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diff --git a/34513-0.txt b/34513-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7980a96 --- /dev/null +++ b/34513-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14287 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers +of All Ages and Nations, by Joseph Mazzini Wheeler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations + +Author: Joseph Mazzini Wheeler + +Release Date: November 30, 2010 [eBook #34513] +[Most recently updated: December 23, 2022] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Adam Buchbinder, Jeroen Hellingman, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREETHINKERS *** + + + + + A + Biographical Dictionary + of + FREETHINKERS + of + All Ages and Nations. + + + By + J. M. WHEELER. + + + London: + Progressive Publishing Company, + 28 Stonecutter Street, E.C. + + 1889. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +John Stuart Mill in his "Autobiography" declares with truth that +"the world would be astonished if it knew how great a proportion +of its brightest ornaments, of those most distinguished even in +popular estimation for wisdom and virtue are complete sceptics in +religion." Many of these, as Mill points out, refrain from various +motives from speaking out. The work I have undertaken will, I trust, +do something to show how many of the world's worthiest men and women +have been Freethinkers. + +My Dictionary does not pretend to be a complete list of those who +have rendered services to Freethought. To form such a compilation +would rather be the task of an international society than of an +individual. Moreover details concerning many worthy workers are now +inaccessible. Freethought boasts its noble army of martyrs of whom +the world was not worthy, and who paid the penalty of their freedom +in prison or at the stake. Some of the names of these are only known +by the vituperation of their adversaries. I have done my best to +preserve some trustworthy record of as many as possible. + +The only complete work with a similar design of which I have any +knowledge, is the Dictionnaire des Athées anciens et modernes, +by Sylvain Maréchal with its supplements by Jerome de Lalande the +Astronomer, An. VIII. (1800)-1805. That work, which is now extremely +rare, gave scarcely any biographical details, and unfortunately +followed previous orthodox atheographers, such as Buddeus, Reimmann, +Hardouin, Garasse, Mersenne, in classing as Atheists those to whom +the title was inapplicable. I have taken no names from these sources +without examining the evidence. + +A work was issued by Richard Carlile in 1826, entitled A Dictionary of +Modern Anti-Superstionists; or, "an account, arranged alphabetically, +of those who, whether called Atheists, Sceptics, Latitudinarians, +Religious Reformers, or etc., have during the last ten centuries +contributed towards the diminution of superstition. Compiled by +a searcher after Truth." The compiler, as I have reason to know, +was Julian Hibbert, who brought to his task adequate scholarship +and leisure. It was, however, conceived on too extensive a scale, +and in 128 pages, all that was issued, it only reached to the name of +Annet. Julian Hibbert also compiled chronological tables of English +Freethinkers, which were published in the Reasoner for 1855. + +Of the Anti-Trinitarian Biography of the Rev. Robert Wallace, or of +the previous compilations of Saudius and Bock, I have made but little +use. To include the names of all who reject some of the Christian +dogmas was quite beside my purpose, though I have included those of +early Unitarians and Universalists who, I conceive, exhibited the true +spirit of free inquiry in the face of persecution. To the Freydenker +Lexikon of J. A. Trinius (1759) my obligations are slight, but should +be acknowledged. To Bayle's Dictionary, Hoefer's Nouvelle Biographie +Generale, Meyer's Konversations Lexikon, Franck's Dictionnaire des +Sciences Philosophiques, and to Larousse's Grand Dictionnaire Universel +I must also express my indebtedness. In the case of disputed dates +I have usually found Haydn's Dictionary of Biography (1886) most +trustworthy, but I have also consulted Oettinger's valuable Moniteur +des Dates. + +The particulars have in all cases been drawn from the best available +sources. I have not attempted to give a full view of any of the lives +dealt with, but merely sought to give some idea of their services and +relation to Freethought. Nor have I enumerated the whole of the works +of authors who have often dealt with a variety of subjects. As full +a list as is feasible has, however, been given of their distinctive +Freethought works; and the book will, I hope, be useful to anyone +wishing information as to the bibliography of Freethought. The only +work of a bibliographical kind is the Guide du Libre Penseur, by +M. Alfred Verlière, but his list is very far from complete even of +the French authors, with whom it is almost entirely occupied. I should +also mention La Lorgnette Philosophique, by M. Paquet, as giving lively +sketches, though not biographies, of some modern French Freethinkers. + +In the compilation of my list of names I have received assistance +from my friends, Mr. G. W. Foote (to whom I am also indebted for +the opportunity of publication), Mr. W. J. Birch, Mr. E. Truelove and +Mr. F. Malibran. For particulars in regard to some English Freethinkers +I am indebted to Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, Mr. George Jacob Holyoake and +Mr. E. T. Craig, while Professor Dalla Volta, of Florence, has kindly +assisted me with some of the Italian names. I must also express my +indebtedness to A. de Gubernatis, whose Dizionario Biografico degli +Scrittori Contemporanei I have found of considerable service. My thanks +are also due to G. K. Fortescue, Esq., for permission to examine the +titles of all Freethought works in the British Museum. + +Some readers may think my list contains names better omitted, while +omitting others well deserving a place. I have, for instance, omitted +many foreign Liberal Protestants while including Bishop Colenso, who, +ostensibly, did not go so far. But my justification, if any, must be +found in my purpose, which is to record the names of those who have +contributed in their generation to the advance of Freethought. No one +can be more conscious of the imperfections of my work than myself, +but I console myself with the reflection of Plato, that "though it +be the merit of a good huntsman to find game in a wide wood, it is +no discredit if he do not find it all"; and the hope that what I have +attempted some other will complete. + +The most onerous part of my task has been the examination of the +claims of some thousand names, mostly foreign, which find no place in +this dictionary. But the work throughout has been a labor of love. I +designed it as my humble contribution to the cause of Freethought, and +leave it with the hope that it will contribute towards the history of +"the good old cause"; a history which has yet to be written, and for +which, perhaps, the time is not yet ripe. + +Should this volume be received with an encouraging share of favor, +I hope to follow it with a History of Freethought in England, for +which I have long been collecting materials. + + + + + + +A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FREETHINKERS. + + +Abælardus (Petrus), b. 1079. A teacher of philosophy at Paris, renowned +for being loved by the celebrated Eloise. He was accused of teaching +erroneous opinions, chiefly about the Creation and the Trinity, and was +condemned by a council at Soissons in 1121 and by that of Sens 1140, +at the instigation of St. Bernard. He was hunted about, but spent +his last days as a monk at Cluni. He died 21 April, 1142. "Abelard," +observes Hallam, "was almost the first who awakened mankind, in the +age of darkness, to a sympathy with intellectual excellence." + +Abano (Petrus de). See Petrus, de Abano. + +Abauzit (Firmin), a French writer, descended from an Arabian family +which settled in the South of France early in the ninth century, +b. Uzes, 11 Nov. 1679. He travelled in Holland and became acquainted +with Bayle, attained a reputation for philosophy, and was consulted by +Voltaire and Rousseau. Among his works are, Reflections on the Gospels, +and an essay on the Apocalypse, in which he questions the authority +of that work. Died at Geneva 20 March, 1767. His Miscellanies were +translated in English by E. Harwood, 1774. + +Abbot (Francis Ellingwood). American Freethinker, b. Boston, 6 +Nov. 1836. He graduated at Harvard University 1859, began life as a +Unitarian minister, but becoming too broad for that Church, resigned +in 1869. He started the Index, a journal of free religious inquiry +and anti-supernaturalism, at Toledo, but since 1874 at Boston. This he +edited 1870-80. In 1872 appeared his Impeachment of Christianity. In +addition to his work on the Index, Mr. Abbot has lectured a great +deal, and has contributed to the North American Review and other +periodicals. He was the first president of the American National +Liberal League. Mr. Abbot is an evolutionist and Theist, and defends +his views in Scientific Theism, 1886. + +Ablaing van Giessenburg (R.C.) See Giessenburg. + +Abu Bakr Ibn Al-Tufail (Abu J'afar) Al Isbili. Spanish Arabian +philosopher, b. at Guadys, wrote a philosophical romance of pantheistic +tendency Hai Ibn Yakdan, translated into Latin by Pocock, Oxford 1671, +and into English by S. Ockley, 1711, under the title of The Improvement +of Human Reason. Died at Morocco 1185. + +Abu-Fazil (Abu al Fadhl ibn Mubarak, called Al Hindi), vizier to +the great Emperor Akbar from 1572. Although by birth a Muhammadan, +his investigations into the religions of India made him see equal +worth in all, and, like his master, Akbar, he was tolerant of all +sects. His chief work is the Ayin Akbary, a statistical account of +the Indian Empire. It was translated by F. Gladwin, 1777. He was +assassinated 1604. + +Abul-Abbas-Abdallah III. (Al Mamoun), the seventh Abbasside, caliph, +son of Haroun al Rashid, was b. at Bagdad 16 Sept. 786. He was a patron +of science and literature, collected Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, +and invited the scholars of all nations to his capital. He wrote +several treatises and poems. Died in war near Tarsus, 9 Aug. 833. + +Abul-Ola (Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Sulaiman), celebrated Arabian poet, +b. at Maari, in Syria, Dec., 973. His free opinions gave much scandal +to devout Moslems. He was blind through small-pox from the age of +four years, but his poems exhibit much knowledge. He called himself +"the doubly imprisoned captive," in allusion to his seclusion and +loss of sight. He took no pains to conceal that he believed in no +revealed religion. Died May, 1057, and ordered the following verse +to be written on his tomb:--"I owe this to the fault of my father: +none owe the like to mine." + +Abu Tahir (al Karmatti), the chief of a freethinking sect at Bahrein, +on the Persian Gulf, who with a comparatively small number of followers +captured Mecca (930), and took away the black stone. He suddenly +attacked, defeated, and took prisoner Abissaj whom, at the head of +thirty thousand men, the caliph had sent against him. Died in 943. + +Achillini (Alessandro), Italian physician and philosopher b. Bologna 29 +Oct. 1463. He expounded the doctrines of Averroes, and wrote largely +upon anatomy. Died 2 Aug. 1512. His collected works were published +at Venice, 1545. + +Ackermann (Louise-Victorine, née Choquet), French poetess, b. Paris 30 +Nov. 1813. She travelled to Germany and there married (1853) a young +theologian, Paul Ackerman, who in preparing for the ministry lost his +Christian faith, and who, after becoming teacher to Prince Frederick +William (afterwards Frederick III.), died at the age of thirty-four +(1846). Both were friends of Proudhon. Madame Ackermann's poems +(Paris 1863-74 and 85) exhibit her as a philosophic pessimist and +Atheist. "God is dethroned," says M. Caro of her poems (Revue des +Deux Mondes, 15 May, 1874). She professes hatred of Christianity +and its interested professors. She has also published Thoughts of a +Solitary. Sainte Beuve calls her "the learned solitary of Nice." + +Acollas (Pierre Antoine René Paul Emile), French jurisconsult and +political writer, b. La Châtre 25 June, 1826, studied law at Paris. For +participating in the Geneva congress of the International Society +in 1867 he was condemned to one year's imprisonment. In 1871 he was +appointed head of the law faculty by the Commune. He has published +several manuals popularising the legal rights of the people, and has +written on Marriage its Past, Present, and Future, 1880. Mrs. Besant +has translated his monograph on The Idea of God in the Revolution, +published in the Droits de l'Homme. + +Acontius (Jacobus--Italian, Giacomo Aconzio). Born at Trent early +in sixteenth century. After receiving ordination in the Church of +Rome he relinquished that faith and fled to Switzerland in 1557. He +subsequently came to England and served Queen Elizabeth as a military +engineer. To her he dedicated his Strategems of Satan, published at +Basle 1565. This was one of the earliest latitudinarian works, and +was placed upon the Index. It was also bitterly assailed by Protestant +divines, both in England and on the Continent. An English translation +appeared in 1648. Some proceedings were taken against Acontius before +Bishop Grindall, of the result of which no account is given. Some +passages of Milton's Areopagitica may be traced to Acontius, who, +Cheynell informs us, lived till 1623. Stephen's Dictionary of National +Biography says he is believed to have died shortly after 1566. + +Acosta (Uriel). Born at Oporto 1597, the son of a Christianised Jew; +he was brought up as a Christian, but on reaching maturity, rejected +that faith. He went to Holland, where he published a work equally +criticising Moses and Jesus. For this he was excommunicated by the +Synagogue, fined and put in prison by the Amsterdam authorities, +and his work suppressed. After suffering many indignities from both +Jews and Christians, he committed suicide 1647. + +Adams (George), of Bristol, sentenced in 1842 to one month's +imprisonment for selling the Oracle of Reason. + +Adams (Robert C.), Canadian Freethought writer and lecturer. Author +of Travels in Faith from Tradition to Reason (New York, 1884), also +Evolution, a Summary of Evidence. + +Adler (Felix) Ph. D. American Freethinker, the son of a Jewish rabbi, +was b. in Alzey, Germany, 13 Aug. 1851. He graduated at Columbia +College, 1870, was professor of Hebrew and Oriental literature +at Cornell University from '74 to May '76, when he established in +New York the Society of Ethical Culture, to which he discourses on +Sundays. In 1877 he published a volume entitled Creed and Deed, in +which he rejects supernatural religion. Dr. Adler has also contributed +many papers to the Radical literature of America. + +Ænesidemus. A Cretan sceptical philosopher of the first century. He +adopted the principle of Heraclitus, that all things were in course +of change, and argued against our knowledge of ultimate causes. + +Airy (Sir George Biddell). English Astronomer Royal, b. Alnwick +27 July, 1801. Educated at Cambridge, where he became senior +wrangler 1823. During a long life Professor Airy did much to advance +astronomical science. His Notes on the Earlier Hebrew Scriptures 1876, +proves him to have been a thorough-going Freethinker. + +Aitkenhead (Thomas), an Edinburgh student aged eighteen, who was +indicted for blasphemy, by order of the Privy Council, for having +called the Old Testament "Ezra's Fables," and having maintained +that God and nature were the same. He was found guilty 24 Dec. 1696, +and hanged for blasphemy, 8 Jan. 1697. + +Aitzema (Lieuwe van), a nobleman of Friesland, b. at Dorckum 19 +Nov. 1600, author of a suppressed History of the Netherlands, between +1621-68. Is classed by Reimmann as an Atheist. Died at the Hague 23 +Feb. 1669. + +Akbar (Jalal-ed-din Muhammad), the greatest of the emperors of +Hindostan, b. 15 Oct. 1542, was famous for his wide administration and +improvement of the empire. Akbar showed toleration alike to Christians, +Muhammadans, and to all forms of the Hindu faith. He had the Christian +gospels and several Brahmanical treatises translated into Persian. The +result of his many conferences on religion between learned men of +all sects, are collected in the Dabistan. Akbar was brought up as a +Muhammadan, but became a Theist, acknowledging one God, but rejecting +all other dogmas. Died Sept. 1605. + +Alberger (John). American author of Monks, Popes, and their Political +Intrigues (Baltimore, 1871) and Antiquity of Christianity (New York, +1874). + +Albini (Giuseppe). Italian physiologist, b. Milan. In 1845 he +studied medicine in Paris. He has written on embryology and many +other physiological subjects. + +Alchindus. Yakub ibn Is'hak ibn Subbah (Abú Yúsuf) called Al Kindi, +Arab physician and philosopher, the great grandson of one of the +companions of Muhammad, the prophet, flourished from 814 to about +840. He was a rationalist in religion, and for his scientific studies +he was set down as a magician. + +Alciati (Giovanni Paolo). A Milanese of noble family. At first +a Romanist, he resigned that faith for Calvinism, but gradually +advanced to Anti-trinitarianism, which he defends in two letters +to Gregorio Pauli, dated Austerlitz 1564 and 1565. Beza says that +Alciati deserted the Christian faith and became a Muhammadan, but +Bayle takes pains to disprove this. Died at Dantzic about 1570. + +Aleardi (Gaetano). Italian poet, known as Aleardo Aleardi, b. Verona, 4 +Nov. 1812. He was engaged in a life-long struggle against the Austrian +dominion, and his patriotic poems were much admired. In 1859 he was +elected deputy to Parliament for Brescia. Died Verona, 16 July, 1878. + +Alembert (Jean le Rond d'), mathematician and philosopher, b. at +Paris 16 Nov. 1717. He was an illegitimate son of Canon Destouches +and Mme. Tencin, and received his Christian name from a church +near which he was exposed as a foundling. He afterwards resided +for forty years with his nurse, nor would he leave her for the most +tempting offers. In 1741, he was admitted a member of the Academy of +Sciences. In 1749, he obtained the prize medal from the Academy of +Berlin, for a discourse on the theory of winds. In 1749, he solved the +problem of the procession of the equinoxes and explained the mutation +of the earth's axis. He next engaged with Diderot, with whose opinions +he was in complete accord, in compiling the famous Encyclopédie, for +which he wrote the preliminary discourse. In addition to this great +work he published many historical, philosophical and scientific essays, +and largely corresponded with Voltaire. His work on the Destruction +of the Jesuits is a caustic and far-reaching production. In a letter +to Frederick the Great, he says: "As for the existence of a supreme +intelligence, I think that those who deny it advance more than they +can prove, and scepticism is the only reasonable course." He goes on +to say, however, that experience invincibly proves the materiality of +the "soul." Died 29 Oct. 1783. In 1799 two volumes of his posthumous +essays were printed in Paris. His works prove d'Alembert to have been +of broad spirit and of most extensive knowledge. + +Alfieri (Vittorio), Count. Famous Italian poet and dramatist, b. Asti, +Piedmont, 17 Jan. 1749, of a noble family. His tragedies are justly +celebrated, and in his Essay on Tyranny he shows himself as favorable +to religious as to political liberty. Written in his youth, this work +was revised at a more advanced age, the author remarking that if he +had no longer the courage, or rather the fire, necessary to compose +it, he nevertheless retained intelligence, independence and judgment +enough to approve it, and to let it stand as the last of his literary +productions. His attack is chiefly directed against Catholicism, +but he does not spare Christianity. "Born among a people," he says, +"slavish, ignorant, and already entirely subjugated by priests, the +Christian religion knows only how to enjoin the blindest obedience, +and is unacquainted even with the name of liberty." Alfieri's tragedy +of Saul has been prohibited on the English stage. Died Florence, +8 Oct. 1803. + +Alfonso X., surnamed the Wise, King of Castillo and of Leon; b. in +1223, crowned 1252. A patron of science and lover of astronomy. He +compiled a complete digest of Roman, feudal and canon law, and +had drawn up the astronomical tables called Alfonsine Tables. By +his liberality and example he gave a great impulse to Spanish +literature. For his intercourse with Jews and Arabians, his +independence towards the Pope and his free disposal of the clerical +revenues, he has been stigmatised as an Atheist. To him is attributed +the well-known remark that had he been present at the creation of the +world he would have proposed some improvements. Father Lenfant adds +the pious lie that "The king had scarcely pronounced this blasphemy +when a thunderbolt fell and reduced his wife and two children to +ashes." Alfonso X. died 4 April, 1284. + +Algarotti (Francesco), Count. Italian writer and art critic, b. at +Venice, 11 Dec. 1712. A visit to England led him to write Newtonianism +for the Ladies. He afterwards visited Berlin and became the friend +both of Voltaire and of Frederick the Great, who appointed him his +Chamberlain. Died with philosophical composure at Pisa, 3 May, 1764. + +Alger (William Rounseville), b. at Freetown, Massachusetts, 30 +Dec. 1822, educated at Harvard, became a Unitarian preacher of the +advanced type. His Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future +Life, with a complete bibliography of the subject by Ezra Abbot, +is a standard work, written from the Universalist point of view. + +Allen (Charles Grant Blairfindie), naturalist and author, b. in +Kingston, Canada, 24 Feb. 1848. He studied at Merton College, Oxford, +and graduated with honors 1871. In 1873 appointed Professor of Logic +in Queen's College, Spanish town, Jamaica; from 1874 to '77 he was +its principal. Since then he has resided in England, and become +known by his popular expositions of Darwinism. His published works +include Physiological Æsthetics (1877), The Evolutionist at Large +(1881), Nature Studies (1883), Charles Darwin (1885), and several +novels. Grant Allen has also edited the miscellaneous works of Buckle, +and has written on Force and Energy (1888). + +Allen (Ethan) Col., American soldier, b. at Litchfield, Connecticut, +10 Jan. 1737. One of the most active of the revolutionary heroes, +he raised a company of volunteers known as the "Green Mountain Boys," +and took by surprise the British fortress of Ticonderoga, capturing +100 guns, 10 May, 1775. He was declared an outlaw and £100 offered +for his arrest by Gov. Tryon of New York. Afterwards he was taken +prisoner and sent to England. At first treated with cruelty, he was +eventually exchanged for another officer, 6 May, 1778. He was a member +of the state legislature, and succeeded in obtaining the recognition +of Vermont as an independent state. He published in 1784 Reason +the only Oracle of Man, the first publication in the United States +openly directed against the Christian religion. It has been frequently +reprinted and is still popular in America. Died Burlington, Vermont, +13 Feb. 1789. A statue is erected to him at Montpelier, Vermont. + +Allsop (Thomas). "The favorite disciple of Coleridge," b. 10 April, +1794, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire, he lived till 1880. A friend +of Robert Owen and the Chartists. He was implicated in the attempt +of Orsini against Napoleon III. In his Letters, Conversations and +Recollections of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he has imported many of +his Freethought views. + +Alm (Richard von der). See Ghillany (F. W.) + +Alpharabius (Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan) (Abu Nasr), called +Al Farabi, Turkish philosopher, termed by Ibn Khallikan the greatest +philosopher the Moslems ever had, travelled to Bagdad, mastered +the works of Aristotle, and became master of Avicenna. Al Farabi is +said to have taught the eternity of the world and to have denied the +permanent individuality of the soul. His principal work is a sort +of encyclopædia. Rénan says he expressly rejected all supernatural +revelation. Died at Damascus Dec. 950, aged upwards of eighty. + +Amaury or Amalric de Chartres, a heretic of the thirteenth century, +was a native of Bene, near Chartres, and lived at Paris, where he gave +lessons in logic. In a work bearing the title of Physion, condemned +by a bull of Pope Innocent III. (1204), he is said to have taught a +kind of Pantheism, and that the reign of the Father and Son must give +place to that of the Holy Spirit. Ten of his disciples were burnt at +Paris 20 Dec. 1210, and the bones of Amaury were exhumed and placed +in the flames. + +Amberley (John Russell) Viscount, eldest son of Earl Russell, +b. 1843. Educated at Harrow, Edinburgh and Trinity College, +Cambridge, where ill-health prevented him reading for honors. He +entered Parliament in 1866 as Radical member for Nottingham. Lord +Amberley contributed thoughtful articles to the North British, +the Fortnightly and Theological Reviews, and will be remembered by +his bold Analysis of Religious Belief (1876), in which he examines, +compares and criticises the various faiths of the world. Lord Amberley +left his son to be brought up by Mr. Spalding, a self-taught man of +great ability and force of character; but the will was set aside, on +appeal to the Court of Chancery, in consideration of Mr. Spalding's +heretical views. Died 8 Jan. 1876. + +Amman (Hans Jacob), German surgeon and traveller, b. Lake Zurich +1586. In 1612 he went to Constantinople, Palestine and Egypt, and +afterwards published a curious book called Voyage in the Promised +Land. Died at Zurich, 1658. + +Ammianus (Marcellinus). Roman soldier-historian of the fourth century, +b. at Antioch. He wrote the Roman history from the reign of Nerva to +the death of Valens in thirty-one books, of which the first thirteen +are lost. His history is esteemed impartial and trustworthy. He served +under Julian, and compares the rancor of the Christians of the period +to that of wild beasts. Gibbon calls him "an accurate and faithful +guide." Died about 395 A.D. + +Ammonius, surnamed Saccas or the Porter, from his having been obliged +in the early part of his life to adopt that calling, was born of +Christian parents in Alexandria during the second century. He, +however, turned Pagan and opened a school of philosophy. Among his +pupils were Origen, Longinus and Plotinus. He undoubtedly originated +the Neo-Platonic movement, which formed the most serious opposition +to Christianity in its early career. Ammonius died A.D. 243, aged +over eighty years. + +Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher of the Ionic school, b. about 499 B.C., +lived at Athens and enjoyed the friendship of Pericles. In 450 B.C. he +was accused of Atheism for maintaining the eternity of matter and was +banished to Lampsacus, where he died in 428 B.C. It is related that, +being asked how he desired to be honored after death, he replied, +"Only let the day of my death be observed as a holiday by the boys +in the schools." He taught that generation and destruction are only +the union and separation of elements which can neither be created +nor annihilated. + +Andre-Nuytz (Louis), author of Positivism for All, an elementary +exposition of Positive philosophy, to which Littré wrote a preface, +1868. + +Andrews (Stephen Pearl). American Sociologist, b. Templeton, Mass., +22 March, 1812. He was an ardent Abolitionist, an eloquent speaker, +and the inventor of a universal language called Alwato. His principle +work is entitled The Basic Outline of Universology (N. Y., 1872). He +also wrote The Church and Religion of the Future (1886). He was a +prominent member and vice-president of the Liberal Club of New York, +a contributor to the London Times, the New York Truthseeker, and many +other journals. Died at New York, 21 May, 1886. + +Andrieux (Louis). French deputy, b. Trévoux 20 July, 1840. Was +called to the bar at Lyons, where he became famous for his political +pleading. He took part in the Freethought Congress at Naples in 1869, +and in June of the following year he was imprisoned for three months +for his attack on the Empire. On the establishment of the Republic he +was nominated procureur at Lyons. He was on the municipal council of +that city, which he has also represented in the Chamber of Deputies. In +1879 he became Prefect of Police at Paris, but retired in 1881 and was +elected deputy by his constituents at Lyons. He has written Souvenirs +of a Prefect of Police (1885). + +Angelucci (Teodoro). Italian poet and philosopher, b. near Tolentino +1549. He advocated Aristotle against F. Patrizi, and was banished +from Rome. One of the first emancipators of modern thought in Italy, +he also made an excellent translation of the Æneid of Virgil. Died +Montagnana, 1600. + +Angiulli (Andrea). Italian Positivist, b. Castellana 12 Feb. 1837, +author of a work on philosophy and Positive research, Naples 1868. He +became professor of Anthropology at Naples in 1876, and edits a +philosophical review published in that city since 1881. + +Annet (Peter). One of the most forcible writers among the English +Deists, b. at Liverpool in 1693. He was at one time a schoolmaster +and invented a system of shorthand. Priestley learnt it at school +and corresponded with Annet. In 1739 he published a pamphlet on +Freethinking the Great Duty of Religion, by P. A., minister of +religion. This was followed by the Conception of Jesus as the +Foundation of the Christian Religion, in which he boldly attacks +the doctrine of the Incarnation as "a legend of the Romanists," +and The Resurrection of Jesus Considered (1744) in answer to Bishop +Sherlock's Trial of the Witnesses. This controversy was continued in +The Resurrection Reconsidered and The Resurrection Defenders Stript +of all Defence. In An Examination of the History and Character of +St. Paul he attacks the sincerity of the apostle to the Gentiles and +even questions the authenticity of his epistles. In Supernaturals +Examined (1747) he argues that all miracles are incredible. In 1761 +he issued nine numbers of the Free Inquirer, in which he attacked +the authenticity and credibility of the Pentateuch. For this he was +brought before the King's Bench and sentenced to suffer one month's +imprisonment in Newgate, to stand twice in the pillory, once at +Charing Cross and once at the Exchange, with a label "For Blasphemy," +then to have a year's hard labor in Bridewell and to find sureties +for good behavior during the rest of his life. It is related that +a woman seeing Annet in the pillory said, "Gracious! pilloried for +blasphemy. Why, don't we blaspheme every day!" After his release Annet +set up a school at Lambeth. Being asked his views on a future life +he replied by this apologue: "One of my friends in Italy, seeing the +sign of an inn, asked if that was the Angel." "No," was the reply, +"do you not see it is the sign of a dragon." "Ah," said my friend, +"as I have never seen either angel or dragon, how can I tell whether +it is one or the other?" Died 18 Jan. 1769. The History of the Man +after God's Own Heart (1761) ascribed to Annet, was more probably +written by Archibald Campbell. The View of the Life of King David +(1765) by W. Skilton, Horologist, is also falsely attributed to Annet. + +Anthero de Quental, Portuguese writer, b. San Miguel 1843. Educated +for the law at the University of Coimbra, he has published both poetry +and prose, showing him to be a student of Hartmann, Proudhon and Rénan, +and one of the most advanced minds in Portugal. + +Anthony (Susan Brownell). American reformer, b. of a Quaker family +at South Adams, Massachusetts, 15 Feb. 1820. She became a teacher, +a temperance reformer, an opponent of slavery, and an ardent advocate +of women's rights. Of the last movement she became secretary. In +conjunction with Mrs. E. C. Stanton and Parker Pillsbury she conducted +The Revolutionist founded in New York in 1868, and with Mrs. Stanton +and Matilda Joslyn Gage she has edited the History of Woman's Suffrage, +1881. Miss Anthony is a declared Agnostic. + +Antoine (Nicolas). Martyr. Denied the Messiahship and divinity of +Jesus, and was strangled and burnt at Geneva, 20 April, 1632. + +Antonelle (Pierre Antoine) Marquis d', French political economist, +b. Arles 1747. He embraced the revolution with ardor, and his article +in the Journal des Hommes Libres occasioned his arrest with Baboeuf. He +was, however, acquitted. Died at Arles, 26 Nov. 1817. + +Antoninus (Marcus Aurelius). See Aurelius. + +Apelt (Ernst Friedrich), German philosopher, b. Reichenau 3 March, +1812. He criticised the philosophy of religion from the standpoint +of reason, and wrote many works on metaphysics. Died near Gorlitz, +27 Oct. 1859. + +Aquila, a Jew of Pontus, who became a proselyte to Christianity, but +afterwards left that religion. He published a Greek version of the +Hebrew scriptures to show that the prophecies did not apply to Jesus +(A.D. 128). The work is lost. He has been identified by E. Deutsch +with the author of the Targum of Onkelos. + +Arago (Dominique François Jean), French academician, politician, +physicist and astronomer, b. Estagel, 26 Feb. 1786. He was elected to +the French Academy of Sciences at the age of twenty-three. He made +several optical and electro-magnetic discoveries, and advocated +the undulatory theory of light. He was an ardent Republican and +Freethinker, and took part in the provisional Government of 1848. He +opposed the election of Louis Napoleon, and refused to take the +oath of allegiance after the coup d'état of December, 1851. Died 2 +Oct. 1853. Humboldt calls him a "zealous defender of the interests +of Reason." + +Ardigo (Roberto), Italian philosopher, b. at Casteldidone (Cremona) +28 Jan. 1828, was intended for the Church, but took to philosophy. In +1869 he published a discourse on Peitro Pomponazzi, followed next year +by Psychology as a Positive Science. Signor Ardigo has also written on +the formation of the solar system and on the historical formation of +the ideas of God and the soul. An edition of his philosophical works +was commenced at Mantua in 1882. Ardigo is one of the leaders of the +Italian Positivists. His Positivist Morals appeared in Padua 1885. + +Argens (Jean Baptiste de Boyer) Marquis d', French writer, b. at +Aix, in Provence, 24 June 1704. He adopted a military life and +served with distinction. On the accession of Frederick the Great +he invited d'Argens to his court at Berlin, and made him one of his +chamberlains. Here he resided twenty-five years and then returned to +Aix, where he resided till his death 11 June, 1771. His works were +published in 1768 in twenty-four volumes. Among them are Lettres +Juives, Lettres Chinoises and Lettres Cabalistiques, which were +joined to La Philosophie du bon sens. He also translated Julian's +discourse against Christianity and Ocellus Lucanus on the Eternity +of the World. Argens took Bayle as his model, but he was inferior to +that philosopher. + +Argental (Charles Augustin de Ferriol) Count d', French diplomat, +b. Paris 20 Dec. 1700, was a nephew of Mme. de Tencin, the mother +of D'Alembert. He is known for his long and enthusiastic friendship +for Voltaire. He was said to be the author of Mémoires du Comte de +Comminge and Anecdotes de la cour d'Edouard. Died 5 Jan. 1788. + +Aristophanes, great Athenian comic poet, contemporary with Socrates, +Plato, and Euripides, b. about 444 B.C. Little is known of his life. He +wrote fifty-four plays, of which only eleven remain, and was crowned +in a public assembly for his attacks on the oligarchs. With the utmost +boldness he satirised not only the the political and social evils +of the age, but also the philosophers, the gods, and the theology +of the period. Plato is said to have died with Aristophanes' works +under his pillow. Died about 380 B.C. + +Aristotle, the most illustrious of ancient philosophers, was born at +Stagyra, in Thrace, 384 B.C. He was employed by Philip of Macedon +to instruct his son Alexander. His inculcation of ethics as apart +from all theology, justifies his place in this list. After the death +of Alexander, he was accused of impiety and withdrew to Chalcis, +where he died B.C. 322. Grote says: "In the published writings of +Aristotle the accusers found various heretical doctrines suitable for +sustaining their indictment; as, for example, the declaration that +prayer and sacrifices to the gods were of no avail." His influence +was predominant upon philosophy for nearly two thousand years. Dante +speaks of him as "the master of those that know." + +Arnold of Brescia, a pupil of Abelard. He preached against the papal +authority and the temporal power, and the vices of the clergy. He +was condemned for heresy by a Lateran Council in 1139, and retired +from Italy. He afterwards returned to Rome and renewed his exertions +against sacerdotal oppression, and was eventually seized and burnt at +Rome in 1155. Baronius calls him "the patriarch of political heretics." + +Arnold (Matthew), LL.D. poet and critic, son of Dr. Arnold of Rugby, +b. at Laleham 24 Dec. 1822. Educated at Winchester, Rugby, and Oxford, +where he won the Newdigate prize. In 1848 he published the Strayed +Reveller, and other Poems, signed A. In 1851 he married and became +an inspector of schools. In 1853 appeared Empedocles on Etna, a poem +in which, under the guise of ancient teaching he gives much secular +philosophy. In 1857 he was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In +1871 he published an essay entitled St. Paul and Protestantism; in 1873 +Literature and Dogma, which, from its rejection of supernaturalism, +occasioned much stir and was followed by God and the Bible. In 1877 +Mr. Arnold published Last Essays on Church and State. Mr. Arnold +has a lucid style and is abreast of the thought of his age, but he +curiously unites rejection of supernaturalism, including a personal +God, with a fond regard for the Church of England. He may be said +in his own words to wander "between two worlds, one dead, the other +powerless to be born." Died 15 April, 1888. + +Arnould (Arthur), French writer, b. Dieuze 7 April, 1833. As +journalist he wrote on l'Opinion Nationale, the Rappel, Reforme and +other papers. In 1864 he published a work on Beranger, and in '69 a +History of the Inquisition. In Jan. 1870 he founded La Marseillaise +with H. Rochefort, and afterwards the Journal du Peuple with Jules +Valles. He was elected to the National Assembly and was member of +the Commune, of which he has written a history in three volumes. He +has also written many novels and dramas. + +Arnould (Victor), Belgian Freethinker, b. Maestricht, 7 Nov. 1838, +advocate at the Court of Appeal, Brussels. Author of a History of the +Church 1874, and a little work on the Philosophy of Liberalism 1877. + +Arouet (François Marie). See Voltaire. + +Arpe (Peter Friedrich). Philosopher, b. Kiel, Holstein, 10 May, +1682. Wrote an apology for Vanini dated Cosmopolis (i.e., Rotterdam, +1712). A reply to La Monnoye's treatise on the book De Tribus +Impostoribus is attributed to him. Died, Hamburg, 4 Nov. 1740. + +Arthur (John) is inserted in Maréchal's Dictionnaire des Athées +as a mechanic from near Birmingham, who took a prize at Paris and +republished the Invocation to Nature in the last pages of the System +of Nature. Julian Hibbert inserted his name in his Chronological +Tables of Anti-Superstitionists, with the date of death 1792. + +Asseline (Louis). French writer, b. at Versailles in 1829, became an +advocate in 1851. In 1866 he established La Libre Pensée, a weekly +journal of scientific materialism, and when that was suppressed +La Pensée Nouvelle. He was one of the founders of the Encyclopédie +Générale. He wrote Diderot and the Nineteenth Century, and contributed +to many journals. After the revolution of 4 Sept. 1870 he was elected +mayor of the fourteenth arrondissement of Paris, and was afterwards +one of the Municipal Council of that city. Died 6 April, 1878. + +Assezat (Jules). French writer, b. at Paris 21 Jan. 1832 was a son +of a compositor on the Journal des Debats, on which Jules obtained a +position and worked his way to the editorial chair. He was secretary of +the Paris Society of Anthropology, contributed to La Pensée Nouvelle, +edited the Man Machine of Lamettrie, and edited the complete works +of Diderot in twenty volumes. Died 24 June, 1876. + +Assollant (Jean, Baptiste Alfred). French novelist, b. 20 March, +1827. Larousse says he has all the scepticism of Voltaire. + +Ast (Georg Anton Friedrich). German Platonist, b. Gotha 29 +Dec. 1778. Was professor of classical literature at Landshut and +Munich. Wrote Elements of Philosophy, 1809, etc. Died Munich 31 +Dec. 1841. + +Atkinson (Henry George). Philosophic writer, b. in 1818. Was educated +at the Charterhouse, gave attention to mesmerism, and wrote in +the Zoist. In 1851 he issued Letters on the Laws of Man's Nature +and Development, in conjunction with Harriet Martineau, to whom he +served as philosophic guide. This work occasioned a considerable +outcry. Mr. Atkinson was a frequent contributor to the National +Reformer and other Secular journals. He died 28 Dec. 1884, at Boulogne, +where he had resided since 1870. + +Aubert de Verse (Noel). A French advocate of the seventeenth century, +who wrote a history of the Papacy (1685) and was accused of blasphemy. + +Audebert (Louise). French authoress of the Romance of a Freethinker +and of an able Reply of a Mother to the Bishop of Orleans, 1868. + +Audifferent (Georges). Positivist and executor to Auguste Comte, +was born at Saint Pierre (Martinque) in 1823, settled at Marseilles, +and is the author of several medical and scientific works. + +Aurelius (Marcus Antoninus). Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, b. at +Rome 26 April, 121. Was carefully educated, and lived a laborious, +abstemious life. On the death of his uncle Antoninus Pius, 161, the +Senate obliged him to take the government, but he associated with +himself L. Verus. On the death of Verus in 169 Antoninus possessed +sole authority, which he exercised with wise discretion and great +glory. Much of his time was employed in defending the northern +frontiers of the empire against Teutonic barbarians. He had no +high opinion of Christians, speaking of their obstinacy, and it is +pretended many were put to death in the reign of one of the best +emperors that ever ruled. If so we may be assured it was for their +crimes. Ecclesiastical historians have invented another pious miracle +in a victory gained through the prayers of the Christians. Antoninus +held that duty was indispensable even were there no gods. His +Meditations, written in the midst of a most active life, breathe a +lofty morality, and are a standing refutation of the view that pure +ethics depend upon Christian belief. Died 17 March, 180. + +Austin (Charles), lawyer and disciple of Bentham, b. Suffolk 1799. At +Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1824 and M.A. in 1827, he won, +much to the amazement of his friends, who knew his heterodox opinions, +the Hulsean prize for an essay on Christian evidences. For this he +was sorry afterwards, and told Lord Stanley of Alderley "I could +have written a much better essay on the other side." He afterwards +wrote on the other side in the Westminster Review. Successful as a +lawyer, he retired in ill-health. J. S. Mill writes highly of his +influence. The Hon. L. A. Tollemache gives a full account of his +heretical opinions. He says "He inclined to Darwinism, because as he +said, it is so antecedently probable; but, long before this theory +broke the back of final causes, he himself had given them up." Died +21 Dec. 1874. + +Austin (John), jurist, brother of above, was born 3 March, 1790. A +friend of James Mill, Grote and Bentham, whose opinions he shared, +he is chiefly known by his profound works on jurisprudence. Died 17 +Dec. 1859. + +Avempace, i.e., Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Bajjat (Abu Bekr), called +Ibn al-Saigh (the son of the goldsmith), Arabian philosopher and +poet, b. at Saragossa, practised medicine at Seville 1118, which he +quitted about 1120, and became vizier at the court of Fez, where he +died about 1138. An admirer of Aristotle, he was one of the teachers +of Averroes. Al-Fath Ibn Khâkân represents him as an infidel and +Atheist, and says: "Faith disappeared from his heart and left not a +trace behind; his tongue forgot the Merciful, neither did [the holy] +name cross his lips." He is said to have suffered imprisonment for +his heterodoxy. + +Avenel (Georges), French writer, b. at Chaumont 31 Dec. 1828. One of +the promoters of the Encyclopédie Générale. His vindication of Cloots +(1865) is a solid work of erudition. He became editor of la République +Française and edited the edition of Voltaire published by Le Siècle +(1867-70). Died at Bougival, near Paris, 1 July, 1876, and was, +by his express wish, buried without religious ceremony. + +Averroes (Muhammad Ibn-Ahmad Ibn Rushd), Abu al Walid, Arabian +philosopher, b. at Cordova in 1126, and died at Morocco 10 +Dec. 1198. He translated and commented upon the works of Aristotle, +and resolutely placed the claims of science above those of theology. He +was prosecuted for his heretical opinions by the Muhammadan doctors, +was spat upon by all who entered the mosque at the hour of prayer, +and afterwards banished. His philosophical opinions, which incline +towards materialism and pantheism, had the honor of being condemned +by the University of Paris in 1240. They were opposed by St. Thomas +Aquinas, and when profoundly influencing Europe at the Renaissance +through the Paduan school were again condemned by Pope Leo X. in 1513. + +Avicenna (Husain Ibn Abdallah, called Ibn Sina), Arabian physician and +philosopher, b. Aug. 980 in the district of Bokhara. From his early +youth he was a wonderful student, and at his death 15 June, 1037, +he left behind him above a hundred treatises. He was the sovereign +authority in medical science until the days of Harvey. His philosophy +was pantheistic in tone, with an attempt at compromise with theology. + +Aymon (Jean), French writer, b. Dauphiné 1661. Brought up in the +Church, he abjured Catholicism at Geneva, and married at the Hague. He +published Metamorphoses of the Romish Religion, and is said to have +put forward a version of the Esprit de Spinoza under the famous title +Treatise of Three Impostors. Died about 1734. + +Bagehot (Walter), economist and journalist, b. of Unitarian parents, +Langport, Somersetshire, 3 Feb. 1826; he died at the same place 24 +March, 1877. He was educated at London University, of which he became +a fellow. For the last seventeen years of his life he edited the +Economist newspaper. His best-known works are The English Constitution, +Lombard Street and Literary Studies. In Physics and Politics (1872), +a series of essays on the Evolution of Society, he applies Darwinism +to politics. Bagehot was a bold, clear, and very original thinker, +who rejected historic Christianity. + +Baggesen (Jens Immanuel), Danish poet, b. Kösor, Zealand. 15 +Feb. 1764. In 1789 he visited Germany, France, and Switzerland; at +Berne he married the grand-daughter of Haller. He wrote popular poems +both in Danish and German, among others Adam and Eve, a humorous mock +epic (1826). He was an admirer of Voltaire. Died Hamburg, 3 Oct. 1826. + +Bahnsen (Julius Friedrich August), pessimist, b. Tondern, +Schleswig-Holstein, 30 Mar. 1830. Studied philosophy at Keil, +1847. He fought against the Danes in '49, and afterwards studied at +Tübingen. Bahnsen is an independent follower of Schopenhauer and +Hartmann, joining monism to the idealism of Hegel. He has written +several works, among which we mention The Philosophy of History, +Berlin, 1872, and The Contradiction between the Knowledge and the +Nature of the World (2 vols), Berlin 1880-82. + +Bahrdt (Karl Friedrich), German deist, b. in Saxony, 25 +Aug. 1741. Educated for the Church, in 1766 he was made professor +of biblical philology. He was condemned for heresy, and wandered +from place to place. He published a kind of expurgated Bible, called +New Revelations of God: A System of Moral Religion for Doubters and +Thinkers, Berlin, 1787, and a Catechism of Natural Religion, Halle, +1790. Died near Halle, 23 April, 1792. + +Bailey (James Napier), Socialist, edited the Model Republic, 1843, the +Torch, and the Monthly Messenger. He published Gehenna: its Monarch +and Inhabitants; Sophistry Unmasked, and several other tracts in the +"Social Reformer's Cabinet Library," and some interesting Essays on +Miscellaneous Subjects, at Leeds, 1842. + +Bailey (Samuel), philosophical writer, of Sheffield, b. in 1791. His +essay on the Formation and Publication of Opinions appeared in 1821. He +vigorously contends that man is not responsible for his opinions +because they are independent of his will, and that opinions should +not be the subject of punishment. Another anonymous Freethought work +was Letters from an Egyptian Kaffir on a Visit to England in Search +of Religion. This was at first issued privately 1839, but afterwards +printed as a Reasoner tract. He also wrote The Pursuit of Truth, +1829, and a Theory of Reasoning, 1851. He was acquainted with both +James and John Stuart Mill, and shared in most of the views of the +philosophical Radicals of the period. Died 18 Jan. 1870, leaving +£90,000 to his native town. + +Bailey (William S.), editor of the Liberal, published in Nashville, +Tennessee, was an Atheist up till the day of death, March, 1886. In +a slave-holding State, he was the earnest advocate of abolition. + +Baillie (George), of Garnet Hill, Glasgow. Had been a sheriff in one +of the Scotch counties. He was a liberal subscriber to the Glasgow +Eclectic Institute. In 1854 he offered a prize for the best essay on +Christianity and Infidelity, which was gained by Miss Sara Hennell. In +1857 another prize was restricted to the question whether Jesus +prophesied the coming of the end of the world in the life-time of his +followers. It was gained by Mr. E. P. Meredith, and is incorporated +in his Prophet of Nazareth. In 1863 Mr. Baillie divested himself +of his fortune (£18,000) which was to be applied to the erection +and endowment of an institution to aid the culture of the operative +classes by means of free libraries and unsectarian schools, retaining +only the interest for himself as curator. He only survived a few years. + +Baillière (Gustave-Germer), French scientific publisher, b. at Paris +26 Dec. 1837. Studied medicine, but devoted himself to bringing out +scientific publications such as the Library of Contemporary Philosophy, +and the International Scientific Series. He was elected 29 Nov. 1874 as +Republican and anti-clerical member of the Municipal Council of Paris. + +Bain (Alexander) LL.D. Scotch philosopher, b. at Aberdeen in 1818. He +began life as a weaver but studied at Marischal College 1836-40, and +graduated M.A. in 1840. He then began to contribute to the Westminster +Review, and became acquainted with John Stuart Mill, whose Logic +he discussed in manuscript. In 1855 he published The Senses and +The Intellect, and in 1859 The Emotions and the Will, constituting +together a systematic exposition of the human mind. From 1860 to +1880 he occupied the Chair of Logic in the University of Aberdeen, +his accession being most obnoxious to the orthodox, and provoking +disorder among the students. In 1869 he received the degree of +LL.D. In addition to numerous educational works Dr. Bain published a +Compendium of Mental and Moral Science (1868), Mind and Body (1875), +and Education as a Science (1879), for the International Scientific +Series. In 1882 he published James Mill, a Biography, and John Stuart +Mill: a Criticism, with Personal Recollections. In 1881 he was elected +Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen, and this honor was renewed +in 1884, in which year he published Practical Essays. + +Bainham (James), martyr. He married the widow of Simon Fish, author +of the Supplycacion of Beggars, an attack upon the clergy of the +period. In 1531 he was accused of heresy, having among other things +denied transubstantiation, the confessional, and "the power of the +keys." It was asserted that he had said that he would as lief pray +to his wife as to "our lady," and that Christ was but a man. This +he denied, but admitted holding the salvation of unbelievers. He was +burnt 30 April, 1532. + +Baissac (Jules), French littérateur, b. Vans, 1827, author of several +studies in philology and mythology. In 1878 he published Les Origines +de la Religion in three volumes, which have the honor of being put +upon the Roman Index. This was followed by l'Age de Dieu, a study +of cosmical periods and the feast of Easter. In 1882 he began to +publish Histoire de la Diablerie Chrétienne, the first part of which +is devoted to the person and "personnel" of the devil. + +Bakunin (Mikhail Aleksandrovich), Russian Nihilist, b. Torshok +(Tver) 1814, of an ancient aristocratic family. He was educated at +St. Petersburg, and entered as an ensign in the artillery. Here he +became embued with revolutionary ideas. He went to Berlin in 1841, +studied the Hegelian philosophy, and published some philosophical +writings under the name of Jules Elisard. In '43 he visited Paris and +became a disciple of Proudhon. In '48 he was expelled from France +at the demand of Russia, whose government set the price of 10,000 +silver roubles on his head, went to Dresden and became a member of the +insurrectionary government. He was arrested and condemned to death, +May '50, but his sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life. He +escaped into Austria, was again captured and sentenced to death, +but was handed over to Russia and deported to Siberia. After several +years' penal servitude he escaped, travelled over a thousand miles +under extreme hardship, reached the sea and sailed to Japan. Thence he +sailed to California, thence to New York and London, where with Herzen +he published the Kolokol. He took part in the establishment of the +International Society, but being at issue with Karl Marx abandoned +that body in 1873. He died at Berne 1 July 1876, leaving behind a +work on God and the State, both being vigorously attacked. Laveleye +writes of him as "the apostle of universal destruction." + +Ball (William Platt), b. at Birmingham 28 Nov. 1844. Educated at +Birkbeck School, London. Became schoolmaster but retired rather +than teach religious doctrines. Matriculated at London University +1866. Taught pyrotechny in the Sultan's service 1870-71. Received +the order of the Medjidieh after narrow escape from death by the +bursting of a mortar. Upon his return published Poems from Turkey +(1872). Mr. Ball has contributed to the National Reformer since 1878 +and since 1884 has been on the staff of the Freethinker. He has +published pamphlets on Religion in Schools, the Ten Commandments +and Mrs Besant's Socialism, and has compiled with Mr. Foote the +Bible Handbook. Mr. Ball is a close thinker and a firm supporter of +Evolutional Malthusianism, which he has ably defended in the pages +of Progress. He has of late been engaged upon the question: Are the +Effects of Use and Disuse Inherited? + +Ballance (John), New Zealand statesman, b. Glenary, Antrim, Ireland, +March 1839. Going out to New Zealand he became a journalist and started +the Wanganui Herald. He entered Parliament in 1875 and became Colonial +Treasurer in '78. With Sir Robert Stout he has been a great support +to the Freethought cause in New Zealand. + +Baltzer (Wilhelm Eduard). German rationalist, b. 24 Oct. 1814, at +Hohenleine in Saxony. He was educated as a Protestant minister, but +resigned and founded at Nordhausen in 1847 a free community. He took +part in the Parliament of Frankfort in '48; has translated the life +of Apollonius of Tyana, and is the author of a history of religion +and numerous other works. Died 24 June, 1887. + +Bancel (François Désiré). French politician, b. Le Mastre, +2 Feb. 1822. Became an advocate. In 1849, he was elected to the +Legislative Assembly. After the coup d'état he retired to Brussels, +where he became Professor at the University. In 1869 he was elected +deputy at Paris in opposition to M. Ollivier. He translated the work +on Rationalism by Ausonio Franchi, and wrote on Mysteries, 1871, +besides many political works. Died 23 June, 1871. + +Barbier (Edmond). French translator of the works of Darwin, Lubbock, +and Tylor. Died 1883. + +Barbier d'Aucour (Jean). French critic and academician, b. Langres, +1642. Most of his writings are directed against the Jesuits. Died +Paris, 13 Sept. 1694. + +Barlow (George). Poet, b. in London, 19 June, 1847. In his volumes, +Under the Dawn and Poems, Real and Ideal, he gives utterance to many +Freethought sentiments. + +Barlow (Joel). American statesman, writer and poet, b. Reading, +Connecticut, 24 March, 1754. Served as a volunteer in the +revolutionary war, became a chaplain, but resigned that profession, +taking to literature. In England, in 1791, he published Advice to the +Privileged Orders. In France he translated Volney's Ruins of Empires, +and contributed to the political literature of the Revolution. Paine +entrusted him with the MS. of the first part of the Age of Reason. His +chief work is entitled the Columbiad, 1808. He was sent as minister +to France, 1811, and being involved in the misfortunes following the +retreat from Moscow, died near Cracow, Poland, 24 Dec. 1812. + +Barni (Jules Romain). French philosophic writer, b. Lille, 1 June, +1818. He became secretary to Victor Cousin, and translated the works +of Kant into French. He contributed to La Liberté de Penser (1847-51) +and to l'Avenir (1855). During the Empire he lived in Switzerland +and published Martyrs de la Libre Pensée (1862), La Morale dans +la Démocratie (1864), and a work on the French Moralists of the +Eighteenth Century (1873). He was elected to the National Assembly, +1872; and to the Chamber of Deputies, 1876. Died at Mers, 4 July, +1878. A statue is erected to him at Amiens. + +Barnout (Hippolyte). French architect and writer, b. Paris 1816, +published a Rational Calendar 1859 and 1860. In May 1870 he established +a journal entitled L'Athée, the Atheist, which the clerical journals +declared drew God's vengeance upon France. He is also author of a +work on aerial navigation. + +Barot (François Odysse). French writer, b. at Mirabeau 1830. He +has been a journalist on several Radical papers, was secretary to +Gustave Flourens, and has written on the Birth of Jesus (1864) and +Contemporary Literature in England (1874). + +Barrett (Thomas Squire). Born 9 Sept. 1842, of Quaker parents, both +grandfathers being ministers of that body; educated at Queenwood +College, obtained diploma of Associate in Arts from Oxford with honors +in Natural Science and Mathematics, contributed to the National +Reformer between 1865 and 1870, published an acute examination of +Gillespie's argument, à priori, for the existence of God (1869), +which in 1871 reached a second edition. He also wrote A New View +of Causation (1871), and an Introduction to Logic and Metyphysics +(1877). Mr. Barrett has been hon. sec. of the London Dialectical +Society, and edited a short-lived publication, The Present Day, 1886. + +Barrier (F. M.). French Fourierist, b. Saint Etienne 1815, became +professor of medicine at Lyons, wrote A Sketch of the Analogy of Man +and Humanity (Lyons 1846), and Principles of Sociology (Paris 1867), +and an abridgment of this entitled Catechism of Liberal and Rational +Socialism. Died Montfort-L'Amaury 1870. + +Barrillot (François). French author, b. of poor parents at Lyons in +1818. An orphan at seven years of age, he learnt to read from shop +signs, and became a printer and journalist. Many of his songs and +satires acquired popularity. He has also wrote a letter to Pope Pius +IX. on the OEcumenical Council (1871), signed Jean Populus, and a +philosophical work entitled Love is God. Died at Paris, 11 Dec. 1874. + +Barthez (Paul Joseph), French physician, b. Montpelier 11 Dec. 1734. A +friend of D'Alembert, he became associate editor of the Journal des +Savants and Encyclopédie Méthodique. He was made consulting physician +to the king and a councillor of State. Shown by the Archbishop of +Sens a number of works relating to the rites of his see he said, +"These are the ceremonies of Sens, but can you show me the sense +[Sens] of ceremonies." His principal work is New Elements of the +Science of Man. Died 15 Oct. 1806. + +Basedow (Johann Bernhard), German Rationalist and educational reformer, +b. at Hamburg 11 Sept. 1723. He studied theology at Leipsic, became +professor at the Academy of Sora, in Denmark, 1753-1761, and at +Altona, 1761-1768. While here he published Philalethea, the Grounds of +Religion, and other heterodox works, which excited so much prejudice +that he was in danger of being stoned. He devoted much attention to +improving methods of teaching. Died at Magdeburg 25 July, 1790. + +Baskerville (John), famous printer, b. Sion Hill, Wolverley, +Worcestershire, 28 Jan. 1706. Lived at Birmingham. He was at +first a stone-mason, then made money as an artistic japanner, and +devoted it to perfecting the art of type-founding and printing. As +a printer-publisher he produced at his own risk beautiful editions +of Milton, Addison, Shaftesbury, Congreve, Virgil, Horace, Lucretius, +Terence, etc. He was made printer to Cambridge University 1758. Wilkes +once visited him and was "shocked at his infidelity" (!) He died +8 Jan. 1775, and was buried in a tomb in his own garden. He had +designed a monumental urn with this inscription: "Stranger, beneath +this cone in unconsecrated ground a friend to the liberties of +mankind directed his body to be inurned. May the example contribute +to emancipate thy mind from the idle fears of superstition and the +wicked arts of priesthood." His will expresses the utmost contempt +for Christianity. His type was appropriately purchased to produce a +complete edition of Voltaire. + +Bassus (Aufidus). An Epicurean philosopher and friend of Seneca in +the time of Nero. Seneca praises his patience and courage in the +presence of death. + +Bate (Frederick), Socialist, author of The Student 1842, a drama +in which the author's sceptical views are put forward. Mr. Bate +was one of the founders of the social experiment at New Harmony, +now Queenswood College, Hants, and engraved a view representing the +Owenite scheme of community. + +Baudelaire (Charles Pierre), French poet, b. Paris, 9 April 1821, +the son of a distinguished friend of Cabanis and Condorcet. He +first became famous by the publication of Fleurs du Mal, 1857, in +which appeared Les Litanies de Satan. The work was prosecuted and +suppressed. Baudelaire translated some of the writings of E. A. Poe, +a poet whom he resembled much in life and character. The divine +beauty of his face has been celebrated by the French poet, Théodore +de Banville, and his genius in some magnificent stanzas by the English +poet, Algernon Swinburne. Died Paris 31 Aug. 1867. + +Baudon (P. L.), French author of a work on the Christian Superstition, +published at Brussels in 1862 and dedicated to Bishop Dupanloup under +the pseudonym of "Aristide." + +Bauer (Bruno), one of the boldest biblical critics of Germany, +b. Eisenberg, 6 Sept. 1809. Educated at the University of Berlin, +in 1834 he received a professorship of theology. He first attained +celebrity by a review of the Life of Jesus by Strauss (1835). This +was followed by his Journal of Speculative Theology and Critical +Exposition of the Religion of the Old Testament. He then proceeded +to a Review of the Gospel History, upon the publication of which +(1840) he was deprived of his professorship at Bonn. To this followed +Christianity Unveiled (1843), which was destroyed at Zurich before +its publication. This work continued his opposition to religion, +which was carried still further in ironical style in his Proclamation +of the Day of Judgement concerning Hegel the Atheist. Bauer's heresy +deepened with age, and in his Review of the Gospels and History of +their Origin (1850), to which Apostolical History is a supplement, +he attacked the historical truth of the New Testament narratives. In +his Review of the Epistles attributed to St. Paul (1852) he tries to +show that the first four epistles, which had hardly ever before been +questioned, were not written by Paul, but are the production of the +second century. In his Christ and the Cæsars he shows the influence +of Seneca and Greco-Roman thought upon early Christianity. He died +near Berlin, 13 April, 1882. + +Bauer (Edgar), b. Charlottenburg, 7 Oct. 1820, brother of the +preceding, collaborated in some of his works. His brochure entitled +Bruno Bauer and his Opponents (1842) was seized by the police. For +his next publication, The Strife of Criticism with Church and State +(1843), he was imprisoned for four years. He has also written on +English freedom, Capital, etc. + +Baume-Desdossat (Jacques François, de la), b. 1705, a Canon of +Avignon who wrote La Christiade (1753), a satire on the gospels, +in which Jesus is tempted by Mary Magdalene. It was suppressed by +the French Parliament and the author fined. He died 30 April, 1756. + +Baur (Ferdinand Christian von), distinguished theological critic, b. 21 +June, 1792, near Stuttgart. His father was a clergyman. He was educated +at Tübingen, where in 1826 he became professor of Church history. Baur +is the author of numerous works on dogmatic and historic theology, in +which he subverts all the fundamental positions of Christianity. He was +an Hegelian Pantheist. Among his more important works are Christianity +and the Church in the First Three Centuries and Paul: His Life and +Works. These are translated into English. He acknowledges only four +of the epistles of Paul and the Revelation as genuine products of +the apostolic age, and shows how very far from simplicity were the +times and doctrines of primitive Christianity. After a life of great +literary activity he died at Tübingen, 2 Dec. 1860. + +Bayle (Pierre), learned French writer, b. 18 Nov. 1647, at Carlat, +France, where his father was a Protestant minister. He was converted +to Romanism while studying at the Jesuit College, Toulouse, 1669. His +Romanism only lasted seventeen months. He abjured, and fled to +Switzerland, becoming a sceptic, as is evident from Thoughts on the +Comet, in which he compares the supposed mischiefs of Atheism with +those of fanaticism, and from many articles in his famous Dictionnaire +Critique, a work still of value for its curious learning and shrewd +observation. In his journal Nouvelles de la République des Lettres +he advocates religious toleration on the ground of the difficulty of +distinguishing truth from error. His criticism of Maimbourg's History +of Calvinism was ordered to be burnt by the hangman. Jurieu persecuted +him, and he was ordered to be more careful in preparing the second +edition of his dictionary. He died at Rotterdam, 28 Dec. 1706. Bayle +has been called the father of free discussion in modern times. + +Bayrhoffer (Karl Theodor), German philosopher, b. Marburg, 14 Oct., +1812, wrote The Idea and History of Philosophy (1838), took part in +the revolution of '48, emigrated to America, and wrote many polemical +works. Died near Monroe, Wisconsin, 3 Feb. 1888. + +Beauchamp (Philip). See Bentham and Grote. + +Beausobre (Louis de), b. at Berlin, 22 Aug. 1730, was adopted by +Frederick the Great out of esteem for his father, Isaac Beausobre, +the author of the History of Manicheanism. He was educated first at +Frankfort-on-Oder, then at Paris. He wrote on the scepticism of the +wise (Pyrrhonisme du Sage, Berlin, 1754), a work condemned to be burnt +by the Parliament of Paris. He also wrote anonymously The Dreams of +Epicurus, and an essay on Happiness (Berlin, 1758), reprinted with +the Social System of Holbach in 1795. Died at Berlin, 3 Dec. 1783. + +Bebel (Ferdinand August). German Socialist, b. Cologne, 22 +Feb. 1840. Brought up as a turner in Leipsic. Since '63, he became +distinguished as an exponent of social democracy, and was elected to +the German Reichstag in '71. In the following year he was condemned (6 +March) to two years' imprisonment for high treason. He was re-elected +in '74. His principal work is Woman in the Past, Present and Future +which is translated by H. B. A. Walther, 1885. He has also written on +the Mohammedan Culture Period (1884) and on Christianity and Socialism. + +Beccaria (Bonesana Cesare), an Italian marquis and writer, b. at Milan, +15 March, 1738. A friend of Voltaire, who praised his treatise on +Crimes and Punishments (1769), a work which did much to improve the +criminal codes of Europe. Died Milan, 28 Nov. 1794. + +Beesly (Edward Spencer), Positivist, b. Feckenham, Worcestershire, +1831. Educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he took B.A. in 1854, +and M.A. in '57. Appointed Professor of History, University College, +London, in 1860. He is one of the translators of Comte's System of +Positive Polity, and has published several pamphlets on political +and social questions. + +Beethoven (Ludwig van), one of the greatest of musical composers, +b. Bonn 16 Dec. 1770. His genius early displayed itself, and at the +age of five he was set to study the works of Handel and Bach. His many +compositions are the glory of music. They include an opera "Fidelio," +two masses, oratorios, symphonies, concertos, overtures and sonatas, +and are characterised by penetrating power, rich imagination, intense +passion, and tenderness. When about the age of forty he became totally +deaf, but continued to compose till his death at Vienna, 26 March, +1827. He regarded Goethe with much the same esteem as Wagner showed +for Schopenhauer, but he disliked his courtliness. His Republican +sentiments are well known, and Sir George Macfarren, in his life in +the Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography, speaks of him as a +"Freethinker," and says the remarkable mass in C. "might scarcely +have proceeded from an entirely orthodox thinker." Sir George Grove, +in his Dictionary of Music and Musicians, says: "Formal religion he +apparently had none," and "the Bible does not appear to have been one +of his favorite books." At the end of his arrangement of "Fidelio" +Moscheles had written, "Fine. With God's help." To this Beethoven +added, "O man, help thyself." + +Bekker (Balthasar), Dutch Rationalist, b. Metslawier (Friesland) +20 March, 1634. He studied at Gronigen, became a doctor of divinity, +and lived at Francker, but was accused of Socinianism, and had to fly +to Amsterdam, where he raised another storm by his World Bewitched +(1691), a work in which witchcraft and the power of demons are +denied. His book, which contains much curious information, raised +a host of adversaries, and he was deposed from his place in the +Church. It appeared in English in 1695. Died, Amsterdam, 11 June, +1698. Bekker was remarkably ugly, and he is said to have "looked like +the devil, though he did not believe in him." + +Belinsky (Vissarion Grigorevich), Russian critic, b. Pensa 1811, +educated at Pensa and Moscow, adopted the Pantheistic philosophy of +Hegel and Schelling. Died St. Petersburg, 28 May, 1848. His works +were issued in 12 volumes, 1857-61. + +Bell (Thomas Evans), Major in Madras Army, which he entered in 1842. He +was employed in the suppression of Thugee. He wrote the Task of To-Day, +1852, and assisted the Reasoner, both with pen and purse, writing over +the signature "Undecimus." He contemplated selling his commission to +devote himself to Freethought propaganda, but by the advice of his +friends was deterred. He returned to India at the Mutiny. In January, +1861, he became Deputy-Commissioner of Police at Madras. He retired +in July, 1865, and has written many works on Indian affairs. Died 12 +Sept. 1887. + +Bell (William S.), b. in Allegheny city, Pennsylvania, 10 +Feb. 1832. Brought up as a Methodist minister, was denounced for +mixing politics with religion, and for his anti-slavery views. In +1873 he preached in the Universalist Church of New Bedford, but in +Dec. '74, renounced Christianity and has since been a Freethought +lecturer. He has published a little book on the French Revolution, +and some pamphlets. + +Bender (Wilhelm), German Rationalist, professor of theology at Bonn, +b. 15 Jan. 1845, who created a sensation at the Luther centenary, +1883, by declaring that the work of the Reformation was incompleted +and must be carried on by the Rationalists. + +Bennett (De Robigne Mortimer), founder and editor of the New York +Truthseeker, b. of poor parents, Springfield (N.Y.), 23 Dec. 1818. At +the age of fifteen he joined the Shaker Society in New Lebanon. Here +he stayed thirteen years and then married. Having lost faith in the +Shaker creed, he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he started a +drug store. The perusal of Paine, Volney, and similar works made him +a Freethinker. In 1873, his letters to a local journal in answer to +some ministers having been refused, he resolved to start a paper of +his own. The result was the Truthseeker, which in January, 1876 became +a weekly, and has since become one of the principal Freethought organs +in America. In 1879 he was sentenced to thirteen months' imprisonment +for sending through the post a pamphlet by Ezra H. Heywood on the +marriage question. A tract, entitled An Open Letter to Jesus Christ, +was read in court to bias the jury. A petition bearing 200,000 +names was presented to President Hayes asking his release, but was +not acceded to. Upon his release his admirers sent him for a voyage +round the world. He wrote A Truthseeker's Voyage Round the World, +Letters from Albany Penitentiary, Answers to Christian Questions and +Arguments, two large volumes on The Gods, another on the World's Sages, +Infidels and Thinkers, and published his discussions with Humphrey, +Mair, and Teed, and numerous tracts. He died 6 Dec. 1882. + +Bentham (Jeremy), writer on ethics, jurisprudence, and political +economy, b. 15 Feb. 1748. A grand uncle named Woodward was the +publisher of Tindal's Christianity as Old as the Creation. Was educated +at Westminster and Oxford, where he graduated M.A. 1767. Bentham +is justly regarded as the father of the school of philosophical +Radicalism. In philosophy he is the great teacher of Utilitarianism; +as a jurist he did much to disclose the defects of and improve our +system of law. Macaulay says he "found jurisprudence a gibberish and +left it a science." His most pronounced Freethought work was that +written in conjunction with Grote, published as An Analysis of the +Influence of Natural Religion, by Philip Beauchamp, 1822. Among his +numerous other works we can only mention Deontology, or the Science +of Mortality, an exposition of utilitarianism; Church of Englandism +and its Catechism Examined; Not Paul, but Jesus, published under the +pseudonym of Gamaliel Smith. Died 6 June, 1832, leaving his body for +the purposes of science. + +Béranger (Jean Pierre de), celebrated French lyrical poet, +b. Paris, 19 Aug. 1780. His satire on the Bourbons twice ensured +for him imprisonment. He was elected to the Constituant Assembly +1848. Béranger has been compared not inaptly to Burns. All his songs +breathe the spirit of liberty, and several have been characterised +as impious. He died 16 July, 1857. + +Bergel (Joseph), Jewish Rationalist, author of Heaven and Its Wonders, +Leipsic, 1881, and Mythology of the Ancient Hebrews, 1882. + +Berger (Moriz), author of a work on Materialism in Conflict with +Spiritualism and Idealism, Trieste, 1883. + +Bergerac de (Savinien Cyrano). See Cyrano. + +Bergk (Johann Adam), German philosopher, b. Hainechen, Zeitz, 27 June, +1769; became a private teacher at Leipsic and wrote many works, both +under his own name and pseudonyms. He published the Art of Thinking, +Leipsic, 1802, conducted the Asiatic Magazine, 1806, and wrote under +the name of Frey the True Religion, "recommended to rationalists +and destined for the Radical cure of supernaturalists, mystics, +etc." Died Leipsic, 27 Oct. 1834. + +Bergk (Theodor), German humanist, son of the above, b. Leipsic, +22 May, 1812, author of a good History of Greek Literature, 1872. + +Berigardus (Claudius), or Beauregard (Claude Guillermet), French +physician and philosopher, b. at Moulins about 1591. He became a +professor at Pisa from 1628 till 1640, and then went to Padua. His +Circulus Pisanus, published in 1643, was considered an Atheistic +work. In the form of a dialogue he exhibits the various hypotheses +of the formation of the world. The work was forbidden and is very +rare. His book entitled Dubitationes in Dialogum Galilæi, also brought +on him a charge of scepticism. Died in 1664. + +Berkenhout (Dr. John), physician and miscellaneous writer, b. 1731, +the son of a Dutch merchant who settled at Leeds. In early life he +had been a captain both in the Prussian and English service, and +in 1765 took his M.D. degree at Leyden. He published many books on +medical science, a synopsis of the natural history of Great Britain +and Ireland, and several humorous pieces, anonymously. His principal +work is entitled Biographia Literaria, a biographical history of +English literature, 1777. Throughout the work he loses no opportunity +of displaying his hostility to the theologians, and is loud in his +praises of Voltaire. Died 3 April, 1791. + +Berlioz (Louis Hector). The most original of French musical composers, +b. Isère, 11 Dec. 1803. He obtained fame by his dramatic symphony +of Romeo and Juliet (1839), and was made chevalier of the Legion +of Honor. Among his works is one on the Infancy of Christ. In his +Memoirs he relates how he scandalised Mendelssohn "by laughing at +the Bible." Died Paris, 9 March, 1869. + +Bernard (Claude), French physiologist, b. Saint Julien 12 July, +1813. Went to Paris 1832, studied medicine, became member of the +Institute and professor at the Museum of Natural History, wrote +La Science Experimentale, and other works on physiology. Died 10 +Feb. 1878, and was buried at the expense of the Republic. Paul Bert +calls him the introducer of determinism in the domain of physiology. + +Bernier (Abbé). See Holbach. + +Bernier (François), French physician and traveller, b. Angers about +1625. He was a pupil of Gassendi, whose works he abridged, and he +defended Descartes against the theologians. He is known as le joli +philsophe. In 1654 he went to Syria and Egypt, and from thence to +India, where he became physician to Aurungzebe. On his return he +published an account of his travels and of the Empire of the Great +Mogul, and died at Paris 22 Sept. 1688. + +Bernstein (Aaron), a rationalist, b. of Jewish parents Dantzic +1812. His first work was a translation of the Song of Songs, published +under the pseudonym of A. Rebenstein (1834). He devoted himself +to natural science and published works on The Rotation of Planets, +Humboldt and the Spirit of the Time, etc. His essay on The Origin of +the Legends of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was translated by a German +lady and published by Thomas Scott of Ramsgate (1872). Died Berlin, +12 Feb. 1884. + +Berquin (Louis de), French martyr, b. in Artois, 1489. Erasmus, +his friend, says his great crime was openly professing hatred of +the monks. In 1523 his works were ordered to be burnt, and he was +commanded to abjure his heresies. Sentence of perpetual banishment +was pronounced on him on April 16, 1529. He immediately appealed to +the Parliament. His appeal was heard and rejected on the morning of +the 17th. The Parliament reformed the judgment and condemned him to +be burnt alive, and the sentence was carried out on the same afternoon +at the Place de la Grève. He died with great constancy and resolution. + +Bert (Paul), French scientist and statesman, b. at Auxerre, 17 +Oct. 1833. In Paris he studied both law and medicine, and after +being Professor in the Faculty of Science at Bordeaux, he in 1869 +obtained the chair of physiology in the Faculty of Science at Paris, +and distinguished himself by his scientific experiments. In '70 he +offered his services to the Government of National Defence, and in +'72 was elected to the National Assembly, where he signalised himself +by his Radical opinions. Gambetta recognised his worth and made him +Minister of Public Instruction, in which capacity he organised French +education on a Secular basis. His First Year of Scientific Instruction +is almost universally used in the French primary schools. It has been +translated into English by Josephine Clayton (Madame Paul Bert). His +strong anti-clerical views induced much opposition. He published +several scientific and educational works and attacked The Morality of +the Jesuits, '80. In '86 he was appointed French Resident Minister at +Tonquin, where he died 11 Nov. '86. His body was brought over to France +and given a State funeral, a pension being also accorded to his widow. + +Bertani (Agostino), Italian patriot, b. 19 Oct. 1812, became a +physician at Genoa, took part with Garibaldi and Mazzini, organising +the ambulance services. A declared Freethinker, he was elected deputy +to the Italian Parliament. Died Rome 30 April, '86. + +Berti (Antonio), Italian physician, b. Venice 20 June, 1816. Author +of many scientific works, member of the Venice Municipal Council and +of the Italian Senate. Died Venice 24 March, 1879. + +Bertillon (Louis Adolphe), French Anthropologist and physician, +b. Paris 1 April, 1821. His principal work is a statistical study +of the French population, Paris '74. He edits in conjunction with +A. Hovelacque and others, the Dictionary of the Anthropological +Sciences ('83 etc.) His sons, Jacques (b. '51) and Alphonse (b. '53), +prosecute similar studies. + +Bertrand de Saint-Germain (Guillaume Scipion), French physician, +b. Puy-en-Velay 25 Oct. 1810. Became M.D. 1840, wrote on The +Original Diversity of Human Races (1847), and a materialistic work +on Manifestation of Life and Intelligence through Organisation, +1848. Has also written on Descartes as a Physiologist, 1869. + +Berwick (George J.) M.D., appointed surgeon to the East India Company +in 1828, retired in '52. Author of Awas-i-hind, or a Voice from the +Ganges; being a solution of the true source of Christianity. By an +Indian Officer; London, 1861. Also of a work on The Forces of the +Universe, '70. Died about 1872. + +Besant (Annie) née Wood. B. London, 1 Oct. 1847. Educated in +Evangelicalism by Miss Marryat, sister of novelist, but turned +to the High Church by reading Pusey and others. In "Holy Week" +of 1866 she resolved to write the story of the week from the +gospel. Their contradictions startled her but she regarded her doubts +as sin. In Dec. '67 she married the Rev. F. Besant, and read and +wrote extensively. The torment a child underwent in whooping-cough +caused doubts as to the goodness of God. A study of Greg's Creed +of Christendom and Arnold's Literature and Dogma increased her +scepticism. She became acquainted with the Rev. C. Voysey and Thomas +Scott, for whom she wrote an Essay on the Deity of Jesus of Nazareth, +"by the wife of a beneficed clergyman." This led to her husband +insisting on her taking communion or leaving. She chose the latter +course, taking by agreement her daughter with her. Thrown on her own +resources, she wrote further tracts for Mr. Scott, reprinted in My Path +to Atheism ('77). Joined the National Secular Society, and in '74 wrote +in the National Reformer over the signature of "Ajax." Next year she +took to the platform and being naturally eloquent soon won her way to +the front rank as a Freethought lecturess, and became joint editor +of the National Reformer. Some lectures on the French Revolution +were republished in book form. In April, '77, she was arrested +with Mr. Bradlaugh for publishing the Fruits of Philosophy. After a +brilliant defence, the jury exonerated the defendants from any corrupt +motives, and although they were sentenced the indictment was quashed +in Feb. '78, and the case was not renewed. In May, '78, a petition +in Chancery was presented to deprive Mrs. Besant of her child on the +ground of her Atheistic and Malthusian views. Sir G. Jessell granted +the petition. In '80 Mrs. Besant matriculated at the London University +and took 1st B.Sc. with honors in '82. She has debated much and issued +many pamphlets to be found in Theological Essays and Debates. She +wrote the second part of the Freethinkers' Text Book dealing with +Christian evidence; has written on the Sins of the Church, 1886, and +the Evolution of Society. She has translated Jules Soury's Religion +of Israel, and Jesus of the Gospels; Dr. L. Büchner on the Influence +of Heredity and Mind in Animals, and from the fifteenth edition of +Force and Matter. From '83 to '88 she edited Our Corner, and since +'85 has given much time to Socialist propaganda, and has written many +Socialist pamphlets. In Dec. '88, Mrs. Besant was elected a member +of the London School Board. + +Beverland (Hadrianus), Dutch classical scholar and nephew of Isaac +Vossius, b. Middleburg 1654. He took the degree of doctor of law and +became an advocate, but devoted himself to literature. He was at the +university of Oxford in 1672. His treatise on Original Sin, Peccatum +Originale (Eleutheropoli, 1678), in which he contends that the sin +of Adam and Eve was sexual inclination, caused a great outcry. It +was burnt, Beverland was imprisoned and his name struck from the +rolls of Leyden University. He wrote some other curious works and +died about 1712. + +Bevington (Louisa S.), afterwards Guggenberger; English poetess and +authoress of Key Notes, 1879; Poems, Lyrics and Sonnets, '82; wrote +"Modern Atheism and Mr. Mallock" in the Nineteenth Century (Oct. and +Dec. '79), and on "The Moral Demerits of Orthodoxy" in Progress, +Sept. '84. + +Beyle (Marie Henri), French man of letters, famous under the +name of de Stendhal, b. Grenoble, 23 Jan. 1783. Painter, soldier, +merchant and consul, he travelled largely, a wandering life being +congenial to his broad and sceptical spirit. His book, De l'Amour +is his most notable work. He was an original and gifted critic and +romancer. Balzac esteemed him highly. He died at Paris, 23 March, +1842. Prosper Merimée has published his correspondence. One of his +sayings was "Ce qui excuse Dieu, c'est qu'il n'existe pas"--God's +excuse is that he does not exist. + +Bianchi (Angelo), known as Bianchi-Giovini (Aurelio) Italian man +of letters, b. of poor parents at Como, 25 Nov. 1799. He conducted +several papers in various parts of Piedmont and Switzerland. His Life +of Father Paoli Sarpi, 1836, was put on the Index, and thenceforward +he was in constant strife with the Roman Church. For his attacks on +the clergy in Il Republicano, at Lugano, he was proscribed, and had to +seek refuge at Zurich, 1839. He went thence to Milan and there wrote +a History of the Hebrews, a monograph on Pope Joan, and an account +of the Revolution. His principal works are the History of the Popes +until the great schism of the West (Turin, 1850-64) and a Criticism +of the Gospels, 1853, which has gone through several editions. Died +16 May, 1862. + +Biandrata or Blandrata (Giorgio), Italian anti-trinitarian reformer, +b. Saluzzo about 1515. Graduated in arts and medicine at Montpellier, +1533. He was thrown into the prison of the Inquisition at Pavia, +but contrived to escape to Geneva, where he become obnoxious to +Calvin. He left Geneva in 1558 and went to Poland where he became a +leader of the Socinian party. He was assassinated 1591. + +Bichat (Marie François Xavier), a famous French anatomist and +physiologist, b. Thoirette (Jura), 11 Nov. 1771. His work on the +Physiology of Life and Death was translated into English. He died a +martyr to his zeal for science, 22 July, 1802. + +Biddle or Bidle (John), called the father of English Unitarianism, +b. Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, 14 Jan. 1615. He took his +M.A. degree at Oxford, 1641, and became master of the Gloucester +Grammar School, but lost the situation for denying the Trinity. He +was also imprisoned there for some time, and afterwards cited at +Westminster. He appealed to the public in defence, and his pamphlet +was ordered to be burnt by the hangman, 6 Sept. 1647. He was detained +in prison till 1652, after which he published several pamphlets, and +was again imprisoned in 1654. In Oct. 1655, Cromwell banished him to +the Scilly Isles, making him an allowance. He returned to London 1658, +but after the publication of the Acts of Uniformity was again seized, +and died in prison 22 Sept. 1662. + +Bierce (M. H.) see Grile (Dod). + +Billaud-Varenne (Jean Nicolas), French conventionalist b. La Rochelle, +23 April, 1756. About 1785 became advocate to Parliament; denounced +the government and clergy 1789. Proposed abolition of the monarchy +1 July, 1791, and wrote Elements of Republicanism, 1793. Withdrew +from Robespierre after the feast of the Supreme Being, saying "Thou +beginnest to sicken me with thy Supreme Being." Was exiled 1 April, +1795, and died at St. Domingo, 3 June, 1819. + +Bion, of Borysthenes, near the mouth of the Dneiper. A Scythian +philosopher who flourished about 250 B.C. He was sold as a slave +to a rhetorician, who afterwards gave him freedom and made him his +heir. Upon this he went to Athens and applied himself to the study +of philosophy. He had several teachers, but attached himself to +Theodorus the Atheist. He was famous for his knowledge of music, +poetry, and philosophy. Some shrewd sayings of his are preserved, +as that "only the votive tablets of the preserved are seen in the +temples, not those of the drowned" and "it is useless to tear our +hair when in grief since sorrow is not cured by baldness." + +Birch (William John), English Freethinker, b. London 4 +Jan. 1811. Educated at Baliol College, Oxford, graduated M.A. at +New Inn Hall. Author of An Inquiry into the Philosophy and Religion +of Shakespeare, 1848; An Inquiry into the Philosophy and Religion +of the Bible, 1856; this work was translated into Dutch by "Rudolf +Charles;" Paul an Idea, not a Fact; and the Real and Ideal. In the +stormy time of '42 Mr. Birch did much to support the prosecuted +publications. He brought out the Library of Reason and supported +The Reasoner and Investigator with both pen and purse. Mr. Birch has +resided much in Italy and proved himself a friend to Italian unity +and Freedom. He is a member of the Italian Asiatic Society. Mr. Birch +has been a contributor to Notes and Queries and other journals, +and has devoted much attention to the early days of Christianity, +having many manuscripts upon the subject. + +Bithell (Richard), Agnostic, b. Lewes, Sussex, 22 March 1821, of pious +parents. Became teacher of mathematics and chemistry. Is Ph.D. of +Gottingen and B.Sc. of London University. In '65 he entered the +service of the Rothschilds. Has written Creed of a Modern Agnostic, +1883; and Agnostic Problems, 1887. + +Björnson (Björnstjerne), Norwegian writer, b. Quickne 8 Dec. 1832. His +father was a Lutheran clergyman. Has done much to create a national +literature for Norway. For his freethinking opinions he was obliged +to leave his country and reside in Paris. Many of his tales have been +translated into English. In 1882 Björnson published at Christiania, +with a short introduction, a resumé of C. B. Waite's History of the +Christian Religion, under the title of Whence come the Miracles of the +New Testament? This was the first attack upon dogmatic Christianity +published in Norway, and created much discussion. The following year +he published a translation of Colonel Ingersoll's article in the North +American Review upon the "Christian Religion," with a long preface, +in which he attacks the State Church and Monarchy. The translation +was entitled Think for Yourself. The first edition rapidly sold out +and a second one appeared. He has since, both in speech and writing, +repeatedly avowed his Freethought, and has had several controversies +with the clergy. + +Blagosvyetlov (Grigorevich E.), Russian author, b. in the Caucasus, +1826. Has written on Shelley, Buckle, and Mill, whose Subjection +of Women he translated into Russian. He edited a magazine Djelo +(Cause). Died about 1885. + +Blanqui (Louis Auguste), French politician, b. near Nice, 7 Feb. 1805, +a younger brother of Jerome Adolphe Blanqui, the economist. Becoming +a Communist, his life was spent in conspiracy and imprisonment +under successive governments. In '39 he was condemned to death, but +his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life, and was subject to +brutal treatment till the revolution of '48 set him at liberty. He +was soon again imprisoned. In '65 he wrote some remarkable articles +on Monotheism in Le Candide. After the revolution of 4 Sept. '70, +Blanqui demanded the suppression of worship. He was again imprisoned, +but was liberated and elected member of the Commune, and arrested by +Thiers. In his last imprisonment he wrote a curious book, Eternity +and the Stars, in which he argues from the eternity and infinity of +matter. Died Paris, 31 Dec. 1880. Blanqui took as his motto "Ni Dieu +ni maître"--Neither God nor master. + +Blasche (Bernhard Heinrich), German Pantheist, b. Jena 9 April, +1776. His father was a professor of theology and philosophy. He wrote +Kritik des Modernen Geisterglaubens (Criticism of Modern Ghost Belief), +Philosophische Unsterblichkeitslehre (Teaching of Philosophical +Immortality), and other works. Died near Gotha 26 Nov. 1832. + +Blignieres (Célestin de), French Positivist, of the Polytechnic +school. Has written a popular exposition of Positive philosophy and +religion, Paris 1857; The Positive Doctrine, 1867; Studies of Positive +Morality, 1868; and other works. + +Blind (Karl), German Republican, b. Mannheim, 4 Sept. 1826. Studied +at Heidelberg and Bonn. In 1848 he became a revolutionary leader +among the students and populace, was wounded at Frankfort, and +proscribed. In Sept. '48 he led the second republican revolution in +the Black Forest. He was made prisoner and sentenced to eight year's +imprisonment. In the spring of '49 he was liberated by the people +breaking open his prison. Being sent on a mission to Louis Napoleon, +then president of the French Republic at Paris, he was arrested and +banished from France. He went to Brussels, but since '52 has lived +in in England, where he has written largely on politics, history, +and mythology. His daughter Mathilde, b. at Mannheim, opened her +literary career by publishing a volume of poems in 1867 under the +name of Claude Lake. She has since translated Straus's Old Faith and +the New, and written the volumes on George Eliot and Madame Roland +in the Eminent Women series. + +Blount (Charles), English Deist of noble family, b. at Holloway 27 +April, 1654. His father, Sir Henry Blount, probably shared in his +opinions, and helped him in his anti-religious work, Anima Mundi, +1678. This work Bishop Compton desired to see suppressed. In 1680 he +published Great is Diana of the Ephesians, or the Origin of Idolatry, +and the two first books of Apollonius Tyanius, with notes, in which +he attacks priestcraft and superstition. This work was condemned and +suppressed. Blount also published The Oracles of Reason, a number +of Freethought Essays. By his Vindication of Learning and Liberty +of the Press, and still more by his hoax on Bohun entitled William +and Mary Conquerors, he was largely instrumental in doing away with +the censorship of the press. He shot himself, it is said, because +he could not marry his deceased wife's sister (August, 1693). His +miscellaneous works were printed in one volume, 1695. + +Blumenfeld (J. C.), wrote The New Ecce Homo or the Self Redemption of +Man, 1839. He is also credited with the authorship of The Existence of +Christ Disproved in a series of Letters by "A German Jew," London, +1841. + +Boerne (Ludwig), German man of letters and politician, b. Frankfort +22 May, 1786. In 1818 he gave up the Jewish religion, in which he had +been bred, nominally for Protestantism, but really he had, like his +friend Heine, become a Freethinker. He wrote many works in favor of +political liberty and translated Lammenais' Paroles d'un Croyant. Died +12 Feb. 1837. + +Bodin (Jean), French political writer, b. Angers 1530. He studied +at Toulouse and is said to have been a monk but turned to the law, +and became secretary to the Duc d'Alençon. His book De la Republique +is highly praised by Hallam, and is said to have contained the germ of +Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws." He wrote a work on demonomania, in +which he seems to have believed, but in his Colloquium Heptaplomeron +coloquies of seven persons: a Catholic, a Lutheran, a Calvinist, a +Pagan, a Muhammadan, a Jew, and a Deist, which he left in manuscript, +he put some severe attacks on Christianity. Died of the plague at +Laon in 1596. + +Boggis (John) is mentioned by Edwards in his Gangrena, 1645, as an +Atheist and disbeliever in the Bible. + +Boichot (Jean Baptiste), b. Villier sur Suize 20 Aug. 1820, entered +the army. In '49 he was chosen representative of the people. After +the coup d'état he came to England, returned to France in '54, +was arrested and imprisoned at Belle Isle. Since then he has lived +at Brussels, where he has written several works and is one of the +council of International Freethinkers. + +Boindin (Nicolas) French litterateur, wit, playwright and academician, +b. Paris 29 May, 1676. He publicly professed Atheism, and resorted +with other Freethinkers to the famous café Procope. There, in order to +speak freely, they called the soul Margot, religion Javotte, liberty +Jeanneton, and God M. de l'Etre. One day a spy asked Boindin, "Who +is this M. de l'Etre with whom you seem so displeased?" "Monsieur," +replied Boindin, "he is a police spy." Died 30 Nov. 1751. His corpse +was refused "Christian burial." + +Boissiere (Jean Baptiste Prudence), French writer, b. Valognes +Dec. 1806, was for a time teacher in England. He compiled an analogical +dictionary of the French language. Under the name of Sièrebois he +has published the Autopsy of the Soul and a work on the foundations +of morality, which he traces to interest. He has also written a book +entitled The Mechanism of Thought, '84. + +Boissonade (J. A.), author of The Bible Unveiled, Paris, 1871. + +Boito (Arrigo), Italian poet and musician, b. at Padua, whose opera +"Mefistofele," has created considerable sensation by its boldness. + +Bolingbroke (Henry Saint John) Lord, English statesman and philosopher, +b. at Battersea, 1 Oct. 1672. His political life was a stormy +one. He was the friend of Swift and of Pope, who in his Essay on Man +avowedly puts forward the views of Saint John. He died at Battersea +12 Dec. 1751, leaving by will his MSS. to David Mallet, who in 1754 +published his works, which included Essays Written to A. Pope, Esq., +on Religion and Philosophy, in which he attacks Christianity with +both wit and eloquence. Bolingbroke was a Deist, believing in God +but scornfully rejecting revelation. He much influenced Voltaire, +who regarded him with esteem. + +Bonavino (Francesco Cristoforo) see Franchi (Ausonio). + +Boni (Filippo de), Italian man of letters, b. Feltre, 1820. Editor of +a standard Biography of Artists, published at Venice, 1840. He also +wrote on the Roman Church and Italy and on Reason and Dogma, Siena, +'66, and contributed to Stefanoni's Libero Pensiero. De Boni was +elected deputy to the Italian Parliament. He has written on "Italian +Unbelief in the Middle Ages" in the Annuario Filosofico del Libero +Pensiero, '68. + +Boniface VIII., Pope (Benedetto Gaetano), elected head of Christendom, +24 Dec. 1294. During his quarrel with Philip the Fair of France charges +were sworn on oath against Pope Boniface that he neither believed in +the Trinity nor in the life to come, that he said the Virgin Mary +"was no more a virgin than my mother"; that he did not observe the +fasts of the Church, and that he spoke of the cardinals, monks, +and friars as hypocrites. It was in evidence that the Pope had said +"God may do the worst with me that he pleases in the future life; I +believe as every educated man does, the vulgar believe otherwise. We +have to speak as they do, but we must believe and think with the +few." Died 11 Oct. 1303. + +Bonnycastle (John), mathematician, b. Whitchurch, Bucks, about +1750. He wrote several works on elementary mathematics and became +Professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, +where he died 15 May, 1821. He was a friend of Fuseli, and private +information assures me he was a Freethinker. + +Booms (Marinus Adriaansz), Dutch Spinozist, a shoemaker by trade, +who wrote early in the eighteenth century, and on 1 Jan. 1714, +was banished. + +Bonnot de Condillac (Etienne) see Condillac. + +Bonstetten (Karl Victor von), Swiss Deist, b. Berne, 3 Sept +1745. Acquainted with Voltaire and Rousseau he went to Leyden and +England to finish his education. Among his works are Researches on +the Nature and Laws of the Imagination, 1807; and Studies on Man, +1821. Died Geneva, 3 Feb. 1832. + +Borde (Frédéric), editor of La Philosophie de l'Avenir, Paris, 1875, +etc. Born La Rochelle 1841. Has written on Liberty of Instruction, etc. + +Born (Ignaz von) baron, b. Carlsruhe, 26 Dec. 1742. Bred by the +Jesuits, he became an ardent scientist and a favorite of the +Empress Marie Theresa, under whose patronage he published works +on Mineralogy. He was active as a Freemason, and Illuminati, and +published with the name Joannes Physiophilus a stinging illustrated +satire entitled Monchalogia, or the natural history of monks. + +Bosc (Louis Augustin Guillaume), French naturalist, b. Paris, 29 +Jan. 1759; was tutor and friend to Madame Roland whose Memoirs he +published. He wrote many works on natural history. Died 10 July, 1828. + +Boucher (E. Martin), French writer, b. Beaulieu, 1809; contributed to +the Rationalist of Geneva, where he died 1882. Author of a work on +Revelation and Rationalism, entitled Search for the Truth, Avignon, +1884. + +Bougainville (Louis Antoine de) Count, the first French voyager +who made the tour around the world; b. Paris, 11 Nov. 1729. Died 31 +Aug. 1811. He wrote an interesting account of his travels. + +Bouillier (Francisque), French philosopher, b. Lyons 12 July 1813, has +written several works on psychology, and contributed to la Liberté de +Penser. His principal work is a History of the Cartesian Philosophy. He +is a member of the Institute and writes in the leading reviews. + +Bouis (Casimir), French journalist, b. Toulon 1848, edited La Libre +Pensée and wrote a satire on the Jesuits entitled Calottes et Soutanes, +1870. Sent to New Caledonia for his participation in the Commune, he +has since his return published a volume of political verses entitled +Après le Naufrage, After the Shipwreck, 1880. + +Boulainvilliers (Henri de), Comte de St. Saire, French historian and +philosopher, b. 11 Oct. 1658. His principal historical work is an +account of the ancient French Parliaments. He also wrote a defence of +Spinozism under pretence of a refutation of Spinoza, an analysis of +Spinoza's Tractus Theologico-Politicus, printed at the end of Doubts +upon Religion, Londres, 1767. A Life of Muhammad, the first European +work doing justice to Islam, and a History of the Arabs also proceeded +from his pen, and he is one of those to whom is attributed the treatise +with the title of the Three Impostors, 1755. Died 23 Jan. 1722. + +Boulanger (Nicolas-Antoine), French Deist, b. 11 Nov. 1722. Died +16 Sept. 1759. He was for some time in the army as engineer, and +afterwards became surveyor of public works. After his death his works +were published by D'Holbach who rewrote them. His principal works +are Antiquity Unveiled and Researches on the Origin of Oriental +Despotism. Christianity Unveiled, attributed to him and said by +Voltaire to have been by Damilavile, was probably written by D'Holbach, +perhaps with some assistance from Naigeon. It was burnt by order of +the French Parliament 18 Aug. 1770. A Critical Examination of the +Life and Works of St. Paul, attributed to Boulanger, was really made +up by d'Holbach from the work of Annet. Boulanger wrote dissertations +on Elisha, Enoch and St. Peter, and some articles for the Encyclopédie. + +Bourdet (Dr.) Eugene, French Positivist, b. Paris, 1818. Author of +several works on medicine and Positivist philosophy and education. + +Boureau-Deslands (A. F.) See Deslandes. + +Bourget (Paul), French littérateur, b. at Amiens in 1852. Has made +himself famous by his novels, essays on contemporary psychology, +studies of M. Rénan, etc. He belongs to the Naturalist School, but +his methods are less crude than those of some of his colleagues. His +insight is most subtle, and his style is exquisite. + +Boutteville (Marc Lucien), French writer, professor at the Lycée +Bonaparte; has made translations from Lessing and published an +able work on the Morality of the Church and Natural Morality, 1866, +for which the clergy turned him out of a professorship he held at +Sainte-Barbe. + +Bovio (Giovanni), Professor of Political Economy in the University +of Naples and deputy to the Italian parliament; is an ardent +Freethinker. Both in his writings and in parliament Prof. Bovio +opposes the power of the Vatican and the reconciliation between +Church and State. He has constantly advocated liberty of conscience +and has promoted the institution of a Dante chair in the University +of Rome. He has written a work on The History of Law, a copy of which +he presented to the International Congress of Freethinkers, 1887. + +Bowring (Sir John, K.B., LL D.), politician, linguist and writer, +b. Exeter, 17 Oct., 1792. In early life a pupil of Dr. Lant +Carpenter and later a disciple of Jeremy Bentham, whose principles +he maintained in the Westminster Review, of which he was editor, +1825. Arrested in France in 1822, after a fortnight's imprisonment +he was released without trial. He published Bentham's Deontology +(1834), and nine years after edited a complete collection of the +works of Bentham. Returned to Parliament in '35, and afterwards was +employed in important government missions. In '55 he visited Siam, +and two years later published an account of The Kingdom and People +of Siam. He translated Goethe, Schiller, Heine, and the poems of +many countries; was an active member of the British Association and +of the Social Science Association, and did much to promote rational +views on the Sunday question. Died 23 Nov. 1872. + +Boyle (Humphrey), one of the men who left Leeds for the purpose of +serving in R. Carlile's shop when the right of free publication was +attacked in 1821. Boyle gave no name, and was indicted and tried as +"a man with name unknown" for publishing a blasphemous and seditious +libel. In his defence he ably asserted his right to hold and publish +his opinions. He read portions of the Bible in court to prove he was +justified in calling it obscene. Upon being sentenced, 27 May, 1822, +to eighteen months' imprisonment and to find sureties for five years, +he remarked "I have a mind, my lord, that can bear such a sentence +with fortitude." + +Bradlaugh (Charles). Born East London, 26 Sept. 1833. Educated +in Bethnal Green and Hackney. He was turned from his Sunday-school +teachership and from his first situation through the influence of the +Rev. J. G. Packer, and found refuge with the widow of R. Carlile. In +Dec. 1850 he entered the Dragoon Guards and proceeded to Dublin. Here +he met James Thomson, the poet, and contracted a friendship which +lasted for many years. He got his discharge, and in '53 returned to +London and became a solicitor's clerk. He began to write and lecture +under the nom de guerre of "Iconoclast," edited the Investigator, '59; +and had numerous debates with ministers and others. In 1860 he began +editing the National Reformer, which in '68-9 he successfully defended +against a prosecution of the Attorney General, who wished securities +against blasphemy. In '68 he began his efforts to enter Parliament, +and in 1880 was returned for Northampton. After a long struggle +with the House, which would not admit the Atheist, he at length took +his seat in 1885. He was four times re-elected, and the litigation +into which he was plunged will become as historic as that of John +Wilkes. Prosecuted in '76 for publishing The Fruits of Philosophy, he +succeeded in quashing the indictment. Mr. Bradlaugh has had numerous +debates, several of which are published. He has also written many +pamphlets, of which we mention New Lives of Abraham, David, and +other saints, Who was Jesus Christ? What did Jesus Teach? Has Man +a Soul, Is there a God? etc. His Plea for Atheism reached its 20th +thousand in 1880. Mr. Bradlaugh has also published When were our +Gospels Written?, 1867; Heresy, its Utility and Morality, 1870; +The Inspiration of the Bible, 1873; The Freethinker's Text Book, +part i., dealing with natural religion, 1876; The Laws Relating to +Blasphemy and Heresy, 1878; Supernatural and Rational Morality, +1886. In 1857 Mr. Bradlaugh commenced a commentary on the Bible, +entitled The Bible, What is it? In 1865 this appeared in enlarged form, +dealing only with the Pentateuch. In 1882 he published Genesis, Its +Authorship and Authenticity. In Parliament Mr. Bradlaugh has become +a conspicuous figure, and has introduced many important measures. In +1888 he succeeded in passing an Oaths Bill, making affirmations +permissible instead of oaths. His elder daughter, Alice, b. 30 +April, 1856, has written on Mind Considered as a Bodily Function, +1884. Died 2 Dec. 1888. His second daughter, Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner, +b. 31 March, 1858, has written "Princess Vera" and other stories, +"Chemistry of Home," etc. + +Brækstad (Hans Lien), b. Throndhjem, Norway, 7 Sept. 1845. Has made +English translations from Björnson, Asbjörnsen, Andersen, etc., and +has contributed to Harper's Magazine and other periodical literature. + +Brandes (Georg Morris Cohen), Danish writer, by birth a Jew, +b. Copenhagen, 4 Feb. 1842. In 1869 he translated J. S. Mills' +Subjection of Women, and in the following year took a doctor's +degree for a philosophical treatise. His chief work is entitled the +Main Current of Literature in the Nineteenth Century. His brother, +Dr. Edvard Brandes, was elected to the Danish Parliament in 1881, +despite his declaration that he did not believe either in the God of +the Christians or of the Jews. + +Bray (Charles), philosophic writer, b. Coventry, 31 Jan. 1811. He was +brought up as an Evangelical, but found his way to Freethought. Early +in life he took an active part in promoting unsectarian education. His +first work (1835) was on The Education of the Body. This was followed +by The Education of the Feelings, of which there were several +editions. In 1836 he married Miss Hennell, sister of C. C. Hennell, +and took the System of Nature and Volney's Ruins of Empires "to +enliven the honeymoon." Among his friends was Mary Ann Evans ("George +Eliot"), who accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Bray to Italy. His works on +The Philosophy of Necessity (1841) and Cerebral Psychology (1875) +give the key to all his thought. He wrote a number of Thomas Scott's +series of tracts: Illusion and Delusion, The Reign of Law in Mind as +in Matter, Toleration with remarks on Professor Tyndall's "Address," +and a little book, Christianity in the Light of our Present Knowledge +and Moral Sense (1876). He also wrote A Manual of Anthropology and +similar works. In a postscript to his last volume, Phases of Opinion +and Experience During a Long Life, dated 18 Sept. 1884, he stated +that he has no hope or expectation or belief even in the possibility +of continued individuality after death, and that as his opinions have +done to live by "they will do to die by." He died 5 Oct. 1884. + +Bresson (Léopold), French Positivist, b. Lamarche, 1817. Educated at +the Polytechnic School, which he left in 1840 and served on public +works. For seventeen years was director of an Austrian Railway +Company. Wrote Idées Modernes, 1880. + +Bridges (John Henry), M.D. English Positivist, b. 1833, graduated +B.A. at Oxford 1855, and B.M. 1859; has written on Religion and +Progress, contributed to the Fortnightly Review, and translated Comte's +General View of Positivism (1865) and System of Positive Polity (1873). + +Bril (Jakob), Dutch mystical Pantheist, b. Leyden, 21 Jan. 1639. Died +1700. His works were published at Amsterdam, 1705. + +Brissot (Jean Pierre) de Warville, active French revolutionist, +b. Chartres, 14 Jan. 1754. He was bred to the law, but took to +literature. He wrote for the Courier de l'Europe, a revolutionary +paper suppressed for its boldness, published a treatise on Truth, +and edited a Philosophical Law Library, 1782-85. He wrote against the +legal authority of Rome, and is credited with Philosophical Letters +upon St. Paul and the Christian Religion, Neufchatel, 1783. In 1784 +he was imprisoned in the Bastille for his writings. To avoid a second +imprisonment he went to England and America, returning to France +at the outbreak of the Revolution. He wrote many political works, +became member of the Legislative Assembly, formed the Girondist party, +protested against the execution of Louis XVI., and upon the triumph +of the Mountain was executed with twenty-one of his colleagues, +31 Oct., 1793. Brissot was a voluminous writer, honest, unselfish, +and an earnest lover of freedom in every form. + +Bristol (Augusta), née Cooper, American educator, b. Croydon, New +Haven, 17 April, 1835. In 1850 became teacher and gained repute by +her Poems. In Sept. 1880, she represented American Freethinkers at +the International Conference at Brussels. She has written on Science +and its Relations to Human Character and other works. + +Broca (Pierre Paul), French anthropologist, b. 28 June, 1824. A +hard-working scientist, he paid special attention to craniology. In +1875 he founded the School of Anthropology and had among his pupils +Gratiolet, Topinard, Hovelacque and Dr. Carter Blake, who translated +his treatise on Hybridity. He established The Review of Anthropology, +published numerous scientific works and was made a member of the +Legion of Honor. In philosophy he inclined to Positivism. Died Paris, +9 July, 1880. + +Brooksbank (William), b. Nottingham 6 Dec. 1801. In 1824 he wrote +in Carlile's Lion, and has since contributed to the Reasoner, the +Pathfinder, and the National Reformer. He was an intimate friend +of James Watson. He wrote A Sketch of the Religions of the Earth, +Revelation Tested by Astronomy, Geography, Geology, etc., 1856, and +some other pamphlets. Mr. Brooksbank is still living in honored age +at Nottingham. + +Brothier (Léon), author of a Popular History of Philosophy, 1861, +and other works in the Bibliothèque Utile. He contributed to the +Rationalist of Geneva. + +Broussais (François Joseph Victor), French physician and philosopher, +b. Saint Malo, 17 Dec. 1772. Educated at Dinan, in 1792 he served +as volunteer in the army of the Republic. He studied medicine at +St. Malo and Brest, and became a naval surgeon. A disciple of Bichat, +he did much to reform medical science by his Examination of Received +Medical Doctrines and to find a basis for mental and moral science in +physiology by his many scientific works. Despite his bold opinions, he +was made Commander of the Legion of Honor. He died poor at St. Malo 17 +Nov. 1838, leaving behind a profession of faith, in which he declares +his disbelief in a creator and his being "without hope or fear of +another life." + +Brown (George William), Dr., of Rockford, Illinois, b. in Essex Co., +N.Y., Oct. 1820, of Baptist parents. At 17 years of age he was expelled +the church for repudiating the dogma of an endless hell. Dr. Brown +edited the Herald of Freedom, Kansas. In 1856 his office was destroyed +by a pro-slavery mob, his type thrown into the river, and himself +and others arrested but was released without trial. Dr. Brown has +contributed largely to the Ironclad Age and other American Freethought +papers, and is bringing out a work on the Origin of Christianity. + +Brown (Titus L.), Dr., b. 16 Oct. 1823, at Hillside (N.Y.). Studied +at the Medical College of New York and graduated at the Homoeopathic +College, Philadelphia. He settled at Binghamton where he had a large +practice. He contributed to the Boston Investigator and in 1877 was +elected President of the Freethinkers Association. Died 17 Aug. 1887. + +Browne (Sir Thomas), physician and writer, b. London, 19 Oct. 1605. He +studied medicine and travelled on the Continent, taking his doctor's +degree at Leyden (1633). He finally settled at Norwich, where he had +a good practice. His treatise Religio Medici, famous for its fine +style and curious mixture of faith and scepticism, was surreptitiously +published in 1642. It ran through several editions and was placed on +the Roman Index. His Pseudodoxia Epidemica; Enquiries into Vulgar +and Common Errors, appeared in 1646. While disputing many popular +superstitions he showed he partook of others. This curious work +was followed by Hydriotaphia, or Urn-Burial, in which he treats +of cremation among the ancients. To this was added The Garden of +Cyrus. He died 19 Oct. 1682. + +Bruno (Giordano), Freethought martyr, b. at Nola, near Naples, about +1548. He was christened Filippo which he changed to Filoteo, taking +the name of Giordano when he entered the Dominican order. Religious +doubts and bold strictures on the monks obliged him to quit Italy, +probably in 1580. He went to Geneva but soon found it no safe abiding +place, and quitted it for Paris, where he taught, but refused to attend +mass. In 1583 he visited England, living with the French ambassador +Castelnau. Having formed a friendship with Sir Philip Sidney, he +dedicated to him his Spaccio della Bestia Triomfante, a satire on all +mythologies. In 1585 he took part in a logical tournament, sustaining +the Copernican theory against the doctors of Oxford. The following year +he returned to Paris, where he again attacked the Aristotelians. He +then travelled to various cities in Germany, everywhere preaching +the broadest heresy. He published several Pantheistic, scientific and +philosophical works. He was however induced to return to Italy, and +arrested as an heresiarch and apostate at Venice, Sept. 1592. After +being confined for seven years by the Inquisitors, he was tried, +and burnt at Rome 17 Feb. 1600. At his last moments a crucifix was +offered him, which he nobly rejected. Bruno was vastly before his age +in his conception of the universe and his rejection of theological +dogmas. A statue of this heroic apostle of liberty and light, executed +by one of the first sculptors of Italy, is to be erected on the spot +where he perished, the Municipal Council of Rome having granted the +site in face of the bitterest opposition of the Catholic party. The +list of subscribers to this memorial comprises the principal advanced +thinkers in Europe and America. + +Brzesky (Casimir Liszynsky Podsedek). See Liszinski. + +Bucali or Busali (Leonardo), a Calabrian abbot of Spanish descent, +who became a follower of Servetus in the sixteenth century, and had +to seek among the Turks the safety denied him in Christendom. He died +at Damascus. + +Buchanan (George), Scotch historian and scholar, b. Killearn, +Feb. 1506. Evincing an early love of study, he was sent to +Paris at the age of fourteen. He returned to Scotland and became +distinguished for his learning. James V. appointed him tutor to his +natural son. He composed his Franciscanus et Fratres, a satire on the +monks, which hastened the Scottish reformation. This exposed him to +the vengeance of the clergy. Not content with calling him Atheist, +Archbishop Beaton had him arrested and confined in St. Andrew's +Castle, from whence he escaped and fled to England. Here he found, +as he said, Henry VIII. burning men of opposite opinions at the same +stake for religion. He returned to Paris, but was again subjected to +the persecution of Beaton, the Scottish Ambassador. On the death of +a patron at Bordeaux, in 1548, he was seized by the Inquisition and +immured for a year and a half in a monastery, where he translated +the Psalms into Latin. He eventually returned to Scotland, where he +espoused the party of Moray. After a most active life, he died 28 +Sept. 1582, leaving a History of Scotland, besides numerous poems, +satires, and political writings, the most important of which is a +work of republican tendency, De Jure Regni, the Rights of Kings. + +Buchanan (Robert), Socialist, b. Ayr, 1813. He was successively a +schoolmaster, a Socialist missionary and a journalist. He settled in +Manchester, where he published works on the Religion of The Past and +Present, 1839; the Origin and Nature of Ghosts, 1840. An Exposure +of Joseph Barker, and a Concise History of Modern Priestcraft also +bear the latter date. At this time the Socialists were prosecuted for +lecturing on Sunday, and Buchanan was fined for refusing to take the +oath of supremacy, etc. After the decline of Owenism, he wrote for +the Northern Star, and edited the Glasgow Sentinel. He died at the +home of his son, the poet, at Bexhill, Sussex, 4 March, 1866. + +Buchanan (Joseph Rhodes), American physician, b. Frankfort, Kentucky, +11 Dec. 1814. He graduated M.D. at Louisville University, 1842, and +has been the teacher of physiology at several colleges. From 1849-56 +he published Buchanan's Journal of Man, and has written several works +on Anthropology. + +Buchner (Ludwig). See Buechner. + +Buckle (Henry Thomas), philosophical historian, b. Lee, Kent, 24 +Nov. 1821. In consequence of his delicate health he was educated at +home. His mother was a strict Calvinist, his father a strong Tory, +but a visit to the Continent made him a Freethinker and Radical. He +ever afterwards held travelling to be the best education. It was his +ambition to write a History of Civilisation in England, but so vast was +his design that his three notable volumes with that title form only +part of the introduction. The first appeared in 1858, and created a +great sensation by its boldness. In the following year he championed +the cause of Pooley, who was condemned for blasphemy, and dared the +prosecution of infidels of standing. In 1861 he visited the East, +in the hope of improving his health, but died at Damascus, 29 May, +1862. Much of the material collected for his History has been published +in his Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works, edited by Helen Taylor, +1872. An abridged edition, edited by Grant Allen, appeared in 1886. + +Buechner (Friedrich Karl Christian Ludwig), German materialist, +b. Darmstadt, 29 March, 1824. Studied medicine in Geissen, Strassburg +and Vienna. In '55 he startled the world with his bold work on +Force and Matter, which has gone through numerous editions and been +translated into nearly all the European languages. This work lost +him the place of professor which he held at Tübingen, and he has +since practised in his native town. Büchner has developed his ideas +in many other works such as Nature and Spirit (1857), Physiological +Sketches, '61; Nature and Science, '62; Conferences on Darwinism, +'69; Man in the Past, Present and Future, '69; Materialism its History +and Influence on Society, '73; The Idea of God, '74; Mind in Animals, +'80; and Light and Life, '82. He also contributes to the Freidenker, +the Dageraad, and other journals. + +Buffon (Georges Louis Leclerc), Count de, French naturalist, +b. Montford, Burgundy, 7 Sept. 1707. An incessant worker. His Natural +History in 36 volumes bears witness to the fertility of his mind +and his capacity for making science attractive. Buffon lived much in +seclusion, and attached himself to no sect or religion. Some of his +sentences were attacked by the Sorbonne. Hérault de Sêchelles says +that Buffon said: "I have named the Creator, but it is only necessary +to take out the word and substitute the power of nature." Died at +Paris 16 April, 1788. + +Buitendijk or Buytendyck (Gosuinus van), Dutch Spinozist, who wrote an +Apology at the beginning of the eighteenth century and was banished +1716. + +Bufalini (Maurizio), Italian doctor, b. Cesena 2 June, 1787. In 1813 he +published an essay on the Doctrine of Life in opposition to vitalism, +and henceforward his life was a conflict with the upholders of that +doctrine. He was accused of materialism, but became a professor at +Florence and a member of the Italian Senate in 1860. Died at Florence +31 March, 1875. + +Burdach (Karl Friedrich), German physiologist, b. Leipsic 12 June, +1776. He occupied a chair at the University of Breslau. His works on +physiology and anthropology did much to popularise those sciences, +and the former is placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum for its +materialistic tendency. He died at Konigsberg, 16 July, 1847. + +Burdon (William), M.A., writer, b. Newcastle, 11 Sept. 1764. Graduated +at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1788. He was intended for a clergyman, +but want of faith made him decline that profession. His principal work +is entitled Materials for Thinking. Colton largely availed himself of +this work in his Lacon. It went through five editions in his lifetime, +and portions were reprinted in the Library of Reason. He also addressed +Three Letters to the Bishop of Llandaff, wrote a Life and Character of +Bonaparte, translated an account of the Revolution in Spain, edited the +Memoirs of Count Boruwlaski, and wrote some objections to the annual +subscription to the Sons of the Clergy. Died in London, 30 May, 1818. + +Burigny (Jean Levesque de), French writer, b. Rheims, 1692. He became +a member of the French Academy, wrote a treatise on the Authority +of the Pope, a History of Pagan Philosophy and other works, and +is credited with the Critical Examination of the Apologists of the +Christian Religion, published under the name of Freret by Naigeon, +1766. Levesque de Burigny wrote a letter in answer to Bergier's +Proofs of Christianity, which is published in Naigeon's Recueil +Philosophique. Died at Paris, 8 Oct. 1785. + +Burmeister (Hermann), German naturalist, b. Stralsund, 15 Jan. 1807. In +1827 he became a doctor at Halle. In '48 he was elected to the National +Assembly. In 1850 he went to Brazil. His principal work is The History +of Creation, 1843. + +Burmeister or Baurmeister (Johann Peter Theodor) a German Rationalist +and colleague of Ronge. Born at Flensburg, 1805. He resided in +Hamburg, and wrote in the middle of the present century under the +name of J. P. Lyser. + +Burnet (Thomas), b. about 1635 at Croft, Yorkshire. Through the +interest of a pupil, the Duke of Ormonde, he obtained the mastership +of the Charterhouse, 1685. In 1681 the first part of his Telluris +Theoria Sacra, or Sacred Theory of the Earth, appeared in Latin, and +was translated and modified in 1684. In 1692 Burnet published, both +in English and in Latin, his Archæologiæ Philosophicæ, or the Ancient +Doctrine of the Origin of Things. He professes in this to reconcile +his theory with Genesis, which receives a figurative interpretation; +and a ludicrous dialogue between Eve and the serpent gave great +offence. In a popular ballad Burnet is represented as saying-- + + + That all the books of Moses + Were nothing but supposes. + + +He had to resign a position at court. In later life he wrote De Fide +et Officiis Christianorum (on Christian Faith and Duties), in which +he regards historical religions as based on the religion of nature, +and rejects original sin and the "magical" theory of sacraments; +and De Statu Mortuorum et Resurgentium, on the State of the Dead and +Resurrected, in which he opposed the doctrine of eternal punishment +and shadowed forth a scheme of Deism. These books he kept to himself +to avoid a prosecution for heresy, but had a few copies printed for +private friends. He died in the Charterhouse 27 Sept. 1715. A tract +entitled Hell Torments not Eternal was published in 1739. + +Burnett (James), Lord Monboddo, a learned Scotch writer and judge, +was b. Monboddo, Oct. 1714. He adopted the law as his profession, +became a celebrated advocate, and was made a judge in 1767. His +work on the Origin and Progress of Language (published anonymously +1773-92), excited much derision by his studying man as one of the +animals and collecting facts about savage tribes to throw light on +civilisation. He first maintained that the orang-outang was allied +to the human species. He also wrote on Ancient Metaphysics. He was +a keen debater and discussed with Hume, Adam Smith, Robertson, and +Lord Kames. Died in Edinburgh, 26 May, 1799. + +Burnouf (Emile Louis), French writer, b. Valonges, 25 Aug. 1821. He +became professor of ancient literature to the faculty of Nancy. Author +of many works, including a translation of selections from the Novum +Organum of Bacon, the Bhagvat-Gita, an Introduction to the Vedas, +a history of Greek Literature, Studies in Japanese, and articles +in the Revue des deux Mondes. His heresy is pronounced in his work +on the Science of Religions, 1878, in his Contemporary Catholicism, +and Life and Thought, 1886. + +Burnouf (Eugène), French Orientalist, cousin of the preceding; +b. Paris, 12 Aug. 1801. He opened up to the Western world the Pali +language, and with it the treasures of Buddhism, whose essentially +Atheistic character he maintained. To him also we are largely indebted +for a knowledge of Zend and of the Avesta of the Zoroastrians. He +translated numerous Oriental works and wrote a valuable Introduction +to the History of Indian Buddhism. Died at Paris, 28 May, 1852. + +Burns (Robert), Scotland's greatest poet, b. near Ayr, 25 +Jan. 1759. His father was a small farmer, of enlightened views. The +life and works of Burns are known throughout the world. His +Freethought is evident from such productions as the "Holy Fair," +"The Kirk's Alarm," and "Holy Willie's Prayer," and many passages in +private letters to his most familiar male friends. Died at Dumfries, +21 July, 1796. + +Burr (William Henry), American author, b. 1819, Gloversville, N.Y., +graduated at Union College, Schenectady, became a shorthand reporter +to the Senate. In 1869 he retired and devoted himself to literary +research. He is the anonymous author of Revelations of Antichrist, a +learned book which exposes the obscurity of the origin of Christianity, +and seeks to show that the historical Jesus lived almost a century +before the Christian era. He has also written several pamphlets: +Thomas Paine was Junius, 1880: Self Contradictions of the Bible; +Is the Bible a Lying Humbug? A Roman Catholic Canard, etc. He has +also frequently contributed to the Boston Investigator, the New York +Truthseeker, and the Ironclad Age of Indianapolis. + +Burton (Sir Richard Francis), traveller, linguist, and author, +b. Barham House, Herts, 19 March, 1821. Intended for the Church, +he matriculated at Oxford, but in 1842 entered the East India +Company's service, served on the staff of Sir C. Napier, and soon +acquired reputation as an intrepid explorer. In '51 he returned to +England and started for Mecca and Medina, visiting those shrines +unsuspected, as a Moslem pilgrim. He was chief of the staff of the +Osmanli cavalry in the Crimean war, and has made many remarkable and +dangerous expeditions in unknown lands; he discovered and opened +the lake regions in Central Africa and explored the highlands of +Brazil. He has been consul at Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus, and +since 1872 at Trieste, and speaks over thirty languages. His latest +work is a new translation of The Thousand Nights and a Night in 10 +vols. Being threatened with a prosecution, he intended justifying +"literal naturalism" from the Bible. Burton's knowledge of Arabic is +so perfect that when he used to read the tales to Arabs, they would +roll on the ground in fits of laughter. + +Butler (Samuel), poet, b. in Strensham, Worcestershire, Feb. 1612. In +early life he came under the influence of Selden. He studied painting, +and is said to have painted a head of Cromwell from life. He became +clerk to Sir Samuel Luke, one of Cromwell's Generals, whom he has +satirised as Hudibras. This celebrated burlesque poem appeared in 1663 +and became famous, but, although the king and court were charmed with +its wit, the author was allowed to remain in poverty and obscurity +till he died at Covent Garden, London, 25 Sept. 1680. Butler expressed +the opinion that + + + "Religion is the interest of churches + That sell in other worlds in this to purchase." + + +Buttmann (Philipp Karl), German philologist, b. Frankfort, 5 +Dec. 1764. Became librarian of the Royal Library at Berlin. He edited +many of the Greek Classics, wrote on the Myth of the Deluge, 1819, +and a learned work on Mythology, 1828. Died Berlin, 21 June, 1829. + +Buzot (François Léonard Nicolas), French Girondin, distinguished as +an ardent Republican and a friend and lover of Madame Roland. Born +at Evreux, 1 March, 1760; he died from starvation when hiding after +the suppression of his party June, 1793. + +Byelinsky (Vissarion G.) See Belinsky. + +Byron (George Gordon Noel) Lord, b. London, 22 Jan. 1788. He succeeded +his grand-uncle William in 1798; was sent to Harrow and Cambridge. In +1807 he published his Hours of Idleness, and awoke one morning to find +himself famous. His power was, however, first shown in his English +Bards and Scotch Reviewers, in which he satirised his critics, 1809. He +then travelled on the Continent, the result of which was seen in his +Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and other works. He married 2 Jan. 1815, +but a separation took place in the following year. Lord Byron then +resided in Italy, where he made the acquaintance of Shelley. In 1823 +he devoted his name and fortune to the cause of the Greek revolution, +but was seized with fever and died at Missolonghi, 19 April, 1824. His +drama of Cain: a Mystery, 1822, is his most serious utterance, +and it shows a profound contempt for religious dogma. This feeling +is also exhibited in his magnificent burlesque poem, The Vision +of Judgment, which places him at the head of English satirists. In +his letters to the Rev. Francis Hodgson, 1811, he distinctly says: +"I do not believe in any revealed religion.... I will have nothing +to do with your immortality; we are miserable enough in this life, +without the absurdity of speculating upon another.... The basis of +your religion is injustice; the Son of God, the pure, the immaculate, +the innocent, is sacrificed for the guilty," etc. + +Cabanis (Pierre Jean George), called by Lange "the father of the +materialistic physiology," b. Conac, 5 June, 1757. Became pupil +of Condillac and friend of Mirabeau, whom he attended in his last +illness, of which he published an account 1791. He was also intimate +with Turgot, Condorcet, Holbach, Diderot, and other distinguished +Freethinkers, and was elected member of the Institute and of the +Council of Five Hundred in the Revolution. His works are mostly +medical, the chief being Des Rapports du Physique et du Morale de +l'Homme, in which he contends that thoughts are a secretion of the +brain. Died Rueil, near Paris, 5 May, 1808. + +Cæsalpinus (Andreas), Italian philosopher of the Renaissance, +b. Arezzo, Tuscany, 1519. He became Professor of Botany at Pisa, and +Linnæus admits his obligations to his work, De Plantis, 1583. He also +wrote works on metals and medicine, and showed acquaintance with the +circulation of the blood. In a work entitled Demonum Investigatio, +he contends that "possession" by devils is amenable to medical +treatment. His Quæstionum Peripateticarum, in five books, Geneva, +1568, was condemned as teaching a Pantheistic doctrine similar to +that of Spinoza. Bishop Parker denounced him. Died 23 Feb. 1603. + +Cæsar (Caius Julius), the "foremost man of all this world," equally +renowned as soldier, statesman, orator, and writer, b. 12 July, +100 B.C., of noble family. His life, the particulars of which are +well known, was an extraordinary display of versatility, energy, +courage, and magnanimity. He justified the well-known line of Pope, +"Cæsar the world's great master and his own." His military talents +elevated him to the post of dictator, but this served to raise against +him a band of aristocratic conspirators, by whom he was assassinated, +15 March, 44 B.C. His Commentaries are a model of insight and clear +expression. Sallust relates that he questioned the existence of +a future state in the presence of the Roman senate. Froude says: +"His own writings contain nothing to indicate that he himself had any +religious belief at all. He saw no evidence that the gods practically +interfered in human affairs.... He held to the facts of this life and +to his own convictions; and as he found no reason for supposing that +there was a life beyond the grave he did not pretend to expect it." + +Cahuac (John), bookseller, revised an edition of Palmer's Principles +of Nature, 1819. For this he was prosecuted at the instance of the +"Vice Society," but the matter was compromised. He was also prosecuted +for selling the Republican, 1820. + +Calderino (Domizio), a learned writer of the Renaissance, b. in 1445, +in the territory of Verona, and lived at Rome, where he was professor +of literature, in 1477. He edited and commented upon many of the +Latin poets. Bayle says he was without religion. Died in 1478. + +Calenzio (Eliseo), an Italian writer, b. in the kingdom of Naples about +1440. He was preceptor to Prince Frederic, the son of Ferdinand, the +King of Naples. He died in 1503, leaving behind a number of satires, +fables and epigrams, some of which are directed against the Church. + +Call (Wathen Mark Wilks), English author, b. 7 June, 1817. Educated at +Cambridge, entered the ministry in 1843, but resigned his curacy about +1856 on account of his change of opinions, which he recounts in his +preface to Reverberations, 1876. Mr. Call is of the Positivist school, +and has contributed largely to the Fortnightly and Westminster Reviews. + +Callet (Pierre Auguste), French politician, b. St. Etienne, 27 +Oct. 1812; became editor of the Gazette of France till 1840. In 1848 +he was nominated Republican representative. At the coup d'état of 2 +Dec. 1851, he took refuge in Belgium. He returned to France, but was +imprisoned for writing against the Empire. In 1871, Callet was again +elected representative for the department of the Loire. His chief +Freethought work is L'Enfer, an attack upon the Christian doctrine +of hell, 1861. + +Camisani (Gregorio), Italian writer, b. at Venice, 1810. A Professor +of Languages in Milan. He has translated the Upas of Captain R. H. Dyas +and other works. + +Campanella (Tommaso), Italian philosopher, b. Stilo, Calabria, +5 Sept. 1568. He entered the Dominican order, but was too much +attracted by the works of Telesio to please his superiors. In 1590 +his Philosophia Sensibus Demonstratio was printed at Naples. Being +prosecuted, he fled to Rome, and thence to Florence, Venice, +and Padua. At Bologna some of his MS. fell into the hands of the +Inquisition, and he was arrested. He ably defended himself and was +acquitted. Returning to Calabria in 1599, he was arrested on charges +of heresy and conspiracy against the Spanish Government of Naples, +and having appealed to Rome, was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment +in the prison of the Holy Office. He was put to the torture seven +times, his torments on one occasion extending over forty hours, but +he refused to confess. He was dragged from one prison to another for +twenty-seven years, during which he wrote some sonnets, a history of +the Spanish monarchy, and several philosophical works. On 15 May, +1626, he was released by the intervention of Pope Urban VIII. He +was obliged to fly from Rome to France, where he met Gassendi. He +also visited Descartes in Holland. Julian Hibbert remarked that +his Atheismus Triumphatus--Atheism Subdued, 1631, would be better +entitled Atheismus Triumphans--Atheism Triumphant--as the author puts +his strongest arguments on the heterodox side. In his City of the Sun, +Campanella follows Plato and More in depicting an ideal republic and a +time when a new era of earthly felicity should begin. Hallam says "The +strength of Campanella's genius lay in his imagination." His "Sonnets" +have been translated by J. A. Symonds. Died Paris, 21 May, 1639. + +Campbell (Alexander), Socialist of Glasgow, b. about the beginning +of the century. He early became a Socialist, and was manager at +the experiment at Orbiston under Abram Combe, of whom he wrote +a memoir. Upon the death of Combe, 1827, he became a Socialist +missionary in England. He took an active part in the co-operative +movement, and in the agitation for an unstamped press, for which he +was tried and imprisoned at Edinburgh, 1833-4. About 1849 he returned +to Glasgow and wrote on the Sentinel. In 1867 he was presented with +a testimonial and purse of 90 sovereigns by admirers of his exertions +in the cause of progress. Died about 1873. + +Campion (William), a shoemaker, who became one of R. Carlile's +shopmen; tried 8 June, 1824, for selling Paine's Age of Reason. After +a spirited defence he was found guilty and sentenced to three years' +imprisonment. In prison he edited, in conjunction with J. Clarke, +E. Hassell, and T. R. Perry, the Newgate Monthly Magazine, to which +he contributed some thoughtful papers, from Sept. 1824, to Aug. 1826, +when he was removed to the Compter. + +Canestrini (Giovanni), Italian naturalist, b. Rerò, 1835. He studied +at Vienna, and in '60 was nominated Professor of Natural History at +Geneva. Signor Canestrini contributed to the Annuario Filosofico del +Libero Pensiero, and is known for his popularisation of the works +of Darwin, which he has translated into Italian. He has written +upon the Origin of Man, which has gone through two editions, Milan, +'66-'70, and on the Theory of Evolution, Turin, '77. He was appointed +Professor of Zoology, Anatomy and Comparative Physiology at Padua, +where he has published a Memoir of Charles Darwin, '82. + +Cardano (Girolamo), better known as Jerome Cardan, Italian +mathematician, and physician, b. Pavia, 24 Sept. 1501. He studied +medicine, but was excluded from the Milan College of Physicians on +account of illegitimate birth. He and his young wife were at one time +compelled to take refuge in the workhouse. It is not strange that his +first work was an exposure of the fallacies of the faculty. A fortunate +cure brought him into notice and he journeyed to Scotland as the +medical adviser of the Archbishop of St. Andrews, 1551. In 1563 he was +arrested at Bologna for heresy, but was released, although deprived of +his professorship. He died at Rome, 20 Sept. 1576, having, it is said, +starved himself to verify his own prediction of his death. Despite +some superstition, Cardano did much to forward science, especially +by his work on Algebra, and in his works De Subtilitate Rerum and De +Varietate Rerum, amid much that is fanciful, perceived the universality +of natural law and the progressive evolution of life. Scaliger accused +him of Atheism. Pünjer says "Cardanus deserves to be named along with +Telesius as one of the principal founders of Natural Philosophy." + +Carducci (Giosuè), Italian poet and Professor of Italian Literature at +the University of Bologna, b. Pietrasantra, in the province of Lucca, +27 July, 1836. As early as '49 he cried, Abasso tutti i re! viva la +republica--Down with all kings! Long live the republic! Sprung into +fame by his Hymn to Satan, '69, by which he intended the spirit of +resistance. He has written many poems and satires in which he exhibits +himself an ardent Freethinker and Republican. At the end of '57 he +wrote his famous verse "Il secoletto vil che cristianeggia"--"This +vile christianising century." In '60 he became professor of Greek +in Bologna University, being suspended for a short while in '67 for +an address to Mazzini. In '76 he was elected as republican deputy to +the Italian Parliament for Lugo di Romagna. + +Carlile (Eliza Sharples), second wife of Richard Carlile, came from +Lancashire during the imprisonment of Carlile and Taylor, 1831, +delivered discourses at the Rotunda, and started a journal, the Isis, +which lasted from 11 Feb. to 15 Dec. 1832. The Isis was dedicated +to the young women of England "until superstition is extinct," +and contained Frances Wright's discourses, in addition to those +by Mrs. Carlile, who survived till '61. Mr. Bradlaugh lodged with +Mrs. Carlile at the Warner Place Institute, in 1849. She had three +children, Hypatia, Theophila and Julian, of whom the second is +still living. + +Carlile (Jane), first wife of R. Carlile, who carried on his business +during his imprisonment, was proceeded against, and sentenced to two +years' imprisonment, 1821. She had three children, Richard, Alfred, +and Thomas Paine Carlile, the last of whom edited the Regenerator, +a Chartist paper published at Manchester, 1839. + +Carlile (Richard), foremost among the brave upholders of an English +free press, b. Ashburton, Devon, 8 Dec. 1790. He was apprenticed to a +tin-plate worker, and followed that business till he was twenty-six, +when, having read the works of Paine, he began selling works like +Wooler's Black Dwarf, which Government endeavored to suppress. Sherwin +offered him the dangerous post of publisher of the Republican, which +he accepted. He then published Southey's Wat Tyler, reprinted the +political works of Paine and the parodies for which Hone was tried, but +which cost Carlile eighteen weeks' imprisonment. In 1818 he published +Paine's Theological Works. The prosecution instituted induced him to +go on printing similar works, such as Palmer's Principles of Nature, +Watson Refuted, Jehovah Unveiled, etc. By Oct. 1819, he had six +indictments to answer, on two of which he was tried from 12 to 16 +October. He read the whole of the Age of Reason in his defence, in +order to have it in the report of the trial. He was found guilty and +sentenced (16 Nov.) to fifteen hundred pounds fine and three years' +imprisonment in Dorchester Gaol. During his imprisonment his business +was kept on by a succession of shopmen. Refusing to find securities +not to publish, he was kept in prison till 18 Nov. 1835, when he +was liberated unconditionally. During his imprisonment he edited +the Republican, which extended to fourteen volumes. He also edited +the Deist, the Moralist, the Lion (four volumes), the Prompter (for +No. 3 of which he again suffered thirty-two months' imprisonment), +and the Gauntlet. Amongst his writings are An Address to Men of +Science, The Gospel according to R. Carlile, What is God? Every +Woman's Book, etc. He published Doubts of Infidels, Janus on Sion, +Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, D'Holbach's Good Sense, Volney's Ruins, and +many other Freethought works. He died 10 Feb. 1843, bequeathing his +body to Dr. Lawrence for scientific purposes. + +Carlyle (Thomas), one of the most gifted and original writers of the +century, b. 4 Dec. 1795, at Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, where his +father, a man of intellect and piety, held a small farm. Showing early +ability he was intended for the Kirk, and educated at the University +of Edinburgh. He, however, became a tutor, and occupied his leisure +in translating from the German. He married Jane Welsh 17 Oct. 1826, +and wrote in the London Magazine and Edinburgh Review many masterly +critical articles, notably on Voltaire, Diderot, Burns, and German +literature. In 1833-4 his Sartor Resartus appeared in Fraser's +Magazine. In '34 he removed to London and began writing the French +Revolution, the MS. of the first vol. of which he confided to Mill, +with whom it was accidentally burnt. He re-wrote the work without +complaint, and it was published in '37. He then delivered a course +of lectures on "German Literature" and on "Heroes, Hero-Worship, and +the Heroic in History," in which he treats Mahomet as the prophet +"we are freest to speak of." His Past and Present was published in +'43. In '45 appeared Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches. In +'50 he published Latter-Day Pamphlets, which contains his most +distinctive political and social doctrines, and in the following year +his Life of John Sterling, in which his heresy clearly appears. His +largest work is his History of the Life and Times of Frederick the +Great, in 10 vols. He was elected rector of Edinburgh University in +'65. Died 5 Feb. 1881. Mr. Froude, in his Biography of Carlyle, says, +"We have seen him confessing to Irving that he did not believe as his +friend did in the Christian religion." ... "the special miraculous +occurrences of sacred history were not credible to him." + +Carneades, sceptical philosopher, b. Cyrene about B.C. 213. He went +early to Athens, and attended the lectures of the Stoics, learning +logic from Diogenes. In the year 155, he was chosen with other +deputies to go to Rome to deprecate a fine which had been placed on +the Athenians. During his stay at Rome he attracted great attention +by his philosophical orations. Carneades attacked the very idea of +a God at once infinite and an individual. He denied providence and +design. Many of his arguments are preserved in Cicero's Academics +and De Natura Deorum. Carneades left no written works; his views +seem to have been systematised by his follower Clitomachus. He died +B.C. 129. Carneades is described as a man of unwearied industry. His +ethics were of elevated character. + +Carneri (Bartholomäus von), German writer, b. Trieste, 3 +Nov. 1821. Educated at Vienna. In 1870 he sat in the Austrian +Parliament with the Liberals. Author of an able work on Morality and +Darwinism, Vienna, 1871. Has also written Der Mensch als Selbstweck, +"Humanity as its own proper object," 1877; Grundlegung der Ethik, +Foundation of Morals, 1881; and Ethical Essays on Evolution and +Happiness, Stuttgart, 1886. + +Carra (Jean Louis), French man of letters and Republican, b. 1743 at +Pont de Veyle. He travelled in Germany, Italy, Turkey, Russia, and +Moldavia, where he became secretary to the hospodar. On returning to +France he became employed in the King's library and wrote a History +of Moldavia and an Essay on Aerial Navigation. He warmly espoused +the revolution and was one of the most ardent orators of the Jacobin +club. In the National Assembly he voted for the death of Louis XVI., +but was executed with the Girondins, 31 Oct. 1793. His Freethought +sentiments are evident from his System of Reason, 1773; his Spirit +of Morality and Philosophy, 1777; New Principles of Physic, 1782-3, +and other works. + +Carrel (Jean Baptiste Nicolas Armand), called by Saint Beuve "the +Junius of the French press," b. Rouen, 8 May, 1800. He became a +soldier, but, being a Republican, fought on behalf of the Spanish +revolution. Being taken prisoner, he was condemned to death, but +escaped through some informality. He became secretary to Thierry, +edited the works of P. L. Courier, and established the Nation in +conjunction with Thiers and Mignet. J. S. Mill writes of him in terms +of high praise. The leading journalist of his time, his slashing +articles led to several duels, and in an encounter with Emile de +Girardin (22 July, 1836) he was fatally wounded. On his death-bed, +says M. Littré, he said "Point de prêtres, point d'église"--no +priests nor church. Died 24 July, 1836. He wrote a History of the +Counter-Revolution in England, with an eye to events in his own +country. + +Carus (Julius Viktor), German zoologist, b. Leipsic, 25 Aug. 1825. Has +been keeper of anatomical museum at Oxford, and has translated Darwin's +works and the philosophy of G. H. Lewes. + +Carus (Karl Gustav), German physiologist and Pantheist, b. Leipsic, +3 Jan. 1789. He taught comparative anatomy at the university of that +town, and published a standard introduction to that subject. He also +wrote Psyche, a history of the development of the human soul, 1846, +and Nature and Idea, 1861. Died at Dresden, 28 July, 1869. + +Castelar y Ripoll (Emilio), Spanish statesman, b. Cadiz, +8 Sept. 1832. He began as a journalist, and became known by his +novel Ernesto, 1855. As professor of history and philosophy, he +delivered lectures on "Civilisation during the first three centuries of +Christendom." La Formula del Progresso contains a sketch of democratic +principles. On the outbreak of the revolution of '68 he advocated +a Federal Republic in a magnificent oration. The Crown was however +offered to Amadeus of Savoy. "Glass, with care," was Castelar's verdict +on the new dynasty, and in Feb. '73 Castelar drew up a Republican +Constitution; and for a year was Dictator of Spain. Upon his retirement +to France he wrote a sketchy History of the Republican Movement in +Europe. In '76 he returned to Spain and took part in the Cortes, +where he has continued to advocate Republican views. His Old Rome and +New Italy, and Life of Lord Byron have been translated into English. + +Castelli (David), Italian writer, b. Livorno, 30 Dec. 1836. Since +1873 he has held the chair of Hebrew in the Institute of Superior +Studies at Florence. He has translated the book of Ecclesiastes with +notes, and written rationalistic works on Talmudic Legends, 1869; +The Messiah According to the Hebrews, '74; the Bible Prophets, '82; +and The History of the Israelites, 1887. + +Castilhon (Jean Louis), French man of letters, b. at Toulouse in +1720. He wrote in numerous publications, and edited the Journal of +Jurisprudence. His history of dogmas and philosophical opinions had +some celebrity, and he shows himself a Freethinker in his Essay +on Ancient and Modern Errors and Superstitions, Amsterdam, 1765; +his Philosophical Almanack, 1767; and his History of Philosophical +Opinions, 1769. Died 1793. + +Cattell (Christopher Charles), writer in English Secular journals, +author of Search for the First Man; Against Christianity; The Religion +of this Life, etc. + +Caumont (Georges), French writer of genius, b. about 1845. Suffering +from consumption, he wrote Judgment of a Dying Man upon Life, +and humorous and familiar Conversations of a Sick Person with the +Divinity. Died at Madeira, 1875. + +Cavalcante (Guido), noble Italian poet and philosopher, b. Florence, +1230. A friend of Dante, and a leader of the Ghibbelin party. He +married a daughter of Farinata delgi Uberti. Bayle says, "it is said +his speculation has as their aim to prove there is no God. Dante places +his father in the hell of Epicureans, who denied the immortality of +the soul." Guido died in 1300. An edition of his poems was published +in 1813. + +Cavallotti (Felice Carlo Emanuel), Italian poet and journalist, +b. Milan, 6 Nov. 1842, celebrated for his patriotic poems; is a +pronounced Atheist. He was elected member of the Italian parliament +in 1873. + +Cayla (Jean Mamert), French man of letters and politician b. Vigan +(Lot) 1812. Became in '37 editor of the Emancipator of Toulouse, +a city of which he wrote the history. At Paris he wrote to the +Siècle, the République Française and other journals, and published +European Celebrities and numerous anti-clerical brochures, such as +The Clerical Conspiracy, '61; The Devil, his Grandeur and Decay, +'64; Hell Demolished, '65; Suppression of Religious Orders, '70; +and The History of the Mass,'74. He died 2 May, 1877. + +Cazelles (Emile), French translator of Bentham's Influence of Natural +Religion, Paris, 1875. Has also translated Mill's Subjection of Women +and his Autobiography and Essays on Religion. + +Cecco d'Ascoli, i.e., Stabili (Francesco degli), Italian poet, +b. Ascoli, 1257. He taught astrology and philosophy at Bologna. In +1324 he was arrested by the Inquisition for having spoken against the +faith, and was condemned to fine and penitence. He was again accused +at Florence, and was publicly burnt as an heretic 16 Sept. 1327. His +best known work is entitled Acerba, a sort of encyclopædia in rhyme. + +Cellarius (Martin), Anabaptist, who deserves mention as the first +avowed Protestant Anti-trinitarian. He studied Oriental languages +with Reuchlin and Melancthon, but having discussed with Anabaptists +acknowledged himself converted, 1522, and afterwards gave up the deity +of Christ. He was imprisoned, and on his release went to Switzerland, +where he died 11 Oct. 1564. + +Celsus, a Pagan philosopher, who lived in the second century. He was +a friend of Lucian, who dedicated to him his treatise on the False +Prophet. He wrote an attack on Christianity, called The True Word. The +work was destroyed by the early Christians. The passages given by +his opponent, Origen, suffice to show that he was a man of high +attainments, well acquainted with the religion he attacked, and that +his power of logic and irony was most damaging to the Christian faith. + +Cerutti (Giuseppe Antonio Gioachino), poet, converted Jesuit, +b. Turin, 13 June, 1738. He became a Jesuit, and wrote a defence of +the Society. He afterwards became a friend of Mirabeau, adopted the +principles of 1789, wrote in defence of the Revolution, and wrote +and published a Philosophical Breviary, or history of Judaism, +Christianity, and Deism, which he attributed to Frederick of +Prussia. His opinions may also be gathered from his poem, Les Jardins +de Betz, 1792. Died Paris, 3 Feb. 1792. + +Chaho (J. Augustin), Basque man of letters, b. Tardets, +Basses-Pyrénées, 10 Oct. 1811. His principal works are a Philosophy of +Comparative Religion, and a Basque dictionary. At Bayonne he edited +the Ariel. In 1852 this was suppressed and he was exiled. Died 23 +Oct. 1858. + +Chaloner (Thomas), M.P., Regicide, b. Steeple Claydon, Bucks, +1595. Educated at Oxford, he became member for Richmond (Yorks), +1645. Was a witness against Archbishop Laud, and one of King Charles's +Judges. In 1651 he was made Councillor of State. Wood says he "was as +far from being a Puritan as the east is from the west," and that he +"was of the natural religion." He wrote a pretended True and Exact +Relation of the Finding of Moses His Tomb, 1657, being a satire +directed against the Presbyterians. Upon the Restoration he fled to +the Low Countries, and died at Middelburg, Zeeland, in 1661. + +Chambers (Ephraim), originator of the Cyclopædia of Arts and Sciences, +b. Kendal about 1680. The first edition of his work appeared in 1728, +and procured him admission to the Royal Society. A French translation +gave rise to Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie. Chambers also +edited the Literary Magazine, 1836, etc. His infidel opinions were +well known, and the Cyclopædia was placed upon the Index, but he was +buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. Died 15 May, 1740. + +Chamfort (Sébastien Roch Nicolas), French man of letters, b. in +Auvergne, near Clermont, 1741. He knew no parent but his mother, +a peasant girl, to supply whose wants he often denied himself +necessaries. At Paris he gained a prize from the Academy for his +eulogy on Molière. About 1776 he published a Dramatic Dictionary +and wrote several plays. In 1781 he obtained a seat in the Academy, +being patronised by Mme. Helvetius. He became a friend of Mirabeau, +who called him une tête électrique. In 1790 he commenced a work called +Pictures of the Revolution. In the following year he became secretary +of the Jacobin Club and National Librarian. Arrested by Robespierre, +he desperately, but vainly, endeavored to commit suicide. He died 13 +April, 1794, leaving behind numerous works and a collection of Maxims, +Thoughts, Characters, and Anecdotes, which show profound genius and +knowledge of human nature. + +Chapman (John), M.R.C.S., b. 1839. Has written largely in the +Westminster Review, of which he is proprietor. + +Chappellsmith (Margaret), née Reynolds, b. Aldgate, 22 Feb. 1806. Early +in life she read the writings of Cobbett. In '36 she began writing +political articles in the Dispatch, and afterwards became a Socialist +and Freethought lecturess. She married John Chappellsmith in '39, +and in '42 she began business as a bookseller. In '37 she expressed +a preference for the development theory before that of creation. In +'50 they emigrated to the United States, where Mrs. Chappellsmith +contributed many articles to the Boston Investigator. + +Charles (Rudolf). See Giessenburg. + +Charma (Antoine), French philosopher, b. 15 Jan. 1801. In '30 he was +nominated to the Chair of Philosophy at Caen. He was denounced for +his impiety by the Count de Montalembert in the Chamber of peers, +and an endeavor was made to unseat him. He wrote many philosophical +works, and an account of Didron's Histoire de Dieu. Died 5 Aug. 1869. + +Charron (Pierre), French priest and sceptic, b. Paris, 1513. He was +an intimate friend of Montaigne. His principal work is a Treatise on +Wisdom, 1601, which was censured as irreligious by the Jesuits. Franck +says "the scepticism of Charron inclines visibly to 'sensualisme' +and even to materialism." Died Paris, 16 Nov. 1603. + +Chasseboeuf de Volney (Constantin François). See Volney. + +Chastelet du or Chatelet Lomont (Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de +Breteuil), Marquise, French savante, b. Paris, 17 Dec 1706. She was +learned in mathematics and other sciences, and in Latin, English +and Italian. In 1740 she published a work on physical philosophy +entitled Institutions de Physique. She afterwards made a good French +translation of Newton's Principia. She lived some years with Voltaire +at Cirey between 1735 and 1747, and addressed to him Doubts on Revealed +Religions, published in 1792. She also wrote a Treatise on Happiness, +which was praised by Condorcet. + +Chastellux (François Jean de), Marquis. A soldier, traveller and +writer, b. Paris 1734. Wrote On Public Happiness (2 vols., Amst. 1776), +a work Voltaire esteemed highly. He contributed to the Encyclopédie; +one article on "Happiness," being suppressed by the censor because +it did not mention God. Died Paris, 28 Oct. 1788. + +Chatterton (Thomas), the marvellous boy poet, b. Bristol, 20 Nov, +1752. His poems, which he pretended were written by one Thomas Rowley +in the fourteenth century and discovered by him in an old chest in +Redcliffe Church, attracted much attention. In 1769 he visited London +in hopes of rising by his talents, but after a bitter experience of +writing for the magazines, destroyed himself in a fit of despair 25 +Aug. 1770. Several of his poems betray deistic opinions. + +Chaucer (Geoffrey), the morning star of English poetry and first +English Humanist, b. London about 1340. In 1357 he was attached to +the household of Lionel, third son of Edward III. He accompanied the +expedition to France 1359-60, was captured by the French, and ransomed +by the king. He was patronised by John of Gaunt, and some foreign +missions were entrusted to him, one of them being to Italy, where he +met Petrarch. All his writings show the influence of the Renaissance, +and in his Canterbury Pilgrims he boldly attacks the vices of the +ecclesiastics. Died 25 Oct. 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. + +Chaumette (Pierre Gaspard), afterwards Anaxagoras, French +revolutionary, b. Nevers, 24 May, 1763. The son of a shoemaker, he was +in turn cabin boy, steersman, and attorney's clerk. In early youth he +received lessons in botany from Rousseau. He embraced the revolution +with ardor, was the first to assume the tri-color cockade, became +popular orator at the club of the Cordeliers, and was associated with +Proudhomme in the journal Les Revolutions de Paris. Nominated member +of the Commune 10 Aug. 1792, he took the name of Anaxagoras to show +his little regard for his baptismal saints. He was elected Procureur +Syndic, in which capacity he displayed great activity. He abolished +the rod in schools, suppressed lotteries, instituted workshops for +fallen women, established the first lying-in-hospital, had books +sent to the hospitals, separated the insane from the sick, founded +the Conservatory of Music, opened the public libraries every day +(under the ancien régime they were only open two hours per week), +replaced books of superstition by works of morality and reason, put +a graduated tax on the rich to provide for the burial of the poor, +and was the principal mover in the feasts of Reason and closing of +the churches. He was accused by Robespierre of conspiring with Cloots +"to efface all idea of the Deity," and was guillotined 13 April, 1794. + +Chaussard (Pierre Jean Baptiste), French man of letters, b. Paris, +8 Oct. 1766. At the Revolution he took the name of Publicola, and +published patriotic odes, Esprit de Mirabeau, and other works. He was +preacher to the Theophilanthropists, and became professor of belles +lettres at Orleans. Died 9 Jan. 1823. + +Chemin-Dupontes (Jean Baptiste), b. 1761. One of the founders of +French Theophilanthropy; published many writings, the best known of +which is entitled What is Theophilanthropy? + +Chenier (Marie André de), French poet, b. Constantinople, 29 +Oct. 1762. His mother, a Greek, inspired him with a love for ancient +Greek literature. Sent to college at Paris, he soon manifested his +genius by writing eclogues and elegies of antique simplicity and +sensibility. In 1787 he came to England as Secretary of Legation. He +took part in the legal defence of Louis XVI., eulogised Charlotte +Corday, and gave further offence by some letters in the Journal de +Paris. He was committed to prison, and here met his ideal in the +Comtesse de Coigny. Confined in the same prison, to her he addressed +the touching verses, The Young Captive (La jeune Captive). He was +executed 25 July, 1794, leaving behind, among other poems, an imitation +of Lucretius, entitled Hermes, which warrants the affirmation of de +Chênedolle, that "André Chénier était athée avec délices." + +Chenier (Marie Joseph de), French poet and miscellaneous writer, +brother of the preceding, b. Constantinople, 28 Aug. 1764. He served +two years in the army, and then applied himself to literature. His +first successful drama, "Charles IX.," was produced in 1789, and was +followed by others. He wrote many patriotic songs, and was made member +of the Convention. He was a Voltairean, and in his Nouveaux Saints +(1801) satirised those who returned to the old faith. He wrote many +poems and an account of French literature. Died Paris, 10 Jan. 1811. + +Chernuishevsky or Tchernycheiosky (Nikolai Gerasimovich), +Russian Nihilist, b. Saratof, 1829. Educated at the University of +St. Petersburg, translated Mill's Political Economy, and wrote on +Superstition and the Principles of Logic, '59. His bold romance, +What is to be Done? was published '63. In the following year he was +sentenced to the Siberian mines, where, after heartrending cruelties, +he has become insane. + +Chesneau Du Marsais (César). See Dumarsais. + +Chevalier (Joseph Philippe), French chemist, b. Saint Pol, 21 March, +1806, is the author of an able book on "The Soul from the standpoint +of Reason and Science," Paris, '61. He died at Amiens in 1865. + +Chies y Gomez (Ramon), Spanish Freethinker, b. Medina de Pomar, +Burgos, 13 Oct. 1845. His father, a distinguished Republican, +educated him without religion. In '65 Chies went to Madrid, and +followed a course of law and philosophy at the University, and soon +after wrote for a Madrid paper La Discusion. He took an active part +in the Revolution of '65, and at the proclamation of the Republic, +'73, became civil governor of Valencia. In '81 he founded a newspaper +El Voto Nacional, and since '83 has edited Las Dominicales del Libre +Pensamiento, which he also founded. Ramon Chies is one of the foremost +Freethought champions in Spain and lectures as well as writes. + +Child (Lydia Maria) née Francis, American authoress, b. Medford, Mass., +11 Feb. 1802. She early commenced writing, publishing Hobomok, a Tale +of Early Times, in '21. From '25 she kept a private school in Watertown +until '28, when she married David Lee Child, a Boston lawyer. She, with +him, edited the Anti-Slavery Standard, '41, etc., and by her numerous +writings did much to form the opinion which ultimately prevailed. She +was, however, long subjected to public odium, her heterodoxy being well +known. Her principal work is The Progress of Religious Ideas, 3 vols.; +'55. Died Wayland, Mass., 20 Oct. 1880. She was highly eulogised by +Wendell Phillips. + +Chilton (William), of Bristol, was born in 1815. In early life he was +a bricklayer, but in '41 he was concerned with Charles Southwell in +starting the Oracle of Reason, which he set up in type, and of which +he became one of the editors. He contributed some thoughtful articles +on the Theory of Development to the Library of Reason, and wrote in +the Movement and the Reasoner. Died at Bristol, 28 May, 1855. + +Chubb (Thomas), English Deist, b. East Harnham, near Salisbury, 29 +Sept. 1679, was one of the first to show Rationalism among the common +people. Beginning by contending for the Supremacy of the Father, he +gradually relinquished supernatural religion, and considered that Jesus +Christ was of the religion of Thomas Chubb. Died 8 Feb. 1747, leaving +behind two vols. which he calls A Farewell to his Readers, from which +it appears that he rejected both revelation and special providence. + +Church (Henry Tyrell), lecturer and writer, edited Tallis's +Shakespeare, wrote Woman and her Failings, 1858, and contributed to +the Investigator when edited by Mr. Bradlaugh. Died 19 July, 1859. + +Clapiers (Luc de). See Vauvenargues. + +Claretie (Jules Armand Arsène), French writer, b. Limoges, 3 +Dec. 1840. A prolific writer, of whose works we only cite Free Speech, +'68; his biographies of contemporary celebrities; and his work Camille +Desmoulins, '75. + +Clarke (John), brought up in the Methodist connection, changed his +opinion by studying the Bible, and became one of Carlile's shopmen. He +was tried 10 June, 1824, for selling a blasphemous libel in number 17, +vol. ix., of The Republican, and after a spirited defence, in which +he read many of the worst passages in the Bible, was sentenced to +three years' imprisonment, and to find securities for good behavior +during life. He wrote while in prison, A Critical Review of the Life, +Character, and Miracles of Jesus, a work showing with some bitterness +much bold criticism and Biblical knowledge. It first appeared in the +Newgate Magazine and was afterwards published in book form, 1825 and +'39. + +Clarke (Marcus), Australian writer, b. Kensington, 1847. Went to +Victoria, '63; joined the staff of Melbourne Argus. In '76 was made +assistant librarian of the Public Library. He has compiled a history of +Australia, and written The Peripatetic Philosopher (a series of clever +sketches), His Natural Life (a powerful novel), and some poems. An able +Freethought paper, "Civilisation without Delusion," in the Victoria +Review, Nov. '79, was replied to by Bishop Moorhouse. The reply, with +Clarke's answer, which was suppressed, was published in '80. Died 1884. + +Claude-Constant, author of a Freethinkers' Catechism published at +Paris in 1875. + +Clavel (Adolphe), French Positivist and physician, b. Grenoble, +1815. He has written on the Principles of 1789, on those of the +nineteenth century, on Positive Morality, and some educational works. + +Clavel (F. T. B.), French author of a Picturesque History of +Freemasonry, and also a Picturesque History of Religions, 1844, +in which Christianity takes a subordinate place. + +Clayton (Robert), successively Bishop of Killala, Cork, and Clogher, +b. Dublin, 1695. By his benevolence attracted the friendship of +Samuel Clarke, and adopted Arianism, which he maintained in several +publications. In 1756 he proposed, in the Irish House of Lords, the +omission of the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds from the Liturgy, and +stated that he then felt more relieved in his mind than for twenty +years before. A legal prosecution was instituted, but he died, it +is said, from nervous agitation (26 Feb. 1758) before the matter +was decided. + +Cleave (John), bookseller, and one of the pioneers of a cheap +political press. Started the London Satirist, and Cleave's Penny +Gazette of Variety, Oct. 14, 1837, to Jan. 20, '44. He published +many Chartist and Socialistic works, and an abridgment of Howitt's +History of Priestcraft. In May, '40, he was sentenced to four months' +imprisonment for selling Haslam's Letters to the Clergy. + +Clemenceau (Georges Benjamin Eugene), French politician, +b. Moulleron-en-Pareds, 28 Sept. 1841. Educated at Nantes and Paris, +he took his doctor's degree in '65. His activity as Republican +ensured him a taste of gaol. He visited the United States and acted +as correspondent on the Temps. He returned at the time of the war +and was elected deputy to the Assembly. In Jan. 1880 he founded La +Justice, having as collaborateurs M. C. Pelletan, Prof. Acollas and +Dr. C. Letourneau. As one of the chiefs of the Radical party he was +largely instrumental in getting M. Carnot elected President. + +Clemetshaw (C.), French writer, using the name Cilwa. B. 14 Sept. 1864 +of English parents; has contributed to many journals, was delegate to +the International Congress, London, of '87, and is editor of Le Danton. + +Clemens (Samuel Langhorne), American humorist, better known as +"Mark Twain," b. Florida, Missouri, 30 Nov. 1835. In '55 he served +as Mississippi pilot, and takes his pen name from the phrase used +in sounding. In Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrim's Progress, +'69, by which he made his name, there is much jesting with "sacred" +subjects. Mr. Clemens is an Agnostic. + +Clifford (Martin), English Rationalist. Was Master of the Charterhouse, +1671, and published anonymously a treatise of Human Reason, London, +'74, which was reprinted in the following year with the author's +name. A short while after its publication Laney, Bishop of Ely, was +dining in Charterhouse and remarked, not knowing the author, "'twas no +matter if all the copies were burnt and the author with them, because +it made every man's private fancy judge of religion." Clifford died 10 +Dec. 1677. In the Nouvelle Biographie Générale Clifford is amusingly +described as an "English theologian of the order des Chartreux," who, +it is added, was "prior of his order." + +Clifford (William Kingdon), mathematician, philosopher, and moralist, +of rare originality and boldness, b. Exeter 4 May, 1845. At the age +of fifteen he was sent to King's College, London, where he showed an +early genius for mathematics, publishing the Analogues of Pascal's +Theorem at the age of eighteen. Entered Trinity College, Cambridge, +in '63. In '67 he was second wrangler. Elected fellow of his college, +he remained at Cambridge till 1870, when he accompanied the eclipse +expedition to the Mediterranean. The next year he was appointed +Professor of mathematics at London University, a post he held till +his death. He was chosen F.R.S. '74. Married Miss Lucy Lane in April, +'75. In the following year symptoms of consumption appeared, and he +visited Algeria and Spain. He resumed work, but in '79 took a voyage to +Madeira, where he died 3 March. Not long before his death appeared the +first volume of his great mathematical work, Elements of Dynamic. Since +his death have been published The Common Sense of the Exact Sciences, +and Lectures and Essays, in two volumes, edited by Leslie Stephen and +Mr. F. Pollock. These volumes include his most striking Freethought +lectures and contributions to the Fortnightly and other reviews. He +intended to form them into a volume on The Creed of Science. Clifford +was an outspoken Atheist, and he wrote of Christianity as a religion +which wrecked one civilisation and very nearly wrecked another. + +Cloots or Clootz (Johann Baptist, afterwards Anacharsis) Baron du Val +de Grâce, Prussian enthusiast, b. near Cleves, 24 June, 1755, was a +nephew of Cornelius de Pauw. In 1780 he published the The Certainty +of the Proofs of Mohammedanism, under the pseudonym of Ali-gier-ber, +an anagram of Bergier, whose Certainty of the Proofs of Christianity +he parodies. He travelled widely, but became a resident of Paris +and a warm partisan of the Revolution, to which he devoted his large +fortune. He wrote a reply to Burke, and continually wrote and spoke +in favor of a Universal Republic. On 19 June, 1790, he, at the head +of men of all countries, asked a place at the feast of Federation, +and henceforward was styled "orator of the human race." He was, with +Paine, Priestley, Washington and Klopstock, made a French citizen, +and in 1792 was elected to the Convention by two departments. He +debaptised himself, taking the name Anacharsis, was a prime mover +in the Anti-Catholic party, and induced Bishop Gobel to resign. He +declared there was no other God but Nature. Incurring the enmity of +Robespierre, he and Paine were arrested as foreigners. After two +and a half months' imprisonment at St. Lazare, he was brought to +the scaffold with the Hébertistes, 24 March, 1794. He died calmly, +uttering materialist sentiments to the last. + +Clough (Arthur Hugh), poet, b. Liverpool, 1 Jan. 1819. He was +educated at Rugby, under Dr. Arnold, and at Oxford, where he showed +himself of the Broad School. Leslie Stephen says, "He never became +bitter against the Church of his childhood, but he came to regard its +dogmas as imperfect and untenable." In '48 he visited Paris, and the +same year produced his Bothie of Toper-na-Fuosich: a Long-Vacation +Pastoral. Between '49 and '52 he was professor of English literature +in London University. In '52 he visited the United States, where +he gained the friendship of Emerson and Longfellow, and revised +the Dryden translation of Plutarch's Lives. Died at Florence, 13 +Nov. 1861. His Remains are published in two volumes, and include +an essay on Religious Tradition and some notable poems. He is the +Thyrsis of Matthew Arnold's exquisite Monody. + +Cnuzius (Matthias). See Knutzen. + +Coke (Henry), author of Creeds of the Day, or collated opinions of +reputable thinkers, in 2 vols, London, 1883. + +Cole (Peter), a tanner of Ipswich, was burnt for blasphemy in the +castle ditch, Norwich, 1587. A Dr. Beamond preached to him before the +mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen, "but he would not recant." See Hamont. + +Colenso (John William), b. 24 Jan. 1814. Was educated at St. John's, +Cambridge, and became a master at Harrow. After acquiring fame by his +valuable Treatise on Algebra, '49, he became first Bishop of Natal, +'54. Besides other works, he published The Pentateuch and Book of +Joshua Critically Examined, 1862-79, which made a great stir, and +was condemned by both Houses of Convocation and its author declared +deposed. The Privy Council, March '65, declared this deposition +"null and void in law." Colenso pleaded the cause of the natives at +the time of the Zulu War. He died 20 June, 1883. + +Colins (Jean Guillaume César Alexandre Hippolyte) Baron de, +Belgian Socialist and founder of "Collectivism," b. Brussels, 24 +Dec. 1783. Author of nineteen volumes on Social Science. He denied +alike Monotheism and Pantheism, but taught the natural immortality of +the soul. Died at Paris, 12 Nov. 1859. A number of disciples propagate +his opinions in the Philosophie de l'Avenir. + +Collins (Anthony), English Deist, b. Heston, Middlesex, 21 June, +1676. He studied at Cambridge and afterwards at the Temple, and +became Justice of the Peace and Treasurer of the County of Essex. He +was an intimate friend of Locke, who highly esteemed him and made +him his executor. He wrote an Essay on Reason, 1707; Priestcraft +in Perfection, 1710; a Vindication of the Divine Attributes, and a +Discourse on Freethinking, 1713. This last occasioned a great outcry, +as it argued that all belief must be based on free inquiry, and +that the use of reason would involve the abandonment of supernatural +revelation. In 1719 he published An Inquiry Concerning Human Liberty, +a brief, pithy defence of necessitarianism, and in 1729 A Discourse +on Liberty and Necessity. In 1724 appeared his Discourse on the +Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion, and this was followed +by The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered, 1726. He was a skilful +disputant, and wrote with great ability. He is also credited with A +Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing. Died at London, +13 Dec. 1729. Collins, says Mr. Leslie Stephen, "appears to have been +an amiable and upright man, and to have made all readers welcome to +the use of a free library." Professor Fraser calls him "a remarkable +man," praises his "love of truth and moral courage," and allows that in +answering Dr. Samuel Clarke on the question of liberty and necessity +he "states the arguments against human freedom with a logical force +unsurpassed by any necessitarian." A similar testimony to Collins as +a thinker and dialectician is borne by Professor Huxley. + +Colman (Lucy N.), American reformer, b. 26 July, 1817, has spent +most of her life advocating the abolition of slavery, women's rights, +and Freethought. She has lectured widely, written Reminisences in the +Life of a Reformer of Fifty Years, and contributed to the Truthseeker +and Boston Investigator. + +Colotes, of Lampsacus, a hearer and disciple of Epicurus, with whom he +was a favorite. He wrote a work in favor of his master's teachings. He +held it was unworthy of a philosopher to use fables. + +Combe (Abram), one of a noted Scotch family of seventeen, b. Edinburgh, +15 Jan. 1785. He traded as a tanner, but, becoming acquainted with +Robert Owen, founded a community at Orbiston upon the principle of +Owen's New Lanark, devoting nearly the whole of his large fortune +to the scheme. But his health gave way and he died 11 Aug. 1827. He +wrote Metaphysical Sketches of the Old and New Systems and other +works advocating Owenism. + +Combe (Andrew), physician, brother of the above, b. Edinburgh, +27 Oct. 1797; studied there and in Paris; aided his brother George +in founding the Phrenological Society; wrote popular works on the +Principles of Physiology and the Management of Infancy. Died near +Edinburgh, 9 Aug. 1847. + +Combe (George), phrenologist and educationalist, b. Edinburgh, +21 Oct. 1788. He was educated for the law. Became acquainted with +Spurzheim, and published Essays on Phrenology, 1819, and founded the +Phrenological Journal. In '28 he published the Constitution of Man, +which excited great controversy especially for removing the chimeras of +special providence and efficacy of prayer. In '33 he married a daughter +of Mrs. Siddons. He visited the United States and lectured on Moral +Philosophy and Secular Education. His last work was The Relations +between Science and Religion, '57, in which he continued to uphold +Secular Theism. He also published many lectures and essays. Among his +friends were Miss Evans (George Eliot), who spent a fortnight with him +in '52. He did more than any man of his time, save Robert Owen, for the +cause of Secular education. Died at Moor Park, Surrey, 14 Aug. 1858. + +Combes (Paul), French writer, b. Paris, 13 June, 1856. Has written +on Darwinism, '83, and other works popularising science. + +Commazzi (Gian-Battista), Count author of Politica e religione trovate +insieme nella persona di Giesù Cristo, Nicopoli [Vienna] 4 vols., +1706-7, in which he makes Jesus to be a political impostor. It was +rigorously confiscated at Rome and Vienna. + +Comparetti (Domenico), Italian philologist, b. Rome in 1835. Signor +Comparetti is Professor at the Institute of Superior Studies, Rome, +and has written many works on the classic writers, in which he evinces +his Pagan partialities. + +Comte (Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier), French philosopher, +mathematician and reformer, b. at Montpelier, 12 Jan. 1798. Educated at +Paris in the Polytechnic School, where he distinguished himself by his +mathematical talent. In 1817 he made the acquaintance of St. Simon, +agreeing with him as to the necessity of a Social renovation based +upon a mental revolution. On the death of St. Simon ('25) Comte +devoted himself to the elaboration of an original system of scientific +thought, which, in the opinion of some able judges, entitles him to +be called the Bacon of the nineteenth century. Mill speaks of him as +the superior of Descartes and Leibniz. In '25 he married, but the +union proved unhappy. In the following year he lectured, but broke +down under an attack of brain fever, which occasioned his detention +in an asylum. He speedily recovered, and in '28 resumed his lectures, +which were attended by men like Humboldt, Ducrotay, Broussais, Carnot, +etc. In '30 he put forward the first volumes of his Course of Positive +Philosophy, which in '42 was completed by the publication of the sixth +volume. A condensed English version of this work was made by Harriet +Martineau, '53. In '45 Comte formed a passionate Platonic attachement +to Mme. Clotilde de Vaux, who died in the following year, having +profoundely influenced Comte's life. In consequence of his opinions, +he lost his professorship, and was supported by his disciples--Mill, +Molesworth and Grote, in England, assisting. Among other works, Comte +published A General View of Positivism, '48, translated by Dr. Bridges, +'65; A System of Positive Polity, '51, translated by Drs. Bridges, +Beesley, F. Harrison, etc., '75-79; and A Positive Catechism, '54, +translated by Dr. Congreve, '58. He also wrote on Positive Logic, +which he intended to follow with Positive Morality and Positive +Industrialism. Comte was a profound and suggestive thinker. He +resolutely sets aside all theology and metaphysics, coordinates +the sciences and substitutes the service of man for the worship of +God. Mr. J. Cotter Morison says "He belonged to that small class +of rare minds, whose errors are often more valuable and stimulating +than other men's truths." He died of cancer in the stomach at Paris, +5 Sept. 1857. + +Condillac (Etienne Bonnot de), French philosopher, b. Grenoble, +about 1715. His life was very retired, but his works show much +acuteness. They are in 23 vols., the principal being A Treatise on the +Sensations, 1764; A Treatise on Animals, and An Essay on the Origin +of Human Knowledge. In the first-named he shows that all mental life +is gradually built up out of simple sensations. Died 3 Aug. 1780. + +Condorcet (Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de), +French philosopher and politician, b. Ribemont, Picardy, 17 +Sept. 1743. Dedicated to the Virgin by a pious mother, he was kept +in girl's clothes until the age of 11. Sent to a Jesuit's school, +he soon gave up religion. At sixteen he maintained a mathematical +thesis in the presence of Alembert. In the next year he dedicated +to Turgot a Profession of Faith. After some mathematical works, he +was made member of the Academy, of which he was appointed perpetual +secretary, 1773. In 1776 he published his atheistic Letters of a +Theologian. He also wrote biographies of Turgot and Voltaire, and +in favor of American independence and against negro slavery. In +1791 he represented Paris in the National Assembly, of which he +became Secretary. It was on his motion that, in the following year, +all orders of nobility were abolished. Voting against the death of +the king and siding with the Gironde drew on him the vengeance of +the extreme party. He took shelter with Madame Vernet, but fearing to +bring into trouble her and his wife, at whose instigation he wrote his +fine Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind while in hiding, he left, +but, being arrested, died of exhaustion or by poison self-administered, +at Bourg la Reine, 27 March, 1794. + +Condorcet (Sophie de Grouchy Caritat, Marquise de), wife of above, +and sister of General Grouchy and of Mme. Cabanis, b. 1765. She +married Condorcet 1786, and was considered one of the most beautiful +women of her time. She shared her husband's sentiments and opinions +and, while he was proscribed, supported herself by portrait +painting. She was arrested, and only came out of prison after the +fall of Robespierre. She translated Adam Smith's Theory of the Moral +Sentiments, which she accompanied with eight letters on Sympathy, +addressed to Cabanis. She died 8 Sept. 1822. Her only daughter married +Gen. Arthur O'Connor. + +Confucius (Kung Kew) or Kung-foo-tsze, the philosopher Kung, a +Chinese sage, b. in the State of Loo, now part of Shantung, about +B.C. 551. He was distinguished by filial piety and learning. In his +nineteenth year he married, and three years after began as a teacher, +rejecting none who came to him. He travelled through many states. When +past middle age he was appointed chief minister of Loo, but finding +the Duke desired the renown of his name without adopting his counsel, +he retired, and devoted his old age to editing the sacred classics +of China. He died about B.C. 478. His teaching, chiefly found in the +Lun-Yu, or Confucian Analects, was of a practical moral character, +and did not include any religious dogmas. + +Congreve (Richard), English Positivist, born in 1819. Educated at +Rugby under T. Arnold, and Oxford 1840, M.A. 1843; was fellow of +Wadham College 1844-54. In '55 he published his edition of Aristotle +Politics. He became a follower of Comte and influenced many to embrace +Positivism. Translated Comte's Catechism of Positive Philosophy, 1858, +and has written many brochures. Dr. Congreve is considered the head +of the strict or English Comtists, and has long conducted a small +"Church of Humanity." + +Connor (Bernard), a physician, b. Co. Kerry, of Catholic family, +1666. He travelled widely, and was made court physician to John +Sobieski, King of Poland. He wrote a work entitled Evangelium Medici +(1697), in which he attempts to account for the Christian miracles +on natural principles. For this he was accused of Atheism. He died +in London 27 Oct. 1698. + +Constant de Rebecque (Henri Benjamin), Swiss writer, b. Lausanne, +25 Oct. 1767, and educated at Oxford, Erlangen and Edinburgh. In +1795 he entered Paris as a protégé of Mme. de Stael, and in 1799 +became a member of the Tribunal. He opposed Buonaparte and wrote +on Roman Polytheism and an important work on Religion Considered in +its Source, its Forms and its Developments (6 vols.; 1824-32). Died +8 Dec. 1830. Constant professed Protestantism, but was at heart a +sceptic, and has been called a second Voltaire. A son was executor +to Auguste Comte. + +Conta (Basil), Roumanian philosopher, b. Neamtza 27 Nov. 1845. Studied +in Italy and Belgium, and became professor in the University of Jassy, +Moldavia. In '77 he published in Brussels, in French, a theory of +fatalism, which created some stir by its boldness of thought. + +Conway (Moncure Daniel), author, b. in Fredericksburg, Stafford +co. Virginia, 17 March, 1832. He entered the Methodist ministry '50, +but changing his convictions through the influence of Emerson and +Hicksite Quakers, entered the divinity school at Cambridge, where +he graduated in '54 and became pastor of a Unitarian church until +dismissed for his anti-slavery discourses. In '57 