HARRISON, FREDERIC (1831 )

This article appears in Volume V13, Page 23 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: HAN-HEG

HARRISON, FREDERIC (1831 ) , English jurist and historian, was born in London on the 18th of October 1831. Members of his family (originally Leicestershire yeomen) had been lessees of Sutton Place, Guildford, of which he wrote an interesting account (Annals of an Old Manor

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, 1893). He was educated at King's College school and at Wadham College, Oxford, where, after taking a first-class in Literae Humaniores in 18J3, he became fellow and tutor. He was called to the bar in 1858, and, in addition to his practice in equity cases, soon began to distinguish himself as an effective contributor to the higher-class reviews. Two articles in the Westminster Review, one on the Italian question, which procured him the

special

SPECIAL

thanks of Cavour, the other on Essays and Reviews, which had the probably undesigned effect of stimulating the attack on the book, attracted especial notice. A few years later Mr Harrison worked at the codification of the law with Lord Westbury, of whom he contributed an interesting notice to

Nash

NASH, RICHARD (1674-1762)

's biography of the chan-cellor. His

special

SPECIAL

interest

INTEREST

in legislation for the working classes led him to be placed upon the Trades Union Commission of 1867 . 1869; he was secretary to the commission for the digest of the law, 1869187o; and was from 1877 to 1889 professor of jurisprudence and international law under the council of legal education. A follower of the positive philosophy, but in conflict with Richard Congreve (q.v.) as to details, he led the Positivists who split off and founded Newton

Hall

in 1881, and he was president of the English Positivist Committee from 188o to 1905; he was also editor and part author of the Positivist New Calendar of

Great

GREAT

Men (1892), and wrote much on Comte and

Positivism

POSITIVISM (derived from ponere, whence positus, that which is laid down, certain)

. Of his separate publications, the most important are his lives of Cromwell (1888), William the Silent, (1897), Ruskin (1902), and Chatham (1905); his Meaning of History (1862; enlarged 1894) and Byzantine History in the Early Middle Ages (1900); and his essays on Early Victorian Literature (1896) and The Choice of Books (1886) are remarkable alike for generous admiration and good sense. In 1904 he published a " romantic mono-graph " of the loth century, Theophano, and in 1906 a verse tragedy, Nicephorus. An advanced and vehement Radical in politics and Progressive in municipal affairs, Mr Harrison in 1886 stood unsuccessfully for parliament against Sir John Lubbock for London University. In 1889 he was elected an alderman of the London County Council, but resigned in 1893. In 187o he married Ethel Berta, daughter of Mr William Harrison, by whom he had four sons. George Gissing, the novelist, was at one time their tutor; and in 1905 Mr Harrison wrote a preface to Gissing's Veranilda (see also Mr Austin Harrison's article on Gissing in the Nineteenth Century, September 1906). As a religious teacher, literary critic, historian and jurist, Mr Harrison took a prominent part in the life of his time, and his writings, though often violently controversial on political and social subjects, and in their judgment and historical perspective characterized by a modern Radical point of view, are those of an accomplished scholar, and of one whose wide knowledge of literature was combined with independence of thought and admirable vigour of style. In 1907 he published The Creed of a Layman, Apologia pro fide mea, in explanation of his religious position.

End of Article: HARRISON, FREDERIC (1831 )

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/HAN_HEG/HARRISON_FREDERIC_1831_.html">
HARRISON, FREDERIC (1831 )
</a>

(Previous)
HARRISON, BENJAMIN

(Next)
HARRISON, JOHN (16931776)

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries was founded in 1997 and it exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email