[Payne Fisher, who styled himself Paganus Piscator, was born in
1616, in Dorsetshire, and removed from Hart Hall, Oxford, of
which he had been a commoner, to Magdalene College, Cambridge, in
1634; and there took a degree of B.A., and first discovered a
turn for poetry. He was afterwards a Captain in the King's
service at Marston Moor fight; but leaving his command, employed
his pen against the cause which he had supported with his sword,
and became a favourite of Cromwell's. After the King's return,
he, obtained a scanty subsistence by flattering men in power, and
was frequently imprisoned for debt. He died in 1693. He
published several poems, chiefly in Latin; and, in 1682, printed
a book of Heraldry, with the arms of each of the gentry as he had
waited upon with presentation copies. He was a man of talents,
but vain, unsteady, and conceited, and a great time-server.]
15th. My wife and I mightily pleased with our new house that we
hope to have. My patent has cost me a great deal of money; about
40l. In the afternoon to Henry the Seventh's Chapel, where I
heard a Sermon.
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