he preached in +Cincinnati and there published The Natural History of the Devil, and +other pamphlets. In '63 Mr. Conway came to England and was minister +of South Place from the close of '63 until his return to the States +in '84. Mr. Conway is a frequent contributor to the press. He has +also published The Earthward Pilgrimage, 1870, a theory reversing +Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress; collected a Sacred Anthology from the +various sacred books of the world 1873, which he used in his pulpit; +has written on Human Sacrifices, 1876, and Idols and Ideals, 1877. His +principal work is Demonology and Devil Lore, 1878, containing much +information on mythology. He also issued his sermons under the title of +Lessons for the Day, two vols., 1883, and has published a monograph on +the Wandering Jew, a biography of Emerson, and is at present engaged +on a life of Thomas Paine. + +Cook (Kenningale Robert), LL.D., b. in Lancashire 26 Sept. 1845, son +of the vicar of Stallbridge. When a boy he used to puzzle his mother +by such questions as, "If God was omnipotent could he make what had +happened not have happened." He was intended for the Church, but +declined to subscribe the articles. Graduated at Dublin in '66, and +took LL.D. in '75. In '77 he became editor of the Dublin University +Magazine, in which appeared some studies of the lineage of Christian +doctrine and traditions afterwards published under the title of The +Fathers of Jesus. Dr. Cook wrote several volumes of choice poems. Died +July, 1886. + +Cooper (Anthony Ashley), see Shaftesbury. + +Cooper (Henry), barrister, b. Norwich about 1784. He was a schoolfellow +of Wm. Taylor of Norwich. He served as midshipman at the battle of the +Nile, but disliking the service became a barrister, and acquired some +fame by his spirited defence of Mary Ann Carlile, 21 July, 1821, for +which the report of the trial was dedicated to him by R. Carlile. He +was a friend of Lord Erskine, whose biography he commenced. Died 19 +Sept. 1824. + +Cooper (John Gilbert), poet, b. Thurgaton Priory, Notts, 1723. Educated +at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. An enthusiastic +disciple of Lord Shaftesbury. Under the name of "Philaretes" he +contributed to Dodsley's Museum. In 1749 he published a Life of +Socrates, for which he was coarsely attacked by Warburton. He wrote +some poems under the signature of Aristippus. Died Mayfair, London, +14 April, 1769. + +Cooper (Peter), a benevolent manufacturer, b. N. York, 12 Feb. 1791. He +devoted over half a million dollars to the Cooper Institute, for +the secular instruction and elevation of the working classes. Died +4 April, 1883. + +Cooper (Robert), Secularist writer and lecturer, b. 29 Dec. 1819, +at Barton-on-Irwell, near Manchester. He had the advantage of being +brought up in a Freethought family. At fourteen he became teacher +in the Co-operative Schools, Salford, lectured at fifteen, and +by seventeen became an acknowledged advocate of Owenism, holding a +public discussion with the Rev. J. Bromley. Some of his lectures were +published--one on Original Sin sold twelve thousand copies--when he was +scarcely eighteen. The Holy Scriptures Analysed (1832) was denounced +by the Bishop of Exeter in the House of Lords. Cooper was dismissed +from a situation he had held ten years, and in 1841 became a Socialist +missionary in the North of England and Scotland. At Edinburgh (1845) +he wrote Free Agency and Orthodoxy, and compiled the Infidel's Text +Book. About '50 he came to London, lecturing with success at John +Street Institution. In '54 he started the London Investigator, which +he edited for three years. In it appears his lectures on "Science +v. Theology," "Admissions of Distinguished Men," etc. Failing health +obliged him to retire leaving the Investigator to "Anthony Collins" +(W. H. Johnson), and afterwards to "Iconoclast" (C. Bradlaugh). At +his last lecture he fainted on the platform. In 1858 he remodelled +his Infidel Text-Book into a work on The Bible and Its Evidences. He +devoted himself to political reform until his death, 3 May, 1868. + +Cooper (Thomas), M.D., LL.D., natural philosopher, politician, +jurist and author, b. London, 22 Oct. 1759. Educated at Oxford, he +afterwards studied law and medicine; was admitted to the bar and lived +at Manchester, where he wrote a number of tracts on "Materialism," +"Whether Deity be a Free Agent," etc., 1789. Deputed with James +Watt, the inventor, by the Constitutional clubs to congratulate +the Democrats of France (April, 1792), he was attacked by Burke +and replied in a vigorous pamphlet. In '94 he published Information +Concerning America, and in the next year followed his friend Priestly +to Philadelphia, established himself as a lawyer and was made judge. He +also conducted the Emporium of Arts and Sciences in that city. He was +Professor of Medicine at Carlisle College, '12, and afterwards held +the chairs both of Chemistry and Political Economy in South Carolina +College, of which he became President, 1820-34. This position he was +forced to resign on account of his religious views. He translated +from Justinian and Broussais, and digested the Statutes of South +Carolina. In philosophy a Materialist, in religion a Freethinker, +in politics a Democrat, he urged his views in many pamphlets. One on +The Right of Free Discussion, and a little book on Geology and the +Pentateuch, in reply to Prof. Silliman, were republished in London +by James Watson. Died at Columbia, 11 May, 1840. [1] + +[1] So varied was the activity of T. Cooper during his long life that +his works in the British Museum were catalogued as by six different +persons of the same name. I pointed this out, and the six single +gentlemen will be rolled into one. + +Coornhert (Dirk Volkertszoon), Dutch humanist, poet and writer, +b. Amsterdam, 1522. He travelled in his youth through Spain +and Portugal. He set up as an engraver at Haarlem, and became +thereafter notary and secretary of the city of Haarlem. He had a +profound horror of intolerance, and defended liberty against Beza and +Calvin. The clergy vituperated him as a Judas and as instigated by +Satan, etc. Bayle, who writes of him as Theodore Koornhert, says he +communed neither with Protestants nor Catholics. The magistrates of +Delft drove him out of their city. He translated Cicero's De Officiis, +and other works. Died at Gouda, 20 Oct. 1590. + +Cordonnier de Saint Hyacinthe. See Saint-Hyacinthe (Themiseuil de). + +Corvin-Wiersbitski (Otto Julius Bernhard von), Prussian Pole of noble +family, who traced their descent from the Roman Corvinii, b. Gumbinnen, +12 Oct. 1812. He served in the Prussian army, where he met his friend +Friedrich von Sallet; retired into the Landwehr 1835, went to Leipsic +and entered upon a literary career, wrote the History of the Dutch +Revolution, 1841; the History of Christian Fanaticism, 1845, which +was suppressed in Austria. He took part with the democrats in '48; +was condemned to be shot 15 Sept. '49, but the sentence was commuted; +spent six years' solitary confinement in prison; came to London, +became correspondent to the Times; went through American Civil War, +and afterwards Franco-Prussian War, as a special correspondent. He +has written a History of the New Time, 1848-71. Died since 1886. + +Cotta (Bernhard), German geologist, b. Little Zillbach, Thuringia, +24 Oct. 1808. He studied at the Academy of Mining, in Freiberg, +where he was appointed professor in '42. His first production, The +Dendroliths, '32, proved him a diligent investigator. It was followed +by many geological treatises. Cotta did much to support the nebular +hypothesis and the law of natural development without miraculous +agency. He also wrote on phrenology. Died at Freiburg, 13 Sept 1879. + +Cotta (C. Aurelius), Roman philosopher, orator and statesman, +b. B.C. 124. In '75 he became Consul. On the expiration of his +office he obtained Gaul as a province. Cicero had a high opinion of +him and gives his sceptical arguments in the third book of his De +Natura Deorum. + +Courier (Paul Louis), French writer, b. Paris, 4 Jan. 1772. He entered +the army and became an officer of artillery, serving with distinction +in the Army of the Republic. He wrote many pamphlets, directed against +the clerical restoration, which place him foremost among the literary +men of the generation. His writings are now classics, but they brought +him nothing but imprisonment, and he was apparently assassinated, +10 April, 1825. He had a presentiment that the bigots would kill him. + +Coventry (Henry), a native of Cambridgeshire, b. about 1710, Fellow +of Magdalene College, author of Letters of Philemon to Hydaspus on +False Religion (1736). Died 29 Dec. 1752. + +Coward (William), M.D., b. Winchester, 1656. Graduated at Wadham +College, Oxford, 1677. Settled first at Northampton, afterwards +at London. Published, besides some medical works, Second Thoughts +Concerning Human Soul, which excited much indignation by denying +natural immortality. The House of Commons (17 March, 1704) ordered +his work to be burnt. He died in 1725. + +Cox (the Right Rev. Sir George William), b. 1827, was educated at +Rugby and Oxford, where he took B.C.L. in 1849. Entered the Church, +but has devoted himself to history and mythology. His most pretentious +work is Mythology of the Aryan Nations (1870). He has also written +an Introduction to Comparative Mythology and several historical +works. In 1886 he became Bishop of Bloemfontein. He is credited with +the authorship of the English Life of Jesus, published under the name +of Thomas Scott. At the Church Congress of 1888 he read an heretical +paper on Biblical Eschatology. His last production is a Life of Bishop +Colenso, 2 vols, 1888. + +Coyteux (Fernand), French writer, b. Ruffec, 1800. Author of a +materialistic system of philosophy, Brussels, 1853 Studies on +physiology, Paris, 1875, etc. + +Craig (Edward Thomas), social reformer, b. at Manchester 4 +Aug. 1804. He was present at the Peterloo massacre '19; helped to form +the Salford Social Institute and became a pioneer of co-operation. In +'31 he became editor of the Lancashire Co-operator. In Nov. of the same +year he undertook the management of a co-operative farm at Rahaline, +co. Clare. Of this experiment he has written an history, '72. Mr. Craig +has edited several journals and contributed largely to Radical and +co-operative literature. He has published a memoir of Dr. Travis and +at the age of 84 he wrote on The Science of Prolonging Life. + +Cramer (Johan Nicolai), Swedish writer, b. Wisby, Gottland, 18 +Feb. 1812. He studied at Upsala and became Doctor of Philosophy +'36; ordained priest in '42; he resigned in '58. In religion he +denies revelation and insists on the separation of Church and +State. Among his works we mention Separation from the Church, a +Freethinker's annotations on the reading of the Bible, Stockholm, +1859. A Confession of Faith; Forward or Back? (1862). He has also +written on the Punishment of Death (1868), and other topics. + +Cranbrook (Rev. James.) Born of strict Calvinistic parents about +1817. Mr. Cranbrook gradually emancipated himself from dogmas, became +a teacher, and for sixteen years was minister of an Independent Church +at Liscard, Cheshire. He also was professor at the Ladies' College, +Liverpool, some of his lectures there being published '57. In Jan. '65, +he went to Albany Church, Edinburgh, but his views being too broad +for that congregation, he left in Feb. '67 but continued to give +Sunday lectures until his death, 6 June, 1869. In '66 he published +Credibilia: an Inquiry into the grounds of Christian faith and two +years later The Founders of Christianity, discourses on the origin of +Christianity. Other lectures on Human Depravity, Positive Religion, +etc., were published by Thomas Scott. + +Cranch (Christopher Pearse), American painter and poet, b. Alexandria, +Virginia, 8 March, 1813, graduated at divinity school, Cambridge, +Mass. '35, but left the ministry in '42. He shows his Freethought +sentiments in Satan, a Libretto, Boston, '74, and other works. + +Craven (M. B.), American, author of a critical work on the Bible +entitled Triumph of Criticism, published at Philadelphia, 1869. + +Cremonini (Cesare), Italian philosopher, b. Cento, Ferrara, 1550, was +professor of philosophy at Padua from 1591 to 1631, when he died. A +follower of Aristotle, he excited suspicion by his want of religion and +his teaching the mortality of the soul. He was frequently ordered by +the Jesuits and the Inquisition to refute the errors he gave currency +to, but he was protected by the Venetian State, and refused. Like most +of the philosophers of his time, he distinguished between religious +and philosophic truth. Bayle says. "Il a passé pour un esprit fort, +qui ne croyait point l'immortalité de l'âme." Larousse says, "On peut +dire qu'il n'était pas chrétien." Ladvocat says his works "contain +many things contrary to religion." + +Cross (Mary Ann). See Eliot (George). + +Crousse (Louis D.), French Pantheistic philosopher, author of +Principles, or First Philosophy, 1839, and Thoughts, 1845. + +Curtis (S. E.), English Freethinker, author of Theology Displayed, +1842. He has been credited with The Protestant's Progress to +Infidelity. See Griffith (Rees). Died 1847. + +Croly (David Goodman), American Positivist, b. New York, 3 +Nov. 1829. He graduated at New York University in '54, and was +subsequently a reporter on the New York Herald. He became editor of +the New York World until '72. From '71 to '73 he edited The Modern +Thinker, an organ of the most advanced thought, and afterwards the +New York Graphic. Mr. Croly has written a Primer of Positivism, '76, +and has contributed many articles to periodicals. His wife, Jane +Cunningham, who calls herself "Jennie June," b. 1831, also wrote in +The Modern Thinker. + +Cross (Mary Ann), see Eliot (George). + +Crozier (John Beattie), English writer of Scottish border parentage, +b. Galt, Ontario, Canada, 23 April, 1849. In youth he won a scholarship +to the grammar school of the town, and thence won another scholarship +to the Toronto University, where he graduated '72, taking the +University and Starr medals. He then came to London determined to study +the great problems of religion and civilisation. He took his diploma +from the London College of Physicians in '73. In '77 he wrote his first +essay, "God or Force," which, being rejected by all the magazines, he +published as a pamphlet. Other essays on the Constitution of the World, +Carlyle, Emerson, and Spencer being also rejected, he published them in +a book entitled The Religion of the Future, '80, which fell flat. He +then started his work Civilisation and Progress, which appeared in +'85, and was also unsuccessful until republished with a few notices +in '87, when it received a chorus of applause, for its clear and +original thoughts. Mr. Crozier is now engaged on his Autobiography, +after which he proposes to deal with the Social question. + +Cuffeler (Abraham Johann), a Dutch philosopher and doctor of law, +who was one of the first partizans of Spinoza. He lived at Utrecht +towards the end of the seventeenth century, and wrote a work on +logic in three parts entitled Specimen Artis Ratiocinandi, etc., +published ostensibly at Hamburg, but really at Amsterdam or Utrecht, +1684. It was without name but with the author's portrait. + +Cuper (Frans), Dutch writer, b. Rotterdam. Cuper is suspected to have +been one of those followers of Spinoza, who under pretence of refuting +him, set forth and sustained his arguments by feeble opposition. His +work entitled Arcana Atheismi Revelata, Rotterdam 1676, was denounced +as written in bad faith. Cuper maintained that the existence of God +could not be proved by the light of reason. + +Cyrano de Bergerac (Savinien), French comic writer, b. Paris 6 March, +1619. After finishing his studies and serving in the army in his youth +he devoted himself to literature. His tragedy "Agrippine" is full of +what a bookseller called "belles impiétés," and La Monnoye relates that +at its performance the pit shouted "Oh, the wretch! The Atheist! How +he mocks at holy things!" Cyrano knew personally Campanella, Gassendi, +Lamothe Le Vayer, Linière, Rohault, etc. His other works consist of +a short fragment on Physic, a collection of Letters, and a Comic +History of the States and Empires of the Moon and the Sun. Cyrano +took the idea of this book from F. Godwin's Man in the Moon, 1583, +and it in turn gave rise to Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Voltaire's +Micromegas. Died Paris, 1655. + +Czolbe (Heinrich), German Materialist, b. near Dantzic, 30 Dec. 1819, +studied medicine at Berlin, writing an inaugural dissertation on +the Principles of Physiology, '44. In '55 he published his New +Exposition of Sensationalism, in which everything is resolved into +matter and motion, and in '65 a work on The Limits and Origin of Human +Knowledge. He was an intimate friend of Ueberweg. Died at Königsberg, +19 Feb. 1873. Lange says "his life was marked by a deep and genuine +morality." + +D'Ablaing. See Giessenburg. + +Dale (Antonius van), Dutch writer, b. Haarlem, 8 Nov. 1638. His work +on oracles was erudite but lumbersome, and to it Fontenelle gave the +charm of style. It was translated into English by Mrs. Aphra Behn, +under the title of The History of Oracles and the Cheats of Pagan +Priests, 1699. Van Dale, in another work on The Origin and Progress +of Idolatry and Superstition, applied the historical method to his +subject, and showed that the belief in demons was as old and as +extensive as the human race. He died at Haarlem, 28 Nov. 1708. + +Damilaville (Etienne Noël), French writer, b. at Bordeaux, 1721. At +first a soldier, then a clerk, he did some service for Voltaire, who +became his friend. He also made the friendship Diderot, d'Alembert, +Grimm, and d'Holbach. He contributed to the Encyclopédie, and in +1767 published an attack on the theologians, entitled Theological +Honesty. The book entitled Christianity Unveiled [see Boulanger and +Holbach] was attributed by Voltaire, who called it Impiety Unveiled, +and by La Harpe and Lalande to Damilaville. Voltaire called him +"one of our most learned writers." Larousse says "he was an ardent +enemy of Christianity." He has also been credited with a share in +the System of Nature. Died 15 Dec. 1768. + +Dandolo (Vincenzo) Count, Italian chemist, b. Venice, 26 Oct. 1758, +wrote Principles of Physical Chemistry, a work in French on The New +Men, in which he shows his antagonism to religion, and many useful +works on vine, timber, and silk culture. Died Varessa, 13 Dec. 1819. + +Danton (Georges Jacques), French revolutionist, b. Arcis sur Aube, 28 +Oct. 1759. An uncle wished him to enter into orders, but he preferred +to study law. During the Revolution his eloquence made him conspicuous +at the Club of Cordeliers, and in Feb. 1791, he became one of the +administrators of Paris. One of the first to see that after the flight +of Louis XVI. he could no longer be king, he demanded his suspension, +and became one of the chief organisers of the Republic. In the alarm +caused by the invasion he urged a bold and resolute policy. He was a +member of the Convention and of the Committee of Public Safety. At the +crisis of the struggle with Robespierre, Danton declined to strike +the first blow and disdained to fly. Arrested March, 1794, he said +when interrogated by the judge, "My name is Danton, my dwelling will +soon be in annihilation; but my name will live in the Pantheon of +history." He maintained his lofty bearing on the scaffold, where he +perished 5 April, 1794. For his known scepticism Danton was called +fils de Diderot. Carlyle calls him "a very Man." + +Dapper (Olfert), Dutch physician, who occupied himself with history and +geography, on which he produced important works. He had no religion +and was suspected of Atheism. He travelled through Syria, Babylonia, +etc., in 1650. He translated Herodotus (1664) and the orations of +the late Prof. Caspar v. Baerli (1663), and wrote a History of the +City of Amsterdam, 1663. Died at Amsterdam 1690. + +Darget (Etienne), b. Paris, 1712; went to Berlin in 1744 and became +reader and private secretary to Frederick the Great (1745-52), who +corresponded with him afterwards. Died 1778. + +Darwin (Charles Robert), English naturalist, b. Shrewsbury, +12 Feb. 1809. Educated at Shrewsbury, Edinburgh University, and +Cambridge. He early evinced a taste for collecting and observing +natural objects. He was intended for a clergyman, but, incited by +Humboldt's Personal Narrative, resolved to travel. He accompanied +Captain Fitzroy in the "Beagle" on a voyage of exploration, '31-36, +which he narrated in his Voyage of a Naturalist Round the World, which +obtained great popularity. In '39 he married, and in '42 left London +and settled at Down, Kent. His studies, combined with the reading of +Lamarck and Malthus, led to his great work on The Origin of Species +by means of Natural Selection, '59, which made a great outcry and +marked an epoch. Darwin took no part in the controversy raised by the +theologians, but followed his work with The Fertilisation of Orchids, +'62; Cross and Self Fertilisation of Plants, '67; Variations of +Plants and Animals under Domestication, '65; and in '71 The Descent +of Man and Selection in relation to Sex, which caused yet greater +consternation in orthodox circles. The following year he issued The +Expression of the Emotions of Men and Animals. He also published +works on the Movements of Plants, Insectivorous Plants, the Forms of +Flowers, and Earthworms. He died 19 April, 1882, and was buried in +Westminster Abbey, despite his expressed unbelief in revelation. To +a German student he wrote, in '79, "Science has nothing to do with +Christ, except in so far as the habit of scientific research makes +a man cautious in admitting evidence. For myself I do not believe +that there ever has been any revelation." In his Life and Letters +he relates that between 1836 and 1842 he had come to see "that the +Old Testament was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the +Hindoos." He rejected design and said "I for one must be content to +remain an Agnostic." + +Darwin (Erasmus), Dr., poet, physiologist and philosopher, grandfather +of the above, was born at Elston, near Newark, 12 Dec. 1731. Educated +at Chesterfield and Cambridge he became a physician, first at Lichfield +and afterwards at Derby. He was acquainted with Rousseau, Watt and +Wedgwood. His principal poem, The Botanic Garden was published in 1791, +and The Temple of Nature in 1803. His principal work is Zoomania, +or the laws of organic life (1794), for which he was accused of +Atheism. He was actually a Deist. He also wrote on female education +and some papers in the Philosophical Transactions. Died at Derby, +18 April, 1802. + +Daubermesnil (François Antoine), French conventionalist. Elected +deputy of Tarn in 1792. Afterwards became a member of the Council of +Five Hundred. He was one of the founders of Theophilanthropy. Died +at Perpignan 1802. + +Daudet (Alphonse), French novelist, b. at Nîmes, 13 May 1840, author +of many popular romances, of which we mention L'Evangeliste, '82, +which has been translated into English under the title Port Salvation. + +Daunou (Pierre Claude François), French politician and historian, +b. Boulogne, 18 Aug. 1761. His father entered him in the congregation +of the Fathers of the Oratory, which he left at the Revolution. The +department of Calais elected him with Carnot and Thomas Paine to +the Convention. After the Revolution he became librarian at the +Pantheon. He was a friend of Garat, Cabanis, Chenier, Destutt Tracy, +Ginguené and Benj. Constant. Wrote Historical Essay on the Temporal +Power of the Popes, 1810. Died at Paris, 20 June, 1840, noted for +his benevolence. + +Davenport (Allen), social reformer, b. 1773. He contributed to +Carlile's Republican; wrote an account of the Life, Writings and +Principles of Thomas Spence, the reformer (1826); and published a +volume of verse, entitled The Muses' Wreath (1827). Died at Highbury, +London, 1846. + +Davenport (John), Deist, b. London, 8 June, 1789, became a teacher. He +wrote An Apology for Mohammed and the Koran, 1869; Curiositates +Eroticoe Physiologæ, or Tabooed Subjects Freely Treated, and several +educational works. Died in poverty 11 May, 1877. + +David of Dinant, in Belgium, Pantheistic philosopher of the twelfth +century. He is said to have visited the Papal Court of Innocent +III. He shared in the heresies of Amalric of Chârtres, and his work +Quaterini was condemned and burnt (1209). He only escaped the stake +by rapid flight. According to Albert the Great he was the author of +a philosophical work De Tomis, "Of Subdivisions," in which he taught +that all things were one. His system was similar to that of Spinoza. + +David (Jacques Louis), French painter, born at Paris, 31 Aug. 1748, +was made painter to the king, but joined the Jacobin Club, became +a member of the Convention, voted for the king's death and for the +civic festivals, for which he made designs. On the restoration he +was banished. Died at Brussels, 29 Dec. 1825. David was an honest +enthusiast and a thorough Freethinker. + +Davidis or David (Ferencz), a Transylvanian divine, b. about +1510. He was successively a Roman Catholic, a Lutheran and an +Antitrinitarian. He went further than F. Socinus and declared there +was "as much foundation for praying to the Virgin Mary and other +dead saints as to Jesus Christ." He was in consequence accused of +Judaising and thrown into prison at Deva, where he died 6 June, 1579. + +Davies (John C.), of Stockport, an English Jacobin, who in 1797 +published a list of contradictions of the Bible under the title of The +Scripturian's Creed, for which he was prosecuted and imprisoned. The +work was republished by Carlile, 1822, and also at Manchester, 1839. + +Davidson (Thomas), bookseller and publisher, was prosecuted by the Vice +Society in Oct. 1820, for selling the Republican and a publication +of his own, called the Deist's Magazine. For observations made in +his defence he was summoned and fined £100, and he was sentenced to +two years' imprisonment in Oakham Gaol. He died 16 Dec. 1826. + +Debierre (Charles), French writer, author of Man Before History, 1888. + +De Dominicis. See Dominicis. + +De Felice (Francesco), Italian writer, b. Catania, Sicily, 1821, +took part in the revolution of '43, and when Garibaldi landed in +Sicily was appointed president of the provisional council of war. Has +written on the reformation of elementary schools. + +De Greef (Guillaume Joseph), advocate at Brussels Court of Appeal, +b. at Brussels, 9 Oct. 1842. Author of an important Introduction to +Sociology, 1886. Wrote in La Liberté, 1867-73, and now writes in La +Societé Nouvelle. + +De Gubernatis (Angelo), Italian Orientalist and writer, b. Turin, +7 April, 1840; studied at Turin University and became doctor of +philosophy. He studied Sanskrit under Bopp and Weber at Berlin. Sig. de +Gubernatis has adorned Italian literature with many important +works, of which we mention his volumes on Zoological Mythology, +which has been translated into English, '72: and on the Mythology of +Plants. He has compiled and in large part written a Universal History +of Literature, 18 vols. '82-85; edited La Revista Europea and the +Revue Internationale, and contributed to many publications. He is a +brilliant writer and a versatile scholar. + +De Harven (Emile Jean Alexandre), b. Antwerp, 23 Sept. 1837, the +anonymous author of a work on The Soul: its Origin and Destiny +(Antwerp, 1879). + +Dekker (Eduard Douwes), the greatest Dutch writer and Freethinker of +this century, b. Amsterdam, 2 March, 1820. In '39 he accompanied his +father, a ship's captain, to the Malayan Archipelago. He became officer +under the Dutch government in Sumatra, Amboina, and Assistant-Resident +at Lebac, Java. He desired to free the Javanese from the oppression of +their princes, but the government would not help him and he resigned +and returned to Holland, '56. The next four years he spent, in poverty, +vainly seeking justice for the Javanese. In '60 he published under the +pen name of "Multatuli" Max Havelaar, a masterly indictment of the +Dutch rule in India, which has been translated into German, French +and English. Then follow his choice Minnebrieven (Love Letters), +'61; Vorstenschool (A School for Princes), and Millioenen Studiën +(Studies on Millions). His Ideën, 7 vols. '62-79, are full of the +boldest heresy. In most of his works religion is attacked, but in the +Ideas faith is criticised with much more pungency and satire. He wrote +"Faith is the voluntary prison-cell of reason." He was an honorary +member of the Freethought Society, De Dageraad, and contributed to its +organ. During the latter years of his life he lived at Wiesbaden, where +he died 19 Feb. 1887. His corpse was burned in the crematory at Gotha. + +De Lalande (see Lalande). + +Delambre (Jean Baptiste Joseph), French astronomer, b. Amiens, +19 Sept. 1749, studied under Lalande and became, like his master, +an Atheist. His Tables of the Orbit of Uranus were crowned by the +Academy, 1790. In 1807 he succeeded Lalande as Professor of Astronomy +at the Collége de France. He is the author of a History of Astronomy +in five volumes, and of a number of astronomical tables and other +scientific works He was appointed perpetual secretary of the Academy of +Sciences. Died 19 Aug. 1822, and was buried at Père la Chaise. Cuvier +pronouncing a discourse over his grave. + +De la Ramee. See Ramée. + +Delboeuf (Joseph Remi Léopold), Belgian writer, b. Liège, 30 +Sept. 1831; is Professor at the University of Liège, and has +written Psychology as a Natural Science, its Present and its Future; +Application of the Experimental Method to the Phenomena of the Soul, +'73, and other works. In his Philosophical Prolegomena to Geometry +he suggests that even mathematical axioms may have an empirical origin. + +Delbos (Léon), linguist, b. 20 Sept. 1849 of Spanish father and Scotch +mother. Educated in Paris, Lycée Charlemagne. Is an M.A. of Paris and +officier d'Académie. Speaks many languages, and is a good Arabic and +Sanskrit scholar. Has travelled widely and served in the Franco-German +War. Besides many educational works, M. Delbos has written L'Athée, +the Atheist, a Freethought romance '79, and in English The Faith in +Jesus not a New Faith, '85. He has contributed to the Agnostic Annual, +and is a decided Agnostic. + +Delepierre (Joseph Octave), Belgian bibliophile, b. Bruges, 12 March, +1802. Was for thirty-five years secretary of Legation to England. His +daughter married N. Truebner, who published his work L'Enfer, 1876, +and many other bibliographical studies. Died London, 18 Aug. 1879. + +Delescluze (Louis Charles), French journalist and revolutionary, +b. Dreux, 2 Oct. 1809, was arrested in '34 for sedition. Implicated in +a plot in '35, he took refuge in Belgium. In '48 he issued at Paris La +Revolution Démocratique et Sociale, but was soon again in prison. He +was banished, came to England with Ledru Rollin, but returning to +France in '53 was arrested. In '68 he published the Réveil, for +which he was again fined and sentenced to prison for ten years. In +'59 he was amnestied and imprisoned. He became head of the Commune +Committee of Public Safety, and died at the barricade, 25 May, 1871. + +Deleyre (Alexandre), French writer, b. Porbats, near Bordeaux, 6 +Jan. 1726. Early in life he entered the order of Jesuits, but changed +his faith and became the friend of Rousseau and Diderot. He contributed +to the Encyclopédie, notably the article "Fanatisme," and published +an analysis of Bacon and works on the genius of Montesquieu and Saint +Evremond, and a History of Voyages. He embraced the Revolution with +ardor, was made deputy to the Convention, and in 1795 was made member +of the Institute. Died at Paris, 27 March, 1797. + +Delisle de Sales. See Isoard Delisle (J. B. C.) + +Dell (John Henry), artist and poet, b. 11 Aug. 1832. Contributed +to Progress, wrote Nature Pictures, '71, and The Dawning Grey, '85, +a volume of vigorous verse, imbued with the spirit of democracy and +freethought. Died 31 Jan. 1888. + +Deluc (Adolphe), Professor of Chemistry at Brussels, b. Paris, +1 Sept. 1811. Collaborated on La Libre Recherche. + +De Maillet. See Maillet (Benoît de). + +Democritus, a wealthy Atheistic philosopher, b. Abdera, Thrace, +B.C. 460. He travelled to Egypt and over a great part of Asia, +and is also said to have visited India. He is supposed to have +been acquainted with Leucippus, and sixty works were ascribed to +him. Died B.C. 357. He taught that all existence consisted of atoms, +and made the discovery of causes the object of scientific inquiry. He +is said to have laughed at life in general, which Montaigne says +is better than to imitate Heraclitus and weep, since mankind are +not so unhappy as vain. Democritus was the forerunner of Epicurus, +who improved his system. + +Demonax, a cynical philosopher who lived in the second century of +the Christian era and rejected all religion. An account of him was +written by Lucian. + +Demora (Gianbattista), director of the Libero Pensatore of Milan, +and author of some dramatic works. + +Denis (Hector), Belgian advocate and professor of political economy +and philosophy at Brussels University, b. Braine-le-Comte, 29 April, +1842. Has written largely on social questions and contributed to La +Liberté, la Philosophie Positive, etc. Is one of the Council of the +International Federation of Freethinkers. + +Denslow (Van Buren), American writer, author of essays on Modern +Thinkers, 1880, to which Colonel Ingersoll wrote an introduction. He +contributed a paper on the value of irreligion to the Religio +Philosophic journal of America, Jan. '78, and has written in the +Truthseeker and other journals. + +Denton (William F.), poet, geologist, and lecturer, b. Darlington, +Durham, 8 Jan. 1823. After attaining manhood he emigrated to the +United States, '48, and in '56 published Poems for Reformers. He was +a prolific writer, and constant lecturer on temperance, psychology, +geology, and Freethought. In '72 he published Radical Discourses +on Religious Subjects (Boston, '72), and Radical Rhymes, '79. He +travelled to Australasia, and died of a fever while conducting +scientific explorations in New Guinea 26 Aug. 1883. + +De Paepe (César) Dr., Belgian Socialist, b. Ostend, 12 July, 1842. He +was sent to the college of St. Michel, Brussels. He obtained the +Diploma of Candidate of Philosophy, but on the death of his father +became a printer with Désiré Brismée (founder of Les Solidaires, +a Rationalist society). Proudhon confided to him the correction of +his works. He became a physician and is popular with the workmen's +societies. He was one of the foremost members of the International and +attended all its congresses, as well as those of the International +Federation of Freethinkers. He has written much on public hygiene, +political economy, and psychology, collaborating in a great number of +the most advanced journals. Dr. De Paepe is a short, fair, energetic +man, capable both as a speaker and writer. + +Depasse (Hector), French writer, b. at Armentières in 1843, is +editor of La République Française, and member of the Paris Municipal +Council. He has written a striking work on Clericalism, in which he +urges the separation of Church and State, 1877; and is author of many +little books on Contemporary Celebrities, among them are Gambetta, +Bert, Ranc, etc. + +De Ponnat. See Ponnat (--de), Baron. + +De Pontan. See Ponnat. + +De Potter (Agathon Louis), Belgian economist, b. Brussels, 11 +Nov. 1827. Has written many works on Social Science, and has +collaborated to La Ragione (Reason), '56, and La Philosophie de +l'Avenir. + +De Potter (Louis Antoine Joseph), Belgian politician and writer, +father of the above, b. of noble family, Bruges, 26 April, 1786. In +1811 he went to Italy and lived ten years at Rome. In '21 he wrote the +Spirit of the Church, in 6 vols., which are put on the Roman Index. A +strong upholder of secular education in Belgium, he was arrested +more than once for his radicalism, being imprisoned for eighteen +months in '28. In Sept. '30 he became a member of the provisional +government. He was afterwards exiled and lived in Paris, where he wrote +a philosophical and anti-clerical History of Christianity, in 8 vols., +1836-37. He also wrote a Rational Catechism, 1854, and a Rational +Dictionary, 1859, and numerous brochures. Died Bruges, 22 July, 1859. + +Deraismes (Maria), French writer and lecturer, b. Paris, 15 +Aug. 1835. She first made her name as a writer of comedies. She wrote +an appeal on behalf of her sex, Aux Femmes Riches, '65. The Masonic +Lodge of Le Pecq, near Paris, invited her to become a member, and she +was duly installed under the Grand Orient of France. The first female +Freemason, was president of the Paris Anti-clerical Congress of 1881, +and has written much in her journal, Le Républicain de Seine et Oise. + +De Roberty (Eugene). See Roberty. + +Desbarreaux (Jacques Vallée), Seigneur, French poet and sceptic, +b. Paris, 1602, great-nephew of Geoffrey Vallée, who was burnt in +1574. Many stories are related of his impiety, e.g. the well-known +one of his having a feast of eggs and bacon. It thundered, and Des +Barreaux, throwing the plate out of window, exclaimed, "What an amount +of noise over an omelette." It was said he recanted and wrote a poem +beginning, "Great God, how just are thy chastisements." Voltaire, +however, assigns this poem to the Abbé Levau. Died at Chalons, +9 May, 1673. + +Descartes (René), French philosopher, b. at La Haye, 31 March, +1596. After leaving college he entered the army in '16, and fought +in the battle of Prague. He travelled in France and Italy, and in +'29 settled in Holland. In '37 he produced his famous Discourses upon +the Method of Reasoning Well, etc., and in '41 his Meditations upon +First Philosophy. This work gave such offence to the clergy that he +was forced to fly his country "parce qu'il y fait trop chaud pour +lui." He burnt his Traite du Monde (Treatise on the World) lest +he should incur the fate of Gallilei. Though a Theist, like Bacon, +he puts aside final causes. He was offered an asylum by Christina, +Queen of Sweden, and died at Stockholm 11 Feb. 1650. + +Deschamps (Léger-Marie), known also as Dom Deschamps, a French +philosopher, b. Rennes, Poitiers, 10 Jan. 1716. He entered the Order +of Benedictines, but lost his faith by reading an abridgment of +the Old Testament. He became correspondent of Voltaire, Rousseau, +d'Alembert, Helvetius, and other philosophers. "Ce prêtre athée," +as Ad. Franck calls him, was the author of a treatise entitled La +Vérité, ou le Vrai Système, in which he appears to have anticipated +all the leading ideas of Hegel. God, he says, as separated from +existing things, is pure nothingness. An analysis of his remarkable +work, which remained in manuscript for three-quarters of a century, +has been published by Professor Beaussire (Paris, 1855). Died at +Montreuil-Bellay, 19 April 1774. + +Deslandes (André François Boureau), b. Pondichery, 1690. Became member +of the Berlin Academy and wrote numerous works, mostly under the veil +of anonymity, the principal being A Critical History of Philosophy, +3 vols(1737). His Pygmalion, a philosophical romance, was condemned by +the parliament of Dijon, 1742. His Reflexions sur les grands hommes +qui sont mort en Plaisantant (Amsterdam, 1732) was translated into +English and published in 1745 under the title, Dying Merrily. Another +work directed against religion was On the certainty of Human Knowledge, +a philosophical examination of the different prerogatives of reason +and faith (London, 1741). Died Paris, 11 April, 1757. + +Des Maizeaux (Pierre), miscellaneous writer, b. Auvergne, 1673. He +studied at Berne and Geneva, and became known to Bayle who introduced +him to Lord Shaftesbury, with whom he came to London, 1699. He edited +the works of Bayle, Saint Evremond and Toland, whose lives he wrote, +as well as those of Hales and Chillingworth. Anthony Collins was his +friend, and at his death left him his manuscripts. These he transferred +to Collins's widow and they were burnt. He repented and returned the +money, 6 Jan. 1730, as the wages of iniquity. He became Secretary of +the Royal Society of London, where he died, 11 July, 1745. + +Desmoulins (Lucié Simplice Camille Benôit), French revolutionary +writer, b. Guise, 2 March, 1760. He was a fellow-student of Robespierre +at Paris, and became an advocate and an enthusiastic reformer. In +July '89 he incited the people to the siege of the Bastille, +and thus began the Revolution. On 29 Dec. 1790 he married Lucile +Laridon-Duplessis. He edited Le Vieux Cordelier and the Révolutions +de France et de Brabant, in which he stated that Mohammedanism was +as credible as Christianity. He was a Deist, preferring Paganism to +Christianity. Both creeds were more or less unreasonable; but, folly +for folly, he said, I prefer Hercules slaying the Erymanthean boar +to Jesus of Nazareth drowning two thousand pigs. He was executed +with Danton, 5 April 1794. His amiable wife, Lucile, who was an +Atheist (b. 1770), in a few days shared his fate (April 13). Carlyle +calls Desmoulins a man of genius, "a fellow of infinite shrewdness, +wit--nay, humor." + +Des Periers (Jean Bonaventure), French poet and sceptic, +b. Arnay le Duc, about 1510. He was brought up in a convent, +only to detest the vices of the monks. In 1535 he lived in Lyons +and assisted Dolet. He probably knew Rabelais, whom he mentions as +"Francoys Insigne." Attached to the court of Marguerite of Valois, +he defended Clement Marot when persecuted for making a French version +of the Psalms. He wrote the Cymbalum Mundi, a satire upon religion, +published under the name of Thomas de Clenier à Pierre Tryocan, +i.e., Thomas Incrédule à Pierre Croyant, 1537. It was suppressed +and the printer, Jehan Morin, imprisoned. Des Periers fled and +died (probably by suicide, to escape persecution) 1544. An English +version of Cymbalum Mundi was published in 1712. P. G. Brunet, the +bibliographer, conjectures that Des Periers was the author of the +famous Atheistic treatise, The Three Impostors. + +Destriveaux (Pierre Joseph), Belgian lawyer and politician, b. Liége, +13 March, 1780. Author of several works on public right. Died +Schaerbeck (Brussels), 3 Feb. 1853. + +Destutt de Tracy (Antoine Louis de Claude) Count, French materialist +philosopher, b. 20 July, 1754. His family was of Scotch origin. At +first a soldier, he was one of the first noblemen at the Revolution +to despoil himself of his title. A friend of Lafayette, Condorcet, +and Cabanis, he was a complete sceptic in religion; made an analysis +of Dupuis' Origine de tous les Cultes (1804), edited Montesquieu and +Cabanis, was made a member of the French Academy (1808), and wrote +several philosophical works, of which the principal is Elements of +Ideology. He was a great admirer of Hobbes. Died Paris, 9 March, 1836. + +Des Vignes (Pietro), secretary to Frederick II. (1245-49). Mazzuchelli +attributes to him the treatise De Tribus Impostoribus. + +Detrosier (Rowland), social reformer and lecturer, b. 1796, the +illegitimate son of a Manchester man named Morris and a Frenchwoman. In +his early years he was "for whole days without food." Self-educated, +he established the first Mechanics' Institute in England at Hulme, +gave Sunday scientific lectures, and published several discourses +in favor of secular education. He became secretary of the National +Political Union. He was a Deist. Like Bentham, who became his friend, +he bequeathed his body for scientific purposes. Died in London, +23 Nov. 1834. + +Deubler (Konrad). The son of poor parents, b. Goisern, near Ischl, +Upper Austria, 26 Nov. 1814. Self-taught amid difficulties, +he became the friend of Feuerbach and Strauss, and was known as +"the Peasant Philosopher." In 1854 he was indicted for blasphemy, +and was sentenced to two years' hard labor and imprisonment during +pleasure. He was incarcerated from 7 Dec. '54, till Nov. '56 at Brünn, +and afterwards at Olmutz, where he was released 24 March, 1857. He +returned to his native place, and was visited by Feuerbach. In '70 +he was made Burgomaster by his fellow-townsmen. Died 30 March, 1884. + +Deurhoff (Willem), Dutch writer, b. Amsterdam, March 1650. Educated +for the Church, he gave himself to philosophy, translated the works of +Descartes, and was accused of being a follower of Spinoza. Forced to +leave his country, he took refuge in Brabant, but returned to Holland, +where he died 10 Oct. 1717. He left some followers. + +De Wette. (See Wette M. L. de). + +D'Holbach. See Holbach (P. H. D. von), Baron. + +Diagoras, Greek poet, philosopher, and orator, known as "the Atheist," +b. Melos. A pupil of Democritus, who is said to have freed him from +slavery. A doubtful tradition reports that he became an Atheist after +being the victim of an unpunished perjury. He was accused (B.C. 411) +of impiety, and had to fly from Athens to Corinth, where he died. A +price was put upon the Atheist's head. His works are not extant, +but several anecdotes are related of him, as that he threw a wooden +statue of Hercules into the fire to cook a dish of lentils, saying the +god had a thirteenth task to perform; and that, being on his flight +by sea overtaken by a storm, hearing his fellow-passengers say it +was because an Atheist was on board, he pointed to other vessels +struggling in the same storm without being laden with a Diagoras. + +Di Cagno Politi (Niccola Annibale), Italian Positivist, b. Bari, +1857. Studied at Naples under Angiulli, has written on modern culture +and on experimental philosophy in Italy, and contributed articles on +Positivism to the Rivista Europea. + +Diderot (Denis), French philosopher, b. Langres, 6 Oct. 1713. His +father, a cutler, intended him for the Church. Educated by Jesuits, +at the age of twelve he received the tonsure. He had a passion for +books, but, instead of becoming a Jesuit, went to Paris, where he +supported himself by teaching and translating. In 1746 he published +Philosophic Thoughts, which was condemned to be burnt. It did much +to advance freedom of opinion. Three years later his Letters on the +Blind occasioned his imprisonment at Vincennes for its materialistic +Atheism. Rousseau, who called him "a transcendent genius," visited +Diderot in prison, where he remained three years. Diderot projected the +famous Encyclopédie, which he edited with Alembert, and he contributed +some of the most important articles. With very inadequate recompense, +and amidst difficulties that would have appalled an ordinary editor, +Diderot superintended the undertaking for many years (1751-65). He also +contributed to other important works, such as Raynal's Philosophic +History, L'Esprit, by Helvetius, and The System of Nature and other +works of his friend D'Holbach. Diderot's fertile mind also produced +dramas, essays, sketches, and novels. Died 30 July, 1784. Comte calls +Diderot "the greatest thinker of the eighteenth century." + +Diercks (Gustav), German author of able works on the History of the +Development of Human Spirit (Berlin, 1881-2) and on Arabian Culture +in Spain, 1887. Is a member of the German Freethinkers' Union. + +Dilke (Ashton Wentworth), b. 1850. Educated at Cambridge, travelled +in Russia and Central Asia, and published a translation of Turgenev's +Virgin Soil. He purchased and edited the Weekly Dispatch; was returned +as M.P. for Newcastle in 1880, but, owing to ill health, resigned in +favor of John Morley, and died at Algiers 12 March, 1883. + +Dinter (Gustav Friedrich), German educationalist, b. Borna, near +Leipsic, 29 Feb. 1760. His Bible for Schoolmasters is his best-known +work. It sought to give rational notes and explanations of the Jew +books, and excited much controversy. Died at Konigsberg, 29 May, 1831. + +Dippel (Johann Konrad), German alchemist and physician, b. 10 +Aug. 1672, at Frankenstein, near Darmstadt. His Papismus vapulans +Protestantium (1698) drew on him the wrath of the theologians of +Giessen, and he had to flee for his life. Attempting to find out the +philosopher's stone, he discovered Prussian blue. In 1705 he published +his satires against the Protestant Church, Hirt und eine Heerde, +under the name of Christianus Democritos. He denied the inspiration +of the Bible, and after an adventurous life in many countries died +25 April, 1734. + +Dobrolyubov (Nikolai Aleksandrovich), Russian author, b. 1836, at +Nijni Novgorod, the son of a priest. Educated at St. Petersburg, he +became a radical journalist. His works were edited in four vols. by +Chernuishevsky. Died 17 Nov. 1861. + +Dodel-Port (Prof. Arnold), Swiss scientist, b. Affeltrangen, Thurgau, +16 Oct. 1843. Educated at Kreuzlingen, he became in '63 teacher in +the Oberschule in Hauptweil; then studied from '64-'69 at Geneva, +Zürich, and Munich, becoming privat docent in the University of +Zürich, '70. In '75 he published The New History of Creation. In +'78 he issued his world-famous Botanical Atlas, and was in '80 made +Professor of Botany in the Zürich University and Director of the +Botanical Laboratory. He has also written Biological Fragments (1885), +the Life and Letters of Konrad Deubler, "the peasant philosopher" +(1886), and has just published Moses or Darwin? a School Question, +1889. Dr. Dodel-Port is an hon. member of the London Royal Society +and Vice-President of the German Freethinkers' Union. + +Dodwell (Henry), eldest son of the theologian of that name, was +b. Shottesbrooke, Berkshire, about the beginning of the eighteenth +century. He was educated at Magdalen Hall, when he proceeded B.A., +9 Feb. 1726. In '42 he published a pamphlet entitled Christianity +not Founded on Argument, which in a tone of grave irony contends that +Christianity can only be accepted by faith. He was brought up to the +law and was a zealous friend of the Society for the Promotion of Arts, +Manufactures, and Commerce. Died 1784. + +Doebereiner (Johann Wolfgang), German chemist, b. Bavaria, 15 +Dec. 1780. In 1810 he became Professor of Chemistry at Jena, where +he added much to science. Died 24 March, 1849. He was friend and +instructor to Goethe. + +Dolet (Etienne), a learned French humanist, b. Orleans 3 Aug. 1509. He +studied in Paris, Padua and Venice. For his heresy he had to fly +from Toulouse and lived for some time at Lyons, where he established +a printing-press and published some of his works, for which he was +imprisoned. He was acquainted with Rabelais, Des Periers, and other +advanced men of the time. In 1543 the Parliament condemned his books +to be burnt, and in the next year he was arrested on a charge of +Atheism. After being kept two years in prison he was strangled and +burnt, 3 Aug. 1546. It is related that seeing the sorrow of the crowd, +he said: "Non dolet ipe Dolet, sed pia turba dolet."--Dolet grieves +not, but the generous crowd grieves. His goods being confiscated, +his widow and children were left to beggary. "The French language," +says A. F. Didot, "owes him much for his treatises, translations, +and poesies." Dolet's biographer, M. Joseph Boulmier, calls him "le +Christ de la pensée libre." Philosophy has alone the right, says +Henri Martin, to claim Dolet on its side. His English biographer, +R. C. Christie, says he was "neither a Catholic nor a Protestant." + +Dominicis (Saverio Fausto de), Italian Positivist philosopher, +b. Buonalbergo, 1846. Is Professor of Philosophy at Bari, and has +written on Education and Darwinism. + +Dondorf (Dr. A.), See Anderson (Marie) in Supplement. + +Doray de Longrais (Jean Paul), French man of letters. b. Manvieux, +1736. Author of a Freethought romance, Faustin, or the Philosophical +Age. Died at Paris, 1800. + +Dorsch (Eduard), German American Freethinker, b. Warzburg 10 +Jan. 1822. He studied at Munich and Vienna. In '49 he went to America +and settled in Monroe, Michigan, where he published a volume of poems, +some being translations from Swinburne. Died 10 Jan. 1887. + +Dorsey (J. M.), author of the The True History of Moses, and others, +an attack on the Bible, published at Boston in 1855. + +Draparnaud (Jacques Philippe Raymond), French doctor, b. 3 June, 1772, +at Montpelier, where he became Professor of Natural History. His +discourses on Life and Vital Functions, and on the Philosophy of +the Sciences and Christianity (1801), show his scepticism. Died 1 +Feb. 1805. + +Draper (John William), scientist and historian, b. St. Helens, +near Liverpool, 5 May 1811. The son of a Wesleyan minister, he was +educated at London University. In '32 he emigrated to America, +where he was Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in New +York University. He was one of the inventors of photography and the +first who applied it to astronomy. He wrote many scientific works, +notably on Human Physiology. His history of the American Civil War +is an important work, but he is chiefly known by his History of the +Intellectual Development of Europe and History of the Conflict of +Religion and Science, which last has gone through many editions and +been translated into all the principal languages. Died 4 Jan. 1882. + +Dreyfus (Ferdinand Camille), author of an able work on the Evolution +of Worlds and Societies, 1888. + +Droysen (Johann Gustav), German historian, b. Treptoir, 6 July, +1808. Studied at Berlin; wrote in the Hallische Jahrbücher; was +Professor of History at Keil, 1840; Jena '51 and Berlin '59. Has edited +Frederick the Great's Correspondence, and written other important +works, some in conjunction with his friend Max Duncker. Died 15 +June, 1882. + +Drummond (Sir William), of Logie Almond, antiquary and author, +b. about 1770; entered Parliament as member for St. Mawes, Cornwall, +1795. In the following year he became envoy to the court of Naples, +and in 1801 ambassador to Constantinople. His principal work is +Origines, or Remarks on the Origin of several Empires, States, +and Cities (4 vols. 1824-29). He also printed privately The OEdipus +Judaicus, 1811. It calls in question, with much boldness and learning, +many legends of the Old Testament, to which it gave an astronomical +signification. It was reprinted in '66. Sir William Drummond also +wrote anonymously Philosophical Sketches of the Principles of Society, +1795. Died at Rome, 29 March, 1828. + +Duboc (Julius) German writer and doctor of philosophy b. Hamburg, 10 +Oct. 1829. Educated at Frankfurt and Giessen, is a clever journalist, +and has translated the History of the English Press. Has written +an Atheistic work, Das Leben Ohne Gott (Life without God), with the +motto from Feuerbach "No religion is my religion, no philosophy my +philosophy," 1875. He has also written on the Psychology of Love, +and other important works. + +Dubois (Pierre), a French sceptic, who in 1835 published The True +Catechism of Believers--a work ordered by the Court of Assizes to +be suppressed, and for which the author (Sept. '35) was condemned to +six months' imprisonment and a fine of one thousand francs. He also +wrote The Believer Undeceived, or Evident Proofs of the Falsity and +Absurdity of Christianity; a work put on the Index in '36. + +Du Bois-Reymond (Emil), biologist, of Swiss father and French +mother, b. Berlin, 7 Nov. 1818. He studied at Berlin and Bonn for +the Church, but left it to follow science, '37. Has become famous as +a physiologist, especially by his Researches in Animal Electricity, +'48-60. With Helmholtz he has done much to establish the new era +of positive science, wrongly called by opponents Materialism. Du +Bois-Reymond holds that thought is a function of the brain and nervous +system, and that "soul" has arisen as the gradual results of natural +combinations, but in his Limits of the Knowledge of Nature, '72, he +contends that we must always come to an ultimate incomprehensible. Du +Bois-Reymond has written on Voltaire and Natural Science, '68; La +Mettrie, '75; Darwin versus Galiani, '78; and Frederick II. and +Rousseau, '79. Since '67 he has been perpetual secretary of the +Academy of Sciences, Berlin. + +Dubuisson (Paul Ulrich), French dramatist and revolutionary, b. Lauat, +1746. A friend of Cloots he suffered with him on the scaffold, 24 +March, 1794. + +Dubuisson (Paul), living French Positivist, author of Grand Types +of Humanity. + +Du Chatelet Lomont. See Chastelet. + +Duclos (Charles Pinot), witty French writer, b. Dinan, 12 Feb. 1704. He +was admitted into the French Academy, 1747 and became its secretary, +1755. A friend of Diderot and d'Alembert. His Considerations sur les +Moeurs is still a readable work. Died 27 March, 1772. + +Ducos (Jean François), French Girondist, b. Bordeaux in 1765. Elected +to the Legislative Assembly, he, on the 26th Oct. 1791, demanded +the complete separation of the State from religion. He shared the +fate of the Girondins, 31 Oct. 1793, crying with his last breath, +"Vive la Republique!" + +Du Deffand (Marie), Marchioness, witty literary Frenchwoman, +b. 1697. Chamfort relates that when young and in a convent she preached +irreligion to her young comrades. The abbess called in Massillon, to +whom the little sceptic gave her reasons. He went away saying "She +is charming." Her house in Paris was for fifty years the resort of +eminent authors and statesmen. She corresponded for many years with +Horace Walpole, D'Alembert and Voltaire. Many anecdotes are told of +her; thus, to the Cardinal de Polignac, who spoke of the miracle of +St. Denis walking when beheaded, she said "Il n'y a que le premier +pas qui coûte." Died 24 Sept. 1780. To the curé of Saint Sulpice, +who came to her death-bed, she said "Ni questions, ni raisons, ni +sermons." Larousse calls her "Belle, instruite, spirituelle mais +sceptique et materialiste." + +Dudgeon (William), a Berwickshire Deist, whose works were published +(privately printed at Edinburgh) in 1765. + +Dudnevant (A. L. A. Dupin), Baroness. See Sand (Georges). + +Duehring (Eugen Karl), German writer, b. Berlin, 12 Jan. 1833; studied +law. He has, though blind, written many works on science and political +economy, also a Critical History of Philosophy, '69-78, and Science +Revolutionized, '78. In Oct. 1879, his death was maliciously reported. + +Dulaure (Jacques Antoine), French archæologist and historian, +b. Clermont-Ferrand, 3 Dec. 1755. In 1788-90 he published six volumes +of a description of France. He wrote many pamphlets, including one +on the private lives of ecclesiastics. Elected to the Convention in +1792, he voted for the death of the King. Proscribed as a Girondist, +Sept. 1793, he fled to Switzerland. He was one of the Council of Five +Hundred, 1796-98. Dulaure wrote a learned Treatise on Superstitions, +but he is best known by his History of Paris, and his Short History +of Different Worships, 1825, in which he deals with ancient fetishism +and phallic worship. Died Paris, 9 Aug. 1835. + +Dulaurens (Henri Joseph). French satirist, b. Douay, 27 March, 1719. He +was brought up in a convent, and made a priest 12 Nov. 1727. Published +a satire against the Jesuits, 1761, he was compelled to fly to +Holland, where he lived in poverty. He edited L'Evangile de la Raison, +a collection of anti-Christian tracts by Voltaire and others, and +wrote L'Antipapisme révelé in 1767. He was in that year condemned +to perpetual imprisonment for heresy, and shut in the convent of +Mariabaum, where he died 1797. Dulaurens was caustic, cynical and +vivacious. He is also credited with the Portfolios of a Philosopher, +mostly taken from the Analysis of Bayle, Cologne, 1770. + +Dulk (Albert Friedrich Benno), German poet and writer, b. Konigsberg, +17 June, 1819; he became a physician, but was expelled for aiding +in the Revolution of '48. He travelled in Italy and Egypt. In '65 +he published Jesus der Christ, embodying rationalism in prose and +verse. He has also written Stimme der Menschheit, 2 vols., '76, +'80, and Der Irrgang des Lebens Jesu, '84, besides numerous plays +and pamphlets. Died 29 Oct. 1884. + +Dumont (Léon), French writer, b. Valenciennes, 1837. Studied for +the bar, but took to philosophy and literature. He early embraced +Darwinism, and wrote on Hæckel and the Theory of Evolution, '73. He +wrote in La Revue Philosophique, and other journals. Died Valenciennes, +17 Jan. 1877. + +Dumarsais (César Chesneau), French grammarian and philosopher, +b. Marseilles, 17 July, 1676. When young he entered the congregation +of the oratory. This society he soon quitted, and went to Paris, +where he married. A friend of Boindin and Alembert, he wrote against +the pretensions of Rome and contributed to the Encyclopédie. He is +credited with An Analysis of the Christian Religion and with the +celebrated Essai sur les Préjugés, par Mr. D. M., but the latter was +probably written by Holbach, with notes by Naigeon. Le Philosophe, +published in L'Evangile de la Raison by Dulaurens, was written by +Voltaire. Died 11 June, 1756. Dumarsais was very simple in character, +and was styled by D'Alembert the La Fontaine of philosophers. + +Dumont (Pierre Etienne Louis), Swiss writer, b. Geneva, 18 July, +1759. Was brought up as a minister, but went to France and became +secretary to Mirabeau. After the Revolution he came to England, where +he became acquainted with Bentham, whose works he translated. Died +Milan, 29 Sept. 1829. + +Duncker (Maximilian Wolfgang), German historian, b. Berlin, 15 +Oct. 1811. His chief work, the History of Antiquity, 1852-57, +thoroughly abolishes the old distinction of sacred and profane +history, and freely criticises the Jewish records. A translation in +six volumes has been made by E. Abbot. Duncker took an active part +in the events of '48 and '50, and was appointed Director-General of +the State Archives. Died 24 July, 1886. + +Dupont (Jacob Louis), a French mathematician and member of the +National Convention, known as the Abbé Dupont, who, 14 Dec. 1792, +declared himself an Atheist from the tribune of the Convention. Died +at Paris in 1813. + +Dupont de Nemours (Pierre Samuel), French economist, b. Paris, 14 +Dec. 1739. He became President of the Constituent Assembly, and was +a Theophilantrophist. Died Delaware, U.S.A., 6 Aug. 1817. + +Dupuis (Charles François), French astronomer and philosopher, +b. Trie-le-Chateau, 16 Oct. 1742. He was educated for the Church, which +he left, and married in 1775. He studied under Lalande, and wrote on +the origin of the constellations, 1781. In 1788 he became a member of +the Academy of Inscriptions. At the Revolution he was chosen a member +of the Convention. During the Reign of Terror he saved many lives at +his own risk. He was afterwards one of the Council of Five Hundred, and +president of the legislative body. His chief work is on the Origin of +Religions, 7 vols., 1795, in which he traces solar worship in various +faiths, including Christianity. This has been described as "a monument +of the erudition of unbelief." Dupuis died near Dijon, 29 Sept. 1809. + +Dutrieux (Pierre Joseph), Belgian physician, b. Tournai, 19 July, +1848. Went to Cairo and became a Bey. Died 1 Jan. 1889. + +Dutton (Thomas), M.A., theatrical critic, b. London, 1767. Educated +by the Moravians. In 1795 he published a Vindication of the Age of +Reason by Thomas Paine. He translated Kotzebue's Pizarro in Peru, +1799, and edited the Dramatic Censor, 1800, and the Monthly Theatrical +Reporter, 1815. + +Duvernet (Théophile Imarigeon), French writer, b. at Ambert +1730. He was brought up a Jesuit, became an Abbé, but mocked at +religion. Duvernet became tutor to Saint Simon. For a political +pamphlet he was imprisoned in the Bastille. While here he wrote a +curious and rare romance, Les Devotions de Mme. de Bethzamooth. He +wrote on Religious Intolerance, 1780, and a History of the Sorbonne, +1790, but is best known by his Life of Voltaire (1787). In 1793 +he wrote a letter to the Convention, in which he declares that +he renounces the religion "born in a stable between an ox and an +ass." Died in 1796. + +Dyas (Richard H.), captain in the army. Author of The Upas. He resided +long in Italy and translated several of the works of C. Voysey. + +Eaton (Daniel Isaac), bookseller, b. about 1752, was educated at the +Jesuits' College, St. Omer. Being advised to study the Bible, he did +so, with the result of discarding it as a revelation. In 1792 he was +prosecuted for publishing Paine's Rights of Man, but the prosecution +fell through. He afterwards published Politics for the People, which +was also prosecuted, 1793, as was his Political Dictionary, 1796. To +escape punishment, he fled to America, and lived there for three years +and a half. Upon returning to England, his person and property were +seized. Books to the value of £2,800 were burnt, and he was imprisoned +for fifteen months. He translated from Helvetius and sold at his +"Rationcinatory or Magazine for Truths and Good Sense," 8 Cornhill, +in 1810, The True Sense and Meaning of the System of Nature. The Law +of Nature had been previously translated by him. In '11 he issued +the first and second parts of Paine's Age of Reason, and on 6 March, +'12, was tried before Lord Ellenborough on a charge of blasphemy +for issuing the third and last part. He was sentenced to eighteen +months' imprisonment and to stand in the pillory. The sentence evoked +Shelley's spirited Letter to Lord Ellenborough. Eaton translated and +published Freret's Preservative against Religious Prejudices, 1812, +and shortly before his death, at Deptford, 22 Aug. 1814, he was again +prosecuted for publishing George Houston's Ecce Homo. + +Eberhard (Johann August), German Deist, b. Halberstadt, 31 Aug. 1739, +was brought up in the church, but persecuted for heresy in his New +Apology for Socrates, 1772, was patronised by Frederick the Great, +and appointed Professor of Philosophy at Halle, where he opposed +the idealism of Kant and Fichte. He wrote a History of Philosophy, +1788. Died Halle, 7 Jan. 1809. + +Eberty (Gustav), German Freethinker, b. 2 July, 1806. Author of some +controversial works. Died Berlin, 10 Feb. 1887. + +Echtermeyer (Ernst Theodor), German critic, b. Liebenwerda, 1805. He +studied at Halle and Berlin, and founded, with A. Ruge, the Hallische +Jahrbücher, which contained many Freethought articles, 1837-42. He +taught at Halle and Dresden, where he died, 6 May, 1844. + +Edelmann (Johann Christian), German Deist, b. Weissenfels, Saxony, +9 July, 1698; studied theology in Jena, joined the Moravians, +but left them and every form of Christianity, becoming an adherent +of Spinozism. His principal works are his Unschuldige Wahrheiten, +1735 (Innocent Truths), in which he argues that no religion is of +importance, and Moses mit Aufgedecktem Angesicht (Moses Unmasked), +1740, an attack on the Old Testament, which, he believed, proceeded +from Ezra; Die Göttlichkeit der Vernunft (The Divinity of Reason), +1741, and Christ and Belial. His works excited much controversy, and +were publicly burnt at Frankfort, 9 May, 1750. Edelmann was chased +from Brunswick and Hamburg, but was protected by Frederick the Great, +and died at Berlin, 15 Feb. 1767. Mirabeau praised him, and Guizot +calls him a "fameux esprit fort." + +Edison (Thomas Alva), American inventor, b. Milan, Ohio, 10 +Feb. 1847. As a boy he sold fruit and papers at the trains. He read, +however, Gibbon, Hume and other important works before he was ten. He +afterwards set up a paper of his own, then became telegraph operator, +studied electricity, invented electric light, the electric pen, +the telephone, microphone, phonograph, etc. Edison is known to be an +Agnostic and to pay no attention to religion. + +Eenens (Ferdinand), Belgian writer, b. Brussels, 7 Dec. 1811. Eenens +was an officer in the Belgian army, and wrote many political and +anti-clerical pamphlets. He also wrote La Vérité, a work on the +Christian faith, 1859; Le Paradis Terrestre, '60, an examination of +the legend of Eden, and Du Dieu Thaumaturge, '76. He used the pen +names "Le Père Nicaise," "Nicodème Polycarpe" and "Timon III." Died +at Brussels in 1883. + +Effen (Justus van), Dutch writer, b. Utrecht, 11 Feb. 1684. Edited the +Misanthrope, Amsterdam, 1712-16; translated Robinson Crusoe, Swift's +Tale of a Tub, and Mandeville's Thoughts on Religion, 1722; published +the Dutch Spectator, 1731-35. Died at Bois-le-Duc, 18 Sept. 1735. + +Eichhorn (Johann Gottfried), German Orientalist and rationalist, b. 16 +Oct. 1752, became Professor of Oriental Literature and afterwards +Professor of Theology at Gottingen. He published Introductions to +the Old and New Testaments and A Commentary on the Apocalypse, in +which his criticism tends to uproot belief in the Bible as a divine +revelation. He lectured every day for fifty-two years. Died 25 June, +1827. + +"Elborch (Conrad von)," the pseudonym of a living learned Dutch writer, +whose position does not permit him to reveal his true name. Born +14 Jan. 1865, he has contributed to De Dageraad (The Daybreak), +under various pen-names, as "Fra Diavolo," "Denis Bontemps," "J. Van +den Ende," etc. He has given, in '88, a translation of the rare and +famous Latin treatise, De Tribus Impostoribus (On Three Impostors) +[Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad], with an important bibliographic and +historical introduction. + +"Eliot (George)," the pen-name of Mary Ann Lewes (née Evans) one of +the greatest novelists of the century, b. at Arbury Farm, near Griff, +Warwickshire, 22 Nov. 1819. In '41 the family removed to Foleshill, +near Coventry. Here she made the friendship of the household of +Charles Bray, and changed her views from Evangelical Christianity +to philosophical scepticism. Influenced by The Inquiry into the +Origin of Christianity, by C. C. Hennell (Bray's brother-in-law), +she made an analysis of that work. Her first literary venture was +translating Strauss' Leben Jesu, published in 1846. After the death +of her father ('49) she travelled with the Brays upon the Continent, +and upon her return assisted Dr. Chapman in the editorship of the +Westminster Review, to which she contributed several articles. She +translated Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity, '54, the only work +published with her real name, and also translated from Spinoza's +Ethics. Introduced by Herbert Spencer to George Henry Lewes, she +linked her life with his in defiance of the conventions of society, +July, '54. Both were poor, but by his advice she turned to fiction, +in which she soon achieved success. Her Scenes of Clerical Life, Adam +Bede, Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, Middlemarch, +Daniel Deronda, and Theophrastus Such have become classics. As a poet, +"George Eliot" does not rank so high, but her little piece, "Oh, +may I join the choir invisible," well expresses the emotion of the +Religion of Humanity, and her Spanish Gipsy she allowed was "a mass +of Positivism." Lewes died in 1878, and within two years she married +his friend, J. W. Cross. Her new happiness was short-lived. She died +22 Dec. 1880, and is buried with Lewes at Highgate. + +Ellero (Pietro) Italian jurisconsult, b. Pordenone, 8 Oct. 1833, +Counsellor of the High Court of Rome, has been Professor of Criminal +Law in the University of Bologna. Author of many works on legal and +social questions. His Scritti Minori, Scritti Politici and La Question +Sociale have the honor of a place on the Roman Index. + +Elliotson (John, M.D., F.R.S.), an eminent medical man, b. London, +1791. He became physician at St. Thomas's Hospital in 1822, and made +many contributions to medical science. By new prescriptions of quinine, +creasote, etc., he excited much hostility in the profession. He was +the first in this country to advocate the use of the stethoscope. He +was also the first physician to discard knee-breeches and silk +stockings, and to wear a beard. In '31 he was chosen Professor at +University College, but, becoming an advocate of curative mesmerism, +he resigned his appointments, '38. He was founder and President of the +London Phrenological Society, and, in addition to many medical works, +edited the Zoist (thirteen vols.), translated Blumenbach's Physiology, +and wrote an introduction to Engledue's Cerebral Physiology, defending +materialism. Thackeray dedicated Pendennis to him, '50, and he received +a tribute of praise from Dickens. Died at London, 29 July, 1868. + +Eichthal (Gustave d'), French writer, b. of Jewish family, Nancy, +22 March, 1804. He became a follower of Saint Simon, was one of the +founders of the Société d'Ethnologie, and published Les Evangiles, a +critical analysis of the gospels, 2 vols, Paris, '63. This he followed +by The Three Great Mediterranean Nations and Christianity and Socrates +and our Time, '84. He died at Paris, April, 1886, and his son published +his Mélanges de Critique Biblique (Miscellanies of Biblical Criticism), +in which there is an able study on the name and character of "Jahveh." + +Emerson (Ralph Waldo), American essayist, poet, and philosopher, +b. Boston 25 May, 1803. He came of a line of ministers, and was +brought up like his father, educated at Harvard College, and ordained +as a Unitarian minister, 1829. Becoming too broad for the Church, +he resigned in '32. In the next year he came to Europe, visiting +Carlyle. On his return he settled at Concord, giving occasional +lectures, most of which have been published. He wrote to the Dial, a +transcendentalist paper. Tending to idealistic pantheism, but without +systematic philosophy, all his writings are most suggestive, and he +is always the champion of mental freedom, self-reliance, and the free +pursuit of science. Died at Concord, 27 April, 1882. Matthew Arnold +has pronounced his essays "the most important work done in prose" +in this century. + +Emerson (William), English mathematician, b. Hurworth, near Darlington, +14 May, 1701. He conducted a school and wrote numerous works on +Mathematics. His vigorous, if eccentric, individuality attracted +Carlyle, who said to Mrs. Gilchrist, "Emerson was a Freethinker who +looked on his neighbor, the parson, as a humbug. He seems to have +defended himself in silence the best way he could against the noisy +clamor and unreal stuff going on around him." Died 21 May, 1782. He +compiled a list of Bible contradictions. + +Emmet (Robert), Irish revolutionist, b. in Dublin 1778, was educated +as a barrister. Expelled from Dublin University for his sympathy with +the National Cause in 1798; he went to the Continent, but returned in +1802 to plan an ill-starred insurrection, for which he was executed 20 +Sept. 1803. Emmet made a thrilling speech before receiving sentence, +and on the scaffold refused the services of a priest. It is well +known that his desire to see once more his sweetheart, the daughter +of Curran, was the cause of his capture and execution. + +Engledue (William Collins), M.D., b. Portsea 1813. After taking his +degree at Edinburgh, he became assistant to Dr. Lizars and was elected +President of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. He returned +to Portsmouth in 1835; originated the Royal Portsmouth Hospital and +established public baths and washhouses. He contributed to the Zoist +and published an exposition of materialism under the title of Cerebral +Physiology, 1842, republished by J. Watson, 1857. Died Jan. 1859. + +English (George Bethune), American writer and linguist, b. Cambridge, +Mass., 7 March, 1787. He studied law and divinity, and graduated +at Harvard, 1807, but becoming sceptical published Grounds of +Christianity Examined, 1813. The work excited some controversy, +and has been reprinted at Toronto, 1839. He joined the Egyptian +service and became General of Artillery. He had a variable genius +and a gift of languages. At Marseilles he passed for a Turk with +a Turkish ambassador; and at Washington he surprised a delegation +of Cherokees by disputing with them in their own tongue. He wrote a +reply to his critics, entitled Five Smooth Stones out of the Brook, +and two letters to Channing on his sermons against infidelity. Died +at Washington, 20 Sept. 1828. + +Ense (Varnhagen von). See Varnhagen. + +Ensor (George), an Irish writer, b. Loughgall, 1769. Educated at +Trinity College; he became B.A. 1790. He travelled largely, and was +a friend of liberty in every country. Besides other political works +he published, The Independent Man, 1806; On National Government, +1810; A Review of the Miracles, Prophecies and Mysteries of the +Old and New Testaments, first printed as Janus on Sion, 1816, and +republished 1835; and Natural Theology Examined, 1836, the last being +republished in The Library of Reason. Bentham described him as clever +but impracticable. Died Ardress, Co. Armagh, 3 Dec. 1843. + +Epicurus, Greek philosopher, b. Samos, B.C. 342. He repaired to +Athens, B.C. 323. Influenced by the works of Demokritos, he occupied +himself with philosophy. He purchased a garden in Athens, in which he +established his school. Although much calumniated, he is now admitted +to have been a man of blameless life. According to Cicero, he had no +belief in the gods, but did not attack their existence, in order not +to offend the prejudices of the Athenians. In physics he adopted the +atomic theory, and denied immortality. He taught that pleasure is the +sovereign good; but by pleasure he meant no transient sensation, but +permanent tranquility of mind. He wrote largely, but his works are +lost. His principles are expounded in the great poem of Lucretius, +De Rerum Natura. Died B.C. 270, leaving many followers. + +"Erdan (Alexandre)," the pen-name of Alexandre Andre Jacob, a French +writer, b. Angles 1826. He was the natural son of a distinguished +prelate. Educated at Saint Sulpice for the Church, he read Proudhon, +and refused to take holy orders. He became a journalist and an advocate +of phonography. His work, La France Mystique (1855), in which he +gives an account of French religious eccentricities, was condemned +for its scepticism which appears on every page. Sentenced to a year's +imprisonment and a fine of three thousand francs, he took refuge in +Italy. Died at Frascati, near Rome, 24 Sept. 1878. + +Ernesti (Johann August), German critic, b. Tennstadt, 4 +Aug. 1707. Studied at Wittenberg and Leipsic, where he was appointed +professor of classical literature. Renowned as a philologist, he +insisted that the Bible must be interpreted like any other book. Died +Leipsic, 11 Sept. 1781. + +Escherny (François Louis d') Count, Swiss litterateur, b. Neufchatel, +24 Nov. 1733. He spent much of his life in travel. At Paris he became +the associate of Helvetius, Diderot, and particularly Rousseau, whom he +much admired. He wrote Lacunes de la Philosophie (Amsterdam, 1783) and +a work on Equality (1795), in which he displays his Freethought. Died +at Paris, 15 July, 1815. + +Espinas (Alfred), French philosopher, b. Saint-Florentin, 1844. Has +translated, with Th. Ribot, H. Spencer's Principles of Psychology, +and has written studies on Experimental Philosophy in Italy, and on +Animal Societies (1877). + +Espronceda (José), popular Spanish poet, b. Almendralejo (Estremadura) +in 1810. After the War of Independence he went to Madrid and studied +under Alberto Lista, the poet and mathematician. He became so obnoxious +to the government by his radical principles that he was imprisoned +about the age of fifteen, and banished a few years later. He passed +several years in London and Paris, and was brought under the influence +of Byron and Hugo. He fought with the people in the Paris Revolution +of July, 1830. On the death of the Spanish King in '33 he returned +to Madrid, but was again banished for too free expression of his +opinions. He returned and took part in the revolutionary contest of +'35-36. He was elected to the Cortes in '41, and appointed secretary +of embassy to The Hague. Died 23 May, 1842. Among his works are +lyrical poems, which often remind us of Heine; an unfinished epic, +El Pelayo; and El Diablo-Mundo (the Devil-World), a fine poem, due +to the inspiration of Faust and Don Juan. Espronceda was a thorough +sceptic. In his Song of the Pirate he asks, "Who is my God?--Liberty"; +and in his concluding lines to a star he says: + + + I unheedingly follow my path, + At the mercy of winds and of waves. + Wrapt thus within the arms of Fate, + What care I if lost or saved. + + +Estienne (Henri), the ablest of a family of learned French printers, +known in England as Stephens; b. Paris, 1528. At the age of +eighteen he assisted his father in collating the MSS. of Dionysius +of Halicarnassus. In 1557 he established a printing office of his +own, and issued many Greek authors; and in 1572 the Thesaurus Linguæ +Græcæ. His Apologie pour Herodote (Englished as a World of Wonders) +is designed as a satire on Christian legends, and directed against +priests and priestcraft. He was driven from place to place. Sir +Philip Sidney highly esteemed him, and "kindly entertained him in +his travaile." Died 1598. Garasse classes him with Atheists. + +Esteve (Pierre), French writer, b. Montpelier at the beginning of the +eighteenth century. He wrote a History of Astronomy and an anonymous +work on the Origin of the Universe explained from a Principle of +Matter; Berlin, 1748. + +Ettel (Konrad), Austrian Freethinker, b. 17 Jan. 1847, at Neuhof, +Sternberg. Studied at the Gymnasium Kremsier, and at the wish of his +parents at the Theological Seminary Olmütz, which he left to study +philosophy at Vienna. He has written many poems and dramas. His +Grundzuge der Natürlichen Weltanschauung (Sketch of a Natural View +of the World), a Freethinker's catechism, 1886, has reached a fourth +edition. + +Evans (George Henry), b. at Bromyard, Herefordshire, 25 March, +1803. While a child, his parents emigrated to New York. He set up +as a printer, and published the Correspondent, the first American +Freethought paper. He also published the Working Man's Advocate, Man, +Young America, and the Radical. He labored for the transportation +of mails on Sundays, the limitation of the right to hold lands, +the abolition of slavery, and other reforms. His brother became one +of the chief elders of the Shakers. Died in Granville, New Jersey, +2 Feb. 1855. + +Evans (William), b. Swansea, 1816, became a follower of Robert +Owen. He established The Potter's Examiner and Workman's Advocate, +'43, and wrote in the Co-operative journals under the anagram of +"Millway Vanes." Died 14 March, 1887. + +Evanson (Edward), theological critic, b. Warrington, Lancashire, +21 April, 1731. He graduated at Cambridge, became vicar of South +Mimms, and afterwards rector of Tewkesbury. Entertaining doubts +on the Trinity, he submitted them to the Archbishop of Canterbury +without obtaining satisfaction. He made some changes in reading the +Litany, and for expressing heretical opinions in a sermon in 1771, +he was prosecuted, but escaped in consequence of some irregularity +in the proceedings. In 1772 he published an anonymous tract on the +Trinity. In 1797 he addressed a letter to the Bishop of Lichfield +on the Prophecies of the New Testament, in which he tried to show +that either Christianity was false or the orthodox churches. In the +following year he resigned both his livings and took pupils. In +1792 he published his principal work, The Dissonance of the Four +Generally-Received Evangelists, in which he rejected all the gospels, +except Luke, as unauthentic. This work involved him in a controversy +with Dr. Priestley, and brought a considerable share of obloquy and +persecution from the orthodox. Died 25 Sept. 1805. + +Eve'merus or Euhemerus, a Sicilian author of the time of Alexander +the Great, who sought to rationalise religion, and treated the gods +as dead heroes. He is usually represented as an Atheist. + +Eudes (Emile François Désiré), French Communist, b. Roncey, 1844. He +became a chemist, and was condemned, with Régnard, to three months' +imprisonment for writing in La Libre Pensée, '67, of which he was +director. He joined the ranks of the Commune and became a general. When +the Versailles troops entered Paris he escaped to Switzerland. On +his return after the Amnesty, he wrote with Blanqui. Died at a public +meeting in Paris, 5 Aug. 1888. + +Ewerbeck (August Hermann), Dr., b. Dantzic. After the events of 1848, +he lived at Paris. He translated into German Cabet's Voyage en Icarie, +and in an important work entitled Qu'est ce que La Religion? (What +is Religion), '50, translated into French Feuerbach's "Essence of +Religion," "Essence of Christianity," and "Death and Immortality." In +a succeeding volume What is the Bible? he translated from Daumer, +Ghillany, Luetzelberger and B. Bauer. Ewerbeck also wrote in French +an historical work on Germany and the Germans; Paris, 1851. + +Fabre D'Eglantine (Philippe François Nazaire), French revolutionist and +playwriter, b. Carcassonne, 28 Dec. 1755. After some success as a poet +and playwright he was chosen as deputy to the National Convention. He +voted for the death of Louis XVI., and proposed the substitution of +the republican for the Christian calendar, Sept. 1793. He was executed +with his friend Danton, 5 April, 1794. + +Fabricatore (Bruto), Italian writer, b. Sarno, Naples, 1824. His father +Antonio had the honor of having a political work placed on the Index, +1821. He took part in the anti-papal Freethought Council of 1869, +and has written works on Dante, etc. + +Farinata. See Uberti (Farinata degli). + +Fauche (Hippolyte), French Orientalist, b. Auxerre, 22 May, +1797. Translations of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the plays +of Kalidasa, attest his industry and erudition. He contributed to La +Liberté de Penser. Died at Juilly, 28 Feb. 1869. + +Fausto (Sebastiano), Da Longiano, Italian of the beginning of the 16th +century, who is said to have projected a work The Temple of Truth, +with the intention of overturning all religions. He translated the +Meditations of Antoninus, also wrote observations on Cicero, 1566. + +Feer (Henri Léon), French Orientalist, b. Rouen, 27 Nov. 1830, is +chiefly known by his Buddhistic Studies, 1871-75. + +Fellens (Jean Baptiste), Professor of History, b. Bar-sur-Aube, +1794. Author of a work on Pantheism, Paris, 1873. + +Fellowes (Robert), LL.D., b. Norfolk 1771, educated at Oxford. He +took orders in 1795, and wrote many books, but gradually quitted the +doctrines of the Church and adopted the Deistic opinions maintained in +his work entitled The Religion of the Universe (1836). Dr. Fellowes +was proprietor of the Examiner and a great supporter of the London +University. Died 5 Feb. 1847. + +Fenzi (Sebastiano), Italian writer, b. Florence, 22 Oct. 1822. Educated +by the Jesuits in Vienna, England and Paris. Founded in '49 the Revista +Britannica, writer on the journal L'Italiano, and has written a credo +which is a non-credo. + +Feringa (Frederik), Dutch writer, b. Groningen, 16 April, 1840. Studied +mathematics. A contributor to De Dageraad (The Daybreak) over the +signature, "Muricatus"; he has written important studies, entitled +Democratie en Wetenschap (Democracy and Science), 1871, also wrote +in De Vrije Gedachte (Freethought). + +Fernau (Rudolf), Dr., German author of Christianity and Practical +Life, Leipsic, 1868; The Alpha and Omega of Reason, Leipsic, 1870; +Zoologica Humoristica, 1882; and a recent work on Religion as Ghost +and God Worship. + +Feron (Emile), Belgian advocate, b. Brussels, 11 July, 1841. Councillor +of the International Freethought Federation. + +Ferrari (Giuseppe), Italian philosopher, b. Milan 7 March, 1811. A +disciple of Romagnosi, a study of whose philosophical writings he +published '35. He also published the works of Vico, and in '39 a work +entitled Vico and Italy, and in the following year another on the +Religious Opinions of Campanella. Attacked by the Catholic party, +he was exiled, living in Paris, where he became a collaborator with +Proudhon and a contributor to the Revue de Deux Mondes. In '42 he +was made Professor of Philosophy at Strasbourg, but appointment was +soon cancelled on account of his opinions. He wrote a History of the +Revolution of Italy, '55, and a work on China and Europe. His history +of the Reason of the State, '60, is his most pronounced work. In '59, +he was elected to the Italian Parliament, where he remained one of +the most radical members until his death at Rome 1 July, 1876. + +Ferri (Enrico), Member of the Italian Parliament, formerly professor +of criminal law at the University of Siena, studied at Mantua under +Professor Ardigo. Has written a large work on the Non-Existence of +Free Will, and is with Professor Lombroso, leader of the new Italian +school of criminal law reform. + +Ferri (Luigi), Italian philosopher, b. Bologna, 15 June 1826. Studied +in Paris and became licentiate of letters in 1850. Author of History +of Philosophy in Italy, Paris 1868; The Psychology of Pomponazzi, etc. + +Ferrière (Emile), French writer and licentiate of letters, b. Paris, +1830; author of Literature and Philosophy, 1865; Darwinism, 1872, +which has gone through several editions; The Apostles, a work +challenging early Christian Morality, 1879; The Soul the Function +of the Brain, a scientific work of popular character in two vols., +1883; and Paganism of the Hebrews until the Babylonian Captivity, +1884. All these are works of pronounced Freethought. M. Ferrière has +also announced a work Jesus bar Joseph. + +Feuerbach (Friedrich Heinrich), son of a famous German jurist, was +b. at Ansbach 29 Sept. 1806. He studied philology, but set himself to +preach what his brother Ludwig taught. He wrote Theanthropos, a series +of Aphorisms (Zurich, '38), and an able work on the Religion of the +Future, '43-47; and Thoughts and Facts, Hamburg, '62. Died Nurenberg, +24 Jan. 1880. + +Feuerbach (Ludwig Andreas), brother of the preceding, b. Landshut, +Bavaria, 28 July 1804. He studied theology with a view to the Church, +but under the influence of Hegel abandoned it for philosophy. In '28 +he was made professor at Erlangen, but was dismissed in consequence +of his first published work, Thoughts upon Death and Immortality, +'30, in which he limited immortality to personal influence on the +human race. After a wandering life he married in '37, and settled +near Anspach. He published there a history of modern philosophy from +Bacon to Spinoza. This was followed by a work on Peter Bayle. In '38 +he wrote on philosophy and Christianity, and in '41 his work called +the The Essence of Christianity, in which he resolves theology +into anthropology. This book was translated by Mary Ann Evans, +'53. He also wrote Principles of the Philosophy of the Future. After +the revolution of '48 he was invited to lecture by the students of +Heidelberg, and gave his course on The Essence of Religion, published +in '51. In '57 he published Theogony from the Sources of Classical, +Hebrew, and Christian Antiquity, and in '66 Theism, Freedom, and +Immortality from the Standpoint of Anthropology. Died at Rechenberg, +near Nurenberg, 13 Sept. 1872. His complete works were published at +Leipsic in 1876. He was a deep thinker and lucid writer. + +Fichte (Johann Gottlieb), one of the greatest German thinkers, +b. 19 May, 1762. He studied at the Universities of Jena, Leipsic, +and Wittenberg, embraced "determinism," became acquainted with Kant, +and published anonymously, A Criticism of all Revelation. He obtained +a chair of philosophy at Jena, where he developed his doctrines +of science, asserting that the problem of philosophy is to seek +on what foundations knowledge rests. He gave moral discourses in +the lecture-room on Sunday, and was accused of holding atheistical +opinions. He was in consequence banished from Saxony, 1799. He appears +to have held that God was not a personal being, but a system of +intellectual, moral, and spiritual laws. Fichte took deep interest in +the cause of German independence, and did much to rouse his countrymen +against the domination of the French during the conquest which led to +the fall of Napoleon. Besides many publications, in which he expounds +his philosophy, he wrote eloquent treatises on The Vocation of Man, +The Nature and Vocation of the Scholar, The Way Towards the Blessed +Life, etc. Died Berlin 27 Jan. 1814. + +"Figaro." See Larra (Mariano José de). + +Figuiera (Guillem), Provençal troubadour and precursor of the +Renaissance, b. Toulouse about 1190. His poems were directed against +the priests and Court of Rome. + +Filangieri (Gaetano), an Italian writer on legislation, b. Naples, +18 Aug. 1752. He was professor at that city. His principal work is +La Scienza della Legislazione, 1780. In the fifth volume he deals +with pre-Christian religions. The work was put on the Index. Died 21 +July, 1788. + +Fiorentino (Francesco), Italian philosopher, b. Sambiasa, Nicastro, +1 May, 1834. In 1860 he became Professor of Philosophy at Spoletto, +in '62 at Bologna, and in '71 at Naples. He was elected deputy +to Parliament, Nov. '70. A disciple of Felice Tocco, he paid +special attention to the early Italian Freethinkers, writing upon +The Pantheism of Giordano Bruno, Naples, '61; Pietro Pomponazzi, +Florence, '68; Bernardius Telesio, Florence, 2 vols., '72-74. He +has also written on Strauss and Spinoza. In the Nuova Antologia he +wrote on J. C. Vanini, and on Cæsalpinus, Campanella, and Bruno. A +friend of Bertrando Spaventa, he succeeded to his chair at Naples in +'83. Died 22 Dec. 1884. + +Fischart (Johann), German satirist called Mentzer, b. Strasbourg about +1545. His satires in prose and verse remind one of Rabelais, whom he +in part translated, and are often directed against the Church. Died +at Forbach in 1614. + +Fischer (J. C.), German materialist, author of a work on the freedom of +the will 1858, a criticism of Hartmann's Philosophy of the Unconscious, +'72; Das Bewusstsein, '74. Died 1888. + +Fischer (Kuno), German philosopher, b. 23 July, 1824, at Sandewald, +Silesia. Educated at Leipsic and Halle, in 1856 he was appointed +Professor of Philosophy at Jena. His chief works are History of Modern +Philosophy, '52-72; Life and Character of Spinoza; Francis Bacon, +'56; and Lessing, '81. + +Fiske (John), American author, b. Hartford, Connecticut, 30 March, +1842. Graduated at Harvard, '63. In '69-71 was Lecturer on Philosophy +at that University, and from '72-9 Librarian. Mr. Fiske has lectured +largely, and has written Myths and Mythmakers, '72; Outlines of +Cosmic Philosophy, 2 vols. '74; Darwinism, and other essays, '79; +Excursions of an Evolutionist, '83; The Idea of God as Affected by +Modern Knowledge, '85. + +Flaubert (Gustave), French novelist, b. Rouen, 12 Dec. 1821. The son +of a distinguished surgeon, he abandoned his father's profession for +literature. His masterpiece, Madame Bovary, published in '56 in the +Revue de Paris, drew a prosecution upon that journal which ended +in a triumph for the author. For his next great work, Salammbô, +'62, an epic of Carthage, he prepared himself by long antiquarian +studies. His intellectual tendencies are displayed in The Temptation +of Saint Anthony. He stands eminent among the naturalist school for +his artistic fidelity. He was a friend of Théophile Gautier, Ivan +Turgenev, Emile Zola and "George Sand." His correspondence with the +last of these has been published. He distinctly states therein that +on subjects like immortality men cheat themselves with words. Died +at Rouen, 9 May, 1880. + +Flourens (Marie Jean Pierre), French scientist, b. near Béziers, 15 +April, 1794. In 1828 he was admitted into the Academy of Sciences, +after having published a work on the nervous system of vertebrates; +he became perpetual secretary in '33. A work on Human Longevity and +the Quantity of Life on the Globe was very popular. Died near Paris, +6 Dec. 1867. + +Flourens (Gustave), eldest son of the preceding, b. Paris, +4 Aug. 1838. In '63 he took his father's chair at the College of +France, and his course on "Ethnography" attracted much attention. In +the following year he published his work on The Science of Man. His +bold heresy lost him his chair, and he collaborated on Larousse's +Grand Dictionnaire. In '65 he left France for Crete, where for three +years he fought in the mountains against the Turkish troops. Upon +his return he was arrested for presiding at a political meeting. He +showed himself an ardent Revolutionist, and was killed in a skirmish +near Nanterre, 3 April, 1871. + +Fonblanque (Albany William), English journalist, b. London, 1793; +the son of an eminent lawyer. In 1820 he was on the staff of the +Times, and contributed to the Westminster Review. In '30 he became +editor of the Examiner, and retained his post until '47. His caustic +wit and literary attainments did much to forward advanced liberal +views. A selection of his editorials was published under the title, +England under Seven Administrations. Died 13 Oct. 1872. + +Fontanier (Jean), French writer, who was burnt at the Place +de Grève, 1621, for blasphemies in a book entitled Le Tresor +Inestimable. Garasse, with little reason, calls him an Atheist. + +Fontenelle (Bernard le Bovier de), nephew of Corneille, called +by Voltaire the most universal genius of the reign of Louis XIV., +b. Rouen, 11 Feb. 1657. Dedicated to the Virgin and St. Bernard, +he was educated at the Jesuits' College. He went to Paris in 1674; +wrote some plays and Dialogues of the Dead, 1683. In 1686 appeared +his Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, and in the following +year his History of Oracles, based on the work of Van Dale, for which +he was warmly attacked by the Jesuit Baltus, as impugning the Church +Fathers. He was made secretary to the Academy of Sciences in 1699, +a post he held forty-two years. He wrote Doubts on the Physical +System of Occasional Causes, and is also credited with a letter +on the Resurrection of the Body, a piece on The Infinite, and a +Treatise on Liberty; "but," says l'Abbé Ladvocat, "as these books +contain many things contrary to religion, it is to be hoped they are +not his." Fontenelle nearly reached the age of one hundred. A short +time before he died (9 Jan. 1757), being asked if he felt any pain, +"I only feel," he replied, "a difficulty of existing." + +Foote (George William), writer and orator, b. Plymouth, 11 +Jan. 1850. Was "converted" in youth, but became a Freethinker by +reading and independent thought. Came to London in 1868, and was soon a +leading member of the Young Men's Secular Association. He taught in the +Hall of Science Sunday School, and became secretary of the Republican +League. Devoting his time to propagating his principles, he wrote +in the Secular Chronicle and National Reformer, and in '76 started +the Secularist in conjunction with Mr. G. J. Holyoake, and after +the ninth number conducting it alone. This afterwards merged in the +Secular Review. In '79 Mr. Foote edited the Liberal, and in Sept. '81, +started the Freethinker, which he still edits. In the following year +a prosecution was commenced by the Public Prosecutor, who attempted +to connect Mr. Bradlaugh with it. Undaunted, Mr. Foote issued a +Christmas number with an illustrated "Comic Life of Christ." For +this a prosecution was started by the City authorities against him +and his publisher and printer, and the trial came on first in March, +'83. The jury disagreed, but Judge North refused to discharge the +prisoners, and they were tried again on the 5th March; Judge North +directing that a verdict of guilty must be returned, and sentencing +Mr. Foote to one year's imprisonment as an ordinary criminal subject +to the same "discipline" as burglars. "I thank you, my lord; your +sentence is worthy of your creed," he remarked. On 24 April, '83, +Mr. Foote was brought from prison before Lord Coleridge and a special +jury on the first charge, and after a splendid defence, upon which +he was highly complimented by the judge, the jury disagreed. He has +debated with Dr. McCann, Rev. A. J. Harrison, the Rev. W. Howard, +the Rev. H. Chapman, and others. Mr. Foote has written much, +and lectures continually. Among his works we mention Heroes and +Martyrs of Freethought (1876); God, the Soul, and a Future State; +Secularism the True Philosophy of Life (1879); Atheism and Morality; +The Futility of Prayer; Bible Romances; Death's Test, afterwards +enlarged into Infidel Death-Beds; The God Christians Swear by; Was +Jesus Insane? Blasphemy No Crime; Arrows of Freethought; Prisoner +for Blasphemy (1884); Letters to Jesus Christ; What Was Christ? Bible +Heroes; and has edited The Bible Hand-book with Mr. W. P. Ball, and +the Jewish Life of Christ with the present writer, in conjunction +with whom he has written The Crimes of Christianity. From 1883-87 +he edited Progress, in which appeared many important articles from +his pen. Mr. Foote is President of the London Secular Federation, +and a Vice-President of the National Secular Society. + +Fouillee (Alfred), French philosopher, b. La Pouëze, near Angers, +18 Oct. 1838. Has been teacher at several lyceums, notably at +Bordeaux. He was crowned by the Academy of Moral Sciences for two +works on the Philosophy of Plato and Socrates. Elected Professor +of Philosophy at the Superior Normal School, Paris, he sustained +a thesis at the Sorbonne on Liberty and Determinism, which was +violently attacked by the Catholics. This work has gone through +several editions. M. Fonillée has also written an able History of +Philosophy, 1875, Contemporary Social Science, and an important +Critique of Contemporary Moral Systems (1883). He has written much +in the Revue des Deux Mondes, and is considered, with Taine, Ribot, +and Renan, the principal representative of French philosophy. His +system is known as that of idèes-forces, as he holds that ideas are +themselves forces. His latest work expounds the views of M. Guyau. + +Forberg (Friedrich Karl), German philosopher, b. Meuselwitz, 30 +Aug. 1770, studied theology at Leipsic, and became private docent +at Jena. Becoming attached to Fichte's philosophy, he wrote with +Fichte in Niethammer's Philosophical Journal on "The Development +of Religious Ideas," and an article on "The Ground of our Faith in +Divine Providence," which brought on them a charge of Atheism, and +the journal was confiscated by the Electorate of Saxony. Forberg held +religion to consist in devotion to morality, and wrote An Apology +for Alleged Atheism, 1799. In 1807 he became librarian at Coburg, +and devoted himself to the classics, issuing a Manuel d'Erotologie +Classique. Died Hildburghausen 1 Jan. 1848. + +Forder (Robert), b. Yarmouth, 14 Oct. 1844. Coming to to Woolwich, +he became known as a political and Freethought lecturer. He took part +in the movement to save Plumstead Common from the enclosers, and was +sent to trial for riotous proceedings, but was acquitted. In '77 he +was appointed paid secretary to the National Secular Society, a post +he has ever since occupied. During the imprisonment of Messrs. Foote, +Ramsey, and Kemp, in '83, Mr. Forder undertook charge of the publishing +business. He has lectured largely, and written some pamphlets. + +Forlong (James George Roche). Major General, H.B.A., b. Lanarkshire, +Scotland, Nov. 1824. Educated as an engineer, joined the Indian +army '43, fought in the S. Mahrata campaign '45-6, and in the second +Burmese war. On the annexation of Barma he became head of the Survey, +Roads and canal branches. In '58-9 he travelled extensively through +Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, etc. From '61-71 was +a superintending engineer of Calcutta, and in Upper Bengal, North-west +Provinces, and Rajputana, and '72-76 was Secretary and Chief Engineer +to the Government of Oudh. He retired in '77 after an active service of +33 years, during which he frequently received the thanks of the Indian +and Home Governments. In his youth he was an active Evangelical, +preaching to the natives in their own tongues. He has, however, +given his testimony that during his long experience he has known no +one converted solely by force of reasoning or "Christian evidences." A +great student of Eastern religions, archæology, and languages, he has +written in various periodicals of the East and West, and has embodied +the result of many years researches in two illustrated quarto volumes +called Rivers of Life, setting forth the evolution of all religions +from their radical objective basis to their present spiritualised +developments. In an elaborate chart he shows by streams of color the +movements of thought from 10,000 B.C. to the present time. + +Fourier (François Marie Charles), French socialist, b. Besançon, 7 +April, 1772. He passed some of the early years of his life as a common +soldier. His numerous works amid much that is visionary have valuable +criticisms upon society, and suggestions for its amelioration. He +believed in the transmigration of souls. Died at Paris, 8 Oct. 1837. + +Fox (William Johnson), orator and political writer, b. near Wrentham, +Suffolk, 1786. Intended for the Congregational Ministry, he became +a Unitarian, and for many years preached at South Place, Finsbury, +where he introduced the plan of taking texts from other books +besides the Bible. One of his first published sermons was on behalf of +toleration for Deists at the time of the Carlile prosecutions 1819. He +gradually advanced from the acceptance of miracles to their complete +rejection. During the Anti-Corn Law agitation he was a frequent +and able speaker. In 1847 he became M.P. for Oldham, and retained +his seat until his retirement in '61. He was a prominent worker for +Radicalism, contributing to the Westminster Review, Weekly Dispatch, +and Daily News. For some years he edited the Monthly Repository. His +works, which include spirited Lectures to the Working Classes, and a +philosophical statement of Religions Ideas, were published in twelve +volumes, '65-68. Died 3 June, 1864. + +"Franchi (Ausonio)," the pen name of Francesco Cristoforo Bonavino, +Italian ex-priest, b. Pegli, 24 Feb. 1821. Brought up in the Church +and ordained priest in '44, the practice of the confessional made +him sceptical and he quitted it for philosophy, having ceased to +believe in its dogmas, '49. In '52 he published his principal work, +entitled The Philosophy of the Italian Schools. The following year +he published The Religion of the Nineteenth Century. He established +La Razione (Reason) and Il Libero Pensiero at Turin, '54-57; wrote +on the Rationalism of the People, Geneva, '56, and became an active +organiser of anti-clerical societies. In '66 he published a criticism +of Positivism, and has since written Critical and Polemical Essays, +3 vols. Milan, '70-72. In '68 was appointed Professor of Philosophy +in the Academy of Milan by Terenzio Mamiani. + +Francis (Samuel), M.D., author of Watson Refuted, published by +Carlile, 1819. + +Francois de Neufchateau (Nicolas Louis), Count, French statesman, +poet, and academician, b. Lorraine, 17 April, 1750. In his youth he +became secretary to Voltaire, who regarded him as his successor. He +favored the Revolution, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly +in '91. As Member of the Directory, '97, he circulated d'Holbach's +Contagion Sacrée. He became President of the Senate, '14-16. He wrote +numerous pieces. Died at Paris 10 Jan. 1828. + +Franklin (Benjamin), American patriot and philosopher, b. Boston 17 +Jan. 1706. He was apprenticed to his uncle as a printer, came to +England and worked at his trade '24-26; returned to Philadelphia, +where he published a paper and became known by his Poor Richard's +Almanack. He founded the public library at Philadelphia, and +made the discovery of the identity of lightning with the electric +fluid. He became member of the Provincial Assembly and was sent to +England as agent. When examined before the House of Commons he spoke +boldly against the Stamp Act. He was active during the war with this +country, and was elected member of Congress. Became envoy to France, +and effected the treaty of alliance with that country, 6 Feb. '78, +which secured the independence of the American colonies. Turgot summed +up his services in the fine line Eripuit cælo fulmen, sceptrumque +tyrannis. "He wrested the thunderbolt from heaven and the sceptre +from kings." Died at Philadelphia, 17 April, 1790. + +Fransham (John), a native of Norwich, b. 1730, became a teacher of +mathematics, renounced the Christian religion, and professed Paganism, +writing several treatises in favor of disbelief. Died 1810. + +Frauenstaedt (Christian Martin Julius), Dr., philosopher and disciple +of Schopenhauer, b. 17 April, 1813, at Bojanowo, Posen. He studied +philosophy and theology at Berlin, but meeting Schopenhauer at +Frankfort in '47 he adopted the views of the pessimist, who made +him his literary executor. Among Frauenstädt's works are Letters on +Natural Religion, '58, The Liberty of Men and the Personality of God, +'38; Letters on the Philosophy of Schopenhauer, '54, etc. Died at +Berlin, 13 Jan. 1879. + +Frederick II. (Emperor of Germany), the greatest man of the thirteenth +century and founder of the Renaissance, b. 26 Dec. 1194. Was elected +to the throne in 1210. He promoted learning, science, and art, founded +the Universities of Vienna and Naples, had the works of Aristotle +and Averroes translated, and was the patron of all the able men of +his time. For his resistance to the tyranny of the Church he was +twice excommunicated. He answered by a letter attacking the Pope +(Gregory IX.), whom he expelled from Rome in '28. He made a treaty +with the Sultan of Egypt, by which he became master of Jerusalem. For +some heretical words in his letter, in which he associates the names +of Christ, Moses, and Mohammed, he was reported author of the famous +work De Tribus Impostoribus. He addressed a series of philosophical +questions to Ibn Sabin, a Moslem doctor. He is said to have called +the Eucharist truffa ista, and is credited also with the saying +"Ignorance is the mother of devotion." Died at Florence, 13 Dec. 1250. + +Frederick the Great (King of Prussia), b. 24 Jan. 1712, was educated in +a very rigid fashion by his father, Frederick William I. He ascended +the throne and soon displayed his political and military ability. By +a war with Austria he acquired Silesia. He wrote several deistical +pieces, and tolerated all religions and no religion saying "every man +must get to heaven his own way." He attracted to his court men like +Lamettrie, D'Argens, Maupertuis, and Voltaire, who, says Carlyle, +continued all his days Friedrich's chief thinker. In 1756 France, +Austria, Sweden, and Russia united against him, but he held his own +against "a world in arms." After a most active life Frederick died +at Potsdam, 17 Aug. 1786. The Philosophical Breviary attributed to +him was really written by Cérutti. + +Fredin (Nils Edvard), Swedish writer, b. 1857. Has published +translation of modern poets, and also of Col. Ingersoll's writings. In +'80 he was awarded first prize by the Swedish Academy for an original +poem. + +Freeke (William), b. about 1663, wrote A Brief but Clear Confutation +of the Trinity, which being brought before the notice of the House of +Lords it was on 3 Jan. 1693 ordered to be burnt by the common hangman, +and the author being prosecuted by the Attorney General was fined £500. + +Freiligrath (Ferdinand) German poet, b. Detmold 17 June, 1810. In +'35 he acquired notice by some poems. In '44 he published his +profession of faith Mein Glaubensbekenntniss, and was forced to +fly the country. In '48 he returned and joined Karl Marx on the +Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Again prosecuted he took refuge in London, +devoting his leisure to poetry and translation. Freiligrath holds a +high place among the poets of his time. Died Kannstadt, near Stuttgart, +18 March 1876. + +Fréret (Nicolas), French historical critic, b. 15 Feb. 1688. He was a +pupil of Rollin, and was patronised by Boulainvilliers. Distinguished +by his attainments in ancient history, philosophy and chronology, +he became member of the Academy of Inscriptions 1714. For a Discourse +on the "Origin of the Franks," he was incarcerated for four months in +the Bastille. While here he read Bayle so often that he could repeat +much from memory. He was an unbeliever, and the author of the atheistic +Letters from Thrasybulus to Leucippe on Natural and Revealed Religion, +and perhaps of La Moisade, a criticism of the Pentateuch, translated +by D. I. Eaton, as A Preservative against Religious Prejudices. The +Letters to Eugenie, attributed to Fréret, were written by D'Holbach, +and the Critical Examination of the Apologists of the Christian +Religion by J. Levesque de Burigny. A Critical Examination of the New +Testament, 1777 which long circulated in MS. has also been wrongly +attributed to Fréret. Died at Paris, 8 March, 1749. + +Frey (William), the adopted name of a Russian Positivist +and philanthropist, b. of noble family, the son of a general, +1839. Educated at the higher military school, St. Petersburg, he +became teacher in a Government High School, and disgusted with the +oppression and degradation of his country he went to New York in +1866 where he established co-operative communities and also Russian +colonies in Kansas and Oregon. In 1884 he came to London in order to +influence his countrymen. In '87 he revisited Russia. Died 6 Nov. 1888. + +Fries (Jacob Friedrich), German philosopher, b. Barby, 23 +Aug. 1773. Brought up as a Moravian, he became a Deist. Fries is of +the Neo-Kantian rationalistic school. Among his writings are a System +of Metaphysics, 1824; a Manual of the Philosophy of Religion and +Philosophical Æsthetics, Heidelberg '32; in which he resolves religion +into poetry. He criticised Kant's proofs of God and immortality, +and wrote a History of Philosophy. Died Jena, 10 Aug. 1843. + +Frothingham (Octavius Brooks), American author, b. Boston, 26 +Nov. 1822. Graduated at Harvard, '43, and became Unitarian minister. In +'60 he became pastor of the most radical Unitarian congregation in +New York. In '67 he became first president of the Free Religious +Association, but, becoming too advanced, resigned in '79 and came +to Europe. Since his return to Boston, '81, he has devoted himself +to literature. He has published The Religion of Humanity, N.Y., +'73; Life of Theodore Parker, '74; The Cradle of the Christ, '77; +Life of Gerrit Smith, 78; and numerous sermons. + +Froude (James Anthony), man of letters and historian, the son of an +Archdeacon of Totnes, was b. Dartington, Devon, 23 April, 1818, and +educated at Westminster and Oxford, where he took his degree in '40, +was elected fellow of Exeter College and received deacon's orders. At +first, under the influence of the Romanising movement, he became +a rationalist and abandoned his fellowship and clerical life. His +Nemesis of Faith, '48, showed the nature of his objections. Mr. Froude +devoted his abilities to a literary career, and fell under the +influence of Carlyle. For many years he edited Fraser's Magazine, +in which he wrote largely. His essays are collected under the title +of Short Studies on Great Subjects, '71-83. His largest work is the +History of England, from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the +Spanish Armada, '56-76. His Life of Carlyle, '82, and publication +of Carlyle's Reminiscenses provoked much controversy. His magical +translation of Lucian's most characteristic Dialogue of the Gods +is done with too much verve to allow of the supposition that the +translator is not in sympathy with his author. + +Fry (John), a colonel in the Parliamentary army. In 1640 he was +elected one of the burgesses of Shaftesbury, but his return was +declared void. After serving with distinction in the army, he was +called to the House of Commons by the Independents in 1648. He voted +for Charles I. being put on trial; and sat in judgment when sentence +was passed on him. He was charged with blasphemy and wrote The Accuser +Shamed, 1649, which was ordered to be burnt for speaking against +"that chaffie and absurd opinion of three persons in the Godhead." He +also wrote The Clergy in their Colors, 1650. + +Fuller (Sarah Margaret), American authoress, b. Cambridgeport, +Massachusetts, 23 May, 1810. In '40-42 she edited the Dial. She +also published Woman in the Nineteenth Century, '44. Among friends +she counted Emerson, Hawthorne, Channing, and Mazzini. She visited +Europe and married at Rome the Marquis D'Ossoli. Returning she was +shipwrecked and drowned off the coast of New Jersey, 16 July, 1850. + +Furnemont (Léon), Belgian advocate, b. Charleroi, 17 April, +1861. Entered the school of Mines Liége in '76, and founded the Circle +of Progressive Students. Became president of International Congress +of Students, '84, and represented Young Belgium at the funeral of +Victor Hugo. Radical candidate at the Brussels municipal elections, +he obtained 3,500 votes, but was not elected. He is a Councillor +of the International Federation of Freethinkers and director of a +monthly journal, La Raison, 1889. + +Gabarro (Bartolomé) Dr., Spanish writer, b. Ygualade, Barcelona, +27 Sept. 1846, was educated in a clerical college with a view to +taking the clerical habit, he refused and went to America. After +travelling much, he established a day school in Barcelona and founded +an Anti-clerical League of Freethinkers pledged to live without +priests. This induced much clerical wrath, especially when Dr. Gabarro +founded some 200 Anti-clerical groups and over 100 lay schools. For +denouncing the assassins of a Freethinker he was pursued for libel, +sentenced to four years' imprisonment, and forced to fly to Cerbere +on the frontier, where he continues his anti-clerical journal La +Tronada. He has written many anti-clerical brochures and an important +work on Pius IX. and History. + +Gabelli (Aristide), Italian writer, b. Belluno, 22 March, 1830. Author +of The Religious Question in Italy, '64, Man and the Moral Sciences, +'69, in which he rejects all metaphysics and supernaturalism, and +Thoughts, 1886. + +Gage (Matilda Joslyn), American reformer, b. Cicero, New +York, 24 March, 1826. Her father, Dr. H. Joslyn, was an active +abolitionist. Educated at De Peyster and Hamilton, N.Y., in '45 she +married Henry H. Gage. From '52 till '61 she wrote and spoke against +slavery. In '72 she was made President of the National Woman's +Suffrage Association. She is joint author of The History of Woman +Suffrage with Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton, and with them considers +the Church the great obstacle to woman's progress. + +Gagern (Carlos von), b. Rehdorf, Neumark, 12 Dec. 1826. Educated at +Berlin, travelled in '47 to Paris where he became acquainted with +Humboldt. He went to Spain and studied Basque life in the Pyrenees; +served in the Prussian army, became a friend of Wislicenus and the +free-religious movement. In '52 he went to Mexico; here he had an +appointment under General Miramon. In the French-Mexican expedition +he was taken prisoner in '63; released in '65 he went to New York. He +was afterwards military attaché for Mexico at Berlin. His freethought +appears in his memoirs entitled Dead and Living, 1884, and in his +volume Sword and Trowel, 1888. Died Madrid 19 Dec. 1885. + +Gall (Franz Joseph), founder of phrenology, b. Baden, 6 March, 1758. He +practised as a physician in Vienna, devoting much time to the study of +the brain, and began to lecture on craniology in that city. In 1802 he +was prohibited from lecturing. He joined Dr. Spurzheim and they taught +their system in various cities of Europe. Died at Paris, 22 Aug. 1828. + +Galton (Francis), grandson of Erasmus Darwin, was born in +1822. Educated at Birmingham, he studied medicine at King's College, +London, and graduated at Cambridge, '24. In '48 and '50 he travelled in +Africa. He wrote a popular Art of Travel, and has distinguished himself +by many writings bearing on heredity, of which we name Hereditary +Genius, '69, English Men of Science, '70. In his Inquiries into Human +Faculty and Developement, '83, he gives statistical refutation of the +theory of prayer. Mr. Galton was Secretary of the British Association +from '63-68, President of the Geographical Section in '62 and '72, +and of the Anthropological Section in '77 and '85. He is President +of the Anthropological Institute. + +Gambetta (Léon Michel), French orator and statesman, b. Cahors, 30 +Oct. 1838. His uncle was a priest and his father wished him to become +one. Educated at a clerical seminary, he decided to study for the +law. In '59 he was enrolled at the bar. His defence of Delescluze +(14 Nov. 1868), in which he vigorously attacked the Empire, made +him famous. Elected to the Assembly by both Paris and Marseilles, he +became the life and leader of the Opposition. After Sedan he proclaimed +the Republic and organised the national defences, leaving Paris, then +invested by the Germans, in a balloon. From Tours he invigorated every +department, and was the inspiration of the few successes won by the +French. Gambetta preserved the Republic against all machinations, +and compelled MacMahon to accept the second of the alternatives, +"Se soumettre ou se demettre." He founded the Republique Française, +and became President of the Chamber. Gambetta was a professed +disciple of Voltaire, an admirer of Comte, and an open opponent of +clericalism. All the members of his Cabinet were Freethinkers. Died +31 Dec. 1882. His public secular funeral was one of the largest +gatherings ever witnessed. + +Gambon (Ferdinand Charles), French Communist, b. Bourges, 19 March, +1820. In 1839 he became an Advocate, and he founded the Journal des +Ecoles. In '48 he was elected representative. The Empire drove him +into exile, he returned at amnesty of '59. In '69 he refused to pay +taxes. In '71 was elected deputy at Paris, and was one of the last +defenders of the Commune. Imprisoned, he was released in '82. Formed +a League for abolishing standing army. Died 17 Sept. 1887. + +Garat (Dominique Joseph), Count, French revolutionist, orator and +writer, b. near Bayonne, 8 September, 1749. He became a friend of +d'Alembert, Diderot and Condercet, and in 1789 was elected to the +Assembly, where he spoke in favor of the abolition of religion. As +minister of justice he had to notify to Louis XVI his condemnation. He +afterwards taught at the Normal School, and became a senator, count, +and president of the Institute. Died at Urdains 9 December, 1833. + +Garborg (Arne), b. Western Coast of Norway, 25 Jan. 1851. Brought +up as a teacher at the public schools, he entered the University of +Christiania in 1875. Founded a weekly paper Fedraheimen, written in +the dialect of the peasantry. Held an appointment for some years +in the Government Audit Office. In '81 he published a powerfully +written tale, A Freethinker, which created a deal of attention. Since +he has published Peasant Students, Tales and Legends, Youth, Men, +etc. He is one of the wittiest and cleverest controversialists on +the Norwegian press. + +Garcia-Vao (Antonio Rodriguez), Spanish poet and miscellaneous +writer, b. Manzanares, 1862. Educated at the institute of Cardinal +Cisneros, where he made brilliant studies. He afterwards studied +at the Madrid University and became a lawyer. After editing several +papers, he attached himself to the staff of Las Dominicales del Libre +Pensiamento. Among his numerous works are a volume of poems, Echoes +of a Free Mind, Love and the Monks, a satire, a study of Greco-Roman +philosophy, etc. This promising student was stabbed in the back at +Madrid, 18 December, 1886. + +Garde (Jehan de la), bookseller, burnt together with four little +blasphemous books at Paris in 1537. + +Garibaldi (Guiseppe), Italian patriot and general, b. Nice, 4 +July, 1807. His father, a small shipmaster, hoped he would become a +priest. Young Garibaldi objected, preferring a sailor's life. A trip to +Rome made him long to free his country. He joined Mazzini's movement, +"Young Italy," and being implicated in the Genoese revolt of '33, +he fled at risk of his life to Marseilles, where he learnt he was +sentenced to death. He went to South America and fought on behalf of +the republic of Uruguay. Here he met Anita Rivera, his beautiful and +brave wife, who accompanied him in numerous adventures. Returning to +Italy he fought against the Austrians in '48, and next year was the +soul of resistance to the French troops, who came to restore Papal +authority. Garibaldi had to retire; his wife died, and he escaped +with difficulty to Genoa, whence he went to New York, working for +an Italian soap and candlemaker at Staten Island. In '54 he returned +and bought a farm on the isle of Caprera. In '59 he again fought the +Austrians, and in May, '60, landed at Marsala, Sicily, took Palermo, +and drove Francis II. from Naples. Though a Republican he saluted +Victor Emanuel as King of Italy. Vexed by the cessation of Nice to +France, he marched to Rome, but was wounded by Victor Emanuel's +troops, and taken prisoner to Varignaro. Here he wrote his Rule +of the Monk, a work exhibiting his love of liberty and hatred of +the priesthood. In '64 he visited England, and was enthusiastically +received. In '67 he again took part in an attempt to free Rome from +the Papal government. In '71 he placed his sword at the service of +the French Republic, and the only standard taken from the Germans was +captured by his men. Elected Member of the Italian Parliament in his +later years he did much to improve the city of Rome. In one of his +laconic letters of '80, he says "Dear Friend,--Man has created God, +not God man,--Yours ever, Garibaldi." He died 2 June, '82, and directed +in his will that he should be cremated without any religious ceremony. + +Garrison (H. D.), Dr. of Chicago. Author of an able pamphlet on The +Absence of Design in Nature, 1876. + +Garth (Sir Samuel), English poet, wit, and physician, b. Yorkshire, +1672, and educated at Cambridge. He helped to establish dispensaries, +and lashed the opposition in his poem The Dispensary. He was made +physician to King George I. Died 18 June 1719. + +Gaston (H.), French author of a brochure with the title Dieu, voila, +l'ennemi, God the enemy, 1882. + +Gattina (F. P. della). See Petruccelli. + +Gautama (called also Gotama, Buddha, and Sakyamuni), great Hindu +reformer and founder of Buddhism, b. Kapilavastu, 624 B.C. Many +legends are told of his birth and life. He is said to have been a +prince, who, pained with human misery, left his home to dedicate +himself to emancipation. His system was rather a moral discipline +than a religion. Though he did not deny the Hindu gods he asserted +that all beings were subject to "Karma," the result of previous +actions. He said, "If a man for a hundred years worship Agni in the +forest, and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose soul +is grounded in true knowledge, better is that homage than sacrifice +for a hundred years." According to Ceylonese writers Gautama Buddha +died at Kusinagara, B.C. 543. + +Gautier (Théophile), exquisite French poet and prose writer, b. Tarbes, +31 Aug. 1811. He wrote no definite work against priestcraft or +superstition, but the whole tendency of his writings is Pagan. His +romanticism is not Christian, and he made merry with "sacred themes" +as well as conventional morality. Baudelaire called him an impeccable +master of French literature, and Balzac said that of the two men who +could write French, one was Théophile Gautier. Died 22 Oct. 1872. + +Geijer (Erik Gustaf), eminent Swedish historian, poet, and critic, +b. Wermland, 12 Jan. 1783. At the age of 20 he was awarded the Swedish +Academy's first prize for a patriotical poem. At first a Conservative +in religious, philosophical, and political matters he became through +his historical researches an ardent adherent of the principles of the +French revolution. His historical work and indictment against "The +Protestant creed" was published in 1820 in a philosophical treatise, +Thorild, which was prosecuted. His acquittal by an enlightened jury +stayed religious prosecutions in Sweden for over sixty years. He +died 23 April 1847. A monument was erected to him last year at the +University of Upsala, where he was professor of history. His works +have been republished. + +Geijerstam (Gustaf), Swedish novelist, b. 1858. Is one of the +Freethinking group of Young Sweden. + +Geismar (Martin von), editor of a Library of German Rationalists of +the eighteenth century, in five parts, including some of the works +of Bahrdt, Eberhardt, Knoblauch, etc, 1846-7. He also added pamphlets +entitled Germany in the Eighteenth Century. + +Gellion-Danglar (Eugène), French writer, b. Paris, 1829. Became +Professor of Languages at Cairo, wrote in La Pensée Nouvelle, was +made sous préfect of Compiègne, '71, wrote History of the Revolution +of 1830, and A Study of the Semites, '82. + +Gemistos (Georgios), surnamed Plethon, a philosophic reviver of Pagan +learning, b. of noble parents at Byzantium about 1355. He early lost +his faith in Christianity, and was attracted to the Moslem court +at Brusa. He went to Italy in the train of John Palælogus in 1438, +where he attracted much attention to the Platonic philosophy, by +which he sought to reform the religious, political and moral life of +the time. Gennadius, the patriarch of Constantinople, roundly accused +him of Paganism. Died 1450. + +Genard (François), French satirist, b. Paris about 1722. He wrote +an irreligious work called A Parallel of the Portraits of the Age, +with the Pictures of the Holy Scriptures, for which he was placed in +the Bastille, where it is believed he finished his days. + +Gendre (Barbe), Russian writer in French, b. Cronstadt, 15 +Dec. 1842. She was well educated at Kief, where she obtained a +gold medal. By reading the works of Büchner, Buckle, and Darwin +she became a Freethinker. Settling in Paris, she contributed +to the Revue Internationale des Sciences, to La Justice and the +Nouvelle Revue, etc. Some of her pieces have been reprinted under +the title Etudes Sociales (Social Studies, Paris, 1886), edited by +Dr. C. Letourneau. Died Dec. 1884. + +Gener (Pompeyo), Spanish philosopher, b. Barcelona, 1849, is a member +of the Society of Anthropology, and author of a study of the evolution +of ideas entitled Death and the Devil, Paris, '80. This able work is +dedicated to Renan and has a preface by Littré. The author has since +translated it into Spanish. + +Genestet (Petrus Augustus de), Dutch poet and Agnostic, b. Amsterdam, +21 Nov. 1829. He studied theology, and for some years was a Protestant +minister. His verses show him to be a Freethinker. Died at Rozendaal, +2 July, 1861. + +Genin (François), French philologist, b. Amiens, 16 Feb. 1803. He +became one of the editors of the National, of Paris, about '37, and +wrote for it spirited articles against the Jesuits. He published works +on The Jesuits and the Universities, The Church or the State, etc. In +'45 the French Academy awarded a prize to his Lexicon of the Language +of Molière. He edited Diderot, '47, and is known for his researches +into the origin of the French language and literature. Died Paris, +20 Dec. 1856. + +Genovesi (Antonio), Italian philosopher, b. Castiglione, 1 +Nov. 1712. He read lectures in philosophy at Naples, but by his +substitution of doubt for traditional belief he drew upon himself +many attacks from the clergy. The book by which he is best known is +his Italian Morality. Died at Naples, 20 Sept. 1769. + +Gensonne (Armand), French lawyer and one of the leaders of the +Girondists, b. Bordeaux, 10 Aug. 1758. He was elected to the +Legislative Assembly in 1791, and to the Convention in 1792. In the +struggle with the Jacobins, Gensonné was one of the most active and +eloquent champions of his party. He was executed with his colleagues +31 Oct. 1793. + +Gentilis (Giovanni Valentino), Italian heretic, b. Consenza, Naples, +about 1520. He fled to avoid persecution to Geneva, where in 1558 +he was thrown into prison at the instigation of Calvin. Fear of +sharing the fate of Servetus made him recant. He wandered to Poland, +where he joined Alciati and Biandrata, but he was banished for his +innovations. Upon the death of Calvin he returned to Switzerland, +where he was arrested for heresy, 11 June, 1566. After a long trial +he was condemned for attacking the Trinity, and beheaded at Berne, +26 (?) Sept. 1566. Ladvocat says "He died very impiously, saying he +thought himself honored in being martyred for the glory of the Father, +whereas the apostles and other martyrs only died for the glory of +the Son." + +Geoffrin (Marie Therèse, neé Rodet), a French lady distinguished as a +patroness of learning and the fine arts, b. Paris, 2 June, 1699. She +was a friend of Alembert, Voltaire, Marmontel, Montesquieu, Diderot, +and the encyclopædists, and was noted for her benevolence. Died at +Paris, 6 Oct. 1777. + +Gerhard (H.), Dutch socialist, b. Delft, 11 June, 1829. Educated at +an orphanage he became a tailor, travelled through France, Italy, +and Switzerland, and in '61 returned to Amsterdam. He wrote for De +Dageraad, and was correspondent of the Internationale. Died 5 July, +1886. + +Gerhard (A. H.), son of foregoing, b. Lausanne, Switzerland, 7 April, +1858. Is headmaster of a public school, and one of the editors of +De Dageraad. + +Germond (J. B. L.), editor of Marèchal's Dictionnaire des Athées, +Brussels, 1833. + +Gertsen (Aleksandr Ivanovich). See Herzen. + +Ghillany (Friedrich Wilhelm), German critic, b. at Erlangan, 18 +April, 1807. In '35 he became Professor of History at Nurenberg. His +principal work is on Human Sacrifices among the Ancient Jews, Nurnberg, +'42. He also wrote on the Pagan and Christian writers of the first +four centuries. Under the pseudonym of "Richard von der Alm" he wrote +Theological Letters, 1862; Jesus of Nazareth, 1868; and a collection of +the opinions of heathen and Jewish writers of the first four centuries +upon Jesus and Christianity. Died 25 June, 1876. + +Giannone (Pietro), Italian historian, b. Ischitella, Naples, 7 May, +1676. He devoted many years to a History of the Kingdom of Naples, +in which he attacked the papal power. He was excommunicated and fled +to Vienna, where he received a pension from the Emperor, which was +removed on his avowal of heterodox opinions. He was driven from Austria +and took refuge in Venice: here also was an Inquisition. Giannone +was seized by night and cast before sunrise on the papal shore. He +found means, however, of escaping to Geneva. Having been enticed +into Savoy in 1736, he was arrested by order of the King of Sardinia, +and confined in prison until his death, 7 March, 1748. + +Gibbon (Edward), probably the greatest of historians, b. Putney, +27 April 1737. At Oxford be became a Romanist, but being sent to a +Calvinist at Lausanne, was brought back to Protestantism. When visiting +the ruins of the Capitol at Rome, he conceived the idea of writing +the Decline and Fall of that empire. For twenty-two years before the +appearance of his first volume he was a prodigy of arduous application, +his investigations extending over the whole range of intellectual and +political activity for nearly fifteen hundred years. His monumental +work, bridging the old world and the new, is an historic exposure +of the crimes and futility of Christianity. Gibbon was elected to +Parliament in '74, but did not distinguish himself. He died of dropsy, +in London, 16 Jan. 1794. + +Gibson (Ellen Elvira), American lecturess, b. Winchenden, Mass. 8 May, +1821, and became a public school teacher. Study of the Bible brought +her to the Freethought platform. At the outbreak of the American Civil +War she organised Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Societies, and was elected +chaplain to the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Artillery. President Lincoln +endorsed the appointment, which was questioned. She has written +anonymously Godly Women of the Bible, and has contributed to the +Truthseeker, Boston Investigator, and Ironclad Age, under her own +signature and that of "Lilian." + +Giessenburg (Rudolf Charles d'Ablaing van), one of the most notable of +Dutch Freethinkers, b. of noble family, 26 April, 1826. An unbeliever +in youth, in '47 he went to Batavia, and upon his return set up as a +bookseller under the name of R. C. Meijer. With Junghuhn and Günst, +he started de Dageraad, and from '56-68 was one of the contributors, +usually under his name "Rudolf Charles." He is a man of great +erudition, has written Het verbond der vrije gedachte (The Alliance of +Freethought); de Tydgenoot op het gebied der Rede (The Contemporary +in the Field of Reason); De Regtbank des Onderzoeks (The Tribunal +of Inquiry); Zedekunde en Christendom (Ethics and Christianity); +Curiositeiten van allerlei aard (Curiosities of Various Kinds). He has +also published the Religion and Philosophy of the Bible by W. J. Birch +and Brooksbank's work on Revelation. He was the first who published +a complete edition of the famous Testament du Curé Jean Meslier in +three parts ('64), has published the works of Douwes Dekker and other +writers, and also Curieuse Gebruiken. + +Gilbert (Claude), French advocate, b. Dijon, 7 June, 1652. He had +printed at Dijon, in 1700, Histoire de Calejava, ou de l'isle +des hommes raisonables, avec le paralelle de leur Morale et du +Christianisme. The book has neither the name of author or printer. It +was suppressed, and only one copy escaped destruction, which was bought +in 1784 by the Duc de La Vallière for 120 livres. It was in form of a +dialogue (329 pp.), and attacked both Judaism and Christianity. Gilbert +married in 1700, and died at Dijon 18 Feb. 1720. + +Gill (Charles), b. Dublin, 8 Oct. 1824, was educated at the University +of that city. In '83 he published anonymously a work on The Evolution +of Christianity. It was quoted by Mr. Foote in his defences before +Judge North and Lord Coleridge, and in the following year he put his +name to a second edition. Mr. Gill has also written a pamphlet on +the Blasphemy Laws, and has edited, with an introduction, Archbishop +Laurence's Book of Enoch, 1883. + +Giles (Rev. John Allen, D.Ph.), b. Mark, Somersetshire, 26 +Oct. 1808. Educated at the Charterhouse and Oxford, where he +graduated B.A. as a double first-class in '28. He was appointed +head-master of the City of London School, which post he left for +the Church. The author of over 150 volumes of educational works, +including the Keys to the Classics; privately he was a confirmed +Freethinker, intimate with Birch, Scott, etc. His works bearing on +theology show his heresy, the principal being Hebrew Records 1850, +Christian Records 1854. These two were published together in amended +form in 1877. He also wrote Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti 1852, +Writings of the Early Christians of the Second Century 1857, and +Apostolic Records, published posthumously in 1886. Died 24 Sept 1884. + +Ginguene (Pierre Louis), French historian b. Rennes, 25 April, +1748. Educated, with Parny, by Jesuits. At Paris he became a +teacher, embraced the Revolution, wrote on Rousseau and Rabelais, +and collaborated with Chamfort in the Historic Pictures of the French +Revolution. Thrown into prison during the Terror, he escaped on the +fall of Robespierre, and became Director of Public Instruction. His +principal work is a Literary History of Italy. Died Paris, 11 +Nov. 1816. + +Gilliland (M. S.) Miss, b. Londonderry 1853, authoress of a little +work on The Future of Morality, from the Agnostic standpoint, 1888. + +Gioja (Melchiorre), Italian political economist, b. Piazenza, 20 +Sept. 1767. He advocated republicanism, and was appointed head of a +bureau of statistics. For his brochure La Scienza del Povero Diavolo +he was expelled from Italy in 1809. He published works on Merit and +Rewards and The Philosophy of Statistics. Died at Milan 2 Jan. 1829. + +Girard (Stephen), American philanthropist, b. near Bordeaux France, +24 May, 1750. He sailed as cabin boy to the West Indies about 1760; +rose to be master of a coasting vessel and earned enough to settle +in business in Philadelphia in 1769. He became one of the richest +merchants in America, and during the war of 1812 he took the whole +of a Government loan of five million dollars. He called his vessels +after the names of the philosophers Helvetius, Montesquieu, Voltaire, +Rousseau, etc. He contributed liberally to all public improvements +and radical movements. On his death he left large bequests to +Philadelphia, the principal being a munificent endowment of a college +for orphans. By a provision of his will, no ecclesiastic or minister +of any sect whatever is to hold any connection with the college, or +even be admitted to the premises as a visitor; but the officers of the +institution are required to instruct the pupils in secular morality +and leave them to adopt their own religious opinions. This will has +been most shamefully perverted. Died Philadelphia, 26 Dec. 1831. + +Glain (D. de Saint). See Saint Glain. + +Glennie (John Stuart Stuart), living English barrister and +writer, author of In the Morningland, or the law of the origin and +transformation of Christianity, 1873, the most important chapter +of which was reprinted by Thomas Scott, under the title, Christ and +Osiris. He has also written Pilgrim Memories, or travel and discussion +in the birth-countries of Christianity with the late H. T. Buckle, +1875. + +Glisson (Francis), English anatomist and physician, b. Rampisham, +Dorsetshire, 1597. He took his degree at Cambridge, and was there +appointed Regius Professor of Physic, an office he held forty years. He +discovered Glisson's capsule in the liver, and was the first to +attribute irritability to muscular fibre. In his Tractatus de natura +substantiæ energetica, 1672, he anticipates the natural school in +considering matter endowed with native energy sufficient to account +for the operations of nature. Dr. Glisson was eulogised by Harvey, +and Boerhaave called him "the most accurate of all anatomists that +ever lived." Died in 1677. + +Godwin (Mary). See Wollstonecraft. + +Godwin (William), English historian, political writer and novelist, +b. Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, 3 March, 1756. The son of a Dissenting +minister, he was designed for the same calling. He studied at Hoxton +College, and came out, as he entered, a Tory and Calvinist; but making +the acquaintance of Holcroft, Paine, and the English Jacobins, his +views developed from the Unitarianism of Priestley to the rejection +of the supernatural. In '93 he published his republican work on +Political Justice. In the following year he issued his powerful +novel of Caleb Williams. He married Mary Wollstonecraft, '96; wrote, +in addition to several novels and educational works, On Population, +in answer to Malthus, 1820; a History of the Commonwealth, '24-28; +Thoughts on Man, '31; Lives of the Necromancers, '34. Some Freethought +essays, which he had intended to form into a book entitled The Genius +of Christianity Unveiled, were first published in '73. They comprise +papers on such subjects as future retribution, the atonement, miracles, +and character of Jesus, and the history and effects of the Christian +religion. Died 7 April, 1836. + +Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von), Germany's greatest poet, +b. Frankfort-on-Main, 28 Aug. 1749. He records that early in his +seventh year (1 Nov. 1758) the great Lisbon earthquake filled his +mind with religious doubt. Before he was nine he could write several +languages. Educated at home until sixteen, he then went to Leipsic +University. At Strasburg he became acquainted with Herder, who directed +his attention to Shakespeare. He took the degree of doctor in 1771, +and in the same year composed his drama "Goetz von Berlichingen." He +went to Wetzlar, where he wrote Sorrows of Werther, 1774, which at +once made him famous. He was invited to the court of the Duke of +Saxe-Weimar and loaded with honors, becoming the centre of a galaxy +of distinguished men. Here he brought out the works of Schiller and +his own dramas, of which Faust is the greatest. His chief prose work +is Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. His works are voluminous. He +declared himself "decidedly non-Christian," and said his objects of +hate were "the cross and bugs." He was averse to abstractions and +refused to recognise a Deity distinct from the world. In philosophy +he followed Spinoza, and he disliked and discountenanced the popular +creed. Writing to Lavater in 1772 he said: "You look upon the gospel as +it stands as the divinest truth: but even a voice from heaven would not +convince me that water burns and fire quenches, that a woman conceives +without a man, and that a dead man can rise again. To you, nothing is +more beautiful than the Gospel; to me, a thousand written pages of +ancient and modern inspired men are equally beautiful." Goethe was +opposed to asceticism, and Pfleiderer admits "stood in opposition +to Christianity not merely on points of theological form, but to +a certain extent on points of substance too." Goethe devoted much +attention to science, and he attempted to explain the metamorphosis +of plants on evolutionary principles in 1790. Died 22 March, 1832. + +Goldstuecker (Theodor), Sanskrit scholar, of Jewish birth, but a +Freethinker by conviction, b. Konigsberg 18 Jan. 1821; studied at Bonn +under Schlegel and Lassen, and at Paris under Burnouf. Establishing +himself at Berlin, he was engaged as tutor in the University and +assisted Humboldt in the matter of Hindu philosophy in the Cosmos. A +democrat in politics, he left Berlin at the reaction of '49 and came +to England, where he assisted Professor Wilson in preparing his +Sanskrit-English Dictionary. He contributed important articles on +Indian literature to the Westminster Review, the Reader, the Athenæum +and Chambers' Encyclopædia. Died in London, 6 March, 1872. + +Goldziher (Ignacz), Hungarian Orientalist, b. Stuhlweissenburg, +1850. Is since 1876 Doctor of Semitic Philology in Buda-pesth; is +author of Mythology Among the Hebrews, which has been translated +by Russell Martineau, '77, and has written many studies on Semitic +theology and literature. + +Gordon (Thomas), Scotch Deist and political reformer, was b. Kells, +Kirkcudbright, about 1684, but settled early in London, where he +supported himself as a teacher and writer. He first distinguished +himself by two pamphlets in the Bangorian controversy, which +recommended him to Trenchard, to whom he became amanuensis, and +with whom he published Cato's Letters and a periodical entitled The +Independent Whig, which he continued some years after Trenchard's +death, marrying that writer's widow. He wrote many pamphlets, and +translated from Barbeyrac The Spirit of the Ecclesiastics of All +Ages. He also translated the histories of Tacitus and Sallust. He died +28 July, 1750, leaving behind him posthumous works entitled A Cordial +for Low Spirits and The Pillars of Priestcraft and Orthodoxy Shaken. + +Gorlæus (David), a Dutch philosopher, b. at Utrecht, towards the end +of the sixteenth century, has been accused of Atheism on account +of his speculations in a work published after his death entitled +Exercitationes Philosophicæ, Leyden 1620. + +Govea or Gouvea [Latin Goveanus] (Antonio), Portugese jurist and poet, +b. 1505, studied in France and gained great reputation by his legal +writings. Calvin classes him with Dolet, Rabelais, and Des Periers, +as an Atheist and mocker. He wrote elegant Latin poems. Died at Turin, +5 March, 1565. + +Gratiolet (Louis-Pierre), French naturalist, b. Sainte Foy, 6 July +1815, noted for his researches on the comparative anatomy of the +brain. Died at Paris 15 Feb. 1865. + +Graves (Kersey), American, author of The Biography of Satan, 1865, +and The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, 1876. Works of some vogue, +but little value. + +Gray (Asa), American naturalist, b. 18 Nov. 1810, Paris, Oneida Co., +New York. Studied at Fairfield and became physician 1831. Wrote +Elements of Botany, 1836, became Professor of Nat. Hist. at Harvard, +and was the first to introduce Darwinism to America. Wrote an +Examination of Darwin's Treatise 1861. Succeeded Agassiz as Governor of +Smithsonian Institute, and worked on American Flora. Died at Cambridge, +Mass., 30 Jan. 1888. + +Green (H. L.), American Freethinker, b. 18 Feb. 1828. Edits the +Freethinker's Magazine published at Buffalo, New York. + +Greg (William Rathbone), English Writer, b. Manchester 1809. Educated +at Edinburgh university, he became attracted to economic studies +and literary pursuits. He was one of the founders of the Manchester +Statistical Society, a warm supporter of the Anti-Corn Law League, +and author of one of its prize essays. In '40 he wrote on Efforts for +the Extinction of the African Slave Trade. In '50 he published his +Creed of Christendom, which has gone through eight editions, and in +1872 his Enigmas of Life, of which there were thirteen editions in +his life. He published also Essays on Political and Social Science, +and was a regular contributor to the Pall Mall Gazette. His works +exhibit a careful yet bold thinker and close reasoner. Died at +Wimbledon 15 Nov. 1881. + +Grenier (Pierre Jules), French Positivist, b. Beaumont, Perigord, +1838, author of a medical examination of the doctrine of free will, +'68, which drew out letter from Mgr. Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans, +imploring him to repudiate his impious doctrines. Also author of +Aphorisms on the First Principles of Sociology, 1873. + +"Grile (Dod)," pen name of Ambrose Bierce, American humorist, who +wrote on the San Francisco News-Letter. His Nuggets and Dust and +Fiend's Delight, were blasphemous; has also written in Fun, and +published Cobwebs from an Empty Skull, 1873. + +Grimm (Friedrich Melchior von), Baron. German philosophic writer in +French, b. Ratisbon, 26 Dec. 1723. Going to France he became acquainted +with D'Holbach and with Rousseau, who was at first his friend, but +afterwards his enemy. He became secretary to the Duke of Orleans, +and wrote in conjunction with Diderot and Raynal caustic literary +bulletins containing criticisms on French literature and art. In +1776 he was envoy from the Duke of Saxe Gotha to the French Court, +and after the French Revolution was appointed by Catherine of Russia +her minister at Hamburg. Grimm died at Gotha, 19 Dec. 1807. He is +chiefly known by his literary correspondence with Diderot published +in seventeen vols. 1812-1813. + +Gringore (Pierre), French poet and dramatist, b. about 1475, satirised +the pope and clergy as well as the early reformers. Died about 1544. + +Grisebach (Eduard), German writer, b. Gottingen 9 Oct. 1845. Studied +law, but entered the service of the State and became Consul at +Bucharest, Petersburg, Milan and Hayti. Has written many poems, of +which the best known is The New Tanhäuser, first published anonymously +in '69, and followed by Tanhäuser in Rome, '75. Has also translated +Kin Ku Ki Kuan, Chinese novels. Is a follower of Schopenhauer, whose +bibliography he has compiled, 1888. + +Grote (George), the historian of Greece, b. near Beckenham, Kent, +17 Nov. 1794. Descended from a Dutch family. He was educated for +the employment of a banker and was put to business at the age of +sixteen. He was however addicted to literary pursuits, and became +a friend and disciple of James Mill and Jeremy Bentham. In 1820 he +married a cultured lady, Harriet Lewin, and in '22 his Analysis of +the Influence of Natural Religion was published by Carlile, under +the pen name of Philip Beauchamp. He also wrote in the Westminster +Review. In '33 he was elected as Radical M.P. for the City of London +and retained his seat till '41. He was chiefly known in Parliament +for his advocacy of the ballot. In '46-'56 he published his famous +History of Greece, which cost him the best years of his life; this was +followed by Plato and the other Companions of Socrates. His review +of J. S. Mill's Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy, +'61, showed he retained his Freethought until the end of his life. He +died 18 June '71, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. + +Grote (Harriet) nee Lewin, wife of the above, b. 1792, shared in his +opinions and wrote his life. Died 29 Dec. 1878. + +Gruen (Karl) German author, b. 30 Sept. 1817, Lüdenschied, Westphalia, +studied at Bonn and Berlin. In '44 he came to Paris, was a friend +to Proudhon and translated his Philosophy of Misery, was arrested in +'49 and condemned to exile; lived at Brussels till '62, when he was +made professor at Frankfort. He became professor of English at the +College of Colmar, established a Radical journal the Mannheim Evening +News and he wrote Biographical Studies of Schiller, '44, and Feuerbach, +'71. A Culture History of the 16th-17th Centuries, and The Philosophy +of the Present, '76. Died at Vienna 17 February, 1887. + +Gruet (Jacques), Swiss Freethinker, tortured and put to death for +blasphemy by order of Calvin at Geneva, 26 July, 1547. After his death +papers were found in his possession directed against religion. They +were burnt by the common hangman, April, 1550. + +Gruyer (Louis Auguste Jean François-Philippe), Belgian philosopher, +b. Brussels, 15 Nov. 1778. He wrote an Essay of Physical Philosophy, +1828, Tablettès Philosophiques, '42. Principles of Physical +Philosophy, '45, etc. He held the atomic doctrine, and that matter +was eternal. Died Brussels 15 Oct. 1866. + +Guadet (Marguerite Elie), Girondin, b. Saint Emilion (Gironde), +20 July, 1758. He studied at Bordeaux, and became an advocate in +'81. He threw himself enthusiastically into the Revolution, and was +elected Deputy for the Gironde. His vehement attacks on the Jacobins +contributed to the destruction of his party, after which he took +refuge, but was arrested and beheaded at Bordeaux, 15 June, 1794. + +Gubernatis (Angelo de), see De Gubernatis. + +Guépin (Ange), French physician, b. Pontivy, 30 Aug. 1805. He became +M.D. in '28. After the revolution of July, '30, Dr. Guépin was made +Professor at the School of Medicine at Nantes. He formed the first +scientific and philosophical congress, held there in '33. In '48 he +became Commissaire of the Republic at Nantes, and in '50 was deprived +of his situation. In '54 he published his Philosophy of the Nineteenth +Century. After the fall of the Empire, M. Guépin became Prefet of La +Loire Inférieure, but had to resign from ill-health. Died at Nantes, +21 May, 1873, and was buried without any religious ceremony. + +Gueroult (Adolphe), French author, b. Radepont (Eure), 29 +Jan. 1810. Early in life he became a follower of Saint Simon. He wrote +to the Journal des Debats, the Republique, Credit and Industrie, and +founded l'Opinion National. He was elected to the Legislature in '63, +when he advocated the separation of Church and State. Died at Vichy, +21 July, 1872. + +Guerra Junqueiro. Portuguese poet, b. 1850. His principal work is a +poem on The Death of Don Juan, but he has also written The Death of +Jehovah, an assault upon the Catholic faith from the standpoint of +Pantheism. Portuguese critics speak highly of his powers. + +Guerrini (Olindo), Italian poet, b. Forli, 4 Oct. 1845. Educated +at Ravenna, Turin, and Bologna University; he has written many fine +poems under the name of Lorenzo Stecchetti. In the preface to Nova +Polemica he declares "Primo di tutto dice, non credo in Dio" ("First +of all I say do not believe in God.") + +Gueudeville (Nicolas), French writer, b. Rouen, 1654. He became a +Benedictine monk, and was distinguished as a preacher, but the boldness +of his opinions drew on him the punishment of his superiors. He escaped +to Holland, and publicly abjured Catholicism. He taught literature +and philosophy at Rotterdam, wrote the Dialogue of the Baron de la +Hontan with an American Savage Amst. 1704, appended to the Travels +of La Hontan, 1724, edited by Gueudeville. This dialogue is a bitter +criticism of Christian usages. He translated Erasmus's Praise of Folly +(1713), More's Utopia (1715), and C. Agrippa, Of the Uncertainty and +Vanity of Sciences (1726). Died at the Hague, 1720. + +Guichard (Victor), French writer, b. Paris, 15 Aug. 1803. He became +Mayor of Sens, and was elected deputy for the Yonne department. He +was exiled in '52, but again elected in '71. His principal work is +La Liberté de Penser, fin du Pouvoir Spirituel (1868). Died at Paris, +11th Nov. 1884. + +Guild (E. E.), b. in Connecticut, 6 May, 1811. In '35 he became +a Christian minister, but after numerous debates became turned +Universalist. In '44 he published The Universalist Book of Reference, +which went through several editions. It was followed by Pro and Con, +in which he gives the arguments for and against Christianity. + +Guirlando (Giulio) di Treviso. Italian heretic, put to death at Venice +for anti-trinitarian heresy, 19 Oct. 1562. + +Gundling (Nicolaus Hieronymus), German scholar and Deistic philosopher, +b. near Nuremberg, 25 Feb. 1671. He wrote a History of the Philosophy +of Morals, 1706, and The Way to Truth, 1713. One of the first German +eclectics, he took much from Hobbes and Locke, with whom he derived +all ideas from experience. Died at Halle, 16 Dec. 1729. + +Gunning (William D.), American scientific professor, b. Bloomingburg, +Ohio. Graduated at Oberlin and studied under Agassiz. He wrote Life +History of our Planet, Chicago, 1876, and contributed to The Open +Court. Died Greeley, Colorado, 8 March, 1888. + +Günst (Dr. Frans Christiaan), Dutch writer and publisher, b. Amsterdam, +19 Aug. 1823. He was intended for a Catholic clergyman; studied +at Berne, where he was promoted '47. Returning to Holland he became +bookseller and editor at Amsterdam. He was for many years secretary of +the City Theatre. Günst contributed to many periodicals, and became +a friend of Junghuhn, with whom he started De Dageraad, the organ of +the Dutch Freethinkers, which he edited from '55 to '67. He usually +contributed under pseudonyms as "Mephistho" or ([therefore]). He was +for many years President of the Independent Lodge of Freemasons, +"Post Nubila Lux," and wrote on Adon Hiram, the oldest legend of +the Freemasons. He also wrote Wijwater voor Roomsch Katholieken +(Holy Water for the Roman Catholics); De Bloedgetuigen der Spaansche +Inquisitie (The Martyrs of the Spanish Inquisition, '63); and Heidenen +en Jezuieten, eene vergelijking van hunne zedeleer (Pagans and Jesuits, +a comparison of their morals, '67). In his life and conversation he +was frater gaudens. Died 29 Dec. 1886. + +Guyau (Marie Jean), French philosopher, b. 1854, was crowned at the +age of 19 by the Institute of France for a monograph on Utilitarian +morality. In the following year he had charge of a course of philosophy +at the Condorcet lycée at Paris. Ill health, brought on by excess of +work, obliged him to retire to Mentone, where he occupied himself +with literature. His principal works are La Morale d'Epicure (the +morality of Epicurus), in relation to present day doctrines, 1878, +La Morale Anglaise Contemporaine (Contemporary English Ethics), '79, +crowned by the Academy of Moral Sciences. Verses of a philosopher, +'81. Esquisse d'une morale sans obligation ni sanction (Sketch of +morality without obligation or sanction,) '84, and L'Irreligion de +l'Avenir (the Irreligion of the Future) '87. M. Guyau was a follower of +M. Fouillée, but all his works bear the impress of profound thought and +originality. A chief doctrine is the expansion of life. Died Mentone, +31 March, 1888. + +Guyot (Yves), French writer and statesman, b. Dinan, 1843. He wrote +with Sigismond Lacroix a Study of the Social Doctrines of Christianity, +'73, and a work on morality in the Bibliothèque Matérialiste. Elected +on the Municipal Council of Paris '74-78, he has since been a deputy +to the Chamber, and is now a member of the government. He has written +the Principles of Social Economy, '84, and many works on that topic; +has edited Diderot's La Religieuse and the journals Droits de l'homme +and le Bien public. + +Gwynne (George), Freethought writer in the Reasoner and National +Reformer, under the pen-name of "Aliquis." His reply to J. H. Newman's +Grammar of Assent shewed much acuteness. He served the cause both by +pen and purse. Died 25 Sept. 1873. + +Gyllenborg (Gustaf Fredrik), Count. Swedish poet, b. 6 Dec. 1731, was +one of the first members of the Academy of Stockholm and Chancellor +of Upsala University. He published satires, fables, odes, etc., +among which may be named The Passage of the Belt. His opinions were +Deistic. Died 30 March, 1808. + +Haeckel (Ernst Heinrich Philipp August), German scientist, b. Potsdam, +16 Feb. 1834; studied medicine and science at Würzburg, Berlin, +and Vienna. In '59 he went to Italy and studied zoology at Naples, +and two years later was made Professor of Zoology at Jena. Between +'66 and '75 he travelled over Europe besides visiting Syria and Egypt, +and later he visited India and Ceylon, writing an interesting account +of his travels. He is the foremost German supporter of evolution; his +Natural History of Creation, '68, having gone through many editions, +and been translated into English '76, as have also his Evolution +of Man, 2 vols. '79, and Pedigree of Man, '83. Besides numerous +monographs and an able work on Cellular Psychology, Professor Haeckel +has published important Popular Lectures on Evolution, '78, and on +Freedom in Science and Teaching, published with a prefatory note by +Professor Huxley, '79. + +Hagen (Benjamin Olive), Socialist, b. 25 June, 1791. About the year +1841 his attention was attracted to the Socialists by the abuse they +received. Led thus to inquire, he embraced the views of Robert Owen, +and was their chief upholder for many years in the town of Derby, +where he lived to be upwards of seventy years of age. His wife also +deserves mention as an able lady of Freethought views. + +Halley (Edmund), eminent English astronomer, known in his lifetime +as "the Infidel Mathematician," b. Haggerston, London, 29 Oct. 1656; +educated at Oxford. At twenty he had made observations of the planets +and of the spots on the sun. In Nov. '76 he went to St. Helena +where he prepared his Catalogue of Southern Stars, '79. He also +found how to take the sun's parallax by means of the transits of +Mercury or Venus. In '78 he was elected a F.R.S. Two years later +he made observation on "Halley's comet," and in '83 published his +theory of the variation of the magnet. He became a friend of Sir +Isaac Newton, whom he persuaded to publish his Principia. In '98 he +commanded a scientific expedition to the South Atlantic. In 1713 he +was made sec. of the Royal Society and in 1720 Astronomer-royal. He +then undertook a task which required nineteen years to perform, viz: +to observe the moon throughout an entire revolution of her nodes. He +lived to finish this task. Died 14 Jan. 1742. Halley was the first who +conceived that fixed stars had a proper motion in space. Chalmers in +his Biographical Dictionary says, "It must be deeply regretted that +he cannot be numbered with those illustrious characters who thought +it not beneath them to be Christians." + +Hammon (W.), pseudonym of Turner William, q. v. + +Hamond or Hamont (Matthew), English heretic, by trade a ploughwright, +of Hethersett, Norfolk, burnt at Norwich, May 1579, for holding +"that the New Testament and the Gospel of Christ were pure folly, +a human invention, a mere fable." He had previously been set in the +pillory and had both his ears cut off. + +Hannotin (Emile), French Deist, b. Bar le Duc in 1812, and some +time editor of the Journal de la Meuse. Author of New Philosophical +Theology, '46; Great Questions, '67; Ten Years of Philosophical +Studies, '72; and an Essay on Man, in which he seeks to explain life +by sensibility. + +Hanson (Sir Richard Davies), Chief Justice of South Australia, +b. London, 5 Dec. 1805. He practised as attorney for a short time in +London, and wrote for the Globe and Morning Chronicle. In 1830 he took +part in the attempt to found a colony in South Australia. In 1851 he +became Advocate-General of the colony, and subsequently in 1861 Chief +Justice. In 1869 he was knighted. He wrote on Law in Nature 1865, +The Jesus of History 1869, and St. Paul 1875. Hanson wrote Letters +to and from Rome A.D. 61, 62 and 63. Selected and translated by +C.V.S. 1873. Died at Adelaide 10 Mar. 1876. + +Hardwicke (Edward Arthur), M.D., eldest son of Junius Hardwicke, +F.R.C.S., of Rotherham, Yorks. In '75 he qualified as a surveyor, and +in '86 as a physician. For twelve years he was Surgeon Superintendent +of the Government Emigration Service. He is an Agnostic of the school +of Herbert Spencer, and has contributed to Freethought and scientific +periodicals. + +Hardwicke (Herbert Junius), M.D., brother of above, b. Sheffield, 26 +Jan. 1850. Studied at London, Edinburgh and Paris. In '78 he became a +member of the Edinburgh College of Physicians. Next year he was the +principal agent in establishing the Sheffield Public Hospital for +Skin Diseases. Besides numerous medical works, Dr. Hardwicke set up +a press of his own in order to print The Popular Faith Unveiled, the +publishers requiring guarantee in consequence of the prosecution of +Mr. Foote ('84), and Evolution and Creation ('87). He has contributed +to the Agnostic Annual, and has recently written Rambles in Spain, +Italy and Morocco ('89). + +Harriot (Thomas), English mathematician, b. Oxford, 1560, accompanied +Raleigh to Virginia and published an account of the expedition. He was +noted for his skill in algebra, and A. Wood says "He was a Deist." Died +21 July 1621. + +Harrison (Frederic), M.A., English Positivist, b. London 18 Oct. 1831, +educated at London and Oxford, when he was 1st class in classics. He +was called to the bar in '58. He has since been appointed Professor +of Jurisprudence and International Law. He has written many important +articles in the high-class reviews, and has published The Meaning +of History, Order and Progress, and on The Choice of Books and Other +Literary Pieces, '86, and has translated vol. ii of Comte's Positive +Polity. He was one of the founders of the Positivist school, '70, +and of Newton Hall in '81. A fine stylist, his addresses and magazine +articles bear the stamp of a cultured man of letters. + +Hartmann (Karl Robert Eduard), German pantheistic pessimist +philosopher, b. Berlin, 23 Feb. 1842. In '58 he entered the Prussian +army, but an affection of the knee made him resign in '65. By the +publication of his Philosophy of the Unconscious in '69, he became +famous, though it was not translated into English until '84. He +has since written numerous works of which we name Self-Dissolution +of Christianity and The Religion of the Future, '75, The Crisis of +Christianity in Modern Theology, '80, The Religious Consciousness of +Mankind, '81, and Modern Problems, '86. Latterly Hartmann has turned +his attention to the philosophy of politics. + +Hartogh Heys van Zouteveen (Dr. Herman), a learned Dutch writer, +b. Delft 13 Feb. 1841. He studied law and natural philosophy at Leyden, +and graduated doctor of law in '64 and doctor of natural philosophy in +'66. In '66 he received a gold medal from the king of Holland for a +treatise on the synthesis of organic bodies. Dr. Hartogh was some time +professor of chemistry and natural history at the Hague, but lived at +Delft, where he was made city councillor and in '69 and '70 travelled +through Egypt and Nubia as correspondent of Het Vaderland and was the +guest of the Khedive. He translated into Dutch Darwin's Descent of +Man and Expressions of the Emotions, both with valuable annotations +of his own. He has also translated and annotated some of the works +of Ludwig Büchner and "Carus Sterne," from the German, and works from +the French, besides writing several original essays on anthropology, +natural history, geology, and allied sciences, contributing largely +to the spread of Darwinian ideas in Holland. In '72 he visited the +United States and the Pacific coast. Since '73 he has resided at +Assen, of which he was named member of the city council, but could +not take his seat because he refused the oath. He is a director of +the Provincial Archæological Museum at Assen, and a member of the +Dutch Literary Society the Royal Institution of Netherlands, India, +and other scientific associations. For a long while he was a member +of the Dutch Freethinkers' Society, De Dageraad, of which he became +president. To the organ De Dageraad he contributed important works, +such as Jewish Reports Concerning Jesus of Nazareth and the Origin +of Religious Ideas, the last of which has been published separately. + +Haslam (Charles Junius), b. Widdington, Northumberland, 24 April, +1811. He spent most of his life near Manchester, where he became a +Socialist and published Letters to the Clergy of all Denominations, +showing the errors, absurdities, and irrationalities of their +doctrines, '38. This work went through several editions, and the +publishers were prosecuted for blasphemy. He followed it by Letters to +the Bishop of Exeter, containing materials for deciding the question +whether or not the Bible is the word of God, '41, and a pamphlet Who +are the Infidels? In '61 he removed to Benton, where he has since +lived. In '85 he issued a pamphlet entitled The Suppression of War. + +Hassell (Richard), one of Carlile's shopmen, sentenced to two years +imprisonment in Newgate for selling Paine's Age of Reason, 28 May, +1824. He died in October 1826. + +Hattem (Pontiaam van), Dutch writer, b. Bergen 1641. He was a +follower of Spinoza, inclined to Pantheistic mysticism, and had +several followers. Died 1706. + +Haureau (Jean Barthelemy), French historian, b. Paris 1812. At the +age of twenty he showed his sympathy with the Revolution by a work +on The Mountain. In turn journalist and librarian he has produced +many important works, of which we name his Manual of the Clergy, +'44, which drew on him attacks from the clericals, and his erudite +Critical Examination of the Scholastic Philosophy, '50. + +Hauy (Valentine), French philanthropist, b. Saint-Just 13 Nov. 1745. He +devoted much attention to enabling the blind to read and founded the +institute for the young blind in 1784. He was one of the founders +of Theophilantropy. In 1807 he went to Russia, where he stayed till +1817, devoting himself to the blind and to telegraphy. Died at Paris +18 March, 1822. + +Havet (Ernest August Eugène), French scholar and critic, b. Paris, +11 April, 1813. In '40 he was appointed professor of Greek literature +at the Normal School. In '55 he was made professor of Latin eloquence +at the Collége de France. In '63 an article on Renan's Vie de Jesus in +the Revue des Deux Mondes excited much attention, and was afterwards +published separately. His work on Christianity and its Origins, +4 vols. 1872-84, is a masterpiece of rational criticism. + +Hawkesworth (John), English essayist and novelist, b. in London about +1715. Became contributor to the Gentleman's Magazine and editor of +the Adventurer. In '61 he edited Swift's works with a life of that +author. He compiled an account of the voyages of Byron, Wallis, +Carteret, and Cook for government, for which he received £6,000; +but the work was censured as incidentally attacking the doctrine of +Providence. His novel Almoran and Hamet was very popular. Died at +Bromley, Kent, 17 Nov. 1773. + +Hawley (Henry), a Scotch major-general, who died in 1765, and by the +terms of his will prohibited Christian burial. + +Hebert (Jacques René), French revolutionist, b. Alençon 15 Nov. 1757, +published the notorious Père Duchêsne, and with Chaumette instituted +the Feasts of Reason. He was denounced by Saint Just, and guillotined +2 March 1794. His widow, who had been a nun, was executed a few +days later. + +Hegel (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich), German metaphysician b. Stuttgart, +27 Aug. 1770. He studied theology at Tübingen, but, becoming acquainted +with Schelling, devoted his attention to philosophy. His Encyclopædia +of the Philosophical Sciences made a deep impression in Germany, and +two schools sprang up, one claiming it as a philosophical statement +of Christianity, the other as Pantheism hostile to revelation. Hegel +said students of philosophy must begin with Spinozism. He is said to +have remarked that of all his many disciples only one understood him, +and he understood him falsely. He was professor at Jena, Heidelberg, +and Berlin, in which last city he died 14 Nov. 1831, and was buried +beside Fichte. + +Heine (Heinrich), German poet and littérateur, b. of Jewish parents +at Dusseldorf, 31 Dec. 1797. He studied law at Bonn, Berlin, and +Göttingen; became acquainted with the philosophy of Spinoza and +Hegel; graduated LL.D., and in June 1825 renounced Judaism and +was baptised. The change was only formal. He satirised all forms +of religious faith. His fine Pictures of Travel was received with +favor and translated by himself into French. His other principal +works are the Book of Songs, History of Recent Literature in Germany, +The Romantic School, The Women of Shakespeare, Atta Troll and other +poems. In 1835 he married a French lady, having settled in Paris, +where "the Voltaire of Germany" became more French than German. About +1848 he became paralysed and lost his eyesight, but he still employed +himself in literary composition with the aid of an amanuensis. After +an illness of eight years, mostly passed in extreme suffering on his +"mattress grave," he died 17 Feb. 1856. Heine was the greatest and +most influential German writer since Goethe. He called himself a +Soldier of Freedom, and his far-flashing sword played havoc with the +forces of reaction. + +Heinzen (Karl Peter) German-American poet, orator and politician, +b. near Dusseldorf, 22 Feb. 1809. He studied medicine at Bonn, +and travelled to Batavia, an account of which he published (Cologne +1842). A staunch democrat, in 1845 he published at Darmstadt a work +on the Prussian Bureaucracy, for which he was prosecuted and had to +seek shelter in Switzerland. At Zurich he edited the German Tribune +and the Democrat. At the beginning of '48 he visited New York but +returned to participate in the attempted German Revolution. Again +"the regicide" had to fly and in August '50 returned to New York. He +wrote on many papers and established the Pioneer (now Freidenker), +first in Louisville, then in Cincinnati, then in New York, and from +'59 in Boston. He wrote many works, including Letters on Atheism, +which appeared in The Reasoner 1856, Poems, German Revolution, The +Heroes of German Communism, The Rights of Women, Mankind the Criminal, +Six Letters to a Pious Man (Boston 1869), Lessons of a Century, +and What is Humanity? (1877.) Died Boston 12 Nov. 1880. + +Hellwald (Friedrich von), German geographer, b. Padua 29 March 1842, +and in addition to many works on various countries has written an +able Culture History, 1875. + +Helmholtz (Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von) German scientist, b. Potsdam +31 Aug. 1821. Distinguished for his discoveries in acoustics, optics +and electricity, he is of the foremost rank among natural philosophers +in Europe. Among his works we mention The Conservation of Force (1847), +and Popular Scientific Lectures (1865-76.) Professor Helmholtz rejects +the design hypothesis. + +Helvetius (Claude Adrien) French philosopher, b. Paris 18 +Jan. 1715. Descended from a line of celebrated physicians, he had a +large fortune which he dispensed in works of benevolence. Attracted +by reading Locke he resigned a lucrative situation as farmer-general +to devote himself to philosophy. In August 1758 he published a work +On the Mind (De L'Esprit) which was condemned by Pope Clement XIII, +31 Jan. 1759, and burnt by the order of Parliament 6 Feb. 1759 for the +hardihood of his materialistic opinions. Mme. Du Deffand said "he told +everybody's secret." It was republished at Amsterdam and London. He +also wrote a poem On Happiness and a work on Man his Faculties and +Education. He visited England and Prussia and became an honored guest +of Frederick the Great. Died 26 Dec. 1771. His wife, née Anne Catherine +De Lingville, b. 1719, after his death retired to Auteuil, where her +house was the rendezvous of Condillac, Turgot, d'Holbach, Morellet, +Cabanis, Destutt de Tracy, etc. This re-union of Freethinkers was +known as the Société d'Auteuil. Madame Helvetius died 12 August 1800. + +Henault, or Hesnault (Jean), French Epicurean poet of the 17th century, +son of a Paris baker, was a pupil of Gassendi, and went to Holland to +see Spinoza. Bayle says he professed Atheism, and had composed three +different systems of the mortality of the soul. His most famous sonnet +is on The Abortion. Died Paris, 1682. + +Henin de Cuvillers (Etienne Felix), Baron, French general and writer, +b. Balloy, 27 April, 1755. He served as diplomatist in England, Venice, +and Constantinople. Employed in the army of Italy, he was wounded at +Arcola, 26 Sept. '96. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in +1811. He wrote much, particularly on magnetism. In the 8th vol. of +his Archives du Magnétisme Animal, he suggests that the miracles of +Jesus were not supernatural, but wrought by means of magnetism learnt +in Egypt. In other writings, especially in reflections on the crimes +committed in the name of religion, '22, he shows himself the enemy +of fanaticism and intolerance. Died 2 August, 1841. + +Hennell (Charles Christian), English Freethinker, b. 9 March, 1809, +author of an able Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity, +first published in '38, a work which powerfully influenced "George +Eliot," and a translation of which was introduced to German readers +by Dr. D. F. Strauss. It was Hennell who induced "George Eliot" +to translate Strauss's Life of Jesus. He also wrote on Christian +Theism. Hennell lived most of his time in Coventry. He was married +at London in '39, and died 2 Sept. 1850. + +Herault de Sechelles (Marie Jean), French revolutionist, b. of +noble family, Paris, 1760. Brought up as a friend of Buffon and +Mirabeau, he gained distinction as a lawyer and orator before the +Revolution. Elected to the Legislative Assembly in '91, he was made +President of the Convention, 2 Nov. 92. He edited the document known +as the Constitution of 1793, and was president and chief speaker at +the national festival, 10 Aug. '93. He drew on himself the enmity +of Robespierre, and was executed with Danton and Camille Desmoulins, +5 April, 1794. + +Herbart (Johann Friedrich), b. Oldenburg 4 May 1776. In 1805 he was +made professor of philosophy at Göttingen, and in 1808 became Kant's +successor at Königsberg and opposed his philosophy. Though religiously +disposed, his philosophy has no room for the notion of a God. He was +recalled to Göttingen, where he died 14 Aug. 1841. + +Herbert (Edward), Lord of Cherbury, in Shropshire, b. Montgomery +Castle, 1581. Educated at Oxford, after which he went on his +travels. On his return he was made one of the king's counsellors, +and soon after sent as ambassador to France to intercede for the +Protestants. He served in the Netherlands, and distinguished himself +by romantic bravery. In 1625 he was made a peer of Ireland, and in +'31 an English peer. During the civil wars he espoused the side of +Parliament. His principal work is entitled De Veritate, the object of +which was to assert the sufficiency of natural religion apart from +revelation. He also wrote Lay Religion, his own Memoirs, a History +of Henry VIII., etc. Died 20 Aug. 1648. + +Hertell (Thomas), judge of the Marine Court of New York, and for some +years Member of the Legislature of his State. He wrote two or three +small works criticising Christian Theology, and exerted his influence +in favour of State secularization. + +Hertzen or Gertsen (Aleksandr Ivanovich), Russian patriot, chief of +the revolutionary party, b. Moscow, 25 March, 1812. He studied at +Moscow University, where he obtained a high degree. In '34 he was +arrested for Saint Simonian opinions and soon afterwards banished +to Viatka, whence he was permitted to return in '37. He was expelled +from Russia in '42, visited Italy, joined the "Reds" at Paris in '48, +took refuge at Geneva, and soon after came to England. In '57 he set +up in London a Russian printing press for the publication of works +prohibited in Russia, and his publications passed into that country in +large numbers. Among his writings are Dilettantism in Science, '42; +Letters on the Study of Nature, '45-46; Who's to Blame? '57; Memoirs +of the Empress Catherine, and My Exile, '55. In '57 Herzen started the +magazine the Kolokol or Bell. Died at Paris, 21 Jan. 1870. His son, +Alessandro Herzen, b. Wladimar, 1839, followed his father's fortunes, +learnt most of the European languages and settled at Florence, where +he did much to popularise physiological science. He has translated +Maudsley's Physiology of Mind, and published a physiological analysis +of human free will. + +Herwegh (Georg), German Radical and poet, b. Stuttgart, 31 +May, 1817. Intended for the Church, he left that business for +Literature. His Gedichte eines Lebendigen (Poems of a Living Man) +aroused attention by their boldness. In '48 he raised a troop +and invaded Baden, but failed, and took refuge in Switzerland and +Paris. Died at Baden-Baden, 7 April, 1875. + +Hetherington (Henry), English upholder of a free press, b. Soho, +London, 1792. He became a printer, and was one of the most energetic +of working men engaged in the foundation of mechanics' institutes. He +also founded the Metropolitan Political Union in March, 1830, which +was the germ both of trades' unionism and of the Chartist movement. He +resisted the "taxes upon knowledge" by issuing unstamped The Poor Man's +Guardian, a weekly newspaper for the people, established, contrary to +"law," to try the power of "might" against "right," '31-35. For this +he twice suffered sentences of six months' imprisonment. He afterwards +published The Unstamped, and his persistency had much to do in removing +the taxes. While in prison he wrote his Cheap Salvation in consequence +of conversation with the chaplain of Clerkenwell Gaol. On Dec. 8, '40, +he was tried for "blasphemous libel" for publishing Haslam's Letters +to the Clergy, and received four month's imprisonment. Hetherington +published A Few Hundred Bible Contradictions, and other Freethought +works. Much of his life was devoted to the propaganda of Chartism. He +died 24 Aug. 1849, leaving a will declaring himself an Atheist. + +Hetzer (Ludwig), anti-Trinitarian martyr, b. Bischopzell, Switzerland; +was an Anabaptist minister at Zurich. He openly denied the doctrine of +the Trinity, and was condemned to death by the magistrates of Constance +on a charge of blasphemy. The sentence was carried out 4 Feb. 1529. + +Heusden (C. J. van), Dutch writer in De Dageraad. Has written several +works, Thoughts on a Coming More Universal Doctrine, by a Believer, +etc. + +Hibbert (Julian), Freethought philanthropist, b. 1801. During the +imprisonment of Richard Carlile he was active in sustaining his +publications. Learning that a distinguished political prisoner had +received a gift of £1,000, he remarked that a Freethinking prisoner +should not want equal friends, and gave Carlile a cheque for the same +amount. Julian Hibbert spent nearly £1,000 in fitting up Carlile's +shop in Fleet Street. He contributed "Theological Dialogues" to the +Republican, and also contributed to the Poor Man's Guardian. Hibbert +set up a private press and printed in uncial Greek the Orphic Hymns, +'27, and also Plutarch and Theophrastus on Superstition, to which +he wrote a life of Plutarch and appended valuable essays "on the +supposed necessity of deceiving the vulgar"; "various definitions +of an important word" [God], and a catalogue of the principal +modern works against Atheism. He also commenced a Dictionary +of Anti-Superstitionists, and Chronological Tables of British +Freethinkers. He wrote a short life of Holbach, published by James +Watson, to whom, and to Henry Hetherington, he left £500 each. Died +December 1834. + +Hedin (Sven Adolph), Swedish member of the "Andra Kammaren" [House +of Commons], b. 1834. Studied at Upsala and became philosophical +candidate, '61. Edited the Aftonbladet, '74-76. Has written many +radical works. + +Higgins (Godfrey), English archæologist, b. Skellow Grange, near +Doncaster, 1771. Educated at Cambridge and studied for the bar, +but never practised. Being the only son he inherited his father's +property, married, and acted as magistrate, in which capacity he +reformed the treatment of lunatics in York Asylum. His first work was +entitled Horæ Sabbaticæ, 1813, a manual on the Sunday Question. In +'29 he published An Apology for the Life and Character of Mohammed and +Celtic Druids, which occasioned some stir on account of the exposure +of priestcraft. He died 9 Aug. 1833, leaving behind a work on the +origin of religions, to the study of which he devoted ten hours daily +for about twenty years. The work was published in two volumes in 1826, +under the title of "Anacalypsis, an attempt to draw aside the veil of +the Saitic Isis; or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations, +and Religions." + +Hillebrand (Karl), cosmopolitan writer, b. 17 Sept. 1829, at +Giessen. His father, Joseph Hillebrand, succeeded Hegel as professor +at Heidelberg. Involved in the revolutionary movement in Germany, +Karl was imprisoned in the fortress of Rastadt, whence he escaped to +France. He taught at Strasbourg and Paris, where he became secretary +to Heine. On the poet's death he removed to Bordeaux, where he became a +naturalised Frenchman. He became professor of letters at Douay. During +the Franco-Prussian war he was correspondent to the Times, and was +taken for a Prussian spy. In 1871 he settled at Florence, where he +translated the poems of Carducci. Hillebrand was a contributor to +the Fortnightly Review, Nineteenth Century, Revue des deux Mondes, +North American Review, etc. His best known work is on France and the +French in the second half of the nineteenth century. Died at Florence, +18 Oct. 1884. + +Hins (Eugène), Belgian writer, Dr. of Philosophy, Professor at Royal +Athenæum, Charleroi, b. St. Trond, 1842. As general secretary of the +International, he edited L'Internationale, in which he laid stress +on anti-religious teaching. He contributed to La Liberté, and was +one of the prominent lecturers of the Societies Les Solidaires, and +La Libre-pensée of Brussels. He has written La Russie dé voilée au +moyen de sa littérature populaire, 1883, and other works. + +Hippel (Theodor Gottlieb von), German humoristic poet, b. Gerdauen, +Prussia, 31 Jan. 1741. He studied theology, but resigned it for law, +and became in 1780 burgomaster of Königsberg. His writings, which were +published anonymously, betray his advanced opinions. Died Bromberg, +23 April, 1796. + +Hittell (John S.), American Freethinker, author of the Evidences +against Christianity (New York, 1857): has also written A Plea for +Pantheism, A New System of Phrenology, The Resources of California, +a History of San Francisco, A Brief History of Culture (New York, +1875), and St. Peter's Catechism (Geneva, 1883). + +Hoadley (George), American jurist, b. New Haven, Conn., 31 July, +1836. He studied at Harvard, and in '47 was admitted to the bar, +and in '51 was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati. He +afterwards resigned his place and established a law firm. He was one +of the counsel that successfully opposed compulsory Bible reading in +the public schools. + +Hobbes (Thomas), English philosopher, b. Malmesbury, 5 April, +1588. In 1608 he became tutor to a son of the Earl of Devonshire, +with whom he made the tour of Europe. At Pisa in 1628 he made the +acquaintance of Galileo. In 1642 he printed his work De Cive. In 1650 +appeared in English his work on Human Nature, and in the following +year his famous Leviathan. At the Restoration he received a pension, +but in 1666 Parliament, in a Bill against Atheism and profaneness, +passed a censure on his writings, which much alarmed him. The latter +years of his life were spent at the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, +Chatsworth, where he died 4 Dec. 1679. + +Hodgson (William, M.D.), English Jacobin, translator of d'Holbach's +System of Nature (1795). In 1794 he was confined in Newgate for two +years for drinking to the success of the French Republic. In prison +he wrote The Commonwealth of Reason. + +Hoelderlin (Johann Christian Friedrich), German pantheistic poet, +b. Laufen, 20 March, 1770. Entered as a theological student at +Tübingen, but never took to the business. He wrote Hyperion, a +fine romance (1797-99), and Lyric Poems, admired for their depth of +thought. Died Tübingen, 7 June, 1843. + +Hoijer (Benjamin Carl Henrik), Swedish philosopher, b. Great Skedvi, +Delecarlia, 1 June, 1767. Was student at Upsala University '83, +and teacher of philosophy '98. His promotion was hindered by his +liberal opinions. By his personal influence and published treatises he +contributed much to Swedish emancipation. In 1808 he became Professor +of Philosophy at Upsala. Died 8 June, 1812. + +Holbach (Paul Heinrich Dietrich von) Baron, b. Heidelsheim +Jan. 1723. Brought up at Paris where he spent most of his life. Rich +and generous he was the patron of the Encyclopædists. Buffon, Diderot, +d'Alembert, Helvetius, Rousseau, Grimm, Raynal, Marmontel, Condillac, +and other authors often met at his table. Hume, Garrick, Franklin, +and Priestley were also among his visitors. He translated from the +German several works on chemistry and mineralogy, and from the English, +Mark Akenside's Pleasures of the Imagination. He contributed many +articles to the Encyclopédie. In 1765 he visited England, and from +this time was untiring in his issue of Freethought works, usually put +out under pseudonyms. Thus he wrote and had published at Amsterdam +Christianity Unveiled, attributed to Boulanger. The Spirit of the +Clergy, translated, from the English of Trenchard and Gordon, was +partly rewritten by d'Holbach, 1767. His Sacred Contagion or Natural +History of Superstition, was also wrongly attributed to Trenchard +and Gordon. This work was condemned to be burnt by a decree of the +French parliament, 8 Aug. 1770. D'Holbach also wrote and published +The History of David, 1768, The Critical History of Jesus Christ, +Letters to Eugenia, attributed to Freret, Portable Theology, attributed +to Bernier, an Essay on Prejudices, attributed to M. Du M [arsais], +Religious Cruelty, Hell Destroyed, and other works, said to be from +the English. He also translated the Philosophical Letters of Toland, +and Collins's Discourses on Prophecy, and attributed to the latter a +work with the title The Spirit of Judaism. These works were mostly +conveyed to the printer, M. Rey, at Amsterdam, by Naigeon, and the +secret of their authorship was carefully preserved. Hence d'Holbach +escaped persecution. In 1770 he published his principal work The +System of Nature, or The Laws of the Physical and Moral World. This +text-book of atheistic philosophy, in which d'Holbach was assisted +by Diderot, professed to be the posthumous work of Mirabaud. It made +a great sensation. Within two years he published a sort of summary +under the title of Good Sense, attributed to the curé Meslier. In +1773 he wrote on Natural Politics and the Social System. His last +important work was Universal Morality; or the Duties of Man founded +upon Nature. D'Holbach, whose personal good qualities were testified to +by many, was depicted in Rousseau's Nouvelle Héloise as the benevolent +Atheist Wolmar. Died 21 Jan. 1789. + +Holcroft (Thomas), English author, b. 10 Dec. 1745, was successively +a groom, shoemaker, schoolmaster, actor and author. His comedies +"Duplicity," 1781, and "The Road to Ruin," 1792, were very +successful. He translated the Posthumous Works of Frederick the +Great, 1789. For his active sympathy with the French Republicans he +was indicted for high treason with Hardy and Horne Tooke in 1794, +but was discharged without a trial. Died 23 March, 1809. + +Holland (Frederic May), American author, b. Boston, 2 May, 1836, +graduated at Harvard in '49, and in '63 was ordained Unitarian minister +at Rockford, Ill. Becoming broader in his views, he resigned, and has +since written in the Truthseeker, the Freethinkers' Magazine, etc. His +principal work is entitled The Rise of Intellectual Liberty, 1885. + +Hollick (Dr. Frederick), Socialist, b. Birmingham, 22 Dec. 1813. He was +educated at the Mechanics' Institute of that town, and became one of +the Socialist lecturers under Robert Owen. He held a public discussion +with J. Brindley at Liverpool, in 1840, on "What is Christianity?" On +the failure of Owenism he went to America, where some of his works +popularising medical science have had a large circulation. + +Hollis (John), English sceptic, b. 1757. Author of Sober and Serious +Reasons for Scepticism, 1796; An Apology for Disbelief in Revealed +Religion, 1799; and Free Thoughts, 1812. Died at High Wycombe, Bucks +26 Nov. 1824. Hollis, who came of an opulent dissenting family, was +distinguished by his love of truth, his zeal in the cause of freedom, +and by his beneficence. + +Holmes (William Vamplew), one of Carlile's brave shopmen who came up +from Leeds to uphold the right of free publication. He was sentenced +to two years' imprisonment, 1 March, '22, for selling blasphemous +and seditious libels in An Address to the Reformers of Great Britain, +and when in prison was told that "if hard labor was not expressed in +his sentence, it was implied." On his release Holmes went to Sheffield +and commenced the open sale of all the prohibited publications. + +Holwell (John Zephaniah), noted as one of the survivors of the Black +Hole of Calcutta, b. Dublin, 7 Sept. 1711. He practised as a surgeon, +went to India as a clerk, defended a fort at Calcutta against Surajah +Dowlah, was imprisoned with one hundred and forty-five others in the +"Black Hole," 20th June, 1756, of which he published a Narrative. He +succeeded Clive as governor of Bengal. On returning to England +he published a dissertation directed against belief in a special +providence, and advocating the application of church endowments to +the exigencies of the State (Bath, 1786). Died 5 Nov. 1798. + +Holyoake (Austin), English Freethinker, b. Birmingham, 27 +Oct. 1826. His mental emancipation came from hearing the lectures of +Robert Owen and his disciples. He took part in the agitation for the +abolition of the newspaper stamp--assisting when risk and danger had +to be met--and he co-operated with his brother in the production of +the Reasoner and other publications from '45 till '62. Soon after +this he printed and sub-edited the National Reformer, in which +many of his Freethought articles appeared. Among his pamphlets may +be mentioned Heaven and Hell, Ludicrous Aspects of Christianity, +Thoughts on Atheism, the Book of Esther, and Daniel the Dreamer. He +also composed a Secular Burial Service. Austin Holyoake took pride +in the character of Freethought, and was ever zealous in promoting +its welfare. His amiable spirit endeared him to all who knew him. He +died 10 April, 1874, leaving behind thoughts written on his deathbed, +in which he repudiated all belief in theology. + +Holyoake (George Jacob), b. Birmingham, 13 April 1817. Became +mathematical teacher of the Mechanics' Institution. Influenced by Combe +and Owen he became a Freethinker, and in '40 a Socialist missionary. In +'42, when Southwell was imprisoned for writing in the Oracle of Reason, +Mr. Holyoake took charge of that journal, and wrote The Spirit of +Bonner in the Disciples of Jesus. He was soon arrested for a speech +at Cheltenham, having said, in answer to a question, that he would put +the Deity on half-pay. Tried Aug. '42, he was sentenced to six months +imprisonment, of which he gave a full account in his Last Trial by +Jury for Atheism in England. In Dec. '43 he edited with M. Q. Ryall +the Movement, bearing the motto from Bentham, "Maximise morals, +minimise religion." The same policy was pursued in The Reasoner, +which he edited from 1846 till 1861. Among his many pamphlets we must +notice the Logic of Death, '50, which went through numerous editions, +and was included in his most important Freethought work, The Trial +of Theism. In '49 he published a brief memoir of R. Carlile. In +'51 he first used the term "Secularist," and in Oct. '52 the first +Secular Conference was held at Manchester Mr. Holyoake presiding. In +Jan. '53 he held a six nights discussion with the Rev. Brewin Grant, +and again in Oct. '54. He purchased the business of James Watson, +and issued many Freethought works, notably The Library of Reason--a +series, The Cabinet of Reason, his own Secularism, The Philosophy of +the People, etc. In '60 he was Secretary to the British Legion sent out +to Garibaldi. Mr. Holyoake did much to remove the taxes upon knowledge, +and has devoted much attention to Co-operation, having written a +history of the movement and contributed to most of its journals. + +Home (Henry), Scottish judge, was b. 1696. His legal ability was +made known by his publication of Remarkable Decisions of the Court of +Session, 1728. In 1752 he was raised to the bench as Lord Kames. He +published Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion +(1751), Elements of Criticism (1762), and Sketches of the History +of Man, in which he proved himself in advance of his age. Died 27 +Dec. 1782. + +Hon, Le (Henri). See Le Hon. + +Hooker (Sir Joseph Dalton), English naturalist, b. 1817. He +studied medicine at Glasgow, graduating M.D '39. In '55 he +became assistant-director of Kew Gardens, and from '65-85 sole +director. Renowned as a botanist, he was the first eminent man of +science to proclaim his adoption of Darwinism. + +Hope (Thomas), novelist and antiquarian, b. 1770. Famous for his +anonymous Anastasius, or Memories of a Modern Greek, he also wrote an +original work on The Origin and Prospects of Man '31. Died at London +3 Feb. 1831. + +Houten (Samuel van), Dutch Freethinker, b. Groningen. 