Fisk, Samuel. See Fiske, Samuel.
Fisk, Wilbur, first president of the Wesleyan Universit}', was born in Brattleboro, Yt., August 81, 1792. His parents were of the old Puritan stock, and he was trained in habits of virtue and religion, espe- cially by his mother. In 1809 he went to the Gram- mar School at Peacham, and in 1812 to the University of Yermont, where he passed A.B. in 1815. In 1818 he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Churcli, and soon became remarkable for piety and success in his ministry. His talents as a preacher were of a verj' high order; indeed, he has hardlj' been surpassed in this respect in the American pulpit. His health was feeble, however, from the beginning, and his unwearied labors in the itinerant ministrj' were loo great for him. In 1823 he was made presiding elder of the Yermont district, and in 1824 was chosen delegate to the Yermont Conference, a rare distinction for so young a man. From this time onward his life was devoted to the cause of Christian education in the Methodist Episcopal Church. When he entered the ministry in 1818 "there was not a single literarj' in- stitution of any note under the patronage of the Church. A few years later, in 1824, he was appointed agent to collect funds for one which had been established in Newmarket, N. H. ; but he declined the service be- cause, as he said, it was not established on a perma- nent basis. Still he was anxious th;it one should be established, and through his efforts, with others, the academj' at Wilbraham was commenced, and he was appointed its principal in 1826. The spirit which was thus aroused soon demanded an institution of a higher grade. The Northern and Eastern Conferences united to found the Wesleyan University at Middletown, and Dr. Fisk naturally, and without a rival, was cho.. sen its president in 1830. The part he had already taken in awaking the people to the subject, his devo- tion to it, and his abilities, made him more than ever a leader in the cause of education in the Church. Stu-.
FISK
582
FISKE
dents gathered to the institution from every part of the nation, and many soon went forth from it who, by his recommendation, became presidents, professors, and teachers in the rapidly multiplying colleges and seminaries under the patronage of tlie Church through- out the United States. His heart was in this work, lie believed, too, that he was where Providence de- signed him to be. And when, in 1863, he was elected bishop, he declined the office, for he said, ' If my health •n'ould allow me to perform the work of the episcopacy I dare not accept it, for I believe I can do more for the cause of Christ where I am than I could do as a bish- op.' Who shall say that his decision was not only honest, but wise; that his duties as an educator of the young, and the part he took in awaking the people to the great value of general education, were less impor- tant than the work of anj' bishop?" {Centenary Memo- ries, in The Methodist, N. Y.). In 1828 he had been elected bishop of the Canada Conference, but declined the office. In 1829 he received the degree of D.D. from Brown University, and in the same 3'ear was elected president of Lagrange College, Alabama, and also pro- fessor in the Universitj- of Alabama, both which offices he declined. For many years his life was an inces- sant struggle with pulmonarj^ disease, and in 1835-6 he travelled in Europe for the benefit of his health. He died at Middletown, Feb. 22, 1838. Among his writings are. The Calvinisiic Controversy (N. Y. 18mo) : — Travels in Europe (N. Y. 1838, 8vo) : — Sermons and Lectures on Universalism : — Reply to Pierpoint on the Atonement, and other tracts and sermons.
Dr. Fisk was a saintlj' man, of the tj'pe of Fenelon, and endowed with some of Fcnelon's best moral and mental traits — clearness and logical force ; flexibilitj' and adroitness in controversy ; with earnest love of truth and goodness for the animating spirit of all his life and thought. As a preacher, few surpassed him in eloquence, none in fervor. As a teacher, he had that highest of all qualities, the power to kindle the enthusiasm of his pupils. Take him for all in all, he was a man of rare symmetr}' of character, moral and intellectual, of whom all whom he knew would be more willing to saj', "Mark the perfect man, and be- hold the upright," than of any man of his time v.ho held so high a place. Dr. Stevens describes him as follows : " Wilbur Fisk's person bespoke his character. It was of good size, and remarkable for its symmetry. His features were beautifully harmonious, the contour strongly resembling the better Roman outline, though lacking its most peculiar distinction, the nasus aquili- nus. His eye was nicely defined, and, when excited, beamed with a peculiarlj^ benign and conciliatory ex- pression. His complexion was liilious, and added to the diseased indication of his somewhat attenuated feat- ures. His head was a model, not of great, but of well- proportioned development. It had the height of the Roman brow, though none of the lircadth of the Greek. There is a bust of him extant, but it is not to be looked at bj' any who would not mar in their memories the beautiful and benign image of his earlier manhood In'^ the disfigurations of disease and suffering. His voice was peculiarly flexible and sonorous : a catarrhal dis- ease affected it, but just enough, during most of his life, to improve its tone to a soft orotund, without a trace of nasal defect. Few men could indicate the moral emotions more effectually by mere tones. It was especiall_y expressive in pathetic passages. His pulpit manner was marked in the introduction of the sermon bj^ dignity, but dignitj' without ceremony or pretension. As he advanced into the exposition and argument of his discourse (and there were both in most of his sermons), he became more emphatic, especially as brilliant though brief illustrations ever- and anon gleamed upon his logic. Jiy the time he had reached the peroration his utterance became rapid, his thoughts were incandescent, the music of his voice rang out in thrilling tones, and sometimes even quivered with