216 FISCH FISH Such property having often been obtained to a. large extent from fines and the possessions of condemned persons, the word confiscation, de- rived from jfoew*, signifies the forfeiture of any species of property to the state. FISCH, George, a French Protestant divine, born in Switzerland, July 6, 1814. He was educated in the academy at Lausanne, and en- tering the ministry was for nearly five years pastor of a German-speaking congregation at Vevay. He then emigrated to France and joined the French Evangelical church. In 1846 he was called to Lyons as the successor of Adolphe Monod. In 1855 he removed to Paris to become pastor of the church "Tait- bout," where he is the colleague of Edmond de Pressense", who is his brother-in-law. Dr. Fisch advocates the independence of the church from the state. He is a director of the evan- gelical society of France, a powerful auxiliary to the union of evangelical churches, and since 1863 has held the presidency of the " Union." FISCHART, Johann, called MENTZER, a German writer, born probably in Mentz about 1545, died probably at Forbach in or after 1589. He was educated as a jurist in Worms, visited England, spent some time in Frankfort and Strasburg, became an advocate in the imperial tribunal of Spire in 1582, and held a public office at Forbach from 1585 to 1589. He was one of the most voluminous German writers of his day, excelling in satire, burlesque, and alle- gory. Among his works, which were published under various pseudonymes, are Das gluckhafft Schiffwn Zurich (1576 ; new but defective edi- tion, 1829), and Psalmen und geistliche Lieder, (Strasburg, 1576 ; new edition, Berlin, 1849). Wackernagel has published Johann Fischart von Strasburg, und BaseVs Antheil an ihm (Basel, 1869). FISCHER, Ernst Knno Berthold, popularly known as KTJNO FISOHEE, a German philos- opher, born at Sandewalde, Silesia, July 23, 1824. He graduated at Halle, and taught phi- losophy at Heidelberg from 1850 to 1853, when he was suspended by the government of Baden, the reason not being assigned. He continued to reside at Heidelberg till 1855, when he went to Berlin, where permission to resume his pro- fession was at first denied to him, but eventu- ally granted in September, 1856, by the king at the instance of the university authorities. He had however already accepted a professor- ship at Jena, where he has since continued to be one of the most eloquent exponents of mod- ern philosophy. His principal works are Die Logik und Hetaphysilc, oder Wissenschaftslehre (1852), and Geschichte der neuern Philosophic (1854 et seq.), with masterly delineations of the systems of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, and Kant. Fischer assumes for the period of transition a parallelism in reverse order with the line of development of ancient philosophy, and states in the latter and most important of his works that " the modern mind seeks to find a way out of the theological conception of the world, with which it is filled, to the problems of cosmology." He has also written on Bacon, Schiller, and Shakespeare, Geschichte der aus- wartigen Politik und Diplomatic im Beforma- tions-Zeitalter 1485-1556 (Gotha, 1874), &c. FISCHER, Gotthelf, a Eussian naturalist, born at Waldheim, Saxony, in 1771, died in Moscow, Oct. 18, 1853. After graduating as a physi- cian at Leipsic and holding a professorship at Mentz, he settled at Moscow in 1806, lectured at the university and medical academy, found- ed a museum of natural history, and published upward of 180 works, including Oryctognosie (2 vols., Moscow, 1818-'20), Oryctographie du gouvernement de Moscou (fol., 1812, with 65 en- gravings, and translated into Eussian), and Entomographie de la Bussie (3 vols., 1820-'28), translated into Latin, German, &c. FISCHER VON ERLACH. I. Johann Bernhard, a German architect, born in Prague or Vienna in 1650, died in Vienna, April 5, 1723. He ac- quired in Eome the style of Bernini, which was admired in Vienna, where he became the architect of prominent public buildings, inclu- ding the palace of Schonbrunn and the church of San Carlo Borromeo. II. Joseph Eniannel, son of the preceding, born about 1680, died about the middle of the 18th .century. He was ennobled in 1735, and excelled in the same style of architecture as his father. In 1727 he constructed the first steam engine in Vienna. FISH, Hamilton, an American statesman, born in New York city, Aug. 3, 1808. His father, Col. Nicholas Fish, was a distinguished officer of the revolutionary army. He graduated at Columbia college in 1827, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. In politics he was a whig, and was repeatedly nominated by that party as a candidate for the state assembly, but was defeated by the democratic majority. In 1842 he was elected a representative in con- gress from the sixth district of New York. In 1846 he was a candidate for lieutenant governor. The whig candidate for governor, John Young, was elected, but Mr. Fish, who had incurred the hostility of the anti-renters by his warm denunciation of their principles, was defeated. But his successful competitor, Addison Gardiner, a democrat who had re- ceived the support of the anti-renters, resigned the office in 1847 on becoming a judge of the court of appeals, and Mr. Fish was elected in his place. In 1848 he was chosen gover- nor by about 30,000 majority, and in 1851 he was chosen United States senator in place of Daniel S. Dickinson. In the senate he opposed the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and acted with the republican party from its for- mation to the end of his term in 1857. In that year he went to Europe with his family, and remained till shortly before the com- mencement of the civil war. During that con- test he contributed in money to the support of the government. In January, 1862, in con- junction with Bishop Ames, he was appointed by Secretary Stanton a commissioner to visit