17 Feb. 1837; +he studied law and became a lawyer in that city. In '69 he was +chosen member of the Dutch Parliament. Has published many writings on +political economy. In '88 he wrote a book entitled Das Causalitätgesetz +(The Law of Causality). + +Houston (George). Was the translator of d'Holbach's Ecce Homo, first +published in Edinburgh in 1799, and sometimes ascribed to Joseph +Webb. A second edition was issued in 1813. Houston was prosecuted and +was imprisoned two years in Newgate, with a fine of £200. He afterwards +went to New York, where he edited the Minerva (1822). In Jan. 1827, +he started The Correspondence, which, we believe, was the first weekly +Freethought journal published in America. It lasted till July 1828. He +also republished Ecce Homo. Houston helped to establish in America a +"Free Press Association" and a Society of Free Inquirers. + +Hovelacque (Abel), French scientist, b. Paris 14 Nov. 1843. He studied +law and made part of the groupe of la Pensée Nouvelle, with Asseline, +Letourneau, Lefevre, etc. He also studied anthropology under Broca +and published many articles in the Revue d'Anthropologie. He founded +with Letourneau, Thulié, Asseline, etc. The "Bibliothèque des sciences +contemporains" and published therein La Linguistique. He also founded +with the same the library of anthropological science and published in +collaboration with G. Hervé a prècis of Anthropology and a study of +the Negroes of Africa. He has also contributed to the Dictionary of +Anthropology. For the "Bibliothèque Materialiste" he wrote a work on +Primitive man. He has also published choice extracts from the works +of Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau, a grammar of the Zend language, +and a work on the Avesta Zoroaster and Mazdaism. In '78 he was made a +member of the municipal council of Paris, and in '81 was elected deputy +to the chamber where he sits with the autonomist socialist group. + +Howdon (John), author of A Rational Investigation of the Principles +of Natural Philosophy, Physical and Moral, printed at Haddington, +1840, in which he attacks belief in the Bible. + +Huber (Marie), Swiss Deist, b. of Protestant parents, Geneva, +1694. In a work on the System of Theologians, 1731, she opposed +the dogma of eternal punishment. In '38 published Letters on the +Religion essential to Man. This was translated into English in the +same year. Other works show English reading. She translated selections +from the Spectator. Died at Lyons, 13 June, 1753. + +Hudail (Abul). See Muhammad ibn Hudail (Al Allaf.) + +Huet (Coenraad Busken), Dutch writer, b. the Hague, 28 Dec. 1826. He +became minister of the Walloon Church at Haarlem, but through his +Freethought left the church in '63, and became editor of various +newspapers, afterwards living in Paris. He wrote many works of literary +value, and published Letters on the Bible, '57, etc. Died 1887. + +Hugo (Victor Marie), French poet and novelist, b. Besançon, 26 +Feb. 1802. Was first noted for his Odes, published in '21. His dramas +"Hernani," '30, and "Marion Delorme," '31, were highly successful. He +was admitted into the French Academy in '41, and made a peer in +'45. He gave his cordial adhesion to the Republic of '48, and was +elected to the Assembly by the voters of Paris. He attacked Louis +Napoleon, and after the coup d'état was proscribed. He first went to +Brussels, where he published Napoleon the Little, a biting satire. He +afterwards settled at Guernsey, where he remained until the fall of +the Empire, producing The Legend of the Ages, '59, Les Miserables, '62, +Toilers of the Sea, '69, and other works. After his return to Paris he +produced a new series of the Legend of the Ages, The Pope, Religions +and Religion, Torquemada, and other poems. He died 22 May, 1885, +and it being decided he should have a national funeral, the Pantheon +was secularised for that purpose, the cross being removed. Since his +death a poem entitled The End of Satan has been published. + +Hugues (Clovis), French Socialist, poet, and deputy, b. Menerbes, +3 Nov. 1850. In youth he desired to become a priest, but under the +influence of Hugo left the black business. In '71 he became head +of the Communist movement at Marseilles. He was sentenced to three +years' imprisonment. In '81 he was elected deputy, and sits on the +extreme left. + +Humboldt (Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von), illustrious German +naturalist and traveller, b. Berlin, 14 Sept. 1769. He studied under +Heyne and Blumenbach, travelled in Holland, France and England +with George Forster, the naturalist, and became director-general +of mines. In 1799 he set out to explore South America and Mexico, +and in 1804 returned with a rich collection of animals, plants and +minerals. Humboldt became a resident of Paris, where he enjoyed +the friendship of Lalande, Delambre, Arago, and all the living +distinguished French scientists. After numerous important contributions +to scientific knowledge, at the age of seventy-four he composed his +celebrated Cosmos, the first volume of which appeared in '45 and the +fourth in '58. To Varnhagen von Ense he wrote in 1841: "Bruno Bauer +has found me pre-adamatically converted. Many years ago I wrote, +'Toutes les réligions positives offrent trois parties distinctes; +un traité de moeurs partout le même et très pur, un rève géologique, +et un mythe ou petit roman historique; le dernier élément obtient +le plus d'importance.'" Later on he says that Strauss disposes of +"the Christian myths." Humboldt was an unwearied student of science, +paying no attention to religion, and opposed his brother in regard to +his essay On the Province of the Historian, because he considered it +to acknowledge the belief in the divine government of the world, which +seemed to him as complete a delusion as the hypothesis of a principle +of life. He died in Berlin, 6 May, 1859, in his ninetieth year. + +Humboldt (Karl Wilhelm von), Prussian statesman and philosopher, +b. Potsdam, 22 June, 1767. He was educated by Campe. Went to Paris in +1789, and hailed the revolution with enthusiasm. In '92 he published +Ideas on the Organization of the State. He became a friend of Schiller +and Goethe, and in 1809 was Minister of Public Instruction. He took +part in founding the University of Berlin. He represented Prussia at +the Congress of Vienna, '14. He advocated a liberal constitution, but +finding the King averse, retired at the end of '19, and devoted himself +to the study of comparative philology. He said there were three things +he could not comprehend--orthodox piety, romantic love, and music. He +died 8 April, 1835. His works were collected and edited by his brother. + +Hume (David), philosopher and historian, b. Edinburgh, 26 April, +1711. In 1735 he went to France to study, and there wrote his Treatise +on Human Nature, published in 1739. This work then excited no interest +friendly or hostile. Hume's Essays Moral and Political appeared in +1742, and in 1752 his Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals which +of all his writings he considered the best. In 1755 he published his +Natural History of Religion, which was furiously attacked by Warburton +in an anonymous tract. In 1754 he published the first volume of his +History of England, which he did not complete till 1761. He became +secretary to the Earl of Hertford, ambassador at Paris, where he was +cordially welcomed by the philosophers. He returned in 1766, bringing +Rousseau with him. Hume became Under Secretary of State in 1767, +and in 1769 retired to Edinburgh, where he died 25 Aug. 1776. After +his death his Dialogues on Natural Religion were published, and also +some unpublished essays on Suicide, the Immortality of the Soul, +etc. Hume's last days were singularly cheerful. His friend, the famous +Dr. Adam Smith, considered him "as approaching as nearly to the idea +of a perfectly wise and virtuous man as perhaps the nature of human +frailty will permit." + +Hunt (James), Ph.D., physiologist, b. 1833, was the founder of the +Anthropological Society, of which he was the first president, '63. He +was the author of the Negro's Place in Nature, a work on Stammering, +etc. Died 28 Aug. 1869. + +Hunt (James Henry Leigh), poet, essayist and critic, b. Southgate, +Middlesex, 19 Oct. 1784. was educated with Lamb and Coleridge at +Christ's Hospital, London. He joined his brother John in editing +first the Sunday News, 1805, and then the Examiner, 1808. They were +condemned to pay a fine, each of £500, and to be imprisoned for +two years, 1812-14, for a satirical article, in which the prince +regent was called an "Adonis of fifty." This imprisonment procured +him the friendship of Shelley and Byron, with whom, after editing +the Indicator he was associated in editing the Liberal. He wrote many +choice books of poems and criticisms, and in his Religion of the Heart, +'53, repudiates orthodoxy. Died 28 Aug. 1859. + +Hutten (Ulrich von), German poet and reformer, b. of noble family +Steckelberg, Hesse Cassel, 22 April 1488. He was sent to Fulda +to become a monk, but fled in 1504 to Erfurt, where he studied +humaniora. After some wild adventures he went to Wittenberg in 1510, +and Vienna 1512, and also studied at Pavia and Bologna. He returned to +Germany in 1517 as a common soldier in the army of Maximilian. His +great object was to free his country from sacerdotalism, and +most of his writings are satires against the Pope, monks and +clergy. Persecution drove him to Switzerland, but the Council of +Zurich drove him out of their territory and he died on the isle of +Ufnau, Lake Zürich, 29 Aug. 1523. + +Hutton (James), Scotch geologist and philosopher, b. at Edinburgh 3 +June, 1736. He graduated as M.D. at Leyden in 1749, and investigated +the strata of the north of Scotland. He published a dissertation +on Light, Heat, and Fire, and in his Theory of the World, 1795, +attributes geological phenomena to the action of fire. He also wrote +a work entitled An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge, +the opinions of which, says Chalmers, "abound in sceptical boldness +and philosophical infidelity." Died 26 March 1797. + +Huxley (Thomas Henry), LL.D., Ph.D., F.R.S., b. Ealing, 4 May, 1825. He +studied medicine, and in '46 took M.R.C.S., and was appointed assistant +naval surgeon. His cruises afforded opportunities for his studies of +natural history. In '51 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and +in '54 was made Professor at the School of Mines. In '60 he lectured on +"The Relation of Man to the Lower Animals," and afterwards published +Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature (1863). In addition to numerous +scientific works, Professor Huxley has written numerous forcible +articles, addresses, etc., collected in Lay Sermons, '70; Critiques +and Addresses, '73; and American Addresses, '79. A vigorous writer, +his Hume in the "English Men of Letters" series is a model of clear +exposition. In his controversies with Mr. Gladstone, in his articles +on the Evolution of Theology, and in his recent polemic with the +Rev. Mr. Wace in the Nineteenth Century, Professor Huxley shows all +his freshness, and proves himself as ready in demolishing theological +fictions as in demonstrating scientific facts. He states as his own +life aims "The popularising of science and untiring opposition to +that ecclesiastical spirit, that clericalism, which in England, +as everywhere else, and to whatever denomination it may belong, +is the deadly enemy of science." + +Hypatia, Pagan philosopher and martyr, b. Alexandria early in +the second half of the fourth century. She became a distinguished +lecturer and head of the Neo-Platonic school (c. 400). The charms of +her eloquence brought many disciples. By a Christian mob, incited by +St. Cyril, she was in Lent 415 torn from her chariot, stripped naked, +cut with oyster-shells and finally burnt piecemeal. This true story +of Christian persecution has been disguised into a legend related of +St. Catherine in the Roman breviary (Nov. 25). + +Ibn Bajjat. See Avenpace. + +Ibn Massara. See Massara in Supplement. + +Ibn Rushd. See Averroes. + +Ibn Sabîn. See Sabin. + +Ibn Sina. See Avicenna. + +Ibn Tofail. See Abu Bakr. + +Ibsen (Henrik), an eminent Norwegian dramatist and poet, b. Skien, +20 March, 1828. At first he studied medicine, but he turned his +attention to literature. In '52, through the influence of Ole Bull, +he became director of the theatre at Bergen, for which he wrote a +great deal. From '57 to '63 he directed the theatre at Christiania. In +the following year he went to Rome. The Storthing accorded him an +annual pension for his services to literature. His dramas, Brand, +(Peer Gynt), Kejser og Galilær (Cæsar [Julian] and the Galilean), +Nora, and Samfundets Stotler (the Pillars of Society), and Ghosts +exhibit his unconventional spirit. Ibsen is an open unbeliever in +Christianity. He looks forward to social regeneration through liberty, +individuality, and education without superstition. + +Ilive (Jacob), English printer and letter founder, b. Bristol about +1710. He published a pretended translation of the Book of Jasher, 1751, +and some other curious works. He was prosecuted for blasphemy in Some +Modest Remarks on the late Bishop Sherlock's Sermons, and sentenced to +two years' imprisonment, 15 June, 1756-10 June, 1758. He was confined +in the Clerkenwell House of Correction and published some pamphlets +exposing the bad condition of the prison and suggesting means for +its improvement. He died in 1768. + +Imray (I. W.), author, b. 1802. Wrote in Carlile's Republican and Lion, +and published "Altamont," an atheistic drama, in 1828. + +Ingersoll (Robert Green), American orator, b. Dresden, New York, +11 Aug. 1833. His father was a Congregationalist clergyman. He +studied law, and opened an office in Shawneetown, Illinois. In '62 he +became colonel of the 11th Illinois Cavalry, and served in the war, +being taken prisoner. In '66 he was appointed attorney-general for +Illinois. At the National Republican Convention, '76, he proposed +Blaine for President in a speech that attracted much attention. In +'77 he refused the post of Minister to Germany. He has conducted +many important cases, and defended C. B. Reynolds when tried for +blasphemy in '86. Col. Ingersoll is the most popular speaker in +America. Eloquence, humor, and pathos are alike at his command. He is +well known by his books, pamphlets, and speeches directed against +Christianity. He had published the Gods, Ghosts, Some Mistakes +of Moses, and a collection of his Lectures, '83, and Prose Poems +and Extracts, '84. Most of his lectures have been republished in +England. We mention What must I do to be Saved? Hell, The Dying Creed, +Myth and Miracle, Do I Blaspheme? Real Blasphemy. In the pages of the +North American Review Col. Ingersoll has defended Freethought against +Judge Black, the Rev. H. Field, Mr. Gladstone, and Cardinal Manning. + +Inman (Thomas), B.A., physician and archæologist, b. 1820. Educated +at London University, he settled at Liverpool, being connected with +the well-known shipping family of that port. He is chiefly known by +his work on Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names, in which he +deals with the evidences of phallic worship amongst Jews and other +nations. It was first published in '69. A second edition appeared in +'73. He also wrote Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism Exposed +and Explained, '69, and a controversial Freethought work, entitled +Ancient Faiths and Modern, published at New York '76. Dr. Inman was +for some time President of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical +Society, and was physician to the Royal Infirmary of that city. His +professional life was one of untiring industry. He wrote several +medical works, including two volumes on the Preservation and +Restoration of Health. Died at Clifton, 3 May. 1876. + +Iron (Ralph), pseudonym of Olive Schreiner, q.v. + +Isnard (Felix), French physician, b. Grasse 1829. Author of a work +on Spiritualism and Materialism, 1879. + +Isnard (Maximin), Girondin revolutionist, b. Grasse 16 Feb. 1751. He +was made a member of the Assembly, in which he declared, "The Law, +behold my God. I know no other." He voted for the death of the +King, and was nominated president of the Convention. On the fall of +the Girondins he made his escape, and reappeared after the fall of +Robespierre. In 1796 he was one of the Council of Five Hundred. Died +1830. + +Isoard (Eric Michel Antoine), French writer, b. Paris, 1826. Was naval +officer in '48 but arrested as socialist in '49. In '70 he was made +sous-prefet of Cambrai and wrote Guerre aux Jésuites. + +Isoard Delisle (Jean Baptiste Claude), called also Delisle de Sales, +French man of letters, b. Lyons 1743. When young he entered the +Congregation of the Oratory, but left theology for literature. In 1769 +he published the Philosophy of Nature, which in 1771 was discovered to +be irreligious, and he was condemned to perpetual banishment. While in +prison he was visited by many of the philosophers, and a subscription +was opened for him, to which Voltaire gave five hundred francs. He +went to the court of Frederick the Great, and subsequently published +many works of little importance. Died at Paris 22 Sept. 1816. + +Jacob (Andre Alexandre). See Erdan (A.) + +Jacobson (Augustus), American, author of Why I do not Believe, +Chicago 1881, and The Bible Inquirer. + +"Jacobus (Dom)" Pseudonym of Potvin (Charles) q.v. + +Jacoby (Leopold) German author of The Idea of Development. 2 +vols. Berlin 1874-76. + +Jacolliot (Louis), French orientalist, b. Saint Etienne, 1806. Brought +up to the law, in '43 he was made judge at Pondichery. He first aroused +attention by his work, The Bible in India, '70. He also has written +on Genesis of Humanity, '76. The Religions Legislators, Moses, Manu +and Muhammad, '80, and The Natural and Social History of Humanity, +'84, and several works of travel. + +Jantet (Charles and Hector), two doctors of Lyons, b. the first +in 1826, the second in '28, have published together able Aperçus +Philosophiques on Rènan's Life of Jesus, '64, and Doctrine Medicale +Matérialiste, 1866. + +Jaucourt (Louis de), Chevalier, French scholar and member of the +Royal Society of London and of the academies of Berlin and Stockholm, +b. Paris 27 Sept. 1704. He studied at Geneva, Cambridge, and Leyden, +furnished the Encyclopédie with many articles, and conducted the +Bibliothèque Raisonnée. Died at Compiègne, 3 Feb. 1779. + +Jefferies (Richard), English writer, b. 1848, famous for his +descriptions of nature in The Gamekeeper at Home, Wild Life in a +Southern Country, etc. In his autobiographical Story of My Heart +(1883) Mr. Jefferies shows himself a thorough Freethinker. Died +Goring-on-Thames, 14 Aug. 1887. + +Jefferson (Thomas), American statesman, b. Shadwell, Virginia, 2 April +1743. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1767. He became +a member of the House of Burgesses, 1769-75. In 1774 he published +his Summary Views of the Rights of British-Americans. He drafted +and reported to Congress the "Declaration of Independence" which +was unanimously adopted, 4 July 1766. He was Governor of Virginia +from 1719 to 1781, and originated a system of education in the +State. He was Ambassador to Paris from 1785-89, secretary of state +from 1789-93, vice-president 1791-1801 and third president of the +United States 1801-9. In '19 he founded the University of Virginia, of +which he was rector till his death, 4 July 1826. Dr. J. Thomas in his +Dictionary of Biography says "In religion he was what is denominated a +freethinker." He spoke in old age of "the hocus-pocus phantom of God, +which like another Cerberus had one body and three heads." See his +life by J. Parton. + +Johnson (Richard Mentor), Colonel, American soldier and statesman, +b. Bryant's Station, Kentucky, 17 Oct. 1781. Was educated at Lexington, +studied law, and practiced with success. Became member of the Kentucky +Legislature in 1805, and raised a regiment of cavalry '12. Fought +with distinction against British and Indians. Was member of Congress +from 1807-19, and from '29-37; a United States Senator from '19-29, +and Vice-President of the United States, '37-40. Is remembered by his +report against the suspension of Sunday mails and his speeches in favor +of rights of conscience. Died at Frankfort, Kentucky, 19 Nov. 1850. + +Johnson (Samuel), American author, b. Salem, Massachusetts, 10 +Oct. 1822. He was educated at Harvard, and became pastor of a "Free +Church" at Lynn in '53. He never attached himself to any denomination, +although in some points his views were like those of the Unitarians +and Universalists. About '46 he published, in conjunction with +S. Longfellow, brother of the poet, Hymns of the Spirit, Oriental +Religions in relation to Universal Religion, of which the volume +on India appeared in '72, China '77, and Persia '84. Died Andover, +19 Feb. 1882. + +Jones (Ernest Charles), barrister and political orator, b. Berlin, +25 Jan. 1819. His father was in the service of the King of Hanover, +who became his godfather. Called to the bar in '44 in the following +year he joined the Chartist movement, editing the People's Paper, Notes +to the People, and other Chartist periodicals. In '48 he was tried for +making a seditious speech, and condemned to two years' imprisonment, +during which he wrote Beldagon Church and other poems. He stood for +Halifax in '47, and Nottingham in '53 and '57, without success. He +was much esteemed by the working classes in Manchester, where he died +26 Jan. 1869. + +Jones (John Gale), Political orator, b. 1771. At the time of the French +Revolution he became a leading member of the London Corresponding +Society. Arrested at Birmingham for sedition, he obtained a verdict of +acquittal. He was subsequently committed to Newgate in Feb. 1810, for +impugning the proceedings of the House of Commons, and there remained +till his liberation was effected by the prorogation of Parliament, +June 21. On 26 Dec. '11 he was again convicted for "a seditious and +blasphemous libel." He was a resolute advocate of the rights of free +publication during the trials of Carlile and his shopmen. Died Somers +Town, 4 April, 1838. + +Jones (Lloyd), Socialist, b. of Catholic parents at Brandon, co. Cork, +Ireland, in March, 1811. In '27 he came over to Manchester, and +in '32 joined the followers of Robert Owen. He became "a social +missionary," and had numerous debates with ministers, notably one on +"The Influence of Christianity" with J. Barker, then a Methodist, at +Manchester, in '39. Lloyd Jones was an active supporter of co-operation +and trades-unionism, and frequently acted as arbitrator in disputes +between masters and men. He contributed to the New Moral World, Spirit +of the Age, Glasgow Sentinel, Leeds Express, North British Daily Mail, +Newcastle Chronicle, and Co-operative News. Died at Stockwell, 22 May, +1886, leaving behind a Life of Robert Owen. + +Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, son of Francis I. and Maria Theresa, +b. Vienna 13 March 1741. In 1764 he was elected king of the Romans, and +in the following year succeeded to the throne of Germany. He wrought +many reforms, suppressed the Jesuits 1773, travelled in France as Count +Falkenstein, saw d'Alembert but did not visit Voltaire. He abolished +serfdom, allowed liberty of conscience, suppressed several convents, +regulated others, abridged the power of the pope and the clergy, +and mitigated the condition of the Jews. Carlyle says "a mighty +reformer he had been, the greatest of his day. Austria gazed on him, +its admiration not unmixed with terror. He rushed incessantly about, +hardy as a Charles Twelfth; slept on his bearskin on the floor of any +inn or hut;--flew at the throat of every absurdity, however broad +and based or dangerously armed. 'Disappear I say.' A most prompt, +severe, and yet beneficent and charitable kind of man. Immensely +ambitious, that must be said withal. A great admirer of Friedrich; +bent to imitate him with profit. 'Very clever indeed' says Friedrich, +'but has the fault (a terribly grave one!) of generally taking the +second step without having taken the first.'" Died Vienna 20 Feb. 1790. + +Jouy (Victor Joseph Etienne de), French author b. Jouy near Versailles +1764. He served as soldier in India and afterwards in the wars of +the Republic. A disciple of Voltaire to whom he erected a temple, +he was a prolific writer, his plays being much esteemed in his own +day. Died 4 Sept. 1846. + +Julianus (Flavius Claudius), Roman Emperor, b. Constantinople 17 +Nov. 331. In the massacre of his family by the sons of Constantine +he escaped. He was educated in the tenets of Christianity but +returned to an eclectic Paganism. In 354 he was declared Cæsar. He +made successful campaigns against the Germans who had overrun Gaul +and in 361 was made Emperor. He proclaimed liberty of conscience +and sought to uproot the Christian superstition by his writings, of +which only fragments remain. As Emperor he exhibited great talent, +tact, industry, and skill. He was one of the most gifted and learned +of the Roman Emperors, and his short reign (Dec. 361--26 June, 363), +comprehended the plans of a life-long administration. He died while +seeking to repel a Persian invasion, and his death was followed by +the triumph of Christianity and the long night of the dark ages. + +Junghuhn (Franz Wilhelm), traveller and naturalist, b. Mansfeld, +Prussia 29 Oct 1812. His father was a barber and surgeon. Franz +studied at Halle and Berlin. He distinguished himself by love for +botany and geology. In a duel with another student he killed him and +was sentenced to imprisonment at Ehrenbreitster for 20 years. There +he simulated madness and was removed to the asylum at Coblentz, +whence he escaped to Algiers. In '34 he joined the Dutch Army in the +Malay Archipelago. He travelled through the island of Java making +a botanical and geological survey. In '54 he published his Licht +en Schaduwbeelden uit de binnenlanden van Java (Light and Shadow +pictures from the interior of Java), which contains his ideas of God, +religion and science, together with sketches of nature and of the +manners of the inhabitants. This book aroused much indignation from +the pious, but also much agreement among freethinkers, and led to +the establishment of De Dageraad (The Daybreak,) the organ of the +Dutch Freethinkers Union. Junghuhn afterwards returned to Java and +died 21 April, '64 at Lemberg, Preanges, Regentsch. His Light and +Shadow pictures have been several times reprinted. + +Kalisch (Moritz Marcus), Ph.D., b. of Jewish parents in Pomerania, +16 May, 1828. Educated at the University of Berlin, where he +studied under Vatke and others. Early in '49 he came to England as a +political refugee, and found employment as tutor to the Rothschild +family. His critical Commentary on the Pentateuch commenced with a +volume on Exodus, '55, Genesis '58, Leviticus in two vols. in '67 +and '72 respectively. His rational criticism anticipated the school +of Wellhausen. He published Bible Studies on Balaam and Jonah '77, +and discussions on philosophy and religion in a very able and learned +work entitled Path and Goal, '80. Kalisch also contributed to Scott's +series of Freethought tracts. Died at Baslow, Derbyshire, 23 Aug. 1885. + +Kames (Lord). See Home (Henry). + +Kant (Immanuel), German critical philosopher, b. Königsberg, 22 +April, 1724. He became professor of mathematics in 1770. In 1781 he +published his great work, The Critick of Pure Reason, which denied +all knowledge of the "Thing itself," and overthrew the dogmatism of +earlier metaphysics. In 1792 the philosopher fell under the royal +censorship for his Religion within the Limits of Pure Reason. Kant +effected a complete revolution in philosophy, and his immediate +influence is not yet exhausted. Died at Königsberg, 12 Feb. 1804. + +Kapila. One of the earliest Hindu thinkers. His system is known as +the Atheistic philosophy. It is expounded in the Sankhya Karika, an +important relic of bold rationalistic Indian thought. His aphorisms +have been translated by J. R. Ballantyne. + +Karneades. See Carneades. + +Keeler (Bronson C.) American author of an able Short History of the +Bible, being a popular account of the formation and development of +the canon, published at Chicago 1881. + +Keim (Karl Theodor), German rationalist, b. Stuttgart, +17 Dec. 1825. Was educated at Tübingen, and became professor of +theology at Zürich. Is chiefly known by his History of Jesus of Nazara +('67-'72). He also wrote a striking work on Primitive Christianity +('78), and endeavored to reproduce the lost work of Celsus. His +rationalism hindered his promotion, and he was an invalid most of +his days. Died at Giessen, where he was professor, 17 Nov. 1878. + +Keith (George), Lord Marshall, Scotch soldier, b. Kincardine 1685, +was appointed by Queen Anne captain of Guard. His property being +confiscated for aiding the Pretender, he went to the Continent, and +like his brother, was in high favor with Frederick the Great. Died +Berlin, 25 May, 1778. + +Keith (James Francis Edward), eminent military commander, b. Inverugie, +Scotland, 11 June, 1696. Joined the army of the Pretender and was +wounded at Sheriffmuir, 1715. He afterwards served with distinction +in Spain and in Russia, where he rose to high favor under the +Empress Elizabeth. In 1747 he took service with Frederick the Great +as field-marshal, and became Governor of Berlin. Carlyle calls him +"a very clear-eyed, sound observer of men and things. Frederick, the +more he knows him, likes him the better." From their correspondence +it is evident Keith shared the sceptical opinions of Frederick. After +brilliant exploits in the seven years' war at Prague, Rossbach, and +Olmutz, Marshal Keith fell in the battle of Hochkirch, 14 Oct. 1758. + +Kenrick (William), LL.D., English author, b. near Watford, Herts, +about 1720. In 1751 he published, at Dublin, under the pen-name of +Ontologos, an essay to prove that the soul is not immortal. His first +poetic production was a volume of Epistles, Philosophical and Moral +(1759), addressed to Lorenzo; an avowed defence of scepticism. In +1775 he commenced the London Review, and the following year attacked +Soame Jenyns's work on Christianity. He translated some of the works +of Buffon, Rousseau, and Voltaire. Died 10 June 1779. + +Kerr (Michael Crawford) American statesman, b. Titusville, Western +Pennsylvania, 15 March 1827. He was member of the Indiana Legislature +'56, and elected to Congress in '74 and endeavoured to revise the +tariff in the direction of free-trade. Died Rockbridge, Virginia, +19 Aug. 1876, a confirmed Freethinker and Materialist. + +Ket, Kett, or Knight (Francis), of Norfolk, a relative of the +rebellious tanner. He was of Windham and was an M.A. He was prosecuted +for heresy and burnt in the castle ditch, Norwich, 14 Jan. 1588. Stowe +says he was burnt for "divers detestable opinions against Christ +our Saviour." + +Khayyam (Omar) or Umar Khaiyam, Persian astronomer, poet, b. Naishapur +Khorassan, in the second half of the eleventh century, and was +distinguished by his reformation of the calendar as well as by his +verses (Rubiyat), which E. Fitzgerald has so finely rendered in +English. He alarmed his contemporaries and made himself obnoxious to +the Sufis. Died about 1123. Omar laughed at the prophets and priests, +and told men to be happy instead of worrying themselves about God and +the Hereafter. He makes his soul say, "I myself am Heaven and Hell." + +Kielland (Alexander Lange), Norwegian novelist, b. Stavanger, 18 +Feb. 1849. He studied law at Christiania, but never practised. His +stories, Workpeople, Skipper Worse, Poison, and Snow exhibit his +bold opinions. + +Kleanthes. See Cleanthes. + +Klinger (Friedrich Maximilian von), German writer, b. Frankfort, 19 +Feb. 1753. Went to Russia in 1780, and became reader to the Grand +Duke Paul. Published poems, dramas, and romances, exhibiting the +revolt of nature against conventionality. Goethe called him "a true +apostle of the Gospel of nature." Died at Petersburg, 25 Feb. 1831. + +Kneeland (Abner), American writer, b. Gardner, Mass., 7 April, 1774, +became a Baptist and afterwards a Universalist minister. He invented +a new system of orthography, published a translation of the New +Testament, 1823, The Deist (2 Vols.), '22, edited the Olive Branch +and the Christian Inquirer. He wrote The Fourth Epistle of Peter, +'29, and a Review of the Evidences of Christianity, being a series +of lectures delivered in New York in '29. In that year he removed to +Boston, and in April '31 commenced the Boston Investigator, the oldest +Freethought journal. In '33 he was indicted and tried for blasphemy +for saying that he "did not believe in the God which Universalists +did." He was sentenced 21 Jan. '34, to two months' imprisonment and +fine of five hundred dollars. The verdict was confirmed in the Courts +of Appeal in '36, and he received two months' imprisonment. Kneeland +was a Pantheist. He took Frances Wright as an associate editor, and +soon after left the Boston Investigator in the hands of P. Mendum and +Seaver, and retired to a farm at Salubria, where he died 27 August, +1844. His edition, with notes, of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary, +was published in two volumes in 1852. + +Knoblauch (Karl von), German author, b. Dillenburg, 3 Nov. 1757. He +was a friend of Mauvillon and published several works directed against +supernaturalism and superstition. Died at Bernburg, 6 Sept. 1794. + +Knowlton (Charles) Dr., American physician and author, b. Templeton, +Mass., 10 May, 1800. He published the Fruits of Philosophy, for which +he was imprisoned in '32. He was a frequent correspondent of the Boston +Investigator, and held a discussion on the Bible and Christianity with +the Rev. Mr. Thacher of Harley. About '29 he published The Elements +of Modern Materialism. Died in Winchester, Mass., 20 Feb. 1850. + +Knutzen (Matthias), b. Oldensworth, in Holstein, 1645. He early lost +his parents, and was brought to an uncle at Königsberg, where he +studied philosophy. He took to the adventurous life of a wandering +scholar and propagated his principles in many places. In 1674 he +preached Atheism publicly at Jena, in Germany, and had followers who +were called "Gewissener," from their acknowledging no other authority +but conscience. It is said there were seven hundred in Jena alone. What +became of him and them is unknown. A letter dated from Rome gives his +principles. He denied the existence of either God or Devil, deemed +churches and priests useless, and held that there is no life beyond +the present, for which conscience is a sufficient guide, taking the +place of the Bible, which contains great contradictions. He also +wrote two dialogues. + +Koerbagh (Adriaan), Dutch martyr, b. Amsterdam, 1632 or 1633. He became +a doctor of law and medicine. In 1668 he published A Flower Garden +of all Loveliness, a dictionary of definitions in which he gave bold +explanations. The work was rigidly suppressed, and the writer fled +to Culemborg. There he translated a book De Trinitate, and began a +work entitled A Light Shining in Dark Places, to illuminate the chief +things of theology and religion by Vrederijk Waarmond, inquisitor of +truth. Betrayed for a sum of money, Koerbagh was tried for blasphemy, +heavily fined and sentenced to be imprisoned for ten years, to be +followed by ten years banishment. He died in prison, Oct. 1669. + +Kolb (Georg Friedrich), German statistician and author, b. Spires 14 +Sept. 1808, author of an able History of Culture, 1869-70. Died at +Munich 15 May, 1884. + +Koornhert (Theodore). See Coornhert (Dirk Volkertszoon.) + +Korn (Selig), learned German Orientalist of Jewish birth, b. Prague, +26 April, 1804. A convert to Freethought, under the name of "F. Nork," +he wrote many works on mythology which may still be consulted with +profit. A list is given in Fuerst's Bibliotheca Judaica. We mention +Christmas and Easter Explained by Oriental Sun Worship, Leipsic, '36; +Brahmins and Rabbins, Weissen, '36; The Prophet Elijah as a Sun Myth, +'37; The Gods of the Syrians, '42; Biblical Mythology of the Old and +New Testament, 2 vols. Stuttgart, '42-'43. Died at Teplitz, Bohemia, +16 Oct. 1850. + +Krause (Ernst H. Ludwig), German scientific writer, b. Zielenzig +22 Nov. 1839. He studied science and contributed to the Vossische +Zeitung and Gartenlaube. In '63 he published, under the pen-name of +"Carus Sterne," a work on The Natural History of Ghosts, and in +'76 a work on Growth and Decay, a history of evolution. In '77 he +established with Hæckel, Dr. Otto Caspari, and Professor Gustav Jaeger, +the monthly magazine Kosmos, devoted to the spread of Darwinism. This +he conducted till '82. In Kosmos appeared the germ of his little book +on Erasmus Darwin, '79, to which Charles Darwin wrote a preliminary +notice. As "Carus Sterne" he has also written essays entitled Prattle +from Paradise, The Crown of Creation, '84, and an illustrated work +in parts on Ancient and Modern Ideas of the World, '87, etc. + +Krekel (Arnold), American judge, b. Langenfield, Prussia 14 March, +1815. Went with parents to America in '32 and settled in Missouri. In +'42 he was elected Justice of the Peace and afterwards county +attorney. In '52 he was elected to the Missouri State Legislature. He +served in the civil war being elected colonel, was president of +the constitutional convention of '65 and signed the ordinance of +emancipation by which the slaves of Missouri were set free. He was +appointed judge by President Lincoln 9 March, '65. A pronounced +Agnostic, when he realized he was about to die he requested his wife +not to wear mourning, saying that death was as natural as birth. Died +at Kansas 14 July, 1888. + +Krekel (Mattie H. Hulett), b. of freethinking parents, Elkhart Indiana +13 April, 1840. Educated at Rockford, Illinois, in her 16th year became +a teacher. Married Judge Krekel, after whose death, she devoted her +services to the Freethought platform. + +Kropotkin (Petr Aleksyeevich) Prince, Russian anarchist, b. Moscow +9 Dec 1842. After studying at the Royal College of Pages he went to +Siberia for five years to pursue geological researches. In '71 he went +to Belgium and Switzerland and joined the International. Arrested +in Russia, he was condemned to three years imprisonment, escaped +'76 and came to England. In '79 he founded at Geneva, Le Révolté was +expelled. Accused in France in '83 of complicity in the outrage at +Lyons, he was condemned to five years imprisonment, but was released in +'86, since which he has lived in England. A brother who translated +Herbert Spencer's "Biology" into Russian, died in Siberia in the +autumn of 1886. + +Laas (Ernst) German writer, b. Furstenwalde, 16 June, 1837. He has +written three volumes on Idealism and Positivism, 1879-'84, and also +on Kant's Place in the History of the Conflict between Faith and +Science, Berlin, 1882. He was professor of philosophy at Strassburg, +where he died 25 July, 1885. + +Labanca (Baldassarre), professor of moral philosophy in the University +of Pisa, b. Agnone, 1829. He took part in the national movement of +'48, and in '51 was imprisoned and afterwards expelled from Naples. He +has written on progress in philosophy and also a study on primitive +Christianity, dedicated to Giordano Bruno, the martyr of Freethought, +'86. + +Lachatre (Maurice), French writer, b. Issoudun 1814, edits a "Library +of Progress," in which has appeared his own History of the Inquisition, +and History of the Popes, '83. + +Lacroix (Sigismund), the pen name of Sigismund Julien Adolph +Krzyzanowski, b. Warsaw 26 May, 1845. His father was a refugee. He +wrote with Yves Guyot The Social Doctrines of Christianity. In '74 he +was elected a municipal councillor of Paris. In '77 he was sentenced +to three months' imprisonment for calling Jesus "enfant adulterin" +in Le Radical. In Feb. '81 he was elected president of the municipal +council, and in '83 deputy to the French parliament. + +Laffitte (Pierre), French Positivist philosopher, b. 21 Feb. 1823 +at Beguey (Gironde), became a disciple of Comte and one of his +executors. He was professor of mathematics, but since the death of +his master has given a weekly course of instruction in the former +apartment of Comte. M. Laffitte has published discourses on The +General History of Humanity, '59, and The Great Types of Humanity, +'75-6. In '78 he founded La Revue Occidentale. + +Lagrange (Joseph Louis), Count, eminent mathematician, b. Turin, 25 +Jan. 1736. He published in 1788 his Analytical Mechanics, which is +considered one of the masterpieces of the human intellect. He became +a friend of D'Alembert, Diderot, Condorcet, and Delambre. He said he +believed it impossible to prove there was a God. Died 10 April 1813. + +La Hontan (Jean), early French traveller in Canada, b. 1666. In +his account of Dialogues with an American Savage, 1704, which was +translated into English, he states objections to religion. Died in +Hanover, 1715. + +Lainez (Alexandre), French poet, b. Chimay, Hainault, 1650, of the same +family with the general of the Jesuits. He lived a wandering Bohemian +life and went to Holland to see Bayle. Died at Paris 18 April, 1710. + +Laing (Samuel), politician and writer, b. Edinburgh 1812, the son of +S. Laing of Orkney. Educated at Cambridge, where he took his degree +'32; called to the bar '42; became secretary of the railway department +of the Board of Trade; returned as Liberal M.P. for Kirkwall '52; +helped repeal duty on advertisements in newspapers. In '60 he became +finance minister for India. His Modern Science and Modern Thought, +'85, is a plain exposition of the incompatibility of the old and +new view of the universe. In the Modern Zoroastrian, '87, he gives +the philosophy of polarity, in which, however, he was anticipated by +Mr. Crozier, who in turn was anticipated by Emerson. In '88 he entered +into a friendly correspondence with Mr. Gladstone on the subject of +Agnosticism his portion of which has been published. + +Lakanal (Joseph), French educator, b. Serres, 14 July, 1762. Studied +for priesthood, but gave up that career. He entered with ardor into the +Revolution, was a member of the Convention 1792-5, and there protected +the interests of science. At the restoration in 1814 he retired to +America, and was welcomed by Jefferson and became president of the +University of Louisiana. He returned to France after the Revolution of +'30, and died in Paris 14 Feb. 1845. + +Lalande (Joseph Jèrome le Francais de), distinguished French +astronomer, b. Bourg en Bresse, 11 July 1732. Educated by the Jesuits, +he was made a member of the Academy of Sciences in his 20th year. In +1762 he became Professor of Astronomy at the College of France. In +1764 he published his Treatise of Astronomy, to which Dupuis subjoined +a memoir, which formed the basis of his Origin of all Religions, the +idea of which he had taken from Lalande. In Aug 1793 Lalande hazarded +his own life to save Dupont de Nemours, and some priests whom he +concealed in the observatory of Mazarin college. It was upon Lalande's +observations that the Republican calender was drawn up. At Lalande's +instigation Sylvain Maréchal published his Dictionary of Atheists, +to which the astronomer contributed supplements after Maréchal's +death. Lalande professed himself prouder of being an Atheist than +of being an astronomer. His Bibliographie Astronomique is called by +Prof. de Morgan "a perfect model of scientific bibliography." It was +said that never did a young man address himself to Lalande without +receiving proof of his generosity. He died at Paris 4 April, 1807. + +Lamarck (Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet) French naturalist, +b. Picardy 1 Aug. 1744, educated for the Church, but entered the army +in 1761, and fought with distinction. Having been disabled, he went +to Paris, studied Botany, and published French Flora in 1788, which +opened to him the Academy of Sciences. He became assistant at the +Museum of Natural History, and in 1809 propounded, in his Zoological +Philosophy, a theory of transmutation of species. His Natural History +of Invertebrate Animals (1815-22) was justly celebrated. He became +blind several years before his death, 18 Dec. 1829. + +Lamborelle (Louis). Belgian author of books on The Good Old Times, +Brussels, 1874; The Apostles and Martyrs of Liberty of Conscience, +Antwerp, 1882, and other anti-clerical works. Lamborelle lost a post +under government through his anticlerical views, and is one of the +council of the Belgian Freethought party. + +Lamettrie (Julian Offray de). French physician and philosopher, +b. St. Malo, 25 Dec. 1709. Destined for the Church, he was educated +under the Jesuits at Caen. He, however, became a physician, studying +under Boerhaave, at Leyden. Returning to France, he became surgeon +to the French Guard, and served at the battles of Fontenoy and +Dettingen. Falling ill, he noticed that his faculties fluctuated with +his physical state, and drew therefrom materialistic conclusions. The +boldness with which he made his ideas known lost him his place, and he +took refuge in Holland. Here he published The Natural History of the +Soul, under the pretence of its being a translation from the English +of Charp [Sharp], 1745. This was followed by Man a Machine (1748), +a work which was publicly burnt at Leyden, and orders given for the +author's arrest. It was translated into English, and reached a second +edition (London, 1750). It was often attributed to D'Argens. Lamettrie +held that the senses are the only avenues to knowledge, and that it +is absurd to assume a god to explain motion. Only under Atheism will +religious strife cease. Lamettrie found an asylum with Frederick the +Great, to whom he became physician and reader (Feb. 1748). Here he +published Philosophical Reflections on the Origin of Animals (1750), +translated Seneca on Happiness, etc. He died 11 Nov. 1751, and desired +by his will to be buried in the garden of Lord Tyrconnel. The great +king thought so well of him that he composed his funeral eulogy. + +La Mothe Le Vayer (François de). French sceptical philosopher, +b. Paris, 1588, was patronised by Louis XIV., and was preceptor to +the Duke of Anjou. Published The Virtue of Pagans and Dialogues +after the Manner of the Ancients, in which he gave scope to his +scepticism. Two editions of his collected works appeared, but neither +of these contains The Dialogues of Orasius Tubero (Frankfort 1606, +probably a false date). Died 1672. + +Lancelin (Pierre F.), French materialist, b. about 1770. Became a +constructive engineer in the French navy, wrote an able Introduction +to the Analysis of Science, 3 vols. 1801-3, and a physico-mathematical +theory of the organisation of worlds, 1805. Died Paris, 1809. + +Land (Jan Pieter Nicolaus), Dutch writer, b. Delft, 23 April, 1834. Has +written critical studies on Spinoza, and brought out an edition of +the philosopher's works in conjunction with J. van Vloten. + +Landesmann (Heinrich). See Lorm. + +Landor (Walter Savage), English poet, b. Ipsley Court, Warwickshire, +30 Jan. 1775. He was educated at Rugby and Oxford, and, inheriting +a fortune, could indulge his tastes as an author. He published a +volume of poems in 1795, and Gebir in 1798. An ardent Republican, he +served as a volunteer colonel in the Spanish Army against Napoleon +from 1808 to 1814, besides devoting a considerable sum of money to +the Spanish cause. He became a resident of Florence about 1816. His +reputation chiefly rests on his great Imaginary Conversations, in +which many bold ideas are presented in beautiful language. Landor +was unquestionably the greatest English writer of his age. While +nominally a Christian, he has scattered many Freethought sentiments +over his various works. Died at Florence, 17 Sept. 1864. + +Lanessan (Jean Louis de), French naturalist, b. at Saint André de +Cubzac (Gironde), 13 July, 1843. At 19 he became a naval physician, and +M.D. in '68. He was elected in '79 as Radical member of the Municipal +Council of Paris, and re-elected in '81. In August of the same year +he was elected Deputy for the Department of the Seine. He founded +Le Reveil, edited the Marseillaise, and started the International +Biological Library, to which he contributed a study on the doctrine +of Darwin. He has written a standard work on botany, and has written +vol. iii. of the "Materialists' Library," on the Evolution of Matter. + +Lanfrey (Pierre), French author and senator, b. Chambéry, 26 Oct. 1828, +became known by a book on The Church and the Philosophers of the +Eighteenth Century, '55, and celebrated by his History of Napoleon +I. '67-75. M. Lanfrey also wrote The Political History of the Popes, +a work placed on the Index. Died at Pau, 15 Nov. 1877. + +Lang (Andrew), man of letters, b. Selkirk, 31 March, 1844. Educated +at St. Andrews and Oxford. Mr. Lang made his name by his translation +of the Odyssey with Mr. Butcher, and by his graceful poems and +ballads. He has written In the Wrong Paradise, and many other +pleasant sketches. More serious work is shown in Custom and Myth, +'84, and Myth, Ritual and Religion, '87. A disciple of E. B. Tylor, +Mr. Lang successfully upholds the evolutionary view of mythology. + +Lang (Heinrich), German Rationalist, b. 14 Nov. 1826. Studied theology +under Baur at Tübingen, and became teacher at Zürich, where he died, +13 Jan. 1876. + +Lange (Friedrich Albert), German philosopher and writer, b. Wald, +near Solix, 28 Sept. 1828. He studied at Bonn, and became teacher in +the gymnasium of Cologne, '52. In '53 he returned to Bonn as teacher +of philosophy, and there enjoyed the friendship of Ueberweg. He became +proprietor and editor of the democratic Landbote, and filled various +municipal offices. In '70 he was called to the chair of philosophy at +Zürich, but resigned in '72 and accepted a similar post at Marburg, +where he died 21 Nov. 1875. His fame rests on his important History +of Materialism, which has been translated into English. + +Langsdorf (Karl Christian), German Deist, b. 18 May, 1757, author +of God and Nature, a work on the immortality of the soul, and some +mathematical books. Died Heidelberg, 10 June, 1834. + +Lankester (Edwin Ray), F.R.S., LL.D., English scientist, b. London, 15 +May, 1847, and educated at St. Paul's School and Oxford. Has published +many scientific memoirs, revised the translation of Haeckel's History +of Creation, and has done much to forward evolutionary ideas. In 1876 +he exposed the spiritist medium Slade, and procured his conviction. He +is Professor of Zoology and Natural History in the University of +London. + +La Place (Pierre Simon). One of the greatest astronomers, +b. Beaumont-en-Auge, 23 March, 1749. His father was a poor +peasant. Through the influence of D'Alembert, La Place became professor +of mathematics in the military school, 1768. By his extraordinary +abilities he became in 1785 member of the Academy of Science, which +he enriched with many memoirs. In 1796 he published his Exposition +of the System of the Universe, a popularisation of his greater work +on Celestial Mechanics, 1799-1825. Among his sayings were, "What we +know is but little, what we know not is immense." "There is no need +for the hypothesis of a God." Died Paris, 5 March, 1827. + +Larevelliere-Lepaux (Louis Marie DE), French politician, b. Montaigu +25 Aug. 1753. Attached from youth to the ideas of Rousseau, he was +elected with Volney to represent Angers in the national assembly. He +was a moderate Republican, defended the proscribed Girondins, was +doomed himself but escaped by concealment, and distinguished himself +by seeking to replace Catholicism with theophilanthropy or natural +religion. He wrote Reflections on Worship and the National Fêtes. He +became President of the Directory, and after the 18 Brumaire retired, +refusing to swear fealty to the empire though offered a pension by +Napoleon. Died Paris, 27 March, 1824. + +Larousse (Pierre Athanase), French lexicographer, b. of poor parents, +23 Oct. 1817, at Toucy, Yonne, where he became teacher. He edited +many school books and founded the Grand Dictionnaire Universel du +XIXe. Siecle, 1864-77. This is a collection of dictionaries, and may +be called the Encyclopedie of this century. Most of M. Larousse's +colleagues were also Freethinkers. Died at Paris, 3 Jan. 1875. + +Larra (Mariano José de), distinguished Spanish author, b. Madrid, +4 March, 1809. He went with his family to France and completed his +education. He returned to Spain in '22. At eighteen he published +a collection of poems, which was followed by El Duende Satirico +(The Satirical Goblin). In '31 appeared his Pobrecito Hablador (Poor +Gossip), a paper in which he unmercifully satirised the public affairs +and men of Spain. It was suppressed after its fourteenth number. He +edited in the following year the Revista Española, signing his articles +"Figaro." He travelled through Europe, and on his return to Madrid +edited El Mundo. Larra wrote also some dramas and translated Lamennais' +Paroles d'un Croyant. Being disappointed in love he shot himself, +13 April, 1837. Ch. de Mazade, after speaking of Larra's scepticism, +adds, "Larra could see too deep to possess any faith whatever. All +the truths of this world, he was wont to say, can be wrapped in a +cigarette paper!" + +Larroque (Patrice), French philosopher, b. Beaume, 27 March, 1801. He +became a teacher and was inspector of the academy of Toulouse, 1830-36, +and rector of the academies of Cahors, Limoges, and Lyons, 1836-49. In +the latter year he was denounced for his opposition to clerical ideas +and lost his place. Among his numerous works we mention De l'Esclavage +chez les Nations Chrétiennes, '57, in which he proves that Christianity +did not abolish slavery. This was followed by an Critical Examination +of the Christian Religion, '59, and a work on Religious Renovation, +'59, which proposes a moral system founded upon pure deism. Both were +for a while prohibited in France. M. Larroque also wrote on Religion +and Politics, '78. Died at Paris, 15 June, 1879. + +Lassalle (Ferdinand Johann Gottlieb), founder of German Social +Democratic party, b. of Jewish parents, 11 April, 1825, in Breslau, +studied philosophy and law at Breslau and Berlin. He became a +follower of Hegel and Feuerbach. Heine, at Paris, '46, was charmed +with him. Humboldt called him "Wunderkind." In 1858 he published +a profound work on the philosophy of Heraclitus. For planning an +insurrection against the Prussian Government he was arrested, but +won his acquittal. Died through a duel, 31 Aug. 1864. + +Lastarria (José Victorino), Chilian statesman and Positivist, +b. Rancagua, 1812. From youth he applied himself to teaching +and journalism, and in '38 was appointed teacher of civil law and +literature in the National Institute. He has founded several journals +and literary societies. From '43 he has been at different times deputy +to the legislature and secretary to the republic of Chili. He has +also served as minister to Peru and Brazil. In '73 he founded the +Santiago Academy of Science and Literature; has written many works, +and his Lecciones de Politicia Positiva has been translated into +French by E. de Rivière and others, 1879. + +Lau (Theodor Ludwig), German philosopher, b. at Königsberg, 15 June +1670, studied at Königsberg and Halle, and about 1695 travelled +through Holland, England, and France. In 1717 he published in Latin, +at Frankfort, Philosophical Meditations on God, the World, and Man, +which excited an outcry for its materialistic tendency and was +suppressed. He was a follower of Spinoza, and held several official +positions from which he was deposed on account of his presumed +atheism. Died at Altona, 8 Feb. 1740. + +Laurent (François), Belgian jurisconsult, b. Luxembourg, 8 July, +1810. Studied law and became an advocate. In '35 he was made +Professor of Civil Law in the University of Ghent, a post he held, +despite clerical protests, till his retirement in '80. A voluminous +author on civil and international law, his principal work is entitled +Studies in the History of Humanity. He was a strong advocate of the +separation of Church and State, upon which he wrote, 1858-60. He also +wrote Letters on the Jesuits, '65. Died in 1887. + +Law (Harriet), English lecturess, who for many years occupied the +secular platform, and engaged in numerous debates. She edited the +Secular Chronicle, 1876-1879. + +Lawrence (James), Knight of Malta, b. Fairfield, Jamaica, 1773, of good +Lancashire family. Educated at Eton and Gottingen; became acquainted +with Schiller and Goethe at Stuttgart and Weimar, was detained with +English prisoners at Verdun. In 1807 he published his The Empire of +the Nairs, or the Rights of Women, a free-love romance which he wrote +in German, French, and English. He also wrote in French and English, +a curious booklet The Children of God, London, 1853. He addressed a +poem on Tolerance to Mr. Owen, on the occasion of his denouncing the +religions of the world. It appears in The Etonian Out of Bounds. Died +at London 26 Sept. 1841. + +Lawrence (Sir William), surgeon, b. Cirencester, 1783. Admitted +M.R.C.S., 1805, in '13 he was chosen, F.R.S., and two years later +was named Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the Royal College of +Surgeons. While he held that chair he delivered his Lectures on Man, +which on their publication in 1819 roused a storm of bigotry. In his +early manhood, Lawrence was an earnest advocate of radical reform; +but notwithstanding his early unpopularity, he acquired a lucrative +practice. Died London, 5 July, 1867. + +Layton (Henry), educated at Oxford, and studied at Gray's Inn, being +called to the bar. He wrote anonymously observations on Dr. Bentley's +Confutation of Atheism (1693), and a Search After Souls, and Spiritual +Observations in Man (1700). + +Leblais (Alphonse), French professor of mathematics, b. Mans, +1820. Author of a study in Positivist philosophy entitled Materialism +and Spiritualism (1865), to which Littré contributed a preface. + +Le Bovier de Fontenelle. See Fontenelle. + +Lecky (William Edward Hartpole), historian, b. near Dublin, 26 March, +1838. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin. His works, which are +characterised by great boldness and originality of thought, are +A History of the Rise and Spirit of Rationalism in Europe ('65), +A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne ('69), +and A History of England in the Eighteenth Century (1878-87). + +Leclerc (Georges Louis). See Buffon. + +Leclerc de Septchenes (N.), b. at Paris. Became secretary to Louis +XVI., translated the first three vols. of Gibbon, and wrote an essay +on the religion of the ancient Greeks (1787). A friend of Lalande, +he prepared an edition of Freret, published after his death. Died at +Plombieres, 9 June, 1788. + +Leconte de Lisle (Charles Marie René), French poet, b. Isle of Bourbon, +23 Oct. 1818. After travelling in India, returned to Paris, and took +part in the revolution of '48, but has since devoted himself mainly +to poetry, though he has written also A Republican Catechism and A +Popular History of Christianity ('71). One of his finest poems is +Kain. On being elevated to the seat of Victor Hugo at the Academy in +'87, he gave umbrage to Jews and Catholics by incidentally speaking +of Moses as "the chief of a horde of ferocious nomads." + +Lecount (Peter), lieutenant in the French navy. He was engaged in +the battle of Navarino. Came to England as a mathematician in the +construction of the London and Birmingham Railway, of which he wrote +a history (1839). He wrote a curious book in three volumes entitled A +Few Hundred Bible Contradictions; A Hunt After the Devil and other Old +Matters, by John P. Y., M.D.; published by H. Hetherington ('43). The +author's name occurs on p. 144, vol i., as "the Rev. Peter Lecount." + +Leenhof (Frederick van), b. Middelburg (Zealand), Aug. 1647. Became +a minister of Zwolle, where he published a work entitled Heaven on +Earth (1703), which subjected him to accusations of Atheism. It was +translated into German in 1706. + +Lefevre (André), French writer, b. Provins, 9 Nov. 1834. He became, +at the age of twenty-three, one of the editors of the Magasin +Pittoresque. He wrote much in La Libre Pensée and La Pensée Nouvelle; +has translated Lucretius in verse ('76), and written Religions and +Mythologies Compared ('77); contributed a sketchy History of Philosophy +to the Library of Contemporary Science ('78); has written Man Across +the Ages ('80) and the Renaissance of Materialism ('81). He has also +edited the Lettres Persanes of Montesquieu, some Dialogues of Voltaire, +and Diderot's La Religieuse ('86). + +Lefort (César), disciple of Comte. Has published a work on the method +of modern science (Paris, 1864). + +Lefrancais de Lalande. See Lalande. + +Legate (Bartholomew), Antitrinitarian native of Essex, b. about 1572, +was thrown into prison on a charge of heresy, 1611. King James had +many personal interviews with him. On one occasion the king asked him +if he did not pray to Jesus Christ. He replied that he had done so in +the days of his ignorance, but not for the last seven years. "Away, +base fellow!" said His Majesty, "It shall never be said that one +stayeth in my presence who hath never prayed to the Savior for seven +years together." He was burnt at Smithfield by the King's writ, De +Hæretico Comburendo, 18 March, 1612, being one of the last persons +so punished in England. + +Leguay de Premontval. See Premontval. + +Le Hon (Henri) Belgian scientist, b. Ville-Pommeroeul (Hainault) 1809, +was captain in the Belgian army, professor at the military school of +Brussels, and Chevalier of the Order of Leopold. Author of L'Homme +Fossile en Europe, '66. Translated Professor Omboni's exposition of +Darwinism. Died at San Remo, 1872. + +Leidy (Joseph), M.D., American naturalist, b. Philadelphia, 9 +Sept. 1823. He became professor of biology at the University of +Philadelphia, and is eminent for his contributions to American +palæontology. + +Leigh (Henry Stone), English author of a Deistic work on the Religions +of the World, 1869. + +Leland (Theron C.), American journalist, b. 9 April, 1821. He edited +with Wakeman the journal Man. Died 2 June, 1885. + +Lemaire (Charles), member of the Academical Society of Saint Quentin, +author of an atheistic philosophical work, in two vols., entitled +Initiation to the Philosophy of Liberty, Paris, 1842. + +Lemonnier (Camille), Belgian writer, b. Ixel les Bruxelles, 1845, +author of stories and works on Hysteria, Death, etc., in which he +evinces his freethought sentiments. + +Lenau (Nicolaus), i.e. Nicolaus Franz Niembsch von Strehlenau, +Hungarian poet, b. Czatad, 15 Aug. 1802. His poems, written in German, +are pessimistic, and his constitutional melancholy deepened into +insanity. Died Ober-Döbling, near Vienna, 22 Aug. 1850. + +Lennstrand (Viktor E.), Swedish writer and orator, b. Gefle, +30 Jan. 1861. Educated at Upsala University. Founded the Swedish +Utilitarian Society, March '88, and in May was sentenced to a fine of +250 crowns for denial of the Christian religion. On the 29th Nov. he +was imprisoned for three months for the same offence. Has written +several pamphlets and has incurred several fresh prosecutions. In +company with A. Lindkvist he has founded the Fritankaren as the organ +of Swedish freethought. + +Leontium, Athenian Hetæra, disciple and mistress of Epicurus (q.v.) She +acquired distinction as a philosopher, and wrote a treatise against +Theophrastus, which is praised by Cicero as written in a skilful and +elegant manner. + +Leopardi (Giacomo), count, Italian pessimist poet, b. Recanati +(Ancona), 29 June, 1798. In 1818 he won a high place among poets by +his lines addressed To Italy. His Canti, '31, are distinguished by +eloquence and pathos, while his prose essays, Operette Morali, '27, are +esteemed the finest models of Italian prose of this century. Leopardi's +short life was one long disease, but it was full of work of the +highest character. As a poet, philologist, and philosopher, he is +among the greatest of modern Italians. Died at Naples, 14 July, 1837. + +Lequinio (Joseph Marie), French writer and Conventionnel, b. Sarzeau, +1740. Elected Mayor of Rennes, 1790, and Deputy from Morbihar to +the Legislative Assembly. He then professed Atheism. He voted the +death of Louis XVI. "regretting that the safety of the state did not +permit his being condemned to penal servitude for life." In 1792 he +published Prejudices Destroyed, signed "Citizen of the World," in +which he considered religion as a political chain. He took part in the +Feasts of Reason, and wrote Philosophy of the People, 1796. Died 1813. + +Lermina (Jules Hippolyte), French writer, b. 27 March, 1839. Founded +the Corsair and Satan, and has published an illustrated biographical +dictionary of contemporary France, 1884-5. + +Lermontov (Mikhail Yur'evich), Russian poet and novelist, b. Moscow, +3 Oct. 1814. Said to have come of a Scotch family, he studied at Moscow +University, from which he was expelled. In '32 he entered the Military +Academy at St. Petersburg, and afterwards joined the Hussars. In +'37 some verses on the death of Pushkin occasioned his being sent to +the Caucasus, which he describes in a work translated into English, +'53. His poems are much admired. The Demon, exhibiting Satan in love, +has been translated into English, and so has his romance entitled A +Hero of Our Times. He fell in a duel in the Caucasus, 15 July, 1840. + +Leroux (Pierre), French Socialist and philosophic writer, b. Bercy, +near Paris, 6 April, 1797. At first a mason, then a typographer, he +invented an early composing machine which he called the pianotype. In +1824 he became editor of the Globe. Becoming a Saint Simonian, +he made this paper the organ of the sect. He started with Reynaud +L'Encyclopédie Nouvelle, and afterwards with L. Viardot and Mme. George +Sand the Revue Indépendante ('41), which became noted for its pungent +attacks on Catholicism. His principal work is De l'Humanite ('40). In +June '48 M. Leroux was elected to the Assembly. After the coup d'état +he returned to London and Jersey. Died at Paris, 12 April, 1871. + +Leroy (Charles Georges), lieutenant ranger of the park of Versailles, +b. 1723, one of the writers on the Encyclopédie. He defended the work +of Helvetius on the Mind against Voltaire, and wrote Philosophical +Letters on the Intelligence and Perfectibility of Animals (1768), +a work translated into English in 1870. Died at Paris 1789. + +Lespinasse (Adolf Frederik Henri de). Dutch writer, b. Delft, 14 May, +1819. Studied medicine, and established himself first at Deventer and +afterwards at Zwartsluis, Vaassen, and Hasselt. In the Dageraad he +wrote many interesting studies under the pen-name of "Titus," and +translated the work of Dupuis into Dutch. In 1870 he emigrated to +America and became director of a large farm in Iowa. Died in Orange +City (Iowa) 1881. + +L'Espinasse (Julie Jeanne Eléonore de). French beauty and wit, +b. Lyons, 9 Nov. 1732. She became the protégé of Madame du Deffand, and +gained the favor of D'Alembert. Her letters are models of sensibility +and spirit. Died Paris, 23 May, 1776. + +Lessing (Gotthold Ephraim). German critic and dramatic poet, b. Kamenz, +22 Jan. 1729. He studied at Leipsic, and at Berlin became acquainted +with Voltaire and Mendelssohn. Made librarian at Wolfenbüttel he +published Fragments of an Unknown (1777), really the Vindication of +Rational Worshippers of God, by Reimarus, in which it was contended +that Christian evidences are so clad in superstition as to be unworthy +credence. Among his writings were The Freethinker and Nathan the +Wise, his noblest play, in which he enforces lessons of toleration +and charity to all faiths. The effect of his writings was decidedly +sceptical. Heine calls Lessing, after Luther, the greatest German +emancipator. Died at Brunswick 15 Feb. 1781. + +Lessona (Michele). Italian naturalist, b. 20 Sept., 1823; has +translated some of the works of Darwin. + +Leucippus. Greek founder of the atomic philosophy. + +L'Estrange (Thomas), writer, b. 17 Jan. 1822. With a view to entering +the Church he graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, 26 Feb. '44, +but became an attorney. Having read F. A. Paley's Introduction to the +Iliad, he became convinced that the "cooking" process there described, +has been undergone by all sacred books now extant. He wrote for Thomas +Scott's series valuable tracts on Our First Century, Primitive Church +History, Irenæus, Order, The Eucharist. He also edited Hume's Dialogues +on Natural Religion, and wrote The First Ten Alleged Persecutions. + +Levallois (Jules), French writer, b. Rouen 18 May, 1829. In '55 he +became secretary to Sainte Beuve. Wrote Déisme et Christianisme, 1866. + +Lewes (George Henry), English man of letters, b. in London, 18 +April, 1817, he became a journalist and dramatic critic. In 1845-6 +appeared his Biographical History of Philosophy, which showed higher +power. This has been republished as History of Philosophy from Thales +to Comte. Lewes was one of the first to introduce English readers to +Comte in his account of Comte's Philosophy of the Sciences, '47. In +'49 he became one of the founders of the Leader, for which he wrote +till '54. In that year he began his association with "George Eliot" +(q.v.). His Life of Goethe appeared in '55, and from this time he +began to give his attention to scientific, especially biological, +studies. In '64 he published an important essay on Aristotle. On +the foundation of the Fortnightly Review, '65, Lewes was appointed +editor. His last work, Problems of Life and Mind, 5 vols. '74-79, +was never completed owing to his death, 28 Nov. 1878. He bequeathed +his books to Dr. Williams's library. + +Lichtenberg (Georg Christoph), German satirical writer and scientist, +b. Ober-Ramstädt, 1 July, 1742; a friend of G. Forster, he left many +thoughts showing his advanced opinions. Died Göttingen, 24 Feb. 1799. + +Lick (James), American philanthropist, b. Fredericksburg, Pa., 25 +Aug. 1796. In 1847 he settled in California and made a large fortune +by investing in real estate. He was a Materialist and bequeathed +large sums to the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, and for other +philanthropic purposes. Died San Francisco, 1 Oct. 1876. + +Lilja (Nicolai), Swedish writer, b. Rostanga, 18 Oct. 1808. Studied +at Lund and became parish clerk in the Lund diocese. He wrote, on Man; +his Life and Destiny. Died Lund 1870. + +Lincoln (Abraham), sixteenth President of the United States, +b. Kentucky, 12 Feb. 1809. An uncompromising opponent of slavery, +his election (Nov. '60) led to the civil war and the emancipation +of slaves. Ward H. Lamon, who knew him well, says he "read Volney +and Paine and then wrote a deliberate and labored essay, wherein +he reached conclusions similar to theirs. The essay was burnt, but +he never denied or regretted its composition." Mrs. Lincoln said, +"Mr. Lincoln had no hope and no faith in the usual acceptance of those +words." Assassinated 14 April, 1865, he expired the following morning. + +Lindet (Robert Thomas), "apostate" French bishop, b. Bernay, 1743. Was +elected to the States-General by the clergy of his district. He +embraced Republican principles, and in March, 1791, was made Bishop +of L'Eure. In Nov. 1792 he publicly married. On 7 Nov. 1793, renounced +his bishopric. He proposed that civil festivals should take the place +of religious ones. He became member of the Conseil des Anciens. Died +Bernay, 10 Aug. 1823, and was buried without religious service. + +Lindh (Theodor Anders), b. Borgo (Finland), 13 Jan. 1833. Studied +at Helsingfors University, '51-57; became lawyer in '71, and is +now a member of the Municipal Council of Borgo. He has written many +poems in Swedish, and also translated from the English poets, and has +published Freethought essays, which have brought him into controversy +with the clergy. + +Lindkvist (Alfred), Swedish writer, b. Gefle, 21 Oct. 1860, of +pious parents. At the University of Upsala he studied European +literature, and became acquainted with the works of Mill, Darwin, +and Spencer. He has published two volumes of poems, Snow Drops and +April Days, and lost a stipend at the University by translating +from the Danish a rationalistic life of Jesus entitled The Reformer +from Galilee. Mr. Lindkvist has visited Paris, and collaborated on +a Stockholm daily paper. In '88 he joined his friend Lennstrand in +propagating Freethought, and in Nov. received a month's imprisonment +for having translated one of J. Symes's anti-Christian pamphlets. He +now edits Fritankaren in conjunction with Mr. Lennstrand. + +Lindner (Ernst Otto Timotheus), German physician, b. Breslau, 28 +Nov. 1820. A friend of Schopenhauer, whose philosophy he maintained +in several works on music. He edited the Vossische Zeitung from +'63. Died at Berlin, 7 Aug. 1867. + +Liniere (François Payot de), French satiric poet, b. Paris, 1628; +known as the Atheist of Senlis. Boileau says the only act of piety +he ever did was drinking holy water because his mistress dipped her +finger in it. Wrote many songs and smart epigrams, and is said to have +undertaken a criticism of the New Testament. Died at Paris in 1704. + +Linton (Eliza, née Lynn) novelist and journalist, daughter of vicar +of Crosthwaite, Cumberland, b. Keswick, 1822. Has contributed largely +to the leading Radical journals, and has written numerous works of +fiction, of which we must mention Under which Lord? and The Rebel of +the Family. In '72 she published The True History of Joshua Davidson, +Christian and Communist, and in '85 the Autobiography of Christopher +Kirkland. She has also written on the woman question, and contributed +largely to periodical literature. + +Linton (William James), poet, engraver, and author, b. at London, +1812. A Chartist in early life, he was intimately associated with +the chief political refugees. He contributed to the democratic press, +and also, we believe, to the Oracle of Reason. He wrote the Reasoner +tract on "The Worth of Christianity." He was one of the founders of +the Leader, has edited the Truthseeker, the National and the English +Republic, and has published Famine a Masque, a Life of Paine, and a +memoir of James Watson and some volumes of poems. In '67 he went to +America, but has recently returned. + +Liscow (Christian Ludwig), one of the greatest German satirists, +b. Wittenberg, 29 April, 1701. He studied law in Jena, and became +acquainted with Hagedorn in Hamburg. In 1745 he was Councillor of War +at Dresden. This post he abandoned, occupying himself with literature +until his death, 30 Oct. 1760. Liscow's principal satires are The +Uselessness of Good Works for our Salvation and The Excellence and +Utility of Bad Writers. He has been called the German Swift, and his +works show him to have been an outspoken Freethinker. + +Lisle (Lionel), author of The Two Tests: the Supernatural Claims of +Christianity Tried by Two of its own Rules (London, 1877). + +Liszinski (Casimir), Polish martyr of noble birth. Denounced as an +Atheist in 1688 by the Bishop of Wilna and Posnovia, he was decapitated +and burnt at Grodno 30 March, 1689. His ashes were placed in a cannon +and scattered abroad. Among the statements in Liszinski's papers was +that man was the creator of God, whom he had formed out of nothing. + +Littre (Maximilian Paul Emile), French philologist and philosopher, +b. Paris, 1 Feb. 1801. He studied medicine, literature and most of +the sciences. An advanced Republican, he was one of the editors of +the National. His edition of the works of Hippocrates (1839-61) proved +the thoroughness of his learning. He embraced the doctrines of Comte, +and in '45 published a lucid analysis of the Positive Philosophy. He +translated the Life of Jesus, by Strauss, and wrote the Literary +History of France. His Dictionary of the French Language, in which he +applied the historical method to philology, is one of the most colossal +works ever performed by one man. He wrote on Comte and Positive +Philosophy, Comte and Mill, etc., but refused to follow Comte in his +later vagaries. From '67 till his death he conducted La Philosophie +Positive. Littré also wrote Science from the Standpoint of Philosophy, +'73; Literature and History, '75; Fragments of Positive Philosophy +and Contemporary Sociology, '76. He was proposed for the Academy in +'63, but was bitterly opposed by Bishop Dupanloup, and was elected in +'71. In the same year he was elected to the National Assembly, and in +'75 was chosen senator. Under the Empire he twice refused the Legion +of Honor. After a long life of incessant labor, he died at Paris, +2 June 1881. + +Lloyd (John William), American poet and writer, b. of Welsh-English +stock at Westfield, New Jersey, 4 June, 1857. Is mostly +self-educated. After serving apprenticeship as a carpenter, became +assistant to Dr. Trall. Brought up as an orthodox Christian he became +an Agnostic and Anarchist, and has written much in Liberty and Lucifer. + +Lohmann (Hartwic), a native of Holstein, who in 1616 occupied a +good position in Flensburg. He was accused of Atheism. In 1635 he +practised medicine at Copenhagen. He wrote a work called the Mirror +of Faith. Died 1642. + +Lollard (Walter), heretic and martyr, b. England, towards end of +thirteenth century, began to preach in Germany in 1315. He rejected +the sacraments and ceremonies of the Church. It is said he chose +twelve apostles to propagate his doctrines and that he had many +followers. Arrested at Cologne in 1322, he was burnt to death, dying +with great courage. + +Loman (Abraham Dirk), Dutch rationalist, b. The Hague 16 Sep. 1823. He +holds the entire New Testament to be unhistorical, and the Pauline +Epistles to belong to the second century, and has written many +critical works. + +Lombroso (Cesare). Italian writer and scientist, b. Nov. 1836, +has been a soldier and military physician. Introduced Darwinism to +Italy. Has written several works, mostly in relation to the physiology +of criminals. + +Longet (François Achille), French physiologist, b. St. Germain-en-Laye, +1811, published a Treatise on Physiology in 3 vols. and several +medical works. Died Bordeaux, 20 April, 1871. + +Longiano (Sebastiano). See Fausto. + +Longue (Louis Pierre de), French Deist, writer in the service of +the house of Conti; wrote Les Princesses de Malabares, Adrianople, +1734, in which he satirised religion. It was condemned to be burnt +31 Dec. 1734, and a new edition published in Holland with the imprint +Tranquebar, 1735. + +Lorand (Georges), Belgian journalist, b. Namur, 1851, studied +law at Bologna (Italy) and soon became an active propagator of +Atheistic doctrines among the youth of the University and in workmen +associations. He edits La Réforme at Brussels, the ablest daily +exponent of Freethought and Democratic doctrines in Belgium. He has +lately headed an association for the suppression of the standing army. + +"Lorm (Hieronymus)," the pen name of Heinrich Landesmann. German +pessimistic poet, b. Nikolsberg, 9 Aug. 1821. In addition to many +philosophical poems, he has written essays entitled Nature and Spirit, +Vienna, '84. + +Lozano (Fernando), Spanish writer in Las Dominicales dal Libre +Pensamiento, where he uses the signature "Demofilo." He has written +Battles of Freethought, Possessed by the Devil, The Church and +Galeote, etc. + +Lubbock (Sir John), banker, archæologist, scientist and statesman, +b. in London, 30 April, 1834. Educated at Eton, he was taken into +his father's bank at the age of fourteen, and became a partner in +'56. By his archæological works he has most distinguished himself. He +has written Prehistoric Times as Illustrated by Ancient Remains, +and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages ('65), and The Origin +of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition of Man ('70). + +Lucretius Carus (Titus). Roman philosophical poet, b. about +B.C. 99. Little is known of his life, but his name is immortalised +by his atheistic work, De Rerum Natura, in six books, which is the +finest didactic poem in any language. Lucretius has been said to +have believed in one god, Epicurus, whose system he expounds. Full +of animation, dignity, and sublimity, he invests philosophy with the +grace of genius. Is said to have died by his own hand B.C. 55. + +Luetzelberger (Ernst Karl Julius), German controversialist +b. Ditterswind, 19 Oct. 1802. He was a friend of the Feuerbachs. He +wrote on The Church Tradition of the Apostle John. He also wrote a +work on Jesus, translated in Ewerbeck's Qu'est ce que la Religion. In +'56 he was appointed town librarian at Nuremberg. + +Lunn (Edwin), Owenite lecturer. Published pamphlets On Prayer, its +Folly, Inutility, etc. 1839, and Divine Revelation Examined, 1841. + +Luys (Jules Bernard), French alienist, b. Paris, 1828. Is physician +at l'Hopital de la Charité, Paris, and author of a work on The Brain +and its Functions in the "International Scientific Series." + +Lyell (Sir Charles), geologist, b. Kinnordy, Forfarshire, 14 +Nov. 1797. Was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, and devoted himself +to geology. In 1830-33 appeared his great work, The Principles of +Geology, which went through numerous editions. His last important +work was Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, in which he +accepts the Darwinian theory. Died 22 Feb. 1875. + +Maccall (William), writer, b. Largs. Scotland, 1812. Educated at +Glasgow, he found his way to the Unitarian Church which he left +as insufficiently broad. He wrote Elements of Individualism ('47), +translated Spinoza's Treatise on Politics ('54), wrote to the Critic as +"Atticus," contributed to the National Reformer, Secular Review, etc., +published Foreign Biographies ('73), and translated Dr. Letourneau's +Biology and other works. Maccall was an idealistic Pantheist of strong +individual character. Died at Bexley, 19 Nov. 1888. + +Macchi (Mauro), Italian writer, b. Milan, 1 July, 1818. Became +professor of rhetoric at the age of twenty-four, when, becoming +obnoxious to the Austrians by the liberty of his opinions, he was +deprived of his position. He betook himself to radical journalism, +founded l'Italia, a Republican journal, for which he was exiled. He +was associated with Ausonio Franchi and Luigi Stefanoni in the Libero +Pensiero and the Libero Pensatore, and founded an Italian Association +of Freethinkers. In '61 he was elected deputy to Parliament for +Cremona, and in '79 was elevated to the Senate. Died at Rome, 24 +Dec. 1880. One of his principal works is on the Council of Ten. + +Macdonald (Eugene Montague), editor of the New York Truthseeker, +b. Chelsea, Maine, 4 Feb. 1855. He learned the printer's trade in +New York, where he became foreman to D. M. Bennett, and contributed +to the paper, which he has conducted since Mr. Bennett's death. + +Macdonald (George), brother of the preceding. Wrote on the Truthseeker, +and now conducts Freethought, of San Francisco, in company with +S. P. Putnam. George Macdonald is a genuine humorist and a sound +Freethinker. + +McDonnell (William), American novelist, b. 15 Sept. 1824. Author of The +Heathens of the Heath and Exeter Hall, '73, both Freethought romances. + +Mackay (Robert William), author of The Progress of the Intellect, +1850, Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Christianity, '53, and The +Tubingen School, '63. + +Mackey (Sampson Arnold), astronomer and shoemaker, of Norwich, +who is said to have constructed an orrery out of leather. He wrote +The Mythological Astronomy of the Ancients, Norwich, 1822-24, +Pious Frauds, '26, A Lecture on Astronomy and Geology, edited by +W. D. Saull, '32, Urania's Key to the Revelation, '33, and The Age +of Mental Emancipation, '36-39. Mackey also wrote the Sphinxiad, +a rare book. Died 1846. + +Mackintosh (Thomas Simmons), author of The Electrical Theory of the +Universe, 1848, and An Inquiry into the Nature of Responsibility. Died +1850. + +MacSweeney (Myles), mythologist, b. at Enniskillen 1814. He came to +London, and hearing Robert Taylor at the Rotunda in 1830, adopted his +views. He held that Jesus never existed, and wrote in the National +Reformer, Secular Chronicle, and other papers. He published a pamphlet +on Moses and Bacchus in 1874. Died Jan. 1881. + +Madach (Imré), Hungarian patriot and poet, b. 21 Jan. 1823, at +Sztregova, studied at the University of Buda Pesth, and afterwards +lived at Cseszlova. He was in '52 incarcerated for a year for having +given asylum at his castle to a political refugee. He became in '61 +delegate at Pesth. In this year he published his fine poem Az Ember +Tragédiája (The Human Tragedy), in which mankind is personified as +Adam, with Lucifer in his company. Many Freethought views occur in +this poem. Died 5 Oct. 1864. His works were published in 3 vols., 1880. + +Maier (Lodewyk). See Meyer. + +Maillet (Benôit de). French author, b. Saint Michiel, 12 April, +1656. He was successively consul in Egypt and at Leghorn; and died at +Marseilles, 30 Jan. 1738. After his death was published "Telliamed" +(the anagram of his name), in which he maintained that all land +was originally covered with water and that every species of animal, +man included, owes its origin to the sea. + +"Mainlaender" (Philipp), pseudonym of Philipp Batz, German pessimist, +author of a profound work entitled the Philosophy of Redemption, +the first part of which was published in 1876. It was said that +"Mainländer" committed suicide in that year, but the second part of +his work has come out 1882-86. He holds that Polytheism gives place +to Monotheism and Pantheism, and these again to Atheism. "God is dead, +and his death was the life of the world." + +Malherbe (François de). French poet, b. Caen, 1555. He served in +the civil wars of the League, and enjoyed the patronage of Henry +IV. He was called the prince of poets and the poet of princes. Many +stories are told illustrating his sceptical raillery. When told upon +his death-bed of paradise and hell he said he had lived like others +and would go where others went. Died Paris, 16 Oct. 1628. + +Mallet (Mme. Josephine). French authoress of a work on The Bible, +its origin, errors and contradictions (1882). + +Malon (Benoît). French Socialist, b. near St. Etienne, 1841. One +of the founders of the International; he has written a work on that +organisation, its history and principles (Lyons, 1872). He is editor +on L'Intransigeant, conducted the Revue Socialiste, and has written +on the religion and morality of the Socialists and other works. + +Malvezin (Pierre). French journalist, b. Junhac, 26 June 1841. Author +of La Bible Farce (Brussels, 1879.) This work was condemned +and suppressed, 1880, and the author sentenced to three month's +imprisonment. He conducts the review La Fraternité. + +Mandeville (Bernhard), b. Dort. 1670. He studied medicine, was made +a doctor in Holland, and emigrated to London. In 1705 he published +a poetical satire, The Grumbling Hive, or Knaves Turned Honest. In +1709, he published The Virgin Unmasked, and in 1723, Free Thoughts on +Religion the Church and National Happiness. In the same year appeared +his Fables of the Bees or Private Vices, Public Benefits. This work +was presented by the grand jury of Middlesex, 1723 and 1728. It was +attacked by Law, Berkeley, and others. Mandeville replied to Berkeley +in A Letter to Dion, occasioned by a book called Alciphron, or the +Minute Philosopher, 1732. He also wrote An Inquiry of Honor, and +Usefulness of Christianity in War, 1731. Died, London, 19 Jan. 1733. + +Mantegazza (Paolo), Italian anthropologist, b. Monza, 31 +Oct. 1831. Studied medicine at Milan, Pisa, and Paria, and travelled +considerably through Europe, and produced at Paris in 1854 his first +book The Physiology of Pleasure. He has also written on the physiology +of pain, spontaneous generation, anthropological works on Ecstacy, +Love and other topics, and a fine romance Il Dio Ignoto, the unknown +god (1876). Mantegazza is one of the most popular and able of Italian +writers. + +Manzoni (Romeo), Dr. Italian physician, b. Arogno, 1847, studied +philosophy at Milan, and graduated at Naples. He has written on the +doctrine of love of Bruno and Schopenhauer A Life of Jesus, also Il +Prete, a work translated into German with the title Religion as a +Pathological Phenomenon, etc. + +Marchena (José), Spanish writer, b. Utrera, Andalusia, 1768. Brought +up for the church, reading the writings of the French philosophers +brought on him the Inquisition. He fled to France where he became +a friend of Brissot and the Girondins. He wrote a pronounced Essai +de Théologie, 1797, and translated into Spanish Molière's Tartufe, +and some works of Voltaire. He translated Dupuis' Origine de tous +les Cultes, became secretary to Murat, and died 10 Jan. 1821. + +Marechal (Pierre Sylvain), French author, b. Paris, 15 Aug. 1750; +was brought up to the Bar, which he quitted for the pursuit of +literature. He was librarian to the Mazarin College, but lost his +place by his Book Escaped from the Deluge, Psalms, by S. Ar. Lamech +(anagram), 1784. This was a parody of the style of the prophets. In +1781 he wrote Le Nouveau Lucrece. In 1788 appeared his Almanack