramas, called to Bar 1740, pub. Joseph Andrews 1742, became journalist, appointed a magistrate for Middlesex, etc., and pub. Inquiry into Increase of Robbers 1751, pub. Tom Jones 1749, Amelia 1751, d. at Lisbon 1754.
His works are included in Ballantyne's Novelists' Library with a biography by Scott (1821). An ed. in 10 vols. with a study by L. Stephen was pub. by Smith, Elder and Co. (1882); another in 12 vols. by Prof. Saintsbury, Dent and Co. (1893), and various others. There are various Lives by Watson (1807), Lawrence (1855), and A. Dobson (Men of Letters, 1883).
Fielding, Sarah (1710-1768).—Novelist, was the sister of the above, who had a high opinion of her talents. She wrote several novels, including David Simple (1744), The Governess, and The Countess of Dellwyn. She also translated Xenophon's Memorabilia and Apologia (1762).
Filmer, Sir Robert (d. 1653?).—Political writer, s. of Sir Edward F., of East Sutton, Kent, was ed. at Camb. He was an enthusiastic Royalist, was knighted by Charles I. and, in 1671, was imprisoned in Leeds Castle, Kent. He is notable as the defender, in its most extreme form, of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, which he expounded in a succession of works, of which the latest and best known, Patriarcha, appeared in 1679. His theory is founded on the idea that the government of a family by the father is the original and method of all government. His doctrines were afterwards attacked by Locke in his Treatise on Government. He was opposed to the persecution of old women for supposed witchcraft.
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 success. 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-issued 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 Professorship of Divinity were founded at both the Univ. by Margaret Countess of Richmond,