of +Honest People, in which the name of Jesus Christ was found beside +that of Epicurus. The work was denounced to Parliament, burnt at the +hands of the hangman, and Maréchal imprisoned for four months. He +welcomed the Revolution, and published a republican almanack, 1793. In +1797 and 1798 he published his Code of a Society of Men without God, +and Free Thoughts on the Priests. In 1799 appeared his most learned +work, Travels of Pythagoras in Egypt, Chaldea, India, Rome, Carthage, +Gaul, etc. 6 vols. Into this fiction Maréchal puts a host of bold +philosophical, political, and social doctrines. In 1800 he published +his famous Dictionary of Atheists, which the Government prohibited and +interdicted journals from noticing. In the following year appeared +his For and Against the Bible. Died at Montrouge, 18 Jan. 1803. His +beneficence is highly spoken of by Lalande. + +Maret (Henry), French journalist and deputy, b. Santerre, 4 March, +1838. He ably combatted against the Empire, and edits Le Radical; +was elected deputy in '81. + +Marguerite, of Valois, Queen of Navarre, sister to Francis I. b. at +Angouleme, 11 April, 1492. Deserves place for her protection to +religious reformers. Died 21 Dec. 1549. + +Marguetel de Saint Denis. See Saint Evremond (C.) + +Mario (Alberto), Italian patriot, b. 3 June, 1825. He edited the +Tribune and Free Italy, became aide-de-camp to Garibaldi and married +Jessie White, an English lady. In '60 he wrote a polemic against the +papacy entitled Slavery and Thought. Died 2 June, 1883. + +Marlow (Christopher), English poet and dramatist, b. Canterbury, +8 Feb. 1564. Educated at Benet College, Cambridge, where he took his +degree in 1587. He devoted himself to dramatic writing and according +to some became an actor. He was killed in a brawl at Deptford, 1 June, +1593, in time to escape being tried on an information laid against him +for Atheism and blasphemy. The audacity of his genius is displayed in +Tamburlaine and Dr. Faustus. Of the latter, Goethe said "How greatly +is it all planned." Swinburne says "He is the greatest discoverer, +the most daring and inspired pioneer in all our poetic literature." + +Marr (Wilhelm), German socialist, author of Religious Excursions, +1876, and several anti-Semitic tracts. + +Marsais (Cesar Chesneau du). See Du Marsais. + +Marselli (Niccola), Italian writer, b. Naples, 5 Nov. 1832. Author +of advanced works on the Science of History, Nature and Civilisation, +the Origin of Humanity, the Great Races of Humanity, etc. + +Marston (Philip Bourke), English poet, b. London, 13 Aug. 1850. He +became blind in childhood, and devoted to poetry. A friend of +D. G. Rossetti, Swinburne, and Thomson, his poems are sad and +sincere. Died 14 Feb. 1887, and was buried in accordance with his +own wishes in unconsecrated ground at Highgate, and without religious +service. + +Marsy (François Marie de), b. Paris, 1714, educated as a Jesuit. He +brought out an analysis of Bayle, 1755, for which he was confined in +the Bastile. Died 16 Dec. 1763. + +Marten (Henry), regicide, b. Oxford, 1602. Educated at Oxford, where +he proceeded B.A., 1619. He was elected to Parliament in 1640, and +expelled for his republican sentiments in 1643. He resumed his seat +6 Jan. 1646, took part in the civil war, sat as one of King Charles's +judges, and became one of the Council of State. He proposed the repeal +of the statute of banishment against the Jews, and when it was sought +to expel all profane persons, proposed to add the words "and all +fools." Tried for regicide 10 Oct. 1660, he was kept in Chepstow +Castle till his death, Sep. 1680. Carlyle calls him "sworn foe of +Cant in all its figures; an indomitable little Pagan if not better." + +Martin (Emma), English writer and lecturess, b. Bristol, 1812. Brought +up as a Baptist, she, for a time, edited the Bristol Magazine. She +wrote the Exiles of Piedmont and translated from the Italian the Maxims +of Guicciardini. The trials of Holyoake and Southwell for blasphemy +led her to inquire and embrace the Freethought cause. While Holyoake +and Paterson were in gaol, Mrs. Martin went about committing the +"crime" for which they were imprisoned. In '43 she published Baptism A +Pagan Rite. This was followed by Tracts for the People on the Bible no +Revelation, Religion Superseded, Prayer, God's Gifts and Men's Duties, +a conversation on the being of God, etc. She also lectured and wrote +on the Punishment of Death, to which she was earnestly opposed. Died +Oct. 1851. + +Martin (Bon Louis Henri), French historian, b. St. Quentin, 20 +Feb. 1810. He was sent to Paris to study law, but abandoned it for +history. His History of France, in nineteen vols. (1838-53), is +a monumental work of erudition. A confirmed Republican, he warmly +opposed the Second Empire and after its fall became member of the +National Assembly, '71, and senator, '76. He was elected member of +the Academy, '78. In addition to his historical works he contributed +to le Siecle, la Liberté de penser, and l'Encyclopédie Nouvelle, +etc. Died 14 Dec. 1883. + +Martin (Louis), author of Les Evangiles Sans Dieu (called by Victor +Hugo cette noble page), Paris, 1887, describes himself as an Atheist +Socialist. + +Martin (Louis Auguste). French writer, b. Paris, 25 April, 1811, +editor of the Morale Independante and member of the Institute of +Geneva. For his True and False Catholics ('58), he was fined three +thousand francs and imprisoned for six months. He published the +Annuaire Philosophique. Several of his works are placed on the Roman +Index. Died Paris, 6 April, 1875. + +Martinaud (M.), an ex-abbé who refused ordination, and wrote Letters +of a young priest, who is an Atheist and Materialist, to his bishop, +Paris, 1868, in which he says, "Religion is the infancy of peoples, +Atheism their maturity." + +Martineau (Harriet), b. Norwich 12 June, 1803, descended from +a Huguenot family. Brought up as a Unitarian, she began writing +Devotional Exercises for Young Persons, and, taking to literature +as a means of living, distinguished herself by popularisations +of political economy. The Letters on the Laws of Man's Nature and +Development, which passed between her and H. G. Atkinson, appeared in +'51, and disclosed her advance to the Positivist school of Thought. In +'53 she issued a condensed account of Comte's philosophy. She wrote +a History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, and numerous +other works. Died at Ambleside 27 June, 1876. Her Autobiography, +published after her death, shows the full extent of her unbelief. + +Masquerier (Lewis), American land reformer of Huguenot descent, b. 1 +March, 1802. Wrote The Sataniad, established Greenpoint Gazette, +and contributed to the Boston Investigator. Died 7 Jan. 1888. + +Massenet (Jules Emile Fréderic), French musical composer, b. Montard, +12 May, 1842. Has written a daring and popular oratorio on Marie +Magdeleine, and an opera, Herodiade. + +Massey (Gerald), poet and archæologist, b. of poor parents at +Tring, in Herts, 29 May, 1828. At eight years of age he was sent +to a factory to earn a miserable pittance. At the age of fifteen +he came to London as an errand boy, read all that came in his way, +and became a Freethinker and political reformer. Inspired by the +men of '48, he started The Spirit of Freedom, '49. It cost him five +situations in eleven months. In '53 his Ballad of Babe Christabel, +with other Lyrical Poems at once gave him position as a poet of fine +taste and sensibility. Mr. Massey devoted himself to the study of +Egyptology, the result of which is seen in his Book of Beginnings +and Natural Genesis, '81-83, in which he shows the mythical nature of +Christianity. Mr. Massey has also lectured widely on such subjects as +Why Don't God Kill the Devil? The Historical Jesus and the Mythical +Christ, The Devil of Darkness in the Light of Evolution, The Coming +Religion, etc. His poems are being re-published under the title My +Lyrical Life. + +Massey (James). See Tyssot. (S.) + +Massol (Marie Alexandre), French writer, b. Beziers, 18 March, +1805. He studied under Raspail, went to Paris in '30 and became a Saint +Simonian. In '48 he wrote on Lamennais' La Réforme, and on the Voix +du Peuple with his friend Proudhon, to whom he became executor. In +'65 he established La Morale Independante with the object of showing +morality had nothing to do with theology. Died at Paris 20 April, 1875. + +Maubert de Gouvest (Jean Henri), French writer, b. Rouen, 20 +Nov. 1721. Brought up as a monk, he fled and took service in the Saxon +army. He was thrown into prison by the King of Poland, but the Papal +nuncio procured his release on condition of retaking his habit. This +he did and went to Rome to be relieved of his vows. Failing this +he went to Switzerland and England, where he was well received by +Lord Bolingbroke. He published Lettres Iroquoises, Irocopolis, 1752, +and other anonymous works. At Frankfort in 1764 he was arrested as +a fugitive monk and vagabond, and was imprisoned eleven months. Died +at Altona, 21 Nov. 1767. + +Maudsley (Henry), M.D., b. near Giggleswick, Yorkshire, 5 +Feb. 1835. Educated at London University, where he graduated +M.D. in 1857. Taking mental pathology as his speciality, he soon +reached eminence in his profession. From '69-'79 he was professor +of medical jurisprudence at University College, London. His works on +The Physiology and Pathology of the Mind ('67), Body and Mind ('70), +Responsibility in Mental Disease ('73), and Body and Will ('83) have +attracted much attention. His Natural Laws and Supernatural Seemings +('80) is a powerful exposure of the essence of all superstition. + +Mauvillon (Jakob von), b. Leipzig, 8 March, 1743. Though feeble in +body, he had a penchant for the army, and joined the engineer corps of +Hanover, and afterwards became lieutenant-colonel in the service of the +Duke of Brunswick. A friend and admirer of Mirabeau, he defended the +French Revolution in Germany. He wrote anonymously Paradoxes Moraux +(Amsterdam, 1768) and The Only True System of the Christian Religion +(Berlin, 1787), at first composed under the title of False Reasonings +of the Christian Religion. Died in Brunswick, 11 Jan. 1794. + +Mazzini (Giuseppe), Italian patriot, b. Genoa, 28 June 1808. In '26 he +graduated LL.D., in the University of Genoa, and plunged into politics, +becoming the leader of Young Italy, with the object of uniting the +nation. Condemned to death in '33, he went to Switzerland and was +expelled, then came to England in '37. In '48 he returned, and in March +'49 was made triumvir of Rome with Saffi and Armellini. Compelled, +after a desperate resistance, to retire, he returned to London. He +wrote in the Westminster Review and other periodicals and his works are +numerous though mostly of a political character. They are distinguished +by highmindedness, love of toleration and eloquence. Carlyle called +Mazzini "a man of genius and virtue, a man of sterling veracity, +humanity and nobleness of mind." Died at Pisa 10 March, 1872. He was +a Deist. + +Meissner (Alfred), German poet, b. Teplitz, 15 Oct. 1822. Has written +Ziska, an epic poem, The Son of Atta Troll, Recollections of Heine, +etc. Died Teplitz, 20 May, 1885. + +Meister (Jacques Henri), Swiss writer, b. Bückeburg, 6 +Aug. 1744. Intended for a religious career, he went to France, and +became acquainted with D'Holbach and Diderot, of whom he wrote a short +life, and was secretary to Grimm. He wrote the Origin of Religious +Principles, 1762, and Natural Morality, 1787. + +Menard (Louis), French author and painter, b. Paris, 1822. In +'48-'49 he wrote Prologue of a Revolution, for which he was obliged +to leave France. Has written on Morality before the Philosophers, +'60, Studies on the Origin of Christianity, '67, and Freethinkers' +Religious Catechism, '75. + +Mendoza (Diego Hurtado de), famous and learned Spanish author, b. of +distinguished family, Granada, 1503. Intended for the church, he +studied Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew, but on leaving the university +he joined the army. At school he wrote his well known comic novel, +Lazarillo de Tormes, which was condemned by the Inquisition. Sent +on an embassy to Pope Paul III., the latter was greatly shocked at +his audacity and vehemence of speech. His chief work is his History +of the Moorish Wars, which remained unprinted thirty years, through +the intolerant policy of Philip II. Mendoza's satires and burlesques +were also prohibited by the Inquisition. He commented Aristotle and +translated his Mechanics. Died at Valladolid, April, 1575. + +Mendum (Josiah P.), publisher and proprietor of the Boston +Investigator, b. Kennebunk, Maine, 7 July, 1811. He became a printer, +and in 1833 became acquainted with Abner Kneeland and after his +imprisonment engaged to print the Investigator, and when Kneeland +left Boston for the West to recruit his health, he carried on the +paper together with Mr. Horace Seaver. Mr. Mendum was one of the +founders of the Paine Memorial Hall, Boston, and a chief support of +Freethought in that city. + +Mentelle (Edme), French geographer and historian, b. Paris, 11 +Oct. 1730. Studied at the College de Beauvais under Crévier. His +Précis de l'Histoire des Hébreux (1798), and Précis de l'Histoire +Universelle are thoroughly anti-Christian. He doubted if Jesus ever +existed. He was a member of the Institute and Chevalier of the Legion +of Honor. Died at Paris, 28 Dec. 1815. + +Mercier (L. A.), author of La Libre Pensée, Brussels, 1879. + +Meredith (Evan Powell), Welsh writer, author of The Prophet of Nazareth +(1864), an able work exposing the prophecies of Jesus, and Amphilogia, +a reply in to the Bishop of Landaff and the Rev. J. F. Francklin, '67. + +Meredith (George), philosophical poet and novelist, b. Hampshire, +1828, and educated partly on the Continent. Intended for the law, +he adopted literature in preference. He first appeared as a poet +with Poems ('51). Of his powerful novels we mention the Ordeal of +Richard Feveril ('59), Emilia in England ('64), now Sandra Belloni, +with Vittoria ('66) for a sequel. Rhoda Fleming, Beauchamp's Career +('76), The Egoist ('79), The Tragic Comedians ('81) and Diana of +the Crossways ('85). Deep thought and fine grace characterise his +writings. As a poet Mr. Meredith is not popular, but his volumes of +verse are marked by the highest qualities, and give him a place apart +from the throng of contemporary singers. + +Merimee (Prosper), learned French writer, b. Paris, 28 Sept. 1808, +author of numerous essays and romances. Was made Inspector General +of Historic Monuments and was admitted to the Academy in '44. In his +anonymous brochure on H(enri) B(eyle), Eleutheropolis (Brussels), '64, +there is an open profession of Atheism. Died at Cannes, 23 Sept. 1870. + +Merritt (Henry), English painter and writer, b. Oxford, 8 June, +1822. On coming to London he lived with Mr. Holyoake, and contributed +to the Reasoner, using the signature "Christopher." He wrote on Dirt +and Pictures and Robert Dalby and his World of Troubles, etc. Died +in London, 10 July, 1877. + +Meslier or Mellier (Jean), curé of Etrepigny, Champagne, b. Mazerny, +Rethelois, 15 June, 1664. Died in 1729. After his death a will was +discovered of which he had made three copies, in which he repudiated +Christianity and requested to be buried in his own garden. His +property he left to his parishioners. Voltaire published it under +the title of Extract from the sentiments of Jean Meslier. To Meslier +has been attributed the work entitled Le Bon Sens, written by Baron +D'Holbach. Le Testament de Jean Meslier has been published in three +volumes at Amsterdam, 1864, preceded by a study by Rudolf Charles +(R. C. d'Ablaing van Giessenburg). It calls in question all the dogmas +of Christianity. Anacharsis Clootz proposed to the National Convention +to erect a statue to this "honest priest." + +Metchnikov (Léon), Russian writer in French; author of a work on +Japan and of able articles, notably one on Christian Communion in +the Revue Internationale des Sciences Biologiques, tome 12. + +Metrodorus of Lampsacus. Greek philosopher, b. 330 B.C., a disciple +and intimate friend of Epicurus. He wrote numerous works, the titles +of which are preserved by Diogenes Laertius. Died B.C. 277. + +Mettrie, see La Mettrie. + +Meunier (Amédée Victor), French writer, b. Paris, 2 May, 1817. Has +done much to popularise science by his Scientific Essays, 1851-58, +the Ancestors of Adam, '75, etc. + +Meyer (Lodewijk), a Dutch physician, a friend and follower of +Spinoza, who published Exercitatio Paradoxa on the philosophical +interpretation of scripture, Eleutheropoli (Amst.), 1666. This has +been wrongly attributed to Spinoza. It was translated into Dutch +in 1667. He is also credited with Lucii Antistic Constantes, de +jure ecclesiasticorum. Alethopoli (Amst.), 1665. This work is also +attributed to another writer, viz. P. de la Court. + +Mialhe (Hippolyte), French writer, b. Roquecourbe (Tarn), 1834. From +'60-62 he was with the French army of occupation at Rome. He has +organised federations of Freethinkers in France, edited L'Union +des Libres-Penseurs, and has written Mémoires d'un libre Penseur +(Nevers, 1888). + +Michelet (Jules), French historian, b. Paris, 21 Aug. 1798. Became +a Professor of History in 1821. Has written a History of France and +of the French Revolution; The Jesuits, with his friend Quinet, '43; +The Priest, Woman and the Family, '44; The Sorceress, dealing with +witchcraft in the Middle Ages, '62; The Bible of Humanity, '64. His +lectures were interdicted by the Government of Louis Phillippe, and +after the coup d'état he was deprived of his chair. All Michelet's +works glow with eloquence and imagination. He never forgot that he +was a republican and Freethinker of the nineteenth century. Died at +Hyères, 9 Feb. 1874. + +Michelet (Karl Ludwig), German philosopher of French family, b. Berlin, +4 Dec. 1801. In '29 he became Professor of Philosophy. A disciple +of Hegel, he edited his master's works, '32. His principle work is A +System of Philosophy as an Exact Science, '76-81. He has also written +on the relation of Herbert Spencer to German philosophy. + +Middleton (Conyers), Freethinking clergyman, b. York 1683. His Letters +from Rome, 1729, showed how much Roman Christianity had borrowed from +Paganism, and his Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers supposed +to have subsisted in the Christian Church, 1749, was a severe blow +to hitherto received "Christian Evidences." He also wrote a classic +Life of Cicero. Died at Hildersham near Cambridge, 28 July, 1750. + +Mignardi (G.), Italian writer, who in 1884 published Memorie di un +Nuovo Credente (Memoirs of a New Believer). + +Milelli (Domenico), Italian poet, b. Catanzaro, Feb. 1841. His family +intended to make him a priest, but he turned out a rank Pagan, as +may be seen in his Odi Pagane, '79, Canzonieri, '84, and other works. + +Mill (James), philosopher and historian, b. Northwaterbridge, Montrose, +6 April, 1773. Studied at Edinburgh, and distinguished himself by his +attainments in Greek and moral philosophy. He was licensed as preacher +in the Scotch Church, but removed to London in 1800, and became editor +of the Literary Review, and contributed to the reviews. He published, +'17-'19, his History of British India. He contributed many articles to +the fifth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. A friend of Bentham, +he wrote largely in the Westminster Review, and did much to forward +the views of Philosophic Radicalism. His Analysis of the Human Mind, +'39, is a profound work. In religion he was a complete sceptic. Reading +Bishop Butler's Analogy made him an Atheist. Died 23 June, 1836. + +Mill (John Stuart), eminent English writer, son of the preceding, +b. London, 20 May, 1806. Educated by his father without religion, he +became clerk in the East India House, and early in life contributed to +the Westminster and Edinburgh Reviews. Of the first he became joint +editor in '35. His System of Logic, '43, first made him generally +known. This was followed by his Principles of Political Economy. In +'59 appeared his small but valuable treatise On Liberty, in which he +defends the unrestricted free discussion of religion. Among subsequent +works were Utilitarianism, '63; Auguste Comte and Positivism, '67; +Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy '65; Dissertations +and Discussions, '59-'75; and the Subjection of Women, '69. In '65 +he was elected to Parliament for Westminster, but lost his seat in +'68. In '67 he was chosen Rector of St. Andrews, and delivered the +students an able address. Prof. Bain says "in everything characteristic +of the creed of Christendom he was a thorough-going negationist. He +admitted neither its truth nor its utility." Died at Avignon, 8 May, +1873, leaving behind his interesting Autobiography and three essays on +"Nature," "Theism," and "Religion." + +Mille (Constantin), Roumanian writer, b. at Bucharest, educated at +Paris. He lectured at Jassy and Bucharest on the History of Philosophy, +from a Materialistic point of view. He was also active with Codreano, +and after the latter's death ('77), in spreading Socialism. Millé +contributes to the Rivista Sociala and the Vütorul, edited by +C. Pilitis. + +Milliere (Jean Baptiste), Socialist, b. of poor parents, Lamarche +(Côte d'Or), 13 Dec. 1817. He became an advocate, and founded the +Proletaire at Clermont Ferrand. For writing Revolutionary Studies he +was, after the coup d'état, banished to Algeria until the amnesty of +'59. In '69 Millière started, with Rochefort, the Marseillaise, of +which he became one of the principal directors. At the election for the +National Assembly he was elected for Paris by 73,000 votes. Although +he took no part in the Commune, but sought to act as an intermediary, +he was arrested and summarily shot near the Pantheon, Paris, 26 May, +1871. He died crying "Vive l'Humanité." + +Mirabaud (Jean Baptiste de), French writer, b. Paris, 1675. He +translated Tasso and Ariosto, and became perpetual secretary to the +French Academy. He wrote Opinions of the Ancients on the Jews, a +Critical Examination of the New Testament, (published under the name +of Fréret), The World: its Origin and Antiquity, 1751, Sentiments of +a Philosopher on the Nature of the Soul inserted in the collection +entitled Nouvelle libertés de Penser, Amst. (Paris) 1743. The System +of Nature, attributed to Mirabaud, was written by d'Holbach. Mirabaud +died 24 June, 1760. + +Mirabeau (Honoré Gabriel Riquetti Comte de), French statesman +and orator, b. at the Chateau de Bignon (Loiret) 9 March, 1749. He +inherited a passionate nature, a frank strong will, generous temper, +and a mind of prodigious activity. He entered the army in 1767, +but by an amorous intrigue provoked the ire of his father, by whom +he was more than once imprisoned. In 1776 he went to Amsterdam and +employed himself in literary work. In 1783 appeared anonymously his +Erotika Biblion, dealing with the obscenity of the Bible. In 1786 he +was sent to Berlin, where he met Frederick and collected materials +for his work on The Prussian Monarchy. He returned to the opening of +the States General and soon became leader of the Revolution, being +in Jan. 1791 chosen President of the National Assembly. He advocated +the abolition of the double aristocracy of Lords and bishops, the +spoliation of the Church and the National Guard. Carlyle calls him +"far the strongest, best practical intellect of that time." He died +2 April, 1791. Among his last words were, "Envelop me with perfumes +and crown me with flowers that I may pass away into everlasting sleep." + +Miranda (Don Francisco). South American patriot and general, b. Caracas +1750, aided the Americans in their War of Independence, tried to free +Guatimalaus from the Spanish, allied himself to the Girondins and +became second in command in the army of Dumouriez. He was a friend +of Thomas Paine. In 1806-11 he was engaged seeking to free Peru from +the Spaniards, by whom he was made prisoner, and died in a dungeon +at Cadiz, 16 Jan. 1816. It was said General Miranda made a sceptic +of James Mill. + +Miron. See Morin (André Saturnin.) + +Mitchell (J. Barr), Dr., anonymous author of Dates and Data (1876) +and Chrestos; a Religious Epithet (1880). Dr. Mitchell has also +written in the National Reformer, using his initials only. + +Mitchell (Logan), author of Lectures published as The Christian +Mythology Unveiled. This work was also issued under the title +Superstition Besieged. It is said that Mitchell committed suicide in +Nov. 1841. He left by his will a sum of £500 to any bookseller who had +the courage to publish his book. It was first published by B. Cousens, +and was republished in '81. + +Mittermaier (Karl Josef Anton von), German jurisconsult, b. Munich, +5 Aug. 1787. Studied law and medicine at Landshut, where he became +professor. His works on Law gained him a high reputation. He obtained +a chair at the Heidelberg University. In 1831 he represented Baden in +Parliament. He advocated the unity of Germany and took an active part +in the Radical movement of '48. His writings are all in the direction +of freedom. Died 28 Aug. 1867. + +Mittie (Stanilas), in 1789 proposed the taking of church bells to make +money and cannon, and during the revolution distinguished himself by +other anti-clerical suggestions. Died 1816. + +Mocenicus (Philippus), Archbishop of Nicosia, Cyprus, a Venetian +philosopher, whose heretical Contemplations were printed at Geneva, +1588, with the Peripatetic Question of Cæsalpinus and the books of +Telesio on The Nature of Things in the volume entitled Tractationum +Philosophicarum. + +Moleschott (Jacob), scientific Materialist, b. of Dutch parents at 's +Hertogenbosch, 9 Aug. 1822; studied at Heidelburg where he graduated +M.D. Became Professor of Physiology at Zurich and afterwards at +Turin. Becoming a naturalised Italian he was in '76 made a senator, +and in '78 Professor of Physiology at the University of Rome. He has +written Circulation of Life, Light and Life, Physiological Sketches, +and other medical and scientific works. Lange calls him "the father +of the modern Materialistic movement." + +Molesworth (Sir William), statesman and man of letters, the eighth +baronet of his family, b. Cornwall, 23 May, 1810. In '32 he was +returned M.P. for East Cornwall, and from '37-41 sat for Leeds. In +'53 he was First Commissioner of Public Works, and in '55 was Secretary +for the Colonies. He was for some time proprietor and conductor of the +Westminster Review, in which he wrote many articles. A noble edition +of Hobbes was produced at his expense, '39-45, and he contributed to +the support of Auguste Comte. Died 22 Oct. 1855. + +Mommsen (Theodor), historian, b. Garding (Schleswig), 30 +Nov. 1817. Studied at Kiel, and travelled from '44 to 47. He became +Professor of Law of Leipsic, Zürich and Berlin. Is best known by his +History of Rome, '53-85, a work of great research and suggestiveness +in which he expresses the opinion that it is doubtful if the world +was improved by Christianity. + +Monboddo (Lord). See Burnett (James). + +Monge (Gaspard), French scientist, b. at Beaume, 10 May 1746. Taught +physics and mathematics at the military school of Mezieres, became a +member of the Academy of Sciences in 1780, and through the influence +of Condorcet was made Minister of the Marine in 1792. He was one of +the founders of the Polytechnic School. Napoleon made him a senator, +created him Count of Pelusium, and gave him an estate for his many +services to the French nation. On the return of the Bourbons he was +deprived of all his emoluments. Died 28 July, 1818. Maréchal and +Lalande insert his name in their list of Atheists. + +Mongez (Antoine), French archæologist, b. Lyons, 30 June +1747. Distinguished by his studies, he became a member of the Academy +of Inscriptions and of the Institute, before which he said "he had +the honor to be an Atheist." He was one of the most ardent members of +the Convention, and wrote many memoirs. Died at Paris, 30 July, 1835. + +Monroe (J. R.), Dr., editor and proprietor of the Ironclad Age, +b. Monmouth, co. New Jersey, about 1825. In '50 he went to Rochford, +where he had a good practice as a doctor. In '55 he started the +Rochford Herald, and in July, '57, the Seymour Times. During the Civil +War he was appointed surgeon to the 150th regiment, and after some +hard service his own health broke down. In '75 Dr. Monroe published +his dramas and poems in a volume. From this time his paper became +more Freethought and less political. In April, '82, he removed to +Indianapolis, Indiana, and changed the name to The Age, afterwards +Monroe's Ironclad Age. Dr. Monroe is a clever writer and a modest man, +with a remarkable fund of natural humor. Among his publications are +poems on The Origin of Man, etc., Genesis Revised, and Holy Bible +Stories. + +Montaigne (Michel de), French philosophic essayist, b. at the family +castle in Perigord, 28 Feb. 1533. He studied law and became a judge +at Bordeaux about 1554. In 1580 he produced his famous "Essays," +which indicate a sprightly humor allied to a most independent +spirit. The Essays, Hallam says, make in several respects an epoch in +literature. Emerson says, "Montaigne is the frankest and honestest +of all writers." Montaigne took as his motto: Que sçais-je? [What +know I?] and said that all religious opinions are the result of +custom. Buckle says, "Under the guise of a mere man of the world, +expressing natural thoughts in common language, Montaigne concealed a +spirit of lofty and audacious inquiry." Montaigne seems to have been +the first man in Europe who doubted the sense and justice of burning +people for a difference of opinion. His denunciation of the conduct of +the Christians in America does him infinite honor. Died 13 Sept. 1592. + +Monteil (Charles François Louis Edgar), French journalist, b. Vire, +26 Jan. 1845. Fought against the Empire, writing in Le Rappel. During +the Commune he was secretary to Delescluze. For his Histoire d'un +Frère Ignorantin, '74, he was prosecuted by the Christian Brothers, +and condemned to one year's imprisonment, 2,000 francs fine, and 10,000 +francs damages. In '77 he wrote a Freethinker's Catechism, published +at Antwerp, and in '79 an edition of La République Française. In '80 +he was made a member of the Municipal Council of Paris, and re-elected +in '84. In '83 he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He has +compiled an excellent secular Manual of Instruction for schools. + +Montesquieu (Charles de Secondat), Baron, eminent French writer, +b. near Bordeaux, 18 Jan. 1689. His first literary performance was +entitled Persian Letters, 1721. In 1728 he was admitted a member of +the French Academy, though opposed by Cardinal Fleury on the ground +that his writings were dangerous to religion. His chief work is the +Spirit of Laws, 1748. This work was one of the first-fruits of the +positive spirit in history and jurisprudence. The chapters on Slavery +are written in a vein of masterly irony, which Voltaire pronounced +to be worthy of Molière. Died 10 Feb. 1755. + +Montgomery (Edmund), Dr. philosopher, b. of Scotch parents, Edinburgh +1835. In youth he lived at Frankfort, where he saw Schopenhauer, +and afterwards attended at Heidelberg the lectures of Moleschott and +Kuno Fischer. He became a friend of Feuerbach. He wrote in German and +published at Munich in '71, The Kantian Theory of Knowledge refuted +from the Empirical Standpoint. In '67 he published a small book On +the Formation of so-called Cells in Animal Bodies. In '71 he went to +Texas and prosecuted his scientific studies on life. He has written +in the Popular Science Monthly, The Index, and The Open Court and +Mind. Dr. Montgomery holds not only that there is no evidence of a God, +but that there is evidence to the contrary. + +Montgolfier (Michel Joseph), aeronaut, b. Aug. 1740. He was the first +to ascend in an air balloon, 5 June 1783. A friend of Delambre and +La Lalande, he was on the testimony of this last an atheist. Died 26 +June 1810. + +Mook (Friedrich) German writer, b. Bergzabern, 29 Sept. 1844, studied +philosophy and theology at Tübingen, but gave up the latter to study +medicine. He lived as a writer at Heidelberg and became lecturer to +a free congregation at Nürenburg, and wrote a popular Life of Jesus, +published at Zürich, '72-3. He travelled abroad and was drowned in +the river Jordan, 13 Dec. 1880. His brother Kurt, b. 12 Feb. 1847, +is a physician who has published some poems. + +Moor (Edmund), Major in the East Indian Company, author of the Hindu +Pantheon, 1810 and Oriental Fragments, '34. Died 1840. + +Moreau (Hégésippe), French poet, b. Paris 9, April 1810. A radical +and freethinker, he fought in the barricades in '30. Wrote songs and +satires of considerable merit, and a prose work entitled The Mistletoe +and the Oak. His life, which was a continual struggle with misery, +terminated in a hospital, 20 Dec. 1838. His works have been collected, +with an introduction by Sainte-Beuve. + +Moreau (Jacques Joseph), Dr. of Tours, b. Montresor, 1804. He became a +distinguished alienist of the materialist school, and wrote on Moral +Faculties from a medical point of view, '36, and many physiological +works. + +Morelly, French socialist of the eighteenth century, +b. Vitry-le-Français, author of a work called Code de la Nature, +sometimes attributed to Diderot. It was published in 1755, and urges +that man should find circumstances in which depravity is minimised. + +Morgan (Thomas), Welsh Deist, known by the title of his book as The +Moral Philosopher, 1737. Was a Presbyterian, but was deposed for +Arianism about 1723, and practised medicine at Bristol. He edited +Radicati's Dissertation on Death, 1731. His Moral Philosopher seeks +to substitute morality for religion. He calls Moses "a more fabulous +romantic writer than Homer or Ovid," and attacks the evidence of +miracles and prophecy. This was supplemented by A Further Vindication +of Moral Truth and Reason, 1739, and Superstition and Tyranny +Inconsistent with Theocracy, 1740. He replied to his opponents over +the signature "Philalethes." His last work was on Physico-Theology, +1741. Lechler calls Morgan "the modern Marcion." Died at London, +14 Jan. 1743. + +Morgan (Sir Thomas Charles), M.D., b. 1783. Educated at Cambridge. In +1811 he was made a baronet, and married Miss Sidney Owensen. A warm +friend of civil and religious liberty and a sceptic, he is author of +Sketches of the Philosophy of Life, '18, and the Philosophy of Morals, +'19. The Examiner says, "He was never at a loss for a witty or wise +passage from Rabelais or Bayle." Died 28 Aug. 1843. + +Morin (André Saturnin), French writer, b. Chatres, 28 +Nov. 1807. Brought up to the law, and became an advocate. In '30 +he wrote defending the revolution against the restoration. In '48 +he was made sous-prefet of Nogent. During the Empire he combated +vigorously for Republicanism and Freethought, writing under the +signature "Miron," in the Rationaliste of Geneva, the Libre Pensée +of Paris, the Libero-pensiero of Milan, and other papers. He was +intimately associated with Ausonio Franchi, Trezza, Stefanoni, +and the Italian Freethinkers. His principal work is an Examination +of Christianity, in three volumes, '62. His Jesus Reduced to his +True Value has gone through several editions. His Essai de Critique +Religieuse, '85, is an able work. M. Morin was one of the founders +of the Bibliothèque Démocratique, to which he contributed several +anti-clerical volumes, the one on Confession being translated into +English by Dr. J. R. Beard. In '76 he was elected on the Municipal +Council of Paris, where he brought forward the question of establishing +a crematorium. Died at Paris, 5 July, 1888, and was cremated at Milan. + +Morison (James Augustus Cotter), English Positivist and man of letters, +b. London, 1831. Graduated at Lincoln Coll. Oxford, M.A., '59. In +'63 he published the Life and Times of Saint Bernard. He was one of +the founders of the Fortnightly Review, in which he wrote, as well as +in the Athenæum. He contributed monographs on Gibbon and Macaulay to +Morley's "Men of Letters" Series. In '86 he published his striking work +The Service of Man, an Essay towards the Religion of the Future, which +shows that the benefits of Christianity have been much exaggerated and +its evils palpable. All his writings are earnest and thoughtful. He +collected books and studied to write a History of France, which would +have been a noble contribution to literature; but the possession of +a competence seems to have weakened his industry, and he never did +justice to his powers. Even the Service of Man was postponed until +he was no longer able to complete it as he intended. Morison was a +brilliant talker, and the centre of a wide circle of friends. George +Meredith dedicated to him a volume of poems. Died at Hampstead, +26 Feb. 1888. + +Morley (John), English writer and statesman, b. Blackburn, +24 Dec. 1838, educated at Oxford. Among his fellow students was +J.C. Morison. He contributed to The Leader and the Saturday Review, +edited the Morning Star, and the Fortnightly Review, '67-82, in which +appeared the germs of most of his works, such as On Compromise, +Voltaire, '72; Rousseau, '73; Diderot and the Encyclopædists +'78. During his editorship important Freethought papers appeared in +that review. From May, '80 till Aug. '83 he edited the Pall Mall +Gazette. Upon the death of Ashton Dilke, M.P., he was elected +to Parliament for Newcastle, and in Feb. '86 was appointed by +Mr. Gladstone Chief Secretary for Ireland. + +Morselli (Enrico Agostino), Italian doctor and scientist, b. Modena, +1852. Has written many anthropological works, notably one on Suicide +in the International Scientific Series, and a study on "The Religion +of Mazzini." He edits the Rivista di Filosofia Scientifica, and has +translated Herbert Spencer on the past and future of religion. + +Mortillet (Louis Laurent Gabriel de), French scientist, b. Meylan +(Isère), 29 Aug. 1821, and was educated by Jesuits. Condemned in +'49 for his political writings he took refuge in Switzerland. He +has done much to promote prehistoric studies in France. Has written +Materials to serve for the positive and philosophical history of man, +'64. The Sign of the Cross before Christianity, '66, Contribution +to the History of Superstition, and Prehistoric Antiquity of Man, +'82. He contributed to the Revue Indépendante, Pensée Nouvelle, +etc. M. de Mortillet is curator of the Museum of St. Germain and was +elected Deputy in 1885. + +Moss (Arthur B.), lecturer and writer, b. 8 May, 1855. Has written +numerous pamphlets, a number of which are collected in Waves of +Freethought, '85. Others are Nature and the Gods, Man and the Lower +Animals, Two Revelations, etc. Mr. Moss has been a contributor to +the Secular Chronicle, Secular Review, Freethinker, Truthseeker, +and other journals, and has had a written debate on "Was Jesus God +or Man." A School Board officer, he was for a time prohibited from +lecturing on Sunday. A collection of his Lectures and Essays has been +published, 1889. + +Mothe Le Vayer. See La Mothe Le Vayer. + +Mott (Lucretia), American reformer, nee Coffin, b. Nantucket, 3 +Jan. 1793. She was a Quakeress, but on the division of the Society +in 1827 went with the party who preferred conscience to revelation. A +strong opponent of slavery, she took an active part in the abolitionist +movement. She was delegated to the World's Anti-slavery Convention +in London in 1840, but excluded on account of her sex. A friend of +Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Stanton. Took an active part in Women's Rights +conventions. Died at Philadelphia, 11 Nov. 1880. + +Muhammad ibn al Hudail al Basri, philosopher of Asia Minor, founder +of the Muhammadan Freethinking sect of Mutazilah, b. about 757. Died +about 849. + +Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Tarkhan (Abu Nasr.) See Alpharabius. + +Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn Bajjat. See Avempace. + +Muhammad Jalal ed din. See Akbar. + +Muller (Dr. H. C.) Dutch writer, b. 31 Oct. 1855. Has contributed +good articles to de Dageraad (the Daybreak), and is now teacher of +modern Greek at the University of Amsterdam. + +Murger (Henri), French author, b. Paris, 1822, contributed to the Revue +des Deux Mondes, tales poems and dramas. In his poem Le Testament in +"Winter Nights" he says in answer to the inquiring priest "Reponds +lui que j'ai lu Voltaire." His most popular work is entitled Scenes +of Bohemian Life. Died Paris, 28 Jan. 1861. + +Musset (Louis Charles Alfred de), French poet, b. Paris, 11 +Nov. 1810. Before the age of twenty he became one of the leaders of the +Romantic school. His prose romance, Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle, +'36, exhibits his intellectual development and pessimistic moods. Among +his finest works are four poems entitled Nuits. He contributed to +the Revue des Deux Mondes, and was admitted into the Academy in +'52. Died at Paris 1 May, 1857. + +Naber (Samuel Adriaan), learned Dutch writer, b. Gravenhage, 16 July, +1828. Studied at Leyden and became rector of the Haarlem gymnasium, +and head teacher at the Amsterdam Athenæum. He has edited a journal +of literature, and is joint author with Dr. A. Pierson of Verisimilia +(1886), a Latin work showing the fragmentary and disjointed character +of the Epistles attributed to Paul. + +Nachtigal (Gustav.), Dr., German traveller, b. Eichstadt, 23 +Feb. 1834. He studied medicine, went to Algiers and Tunis, became +private physician to the Bey of Tunis, explored North Africa, and +wrote an account thereof, Sahara und Sudan. He became German Consul +General at Tunis, and died 20 April, 1885. + +Naigeon (Jacques André), French atheist, b. Dijon 1728. At first an +art student, he became a disciple and imitator of Diderot. He became +copyist to and collaborator with Holbach and conveyed his works to +Amsterdam to be printed. He contributed to the Encyclopédie, notably +the articles Ame and Unitaires and composed the Militaire Philosophe, +or difficulties on religion proposed to Father Malebranche, 1768. This +was his first work, the last chapter being written by Holbach. He +took some share in several of the works of that writer, notably in the +Theologie Portative. He published the Recuéil Philosophique, 2 vols., +Londres (Amst.), 1770; edited Holbach's Essay on Prejudices and his +Morale Universelle. He also edited the works of Diderot, the essays +of Montaigne and a translation of Toland's philosophical letters. His +principal work is the Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Philosophy in +the Encyclopédie Méthodique (Paris 1791-94.) He addressed the National +Assembly on Liberty of Opinion, 1790, and asked them to withhold +the name of God and religion from their declaration of the rights of +man. Naigeon was of estimable character. Died at Paris, 28 Feb. 1810. + +Naquet (Joseph Alfred). French materialist, b. Carpentras, 6 Oct. 1834, +became M.D. in '59. In '67 he received fifteen months imprisonment for +belonging to a secret society. He founded, with M. Regnard, the Revue +Encyclopédique, which was suppressed at once for containing an attack +on theism. In '69 he issued a work on Religion, Property, and Family, +which was seized and the author condemned to four months imprisonment, +a fine of five hundred francs, and the perpetual interdict of civil +rights. He represented Vaucluse in the National Assembly, where he +has voted with the extreme left. He was re-elected in '81. The new +law of divorce in France has been passed chiefly through M. Naquet's +energetic advocacy. In '83 he was elected to the Senate, and of late +has distinguished himself by his advocacy of General Boulanger. + +Nascimento (Francisco Manuel do). Portuguese poet, b. Lisbon, 23 +Dec, 1734. He entered the Church, but having translated Molière's +Tartuffe, was accused of heresy (1778), and had to fly for his life +from the Inquisition. He wrote many poems and satires under the name of +"Filinto Elysio." Died 25 Feb. 1819. + +Navez (Napoleon), Belgian Freethinker, president of La Libre Pensée, +of Antwerp, and active member of the Council of the International +Federation of Freethinkers. + +Nelson (Gustave), a writer in the New York Truthseeker, conjectured to +be the author of Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions, +a large and learned work, showing how much of Christianity has been +taken from Paganism. + +Newcomb (Simon), LL.D., American astronomer, b. Wallace, (Nova +Scotia), 12 March, 1835. Went to the United States in '53, and was +appointed computor on the Nautical Almanack. In '77 he became senior +professor of mathematics in the U. S. navy. He has been associated +with the equipment of the Lick observatory, and has written many +works on mathematics and astronomy, as well as Principles of Political +Economy, 1885. + +Newman (Francis William) brother of Cardinal Newman, b. London +1805. Educated at Oxford, he was elected to a fellowship at Balliol +College '26, but resigned in '30, being unable conscientiously to +comply with the regulations of the Test Act then in force. He then +went to Bagdad with the object of assisting in a Christian mission, +but his further studies convinced him he could not conscientiously +undertake the work. He returned to England and became classical +teacher in Bristol College, and subsequently Latin Professor at +London University. In The Soul: its Sorrows and Aspirations, '49, +he states his Theistic position, and in Phases of Faith, '50, he +explains how he came to give up Christianity. He has also written A +History of the Hebrew Monarchy, '47, Theism: Doctrinal and Practical, +'58, and a number of Scott's tracts on the Defective Morality of +the New Testament, the Historical Depravation of Christianity, the +Religious Weakness of Protestantism, etc. Also Religion not History, +'77; What is Christianity without Christ? '81; Christianity in its +Cradle, '84; and Life after Death, '86. + +Neymann (Clara), German American Freethought lecturess, friend and +colleague of Frau Hedwig Henrich Wilhelmi. + +Nicholson (William), English writer on chemistry and natural +philosophy, b. London 1753. He went to India at an early age, and upon +returning settled at London as a Mathematical teacher. He published +useful introductions to chemistry and natural philosophy. Conducted +the British Encyclopedia, and the Journal of Natural Philosophy. He +also wrote The Doubts of the Infidels, submitted to the Bench of +Bishops by a weak Christian, 1781, a work republished by Carlile and +also by Watson. He died in poor circumstances 21 May, 1815. + +Nicolai (Christoph Friedrich), German writer, b. Berlin, 18 March, +1733. A friend of Lessing, and Moses Mendelssohn; he was noted +for founding "The Universal German Library." He wrote anecdotes of +Friedrich II., and many other works. Died at Berlin, 8 Jan. 1811. + +Nietzsche (Friedrich Wilhelm), German writer, b. Lutzen, 15 Oct. 1844, +author of sketches of Strauss, Schopenhauer, and Wagner, and of +Morgenröthe, and other philosophical works. Died 1889. + +Nieuwenhuis (Ferdinand Jakob Domela), Dutch publicist, b. Utrecht, +3 May, 1848. At first a minister of the Lutheran church, on Nov. 25, +'77, he told his congregation that he had ceased to believe in +Christianity, and as an honest man resigned. He then contributed +to De Banier (Banner) de Dageraad (Dawn) and de Vragen des Tijds +(Questions of the time.) On 1st March, '79 he started a Socialist +paper Recht voor Allen, now an important daily organ of Socialism and +Freethought. His principle writings are--With Jesus, For or against +Socialism, The Religious Oath Question, The Religion of Reason, +The Religion of Humanity. On Jan. 19, '87, he was sentenced to one +years' solitary confinement for an article he had not written, and +was harshly treated till upon pressure of public opinion, he was +liberated 30 Aug. 1887. He is now member of the Dutch Parliament. + +Noeldeke (Theodor), German Orientalist, b. Harburg, 2 March, +1836. Studied at Gottingen, Vienna, Leyden, and Berlin, and has been +professor of oriental studies at Gottingen, Kiel, and Strasburg. He +has written a History of the Koran, '56; a Life of Mahomet, '63; and +a Literary History of the Old Testament, which has been translated +into French by MM. Derembourg and J. Soury, '73. + +Noire (Ludwig), German monist, b. 26 March, 1829. Studied at Geissen, +and became a teacher at Mainz. His works show the influence of +Spinoza and Schopenhauer. He is the author of Aphorisms on the Monist +philosophy, '77, and a work on the Origin of Speech, '77. He contends +that language originates in instinctive sounds accompanying will in +associative actions. Died 26 March, 1889. + +Noorthouck (John), author of a History of London, 1773, and an +Historical and Classical Dictionary, 1776. Has been credited with +the Life of the Man After God's Own Heart. See Annet. + +Nordau (Max Simon), b. of Jewish parents at Pesth, 29 July, 1849. He +became a physician in '73. He has written several books of travels +and made some noise by his trenchant work on Convential Lies of our +Civilisation. He has since written on The Sickness of the Century. + +Nork (Felix). See Korn (Selig). + +Nott (Josiah Clark), Dr., American ethnologist, b. Columbia, South +Carolina, 24 March, 1804. He wrote The Physical History of the Jewish +Race, Types of Mankind, '54, and Indigenous Races of the Earth, '55; +the last two conjointly with G. R. Gliddon, and with the object of +disproving the theory of the unity of the human race. Died at Mobile, +31 March, 1873. + +Noun (Paul), French author of The Scientific Errors of the Bible, 1881. + +Noyes (Thomas Herbert), author of Hymns of Modern Man, 1870. + +Nunez (Rafael), President of Columbia, b. Carthagena, 28 Sept. 1825. He +has written many poems and political articles, and in philosophy is +a follower of Mill and Spencer. + +Nuytz (Louis André). See Andre-Nuytz. + +Nystrom (Anton Christen), Dr. Swedish Positivist, b. 15 +Feb. 1842. Studied at Upsala and became a medical doctor in Lund, +'68. He served as assistant and field doctor in the Dano-Prussian +war of '67, and now practises an alienist in Stockholm, where he has +established a Positivist Society and Workmen's Institute. Has written +a History of Civilisation. + +Ocellus Lucanus, early Greek philosopher, who maintained the +eternity of the cosmos. An edition of his work was published with a +translation by the Marquis d'Argens, and Thomas Taylor published an +English version. + +Ochino (Bernardino Tommasini), Italian reformer, b. Sienna, 1487. A +popular preacher, he was chosen general of the Capuchins. Converted to +the Reformation by Jean Valdez, he had to fly to Geneva, 1542. Invited +to England by Cranmer, he became prebend of Canterbury and preached +in London until the accession of Mary, when he was expelled and went +to Zurich. Here he became an Antitrinitarian, and was banished about +1562 for Thirty Dialogues, in one of which he shows that neither in the +Bible nor the Fathers is there any express prohibition of polygamy. He +went to Poland and joined the Socinians, was banished thence also, +and died Slaukau, Moravia, in 1564. Beza ascribes the misfortunes of +Ochinus, and particularly the accidental death of his wife, to the +special interposition of God on account of his erroneous opinions. + +O'Connor (Arthur, afterwards Condorcet), General, b. Mitchells, near +Bandon (Cork), 4 July, 1768. Joined the United Irishmen and went +to France to negotiate for military aid. In May 1798 he was tried +for treason and acquitted. He entered the French service and rose to +distinction. In 1807 he married Elisa, the only daughter of Condorcet, +whose name he took, and whose works he edited. He also edited the +Journal of Religious Freedom. Died at Bignon, 25 April, 1852. + +O'Donoghue (Alfred H.) Irish American counsellor at law, b. about +1840. Educated for the Episcopal ministry at Trinity College, Dublin, +but became a sceptic and published Theology and Mythology, an inquiry +into the claims of Biblical inspiration and the supernatural element +in religion, at New York, 1880. + +Oest (Johann Heinrich) German poet, b. Cassel 1727. Wrote poems +published at Hamburg, 1751, and was accused of materialism. + +Offen (Benjamin), American Freethinker, b. in England, 1772. He +emigrated to New York, where he became lecturer to the Society of +Moral Philantropists at Tammany Hall. He wrote Biblical Criticism +and A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion, and supported the +Correspondent, Free Inquirer, and Boston Investigator. Died New York, +12 May, 1848. + +Offray de la Mettrie (Julian). See Lamettrie. + +O'Keefe (J. A.), M.D. Educated in Germany; author of an essay On +the Progress of the Human Understanding, 1795, in which he speaks +disparagingly of Christianity. He was a follower of Kant, and was +classed with Living Authors of Great Britain in 1816. + +O'Kelly (Edmund de Pentheny), a descendant of the O'Kelly's; author +of Consciousness, or the Age of Reason, 1853; Theological Papers, +published by Holyoake; and Theology for the People, '55, a series of +short papers suggestive of religious Theism. + +Oken (Lorenz), German morphologist and philosopher, b. Offenburg, +2 Aug. 1779. He studied at Göttingen and became a privat-docent in +that university. In a remarkable Sketch of Natural Philosophy, 1802, +he advanced a scheme of evolution. He developed his system in a work +on Generation, 1805, and a Manual of Natural Philosophy, 1809. He +was professor at Jena, but dismissed for his liberal views. From +'17 till '48 he edited the scientific journal Isis. In '32 he became +a professor at Zürich, where he died, 11 Aug. 1851. + +Oliver (William), M.D., of Bath, who was accused of Atheism. Died 1764. + +Omar Khayyam. See Khayyam. + +Omboni (Giovanni), Lombard naturalist, b. Abbiategrasso, 29 June, +1829. Is professor of geology at Padua, and author of many scientific +works. + +Onimus (Ernest Nicolas Joseph), Dr., French Positivist, b. near +Mulhouse, 6 Dec. 1840. Studied medicine at Strasburg and Paris, +and wrote a treatise on The Dynamical Theory of Heat in Biological +Sciences, 1866. In '73 he was one of the jury of the Vienna Exhibition, +and obtained the Cross of the Legion of Honor. Is author of the +Psychology in the Plays of Shakespere, '78, and has written in the +Revue Positive and other periodicals. + +Oort (Henricus), Dutch rationalist, b. Eemnes, 27 Dec. 1836. Studied +theology at Leyden, and became teacher at Amsterdam. Has written many +works, of which we mention The Worship of Baalim in Israel, translated +by Bp. Colenso, 1865, and The Bible for Young People, written with +Drs. Hooykaas and Kuenen, and translated by P. H. Wickstead, 1873-79. + +Orelli (Johann Kaspar von), learned Swiss critic, b. Zürich, +13 Feb. 1789. Edited many classics, and wrote a letter in favor of +Strauss at the time when there was an outcry at his being appointed +Professor at Zürich. Died 6 Jan. 1849. + +Osborne (Francis), English writer, b. Clucksand, Beds. 1589. Was an +adherent of Cromwell in the Civil War. His Advice to a Son, 1656, was +popular though much censured by the Puritans who drew up a complaint +against his works and proposed to have them burnt, and an order was +passed 27 July, 1658, forbidding them to be sold. Died 1659. + +Oscar (L.), Swiss writer, author of Religion Traced Back to its +Source, Basel, 1874. He considers religion "a belief in conflict +with experience and resting on exaggerated fancies" of animism and +mythology. One of his chapters is entitled "The Crucifixion of the +Son of God as Christian mythology." + +Ossoli (Countess d'). See Fuller (Margaret). + +Oswald (Eugen), German teacher in England. Author of many popular +school books, and a Study of Positivism in England, 1884. + +Oswald (Felix Leopold), American writer, b. Belgium, 1845. Educated +as a physician, he has devoted his attention to natural history, +and in pursuit of his studies has travelled extensively. He has +contributed to the Popular Science Monthly, The Truthseeker and other +journals, and has published Summerland Sketches, or Rambles in the +Backwoods of Mexico and Central America, '81; Physical Education, +'82; The Secrets of the East, '83, which argues that Christianity +is derived from Buddhism, and The Bible of Nature or the Principles +of Secularism, '88. Dr. Oswald is now employed as Curator of Natural +History in Brazil. + +O'Toole (Adam Duff), Irish Freethought martyr, burnt to death at +Hogging (now College) Green, Dublin, in 1327. Holinshed says he +"denied obstinatelie the incarnation of our savior, the trinitie +of persons in the vnitie of the Godhead and the resurrection of the +flesh; as for the Holie Scripture, he said it was but a fable; the +Virgin Marie he affirmed to be a woman of dissolute life, and the +Apostolic see erronious." + +"Ouida," See Ramée (Louise de la). + +Ouvry (Henry Aimé), Col., translator of Feuchterslebens, Dietetics +of the Soul and Rau's Unsectarian Catechism, and author of several +works on the land question. + +Overton (Richard), English Republican, who wrote a satire on relics, +1642, and a treatise on Man's Mortality (London, 1643, Amsterdam, +1644) a work designed to show man is naturally mortal. + +Owen (Robert), social reformer, b. Newton, Montgomeryshire, Wales, 14 +March, 1771. At 18 he was so distinguished by his business talents that +he became partner in a cotton mill. In 1797 he married the daughter +of David Dale, and soon afterwards became partner and sole manager +at New Lanark Mills, where he built the first infant schools and +improved the dwellings of the workmen. From 1810-15 he published New +Views on Society, or, Essays on the Formation of Character. In '17 he +caused much excitement by proclaiming that the religions of the world +were all false, and that man was the creature of circumstances. In +'24 he went to America and purchased New Harmony, Indiana, from the +Rappists to found a new community, but the experiment was a failure, +as were also others at Orbiston, Laner, and Queenswood, Hants. In +'28 he debated at Cincinatti with Alex. Campbell on the Evidences of +Christianity. He published a numerous series of tracts, Robert Owen's +Journal, and The New Moral World, '35. He debated on his Social +System with the Rev. J. H. Roebuck, R. Brindley, etc. As his mind +began to fail he accepted the teachings of Spiritism. Died Newton, +17 Nov. 1858. Owen profoundly influenced the thought of his time in +the direction of social amelioration, and he is justly respected for +his energy, integrity and disinterested philanthropy. + +Owen (Robert Dale), son of the above, b. Glasgow 9 Nov. 1800. Was +educated by his father till 1820, when he was sent to Fellenberg's +school, near Berne, Switzerland. In '25 he went to America to aid +in the efforts to found a colony at New Harmony, Indiana. On the +failure of that experiment he began with Frances Wright, in Nov. '28, +the publication of the Free Inquirer, which was continued till +'32. In that year he had a written discussion with O. Bachelor on +the existence of God, and the authenticity of the Bible, in which he +ably championed the Freethought cause. He wrote a number of tracts +of which we mention Situations, 1839; Address on Free Inquiry, 1840; +Prossimo's Experience, Consistency, Galileo and the Inquisition. He +was elected to Congress in '43. After fifteen years of labor he +secured the women of Indiana independent rights of property. He +became charge d'affaires at Naples in '53. During the civil war he +strongly advocated slave emancipation. Like his father he became a +Spiritualist. Died at Lake George, 17 June, 1877. + +Paalzow (Christian Ludwig), German jurist, b. Osterburg (Altmark), +26 Nov. 1753, translated Voltaire's commentaries on The Spirit of +the Laws and Burigny's Examination of the Apologists of Christianity +(Leipzic, 1793), and wrote a History of Religious Cruelty (Mainz, +1800). Died 20 May, 1824. + +Paepe (Cesar de). See De Paepe. + +Pagano (Francisco Mario Saverio Antonio Carlo Pasquale). Italian +jurist, philosopher and patriot, b. Brienza, 1748. He studied at +Naples, and became the friend of Filangieri. Was made professor +of criminal law in 1787. For his Political Essays in three volumes +(1783-92) he was accused of Atheism and impiety. He wrote on Criminal +Process and a work on God and Nature. Taking part in the Provisional +Government of the Neapolitan Republic in 1791, he was taken prisoner +by the royalists and executed 6 Oct. 1800. + +Page (David). Scotch geologist, b. 29 Aug. 1814. Author of +introductory and advanced text-books of geology, which went through +many editions. He gave advanced lectures in Edinburgh, and edited +Life Lights of Song, '64. His Man Where, Whence, and Whither?, +'67, advocating Darwinian views, made some stir in Scotland. He +became professor of geology at Durham University. A friend of Robert +Chambers, he was for some time credited with that writer's Vestiges +of Creation, in the scientific details of which he assisted. Died at +Newcastle-on-Tyne, 9 March, 1879. + +Paget (Violet). English authoress, who, under the pen-name of "Vernon +Lee," has written Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy and +Baldwin, dialogues on views and aspirations 1886. Since '71 she has +lived chiefly in Florence, and contributes to the principal reviews, +an article in the Contemporary (May '83) on "Responsibilities of +Unbelief" being particularly noticeable. Miss Paget's writings show +a cultivated mind and true literary instinct. + +Pageze (L.) French Socialist; has written on the Concordat and the +Budget des Cultes, '86, Separation of Church and State, '87, etc. + +Paine (Thomas), Deist, b. Thetford, Norfolk, 29 Jan., 1737. His father +was a Quaker and staymaker, and Paine was brought up to the trade. He +left home while still young, went to London and Sandwich, where he +married the daughter of an exciseman, and entered the excise. He +was selected by his official associates to embody their wants in a +paper, and on this work he displayed such talent that Franklin, then +in London, suggested America as a good field for his abilities. Paine +went in 1774, and soon found work for his pen. He became editor of the +Pennsylvanian Magazine and contributed to the Pennsylvanian journal +a strong anti-slavery essay. Common Sense, published early in 1776, +advocating absolute independence for America, did more than anything +else to precipitate the great events of that year. Each number of +the Crisis, which appeared during the war, was read by Washington's +order to each regiment in the service. Paine subscribed largely +to the army, and served for a short time himself. After peace was +declared, congress voted him three thousand dollars, and the state +of New York gave him a large farm. Paine turned his attention to +mechanics, and invented the tubular iron bridge, which he endeavored +to introduce in Europe. Reaching France during the Revolution, +he published a pamphlet advocating the abolition of royalty. In +1791 he published his Rights of Man, in reply to Burke. For this +he was outlawed. Escaping from England, he went to France, where he +was elected to the Convention. He stoutly opposed the execution of +the king, and was thrown by Robespierre into the Luxembourg prison, +where for nearly a year he awaited the guillotine. During this time +he wrote the first part of the Age of Reason, which he completed +on his release. This famous book, though vulnerable in some minor +points of criticism, throws a flood of light on Christian dogmas, +and has had a more extended sale than any other Freethought work. As +a natural consequence, Paine has been an object of incessant slander +by the clergy. Paine died at New York 8 June, 1809, and, by his own +direction was buried on his farm at New Rochelle. Cobbett is said to +have disinterred him and brought his bones to England. + +Pajot (François). See Liniere. + +Paleario (Aonio), i.e., Antonio, della Paglia, Italian humanist and +martyr, b. about 1500 at Véroli in the Roman Campagna. In 1520 he +went to Rome and took place among the brilliant men of letters of +court of Leo X. After the taking of Rome by Charles V. he retired +to Sienna. In 1536 he published at Lyons an elegant Latin poem on +the Mortality of the Soul--modeled on Lucretius. He was Professor +of Eloquence at Milan for ten years, but was accused of heresy. He +had called the Inquisition a poignard directed against all men of +letters. On 3 July, 1570, he was hung and his body thrown into the +flames. A work on the Benefit of Christ's Death has been attributed to +him on insufficient grounds. It is attributed to Benedetto da Mantova. + +Pallas (Peter Simon), German naturalist and traveller, b. Berlin, +22 Sept. 1741. Educated as a physician at Gottingen and Leyden, +he was invited by Catherine II. to become Professor of Natural +History at St. Petersburg. He travelled through Siberia and settled +in the Crimea. In 1810 he returned to Berlin, where he died 8 +Sept. 1811. Lalande spoke highly of him, and Cuvier considered him +the founder of modern geology. + +Pallavicino (Ferrante), Italian poet and wit, b. Piacenza 1616. He +became a canon of the Lateran congregation, but for composing some +satirical pieces against Pope Urban VIII. had a price set on his +head. He fled to Venice, but a false friend betrayed him to the +Inquisition, and he was beheaded at Avignon, 5 March, 1644. + +Palmer (Courtlandt), American reformer, b. New York, 25 March, +1843, graduated at the Columbia law-school in '69. He was brought +up in the Dutch Reformed Church, but became a Freethinker while +still young. Mr. Palmer did much to promote Liberal ideas. In '80 +he established and became President of the Nineteenth Century Club, +for the utmost liberty of public discussion. He contributed to the +Freethinker's Magazine, Truthseeker, etc. A sister married Prof. Draper +with whom he was intimate. Died at New York, 23 July, 1888, and was +cremated at Fresh Pond, his friend Col. R. G. Ingersoll delivering +an eulogium. + +Palmer (Elihu), American author, b. Canterbury, Connecticut, +1764. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1787, and studied divinity but +became a deist in 1791. In 1793 he became totally blind from an +attack of yellow fever. In 1797 he lectured to a Deistical Society +in New York. After this he dictated his Principles of Nature, 1802, +a powerful anti-Christian work, reprinted by Carlile in '19. He also +wrote Prospect or View of the Moral World from the year 1804. Palmer +was the head of the Society of Columbian Illuminati founded in New +York in 1801. He died in Philadelphia, 7 April, 1806. + +Panaetius, Stoic philosopher, b. Rhodes, a pupil of Diogenes the Stoic, +and perhaps of Carneades. About 150 B.C. he visited Rome and taught a +moderate stoicism, denying the doctrine of the conflagration of the +world, and placing physics before dialectics. He wrote a work On +Duties, to which Cicero expresses his indebtedness in his De Officiis. +Died in Athens 111 B.C. + +Pancoucke (Charles Joseph), eminent French publisher, b. Lille, 26 +Nov. 1736. He settled at Paris and became acquainted with d'Alembert, +Garat, etc., and was a correspondent of Rousseau, Buffon and Voltaire, +whose works he brought out. He translated Lucretius, 1768, brought out +the Mercure de France, projected in 1781 the important Encyclopédie +Méthodique, of which there are 166 vols., and founded the Moniteur, +1789. Died at Paris, 19 Dec. 1798. + +Pantano (Eduardo), Italian author of a little book on the Sicilian +Vespers and the Commune, Catania, 1882. + +Papillon (J. Henri Fernand), French philosophic writer, b. Belfort, +5 June, 1847. He wrote an Introduction to Chemical Philosophy, +'65; contributed to the Revue de Philosophie Positive and the Revue +des Deux Mondes. His principal work is entitled Nature and Life, +'73. Died at Paris 31 Dec. 1873. + +Paquet (Henri Remi René), French writer, b. Charleville, 29 +Sep. 1845. After studying under the Jesuits he went to Paris, +where he became an advocate, but devoted his main attention to +literature. Under the anagram of "Nérée Quépat" he has published La +Lorgnette Philosophique, '72, a dictionary of the great and little +philosophers of our time, a study of La Mettrie entitled Materialist +Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century and other works. + +Pare (William), Owenite Social reformer, b. Birmingham, 11 +Aug. 1805. Wrote an abridgment of Thompson's Distribution of Wealth, +also works on Capital and Labor '54, Co-operative Agriculture, at +Rahaline, '70, etc. He compiled vol. 1 of the Biography of Robert +Owen. Died at Croydon, 18 June, 1873. + +Parfait (Noel), French writer and politician, b. Chartres, 30 +Nov. 1814. Took part in the revolution of '30, and wrote many radical +brochures. After the coup d'état he took refuge in Belgium. In '71 +was elected deputy and sat on the extreme left. + +Parfait (Paul), son of the foregoing, b. Paris, 1841. Author of +L'Arsenal de la Dévotion, '76, Notes to serve for a history of +superstition, and a supplement Le Dossier des Pélerinages, '77, +and other pieces. Died 1881. + +Parisot (Jean Patrocle), a Frenchman who wrote La Foy devoilée par +la raison, 1681 [Faith Unveiled by Reason], a work whose title seems +to have occasioned its suppression. + +Parker (Theodore), American rationalist, b. Lexington, Mass., 24 +Aug. 1810. From his father--a Unitarian--he inherited independence +of mind, courage, and love of speculation. Brought up in poverty he +studied hard, and acquired a University education while laboring on the +farm. In March, '31, he became an assistant teacher at Boston. In June, +'37, he was ordained Unitarian minister. Parker gradually became known +as an iconoclast, and study of the German critics made him a complete +rationalist, so that even the Unitarian body rejected him. A society +was established to give him a hearing in Boston, and soon his fame +was established. His Discourse on Matters Pertaining to Religion, +'47, exhibited his fundamental views. He translated and enlarged +De Wette's Critical Introduction to the Old Testament. A fearless +opponent of the Fugitive Slave Law, he sheltered slaves in his own +house. Early in '59 failing health compelled him to relinquish his +duties. Died at Florence, 10 May, 1860. He bequeathed his library of +13,000 volumes to the Boston Public Library. + +Parmenides, a Greek philosopher, b. Elea, Italy, 518 B.C. Is said +to have been a disciple of Xenophanes. He developed his philosophy +about 470 B.C. in a didactic poem On Nature, fragments of which are +preserved by Sextus Empiricus. He held to Reason as our guide, and +considered nature eternal. + +Parny (Évariste Désiré de Forges de), Viscount. French poet, +b. St. Paul, Isle of Bourbon, 6 Feb. 1753. Educated in France, he +chose the military profession. A disappointed passion for a creole +inspired his "Amatory Poems," and he afterwards wrote the audacious +War of the Gods, Paradise Lost, and The Gallantries of the Bible. His +poems, though erotic, are full of elegant charm, and he has been +named the French Tibullus. He was admitted into the French Academy +in 1803. Died at Paris, 5 Dec. 1814. + +Parton (James), author, b. Canterbury, England, 9 Feb. 1822. Was taken +to the United States when a child and educated at New York. He married +Miss Willis, "Fannie Fern," and has written many biographies, including +Lives of Thomas Jefferson, '74, and of Voltaire, '81. He has also +written on Topics of the Time, '71, and Church Taxation. He resided +in New York till '75 when he removed to Newburyport, Massachusetts. + +Parvish (Samuel), Deistic author of An Inquiry into the Jewish and +Christian Revelation (London, 1739), of which a second edition was +issued in 1746. + +Pasquier (Étienne). French journalist, b. 7 April, 1529, at +Paris. Brought up to the bar he became a successful pleader. He +defended the Universities against the Jesuits, whom he also attacked +in a bitter satire, Catéchisme des Jésuites. Died Paris, 30 Aug. 1615. + +Passerano (Alberto Radicati di) count. Italian philosopher of last +century, attached to the court of Victor Amedée II. For some pamphlets +written against the Papal power he was pursued by the Inquisition and +his goods seized. He lived in England and made the acquaintance of +Collins, also in France and Holland, where he died about 1736, leaving +his goods to the poor. In that year he published at Rotterdam Recueil +de Pièces curieuses sur les matieres les plus íntéressantes, etc., +which contains a Parallel between Mahomet and Sosem (anagram of Moses), +an abridged history of the Sacerdotal Profession, and a Faithful and +comic recital of the religion of modern cannibals, by Zelin Moslem; +also a Dissertation upon Death, which was published separately in +1733. The Recueil was republished at London in 1749. He also wrote a +pretended translation from an Arabic work on Mohammedanism, satirising +the Bible, and a pretended sermon by Elwall the Quaker. + +Pasteur (Louis). French scientist b. Dôle, 27 Dec 1822, became doctor +in '47 and professor of physic at Strassburg in '48. He received +the Rumford medal of the Royal Society in '56 for his discoveries +in polarisation and molecular chemistry. Decorated with the Legion +of honor in '53, he was made commander '68 and grand officer '78. His +researches into innoculation have been much contested, but his admirers +have raised a large institute for the prosecution of his treatment. He +was elected to the Academy as successor of Littré. He gave his name +as Vice-President of the British Secular Union. + +Pastoret (Claude Emmanuel Joseph Pierre de), Marquis, French statesman +and writer, b. of noble family at Marseilles, 25 Oct. 1756. Educated by +the Oratorians at Lyons, in 1779 he published an Elege de Voltaire. By +his works on Zoroaster, Confucius and Mahomet (1787) and on Moses +Considered as Legislator and Moralist (1788) he did something for the +infant science of comparative religion. His principal work is a learned +History of Legislation, in 11 vols. (1817-37), in which he passes in +review all the ancient codes. He embraced the Revolution, and became +President of the Legislative Assembly (3 Oct. 1791). He proposed the +erection of the Column of July on the Place of the Bastille, and the +conversion of the church of Ste Geneviève into the Pantheon. On the +19th June, 1792, he presented a motion for the complete separation of +the state from religion. He fled during the Terror, but returned as +deputy in 1795. In 1820 he succeeded his friend Volney as member of +the French Academy, in '23 received the cross of the Legion of Honor, +and in '29 became Chancellor of France. Died at Paris, 28 Sept. 1840. + +Pater (Walter Horatio), English writer, b. London, 4 Aug. 1839. B.A. at +Oxford in '62, M.A. in '65. Has written charming essays in the +Westminster Review, Macmillan, and the Fortnightly Review. In '73 +he published The Renaissance, and in '85 Marius the Epicurean, His +Sensations and Ideas. + +Paterson (Thomas), b. near Lanark early in this century. After +the imprisonment of Southwell and Holyoake he edited the Oracle of +Reason. For exhibiting profane placards he was arrested and sentenced +27 Jan. 1843 to three months' imprisonment. His trial was reported +under the title God v. Paterson ('43.) He insisted on considering +God as the plaintiff and in quoting from "the Jew book" to show +the plaintiff's bad character. When released he went to Scotland to +uphold the right of free publication, and was sentenced 8 Nov. '43 to +fifteen months' imprisonment for selling "blasphemous" publications +at Edinburgh. On his release he was presented with a testimonial 6 +April, 1845, H. Hetherington presiding. Paterson went to America. + +Patin (Gui), French physician, writer, and wit, b. near Beauvais +31 Aug. 1602. He became professor at the college of France. His +reputation is chiefly founded on his Letters, in which he attacked +superstition. Larousse says "C'était un libre penseur de la famille +de Rabelais." Died at Paris 30 Aug. 1672. + +Patot. See Tyssot de Patot (S.) + +Pauw (Cornelius), learned Dutch writer, b. Amsterdam, 1739. He wrote +philosophical researches on the Americans, and also on the Egyptians, +Chinese, and Greeks. Was esteemed by Frederick the Great for his +ingenuity and penetration. Died at Xanten, 7 July, 1799. He was the +uncle of Anacharsis Clootz. + +Peacock (John Macleay), Scotch poet, b. 21 March, 1817. He wrote +many poems in the National Reformer, and in '67 published Hours of +Reverie. Died 4 May, 1877. + +Peacock or Pecock (Reginald), the father of English rationalism, +b. about 1390, and educated at Oriel College Oxford, of which he +was chosen fellow in 1417. Was successively Bishop of St Asaph, +1444, and Chichester, 1450, by the favor of Humphrey, the good +Duke of Gloster. He declared that Scripture must in all cases be +accommodated to "the doom of reason." He questioned the genuineness +of the Apostles' Creed. In 1457 he was accused of heresy, recanted +from fear of martyrdom, was deprived of his bishopric, and imprisoned +in a monastery at Canterbury, where he used to repeat to those who +visited him, + + + "Wit hath wonder, that reason cannot skan, + How a Moder is Mayd, and God is Man." + + +His books were publicly burnt at Oxford. He died in 1460. His influence +doubtless contributed to the Reformation. + +Pearson (Karl), author of a volume of essays entitled The Ethic of +Freethought, 1888. Educated at Cambridge; B.A. '79, M.A. '82. + +Pechmeja (Jean de), French writer. A friend of Raynal, he wrote a +socialistic romance in 12 books in the style of Telemachus, called +Télèphe, 1784. Died 1785. + +Peck (John), American writer in the Truthseeker. Has published Miracles +and Miracle Workers, etc. + +Pecqueur (A.), contributor to the Rationaliste of Geneva, 1864. + +Pelin (Gabriel), French author of works on Spiritism Explained and +Destroyed, 1864, and God or Science, '67. + +Pelletan (Charles Camille), French journalist and deputy, son of +the following; b. Paris, 23 June, 1846. Studied at the Lycée Louis +le Grand. He wrote in La Tribune Française, and Le Rappel, and since +'80 has conducted La Justice with his friend Clémenceau, of whom he +has written a sketch. + +Pelletan (Pierre Clement Eugène), French writer, +b. Saint-Palais-sur-Meir, 20 Oct. 1813. As a journalist he wrote in +La Presse, under the name of "Un Inconnu," articles distinguished +by their love of liberty and progress. He also contributed to the +Revue des Deux Mondes. In '52 he published his Profession of Faith +of the Nineteenth Century, and in '57 The Law of Progress and The +Philosophical Kings. From '53-'55 he opposed Napoleon in the Siècle, +and afterwards established La Tribune Française. In '63 he was +elected deputy, but his election being annulled, he was re-elected in +'64. He took distinguished rank among the democratic opposition. After +the battle of Sedan he was made member of the Committee of National +Defence, and in '76 of the Senate, of which he became vice-president +in '79. In '78 he wrote a study on Frederick the Great entitled Un +Roi Philosophe, and in '83 Is God Dead? Died at Paris, 14 Dec. 1884. + +Pemberton (Charles Reece). English actor and author, b. Pontypool, +S. Wales, 23 Jan. 1790. He travelled over most of the world and +wrote The Autobiography of Pel Verjuice, which with other remains +was published in 1843. Died 3 March, 1840. + +Pennetier (Georges), Dr., b. Rouen, 1836, Director of the Museum of +Natural History at Rouen. Author of a work on the Origin of Life, +'68, in which he contends for spontaneous generation. To this work +F. A. Pouchet contributed a preface. + +Perfitt (Philip William), Theist, b. 1820, edited the Pathfinder, +'59-61. Preached at South Place Chapel. Wrote Life and Teachings of +Jesus of Nazareth, '61. + +Periers (Bonaventure des). See Desperiers. + +Perot (Jean Marie Albert), French banker, author of a work on Man +and God, which has been translated into English, 1881, and Moral and +Philosophical Allegories (Paris, 1883). + +Perrier (Edmond), French zoologist, Curator at Museum of Natural +History, Paris, b. Tulle, 1844. Author of numerous works on Natural +History, and one on Transformisme, '88. + +Perrin (Raymond S.), American author of a bulky work on The Religion +of Philosophy, or the Unification of Knowledge: a comparison of the +chief philosophical and religious systems of the world, 1885. + +Perry (Thomas Ryley), one of Carlile's shopmen, sentenced 1824 to +three years' imprisonment in Newgate for selling Palmer's Principles +of Nature. He became a chemist at Leicester and in 1844 petitioned +Parliament for the prisoners for blasphemy, Paterson and Roalfe, +stating that his own imprisonment had not fulfilled the judge's hope +of his recantation. + +Petit (Claude), French poet, burnt on the Place de Grève in 1665 as +the author of some impious pieces. + +Petronius, called Arbiter (Titus), Roman Epicurean poet at the Court +of Nero, in order to avoid whose resentment he opened his veins and +bled to death in A.D. 66, conversing meanwhile with his friends on the +gossip of the day. To him we owe the lines on superstition, beginning +"Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor." Petronius is famous for his "pure +Latinity." He is as plain-spoken as Juvenal, and with the same excuse, +his romance being a satire on Nero and his court. + +Petruccelli della Gattina (Ferdinando) Italian writer, b. Naples, +1816, has travelled much and written many works. He was deputy to +the Naples Parliament in '48, and exiled after the reaction. + +Petrus de Abano. A learned Italian physician, b. Abano 1250. He +studied at Paris and became professor of medicine at Padua. He wrote +many works and had a great reputation. He is said to have denied the +existence of spirits, and to have ascribed all miracles to natural +causes. Cited before the Inquisition in 1306 as a heretic, a magician +and an Atheist, he ably defended himself and was acquitted. He was +accused a second time but dying (1320) while the trial was preparing, +he was condemned after death, his body disinterred and burnt, and he +was also burnt in effigy in the public square of Padua. + +Peypers (H. F. A.), Dutch writer, b. De Rijp, 2 Jan. 1856, studied +medicine, and is now M.D. at Amsterdam. He is a man of erudition and +good natured though satirical turn of mind. He has contributed much +to De Dageraad, and is at present one of the five editors of that +Freethought monthly. + +Peyrard (François), French mathematician, b. Vial (Haute Loire) +1760. A warm partisan of the revolution, he was one of those who (7 +Nov. 1793) incited Bishop Gobel to abjure his religion. An intimate +friend of Sylvian Maréchal, Peyrard furnished him with notes for +his Dictionnaire des Athées. He wrote a work on Nature and its Laws, +1793-4, and proposed the piercing of the Isthmus of Suez. He translated +the works of Euclid and Archimedes. Died at Paris 3 Oct. 1822. + +Peyrat (Alphonse), French writer, b. Toulouse, 21 June, 1812. He +wrote in the National and la Presse, and combated against the Second +Empire. In '65 he founded l'Avenir National, which was several +times condemned. In Feb. '71, he was elected deputy of the Seine, +and proposed the proclamation of the Republic. In '76 he was chosen +senator. He wrote a History of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, +'55; History and Religion, '58; Historical and Religious Studies, '58; +and an able and scholarly Elementary and Critical History of Jesus, +'64. + +Peyrere (Isaac de la), French writer, b. Bordeaux, 1594, and brought up +as a Protestant. He entered into the service of the house of Condé, and +became intimate with La Mothe de Vayer and Gassendi. His work entitled +Præadamitæ, 1653, in which he maintained that men lived before Adam, +made a great sensation, and was burnt by the hangman at Paris. The +bishop of Namur censured it, and la Peyrère was arrested at Brussels, +1656, by order of the Archbishop of Malines, but escaped by favor of +the Prince of Condé on condition of retracting his book at Rome. The +following epitaph was nevertheless made on him: + + + La Peyrere ici gît, ce bon Israelite, + Hugenot, Catholique, enfin Pre-adamite: + Quatre religions lui plurent à la fois: + Et son indifférence était si peu commune + Qu'après 80 ans qu'il eut à faire un choix + Le bon homme partit, et n'en choisit pas une. + + +Died near Paris, 30 Jan. 1676. + +Pfeiff (Johan Gustaf Viktor), Swedish baron, b. Upland, 1829. Editor +of the free religious periodical, The Truthseeker, since 1882. He has +also translated into Swedish some of the writings of Herbert Spencer. + +Pharmacopulo (A.P.) Greek translator of Büchner's Force and Matter, and +corresponding member of the International Federation of Freethinkers. + +Phillips (Sir Richard), industrious English writer, b. London, 1767. He +was hosier, bookseller, printer, publisher, republican, Sheriff of +London (1807-8), and Knight. He compiled many schoolbooks, chiefly +under pseudonyms, of which the most popular were the Rev. J. Goldsmith +and Rev. D. Blair. His own opinions are seen most in his Million of +Facts. Died at Brighton 2 April, 1840. + +Phillippo (William Skinner), farmer, of Wood Norton, near Thetford, +Norfolk. A deist who wrote an Essay on Political and Religious +Meditations, 1868. + +Pi-y Margall (Francisco), Spanish philosopher and Republican statesman, +b. Barcelona, 1820. The first book he learnt to read was the Ruins +of Volney. Studied law and became an advocate. He has written many +political works, and translated Proudhon, for whom he has much +admiration, into Spanish. He has also introduced the writings and +philosophy of Comte into his own country. He was associated with +Castelar and Figueras in the attempt to establish a Spanish Republic, +being Minister of the Interior, and afterwards President in 1873. + +Pichard (Prosper). French Positivist, author of Doctrine of Reality, +"a catechism for the use of people who do not pay themselves with +words," to which Littré wrote a preface, 1873. + +Pierson (Allard). Dutch rationalist critic, b. Amsterdam 8 April, +1831. Educated in theology, he was minister to the Evangelical +congregation at Leuven, afterwards at Rotterdam and finally professor +at Heidelberg. He resigned his connection with the Church in '64. He +has written many works of theological and literary value of which we +mention his Poems '82, New Studies on Calvin, '83, and Verisimilia, +written in conjunction with S. A. Naber, '86. + +Pigault-Lebrun (Guillaume Charles Antoine), witty French author, +b. Calais, 8 April, 1753. He studied under the Oratorians of +Boulogne. He wrote numerous comedies and romances, and Le Citateur, +1803, a collection of objections to Christianity, borrowed in part +from Voltaire, whose spirit he largely shared. In 1811 Napoleon +threatened the priests he would issue this work wholesale. It +was suppressed under the Restoration, but has been frequently +reprinted. Pigault-Lebrun became secretary to King Jerome Napoleon, +and died at La Celle-Saint-Cloud, 24 July, 1835. + +Pike (J. W.) American lecturer, b. Concord (Ohio), 27 June, 1826, +wrote My Religious Experience and What I found in the Bible, 1867. + +Pillsbury (Parker), American reformer, b. Hamilton, Mass., 22 +Sep. 1809. Was employed in farm work till '35, when he entered +Gilmerton theological seminary. He graduated in '38, studied a year +at Andover, was congregational minister for one year, and then, +perceiving the churches were the bulwark of slavery, abandoned the +ministry. He became an abolitionist lecturer, edited the Herald +of Freedom, National Anti-Slavery Standard, and the Revolution. He +also preached for free religious societies, wrote Pious Frauds, and +contributed to the Boston Investigator and Freethinkers' Magazine. His +principal work is Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles, 1883. + +Piron (Alexis), French comic poet, b. Dijon, 9 July, 1689. His +pieces were full of wit and gaiety, and many anecdotes are told of +his profanity. Among his sallies was his reply to a reproof for being +drunk on Good Friday, that failing must be excused on a day when even +deity succumbed. Being blind in his old age he affected piety. Worried +by his confessor about a Bible in the margin of which he had written +parodies and epigrams as the best commentary, he threw the whole book +in the fire. Asked on his death-bed if he believed in God he answered +"Parbleu, I believe even in the Virgin." Died at Paris, 21 Jan. 1773. + +Pisarev (Dmitri Ivanovich) Russian critic, journalist, and materialist, +b. 1840. He first became known by his criticism on the Scholastics of +the nineteenth century. Died Baden, near Riga, July 1868. His works +are published in ten vols. Petersburg, 1870. + +Pitt (William). Earl of Chatham, an illustrious English statesman +and orator, b. Boconnoc, Cornwall, 15 Nov. 1708. The services to his +country of "the Great Commoner," as he was called, are well known, +but it is not so generally recognised that his Letter on Superstition, +first printed in the London Journal in 1733, entitles him to be ranked +with the Deists. He says that "the more superstitious people are, +always the more vicious; and the more they believe, the less they +practice." Atheism furnishes no man with arguments to be vicious; +but superstition, or what the world made by religion, is the greatest +possible encouragement to vice, by setting up something as religion, +which shall atone and commute for the want of virtue. This remarkable +letter ends with the words "Remember that the only true divinity +is humanity." + +Place (Francis), English Radical reformer and tailor; b. 1779 at +Charing Cross. He early became a member of the London, Corresponding +Society. He wrote to Carlile's Republican and Lion. A friend of +T. Hardy, H. Tooke, James Mill, Bentham, Roebuck, Hetherington, and +Hibbert (who puts him in his list of English Freethinkers). He was +connected with all the advanced movements of his time and has left +many manuscripts illustrating the politics of that period, which are +now in the British Museum. He always professed to be an Atheist--see +Reasoner, 26 March, '54. Died at Kensington, 1 Jan. 1854. + +Platt (James), F.S.S., a woolen merchant and Deistic author of +popular works on Business, '75; Morality, '78; Progress, '80; Life, +'81; God and Mammon, etc. + +Pliny (Caius Plinius Secundus), the elder, Roman naturalist, b. Verona, +A.D. 22. He distinguished himself in the army, was admitted into the +college of Augurs, appointed procurator in Spain, and honored with +the esteem of Vespasian and Titus. He wrote the history of his own +time in 31 books, now lost, and a Natural History in 37 books, one +of the most precious monuments of antiquity, in which his Epicurean +Atheism appears. Being with the fleet at Misenum, 24 Aug. A.D. 79, +he observed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and landing to assist +the inhabitants was himself suffocated by the noxious vapors. + +Plumacher (Olga), German pessimist, follower of Hartmann, and authoress +of a work on Pessimism in the Past and Future, Heidelberg, 1884. She +has also defended her views in Mind. + +Plumer (William) American senator, b. Newburyport, Mass. 25 June, +1759. In 1780 he became a Baptist preacher, but resigned on account +of scepticism. He remained a deist. He served in the Legislature +eight terms, during two of which he was Speaker. He was governor +of New Hampshire, 1812-18, wrote to the press over the signature +"Cincinnatus," and published an Address to the Clergy, '14. He lived +till 22 June, 1850. + +Plutarch. Greek philosopher and historian, b. Cheronæa in Boetia, about +A.D. 50. He visited Delphi and Rome, where he lived in the reign of +Trajan. His Parallel Lives of forty-six Greeks and Romans have made +him immortal. He wrote numerous other anecdotal and ethical works, +including a treatise on Superstition. He condemned the vulgar notions +of Deity, and remarked, in connection with the deeds popularly ascribed +to the gods, that he would rather men said there was no Plutarch than +traduce his character. In other words, superstition is more impious +than Atheism. Died about A.D. 120. + +Poe (Edgar Allan), American poet, grandson of General Poe, who figured +in the war of independence, b. Boston, 19 Jan. 1809. His mother was +an actress. Early left an orphan. After publishing Tamerlane and other +Poems, '27, he enlisted in the United States Army, but was cashiered in +'31. He then took to literary employment in Baltimore and wrote many +stories, collected as the Tales of Mystery, Imagination, and Humor. In +'45 appeared The Raven and other Poems, which proved him the most +musical and dextrous of American poets. In '48 he published Eureka, +a Prose Poem, which, though comparatively little known, he esteemed +his greatest work. It indicates pantheistic views of the universe. His +personal appearance was striking and one of his portraits is not +unlike that of James Thomson. Died in Baltimore, 7 Oct. 1849. + +Poey (Andrés), Cuban meteorologist and Positivist of French and Spanish +descent, b. Havana, 1826. Wrote in the Modern Thinker, and is author +of many scientific memoirs and a popular exposition of Positivism +(Paris, 1876), in which he has a chapter on Darwinism and Comtism. + +Pompery (Edouard), French publicist, b. Courcelles, 1812. A follower +of Fourier, he has written on Blanquism and opportunism, '79, and a +Life of Voltaire, '80. + +Pomponazzi (Pietro) [Lat. Pomponatius], Italian philosopher, +b. Mantua, of noble family, 16 Sept. 1462. He studied at Padua, +where he graduated 1487 as laureate of medicine. Next year he was +appointed professor of philosophy at Padua, teaching in concurrence +with Achillini. He afterwards taught the doctrines of Aristotle at +Ferrara and Bologna. His treatise De Immortalitate Animæ, 1516, gave +great offence by denying the philosophical foundation of the doctrine +of the immortality of the soul. The work was burnt by the hangman at +Venice, and it is said Cardinal Bembo's intercession with Pope Leo +X. only saved Pomponazzi from ecclesiastical procedure. Among his works +is a treatise on Fate, Free Will, etc. Pomponazzi was a diminutive +man, and was nicknamed "Peretto." He held that doubt was necessary +for the development of knowledge, and left an unsullied reputation +for upright conduct and sweet temper. Died at Bologna, 18 May, 1525, +and was buried at Mantua, where a monument was erected to his memory. + +Ponnat (de), Baron, French writer, b. about 1810. Educated by +Jesuits, he became a thorough Freethinker and democrat and a friend +of A. S. Morin, with whom he collaborated on the Rationaliste of +Geneva. He wrote many notable articles in La Libre Pensée, Le Critique, +and Le Candide, for writing in which last he was sentenced to one +year's imprisonment. He published, under the anagram of De Pontan, +The Cross or Death, a discourse to the bishops who assisted at the +Ecumenical Council at Rome (Brussels, '62). His principal work is +a history of the variations and contradictions of the Roman Church +(Paris, '82). Died in 1884. + +Porphyry, Greek philosoper of the New Platonic school, b. Sinia, +233 A.D. His original name was Malchus or Melech--a "King." He was +a pupil of Longinus and perhaps of Origen. Some have supposed that +he was of Jewish faith, and first embraced and then afterwards +rejected Christianity. It is certain he was a man of learning and +intelligence; the friend as well as the disciple of Plotinus. He wrote +(in Greek) a famous work in fifteen books against the Christians, some +fragments of which alone remain in the writings of his opponents. It +is certain he showed acquaintance with the Jewish and Christian +writings, exposed their contradictions, pointed out the dispute between +Peter and Paul, and referred Daniel to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. +He wrote many other works, among which are lives of Plotinus and +Pythagorus. Died at Rome about 305. + +Porzio (Simone), a disciple of Pomponazzi, to whom, when lecturing +at Pisa, the students cried "What of the soul?" He frankly professed +his belief that the human soul differed in no essential point from +the soul of a lion or plant, and that those who thought otherwise +were prompted by pity for our mean estate. These assertions are in +his treatise De Mente Humanâ. + +"Posos (Juan de)," an undiscovered author using this pen-name, +expressed atheistic opinions in a book of imaginary travels, published +in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1708, and translated into German at Leipsic, +1721. + +Post (Amy), American reformer, b. 1803. From '28 she was a leading +advocate of slavery abolition, temperance, woman's suffrage and +religious reform. Died Rochester, New York, 29 Jan. 1889. + +Potter (Agathon Louis de). See De Potter (A. L.) + +Potter (Louis Antoine Joseph de). See De Potter (L. A. J.) + +Potvin (Charles), Belgian writer b. Mons. 2 Dec. 1818, is member of the +Royal Academy of Letters, and professor of the history of literature +at Brussels. He wrote anonymously Poesie et Amour '58, and Rome and +the Family. Under the name of "Dom Jacobus" he has written an able +work in two volumes on The Church and Morality, and also Tablets of +a Freethinker. He was president of "La Libre Pensée" of Brussels from +'78 to '83, is director of the Revue de Belgique and has collaborated +on the National and other papers. + +Pouchet (Felix Archimède), French naturalist, b. Rouen 26 +Aug. 1800. Studied medicine under Dr. Flaubert, father of the author +of Mme. Bovary, and became doctor in '27. He was made professor of +natural history at the Museum of Rouen, and by his experiments enriched +science with many discoveries. He defended spontaneous generation and +wrote many monographs and books of which the principal is entitled +The Universe, '65. Died at Rouen, 6 Dec. 1872. + +Pouchet (Henri Charles George), French naturalist, son of the +proceeding, b. Rouen, 1833, made M.D. in '64, and in '79 professor +of comparative anatomy in the museum of Natural History at Paris. In +'80 he was decorated with the Legion of Honor. He has written on The +Plurality of the Human Race, '58, and collaborated on the Siècle, +and the Revue des Deux Mondes and to la Philosophie Positive. + +Pouchkine (A.), see Pushkin. + +Pougens (Marie Charles Joseph de), French author, a natural son of the +Prince de Conti, b. Paris, 15 Aug. 1755. About the age of 24 he was +blinded by small pox. He became an intimate friend of the philosophers, +and, sharing their views, embraced the revolution with ardor, though +it ruined his fortunes. He wrote Philosophical Researches, 1786, edited +the posthumous works of D'Alembert, 1799, and worked at a dictionary of +the French language. His Jocko, a tale of a monkey, exhibits his keen +sympathy with animal intelligence, and in his Philosophical Letters, +1826, he gives anecdotes of Voltaire, Rousseau, D'Alembert, Pechmeja, +Franklin, etc. Died at Vauxbuin, near Soissons, 19 Dec. 1833. + +Poulin (Paul), Belgian follower of Baron Colins and author of What +is God? What is Man? a scientific solution of the religious problem +(Brussels, 1865), and re-issued as God According to Science, '75, +in which he maintains that man and God exclude each other, and that +the only divinity is moral harmony. + +Poultier D'Elmolte (François Martin), b. Montreuil-sur-Mer, 31 +Oct. 1753. Became a Benedictine monk, but cast aside his frock +at the Revolution, married, and became chief of a battalion of +volunteers. Elected to the Convention he voted for the death of +the King. He conducted the journal, L'Ami des lois, and became +one of the Council of Ancients. Exiled in 1816, he died at Tournay +in Belgium, 16 Feb. 1827. He wrote Morceaux Philosophiques in the +Journal Encyclopédique; Victoire, or the Confessions of a Benedictine; +Discours Décadaires, for the use of Theophilantropists, and Conjectures +on the Nature and Origin of Things, Tournay, 1821. + +Powell (B. F.), compiler of the Bible of Reason, or Scriptures of +Ancient Moralists; published by Hetherington in 1837. + +Prades (Jean Martin de), French theologian b. Castel-Sarrasin, about +1720. Brought up for the church, he nevertheless became intimate with +Diderot and contributed the article Certitude to the Encyclopédie. On +the 18th Nov. 1751 he presented to the Sorbonne a thesis for the +doctorate, remarkable as the first open attack on Christianity by +a French theologian. He maintained many propositions on the soul, +the origin of society, the laws of Moses, miracles, etc., contrary +to the dogmas of the Church, and compared the cures recorded in the +Gospels to those attributed to Esculapius. The thesis made a great +scandal. His opinions were condemned by Pope Benedict XIV., and he +fled to Holland for safety. Recommended to Frederick the Great by +d'Alembert he was received with favor at Berlin, and became reader to +that monarch, who wrote a very anti-Christian preface to de Prades' +work on ecclesiastical history, published as Abrége de l'Histoire +ecclesiastique de Fleury, Berne (Berlin) 1766. He retired to a benefice +at Glogau (Silesia), given him by Frederick, and died there in 1782. + +Prater (Horatio), a gentleman of some fortune who devoted himself to +the propagation of Freethought ideas. Born early in the century, he +wrote on the Physiology of the Blood, 1832. He published Letters to +the American People, and Literary Essays, '56. Died 20 July, 1885. He +left the bulk of his money to benevolent objects, and ordered a deep +wound to be made in his arm to insure that he was dead. + +Preda (Pietro), Italian writer of Milan, author of a work on Revelation +and Reason, published at Geneva, 1865, under the pseudonym of +"Padre Pietro." + +Premontval (Andre Pierre Le Guay de), French writer, b. Charenton, 16 +Feb. 1716. At nineteen years of age, while in the college of Plessis +Sorbonne, he composed a work against the dogma of the Eucharist. He +studied mathematics and became member of the Academy of Sciences +at Berlin. He wrote Le Diogene de D'Alembert, or Freethoughts on +Man, 1754, Panangiana Panurgica, or the false Evangelist, and Vues +Philosophiques, Amst., 2 vols., 1757. He also wrote De la Théologie +de L'Etre, in which he denies many of the ordinary proofs of the +existence of a God. Died Berlin, 1767. + +Priestley (Joseph), LL.D., English philosopher, b. Fieldhead, near +Leeds, 18 March, 1733. Brought up as a Calvinist, he found his way +to broad Unitarianism. Famous as a pneumatic chemist, he defended the +doctrine of philosophical necessity, and in a dissertation annexed to +his edition of Hartley expressed doubts of the immateriality of the +sentient principal in man. This doctrine he forcibly supported in +his Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit, 1777. Through the obloquy +these works produced, he lost his position as librarian to Lord +Shelburne. He then removed to Birmingham, and became minister of +an independent Unitarian congregation, and occupied himself on his +History of the Corruptions of Christianity and History of the Early +Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ, which involved him in controversy +with Bishop Horsley and others. In consequence of his sympathy with +the French Revolution, his house was burnt and sacked in a riot, +14 July, 1791. After this he removed to Hackney, and was finally +goaded to seek an asylum in the United States, which he reached in +1794. Even in America he endured some uneasiness on account of his +opinions until Jefferson became president. Died 6 Feb. 1804. + +Pringle (Allen), Canadian Freethinker, author of Ingersoll in Canada, +1880. + +Proctor (Richard Anthony), English astronomer, b. Chelsea, 23 March, +1837. Educated at King's College, London, and at St. John's, Cambridge, +where he became B.A. in '60. In '66 he became Fellow of the Royal +Astronomical Society, of which he afterwards became hon. sec. He +maintained in '69 the since-established theory of the solar corona. He +wrote, lectured, and edited, far and wide, and left nearly fifty +volumes, chiefly popularising science. Attracted by Newman, he was for +a while a Catholic, but thought out the question of Catholicism and +science, and in a letter to the New York Tribune, Nov. '75, formally +renounced that religion as irreconcilable with scientific facts. His +remarks on the so-called Star of Bethlehem in The Universe of Suns, +and other Science Gleanings, and his Sunday lectures, indicated his +heresy. In '81 he started Knowledge, in which appeared many valuable +papers, notably one (Jan. '87), "The Beginning of Christianity." He +entirely rejected the miraculous elements of the gospels, which he +considered largely a rechauffé of solar myths. In other articles +in the Freethinkers' Magazine and the Open Court he pointed out the +coincidence between the Christian stories and solar myths, and also +with stories found in Josephus. The very last article he published +before his untimely death was a vindication of Colonel Ingersoll +in his controversy with Gladstone in the North American Review. In +'84 he settled at St. Josephs, Mobille, where he contracted yellow +fever and died at New York, 12 Sep. 1888. + +Proudhon (Pierre Joseph), French anarchist and political thinker, +b. Besançon, 15 Jan. 1809. Self-educated he became a printer, +and won a prize of 1,500 francs for the person "best fitted for a +literary or scientific career." In '40 appears his memoir, What is +Property? in which he made the celebrated answer "C'est le vol." In +'43 the Creation of Order in Humanity appeared, treating of religion, +philosophy and logic. In '46 he published his System of Economical +Contradictions, in which appeared his famous aphorism, "Dieu, +c'est le mal." In '48 he introduced his scheme of the organisation +of credit in a Bank of the People, which failed, though Proudhon +saw that no one lost anything. He attacked Louis Bonaparte when +President, and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine +of 10,000 francs. On 2 Jan. '50 he married by private contract while +in prison. For his work on Justice in the Revolution and in the Church +he was condemned to three years' imprisonment and 4,000 francs fine in +'58. He took refuge in Belgium and returned in '63. Died at Passy, +19 Jan. 1865. Among his posthumous works was The Gospels Annotated, +'66. Proudhon was a bold and profound thinker of noble aspirations, +but he lacked the sense of art and practicability. His complete works +have been published in 26 vols. + +Protagoras, Greek philosopher, b. Abdera, about 480 B.C. Is said to +have been a disciple of Democritus, and to have been a porter before +he studied philosophy. He was the first to call himself a sophist. He +wrote in a book on the gods, "Respecting the gods, I am unable to +know whether they exist or do not exist." For this he was impeached +and banished, and his book burnt. He went to Epirus and the Greek +Islands, and died about 411. He believed all things were in flux, +and summed up his conclusions in the proposition that "man is the +measure of all things, both of that which exists and that which does +not exist." Grote, who defends the Sophists, says his philosophy "had +the merit of bringing into forcible relief the essentially relative +nature of cognition." + +Prudhomme (Sully). See Sully Prudhomme. + +Pückler Muskau (Hermann Ludwig Heinrich), Prince, a German writer, +b. Muskau, 30 Oct. 1785. He travelled widely and wrote his observations +in a work entitled Letters of a Defunct, 1830; this was followed by +Tutti Frutti, '32; Semilasso in Africa, '36, and other works. Died +4 Feb. 1871. + +Pushkin (Aleksandr Sergyeevich), eminent Russian poet, often +called the Russian Byron, b. Pskow, 26 May, 1799. From youth he +was remarkable for his turbulent spirit, and his first work, which +circulated only in manuscript, was founded on Parny's Guerre des +Dieux, and entitled the Gabrielade, the archangel being the hero. He +was exiled by the Emperor, but, inspired largely by reading Voltaire +and Byron, put forward numerous poems and romances, of which the most +popular is Eugene Onéguine, an imitation of Don Juan. He also wrote +some histories and founded the Sovremennik (Contemporary), 1836. In +Jan. 1837 he was mortally wounded in a duel. + +Putnam (Samuel P.), American writer and lecturer, brought up as a +minister. He left that profession for Freethought, and became secretary +to the American Secular Union, of which he was elected president in +Oct. 1887. In '88 he started Freethought at San Francisco in company +with G. Macdonald. Has written poems, Prometheus, Ingersoll and Jesus, +Adami and Heva; romances entitled Golden Throne, Waifs and Wanderings, +and Gottlieb, and pamphlets on the Problem of the Universe, The New +God, and The Glory of Infidelity. + +Putsage (Jules), Belgian follower of Baron Colins, founder of the +Colins Philosophical Society at Mons; has written on Determinism and +Rational Science, Brussels 1885, besides many essays in La Philosophie +de L'Avenir of Paris and La Societe Nouvelle of Brussels. + +Pyat (Felix) French socialist, writer and orator, b. Vierzon, 4 +Oct. 1810. His father was religious and sent him to a Jesuit college +at Bourges, but he here secretly read the writings of Beranger and +Courier. He studied law, but abandoned it for literature, writing in +many papers. He also wrote popular dramas, as The Rag-picker of Paris, +'47. After '52 he lived in England, where he wrote an apology for +the attempt of Orsini, published by Truelove, '58. In '71 he founded +the journal le Combat. Elected to the National Assembly he protested +against the treaty of peace, was named member of the Commune and +condemned to death in '73. He returned to France after the armistice, +and has sat as deputy for Marseilles. Died, Saint Gerainte near Nice, +3 Aug. 1889. + +Pyrrho. Greek philosopher, a native of Elis, in Peloponesus, founder of +a sceptical school about the time of Epicurus; is said to have been +attracted to philosophy by the books of Democritus. He attached himself +to Anaxarchus, and joined her in the expedition of Alexander the Great, +and became acquainted with the philosophy of the Magi and the Indian +Gymnosophists. He taught the wisdom of doubt, the uncertainty of all +things, and the rejection of speculation. His disciples extolled his +equanimity and independence of externals. It is related that he kept +house with his sister, and shared with her in all domestic duties. He +reached the age of ninety years, and after his death the Athenians +honored him with a statue. He left no writings, but the tenets of his +school, which were much misrepresented, may be gathered from Sextus +and Empiricus. + +Quental. See Anthero de Quental. + +"Quepat (Nérée.") See Paquet (René). + +Quesnay (François), French economist, b. Mérey, 4 June 1694. Self +educated he became a physician, but is chiefly noted for his Tableau +Economique, 1708, and his doctrine of Laissez Faire. He derived moral +and social rules from physical laws. Died Versailles, 16 Dec. 1774. + +Quinet (Edgar), French writer, b. Bourgen Bresse, 17 Feb. 1803. He +attracted the notice of Cousin by a translation of Herder's The +Philosophy of History. With his friend Michelet he made many attacks +on Catholicism, the Jesuits being their joint work. He fought in +the Revolution of '48, and opposed the Second Empire. His work on +The Genius of Religion, '42, is profound, though mystical, and his +historical work on The Revolution, '65 is a masterpiece. Died at +Versailles, 27 March, 1875. + +Quintin (Jean), Heretic of Picardy, and alleged founder of the +Libertines. He is said to have preached in Holland and Brabant in +1525, that religion was a human invention. Quintin was arrested and +burnt at Tournay in 1530. + +Quris (Charles), French advocate of Angers, who has published some +works on law and La Défense Catholique et la Critique, Paris, 1864. + +Rabelais (François), famous and witty French satirist and philosopher, +b. Chinon, Touraine, 7 Jan. 1495. At an early age he joined the order +of Franciscans, but finding monastic life incompatible with his genial +temper, quitted the convent without the leave of his superior. He +studied medicine at Montpelier about 1530, after which he practised +at Lyons. His great humorous work, published anonymously in 1535, was +denounced as heretical by the clergy for its satires, not only on their +order but their creed. The author was protected by Francis I. and was +appointed curé of Meudon. Died at Paris, 9 April, 1553. His writings +show surprising fertility of mind, and Coleridge says, "Beyond a +doubt he was among the deepest as well as boldest thinkers of his age." + +Radenhausen (Christian), German philosopher, b. Friedrichstadt, 3 +Dec. 1813. At first a merchant and then a lithographer, he resided +at Hamburg, where he published Isis, Mankind and the World (4 vols.), +'70-72; Osiris, '74; The New Faith, '77; Christianity is Heathenism, +'81; The True Bible and the False, '87; Esther, '87. + +Radicati (Alberto di), Count. See Passerano. + +Ragon (Jean Marie de), French Freemason, b. Bray-sur-Seine, 1781. By +profession a civil engineer at Nancy, afterwards Chief of Bureau to +the Minister of the Interior. Author of many works on Freemasonry, +and The Mass and its Mysteries Compared with the Ancient Mysteries, +1844. Died at Paris, 1862. + +Ram (Joachim Gerhard), Holstein philosopher of the seventeenth century, +who was accused of Atheism. + +Ramaer (Anton Gerard Willem), Dutch writer b. Jever, East Friesland, +2 Aug. 1812. From '29 he served as officer in the Dutch army. He +afterwards became a tax collector, and in '60 was pensioned. He wrote +on Schopenhauer and other able works, and also contributed largely +to De Dageraad, often under the pseudonym of "Laçhmé." He had a noble +mind and sacrificed much for his friends and the good cause. Died 16 +Feb. 1867. + +Ramee (Louise de la), English novelist, b., of French extraction, +Bury St. Edmunds, 1840. Under the name of "Ouida," a little sister's +mispronunciation of Louisa, she has published many popular novels, +exhibiting her free and pessimistic opinions. We mention Tricotin, +Folle Farine, Signa, Moths and A Village Commune. She has lived much +in Italy, where the scenes of several novels are placed. + +Ramee (Pierre de la) called Ramus, French humanist, b. Cuth +(Vermandois) 1515. He attacked the doctrines of Aristotle, was accused +of impiety, and his work suppressed 1543. He lost his life in the +massacre of St. Bartholomew, 26 Aug. 1572. + +Ramsey (William James), b. London, 8 June, 1844. Becoming a Freethinker +early in life, he for some time sold literature at the Hall of Science +and became manager of the Freethought Publishing Co. Starting in +business for himself he published the Freethinker, for which in '82 +he was prosecuted with Mr. Foote and Mr. Kemp. Tried in March '83, +after a good defence, he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, +and on Mr. Foote's release acted as printer of the paper. + +Ranc (Arthur), French writer and deputy, b. Poitiers, 10 Dec. 1831, +and was brought up a Freethinker and Republican by his parents. He +took the prize for philosophy at the College of Poitiers, and studied +law at Paris. He conspired with C. Delescluze against the Second +Empire and was imprisoned, but escaped to Geneva. He collaborated on +La Marseillaise, was elected on the Municipal Council of Paris in +'71, and Deputy, '73. Has written Under the Empire and many other +political works. + +Randello (Cosimo), Italian author of The Simple Story of a Great +Fraud, being a criticism of the origin of Christianity, directed +against Pauline theology, published at Milan, 1882. + +Rapisardi (Mario), Italian poet, b. Catania, Sicily, 1843. Has +translated Lucretius, '80, and published poems on Lucifer, and The +Last Prayer of Pius IX., '71, etc. + +Raspail (François Vincent), French chemist and politician b. Carpentras +24 Jan. 1794, was brought up by ecclesiastics and intended for the +Church. He became, while quite young, professor of philosophy at the +theological seminary of Avignon but an examination of theological +dogmas led to their rejection. He went to Paris, and from 1815-24 gave +lessons, and afterwards became a scientific lecturer. He took part +in the Revolution of '30. Louis Philippe offered him the Legion of +Honor but he refused. Taking part in all the revolutionary outbreaks +he was frequently imprisoned. Elected to the chamber in '69 and sat +on the extreme left. Died at Arcueil 6 Jan. 1878. + +Rau (Herbert), German rationalist b. Frankfort 11 Feb. 1813. He studied +theology and became preacher to free congregations in Stuttgart and +Mannheim. He wrote Gospel of Nature, A Catechism of the Religion of +the Future, and other works. Died Frankfort 26 Sept. 1876. + +Rawson (Albert Leighton) LL.D. American traveller and author, +b. Chester, Vermont 15 Oct. 1829. After studying law, theology, and +art, he made four visits to the East, and made in '51-2 a pilgrimage +from Cairo to Mecca, disguised as a Mohammedan student of medicine. He +has published many maps and typographical and philological works, +and illustrated Beecher's Life of Jesus. Has also written on +the Antiquities of the Orient, New York, '70, and Chorography of +Palestine, London, '80. Has written in the Freethinkers' Magazine, +maintaining that the Bible account of the twelve tribes of Israel +is non-historical. + +Raynal (Guillaume Thomas François) l'abbé, French historian and +philosopher, b. Saint Geniez, 12 April, 1713. He was brought up as a +priest but renounced that profession soon after his removal to Paris, +1747, where he became intimate with Helvetius, Holbach, etc. With +the assistance of these, and Diderot, Pechmeja, etc., he compiled a +philosophical History of European establishments in the two Indies +(4 vols. 1770 and 1780), a work full of reflections on the religious +and political institutions of France. It made a great outcry, was +censured by the Sorbonne, and was burnt by order of Parliament 29 May, +1781. Raynal escaped and passed about six years in exile. Died near +Paris, 6 March, 1796. + +Reade (William Winwood), English traveller and writer, nephew of +Charles Reade the novelist, b. Murrayfield, near Crieff, Scotland, +26 Dec. 1824. He studied at Oxford, then travelled much in the heart +of Africa, and wrote Savage Africa, '63, The African Sketch Book, +and in '73, The Story of the Ashantee Campaign; which he accompanied +as Times correspondent. In the Martyrdom of Man ('72), he rejects +the doctrine of a personal creator. It went through several editions +and is still worth reading. He also wrote Liberty Hall, a novel, +'60; The Veil of Isis, '61, and See Saw, a novel, '65. He wrote his +last work The Outcast, a Freethought novel, with the hand of death +upon him. Died 24 April, 1875. + +Reber (George), American author of The Christ of Paul, or the Enigmas +of Christianity (New York, 1876), a work in which he exposes the +frauds and follies of the early fathers. + +Reclus (Jean Jacques Elisée), French geographer and socialist, the +son of a Protestant minister, b. Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (Gironde), 15 +March, 1830, and educated by the Moravian brethren, and afterwards at +Berlin. He early distinguished himself by his love for liberty, and +left France after the coup d'état of 2 Dec. '51, and travelled till '57 +in England, Ireland, and the North and South America, devoting himself +to studying the social and political as well as physical condition of +the countries he visited, the results being published in the Tour du +monde, and Revue des Deux Mondes, in which he upheld the cause of the +North during the American war. In '71 he supported the Commune and was +taken prisoner and sentenced to transportation for life. Many eminent +men in England and America interceded and his sentence was commuted +to banishment. At the amnesty of March '79, he returned to Paris, +and has devoted himself to the publication of a standard Universal +Geography in 13 vols. In '82 he gave two of his daughters in marriage +without either religious or civil ceremony. He has written a preface +to Bakounin's God and the State, and many other works. + +Reddalls (George Holland), English Secularist, b. Birmingham, +Nov. 1846. He became a compositor on the Birmingham Daily Post, but +wishing to conduct a Freethought paper started in business for himself, +and issued the Secular Chronicle, '73, which was contributed to by +Francis Neale, H. V. Mayer, G. Standring, etc. He died 13 Oct. 1875. + +Reghillini de Schio (M.), Professor of Chemistry and Mathematics, +b. of Venetian parents at Schio in 1760. He wrote in French an +able exposition of Masonry, 1833, which he traced to Egypt; and an +Examination of Mosaism and Christianity, '34. He was mixed in the +troubles of Venice in '48, and fled to Belgium, dying in poverty at +Brussels Aug. 1853. + +Regnard (Albert Adrien), French doctor and publicist, b. Lachante +(Nièvre), 20 March, 1836, author of Essais d'Histoire et de +Critique Scientifique (Paris, '65)--a work for which he could +find no publisher, and had to issue himself--in which he proclaimed +scientific materialism. Losing his situation, he started, with Naquet +and Clemenceau, the Revue Encyclopédique, which being suppressed +on its first number, he started La Libre Pensée with Asseline, +Condereau, etc. His articles in this journal drew on him and Eudes +a condemnation of four months' imprisonment. He wrote New Researches +on Cerebral Congestion, '68, and was one of the French delegates to +the anti-Council of Naples, '69. Has published Atheism, studies of +political science, dated Londres, '78; a History of England since 1815; +and has translated Büchner's Force and Matter, '84. He was delegate +to the Freethinkers' International Congress at Antwerp, '85. + +Regnard (Jean François), French comic poet, b. Paris. 8 Feb. 1655. He +went to Italy about 1676, and on returning home was captured by an +Algerian corsair and sold as a slave. Being caught in an intrigue +with one of the women, he was required to turn Muhammadan. The French +consul paid his ransom and he returned to France about 1681. He wrote +a number of successful comedies and poems, and was made a treasurer +of France. He died as an Epicurean, 4 Sept. 1709. + +Regnier (Mathurin), French satirical poet, b. Chartres, 21 +Dec. 1573. Brought up for the Church, he showed little inclination for +its austerities, and was in fact a complete Pagan, though he obtained +a canonry in the cathedral of his native place. Died at Rouen, 22 +Oct. 1613. + +Reich (Eduard) Dr., German physician and anthropologist of Sclav +descent on his father's side, b. Olmütz, 6 March 1839. He studied at +Jena and has travelled much, and published over thirty volumes besides +editing the Athenæum of Jena '75, and Universities of Grossenbain, +'83. Of his works we mention Man and the Soul, '72; The Church of +Humanity, '74; Life of Man as an Individual, '81; History of the Soul, +'84; The Emancipation of Women, '84. + +Reil (Johann Christian), German physician, b. Rauden, East Friesland, +20 Feb. 1758. Intended for the Church, he took instead to medicine; +after practising some years in his native town he went in 1787 +to Halle, and in 1810 he was made Professor of Medicine at Berlin +University. He wrote many medical works, and much advanced medical +science, displacing the old ideas in a way which brought on him the +accusation of pantheism. Attending a case of typhus fever at Halle +he was attacked by the malady, and succumbed 22 Nov. 1813. + +Reimarus (Hermann Samuel), German philologist, b. Hamburg, 22 +Dec. 1694. He was a son-in-law of J. A. Fabricus. Studied at Jena and +Wittenberg; travelled in Holland and England; and was appointed rector +of the gymnasium in Weimar, 1723, and in Hamburg, 1729. He was one of +the most radical among German rationalists. He published a work on +The Principle Truths of Natural Religion, 1754, and left behind the +Wolfenbüttel Fragments, published by Lessing in 1777. Died at Hamburg, +1 March, 1768. Strauss has written an account of his services, 1862. + +Reitzel (Robert), German American revolutionary, b. Baden, 1849. Named +after Blum, studied theology, went to America, walked from New +York to Baltimore, and was minister to an independent Protestant +church. Studied biology and resigned as a minister, and became speaker +of a Freethought congregation at Washington for seven years. Is now +editor of Der Arme Teufel of Detroit, and says he "shall be a poor +man and a Revolutionaire all my life." + +Remsburg (John E.), American lecturer and writer, b. 1848. Has +written a series of pamphlets entitled The Image Breaker, False +Claims of the Christian Church, '83, Sabbath Breaking, Thomas Paine, +and a vigorous onslaught on Bible Morals, instancing twenty crimes +and vices sanctioned by scripture, '85. + +Renan (Joseph Ernest), learned French writer, b. Tréguier (Brittany) +27 Feb. 1823. Was intended for the Church and went to Paris to +study. He became noted for his linguistic attainment, but his +studies and independence of thought did not accord with his intended +profession. My faith, he says was destroyed not by metaphysics +nor philosophy but by historical criticism. In '45 he gave up all +thoughts of an ecclesiastic career and became a teacher. In '48 +he gained the Volney prize, for a memoir on the Semitic Languages, +afterwards amplified into a work on that subject. In '52 he published +his work on Averroës and Averroïsm. In '56 was elected member of +the Academy of Inscriptions, and in '60 sent on a mission to Syria; +having in the meantime published a translation of Job and Song of +Songs. Here he wrote his long contemplated Vie de Jesus, '63. In +'61 he had been appointed Professor of Hebrew in the Institute of +France, but denounced by bishops and clergy he was deprived of his +chair, which was, however, restored in '70. The Pope did not disdain +to attack him personally as a "French blasphemer." The Vie de Jesus +is part of a comprehensive History of the Origin of Christianity, in +8 vols., '63-83, which includes The Apostles, St Paul, Anti-Christ, +The Gospels, The Christian Church, and Marcus Aurelius, and the end +of the Antique World. Among his other works we must mention Studies on +Religious History ('58), Philosophical Dialogues and Fragments ('76), +Spinoza ('77), Caliban, a satirical drama ('80), the Hibbert Lecture +on the Influence of Rome on Christians, Souvenirs, '84; New Studies +of Religious History,'84; The Abbess of Jouarre, a drama which made +a great sensation in '86; and The History of the People of Israel, +'87-89. + +Renand (Paul), Belgian author of a work entitled Nouvelle Symbolique, +on the identity of Christianity and Paganism, published at Brussels +in 1861. + +Rengart (Karl Fr.), of Berlin, b. 1803, democrat and freethought +friend of C. Deubler. Died about 1879. + +Renard (Georges), French professor of the Academie of Lausanne; +author of Man, is he Free? 1881, and a Life of Voltaire, '83. + +Renouvier (Charles Bernard), French philosopher, b. Montpellier, +1815. An ardent Radical and follower of the critical philosophy. Among +his works are Manual of Ancient Philosophy (2 vols., '44); Republican +Manual, '48; Essays of General Criticism, '54; Science of Morals, '69; +a translation, made with F. Pillon, of Hume's Psychology, '78; and A +Sketch of a Systematic Classification of Philosophical Doctrines, '85. + +Renton (William), English writer, b. Edinburgh, 1852. Educated in +Germany. Wrote poems entitled Oil and Water Colors, and a work on The +Logic of Style, '74. At Keswick he published Jesus, a psychological +estimate of that hero, '76. Has since published a romance of the last +generation called Bishopspool, '83. + +Rethore (François), French professor of philosophy at the Lyceum of +Marseilles, b. Amiens, 1822. Author of a work entitled Condillac, +or Empiricism and Rationalism, '64. Has translated H. Spencer's +Classification of Sciences. + +Reuschle (Karl Gustav), German geographer, b. Mehrstetten, 12 +Dec. 1812. He wrote on Kepler and Astronomy, '71, and Philosophy and +Natural Science, '74, dedicated to the memory of D. F. Strauss. Died +at Stuttgart, 22 May, 1875. + +Revillon (Antoine, called Tony), French journalist and deputy, +b. Saint-Laurent-les Mâcon (Ain), 29 Dec. 1832. At first a lawyer in +'57, he went to Paris, where he has written on many journals, and +published many romances and brochures. In '81 he was elected deputy. + +Rey (Marc Michel), printer and bookseller of Amsterdam. He printed +all the works of d'Holbach and Rousseau and some of Voltaire's, +and conducted the Journal des Savans. + +Reynaud (Antoine Andre Louis), Baron, French mathematician, b. Paris, +12 Sept. 1777. In 1790 he became one of the National Guard of Paris. He +was teacher and examiner for about thirty years in the Polytechnic +School. A friend of Lalande. Died Paris, 24 Feb. 1844. + +Reynaud (Jean Ernest), French philosopher, b. Lyons, 14 Feb. 1806. For +a time he was a Saint Simonian. In '36 he edited with P. Leroux the +Encyclopédie Nouvelle. He was a moderate Democrat in the Assembly +of '48. His chief work, entitled Earth and Heaven, '54, had great +success. It was formally condemned by a clerical council held at +Périgueux. Died Paris, 28 June, 1863. + +Reynolds (Charles B.), American lecturer, b. 4 Aug. 1832. Was +brought up religiously, and became a Seventh Day Baptist preacher, +but was converted to Freethought. He was prosecuted for blasphemy +at Morristown, New Jersey, May 19, 20, 1887, and was defended by +Col. Ingersoll. The verdict was one of guilty, and the sentence was +a paltry fine of 25 dollars. Has written in the Boston Investigator, +Truthseeker, and Ironclad Age. + +Reynolds (George William MacArthur), English writer; author of many +novels. Wrote Errors of the Christian Religion, 1832. + +Rialle (J. Girard de), French anthropologist, b. Paris 1841. He +wrote in La Pensée Nouvelle, conducted the Revue de Linguistique et +de Philologie comparée, and has written on Comparative Mythology, +dealing with fetishism, etc., '78, and works on Ethnology. + +Ribelt (Léonce), French publicist, b. Bordeaux 1824, author of several +political works and collaborator on La Morale Indépendante. + +Ribeyrolles (Charles de), French politician, b. near Martel (Lot) +1812. Intended for the Church, he became a social democrat; edited the +Emancipation of Toulouse, and La Réforme in '48. A friend of V. Hugo, +he shared in his exile at Jersey. Died at Rio-Janeiro, 13 June, 1861. + +Ribot (Théodule), French philosopher, b. Guingamp (Côtes du-Nord) +1839; has written Contemporary English Psychology '70, a resume of +the views of Mill, Bain, and Spencer, whose Principles of Psychology +he has translated. Has also written on Heredity, '73; The Philosophy +of Schopenhauer, '74; The maladies of Memory, personality and Will, +3 vols.; and Contemporary German Psychology. He conducts the Revue +Philosophique. + +Ricciardi (Giuseppe Napoleone), Count, Italian patriot, b. Capodimonte +(Naples), 19 July, 1808, son of Francesco Ricciardi, Count of +Camaldoli, 1758-1842. Early in life he published patriotic poems. He +says that never after he was nineteen did he kneel before a priest. In +'32 he founded at Naples Il Progresso, a review of science, literature, +and art. Arrested in '34 as a Republican conspirator, he was imprisoned +eight months and then lived in exile in France until '48. Here he +wrote in the Revue Indépendante, pointing out that the Papacy from +its very essence was incompatible with liberty. Elected deputy to the +Neapolitan Parliament, he sat on the extreme left. He wrote a History +of the Revolution of Italy in '48 (Paris '49). Condemned to death in +'53, his fortune was seized. He wrote an Italian Martyrology from +1792-1847 (Turin '56), and The Pope and Italy, '62. At the time of the +Ecumenical Council he called an Anti-council of Freethinkers at Naples, +'69. This was dissolved by the Italian government, but it led to the +International Federation of Freethinkers. Count Ricciardi published +an account of the congress. His last work was a life of his friend +Mauro Macchi, '82. Died 1884. + +Richepin (Jean), French poet, novelist, and dramatist, b. Médéah +(Algeria) in 1849. He began life as a doctor, and during the +Franco-German war took to journalism. In '76 he published the Song +of the Beggars, which was suppressed. In '84 appeared Les Blasphèmes, +which has gone through several editions. + +Richer (Léon), French Deist and journalist, b. Laigh, 1824. He was +with A. Guéroult editor of l'Opinion Nationale, and in '69 founded and +edits L'Avenir des Femmes. In '68 he published Letters of a Freethinker +to a Village Priest, and has written many volumes in favor of the +emancipation of women, collaborating with Mdlle. Desraismes in the +Women's Rights congresses held in Paris. + +Rickman (Thomas Clio), English Radical. He published several volumes +of poems and a life of his friend Thomas Paine, 1819, of whom he +also published an excellent portrait painted by Romney and engraved +by Sharpe. + +Riem (Andreas), German rationalist b. Frankenthal 1749. He became +a preacher, and was appointed by Frederick the Great chaplain of a +hospital at Berlin. This he quitted in order to become secretary of the +Academy of Painting. He wrote anonymously on the Aufklaring. Died 1807. + +Ritter (Charles), Swiss writer b. Geneva 1838, and has translated into +French Strauss's Essay of Religious History, George Eliot's Fragments +and Thoughts, and Zeller's Christian Baur and the Tübingen School. + +Roalfe (Matilda), a brave woman, b. 1813. At the time of the blasphemy +prosecutions in 1843, she went from London to Edinburgh to uphold +the right of free publication. She opened a shop and circulated a +manifesto setting forth her determination to sell works she deemed +useful "whether they did or did not bring into contempt the Holy +Scriptures and the Christian Religion." When prosecuted for selling The +Age of Reason, The Oracle of Reason, etc., she expressed her intention +of continuing her offence as soon as liberated. She was sentenced to +two months imprisonment 23 Jan. '44, and on her liberation continued +the sale of the prosecuted works. She afterwards married Mr. Walter +Sanderson and settled at Galashiels, where she died 29 Nov. 1880. + +Robert (Pierre François Joseph), French conventionnel and friend of +Brissot and Danton, b. Gimnée (Ardennes) 21 Jan. 1763. Brought up +to the law he became professor of public law to the philosophical +society. He was nominated deputy for Paris, and wrote Republicanism +adapted to France, 1790, became secretary to Danton, and voted for the +death of the king. He wrote in Prudhomme's Révolutions de Paris. Died +at Brussels 1826. + +Robertson (A. D.), editor of the Free Enquirer, published at New +York, 1835. + +Robertson (John Mackinnon), Scotch critic, b. Arran, 14 Nov. 1856. He +became journalist on the Edinburgh Evening News, and afterwards on +the National Reformer. Mr. Robertson has published a study of Walt +Whitman in the "Round Table Series." Essays towards a Critical Method, +'89, and has contributed to Our Corner, Time, notably an article on +Mithraism, March, '89, The Westminster Review, etc. He has also issued +pamphlets on Socialism and Malthusianism, and Toryism and Barbarism, +'85, and edited Hume's Essay on Natural Religion, '89. + +Roberty (Eugène de), French positivist writer, of Russian birth, +b. Podolia (Russia), 1843; author of works on Sociology, Paris, '81, +and The Old and the New Philosophy, an essay on the general laws of +philosophic development, '87. He has recently written a work entitled +The Unknowable, '89. + +Robin (Charles Philippe), French physician, senator member of the +Institute and of the Academy of Medecine, b. Jasseron (Aix), 4 June, +1821. Became M.D. in '46, and D.Sc. '47. In company with Littré he +refounded Nysten's Dictionary of Medicine, and he has written many +important medical works, and one on Instruction. In '72 his name was +struck out of the list of jurors on the ground of his unbelief in God, +and it thus remained despite many protests until '76. In the same +year he was elected Senator, and sits with the Republican Left. He +has been decorated with the Legion of Honor. + +Robinet (Jean Baptiste René), French philosopher, b. Rennes, 23 June, +1735. He became a Jesuit, but gave it up and went to Holland to publish +his curious work, De la Nature, 1776, by some attributed to Toussaint +and to Diderot. He continued Marsy's Analysis of Bayle, edited the +Secret Letters of Voltaire, translated Hume's Moral Essays, and took +part in the Recueil Philosophique, published by J. L. Castilhon. Died +at Rennes, 24 March, 1820. + +Robinet (Jean Eugène François), French physician and publicist, +b. Vic-sur-Seille, 1825. He early attached himself to the person +and doctrine of Auguste Comte, and became his physician and one of +his executors. During the war of '70 he was made Mayor of the Sixth +Arrondissement of Paris. He has written a Notice of the Work and +Life of A. Comte, '60, a memoir of the private life of Danton, '65, +The Trial of the Dantonists, '79, and contributed an account of the +Positive Philosophy of A. Comte and P. Lafitte to the "Bibliothèque +Utile," vol. 66, '81. + +Roell (Hermann Alexander), German theologian, b. 1653, author of a +Deistic dissertation on natural religion, published at Frankfort in +1700. Died Amsterdam, 12 July, 1718. + +Rogeard (Louis Auguste), French publicist, b. Chartres, 25 April, +1820. Became a teacher but was dismissed for refusing to attend +mass. In '49 he moved to Paris and took part in the revolutionary +movement. He was several times imprisoned under the Empire, and in +'65 was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for writing Les Propos +de Labienus (London, i.e. Zürich), '65. He fled to Belgium and wrote +some excellent criticism on the Bible in the Rive Gauche. In '71 +he assisted Pyat on Le Vengeur, and was elected on the Commune but +declined to sit. An incisive writer, he signed himself "Atheist." Is +still living in Paris. + +Rokitansky (Karl), German physician and scientist, founder of the +Viennese school in medicine, b. Königgrätz (Bohemia) 11 Feb. 1804, +studied medicine at Prague and Vienna, and received his degree of +Doctor in '28. His principal work is a Manual of Practical Anatomy, +'42-6. Died Vienna, 23 July, 1878. + +Roland (Marie Jeanne), née Phlipon, French patriot, b. Paris, 17 March, +1754. Fond of reading, Plutarch's Lives influenced her greatly. At +a convent she noted the names of sceptics attached and read their +writings, being, she says, in turn Jansenist, stoic, sceptic, atheist, +and deist. The last she remained, though Miss Blind classes her with +Agnostics. After her marriage in 1779 with Jean Marie Roland de la +Platiêre (b. Lyons, 1732), Madame Roland shared the tasks and studies +of her husband, and the Revolution found her an ardent consort. On +the appointment of her husband to the ministry, she became the centre +of a Girondist circle. Carlyle calls her "the creature of Simplicity +and Nature, in an age of Artificiality, Pollution, and Cant," and +"the noblest of all living Frenchwomen." On the fall of her party +she was imprisoned, and finally executed, 8 Nov. 1793. Her husband, +then in hiding, hearing of her death, deliberately stabbed himself, +15 Nov. 1793. + +Rolph (William Henry), German philosopher, b. of English father, +Berlin, 26 Aug. 1847. He became privat-docent of Zoology in the +University of Leipsic, and wrote an able work on Biological Problems, +'84, in which he accepts evolution, discards theology, and places +ethics on a natural basis. Died 1 Aug. 1883. + +Romagnosi (Giovanni Domenico), Italian philosopher and jurist, +b. Salso Maggiore, 13 Dec. 1761. He published in 1791 an able work +on penal legislation, Genesis of Penal Law, many pages of which are +borrowed from d'Holbach's System of Nature. He became Professor of +Law in Parma, Milan, and Pavia. A member of the Italian Academy, +he was named professor at Corfu, where he died 8 June, 1835. In +'21 he wrote Elements of Philosophy, followed by What is a Sound +Mind? ('27) and Ancient Moral Philosophy, '32. A somewhat obscure +writer, he nevertheless contributed to the positive study of sociology. + +Romiti (Guglielmo), Italian Positivist. Professor of Anatomy in the +University of Siena. Has published Anatomical Notes, and a Discourse +which excited some commotion among the theologians. + +Romme (Gilbert), French Mathematician, b. Riou, 1750, became deputy +to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, and to the Convention in 1792. In +Sept. 1793 he introduced the new Republican Calendar, the plan of which +was drawn by Lalande, and the names assigned by Fabre d'Eglantine. He +advocated the Fêtes of Reason. Being condemned to death, he committed +suicide, 18 June, 1795. His brother Charles, b. 1744, was also an +eminent geometrician, and a friend of Laland. He died 15 June, 1805. + +Ronge (Johannes), German religious reformer, b. Bischopwalde +(Silesia), 16 Oct. 1813. He entered the seminary of Breslau, +and became a Catholic priest in '40. His liberal views and bold +preaching soon led to his suspension. In '44 his letter denouncing the +worship of "the holy coat," exhibited by Arnoldi, Bishop of Treves, +made much clamor. Excommunicated by the Church, he found many free +congregations, but was proscribed after the revolution of '49 and took +refuge in England. In '51 he issued a revolutionary manifesto. In +'61 he returned to Frankfort, and in '73 settled at Darmstadt. Died +at Vienna, 25 Oct. 1887. + +Ronsard (Pierre), French poet, b. of noble family 11 Sept. 1524. He +became page to the Duke of Orleans, and afterwards to James V. of +Scotland. Returning to France, he was a great favorite at the French +Court. Died 27 Dec. 1585. + +Roorda van Eysinga (Sicco Ernst Willem), Dutch positivist, b. Batavia +(Java), 8 Aug. 1825. He served as engineer at Java, and was expelled +about '64 for writing on behalf of the Javanese. He contributed +to the De Dageraad and Revue Positive. Died Clarens (Switzerland), +23 Oct. 1887. + +Roquetaillade (Jean de la), also known as Rupescina, early French +reformer of Auvillac (Auvergne), who entered the order of the +Franciscans. His bold discourses led to his imprisonment at Avignon +1356, by order of Innocent VI., when he wrote an apology. Accused +of Magic, Nostradamus says he was burnt at Avignon in 1362, but this +has been disputed. + +Rose (Charles H.), formerly of Adelaide, Australia, author of A Light +to Lighten the Gentiles, 1881. + +Rose (Ernestine Louise) née Süsmond Potowsky, Radical reformer +and orator, b. Peterkov (Poland), 13 Jan. 1810. Her father was +a Jewish Rabbi. From early life she was of a bold and inquiring +disposition. At the age of 17 she went to Berlin. She was in Paris +during the Revolution of '30. Soon after she came to England where she +embraced the views of Robert Owen, who called her his daughter. Here +she married Mr. William E. Rose, a gentleman of broad Liberal views. In +May '36, they went to the United States and became citizens of the +Republic. Mrs. Rose lectured in all the states on the social system, +the formation of character, priestcraft, etc. She lectured against +slavery in the slave-owning states and sent in '38 the first petition +to give married women the right to hold real estate. She was one +of the inaugurators of the Woman's Rights Movement, and a constant +champion of Freethought. An eloquent speaker, some of her addresses +have been published. Defence of Atheism, Women's Rights and Speech +at the Hartford Bible Convention in '54. About '73 she returned to +England where she still lives. One of her last appearances at public +was at the Conference of Liberal Thinkers at South Place Chapel in +'76, where she delivered a pointed speech. Mrs. Rose has a fine face +and head, and though aged and suffering, retains the utmost interest +in the Freethought cause. + +Roskoff (Georg Gustav), German rationalist, b. Presburg, Hungary, 30 +Aug. 1814. He studied theology and philosophy at Halle, and has written +works on Hebrew Antiquity, '57. The Samson legend and Herakles myth, +'60, and a standard History of the Devil in 2 vols., Leipzig, '69. + +Ross (William Stewart), Scotch writer, b. 20 Mar. 1844. Author of +poems and educational works, and editor of Secular Review, now The +Agnostic Journal. Wrote God and his Book, '87, and several brochures +published under the pen name of "Saladin." + +Rosseau (Leon), French writer in the Rationalist of Geneva under the +name of L. Russelli. He published separately the Female Followers of +Jesus, founded the Horizon, contributed to la Libre Pensée, and was +editor of l'Athée. Died 1870. + +Rossetti (Dante Gabriel), poet and painter, b. of Italian parents, +London, 12 May, 1828. Educated at King's College, he became a student +at the Royal Academy and joined the pre-Raphaelites. As a poet +artist he exhibited the richest gifts of originality, earnestness, +and splendour of expression. Died at Westgate on Sea, 9 April, 1882. + +Rossetti (William Michael) critic and man of letters, brother of +the preceding, b. London, 25 Sep. 1829. Educated at King's College, +he became assistant secretary in the Inland Revenue Office. He has +acted as critic for many papers and edited many works, the chief being +an edition of Shelley, '70, with a memoir and numerous notes. He is +Chairman of the Committee of the Shelley Society. + +Rossmaessler (Emil Adolf), German naturalist b. Leipsic 3 March, +1806. Studied theology, but abandoned it for science, and wrote many +scientific works of repute. In '48 he was elected to Parliament. Among +his writings are Man in the Mirror of Nature. '49-55. The History of +the Earth, '68. Died as a philosopher 8 April, 1867. + +Roth (Julius), Dr., German author of Religion and Priestcraft, Leipzig, +1869; Jesuitism, '71. + +Rothenbuecher (Adolph), Dr., German author of an able little Handbook +of Morals, written from the Secular standpoint, Cottbus, 1884. + +Rotteck (Karl Wenceslaus von), German historian and statesman +b. Freiburg 18 July, 1775. Studied in his native town, where in +1798 be became Professor of History. In 1819 he represented his +University in the States of Baden, where he distinguished himself by +his liberal views. He was forbidden by government to edit any paper +and was deprived of his chair. This persecution hastened his death, +which occurred 26 Nov 1840. Rotteck's General History of the World +(9 vols., 1827) was very popular and gave one of the broadest views +of history which had then appeared. + +Rousseau (Jean Jacques), Swiss philosopher, b. Geneva, 28 June, +1712. After a varied career he went to Paris in 1741 and supported +himself. In 1751 he obtained a prize from the academy of Dijon for +negative answer to the question "whether the re-establishment of the +arts and sciences has conduced to the purity of morals." This success +prompted further literary efforts. He published a dictionary of music, +the New Heloise (1759), a love story in the form of letters, which +had great success, and Emilius (May 1762), a moral romance, in which +he condemns other education than that of following nature. In this +work occurs his Confession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, discarding +the supernatural element in Christianity. The French parliament +condemned the book 9 June, 1762, and prosecuted the writer, who fled +to Switzerland. Pope Clement XVIII fulminated against Emile, and +Rousseau received so many insults on account of his principles that +he returned to Paris and on the invitation of Hume came to England +in Jan. 1766. He knew little English and soon took offence with +Hume, and asked permission to return to Paris, which he obtained on +condition of never publishing anything more. He however completed his +Confessions, of which he had previously composed the first six books +in England. Rousseau was a sincere sentimentalist, an independent +and eloquent, but not deep thinker. His captious temper spoiled his +own life, but his influence has been profound and far-reaching. Died +near Paris, 2 July, 1778. + +Rouzade (Leonie) Madame, French Freethought lecturess. Has written +several brochures and novels, notably Le Monde Renversé, 1872, +and Ci et ca, ca et la, ideas upon moral philosophy and social +progress. Writes in Malon's Revue Socialiste, and is one of the +editors of Les Droits des Femmes. + +Roy (Joseph), French translator of Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity, +1864, and Religion, Death, Immortality, '66. Has also translated +Marx's Capital. + +Royer (Clemence Auguste), French authoress, b. Nantes, 24 April, 1830, +of Catholic royalist family. Visiting England in '54, she studied our +language and literature. Going to Switzerland, in '59 she opened at +Lausanne a course of logic and philosophy for women. In '60 she shared +with Proudhon in a prize competition on the subject of taxation. In +'62 she translated Darwin's Origin of Species, with a bold preface +and notes. In '64 her philosophical romance The Twins of Hellas +appeared at Brussels, and was interdicted in France. Her ablest work +is on The Origin of Man and of Societies, '69. In this she states +the scientific view of human evolution, and challenges the Christian +creed. This was followed by many memoirs, Pre-historic Funeral Rites, +'76; Two Hypotheses of Heredity, '77; The Good and the Moral Law, +'81. Mdlle. Royer has contributed to the Revue Moderne, Revue de +Philosophie, Positive, Revue d'Anthropologie, etc., and has assisted +and spoken at many political, social, and scientific meetings. + +Rüdt (P. A.), Ph. D., German lecturer and "apostle of unbelief," +b. Mannheim, 8 Dec. 1844. Educated at Mannheim and Carlsruhe, he +studied philosophy, philology, and jurisprudence at Heidelberg +University, '65-69. Dr. Rüdt became acquainted with Lassalle, +and started a paper, Die Waffe, and in '70 was imprisoned for +participation in social democratic agitation. From '74 to '86 he +lived in St. Petersburg as teacher, and has since devoted himself to +Freethought propaganda. Several of his addresses have been published. + +Ruelle (Charles Claude), French writer, b. Savigny, 1810. Author of +The History of Christianity, '66, and La Schmita, '69. + +Ruge (Arnold), German reformer, b. Bergen (Isle Rügen), 13 +Sept. 1802. Studied at Halle, Jena, and Heidelberg, and as a member of +the Tugenbund was imprisoned for six years. After his liberation in +'30 he became professor at Halle, and with Echtermeyer founded the +Hallische Jahrbücher, '38, which opposed Church and State. In '48 he +started Die Reform. Elected to the Frankfort Assembly, he sat on the +Extreme Left. When compelled to fly he came to England, where he wrote +New Germany in "Cabinet of Reason" series, and translated Buckle's +History of Civilisation. He acted as visiting tutor at Brighton, +where he died 30 Dec. 1880. + +Ruggieri (Cosmo), Florentine philosopher and astrologer, patronised +by Catherine de Medicis. He began to publish Almanachs in 1604, which +he issued annually. He died at Paris in 1615, declaring himself an +Atheist, and his corpse was in consequence denied Christian burial. + +Rumpf (Johann Wilhelm), Swiss author of Church, Faith, and Progress, +and The Bible and Christ, a criticism (Strasburg, 1858). Edited Das +Freire Wort (Basle, '56). + +Russell (John). See Amberley. + +Ryall (Malthus Questell), was secretary of the Anti-Persecution Union, +1842, and assisted his friend Mr. Holyoake on The Oracle of Reason +and The Movement. Died 1846. + +Rydberg (Abraham Viktor), Swedish man of Letters, b. Jönköping, 18 +Dec. 1829. He has written many works of which we mention The Last +Athenian Roman Days, and The Magic of the Middle Ages, which have +been translated into English. + +Rystwick (Herman van), early Dutch heretic who denied hell and +taught that the soul was not immortal, but the elements of all +matter eternal. He was sent to prison in 1499, and set at liberty +upon abjuring his opinion, but having published them a second time, +he was arrested at the Hague, and burnt to death in 1511. + +Sabin (Ibn), Al Mursi, Spanish Arabian philosopher, b. Murcia about +1218 of noble family. About 1249 he corresponded with Frederick II., +replying to his philosophical questions. Committed suicide about 1271. + +Sadoc, a learned Jewish doctor in the third century B.C. He denied +the resurrection, the existence of angels, and the doctrine +of predestination, and opposed the idea of future rewards and +punishments. His followers were named after him, Sadducees. + +Saga (Francesco) de Rovigo, Italian heretic, put to death for +Anti-Trinitarianism at Venice, 25 Feb. 1566. + +Saigey (Emile), French inspector of telegraph wires. Wrote Modern +Physics, 1867, and The Sciences in the Eighteenth Century: Physics +of Voltaire, '74. Died 1875. + +Saillard (F.), French author of The Revolution and the Church (Paris, +'69), and The Organisation of the Republic, '83. + +Sainte Beuve (Charles Augustin), French critic and man of letters +b. Boulogne, 23 Dec. 1804. Educated in Paris, he studied medicine, +which he practised several years. A favorable review of V. Hugo's +Odes and Ballades gained him the intimacy of the Romantic school. As +a critic he made his mark in '28 with his Historical and Critical +Picture of French Poetry in the Sixteenth Century. His other principal +works are his History of Port Royal, '40-62; Literary Portraits, +'32-39; and Causeries du Lundi, '51-57. In '45 he was elected to the +Academy, and in '65 was made a senator. As a critic he was penetrative, +comprehensive, and impartial. + +Saint Evremond (Charles de Marguetel de Saint Denis) seigneur de, +French man of letters, b. St. Denys-le-Guast (Normandy), 1 April, +1713. He studied law, but subsequently entered the army and became +major-general. He was confined in the Bastile for satirising Cardinal +Mazarin. In England he was well received at the court of Charles +II. He died in London, 20 Sept. 1703, and was buried in Westminster +Abbey. Asked on his death-bed if he wished to reconcile himself to God, +he replied, he desired to reconcile himself to appetite. His works, +consisting of essays, letters, poems, and dramas, were published in +3 vols. 1705. + +Saint-Glain (Dominique de), French Spinozist, b. Limoges, about +1620. He went into Holland that he might profess the Protestant +religion more freely; was captain in the service of the States, +and assisted on the Rotterdam Gazette. Reading Spinoza, he espoused +his system, and translated the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus into +French, under the title of La Clef du Sanctuaire, 1678. This making +much noise, and being in danger of prosecution, he changed the title to +Ceremonies Superstitieuses des Juifs, and also to Reflexions Curieuses +d'un Esprit Desintéressé, 1678. + +Saint-Hyacinthe (Themiseul de Cordonnier de), French writer, +b. Orleans, 24 Sept. 1684. Author of Philosophical Researches, +published at Rotterdam, 1743. Died near Breda (Holland), 1746. Voltaire +published his Diner Du Comte de Boulainvilliers under the name of +St. Hyacinthe. + +Saint John (Henry). See Bolingbroke, Lord. + +Saint Lambert (Charles, or rather Jean François de), French writer, +b. Nancy, 16 Dec. 1717. After being educated among the Jesuits he +entered the army, and was admired for his wit and gallantry. He became +a devoted adherent of Voltaire and an admirer of Madame du Chatelet. He +wrote some articles in the Encyclopédie, and many fugitive pieces and +poems in the literary journals. His poem, the Seasons, 1769 procured +him admission to the Academy. He published essays on Helvetius and +Bolingbroke, and Le Catéchisme Universel. His Philosophical Works +were published in 1801. Died Paris, 9 Feb. 1803. + +Sale (George), English Oriental scholar, b. Kent, 1680, educated +at Canterbury. He was one of a society which undertook to publish a +Universal History, and was also one of the compilers of the General +Dictionary. His most important work was a translation of the Koran, +with a preliminary discourse and explanatory notes, 1734. He was one +of the founders of the Society for the Encouragement of Learning. Died +14 Nov. 1736. + +Salieres (A.), contributor to l'Athée, 1870. Has written a work on +Patriotism, 1881. + +Sallet (Friedrich von), German pantheist poet of French descent, +b. Neisse (Silesia), 20 April, 1812. An officer in the army, he was +imprisoned for writing a satire on the life of a trooper. In '34 he +attended Hegel's lectures at Berlin, and in '38 quitted the army. He +wrote a curious long poem entitled the Layman's Gospel, in which he +takes New Testament texts and expounds them pantheistically--the God +who is made flesh is replaced by the man who becomes God. Died Reichau +(Silesia), 21 Feb. 1843. + +Salmeron y Alonso (Nicolas), Spanish statesman, b. Alhama lo Seco, +1838. Studied law, and became a Democratic journalist; a deputy to the +Cortes in 1871, and became President thereof during the Republic of +'73. He wrote a prologue to the work of Giner on Philosophy and Arts, +'78, and his own works were issued in 1881. + +Salt (Henry Stephens), English writer, b. India, 20 Sept. 1851; +educated at Eton, where he became assistant master. A contributor +to Progress, he has written Literary Sketches, '88. A monograph on +Shelley, and a Life of James Thomson, "B.V.", 1889. + +Saltus (Edgar Evertson), American author, b. New York 8 June +1858. Studied at Concord, Paris, Heidelberg and Munich. In '84 he +published a sketch of Balzac. Next year appeared The Philosophy of +Disenchantment, appreciative and well written views of Schopenhauer +and Hartmann. This was followed by The Anatomy of Negation, a sketchy +account of some atheists and sceptics from Kapila to Leconte de Lisle, +'86. Has also written several novels, and Eden, an episode, '89. His +brother Francis is the author of Honey and Gall, a book of poems +(Philadelphia, '73.) + +Salverte (Anne Joseph Eusèbe Baconniere de), French philosopher, +b. Paris, 18 July, 1771. He studied among the Oratorians. Wrote Epistle +to a Reasonable Woman, an Essay on What should be Believed, 1793, +contributed to Maréchal's Dictionnaire des Athées, published an eloge +on Diderot, 1801, and many brochures, among others a tragedy on the +Death of Jesus Christ. Elected deputy in '28, he was one of the warm +partisans of liberty, and in '30, demanded that Catholicism should not +be recognised as the state religion. He is chiefly remembered by his +work on The Occult Sciences, '29, which was translated into English, +'46. To the French edition of '56 Littré wrote a Preface. He died 27 +Oct. 1839. On his death bed he refused religious offices. + +Sand (George), the pen name of Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin, afterwards +baroness Dudnevant, French novelist, b. Paris, 1 July, 1804, and +brought up by her grandmother at the Château de Nohant. Reading +Rousseau and the philosophers divorced her from Catholicism. She +remained a Humanitarian. Married Sept. 1822, Baron Dudnevant, an +elderly man who both neglected and ill-treated her, and from whom +after some years she was glad to separate at the sacrifice of her +whole fortune. Her novels are too many to enumerate. The Revolution of +'48 drew her into politics, and she started a journal and translated +Mazzini's Republic and Royalty in Italy, Died at her Chateau of Nohant, +8 June, 1876. Her name was long obnoxious in England, where she was +thought of as an assailant of marriage and religion, but a better +appreciation of her work and genius is making way. + +Sarcey (Franscique), French critic, b. Dourdan, 8 Oct. 1828, editor +of Le XIXe. Siècle, has written plays, novels, and many anti-clerical +articles. + +"Sarrasi," pseudonym of A. de C....; French Orientalist b. Department +of Tarn, 1837, author of L'Orient Devoilé, '80, in which he shows +the mythical elements in Christianity. + +Saull (William Devonshire), English geologist, b. 1783. He established +a free geological museum, contributed to the erection of the John +Street Institute, and was principally instrumental in opening the +old Hall of Science, City Road. He wrote on the connection between +astronomy, geology, etc. He died 26 April, 1855, and is buried in +Kensal Green, near his friends, Allen Davenport and Henry Hetherington. + +Saunderson (Nicholas), English mathematician b. Thurleston (Yorkshire), +2 Jan. 1682. He lost both his eyes and his sight by small pox when +but a year old, yet he became conversant with Euclid, Archimedes, +and Diophantus, when read to him in Greek. He lectured at Cambridge +University, explaining Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural +Philosophy, and even his works on light and color. It was said, +"They have turned out Whiston for believing in but one God, and put +in Saunderson, who believes in no God at all." Saunderson said that +to believe in God he must first touch him. Died 19 April, 1739. + +Sauvestre (Charles), French journalist, b. Mans. 1818, one of +the editors of L'Opinion Nationale. Has written on The Clergy and +Education ('61), Monita Secreta Societatis Jesu; Secret Instructions +of the Jesuits ('65), On the Knees of the Church ('68), Religious +Congregations Unveiled ('70), and other anti-clerical works. He died +at Paris in 1883. + +Saville (Sir George), Marquis of Halifax, English statesman, +b. Yorkshire, 1630. He became President of the Council in the reign +of James II., but was dismissed for opposing the repeal of the Test +Acts. He wrote several pieces and memoirs. Burnet gives a curious +account of his opinions, which he probably tones down. + +Sawtelle (C. M.), American author of Reflections on the Science of +Ignorance, or the art of teaching others what you don't know yourself, +Salem, Oregon, 1868. + +Sbarbaro (Pietro), Italian publicist and reformer, b. Savona, 1838; +studied jurisprudence. He published a work on The Philosophy of +Research, '66. In '70 he dedicated to Mauro Macchi a book on The Task +of the Nineteenth Century, and presided at a congress of Freethinkers +held at Loreto. Has written popular works on the Conditions of Human +Progress, the Ideal of Democracy, and an essay entitled From Socino +to Mazzini, '86. + +Schade (Georg), German Deist, b. Apenrade, 1712. He believed in the +immortality of brutes. In 1770 he was imprisoned for his opinions +on the Isle of Christiansoe. He settled at Kiel, Holstein, in 1775, +where he died in 1795. + +Scherer (Edmond), French critic and publicist, b. Paris 8 April, +1815. Of Protestant family, he became professor of exegesis at Geneva, +but his views becoming too free, he resigned his chair and went to +Strasburg, where he became chief of the School of Liberal Protestants, +and in the Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie Chrétienne, '50-60, +put forward views which drew down a tempest from the orthodox. He also +wrote in the Bibliotheque Universelle and Revue des Deux-Mondes. Some +of his articles have been collected as Mélanges de Critique Religieuse, +'60; and Mélanges d'Histoire Religieuse, '64. He was elected deputy in +'71, and sat with the Republicans of the Left. Died 1889. + +Scherr (Johannes), German author, b. Hohenrechberg, 3 +Oct. 1817. Educated at Zürich and Tübingen, he wrote in '43 with his +brother Thomas a Popular History of Religious and Philosophical Ideas, +and in '57 a History of Religion, in three parts. In '60 he became +Professor of History and Literature at Zürich, and has written many +able literary studies, including histories of German and English +literature. Died at Zürich, 21 Nov. 1887. + +Schiff (Johan Moriz), German physiologist, b. Frankfort, 1823. Educated +at Berlin and Gottingen, he became Professor of Comparative Anatomy at +Berne, '54-63; of Physiology at Florence, '63-76, and at Genoa. Has +written many physiological treatises, which have been attacked as +materialistic. + +Schiller (Johann Christoph Friedrich von), eminent German poet and +historian, b. Marbech, 10 Nov. 1759. His mother wished him to become a +minister, but his tastes led him in a different direction. A friend of +Goethe, he enriched German literature with numerous plays and poems, +a History of the Netherlands Revolt, and of the Thirty Years' War. He +died in the prime of mental life at Weimar, 9 May, 1805. + +Schmidt (Eduard Oskar), German zoologist, b. Torgau, 21 Feb. 1823. He +travelled widely, and became professor of natural history at +Jena. Among the first of Germans to accept Darwinism, he has +illustrated its application in many directions, and published an able +work on The Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism in the "International +Scientific Series." Died at Strasburg, 17 Jan. 1886. + +Schmidt (Kaspar), German philosopher, b. Bayreuth, +25 Oct. 1806. Studied at Berlin, Erlangen, and Königsberg, first +theology, then philosophy. Under the pseudonym of "Max Stirner" +he wrote a system of individualism The Only One, and His Possession +(Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum), '45. He also wrote a History of +Reaction in two parts (Berlin, '52), and translated Smith's Wealth +of Nations and Say's Text-book of Political Economy. Died at Berlin, +25 June, 1856. + +Schneeberger (F. J.), Austrian writer, b. Vienna, 7 Sept, 1827. Has +written some popular novels under the name of "Arthur Storch," and +was one of the founders of the German Freethinkers' Union. + +Schoelcher ( Victor), French philosophist, b. Paris, 21 July +1804. While still young he joined the secret society Aide-toi, le ciel +t'aidera, and studied social questions. He devoted himself from about +'26 to advocating the abolition of slavery, and wrote many works +on the subject. On 3 March, '48, he was made Under Secretary of the +Navy, and caused a decree to be issued by the Provisional Government +enfranchising all slaves on French territory. He was elected Deputy for +Martinique '48 and '49. After 2 Dec. '51, he came to London, where he +wrote occasionally in the Reasoner and National Reformer. He returned +to France during the war, and took part in the defence of Paris. In +'71 he was again returned for Martinique, and in '75 he was elected +a life senator. + +Scholl (Aurélien), French journalist, b. Bordeaux, 14 July, 1833. He +began life as a writer on the Corsaire, founded Satan, Le Nain Jaune, +etc., and writes on l'Evénement. Has written several novels, and le +Procès de Jésus Christ, '77. + +Scholl (Karl), German writer and preacher to the Free religious bodies +of Mannheim and Heidelberg, b. Karlsruhe, 17 Aug. 1820. He became +a minister '44, but was suspended for his free opinions in '45. His +first important work was on the Messiah Legend of the East (Hamburg, +'52), and in '61 he published a volume on Free Speech, a collection +of extracts from French, English, and American Freethinkers. In '70 +he started a monthly journal of the Religion of Humanity, Es Werde +Licht! which continued for many years. Has published many discourses, +and written Truth from Ruins, '73, and on Judaism and the Religion +of Humanity, '79. + +Schopenhauer (Arthur), German pessimist philosopher, b. Danzig, +22 Feb. 1788. The son of a wealthy and well-educated merchant and a +vivacious lady, he was educated in French and English, and studied +at Göttingen science, history, and the religions and philosophies of +the East. After two visits to Italy, and an unsuccessful attempt to +obtain pupils at Berlin, he took up his abode at Frankfort. In 1815 +he wrote his chief work, The World as Will and Idea, translated into +English in '83. His philosophy is expressed in the title, will is +the one reality, all else appearance. He also wrote The Two Ground +Problems of Ethics, '61, On the Freedom of Will, and a collection +of essays entitled Parega and Paralipomena ('51). Died at Frankfort, +21 Sept. 1860. Schopenhauer was a pronounced Atheist, and an enemy of +every form of superstition. He said that religions are like glow-worms; +they require darkness to shine in. + +Schroeter (Eduard), German American writer, b. Hannover, 4 June, +1810, studied theology at Jena; entered the Free-religious communion +in '45. In '50, he went to America, living since '53 in Sauk City, +and frequently lecturing there. In '81, he attended the International +Conference of Freethinkers at Brussels. He was a constant contributor +to the Freidenker, of Milwaukee, until his death 2 April, 1888. + +Schroot (A.), German author of Visions and Ideas (Berlin, 1865), +Natural Law and Human Will; Creation and Man, and Science and Life +(Hamburg, 1873). + +Schuenemann Pott (Friedrich), German American, b. Hamburg, 3 April, +1826. He joined the "Freie Gemeinde," and was expelled from Prussia +in '48. After the Revolution he returned to Berlin and took part +in democratic agitation, for which he was tried for high treason, +but acquitted. In '54 he removed to America, where he made lecturing +tours over the States settling at San Francisco. + +Schultze (Karl August Julius Fritz), German writer, b. Celle, 7 May, +1846, studied at Jena, Göttingen and Münich, has written an able study +on Fetishism, Leipzig '71, a pamphlet on Religion in German Schools, +'72, a History of the Philosophy of the Renaissance, '74, and Kant +and Darwin, '75. In '76, he was appointed Professor of Philosophy in +Jena, since which he has written The Elements of Materialism, '80, +Philosophy of the Natural Sciences, 2 vols. '81-82, and Elements of +Spiritualism, 1883. + +Schumann (Robert Alexander), German musical composer, b. Nekau, 8 +July, 1810. He studied law at Leipsic, but forsook it for music. He +started a musical journal '34, which he edited for some years. His +lyrical compositions are unsurpassed, and he also composed a "profane" +oratorio, Paradise and the Peri ('40). His character and opinions +are illustrated by his Letters. Died 29 July, 1856. + +Schweichel (Georg Julius Robert), German writer, b. Königsberg, 12 +July, 1821. He studied jurisprudence, but took to literature. Taking +part in the events of '48, after the reaction he went to +Switzerland. Has written several novels dealing with Swiss life, +also a Life of Auerbach. He wrote the preface to Dulk's Irrgang des +Leben's Jesu, 1884. + +Schweitzer (Jean Baptista von), German Socialist poet, b. Frankfort, +12 July, 1833. He studied law in Berlin and Heidelberg; became after +Lassalle's death president of the German Workmen's Union, and was +sent to Parliament in '67. He wrote the Zeitgeist and Christianity, +'62, The Darwinians, '75, and several other works. Died 28 July, 1875. + +Scot (Reginald), English rationalist, author of The Discoverie of +Witchcraft, 1584, the first English work to question the existence of +witches. It was burnt by order of King James I, and was republished +in 1886. Scot died in 1599. + +Scott (Thomas), English scholar, b. 28 April 1808. In early life he +travelled widely, lived with Indians and had been page to Chas. X, +of France. Having investigated Christianity, he in later life devoted +himself to Freethought propaganda by sending scholarly pamphlets among +the clergy and cultured classes. From '62-77, he issued from Mount +Pleasant, Ramsgate, over a hundred different pamphlets by Bp. Hinds, +F. W. Newman, Kalisch, Lestrange, Willis, Strange, etc., most of which +were given away. He issued a challenge to the Christian Evidence +Society, and wrote with Sir G. W. Cox, The English Life of Jesus +'71. Altogether his publications extend to twenty volumes. Little +known outside his own circle, Thomas Scott did a work which should +secure him lasting honor. Died at Norwood, 30 Dec. 1878. + +Seaver (Horace Holley), American journalist, b. Boston, 25 +Aug. 1810. In '37 he became a compositor on the Boston Investigator, +and during Kneeland's imprisonment took the editorship, which +he continued for upwards of fifty years during which he battled +strenuously for Freethought in America. His articles were always +very plain and to the point. A selection of them has been published +with the title Occasional Thoughts (Boston, '88). With Mr. Mendum, he +helped the erection of the Paine Memorial Hall, and won the esteem of +all Freethinkers in America. Died, 21 Aug. 1889. His funeral oration +was delivered by Colonel Ingersoll. + +Sebille (Adolphe), French writer, who, under the pseudonym +of "Dr. Fabricus," published God, Man, and his latter end, a +medico-psychological study, 1868, and Letters from a Materialist to +Mgr. Dupanloup, 1868-9. + +Sechenov or Setchenoff (Ivan), Russian philosopher, who, in 1863, +published Psychological Studies, explaining the mind by physiology. The +work made a great impression in Russia, and has been translated into +French by Victor Derély, and published in '84 with an introduction +by M. G. Wyrouboff. + +Secondat (Charles de). See Montesquieu. + +Seeley (John Robert), English historian and man of letters, b. London, +1834, educated at City of London School and Cambridge, where he +graduated in '57. In '63, he was appointed Professor of Latin in +London University. In '66, appeared his Ecce Homo, a survey of the +Life and Work of Jesus Christ, published anonymously, and which Lord +Shaftesbury denounced in unmeasured terms as vomitted from the pit of +hell. In '69, he became professor of modern history at Cambridge, and +has since written some important historical works as well as Natural +Religion ('82). Prof. Seeley is president of the Ethical Society. + +Segond (Louis August), French physician and Positivist, author of +a plan of a positivist school to regenerate medicine, 1849, and of +several medical works. + +Seidel (Martin), Silesian Deist, of Olhau, lived at the end of the +sixteenth century. He held that Jesus was not the predicted Messiah, +and endeavored to propagate his opinion among the Polish Socinians. He +wrote three Letters on the Messiah, The Foundations of the Christian +Religion, in which he considered the quotation from the Old Testament +in the new, and pointed out the errors of the latter. + +Sellon (Edward), English archæologist, author of The Monolithic +Temples of India; Annotations on the Sacred Writings of the Hindus, +1865, and other scarce works, privately printed. + +Semerie (Eugène), French Positivist, b. Aix, 6 Jan. 1832. Becoming +physician at Charenton, he studied mental maladies, and in '67 +published a work on Intellectual Symptoms of Madness, in which +he maintained that the disordered mind went back from Positivism +to metaphysics, theology, and then to fetishism. This work was +denounced by the Bishop of Orleans. Dr. Semerie wrote A Simple Reply +to M. Dupanloup, '68. During the sieges of Paris he acted as surgeon +and director of the ambulance. A friend of Pierre Lafitte, he edited +the Politique Positive, and wrote Positivists and Catholics, '73, +and The Law of the Three States, '75. Died at Grasse, May, 1884. + +Semler (Johann Salomo), German critic, b. Saalfeld, 18 Dec. 1725. He +was professor of theology at Halle and founder of historical Biblical +criticism there. He translated Simon's Critical History of the New +Testament, and by asserting the right of free discussion drew down +the wrath of the orthodox. Died at Halle, 4 March, 1791. + +Serafini (Maria Alimonda), Italian authoress of a Catechism for +Female Freethinkers (Geneva, 1869), and a work on Marriage and Divorce +(Salerno, '73). + +Serveto y Reves (Miguel), better known as Michael Servetus, Spanish +martyr, b. Villanova (Aragon), 1509. Intended for the Church, he +left it for law, which he studied at Toulouse. He afterward studied +medicine at Paris, and corresponded with Calvin on the subject +of the Trinity, against which he wrote De Trinitatis Erroribus +and Christianismi Restitutio, which excited the hatred of both +Catholics and Protestants. To Calvin Servetus sent a copy of his +last work. Calvin, through one Trie, denounced him to the Catholic +authorities at Lyons. He was imprisoned, but escaped, and to get to +Naples passed through Geneva, where he was seized at the instance of +Calvin, tried for blasphemy and heresy, and burnt alive at a slow fire, +26 Oct. 1553. + +Seume (Johann Gottfried), German poet, b. near Weissenfels, 29 +Jan. 1763. He was sent to Leipsic, and intended for a theologian, +but the dogmas disgusted him, and he left for Paris. He lived an +adventurous life, travelled extensively, and wrote Promenade to +Syracuse, 1802, and other works. Died at Teplitz, 13 June, 1810. + +Sextus Empiricus, Greek sceptical philosopher and physician, who +probably lived early in the third century of the Christian era. He +left two works, one a summary of the doctrines of the sceptics in +three books; the other an attack on all positive philosophy. + +Shadwell (Thomas), English dramatist, b. Straton Hall, Norfolk, +1640. Although damned by Dryden in his Mac Flecknoe, Shadwell's plays +are not without merit, and illustrate the days of Charles II. Died +6 Dec. 1692. + +Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper), third Earl, b. London, 26 +Feb. 1671. Educated by Locke, in 1693 he was elected M.P. for Poole, +and proposed granting counsel to prisoners in case of treason. His +health suffering, he resigned and went to Holland, where he made the +acquaintance of Bayle. The excitement induced by the French Prophets +occasioned his Letters upon Enthusiasm, 1708. This was followed, +by his Moralists and Sensus Communis. In 1711 he removed to Naples, +where he died 4 Feb. 1713. His collected works were published under +the title of Characteristics, 1732. They went through several editions, +and did much to raise the character of English Deism. + +Shakespeare (William). The greatest of all dramatists, +b. Stratford-on-Avon, 23 April, 1564. The materials for writing his +life are slender. He married in his 19th year, went to London, where he +became an actor and produced his marvellous plays, the eternal honor +of English literature. Shakespeare gained wealth and reputation and +retired to his native town, where he died April 23, 1616. His dramas +warrant the inference that he was a Freethinker. Prof. J. R. Green +says, "Often as his questionings turned to the riddle of life +and death, and leaves it a riddle to the last without heeding the +common theological solutions around him." His comprehensive mind +disdained endorsement of religious dogmas and his wit delighted in +what the Puritans call profanity. Mr. Birch in his Inquiry into the +Philosophy and Religion of Shakespeare, sustains the position that +he was an Atheist. + +Shaw (James Dickson), American writer, b. Texas, 27 Dec. 1841. Brought +up on a cattle farm, at the Civil War he joined the Southern Army, +took part in some battles, and was wounded. He afterwards entered the +Methodist Episcopal ministry, '70; studied biblical criticism to answer +sceptics, and his own faith gave way. He left the Church in March, +'83, and started the Independent Pulpit at Waco, Texas, in which he +publishes bold Freethought articles. He rejects all supernaturalism, +and has written The Bible, What Is It?, Studies in Theology, The +Bible Against Itself, etc. + +Shelley (Percy Bysshe), English poet, b. Field Place (Sussex), 4 +Aug. 1792. From Eton, where he refused to fag, he went to Oxford. Here +he published a pamphlet on the necessity of Atheism, for which he +was expelled from the University. His father, Sir Timothy Shelley, +also forbade him his house. He went to London, wrote Queen Mab, and +met Miss Westbrook, whom, in 1811, he married. After two children +had been born, they separated. In '16 Shelley learned that his wife +had drowned herself. He now claimed the custody of his children, +but, in March, '17, Lord Eldon decided against him, largely on +account of his opinions. Shelley had previously written A Letter +to Lord Ellenborough, indignantly attacking the sentence the judge +passed on D. I. Eaton for publishing Paine's Age of Reason. On 30 +Dec. '16, Shelley married Mary, daughter of William Godwin and Mary +Wollstonecraft. In '18, fearing their son might also be taken from him, +he left England never to return. He went to Italy, where he met Byron, +composed The Cenci, the Witch of Atlas, Prometheus Unbound, Adonais, +Epipsychidion, Hellas, and many minor poems of exquisite beauty, +the glory of our literature. He was drowned in the Bay of Spezzia, +8 July, 1822. Shelley never wavered in his Freethought. Trelawny, +who knew him well, says he was an Atheist to the last. + +Siciliani (Pietro), Professor in the University of Bologna b. Galatina, +19 Sep. 1835, author of works on Positive Philosophy, Socialism, +Darwinism, and Modern Sociology, '79; and Modern Psychogeny, with a +preface by J. Soury, '82. Died 28 Dec. '85. + +Sidney (Algernon), English Republican, and second son of Robert, Earl +of Leicester, b. 1617. He became a colonel in the Army of Parliament, +and a member of the House of Commons. On the Restoration he remained +abroad till 1677, but being implicated in the Rye House Plot, was +condemned by Judge Jeffreys to be executed on Tower Hill, 7 Dec. 1678. + +Sierebois (P.). See Boissière. + +Siffle (Alexander François), Dutch writer, b. Middleburg, 11 May, +1801. Studied law at Leyden, and became notary at Middleburg. He +wrote several poems and works of literary value, and contributed +to de Dageraad. He was a man of wide reading. Died at Middleburg, +7 Oct. 1872. + +Sigward (M.), b. St. Leger-sur-Dhume, France, 15 April, 1817. An +active French democrat and Freethinker, and compiler of a Republican +calendar. He took part in the International Congress at Paris '89, +and is one of the editors of Le Danton. + +Simcox (Edith), author of Natural Law in the English and Foreign +Philosophical Library; also wrote on the Design Argument in the +Fortnightly Review, 1872, under the signature "H. Lawrenny." + +Simon de Tournai, a Professor at Paris University early in the XIIIth +century. He said that "Three seducers," Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, +"have mystified mankind with their doctrines." He was said to have +been punished by God for his impiety. + +Simon (Richard), learned French theological critic, b. Dieppe, 15 May, +1638. Brought up by the Congregation of the Oratory, he distinguished +himself by bold erudition. His Critical History of the Old Testament, +1678, was suppressed by Parliament. He followed it with a Critical +History of the New Testament, which was also condemned. Died at Dieppe, +11 April, 1712. + +Simonis.--A physician, b. at Lucques and persecuted in Poland for +his opinions given in an Atheistic work, entitled Simonis Religio, +published at Cracow, 1588. + +Simpson (George), of the Glasgow Zetetic Society, who in 1838 put +forward a Refutation of the Argument a priori for the being and +attributes of God, in reply to Clarke and Gillespie. He used the +signature "Antitheos." Died about 1844. + +Sjoberg (Walter), b. 24 May, 1865, at Borgo (Finland), lives near +Helsingfors, and took part in founding the Utilistiska Samfundet +there. During the imprisonment of Mr. Lennstrand he gave bold lectures +at Stockholm. + +Skinner (William), of Kirkcaldy, Deist, author of Thoughts on +Superstition or an attempt to Discover Truth (Cupar, 1822), was +credited also with Jehovah Unveiled or the God of the Jews, published +by Carlile in 1819. + +Slater (Thomas), English lecturer, b. 15 Sept. 1820. Has for many +years been an advocate of Secularism and Co-operation. He was on the +Town Council of Bury, and now resides at Leicester. + +Slenker (Elmina), née Drake, American reformer, b. of Quaker parents, +23 Dec. 1827. At fourteen, she began notes for her work, Studying +the Bible, afterwards published at Boston, '70; she conducts the +Children's Corner in the Boston Investigator, and has contributed +to most of the American Freethought papers. Has written John's Way +('78), Mary Jones, The Infidel Teacher ('85), The Darwins ('79), +Freethought stories. Resides at Snowville, Virginia. + +Smith (Geritt), American reformer, b. Utica (N.Y.), 6 March, 1799, +graduated at Hamilton's College. He was elected to Congress in 1850, +but only served one Session. Though of a wealthy slaveholding family, +he largely devoted his fortune to the Anti-Slavery cause. In religion, +originally a Presbyterian, he came to give up all dogmas, and wrote +The Religion of Reason, '64, and Nature the base of a Free Theology, +'67. Died, New York, 28 Dec. 1874. + +Snoilsky (Karl Johan Gustav), Count, Swedish poet, b. Stockholm, +8 Sept. 1841. Studied at Upsala, '60. Displays his Freethought in +his poems published under the name of "Sventröst." + +Socinus [Ital. Sozzini] (Fausto), anti-trinitarian, b. Siena, 5 +Dec. 1539. He adopted the views of his uncle, Laelio, (1525-1562), +and taught them with more boldness. In 1574 he went to Switzerland, +and afterwards to Poland, where he made many converts, and died 3 +March, 1604. + +Sohlman (Per August Ferdinand), Swedish publicist, b. Nerika, 1824. He +edited the Aftonbladet, of Stockholm, from '57, and was a distinguished +Liberal politician. Died at Stockholm, 1874. + +Somerby (Charles Pomeroy), American publisher, b. 1843. Has issued +many important Freethought works, and is business manager of the +Truthseeker. + +Somerset (Edward Adolphus Saint Maur), 12th Duke of, b. 20 +Dec. 1804. Educated at Eton and Oxford. He married a daughter of +Thomas Sheridan. Sat as M.P. for Totnes, '34-35, and was Lord of the +Treasury, '35-39, and First Lord of the Admiralty, '59-66. In '72 he +startled the aristocratic world by a trenchant attack on orthodoxy +entitled Christian Theology and Modern Scepticism. He also wrote on +mathematics and on Monarchy and Democracy. Died 28 Nov. 1885. + +Soury (Auguste Jules), French philosopher, b. Paris, 1842. In '65 he +became librarian at the Bibliothèque Nationale. He has contributed +to the Revue des Deux Mondes, Revue Nouvelle, and other journals, +and has published important works on The Bible and Archæology, '72; +Historical Studies on Religions, '77; Essays of Religious Criticism, +'78; Jesus and the Gospels, '78, a work in which he maintains that +Jesus suffered from cerebral affection, and which has been translated +into English, together with an essay on The Religion of Israel from +his Historical Studies. Studies of Psychology, '79, indicated a new +direction in M. Soury's Freethought. He has since written A Breviary +of the History of Materialism, '80; Naturalist Theories of the World +and of Life in Antiquity, '81; Natural Philosophy, '82; Contemporary +Psychological Doctrines, '83. He has translated Noeldeke's Literary +History of the Old Testament, 73; Haeckel's Proofs of Evolution, +'79; and Preyer's Elements of General Physiology, '84. + +Southwell (Charles), English orator, b. London, 1814. He served +with the British Legion in Spain, and became an actor and social +missionary. In Nov. '41 he started The Oracle of Reason at Bristol, +for an article in which on "The Jew Book" he was tried for blasphemy +14 Jan. '42, and after an able defence sentenced to twelve months' +imprisonment, and a fine of one hundred pounds. After coming out he +edited the Lancashire Beacon. He also lectured and debated both in +England and Scotland; wrote Christianity Proved Idolatry, '44; Apology +for Atheism, '46; Difficulties of Christianity, '48; Superstition +Unveiled; The Impossibility of Atheism which he held on the ground +that Theism was unproved, and Another Fourpenny Wilderness, in answer +to G. J. Holyoake's criticism of the same. He also wrote about '45, +Confessions of a Freethinker, an account of his own life. In '56 he +went to New Zealand, and died at Auckland 7 Aug. 1860. + +Souverain (N.), French author of Platonism Unveiled 1700, a posthumous +work. He had been a minister in Poitou and was deposed on account of +his opinions. + +Sozzini. See Socinus. + +Spaink (Pierre François), Dutch physician, b. Amsterdam, 13 Dec. 1862, +and studied at the city, wrote for a time on De Dageraad, with the pen +names "A. Th. Eist." and "F.R.S." Has translated Romanes' Scientific +Evidences of Organic Evolution. + +Spaventa (Bertrando), Italian philosopher, b. 1817. Since '61 he +has been professor of philosophy at Naples. Has written upon the +Philosophy of Kant, Gioberti, Spinoza, Hegel, etc. Died 1888. + +Specht (Karl August), Dr. German writer, b. Lhweina, 2 July, +1845. Has been for many years editor of Menschenthum at Gotha, and +has written on Brain and Soul, Theology and Science and a Popular +History of the World's Development, which has gone through several +editions. Dr. Specht is a leading member of the German Freethinkers' +Union. + +Spencer (Herbert), English philosopher, b. Derby, 1820. He was +articled to a civil engineer, but drifted into literature. He +wrote in the Westminster Review, and at the house of Dr. Chapman +met Mill, Lewes and "George Eliot." His first important work was +Social Statistics, '51. Four years later appeared his Principles of +Psychology, which with First Principles, '62; Principles of Biology, +'64; Principles of Sociology, '76-85, and Data of Ethics, '79, form +part of his "Synthetic Philosophy" in which he applies the doctrines +of evolution to the phenomena of mind and society no less than to +animal life. He has also published Essays, 3 vols, '58-74; a work on +Education '61; Recent Discussions on Science, Philosophy and Morals, +'71; The Study of Sociology, '72; Descriptive Sociology, '72-86, +an immense work compiled under his direction. Also papers directed +against Socialism; The Coming Slavery, '84; and Man and the State, +'85, and has contributed many articles to the best reviews. + +Spinoza (Baruch), Pantheistic philosopher, b. of Jewish parents, +Amsterdam, 24 Nov. 1632. He early engaged in the study of theology and +philosophy, and, making no secret of his doubts, was excommunicated +by the Synagogue, 27 July, 1656. About the same time he narrowly +escaped death by a fanatic's dagger. To avoid persecution, he retired +to Rhinsburg, and devoted himself to philosophy, earning his living by +polishing lenses. About 1670 he settled at the Hague, where he remained +until his death. In 1670 he issued his Tractatus Theologico-politicus, +which made a great outcry; and for more than a century this great +thinker, whose life was gentle and self-denying, was stigmatized as +an atheist, a monster, and a blasphemer. A re-action followed, with +Lessing and Goethe, upon whom he had great influence. Though formerly +stigmatized as an atheist, Spinoza is now generally recognised as +among the greatest philosophers. He died in poverty at the Hague, +21 Feb. 1677. His Ethics was published with his Opera Posthuma. The +bi-centenary of his death was celebrated there by an eloquent address +from M. Rénan. + +Spooner (Lysander), American writer, b. Athol (Mass.), 19 +Jan. 1808. His first pamphlet was A Deist's Reply to the alleged +Supernatural Evidences of Christianity. He started letter-carrying from +Boston to New York, but was overwhelmed with prosecutions. He published +many works against slavery, and in favor of Individualism. Died at +Boston, 14 May, 1887. + +Stabili (Francesco), see Cecco' d'Ascoli. + +Stamm (August Theodor), German Humanist, wrote The Religion of Action, +translated into English, 1860. After the events of '48, he came to +England, went to America, Aug. '54. + +Standring (George), English lecturer and writer, b. 18 Oct. 1855, +was for some years chorister at a Ritualistic Church, but discarded +theology after independent inquiry in '73. He became hon. sec. of the +National Secular Society about '75, resigning on appointment of paid +sec., was auditor and subsequently vice-president. Started Republican +Chronicle, April, 1875, this was afterwards called The Republican, and +in Sept. '88 The Radical. He is sec. of the London Secular Federation, +and has contributed to the National Reformer, Freethinker, Progress, +Our Corner, Reynolds's and Pall Mall Gazette. His brother, Sam., +b. 27 July, 1853, is also an active Freethinker. + +Stanley (F. Lloyd), American author of An Outline of the Future +Religion of the World (New York and London, 1884), a Deistic work in +which he criticises preceding religions. + +Stanton (Elizabeth, née Cady), American reformer, b. Johnstone, New +York, 12 Nov. 1815. A friend of Ernestine Rose and Lucretia Mott, she +was associated with them in the Anti-Slavery and the Woman's Rights +crusades, of which last the first convention was held at her home in +Seneca Falls, July '48. She edited with her friends, Susan Anthony +and Parker Pilsbury, The Revolution, and is joint author of History +of Woman's Suffrage ('80-86). She has written in the North American +Review notably on "Has Christianity Benefited Woman," May, 1885. + +Stap (A.), author of Historic Studies on the origins of +Christianity. Bruxelles, 1864, and The Immaculate Conception, 1869. + +Starcke (Carl Nicolay), Dr. and teacher of philosophy in the +University of Copenhagen, b. 29 March, 1858. A decided disciple +of Feuerbach on whom he published a dissertation in '83. This able +Monograph on the whole doctrine of the German philosopher was in '85, +published in a German edition. Prof. Starcke has since published in +the "International Scientific Series," a work on The Primitive Family, +in which he critically surveys the views of Lubbock, Maine, McLennan, +etc. He is now engaged on a work on Ethics based on the doctrines of +Ludwig Feuerbach. + +Stecchetti (Lorenzo). See Guerrini (O.) + +Stefanoni (Luigi). Italian writer and publicist, b. Milan, 1842. In +'59, his first Romance, The Spanish in Italy was suppressed by +the Austrians. He joined Garibaldi's volunteers and contributed +to Unita Italiana. In '66, he founded at Milan the Society of +Freethinkers and the organ Il Libero Pensiero, in which he wrote A +critical History of Superstition, afterwards published separately +2 vols. '69. He also compiled a Philosophical Dictionary, '73-75; +and wrote several romances as L'Inferno, The Red and Black of Rome, +etc. He translated Büchner's Force and Matter, Morin's Jesus réduit, +La Mettrie's Man-machine, Letourneau's Physiology of the Passions, +and Feuerbach's Essence of Religion. + +Steinbart (Gotthelf, Samuel), German rationalist, b. Züllichau, 21 +Sept. 1738. Brought up in a pietist school, he became a Freethinker +through reading Voltaire. In '74, he became Prof. of Philosophy +at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, and wrote a System of Pure Philosophy, +'78. Died, 3 Feb. 1809. + +Steinthal (Hajjim), German philologist, b. Gröbzig, 16 May, 1823, +has written many works on language and mythology. + +Steller (Johann), Advocate at Leipsic, published an heretical work, +Pilatus liberatoris Jesu subsidio defensus, Dresden, 1674. + +"Stendhal (M. de)," Pseud, see Beyle (M. H.) + +Stephen (Sir James FitzJames), English judge and writer, b. London, 3 +March, 1829. Studied at Cambridge, graduated B.A. '52, and was called +to the bar in '54. He was counsel for the Rev. Rowland Williams when +tried for heresy for writing in Essays and Reviews, and his speech +was reprinted in '62. He wrote in the Saturday Review, and reprinted +Essays by a Barrister. From Dec. '69, to April, '72, he was Legal +Member of the Indian Council, and in '79 was appointed judge. He is +author of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, '73, and some valuable +legal works. He has written much in the Nineteenth Century, notably +on the Blasphemy Law '83, and Modern Catholicism, Oct. '87. + +Stephen (Leslie), English man of letters, brother of preceding, +b. London, 28 Nov. 1832. Educated at Cambridge where he graduated M.A., +'57. He married a daughter of Thackeray, and became editor of the +Cornhill Magazine from '71-82, when he resigned to edit the Dictionary +of National Biography. Mr. Stephen also contributed to Macmillan, the +Fortnightly, and other reviews. Some of his boldest writing is found +in Essays on Freethinking and Plainspeaking, '73. He has also written +an important History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century, +'76, dealing with the Deistic movement, and The Science of Ethics, +'82, besides many literary works. + +Stern (J)., Rabbiner, German writer, b. of Jewish parents, +Liederstetten (Wurtemburg), his father being Rabbi of the town. In +'58 he went to the Talmud High School, Presburg and studied the +Kabbalah, which he intended to translate into German. To do this he +studied Spinoza, whose philosophy converted him. In '63 he graduated at +Stuttgart. He founded a society, to which he gave discourses collected +in his first book, Gottesflamme, '72. His Old and New Faith Among the +Jews, '78, was much attacked by the orthodox Jews. In Women in the +Talmud, '79, he pleaded for mixed marriages. He has also written Jesus +as a Jewish Reformer, The Egyptian Religion and Positivism, and Is the +Pentateuch by Moses? In '81 he went to live at Stuttgart, where he has +translated Spinoza's Ethics, and is engaged on a history of Spinozism. + +"Sterne (Carus)"; pseud. See Krause (E). + +Stevens (E. A.), of Chicago, late secretary of American Secular Union, +b. 8 June, 1846. Author of God in the State, and contributor to the +American Freethought journals. + +Stewart (John), commonly called Walking Stewart, b. London before +1750. Was sent out in 1763 as a writer to Madras. He walked through +India, Africa, and America. He was a Materialist. Died in London, +20 Feb. 1822. + +"Stirner (Max)." See Schmidt (Kaspar). + +Stosch (Friedrich Wilhelm), called also Stoss (Johann Friedrich), +b. Berlin, 1646, and studied at Frankfort-on-the-Oder. In 1692 he +published a little book, Concordia rationis et fidei, Amst. [or rather +Berlin]. It was rigorously suppressed, and the possession of the work +was threatened with a penalty of five hundred thalers. Lange classes +him with German Spinozists, and says "Stosch curtly denies not only +the immateriality, but also the immortality of the soul." Died 1704. + +Stout (Sir Robert), New Zealand statesman, b. Lerwick (Shetland Isles), +1845. He became a pupil teacher, and in '63 left for New Zealand. In +'67 he began the study of the law, was elected to the General Assembly +in '75, and became Attorney-General in March, '78. He has since been +Minister of Education of the Colony. + +Strange (Thomas Lumsden), late Madras Civil Service, and for many +years a judge of the High Court, Madras. A highly religious man, and +long an Evangelical Christian, he joined the Plymouth Brethren, and +ended in being a strong, and then weak Theist, and always an earnest +advocate of practical piety in life and conduct, and a diligent +student and writer. When judge, he sentenced a Brahmin to death, +and sought to bring the prisoner "to Jesus." He professed himself +influenced, but at the gallows "he proclaimed his trust to be in +Rama and not in Christ." This set the judge thinking. He investigated +Christianity's claims, and has embodied the result in his works. The +Bible, Is it the Word of God? '71; The Speaker's Commentary Reviewed, +'71; The Development of Creation on the Earth, '74; The Legends of the +Old Testament, '74; and The Sources and Development of Christianity, +'75. A friend of T. Scott and General Forlong, he died at Norwood, +4 Sept. 1884. + +Strauss (David Friedrich), German critic, b. Ludwigsburg (Wurtemburg), +27 Jan. 1808. He studied Theology at Tübengen, was ordained in '30, and +in '32 became assistant-teacher. His Life of Jesus Critically Treated, +'35, in which he shows the mythical character of the Gospels, aroused +much controversy, and he was deprived of his position. In '39 the +Zürich Government appointed him professor of church history, but they +were obliged to repeal their decision before the storm of Christian +indignation. His next important work was on the Christian Doctrines +(2 vols.), '40. In '47 he wrote on Julian the Apostle, and in '58 an +account of the Life and Time of Ulrich von Hutten. He prepared a New +Life of Christ for the German People, '64, followed by the Christ of +the Creeds and the Jesus of History. In '70 he published his lectures +on Voltaire, and two years later his last work The Old Faith and the +New, in which he entirely breaks not only with Christianity but with +the belief in a personal God and immortality. A devoted servant of +truth, his mind was always advancing. He died at his native place, +8 Feb. 1874. + +Strindberg (Johan August), Swedish writer, known as the Scandinavian +Rousseau, b. Stockholm, 22 Jan. 1849. He has published many prominent +rationalistic works, as The Red Chamber and Marriage. The latter +was confiscated. He is one of the most popular poets and novelists +in Sweden. + +Stromer (Hjalmar), Swedish astronomer, b. 1849. He lectured on +astronomy and published several works thereon, and also wrote +Confessions of a Freethinker. Died 1887. + +Strozzi (Piero), Italian general in the service of France, b. of +noble Florentine family 1500. Intended for the Church he abandoned +it for a military career, and was created marshal of France by Henry +II. about 1555. He was killed at the siege of Thionville, 20 June +1558, and being exhorted by the Duc de Guise to think of Jesus, +he calmly declared himself an Atheist. + +Suard (Jean Baptiste Antione), French writer, b. Besançon, 15 Jan, +1734. He became a devoted friend of Baron d'Holbach and of Garat, +and corresponded with Hume and Walpole. He wrote Miscellanies of +Literature, etc. He had the post of censor of theatres. Died at Paris +20 July, 1817. + +Sue (Marie Joseph, called Eugène), French novelist, b. Paris, 10 +Dec. 1804. He wrote many romances, of which The Mysteries of Paris +and The Wandering Jew, '42-45, were the most popular. In '50 he was +elected deputy and sat at the extreme left, but was exiled by the +coup d'etat. He died as a Freethinker at Annecy (Savoy), 3 July 1857. + +Sullivan (J.), author of Search for Deity, an inquiry as to the origin +of the conception of God (London, 1859). + +Sully Prudhomme (Renè François Armand), French poet, b. Paris, 16 +March 1839. He studied law but took to poetry and has published many +volumes. In '78 he was made Chevalier of Honor, and in '82 member of +the Academy. His poems are of pessimistic cast, and full of delicacy +of philosophical suggestion. + +Sunderland (La Roy), American author and orator, b. Exeter (Rhode +Island), 18 May, 1803. He became a Methodist preacher and was prominent +in the temperance and anti-slavery movements. He came out of the Church +as the great bulwark of slavery and opposed Christianity during the +forty years preceding his death. He wrote many works against slavery +and Pathetism, '47; Book of Human Nature, '53, and Ideology, 3 vols., +'86-9. Died in Quincy (Mass.) 15 May, 1885. + +Suttner (Bertha von), Baroness, Austrian author of Inventory of a Soul, +1886, and of several novels. + +Sutton (Henry S.), anonymous author of Quinquenergia; or, Proposals +for a New Practical Theology, and Letters from a Father to a Son on +Revealed Religion. + +Swinburne (Algernon Charles), English poet and critic, b. London, +5 April, 1837, educated at Oxford, and went to Florence, where he +spent some time with W. S. Landor. Atalanta in Calydon, a splendid +reproduction of Greek tragedy, first showed his genius. Poems and +Ballads, 1866, evinced his unconventional lyrical passion and power, +and provoked some outcry. In his Songs before Sunrise, 1871, he +glorifies Freethought and Republicanism, with unsurpassed wealth +of diction and rhythm. Mr. Swinburne has put forward many other +volumes of melodious and dramatic poems, and also essays, studies, +and prose miscellanies. + +Symes (Joseph), English lecturer and writer, b. Portland, 29 Jan. 1841, +of pious Methodist parents. In '64 he offered himself as candidate for +the ministry, and was sent to the Wesleyan College, Richmond, and in +'67 went on circuit as preacher. Having come to doubt orthodoxy, +he resigned in '72, preached his first open Freethought lecture +at Newcastle, 17 Dec. '76. Had several debates, wrote Philosophic +Atheism, Man's Place in Nature, Hospitals not of Christian Origin, +Christianity a Persecuting Religion, Blows at the Bible, etc. He +contributed to the Freethinker, and was ready to conduct it during +Mr. Foote's imprisonment. He went to Melbourne, Dec. '83, and there +established the Liberator, and has written Life and Death of My +Religion, '84; Christianity and Slavery, Phallic Worship, etc. + +Symonds (John Addington), English poet and author, b. Bristol, +5 Oct. 1840, educated at Harrow and Oxford, and was elected in +'62 to a Fellowship at Magdalen College, which he vacated on his +marriage. His chief work is on the Renaissance in Italy, 7 vols., +completed in '86. He has also written critical sketches, studies, +and poems. Ill health compels his living abroad. + +Taine (Hippolyte Adolphe), D.C.L., brilliant French man of letters, +b. Vouziers, 21 April, 1828. Educated at the College Bourbon (now the +Condorcet Lyceum), in '53 he took the degree of Doctor of Letters. In +'56 appears his French Philosophers of the Nineteenth Century, in which +he sharply criticised the spiritualist and religious school. He came +to England and studied English Literature; his Hand History of which +was sent in for the Academy prize, '63, but rejected on the motion of +Bishop Dupanloup on account of its materialist opinions. Also wrote +on English Positivism, a study of J. S. Mill. In '71 Oxford made +him D.C.L., and in Nov. '78, he was elected to the French Academy; +his latest work is The Origins of Contemporary France. + +Talandier (Alfred), French publicist, b. Limoges, 7 Sept. 1828. After +entering the bar, he became a socialist and took part in the revolution +of '48. Proscribed after 12 Dec. he came to England, started trades +unions and co-operation, translated Smiles's Self-Help, and wrote in +the National Reformer. Returned to Paris in '70 and became professor at +the Lycée Henri IV. In '74 he was deprived of his chair, but elected on +the Municipal council of Paris, and two years later chosen as deputy, +and was re-elected in '81. In '83 he published a Popular Rabelais +and has written in Our Corner on that great Freethinker. + +Taubert (A.), the maiden name of Dr. Hartmann's first wife. She wrote +The Pessimists and their Opponents, 1873. + +Taule (Ferdinand), M.D., of Strassburg, author of Notions on the +Nature and Properties of Organised Matter. Paris, 1866. + +Taurellus (Nicolaus), German physician and philosopher, b. Montbéhard, +26 Nov. 1547, studied medicine at Tübingen and Basle. For daring to +think for himself, and asking how the Aristotelian doctrine of the +eternity of the world could be reconciled with the dogma of creation, +he was stigmatised as an atheist. Wrote many works in Latin, the +principal of which is Philosophiæ Triumphans, 1573. He died of the +plague 28 Sept. 1606. + +Taylor (Robert), ex-minister, orator, and critic, b. Edmonton, +18 Aug. 1784. In 1805 he walked Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospital, +and became M.R.C.S., 1807. Persuaded to join the Church, he entered +St. John's, Cambridge, Oct. 1809, in Jan. '13 graduated B.A., and +soon after took holy orders. He was curate at Midhurst till '18, when +he first became sceptical through discussions with a tradesman. He +preached a sermon on Jonah which astonished his flock, and resigned. He +then went to Dublin and published The Clerical Review and started +"The Society of Universal Benevolence." In '24 he came to London and +started "The Christian Evidence Society," and delivered discourses with +discussion; also edited the Philalethian. In '27 he was indicted for +blasphemy, tried Oct. 24, after an able defence he was found guilty, +and on 7 Feb. '28 sentenced to one year's imprisonment in Oakham +Gaol. Here he wrote his Syntagma on the Evidences of Christianity, +and his chief work, The Diegesis, being a discovery of the origins, +evidences, and early history of Christianity. He also contributed a +weekly letter to The Lion, which R. Carlile started on his behalf. On +his liberation they both went on "an infidel mission" about the +country, and on May 30 the Rotunda, Blackfriars, was taken, where +Taylor attired in canonicals delivered the discourses published in +The Devil's Pulpit. He was again prosecuted, and on 4 July, '31, was +sentenced to two year's imprisonment. He was badly treated in gaol, +and soon after coming out married a wealthy lady and retired. Died +at Jersey, 5 June, 1844. + +Taylor (Thomas), known as "The Platonist," b. London, 1758. He +devoted his life to the elucidation and propagation of the Platonic +philosophy. He translated the works of Plato, Aristotle, Porphyry, five +books of Plotinus, six books of Proclus, Gamblichus on the Mysteries, +Arguments of Celsus taken from Origen, Arguments of Julian against +the Christians, Orations of Julian, etc. He is said to have been so +thorough a Pagan that he sacrificed a bull to Zeus. Died in Walworth, +1 Nov. 1835. + +Taylor (William), of Norwich, b. 7 Nov. 1765. He formed an acquaintance +with Southey, with whom he corresponded. His translations from +the German, notably Lessing's Nathan the Wise, brought him some +repute. He also wrote a Survey of German Poetry and English Synonyms, +1830. He edited the Norwich Iris, 1802, which he made the organ of his +political and religions views. In '10 he published anonymously A Letter +Concerning the Two First Chapters of Luke, also entitled Who was the +Father of Jesus Christ? 1810, in which he argues that Zacharias was +the father of Jesus Christ. Also wrote largely in the Monthly Review, +replying therein to the Abbé Barruel; and the Critical Review when +edited by Fellowes, in which he gave an account of the rationalism +of Paulus. Died at Norwich, 5 March, 1836. + +Tchernychewsky (N. G.) See Chernuishevsky. + +"Tela (Josephus)," the Latinised name of Joseph Webbe who in 1818 +edited the Philosophical Library, containing the Life and Morals of +Confucius, Epicurus, Isoscrates, Mahomet, etc., and other pieces. Webbe +is also thought to have been concerned in the production of Ecce Homo, +'13. Cushing, in his Initials and Pseudonyms, refers Tela to "Joseph +Webb," 1735-87; an American writer; Grand Master of Freemasons in +America; died in Boston." I am not satisfied that this is the same +person. + +Telesio (Bernardino), Italian philosopher, b. of noble family at +Cosenza, 1509. He studied at Padua, and became famous for his learning, +optical discoveries, and new opinions in philosophy. He wrote in +Latin On the Nature of Things according to Proper Principles, 1565. He +opposed the Aristotelian doctrine in physics, and employed mathematical +principles in explaining nature, for which he was prosecuted by the +clergy. He died Oct. 1588. His works were placed in the Index, but +this did not prevent their publication at Venice, 1590. + +Telle (Reinier), or Regnerus Vitellius, Dutch Humanist, b. Zierikzee, +1578. He translated Servetus On the Errors of the Trinity, published +1620. Died at Amsterdam, 1618. + +Testa (Giacinto), of Messina, Italian author of a curious Storia di +Gesù di Nazareth, 1870, in which he maintains that Jesus was the son +of Giuseppe Pandera, a Calabrian of Brindisi. + +Thaer (Albrecht Daniel). German agriculturist, b. Celle, 14 May, +1752. Studied at Gottingen, and is said to have inspired Lessing's +work on The Education of the Human Race. Died 28 Oct. 1828. + +Theodorus of Cyrene, a Greek philosopher, whose opinions resembled +those of Epicurus. He was banished for Atheism from his native city. He +resided at Athens about 312 B.C. When threatened with crucifixion, he +said it mattered little whether he rotted in the ground or in the air. + +Theophile de Viau, French satiric poet, b. Clerac, 1590. For the +alleged publication of Le Parnasse Satyriques, he was accused of +Atheism, condemned to death, and burnt in effigy. He fled, and was +received by the Duc de Montmorency at Chantilly, where he died, +25 Sept. 1626. + +Thompson (Daniel Greenleaf), American author of works on The Problem +of Evil, '87; The Religious Sentiments, etc. He is President of the +Nineteenth Century Club. + +Thomson (Charles Otto), Captain, b. Stockholm, 3 Jan. 1833. Went to +sea in '49 and became a merchant captain in '57, and was subsequently +manager of the Eskilstuna gas works. At Eskilstuna he started a +Utilitarian Society in '88, of which he is president. He has done +much to support Mr. Lennstrand in his Freethought work in Sweden; has +translated articles by Ingersoll, Foote and others, and has lectured +on behalf of the movement. He shares in the conduct of Fritänkaren. + +Thomson (James), Pessimistic poet, b. Port Glasgow, 23 +Nov. 1834. Educated at the Caledonian Asylum, London, he became +a schoolmaster in the army, where he met Mr. Bradlaugh, whom he +afterwards assisted on the National Reformer. To this paper he +contributed many valuable essays, translations, and poems, including +his famous "City of Dreadful Night," the most powerful pessimistic +poem in the English language, (April, '74, afterwards published with +other poems in '80). "Vane's Story" with other poems was issued in +'81, and "A Voice from the Nile," and "Shelley" (privately printed in +'84). Thomson also contributed to the Secularist and Liberal, edited +by his friend Foote, who has published many of his articles in a +volume entitled Satires and Profanities, which includes "The Story of +a Famous Old Jewish Firm," also published separately. Thomson employed +much of his genius in the service of Freethought. Died 3 June, 1882. + +Thomson (William), of Cork. A disciple of Bentham, and author of The +Distribution of Wealth, 1824; Appeal for Women, '25; Labor Reward, +'27, and in the Co-operative Magazine. + +Thorild (Thomas), or Thoren, Swedish writer, b. Bohuslau, 18 April, +1759. In 1775 he studied at Lund, and in 1779 went to Stockholm, +and published many poems and miscellaneous pieces in Swedish, Latin, +German, and English, in which he wrote Cromwell, an epic poem. In +1786 he wrote Common Sense on Liberty, with a view of extending the +liberty of the press. He was a partisan of the French Revolution, +and for a political work was imprisoned and exiled. He also wrote a +Sermon of Sermons, attacking the clergy, and a work maintaining the +rights of women. Died at Greifswald; 1 Oct. 1808. He was a man far +in advance of his time, and is now becoming appreciated. + +Thulie (Jean Baptiste Henri), French physician and anthropologist, +b. Bordeaux, 1832. In '56 he founded a journal, "Realism." In '66 he +published a work on Madness and the Law. He contributed to La Pensée +Nouvelle, defending the views of Büchner. He has written an able study, +La Femme, Woman, published in '85. M. Thulie has been President of +the Paris Municipal Council. + +Tiele (Cornelis Petrus), Dutch scholar, b. Leyden, 16 +Dec. 1830. Although brought up in the Church, his works all tell in +the service of Freethought, and he has shown his liberality of views +in editing the poems of Genestet together with his life, '68. He has +written many articles on comparative religion, and two of his works +have been translated into English, viz., Outlines of the History of +Religion, a valuable sketch of the old faiths, fourth ed. '88; and +Comparative History of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Religions, '82. + +Tillier (Claude), French writer, b. of poor parents, Clamecy, +11 April, 1801. He served as a conscript, and wrote some telling +pamphlets directed against tyranny and superstition, and some novels, +of which we note My Uncle Benjamin. Died at Nevers, 12 Oct. 1844. His +works were edited by F. Pyat. + +Tindal (Matthew), LL.D., English Deist, b. Beer-ferris, Devon, +1657. Educated at Oxford, and at first a High Churchman, he was +induced to turn Romanist in the reign of James II., but returned to +Protestantism and wrote The Rights of the Christian Church. This work +was much attacked by the clergy, who even indicted the vendors. A +defence which he published was ordered to be burnt by the House of +Commons. In 1730 he published Christianity as Old as the Creation, to +which no less than 150 answers were published. He died 16 Aug. 1733, +and a second volume, which he left in MS., was destroyed by order of +Gibson, Bishop of London. + +Toland (John), Irish writer, b. Redcastle, near Londonderry, 30 +Nov. 1669. Educated as a Catholic, he renounced that faith in early +youth, went to Edinburgh University, where he became M.A. in 1690, +and proceeded to Leyden, studying under Spanheim, and becoming a +sceptic. He also studied at Oxford, reading deeply in the Bodleian +Library, and became the correspondent of Le Clerc and Bayle. In +1696 he startled the orthodox with his Christianity not Mysterious, +which was "presented" by the Grand Jury of Middlesex and condemned by +the Lower House of Convocation. The work was also burnt at Dublin, +Sept. 1697. He wrote a Life of Milton (1698), in which, mentioning +Eikon Basilike, he referred to the "suppositious pieces under the +name of Christ, his apostles and other great persons." For this he was +denounced by Dr. Blackhall before Parliament. He replied with Amytor, +in which he gives a catalogue of such pieces. He went abroad and +was well received by the Queen of Prussia, to whom he wrote Letters +to Serena (1704), which, says Lange, "handles the kernel of the +whole question of Materialism." In 1709 he published Adeisidænon and +Origines Judaicæ. In 1718 Nazarenus, on Jewish, Gentile and Mahommedan +Christianity, in which he gave an account of the Gospel of Barnabus. He +also wrote four pieces entitled Tetradymus and Pantheisticon, which +described a society of Pantheists with a liturgy burlesquing that +of the Catholics. Toland died with the calmness of a philosopher, +at Putney, 11 March, 1722. Lange praises him highly. + +Tollemache (Hon. Lionel Arthur), b. 1838, son of Baron Tollemache, +a friend of C. Austin, of whom he has written. Wrote many articles +in Fortnightly Review, reprinted (privately) as Stones of Stumbling, +'84. Has also written Safe Studies, '84; Recollections of Pallison, +'85; and Mr. Romanes's Catechism, '87. + +Tone (Theobald Wolfe), Irish patriot, b. Dublin, 20 June, +1763. Educated at Trinity College in 1784, he obtained a scholarship +in 1786, B.A. He founded the Society of United Irishmen, 1791. Kept +relations with the French revolutionists, and in 1796 induced the +French Directory to send an expedition against England. He was taken +prisoner and committed suicide in prison, dying 19 Nov. 1798. + +Topinard (Paul), M.D., French anthropologist, b. Isle-Adam 1830. Editor +of the Revue d'Anthropologie, and author of a standard work on that +subject published in the Library of Contemporary Science. + +Toulmin (George Hoggart), M.D., of Wolverhampton. Author of The +Antiquity and Duration of the World, 1785; The Eternity of the +Universe, 1789; the last being republished in 1825. + +Tournai (Simon de). See Simon. + +Traina (Tommaso), Italian jurist. Author of a work on The Ethics of +Herbert Spencer, Turin, 1881. + +Travis (Henry), Dr., b. Scarborough, 1807. He interested himself +in the socialistic aspect of co-operation, and became a friend and +literary executor to Robert Owen. In '51-53 he edited Robert Owen's +Journal. He also wrote on Effectual Reform, Free Will and Law, Moral +Freedom and Causation, and A Manual of Social Science, and contributed +to the National Reformer. Died 4 Feb. 1884. + +Trelawny (Edward John), b. Cornwall, Nov. 1792. Became intimate in +Italy with Shelley, whose body he recovered and cremated in August, +1822. He accompanied Byron on his Greek expedition, and married a +daughter of a Greek chief. He wrote Adventures of a Younger Son, +'31; and Records of Shelley, Byron, and the Author, '78. He died 13 +Aug. 1881, and was cremated at Gotha, his ashes being afterwards placed +beside those of Shelley. Trelawny was a vehement Pagan despising the +creeds and conventions of society. Swinburne calls him "World-wide +liberty's lifelong lover." + +Trenchard (John), English Deist and political writer, b. Somersetshire, +1669. He studied law, but abandoned it, and was appointed Commissioner +of Forfeited Estates in Ireland. In conjunction with Gordon he +wrote Cato's Letters on civil and religious liberty, and conducted +The Independent Whig. He sat in the House of Commons as M.P. for +Taunton; he also wrote the Natural History of Superstition, 1709; but +La Contagion Sacree, attributed to him, is really by d'Holbach. Died +17 Dec. 1723. + +Trevelyan (Arthur), of Tyneholm, Tranent, N.B., a writer in the +Reasoner and National Reformer. Published The Insanity of Mankind +(Edinburgh, 1850), and some tracts. He was a Vice-President of the +National Secular Society. Died at Tyneholm, 6 Feb. 1878. + +Trezza (Gaetano), Italian writer, b. Verona, Dec. 1828. Was brought +up and ordained a priest, and was an eloquent preacher. Study led him +to resign the clerical profession. He has published Confessions of a +Sceptic, '78; Critical Studies, '78; New Critical Studies, '81. He is +Professor of Literature at the Institute of High Studies, Florence. To +the first number of the Revue Internationale '83, he contributed Les +Dieux s'en vont. He also wrote Religion and Religions, '84; and a work +on St. Paul. A study on Lucretius has reached its third edition, '87. + +Tridon (Edme Marie, Gustave), French publicist, b. Chatillon sur +Seine, Burgundy, 5 June, 1841. Educated by his parents who were rich, +he became a doctor of law but never practised. In '64 he published in +Le Journal des Ecoles, his remarkable study of revolutionary history +Les Hébertistes. In May, '65 he founded with Blanqui, etc., Le Candide, +the precursor of La Libre Pensée, '66, in both of which the doctrines +of materialism were expounded. Delegated in '65 to the International +Students Congress at Liége his speech was furiously denounced by Bishop +Dupanloup; he got more than two years' imprisonment for articles in +Le Candide and La Libre Pensée, and in Ste Pelagie contracted the +malady which killed him. While in prison he wrote the greater part +of his work Du Molochisme Juif, critical and philosophical studies +of the Jewish religion, only published in '84. After 4 Sept. '70, +he founded La Patrie en Danger. In Feb. '71 he was elected deputy to +the Bordeaux Assembly, but resigned after voting against declaration +of peace. He then became a member of the Paris Commune, retiring after +the collapse to Brussels where he died 29 Aug. 1871. He received the +most splendid Freethinker's funeral witnessed in Belgium. + +Truebner (Nicolas), publisher, b. Heidelberg, 17 June, 1817. After +serving with Longman and Co., he set up in business, and distinguished +himself by publishing works on Freethought, religions, philosophy +and Oriental literature. Died London, 30 March, 1884. + +Truelove (Edward), English publisher, b. 29 Oct. 1809. Early in +life he embraced the views of Robert Owen, and for nine years was +secretary of the John Street Institution. In '44 and '45 he threw +in his lot with the New Harmony Community, Hampshire. In '52 he +took a shop in the Strand, where he sold advanced literature. He +published Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary and Romances, Paine's +complete works, D'Holbach's System of Nature, and Taylor's Syntagma +and Diegesis. In '58 he was prosecuted for publishing a pamphlet on +Tyrannicide, by W. E. Adams, but the prosecution was abandoned. In +'78 he was, after two trials, sentenced to four months' imprisonment +for publishing R. D. Owen's Moral Physiology. Upon his release he +was presented with a testimonial and purse of 200 sovereigns. + +Trumbull (Matthew M.), American general, a native of London, +b. 1826. About the age of twenty he went to America, served in the +army in Mexico, and afterwards in the Civil War. General Grant made +him Collector of Revenue for Iowa. He held that office eight years, +and then visited England. In 1882 he went to Chicago, where he exerted +himself on behalf of a fair trial for the Anarchists. + +Tschirnhausen (Walthier Ehrenfried), German Count, b. 1651. He was a +friend of Leibniz and Wolff, and in philosophy a follower of Spinoza, +though he does not mention him. Died 1708. + +Tucker (Benjamin R.), American writer, b. Dartmouth, Mass., 17 April, +1854. Edits Liberty, of Boston. + +Turbiglio (Sebastiano), Italian philosopher, b. Chiusa, 7 July, 1842, +author of a work on Spinoza and the Transformation of his Thoughts, +1875. + +Turgenev (Ivan Sergyeevich), Russian novelist, b. Orel, 28 +Oct. 1818. In his novels, Fathers and Sons and Virgin Soil he has +depicted characters of the Nihilist movement. Died at Bougival, +near Paris, 3 Sept. 1883. + +Turner (William), a surgeon of Liverpool, who, under the name of +William Hammon, published an Answer to Dr. Priestley's Letters to a +Philosophical Unbeliever, 1782, in which he avows himself an Atheist. + +Tuuk (Titia, Van der), Dutch lady, b. Zandt, 27 Nov. 1854. Was +converted to Freethought by reading Dekker, and is now one of the +editors of De Dageraad. + +Twesten (Karl), German publicist and writer, b. Kiel, 22 April, +1820. Studied law, '38-41, in Berlin and Heidelberg, and became +magistrate in Berlin and one of the founders of the National Liberal +Party. Wrote on the religious, political, and social ideas of Asiatics +and Egyptians (2 vols.), '72. Died Berlin, 14 Oct. 1870. + +Tylor (Edward Burnet), D.C.L., F.R.S., English anthropologist, +b. Camberwell, 2 Oct. 1832. He has devoted himself to the study +of the races of mankind, and is the first living authority upon +the subject. He has wrote Anahuac, or Mexico and the Mexicans, '61; +Researches into the Early History of Mankind, '65; Primitive Culture; +being researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, +religion, art, and custom (2 vols.), '71. In this splendid work he +traces religion to animism, the belief in spirits. He has also written +an excellent handbook of Anthropology, an introduction to the Study +of Man and Civilisation, '81; and contributed to the Encyclopædia +Britannica, as well as to periodical literature. He is President of +the Anthropological Society. + +Tyndall (John), LL.D., F.R.S., Irish scientist, b. near Carlow, +1820. In '47 he became a teacher in Queenswood College (Hants), and +afterwards went to Germany to study. In '56 he went to Switzerland +with Professor Huxley, and they wrote a joint work on glaciers. He +contributed to the Fortnightly Review, notably an article on Miracles +and Special Providence, '66. In '72 he went on a lecturing tour in +the United States, and two years later was president of the British +Association. His address at Belfast made a great stir, and has been +published. In addition to other scientific works he has published +popular Fragments of Science, which has gone through several editions. + +Tyrell (Henry). See Church. + +Tyssot de Patot (Simon), b. of French family in Delft, 1655. He +became professor of mathematics at Deventer. Under the pen name of +"Jacques Massé" he published Voyages and Adventures, Bordeaux, 1710, +a work termed atheistic and scandalous by Reimmann. It was translated +into English by S. Whatley, 1733, and has been attributed to Bayle. + +Ueberweg (Friedrich), German philosopher, b. Leichlingen 22 Jan. 1826; +studied at Göttingen and Berlin, and became Professor of Philosophy at +Königsberg, where he died 9 June, 1871. His chief work is a History +of Philosophy. Lange cites Czolbe as saying "He was in every way +distinctly an Atheist and Materialist." + +Uhlich (Johann Jacob Marcus Lebericht), German religious reformer, +b. Köthen 27 Feb. 1799. He studied at Halle and became a preacher. For +his rationalistic views he was suspended in 1847, and founded the +Free Congregation at Magdeburg. He wrote numerous brochures defending +his opinions. His Religion of Common Sense has been translated and +published in America. Died at Magdeburg, 23 March, 1872. + +Ule (Otto), German scientific writer, b. Lossow 22 Jan. 1820. Studied +at Halle and Berlin. In '52 he started the journal Die Natur, and +wrote many works popularising science. Died at Halle 6 Aug. 1876. + +Underwood (Benjamin F.). American lecturer and writer, b. New York +6 July, 1839. Has been a student and a soldier in the Civil War. He +fought at Ball's Bluff, Virginia, 21 Oct. '61, was wounded and held +prisoner in Richmond for nine months. In '81 he edited the Index in +conjunction with Mr. Potter, and in '87 started The Open Court at +Chicago. He has had numerous debates; those with the Rev. J. Marples +and O. A. Burgess being published. He has also published Essays and +Lectures, The Religion of Materialism, Influence of Christianity +on Civilisation, etc. His sister, Sara A., has written Heroines of +Freethought, New York, 1876. + +Vacherot (Etienne), French writer, b. Langres, 29 July, 1809. In '39 he +replaced Victor Cousin in the Chair of Philosophy at the Sorbonne. For +his free opinions expressed in his Critical History of the School +of Alexandria, a work in three vols. crowned by the Institute, +'46-51, he was much attacked by the clergy and at the Empire lost +his position. He afterwards wrote Essays of Critical Philosophy, +'64, and La Religion, '69. + +Vacquerie (Auguste), French writer, b. Villequier, 1819. A friend of +Victor Hugo. He has written many dramas and novels of merit, and was +director of Le Rappel. + +Vaillant (Edouard Marie), French publicist, b. Vierzon, 26 +Jan. 1840. Educated at Paris and Germany. A friend of Tridon he +took part in the Commune, and in '84 was elected Muncipal Councillor +of Paris. + +Vairasse (Denis) d'Alais, French writer of the seventeenth century. He +became both soldier and lawyer. Author of Histoire des Sevarambes, +1677; imaginary travels in which he introduced free opinions and +satirised Christianity. + +Vale (Gilbert) author, b. London, 1788. He was intended for the church, +but abandoned the profession and went to New York, where he edited +the Citizen of the World and the Beacon. He published Fanaticism; +its Source and Influence, N.Y. 1835, and a Life of Paine, '41. Died +Brooklyn, N.Y. 17 Aug. 1866. + +Valk (T. A. F. van der), Dutch Freethinker, who, after being a +Christian missionary in Java, changed his opinions, and wrote in De +Dageraad between 1860-70, using the pen name of "Thomas." + +Valla (Lorenzo), Italian critic, b. Piacenza, 1415. Having hazarded +some free opinions respecting Catholic doctrines, he was condemned to +be burnt, but was saved by Alphonsus, King of Naples. Valla was then +confined in a monastery, but Pope Nicholas V. called him to Rome and +gave him a pension. He died there, 1 Aug. 1457. + +Vallee (Geoffrey), French martyr, b. Orleans, 1556. He wrote La +Béatitude des Chréstiens ou le Fléo de la Foy, for which he was accused +of blasphemy, and hanged on the Place de Gréve, Paris, 9 Feb. 1574. + +Valliss (Rudolph), German author of works on The Natural History +of Gods (Leip., 1875); The Eternity of the World, '75; Catechism of +Human Duty, '76, etc. + +Van Cauberg (Adolphe), Belgian advocate. One of the founders and +president of the International Federation of Freethinkers. Died 1886. + +Van Effen. See Effen. + +Vanini (Lucilio, afterwards Julius Cæsar), Italian philosopher and +martyr, b. Taurisano (Otranto), 1585. At Rome and Padua he studied +Averroism, entered the Carmelite order, and travelled in Switzerland, +Germany, Holland and France making himself admired and respected by +his rationalistic opinions. He returned to Italy in 1611, but the +Inquisition was on his track and he took refuge at Venice. In 1612 he +visited England, and in 1614 got lodged in the Tower. When released +he went to Paris and published a Pantheistic work in Latin On the +Admirable Secrets of Nature, the Queen and Goddess of Mortals. It was +condemned by the Sorbonne and burnt, and he fled to Toulouse in 1617; +but there was no repose for Freethought. He was accused of instilling +Atheism into his scholars, tried and condemned to have his tongue cut +out, his body burned and his ashes scattered to the four winds. This +was done 19 Feb. 1619. President Gramond, author of History of France +under Louis XIII., writes "I saw him in the tumbril as they led him +to execution, mocking the Cordelier who had been sent to exhort him +to repentance, and insulting our Savior by these impious words. 'He +sweated with fear and weakness, and I die undaunted.'" + +Vapereau (Louis Gustave), French man of letters, b. Orleans 4 April, +1819. In '41 he became the secretary of Victor Cousin. He collaborated +on the Dictionnaire des Sciences Philosophiques and the Liberté +de Penser, but is best known by his useful Dictionnaire Universel +des Contemporains. In '70 he was nominated prefect of Cantal, but +on account of the violent attacks of the clericals was suspended in +'73 and resumed his literary labors, compiling a Universal Dictionary +of Writers, '76, and Elements of the History of French Literature, +1883-85. + +Varnhagen von Ense (Earl August Ludwig Philipp), German author, +b. Dusseldorf, 21 Feb. 1785. He studied medicine and philosophy, +entered the Austrian and Russian armies, and served in the Prussian +diplomatic service. He was an intimate friend of Alex. von Humboldt, +and shared his Freethinking opinions. Died in Berlin, 10 Oct. 1858. He +vividly depicts the men and events of his time in his Diary. + +Vauvenargues (Luc de Clapiers), Marquis; French moralist, b. Aix, +6 Aug. 1715. At eighteen he entered the army, and left the service +with ruined health in 1743. He published in 1746 an Introduction to +the Knowledge of the Human Mind, followed by Reflections and Maxims, +which was deservedly praised by his friend Voltaire. Died at Paris 28 +May, 1747. His work, which though but mildly deistic, was rigorously +suppressed, and was reprinted about 1770. + +Velthuysen (Lambert), Dutch physician, b. Utrecht, 1622. He wrote +many works on theology and philosophy in Latin. His works, De Officio +Pastorum and De Idolatria et Superstitione were proceeded against in +1668, but he was let off with a fine. Died 1685. + +Venetianer (Moritz), German Pantheist, author of Der Allgeist, 1874, +and a work on Schopenhauer as a Scholastic. + +Vereschagin (Vasily), Russian painter, b. Novgorod, 1842. He studied +at Paris under Gerome, took part in the Russo-Turkish war, and has +travelled widely. The realistic and anti-religious conceptions of his +Holy Family and Resurrection were the cause of their being withdrawn +from the Vienna Exhibition in Oct. '85, by order of the archbishop. In +his Autobiographical Sketches, translated into English, '87, he shows +his free opinions. + +Vergniaud (Pierre Victurnien), French Girondist orator, b. Limoges, +31 May, 1759. He studied law, and became an advocate. Elected to +the Legislative Assembly in 1791, he also became President of the +Convention. At the trial of the King he voted for the appeal to +the people, but that being rejected, voted death. With Gensonné +and Guadet, he opposed the sanguinary measures of Robespierre, and, +being beaten in the struggle, was executed with the Girondins, 31 +Oct. 1793. Vergniaud was a brilliant speaker. He said: "Reason thinks, +Religion dreams." He had prepared poison for himself, but as there +was not enough for his comrades, he resolved to suffer with them. + +Verlet (Henri), French founder and editor of a journal, La Libre +Pensée, 1871, and author of a pamphlet on Atheism and the Supreme +Being. + +Verliere (Alfred), French author of a Guide du Libre-Penseur (Paris, +1869); collaborated La Libre Pensée, Rationaliste, etc. To Bishop +Dupanloup's Athéisme et Peril Social he replied with Deisme et Peril +Social, for which he was condemned to several months' imprisonment. + +Vermersch (Eugène), French journalist, b. Lille about 1840. Took part +in the Commune, and has written on many Radical papers. + +Vernes (Maurice), French critic, b. Mauroy, 1845. Has published +Melanges de Critique Religieuse, and translated from Kuenen and Tiele. + +Veron (Eugène), French writer and publicist, b. Paris, 29 May, 1825. He +wrote on many journals, founded La France Republicaine at Lyons, and +l'Art at Paris. Besides historical works he has written L'Esthetique +in the "Library of Contemporary Science," '78; The Natural History +of Religions, 2 vols., in the Bibliothèque Materialiste, '84; and La +Morale, '84. + +Viardot (Louis), French writer, b. Dijon, 31 July, 1800. He came +to Paris and became an advocate, but after a voyage in Spain, left +the bar for literature, writing on the Globe National and Siècle. In +'41 he founded the Revue Independante with "George Sand," and Pierre +Leroux. He made translations from the Russian, and in addition to many +works on art he wrote The Jesuits, '57; Apology of an Unbeliever, +translated into English, '69, and republished as Libre Examen, +'71. Died 1883. + +Vico (Giovanni Battista), Italian philosopher, b. Naples 1668. He +became Professor of Rhetoric in the University of that city, and +published a New Science of the Common Nature of Nations, 1725, in +which he argues that the events of history are determined by immutable +laws. It presents many original thoughts. Died Naples, 21 Jan. 1743. + +Virchow (Rudolf), German anthropologist, b. Schivelbein Pomerania, +13 Oct. 1821. Studied medicine at Berlin and became lecturer, member +of the National Assembly of '48, and Professor of Pathological +Anatomy at Berlin. His Cellular Pathology, '58, established his +reputation. He was chosen deputy and rose to the leadership of the +Liberal opposition. His scientific views are advanced although he +opposed the Haeckel in regard to absolute teaching of evolution. + +Vischer (Friedrich Theodor), German art critic, b. Ludwigsburg, +30 June, 1807. Was educated for the Church, became a minister, but +renounced theology and became professor of and is Jahrbücher der +Gegenwart, '44, was accused of blasphemy and for his Freethinking +opinions he was suspended two years. At the revolution of '48 he +was elected to the National Assembly. In '55 he became Professor +at Zürich. His work on Æsthetic, or the Science of the Beautiful, +'46-54, is considered classic. He has also written, Old and New, +'81, and several anonymous works. Died Gmunden, 14 Sept. 1887. + +Vitry (Guarin de) French author of a Rapid Examination of Christian +Dogma, addressed to the Council of 1869. + +Vloten (Johannes van), Dutch writer, b. Kampen, 18 Jan. 1818; studied +theology at Leiden and graduated D.D. in '43. He has, however, devoted +himself to literature, and produced many works, translating plays of +Shakespeare, editing Spinoza, and writing his life--translated into +English by A. Menzies. He edited also De Levensbode, 1865, etc. + +Voelkel (Titus), Dr., German lecturer and writer, b. Wirsitz (Prussian +Poland) 14 Dec. 1841. Studied ('59-65) theology, natural philosophy, +and mathematics, and spent some years in France. He returned '70, +and was for ten years employed as teacher at higher schools. Since +'80 has been "sprecher" of Freethought associations and since '85 +editor of the Neues Freireligiöses Sonntags-Blatt, at Magdeburg. In +'88 he was several times prosecuted for blasphemy and each time +acquitted. He represented several German societies at the Paris +Congress of Freethinkers, '89. + +Voglet (Prosper), Belgian singer, b. Brussels, 1825. He was blinded +through his baptism by a Catholic priest, and has in consequence to +earn his living as a street singer. His songs, of his own composition, +are anti-religious. Many have appeared in La Tribune du Peuple, +which he edited. + +Vogt (Karl), German scientist, b. Giessen, 5 July, 1817, the +son of a distinguished naturalist. He studied medicine and became +acquainted with Agassiz. In '48 he was elected deputy to the National +Assembly. Deprived of his chair and exiled, he became professor +of Natural History at Geneva. His lectures on Man, His Position in +Creation and in the History of the Earth, '63, made a sensation by +their endorsement of Darwinism. They were translated into English +and published by the Anthropological Society. He has also written +a Manual of Geology, Physiological Letters, Zoological Letters, +Blind Faith and Science, etc., and has contributed to the leading +Freethought journals of Germany and Switzerland. + +Volkmar (Gustav), Swiss critic, b. Hersfeld, 11 Jan. 1809. Studied at +Marburg '29-32; became privat docent at Zurich, '53, and professor +'63. He has written rationalist works on the Gospel of Marcion, +'52; Justin Martyr, '53; the Origin of the Gospels, '66; Jesus and +the first Christian Ages, '82, etc. + +Volney (Constantin François Chassebouf de), Count, French philosopher, +b. Craon (Anjou) 3 Feb. 1757. Having studied at Ancenis and Angers, +he went to Paris in 1774. Here he met D'Holbach and others. In 1783 +he started for Egypt and Syria, and in 1787 published an account of +his travels. Made Director of Commerce in Corsica, he resigned on +being elected to the Assembly. Though a wealthy landlord, he wrote +and spoke for division of landed property. In 1791 his eloquent Ruins +appeared. During the Terror he was imprisoned for ten months. In '95 +he visited America. Returning to France, Napoleon asked him to become +colleague in the consulship but Volney declined. He remonstrated +with Napoleon when he re-established Christianity by the Concordat, +April 1802. Among his other works was a History of Samuel and the +Law of Nature. Died 25 April, 1820. + +Voltaire (François Marie. Arouet de), French poet, historian and +philosopher, b. Paris 21 Nov. 1694. Educated by the Jesuits, he +early distinguished himself by his wit. For a satirical pamphlet on +the death of Louis XIV he was sent to the Bastille for a year and +was afterwards committed again for a quarrel with the Chevalier de +Rohan. On his liberation he came to England at the invitation of Lord +Bolingbroke, and became acquainted with the English Freethinkers. His +Lettres Philosophiques translated as "Letters on the English," 1732, +gave great offence to the clergy and was condemned to be burnt. About +1735 he retired to the estate of the Marquise de Châtelet at Cirey, +where he produced many plays. We may mention Mahomet, dedicated +to the Pope, who was unable to see that its shafts were aimed at +the pretences of the church. In 1750 he accepted the invitation +of Frederick II. to reside at his court. But he could not help +laughing at the great king's poetry. The last twenty years of his +life was passed at Ferney near the Genevan territory, which through +his exertions became a thriving village. He did more than any other +man of his century to abolish torture and other relics of barbarism, +and to give just notions of history. To the last he continued to wage +war against intolerance and superstition. His works comprise over a +thousand pieces in seventy volumes. Over fifty works were condemned +by the Index, and Voltaire used no less than one hundred and thirty +different pen-names. His name has risen above the clouds of detraction +made by his clerical enemies. Died 30 May, 1778. + +Voo (G. W. van der), Dutch writer, b. 6 April, 1806. For more than +half a century he was schoolmaster and teacher of the French language +at Rotterdam, where he still lives. He contributed many articles to +De Dageraad. + +Vosmaer (Carel), Dutch writer, b. the Hague 20 March, 1826. Studied law +at Leyden. He edited the Tydstroom (1858-9) and Spectator (1860-73), +and wrote several works on Dutch art and other subjects. Died at +Montreux (Switzerland), 12 June, 1888. + +Voysey (Charles), English Theist, b. London 18 March, 1828. Graduated +B.A. at Oxford, '51, was vicar of Healaugh, Yorkshire, '64-71, and +deprived 11 Feb. '71 for heresy in sermons published in The Sling +and the Stone. He has since established a Theistic Church in Swallow +Street, Piccadilly, and his sermons are regularly published. He has +also issued Fragments from Reimarus, '79, edited The Langham Magazine +and published Lectures on the Bible and the Theistic Faith, etc. + +Vulpian (Edme Felix Alfred), French physician, b. 5 Jan. 1826. Wrote +several medical works and upon being appointed lecturer at the School +of Medicine, '69, was violently opposed on account of his Atheism. He +was afterwards elected to the Academy of Sciences. Died 17 May, 1887. + +Wagner (Wilhelm Richard), German musical composer and poet, b. Leipsic, +22 May, 1813. From '42-49 he was conductor of the Royal Opera, Dresden, +but his revolutionary sentiments caused his exile to Switzerland, where +he produced his "Lohengrin." In '64 he was patronised by Ludwig II. of +Bavaria, and produced many fine operas, in which he sought that poetry, +scenery, and music should aid each other in making opera dramatic. In +philosophy he expressed himself a follower of Schopenhauer. Died at +Venice, 13 Feb. 1883. + +Waite (Charles Burlingame), American judge, b. Wayne county, N.Y. 29 +Jan. 1824. Educated at Knox College, Illinois, he was admitted to the +Bar in '47. After successful practice in Chicago, he was appointed +by President Lincoln Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah. In '81 he +issued his History of the Christian Religion to the year A.D. 200, +a rationalistic work, which explodes the evangelical narratives. + +Wakeman (Thaddeus B.), American lawyer and Positivist, b. 29 Dec. 1834, +was one of the editors of Man and a president of the New York Liberal +Club. A contributor to the Freethinkers' Magazine. + +Walferdin (François-Hippolyte), b. Langres, 8 June, 1795. A friend +of Arago he contributed with him to the enlargement of science, and +was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1844. He published a fine +edition of the works of Diderot in '57, and left the bust of that +philosopher to the Louvre. Died 25 Jan. 1880. + +Walker (E.), of Worcester. Owenite author of Is the Bible True? and +What is Blasphemy? 1843. + +Walker (Edwin C.), editor of Lucifer and Fair Play, Valley Falls, +Kansas. + +Walker (Thomas), orator, b. Preston, Lancashire, 5 Feb. 1858. Went +to America and at the age of sixteen took to the platform. In +'77 he went to Australia, and for a while lectured at the Opera, +Melbourne. In '82 he started the Australian Secular Association, of +which he was president for two years when he went to Sydney. In '85 +he was convicted for lecturing on Malthusianism, but the conviction +was quashed by the Supreme Court. In '87 he was elected M.P. for +Northumberland district. Is President of Australian Freethought Union. + +Walser (George H.), American reformer, b. Dearborn Co. Indiana, +26 May, 1834. Became a lawyer, and a member of the legislature +of his State. He founded the town of Liberal Barton Co. Missouri, +to try the experiment of a town without any priest, church, chapel +or drinking saloon. Mr. Walser has also sought to establish there a +Freethought University. + +Ward (Lester Frank). American botanist, b. Joliet, Illinois, 18 +June, 1841. He served in the National Army during the civil war and +was wounded. In '65 he settled at Washington and became librarian +of the U.S. bureau of statistics. He is now curator of botany and +fossil plants in the U.S. national museum. Has written many works +on paleo-botany, and two volumes of sociological studies entitled +Dynamic Sociology. He has contributed to the Popular Science Monthly. + +Ward (Mary A.), translator of Amiel's Journal, and authoress of a +popular novel Robert Elsmere, 1888. + +Warren (Josiah). American reformer, b. 26 June, 1798. He took an +active part in Robert Owen's communistic experiment at New Harmony, +Indiana, in '25-6. His own ideas he illustrated by establishing a +"time store" at Cincinnati. His views are given in a work entitled +True Civilisation. Died Boston, Mass. 14 April, 1874. + +Washburn (L. K.), American lecturer and writer, b. Wareham, Plymouth, +Mass., 25 March, 1846. In '57 he went to Barre. Was sent to a Unitarian +school for ministers, and was ordained in Ipswich, Feb. '70. He read +from the pulpit extracts from Parker, Emerson, and others instead +of the Bible. He went to Minneapolis, where he organised the first +Freethought Society in the State. He afterwards resided at Revere, +and delivered many Freethought lectures, of which several have been +published. He now edits the Boston Investigator. + +Waters (Nathaniel Ramsey), American author of Rome v. Reason, a memoir +of Christian and extra Christian experience. + +Watson (James), English upholder of a free press, b. Malton (Yorks), +21 Sept. 1799. During the prosecution of Carlile and his shopmen in +1822 he volunteered to come from London to Leeds. In Feb. '23 he was +arrested for selling Palmer's Principles of Nature, tried 23 April, +and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, during which he read +Gibbon, Hume, and Mosheim. When liberated he became a compositor on the +Republican. In '31 Julian Hibbert gave him his type and presses, and he +issued Volney's Lectures on History. In Feb. '33 he was sentenced to +six months' imprisonment for selling The Poor Man's Guardian. Hibbert +left him £450, which he used in printing d'Holbach's System of Nature, +Volney's Ruins, F. Wright's Lectures, R. D. Owen's pamphlets, Paine's +works, and other volumes. Died at Norwood, 29 Nov. 1874. + +Watson (Thomas), author of The Mystagogue, Leeds, 1847. + +Watts (Charles), Secularist orator, b. Bristol, 28 Feb. 1835. Converted +to Freethought by hearing Charles Southwell, he became a lecturer +and assistant editor on the National Reformer. Mr. Watts has had +numerous debates, both in England and America, with Dr. Sexton, +Rev. Mr. Harrison, Brewin Grant, and others. He started the Secular +Review with G. W. Foote, and afterwards Secular Thought of Toronto. He +wrote a portion of The Freethinker's Text Book, and has published +Christianity: its Origin, Nature and Influence; The Teachings of +Secularism compared with Orthodox Christianity, and other brochures. + +Watts (Charles A.), a son of above, b. 27 May, 1858. Conducts Watts's +Literary Gazette and edits the Agnostic Annual. + +Watts (John), brother of Charles, b. Bedminster, Bristol, 2 +Oct. 1834. His father was a Wesleyan preacher, and he was converted +to Freethought by his brother Charles. He became sub-editor of the +Reasoner, and afterwards for a time edited the National Reformer. He +edited Half Hours With Freethinkers with "Iconoclast," and published +several pamphlets, Logic and Philosophy of Atheism, Origin of Man, +Is Man Immortal? The Devil, Who were the Writers of the New Testament, +etc. Died 31 Oct. 1866. + +Watts (of Lewes, Sussex), author of the Yahoo, a satire in verse +(first published in 1833), also The Great Dragon Cast Out. + +Webber (Zacharias), Dutch painter, who in the seventeenth century +wrote heretical works On the Temptation of Christ and The Seduction +of Adam and Eve, etc. He defended Bekker, whom he surpassed in +boldness. Under the pen name J. Adolphs he wrote The True Origin, +Continuance and Destruction of Satan. Died in 1679. + +Weber (Karl Julius), German author, b. Langenburg, 16 April, +1767. Studied law at Erlangen and Göttingen. He lived for a while +in Switzerland and studied French philosophy, which suited his +satirical turn of mind. He wrote a history of Monkery, 1818-20; +Letters of Germans Travelling in Germany, '26-28; and Demokritos, +or the Posthumous Papers of a Laughing Philosopher, '32-36. Died +Kupferzell, 19 July, 1832. + +Weitling (Wilhelm), German social democrat, b. Magdeburg, 1808. He +was a leader of "Der Bund der Gerechten," the League of the Just, +and published at Zürich The Gospel of Poor Sinners. He also wrote +Humanity, As It Is and As It Should Be. He emigrated to America, +where he died 25 Jan. 1871. + +Wellhausen (Julius), German critic, b. Hameln 17 May, 1844, studied +theology at Göttingen, and became professor in Griefswald, Halle, +and Marburg. Is renowned for his History of Israel in progress, '78, +etc., and his Prolegomena to the same, and his contributions to the +Encyclopædia Britannica. + +Westbrook (Richard Brodhead), Dr., American author, b. Pike co., +Pennsylvania, 8 Feb. 1820. He became a Methodist preacher in '40, +and afterwards joined the Presbyterians, but withdrew about '60, +and has since written The Bible: Whence and What? and Man: Whence and +Whither? In '88 Dr. Westbrook was elected President of the American +Secular Union, and has since offered a prize for the best essay on +teaching morality apart from religion. + +Westerman (W. B.) During many years, from 1856-68, an active +co-operator on De Dageraad. + +Westra (P.), Dutch Freethinker, b. 16 March, 1851. Has for some years +been active secretary of the Dutch Freethought society, "De Dageraad." + +Wettstein (Otto), German American materialist, b. Barmen, 7 April, +1838. About '48 his parents emigrated. In '58 he set up in business as +a jeweller at Rochelle. He contributed to the Freethinkers' Magazine, +The Ironclad Age, and other journals, and is treasurer of the National +Secular Union. + +White (Andrew Dickson), American educator, b. Homer, N.Y., 7 +Nov. 1832. He studied at Yale, where he graduated in '53; travelled +in Europe, and in '57 was elected professor of history and English +literature in the University of Michigan. He was elected to the State +Senate, and in '67 became first president of Cornell, a university +which he has largely endowed. Among his works we must mention The +Warfare of Science (N.Y., '76) and Studies in General History and in +the History of Civilisation, '85. + +Whitman (Walt), American poet, b. West Hills, Long Island, N.Y., +31 May, 1819. Educated in public schools, he became a printer, +and travelled much through the States. In the civil war he served +as a volunteer army nurse. His chief work, Leaves of Grass, with +its noble preface, appeared in '55, and was acclaimed by Emerson as +"the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet +contributed." It was followed by Drum Taps, November Boughs and Sands +at Seventy. This "good gray poet" has also written prose essays called +Democratic Vietas and Specimen Days and Collect. + +Wicksell (Knut), Swedish author and lecturer, b. Stockholm, 30 +Dec. 1851, studied at Upsala, and became licentiate of philosophy in +'85. Has written brochures on Population, Emigration, Prostitution, +etc., and anonymously a satirical work on Bible Stories, as by Tante +Malin. Represented Sweden at the Paris Conference of '89. + +Wieland (Christopher Martin), German poet and novelist, b. near +Biberach, 5 Sept. 1733. A voluminous writer, he was called the +Voltaire of Germany. Among his works we notice Dialogues of the +Gods, Agathon, a novel, and Euthanasia, in which he argues against +immortality. He translated Horace, Lucian and Shakespeare. Died Weimer, +20 Jan. 1813. His last words were "To be or not to be." + +Wiener (Christian), Dr., German author of a materialistic work on +the Elements of Natural Laws, 1863. + +Wiessner (Alexander), German writer, author of an examination of +spiritualism (Leipsic, 1875). + +Wigand (Otto Friedrich), German publisher, b. Göttingen, 10 +Aug. 1795. In 1832 he established himself in Leipsic, where he +issued the works of Ruge, Bauer, Feuerbach, Scherr, and other +Freethinkers. Died 31 Aug. 1870. + +Wightman (Edward), English anti-Trinitarian martyr of +Burton-on-Trent. Was burnt at Lichfield 11 April, 1612, being the +last person burnt for heresy in England. + +Wihl (Ludwig), German poet, b. 24 Oct. 1807. Died Brussels, 16 +Jan. 1882. + +Wilbrandt (Adolf), German author, b. Rosbock, 24 Aug. 1837. Has +written on Heinrich von Kleist, Hölderlin, the poet of Pantheism, +and published many plays, of which we may mention Giordano Bruno, +1874, and also some novels. + +Wilhelmi (Hedwig Henrich), German lecturess and author of Vortrage, +published at Milwaukee, 1889. She attended the Paris Congress of '89. + +Wilkinson (Christopher), of Bradford, b. 1803. Wrote with Squire Farrah +an able Examination of Dr. Godwin's Arguments for the Existence of God, +published at Bradford, 1853. + +Williams (David), Welsh deist, b. Cardiganshire, 1738. He became a +dissenting minister but after publishing two volumes of Sermons on +Religious Hypocrisy, 1774, dissolved the connections. In conjunction +with Franklin and others he founded a club and drew up a Liturgy on +the Universal Principles of Religion and Morality, which he used at a +Deistic chapel opened in Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, 7 April, +1776. He wrote various political and educational works, and established +the literary fund in 1789. Died Soho, London, 29 June, 1816. + +Willis (Robert), physician and writer, b. Edinburgh, 1799. He studied +at the University and became M.D. in 1819. He soon after came to +London, and in '23 became M.R.C.S. He became librarian to the College +of Surgeons. Besides many medical works he wrote a Life of Spinoza, +'70, and Servetus and Calvin, '77. He also wrote on The Pentateuch and +Book of Joshua in the face of the Science and Moral Senses of our Age, +and A Dialogue by Way of Catechism, both published by T. Scott. Died +at Barnes, 21 Sept. 1878. + +Wilson (John), M.A., of Trin. Coll., Dublin, author of Thoughts on +Science, Theology and Ethics, 1885. + +Wirmarsius (Henrik), Dutch author of Den Ingebeelde Chaos, 1710. + +Wislicenus (Gustav Adolf), German rationalist, b. Saxony, 20 +Nov. 1803. He studied theology at Halle, and became a minister, +but in consequence of his work Letter or Spirit (1845) was suspended +and founded the Free Congregation. For his work on The Bible in the +Light of Modern Culture he was, in Sept. '53, sentenced to prison +for two years. He went to America, and lectured in Boston and New +York. He returned to Europe in '56, and stayed in Zürich, where he +died 14 Oct. 1785. His chief work, The Bible for Thinking Readers, +was published at Leipsic in '63. + +Wittichius (Jacobus), Dutch Spinozist, b. Aken, 11 Jan. 1671. Wrote +on the Nature of God, 1711. Died 18 Oct. 1739. + +Wixon (Susan H.), American writer and editor of the "Children's Corner" +in the Truthseeker, has for many years been an advocate of Freethought, +temperance, and women's rights. She was a school teacher and member +of the Board of Education of the City of Fall River, Mass., where +she resides. She contributes to the Boston Investigator. + +Wollny (Dr. F.), German author of Principles of Psychology (Leipsic, +1887), in the preface to which he professes himself an Atheist. + +Wollstonecraft (Mary), English authoress, b. Hoxton, 27 April, +1759. She became a governess. In 1796 she settled in London, and began +her literary labors with Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. She +also wrote a Vindication of the Rights of Man, in answer to Burke, +and Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In 1797 she married William +Godwin, and died in childbirth. + +Wooley (Milton), Dr., American author of Science of the Bible 1877; +Career of Jesus Christ, '77; and a pamphlet on the name God. Died +Aug. 1885. + +Woolston (Thomas), Rev. English deist, b. Northampton, 1669. He studied +at Cambridge, and became a Fellow at Sydney College and a minister. He +published in 1705 The Old Apology, which was followed by other works in +favor of an allegorical interpretation of Scripture. In 1726 he began +his Six Discourses upon the Miracles, which were assailed in forcible, +homely language. Thirty thousand copies are said to have been sold, +and sixty pamphlets were written in opposition. Woolston was tried for +blasphemy and sentenced (March, 1729) to one year's imprisonment and +a fine of £100. This he could not pay, and died in prison 29 Jan. 1733. + +Wright (Elizur), American reformer, b. South Canaan, Litchfield +Co., Connecticut, 12 Feb. 1804. He graduated at Yale College, +'26. Having warmly embraced the principles of the Abolitionists, +he became secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, +and edited the Abolitionist and Commonwealth. He was a firm and +uncompromising Atheist, and a contributor to the Boston Investigator, +the Freethinker's Magazine, etc. Died at Boston, 21 Dec. '85. His +funeral oration was delivered by Col. Ingersoll. + +Wright (Frances), afterwards D'Arusmont, writer and lecturess, +b. Dundee, 6 Sept. 1795. At the age of eighteen she wrote A Few Days in +Athens, in which she expounds and defends the Epicurean philosophy. She +visited the United States, and wrote Views on Society and Manners +in America, 1820. She bought 2,000 acres in Tennessee, and peopled +it with slave families she purchased and redeemed. She afterwards +joined Owen's experiment; in part edited the New Harmony Gazette, +and afterwards the Free Inquirer. A Course of Popular Lectures was +published at New York in '29, in which she boldly gives her views on +religion. She also wrote a number of fables and tracts, and assisted +in founding the Boston Investigator. Died at Cincinnati, 14 Dec. 1852. + +Wright (Henry Clarke), American reformer, b. Sharon, Litchfield +co. Connecticut, 29 Aug. 1797. A conspicuous anti-slavery orator, +he was a friend of Ernestine Rose, Lucretia Mott, etc. He wrote The +Living, Present and the Dead Past. Died Pawtucket, Rhode Island, +16 Aug. 1870. + +Wright (Susannah), one of Carlile's shopwomen. Tried 14 Nov. 1822, +for selling pamphlets by Carlile. She made a good defence, in the +course of which she was continually interrupted. + +Wundt (Wilhelm Max), German scientist, b. Neckaran (Baden), +16 Aug. 1832. His father was a clergyman. He studied medicine at +Tübingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin, and became professor of physiology at +Heidelberg in '64, and has since held chairs at Zurich and Leipsic. His +principal works are Principles of Physiological Psychology, '74; +Manual of Human Physiology; Logic, '83; Essays, '85; Ethik, '86. + +Wuensch (Christian Ernest), German physician, b. Hohenstein, 1744. Was +Professor of Mathematics and Physics in Frankfort on the Oder, 1828. + +Wyrouboff (Gr.), Count; Russian Positivist, who established the +Revue de Philosophie Positive with Littré, and edited it with him +from 1867-83. + +Xenophanes, Greek philosopher, b. Colophon, about 600 B.C. He founded +the Eleatic school, and wrote a poem on Nature and Eleaticism, in +which he ridiculed man making gods in his own image. + +Ximines (Augustin Louis), Marquis de, French writer, b. Paris, 26 +Feb. 1726. Was an intimate friend of Voltaire, and wrote several +plays. Died Paris, 31 May, 1817. + +York (J. L.), American lecturer, b. New York, 1830. He became a +blacksmith, then a Methodist minister, then Unitarian, and finally +Freethought advocate. He was for some years member of the California +Legislature, and has made lecturing tours in Australia and through +the States. + +Yorke (J. F.), author of able Notes on Evolution and Christianity, +London, 1882. + +Youmans (Edward Livingstone), American scientist, b. Coeymans, N.Y., +3 June, 1821. Though partially blind he was a great student. He became +M.D. about 1851, and began to lecture on science, popularly expounding +the doctrines of the conservation of energy and evolution. He +popularised Herbert Spencer, planned the "International Scientific +Series," and in '72 established the Popular Science Monthly, in which +he wrote largely. Died at New York, 18 Jan. 1887. + +Zaborowski Moindrin (Sigismond), French scientific writer, b. La +Créche, 1851. Has written on The Antiquity of Man, '74; Pre-historic +Man, '78; Origin of Languages, '79; The Great Apes, '81; Scientific +Curiosities, '83. + +Zambrini (Francesco), Italian writer, b. Faenza, 25 Jan. 1810. Educated +at Ravenna and Bologna. He devoted himself to literature and produced +a great number of works. Died 9 July, 1887. + +Zarco (Francisco), Mexican journalist, b. Durango, 4 Dec. 1829. Edited +El Siglo XIX and La Ilustracion, in which he used the pen-name of +"Fortun." He was elected to Congress in '55, and imprisoned by the +reactionaries in '60. Juarez made him Secretary of State and President +of Council. He was a friend of Gagern. Died Mexico, 29 Dec. 1869. + +Zeller (Eduard), German critic, b. Kleinbottwar (Würtemberg), 22 +Jan. 1814. Studied theology at Tübingen and Berlin, became professor +at Berne, '47. He married a daughter of Baur; gave up theology for +philosophy, of which he has been professor at Berlin since '72. Has +written a memoir of Strauss, '74; Outlines of the History of Greek +Philosophy, '83; Frederick the Great as a Philosopher, '86; and other +important works. + +Zijde (Karel van der), Dutch writer, b. Overschie, 13 July, 1838. Has +been teacher at Rotterdam. Under the pen-name of M. F. ten Bergen +he wrote The Devil's Burial, 1874. Besides this he has written many +literary articles, and is now teacher of Dutch and German at Zaandam. + +Zimmern (Helen), b. Hamburg, 25 March, 1846. Has lived in England +since '50, and is naturalised. She has written lives of Schopenhauer +and Lessing, and a paraphrase of Firdusi's Shah Nahmeh. + +Zola (Emile), French novelist, b. of Italian father, Paris, 2 April, +1840. By his powerful collection of romances known as Les Rougon +Macquart, he made himself the leader of the "naturalist" school, +which claims to treat fiction scientifically, representing life as +it is without the ideal. + +Zorrilla (Manuel Ruiz), Spanish statesman, b. Burgo-de-Osma, 1834, +became a lawyer, and in '56 was returned to the Cortes by the +Progressive party. For a brochure against the Neo-Catholics he was +prosecuted. In '70 he became President of the Cortes, and has since +been exiled for his Republicanism. + +Zouteveen (H. H. H. van). See Hartogh. + +Zuppetta (Luigi), Italian jurist and patriot, b. Castelnuovo, 21 June, +1810. He studied at Naples, took part in the democratic movement of +'48, was exiled and returned in 1860, and has been Professor of Penal +Law in the University of Pavia. + + + + + + +SUPPLEMENT. + + +Those which have already appeared are marked * + + +Abd al Hakk ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sabin. See Sabin. + +Abu Abd'allah Muhammad ibn Massara al Jabali. Arabian pantheist +b. 881. He lived at Cordova in Spain and studied the works of +Empedocles and other Greek philosophers. Accused of impiety, he +left Spain and travelled through the East. Returned to Spain and +collected disciples whom he led to scepticism. He was the most eminent +predecessor of Ibn Rushd or Averroes. Died Oct. 931. His works were +publicly burned at Seville. + +* Acosta (Uriel), the name of his work was Examen Traditorum +Philosophicarum ad legem Scriptam. + +Acuna (Rosario de), Spanish writer and lecturess, b. Madrid about +1854. Contributes to Las Dominicales of Madrid. Has written The Doll's +House, and other educational works. + +* Adams (Robert C.), American Freethought writer and lecturer, +the son of the Rev. Needham Adams, b. Boston 1839. He became a +sea-captain, and was afterwards shipper at Montreal. Has written +in Secular Thought, the Truthseeker and the Freethinker's Magazine, +and published rational lectures under the title Pioneer Pith, '89. In +'89 he was elected President of the Canadian Secular Union. + +Admiraal (Aart), Dutch writer, b. Goedereede, 13 Oct. 1833. At first +a schoolmaster, he became in '60 director of the telegraph bureau at +Schoonhoven. He wrote from '56 for many years in De Dageraad over +the anagram "Aramaldi." In '67 he published The Religion of the +People under the pseudonym "Bato van der Maas," a name he used in +writing to many periodicals. A good mind and heart with but feeble +constitution. He died 12 Nov. 1878. + +Airoldi (J.) Italian lawyer, b. Lugano (Switzerland), 1829; a poet +and writer of talent. + +Albaida (Don Jose M. Orense), Spanish nobleman (marquis), one of the +founders of the Republican party. Was expelled for his principles; +returned to Spain, and was president of the Cortes in 1869. + +* Alchindus. Died about 864. + +* Aleardi had better be deleted. I am now told he was a Christian. + +Alfarabi. See Alpharabius. + +Algeri (Pomponio), a youth of Nola. Studied at Padua, and was accused +of heresy and Atheism, and burnt alive in a cauldron of boiling oil, +pitch, and turpentine at Rome in 1566. + +Alkemade (A. de Mey van), Dutch nobleman, who contributed to +De Dageraad, and also published a work containing many Bible +contradictions, 1862; and in '59 a work on the Bible under the pen name +"Alexander de M." + +Allais (Denis de). See Vairasse. + +Allais (Giovanni), Italian doctor, b. Casteldelfino, 1847. + +Almquist (Herman), Swedish, b. 1839, orientalist; professor of +philology at the University of Upsala. An active defender of new +ideas and Freethought. + +Altmeyer (Jean Jacques), Belgian author, b. Luxembourg, 20 +Jan. 1804. Was professor at the University of Brussels. He wrote an +Introduction to the Philosophical Study of the History of Humanity, +'36, and other historical works. Died 15 Sept. 1877. + +Amari (Michele), Sicilian historian and orientalist, b. Palmero, 7 +July, 1806. In '32 he produced a version of Scott's Marmion. He wrote +a standard History of the Musulmen in Sicily. After the landing of +Garibaldi, he was made head of public instruction in the island. He +took part in the anti-clerical council of '69. Died at Florence, +July 1889. + +* Amaury de Chartres. According to L'Abbè Ladvocat his disciples +maintained that the sacraments were useless, and that there was no +other heaven than the satisfaction of doing right, nor any other hell +than ignorance and sin. + +Anderson (Marie), Dutch lady Freethinker, b. the Hague, 2 +Aug. 1842. She has written many good articles in de Dageraad, and +was for some time editress of a periodical De Twintigste Eeuw (the +twentieth century). She has also written some novels. She resides now +at Würzburg, Germany, and contributes still to de Dageraad. As pen-name +she formerly used that of "Mevrouw Quarlès" and now "Dr. Al. Dondorf." + +* Anthero de Quental. This name would be better under Quental. + +Apono. See Petrus de Abano. This would probably be best under Abano. + +* Aquila. Justinian forbade the Jews to read Aquila's version of +the Scriptures. + +Aranda (Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea), Count, Spanish statesman, +b. of illustrious family, Saragossa, 18 Dec. 1718. Was soldier and +ambassador to Poland. He imbibed the ideas of the Encyclopædists, +and contributed to the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain in 1767. He +also disarmed the Inquisition. In 1792 he was elected Spanish minister +to France. He was recalled and exiled to Aragon, where he died in 1799. + +Argilleres (Antoine), at first a Jacobin monk and afterwards a +Protestant preacher, was tortured several times, then decapitated and +his head nailed to a gibbet at Geneva, 1561-2, for having eight years +previously taken the part of Servetus against Calvin at Pont-de-Veyle +in Bresse. + +* Arnould (Victor). Has continued his Tableau in the Positivist +Revue and La Societé Nouvelle. From 1868 to '73 he edited La Liberté, +in which many a battle for Freethought has been fought. + +Ascarate (Gumezindo de), Spanish professor of law at the University of +Madrid and Republican deputy, b. Leon about 1844. One of the ablest +Radical parliamentary orators; in philosophy, he is a follower of +Krause. He has written Social Studies, Self-Government and Monarchy, +and other political works. + +Aszo y Del Rio (Ignacio Jordan de), Spanish jurist and naturalist, +b. Saragossa, 1742. Was professor at Madrid, and left many important +works on various branches of science. In his political works he +advocated the abolition of ecclesiastical power. Died 1814. + +* Aubert de Verse (Noel) had probably better be omitted, although +accused of blasphemy himself, I find he wrote an answer to Spinoza, +which I have not been able to see. + +Auerbach (Berthold), German novelist of Jewish extraction, +b. Nordstetten, 28 Feb. 1812. Devoted to Spinoza, in '41 he published +a life of the philosopher and a translation of his works, having +previously published an historical romance on the same subject. Died +Cannes, 8 Feb. 1882. + +* Aymon (Jean). La vie et L'Esprit de M. Benoit Spinoza (La Haye, +1719) was afterwards issued under the famous title Treatise of Three +Impostors. + +* Bahrdt (Karl Friedrich). The writings of this enfant terrible of +the German Aufklarung fill 120 volumes. + +* Bailey (William Shreeve) was born 10 Feb. 1806. He suffered much +on account of his opinions. Died Nashville, 20 Feb 1886. Photius Fisk +erected a monument to his memory. + +* Bancel (Francis Désiré). In his work Les Harangues de l'Exil, 3 +vols., 1863, his Freethought views are displayed. He also wrote in +La Revue Critique. + +Barnaud (Nicolas), of Crest in Dauphiné. Lived during the latter half +of the sixteenth century. He travelled in France, Spain, and Germany, +and to him is attributed the authorship of a curious work entitled Le +Cabinet du Roy de France, which is largely directed against the clergy. + +Barreaux. See des Barreaux. + +Barth (Ferdinand), b. Mureck, Steyermark Austria, 1828. In '48 he +attained reputation as orator to working men and took part in the +revolution. When Vienna was retaken he went to Leipzig and Zurich, +where he died in 1850, leaving a profession of his freethought. + +Bartrina, Spanish Atheistic poet, b. Barcelona, 1852, where he died +in 1880. + +Bedingfield (Richard, W. T.), Pantheistic writer, b. May, 1823, +wrote in National Reformer as B.T.W.R., established Freelight, +'70. Died 14 Feb. 1876. + +* Berigardus (Claudius), b. 15 Aug. 1578. + +* Bertillon (Louis Adolphe). In a letter to Bp. Dupanloup, April, '68, +he said, You hope to die a Catholic, I hope to die a Freethinker. Died +1883. + +* Berwick (George J.) M.D., Dr. Berwick, I am informed, was the author +of the tracts issued by Thomas Scott of Ramsgate with the signature of +"Presbyter Anglicanus." + +Blein (F. A. A.), Baron, French author of Essais Philosophiques, +Paris, 1843. + +Blum (Robert), German patriot and orator, b. Cologne, 10 Nov. 1807. He +took an active part in progressive political and religious movements, +and published the Christmas Tree and other publications. In '48 he +became deputy to the Frankfort Parliament and head of the Republican +party. He was one of the promoters at the insurrection of Vienna, +and showed great bravery in the fights of the students with the +troops. Shot at Vienna, 9 Nov. 1848. + +* Blumenfleld (J. C.), this name I suspect to be a pseudonym. + +Bolin (A. W.), a philosophic writer of Finland, b. 2 Aug. 1835. Studied +at Helsingford, '52, and became Doctor of Philosophy in '66, and +Professor in '73. He has written on the Freedom of the Will, The +Political Doctrines of Philosophy, etc. A subject of Russian Finland; +he has been repeatedly troubled by the authorities for his radical +views on religious questions. + +Bolivar (Ignacio), Spanish professor of natural history at the +University of Madrid, and one of the introducers of Darwinian ideas. + +Boppe (Herman C.), editor of Freidenker of Milwaukee, U.S.A. + +Borsari (Ferdinand), Italian geographer, b. Naples, author of a work +of the literature of American aborigines, and a zealous propagator +of Freethought. + +Bostrom (Christopher Jacob), Swedish Professor at Upsala, b. 4 +Jan. 1797. Besides many philosophical works, published trenchant +criticism of the Christian hell creed. Died 22 March, 1866. + +Boucher (E. Martin), b. Beaulieu 1809. Conducted the Rationaliste +at Geneva, where he died 1882. His work Search for the Truth was +published at Avignon, 1884. + +Bourneville (Magloire Désir), French deputy and physician, +b. Garancières, 21 Oct. 1840. Studied medicine at Paris, and in '79 +was appointed physician to the asylum of Bicêtre. He was Municipal +Councillor of Paris from '76 to '83. On the death of Louis Blanc he +was elected deputy in his place. Wrote Science and Miracle, '75; +Hysteria in History, '76; and a discourse on Etienne Dolet at the +erection of the statue to that martyr, 18 May 1889. + +Boutteville (Marc Lucien), French writer, professor at the Lycee +Bonaparte. Wrote to Dupanloup on his pamphlet against Atheism, 1867; +wrote in La Pensée Nouvelle, '68; is author of a large and able work +on the Morality of the Church and Natural Morality, '66; and has +edited the posthumous works of Proudhon, 1870. + +* Bovio (Giovanni), b. Trani, 1838, Dr. of law and advocate. Author +of a dramatic piece, Cristo alla festa di Purim, and of a History +of Law in Italy. Signor Bovio delivered the address at unveiling the +monument to Bruno at Rome, 9 June, 1889. + +Boyer. See Argens. + +* Bradlaugh (Charles), M.P. In April, 1889, he introduced a Bill to +repeal the Blasphemy Laws. + +Braga (Teofilo), Portuguese Positivist, b. 24 Feb. 1843. Educated +at Coimbra. Has written many poems, and a History of Portuguese +Literature. Is one of the Republican leaders. + +Branting (Hjalmar), Swedish Socialist, b. 1860. Sentenced in '88 +to three months' imprisonment for blasphemy in his paper Social +Democraten. + +Braun (Eugen), Dr. See F. W. Ghillany. + +Braun (Wilhelm von), Swedish humoristic poet, b. 1813. He satirised +many of the Bible stories. Died 1860. + +Brewer (Ebenezer Cobham), English author. Has written numerous school +books, and compiled a Dictionary of Miracles, 1884. + +Brismee (Desiré), Belgian printer, b. Ghent, 27 July, 1822. As editor +of Le Drapeau he underwent eighteen months' imprisonment. The principle +founder of Les Solidaires, he was the life-long secretary of that +society, and his annual reports are a valuable contribution towards +the history of Freethought in Belgium. An eloquent speaker, many of +his Freethought orations were printed in La Tribune du Peuple. Died +at Brussels 18 Feb. 1888. + +* Brothier (Léon). Died about 1874. + +* Brown (G. W.) Dr. Brown's new work is published at Rockford, +Illinois, and entitled Researches in Jewish History, including the rise +and development of Zoroastrianism and the derivation of Christianity. + +* Bruno (Giordano), b. Nola, 21 March, 1548. The Avisso di Roma +of 19 Feb. 1600, records the fact of his being burnt, and that he +died impenitent. Signor Mariotti, State Secretary to the Minister +of Public Instruction, has found a document proving that Bruno was +stripped naked, bound to a pole, and burnt alive, and that he bore +his martyrdom with great fortitude. + +Buen (Odon de), Spanish writer on Las Dominicales, of Madrid, +b. Aragon, 1884. Professor of Natural History at the University of +Barcelona. Has written an account of a scientific expedition From +Christiania to Treggurt, has translated Memoirs of Garibaldi. He +married civilly the daughter of F. Lozano, and was delegate to the +Paris Freethought Conference, 1889. + +Calderon (Alfredo), Spanish journalist and lawyer, b. 1852. He edits +La Justicia. Has written several books on law. + +Calderon (Lauresmo), Professor of Chemistry in the University of +Madrid, b. 1848. Is a propagator of Darwinian ideas. + +Calderon (Salvador), Spanish geologist and naturalist, b. 1846; +professor at the University of Seville. Has made scientific travels +in Central America, and written largely on geological subjects. + +Calvo (Rafael), Spanish actor and dramatic author, b. 1852. A +pronounced Republican and Freethinker. + +* Canestrini (Giovanni), b. Revo (Trente), 26 Dec. 1835. + +Cassels (Walter Richard), a nephew of Dr. Pusey, is the author of +Supernatural Religion, a critical examination of the worth of the +Gospels (two vols. 1874 and three '79). Has written under his own name +Eidolon and other poems, 1850, and Poems, '56. In '89 he published +A Reply to Dr. Lightfoot's Essays. + +Castro (Fernando), Spanish philosopher and historian. He was a +priest, and on his death-bed confessed himself a Freethinker, and +had a secular burial. Died about 1874, aged 60 years. + +Cavia (Mariano), Spanish journalist and critic, b. 1859, editor of +the Liberal of Madrid. + +* Coke (Henry), author of Creeds of the Day, is the third son of the +first Earl of Leicester, and was born 3 Jan. 1827. He served in the +navy during the first China War, 1840-42. Published accounts of the +siege of Vienna, '48, at which he was present, also "Ride over Rocky +Mountains," which he accomplished with great hardships in '50. Was +private secretary to Mr. Horsman when Chief Secretary for Ireland in +'54-'58. Married Lady K. Egerton, 1861. + +Cornette (Henri Arthur Marie), Belgian professor of Flemish literature +at Antwerp, b. Bruges, 27 March, 1852. A writer in L'Avenir of +Brussels and the Revue Socialite, he has published separate works +on Freemasonry, 1878; Pessimism and Socialism, '80; Freethought +Darwinism, etc. + +Curros (Enriquez), living Spanish poet, who was prosecuted by the +Bishop of Santiago, of Galicia, for his collection of poems entitled +Airs of my Country, but he was acquitted by the jury. + +Czerski (Johannes), German reformer, b. Warlubien, West Prussia, 12 +May, 1813. He became a Catholic priest in '44, broke with the Church, +associated himself with Ronge, married, and was excommunicated. Has +written several works against Roman Catholicism, and is still living +at Schneidemükl-Posen. + +D'Ercole (Pasquale), Italian professor of philosophy in the University +of Turin, author of a work on Christian Theism, in which he holds +that the principles of philosophic Theism are undemonstrated and at +variance both with reality and with themselves. + +Deschanel (Emile Auguste), French senator, b. Paris, 19 Nov. 1819. He +wrote in the Revue Independante, Revue des Deux Mondes and Liberté de +Penser; for writing against clericalism in the last he was deprived +of his chair. After 2 Dec. he went to Belgium. He has been Professor +of Modern Literature at the College of France, and written many +important works. + +Desnoiresterres (Gustave le Brisoys), Frenchman of letters, +b. Bayeux, 20 June, 1817, author of Epicurienes et Lettres XVII. and +XVIII. Siècles, 1881, and Voltaire et la Société Française au +XVIII. Siècle, an important work in eight vols. + +* Desraimes (Maria), b. 15 Aug. 1835. + +Diogenes (Apolloinates), a Cretan, natural philosopher, who lived +in the fifth century B.C. He is supposed to have got into trouble at +Athens through his philosophical opinions being considered dangerous to +the State. He held that nothing was produced from nothing or reduced +to nothing; that the earth was round and had received its shape from +whirling. He made no distinction between mind and matter. + +Donius (Augustinus), a Materialist, referred to by Bacon. His work, +De Natura Dominis, in two books, 1581, refers the power of the spirit, +to motion. The title of his second book is "Omnes operationes spiritus +esse motum et semum." + +Dosamantes (Jesus Ceballos), Mexican philosopher; author of works on +Absolute Perfection, Mexico, 1888, and Modern Pharisees and Sadducees +(mystics and materialists), '89. + +Druskowitz (Helene), Dr., b. Vienna, 2 May, 1858. Miss Druskowitz is +Doctor of philosophy at Dresden, and has written a life of Shelley, +Berlin, '84; a little book on Freewill, and The New Doctrines, '83. + +Dufay (Henri), author of La Legende du Christ, 1880. + +Duller (Eduard), German poet and historian, b. Vienna, 18 Nov. 1809. He +wrote a History of the Jesuits (Leipsic, '40) and The Men of the People +(Frankfort, '47-'50). Died at Wiesbaden, 24 July, 1853. + +* Du Marsais (César Chesneau). He edited Mirabaud's anonymous work +on The World and its Antiquity and The Soul and its Immortality, +Londres, 1751. + +* Fellowes (R.) Graduated B.A. at Oxford 1796, M.A. 1801. Died 6 +Feb. 1847. + +Figueras-y-Moracas (Estanilas), Spanish statesman and orator, +b. Barcelona, 13 Nov. 1810. Studied law and soon manifested Republican +opinions. In '51 he was elected to the Cortes, was exiled in '66, but +returned in '68. He fought the candidature of the Duc de Montpensiér in +'69, and became President of the Spanish Republic 12 Feb. '73. Died +poor in 1879, and was buried without religious ceremony, according +to his wish. + +Fitzgerald (Edward), English poet and translator, b. near Woodbridge, +Suffolk, 31 March, 1809. Educated at Cambridge and took his degree in +'30. He lived the life of a recluse, and produced a fine translation +of Calderon. His fame rests securely on his fine rendering of the +Quatrains of Omar Khayyam. Died 14 June, 1883. + +Galletti (Baldassare), cavalier Pantheist of Palermo. Has translated +Feuerbach on Death and Immortality, and also translated from +Morin. Died Rome, 18 Feb. 1887. + +Ganeval (Louis), French professor in Egypt, b. Veziat, 1815, author +of a work on Egypt and Jesus devant l'histoire n'a jamais vécu. The +first part, published in '74, was prohibited in France, and the second +part was published at Geneva in '79. + +Garrido (Fernando), Spanish writer, author of Memoirs of a Sceptic, +Cadiz 1843, a work on Contemporary Spain, published at Brussels in +'62, The Jesuits, and a large History of Political and Religious +Persecutions, a work rendered into English in conjunction with +C. B. Cayley. Died at Cordova in 1884. + +Gerling (Fr. Wilhelm), German author of Letter of a Materialist +to an Idealist, Berlin 1888, to which Frau Hedwig Henrich Wilhelmi +contributes a preface. + +Geroult de Pival, French librarian at Rouen; probably the author of +Doutes sur la Religion, Londres, 1767. Died at Paris about 1772. + +Goffin (Nicolas), founder of the Society La Libre of Liége and +President of La Libre Pensée of Brussels, and one of the General +Council of the International Federation of Freethinkers. Died 23 +May, 1884. + +Goldhawke (J. H.), author of the Solar Allegories, proving that the +greater number of personages mentioned in the Old and New Testaments +are allegorical beings, Calcutta 1853. + +Gorani (Giuseppe), count, b. Milan, 1744. He was intimate with +Beccaria, D'Holbach, and Diderot. He wrote a treatise on Despotism, +published anonymously, 1770; defended the French Revolution and was +made a French citizen. Died poor at Geneva, 12 Dec. 1819. + +Govett (Frank), author of the Pains of Life, 1889, a pessimistic +reply to Sir J. Lubbock's Pleasures of Life. Mr. Govett rejects the +consolations of religion. + +Guimet (Etienne Emile), French traveller, musician, anthropologist +and philanthropist, b. Lyons, 2 June, 1836, the son of the inventor +of ultramarine, whose business he continued. He has visited most +parts of the world and formed a collection of objects illustrating +religions. These he formed into a museum in his native town, where he +also founded a library and a school for Oriental languages. This fine +museum which cost several million francs, he presented to his country, +and it is now at Paris, where M. Guimet acts as curator. In 1880 he +began publishing Annales du Musée Guimet, in which original articles +appear on Oriental Religions. He has also written many works upon his +travels. He attended the banquet in connection with the International +Congress of Freethinkers at Paris, 1889. + +Guynemer (A. M. A. de), French author of a dictionary of astronomy, +1852, and an anonymous unbelievers' dictionary, '69, in which many +points of theology are discussed in alphabetical order. + +Hamerling (Robert), German poet, b. Kirchberg am Wald, 24 March, +1830. Author of many fine poems, of which we mention Ahasuerus in Rome +'66. The King of Sion; Danton and Robespierre a tragedy. He translated +Leopardis' poems '86. Died at Gratz, 13 July, 1889. + +Heyse (Paul Johann Ludwig), German poet and novelist, b. Berlin, +15 March, 1830. Educated at the University, after travelling to +Switzerland and Italy he settled at Munich in '54. Has produced many +popular plays and romances, of which we specially mention The Children +of the World, '73, a novel describing social and religious life of +Germany at the present day, and In Paradise, 1875. + +Hicks (L. E.) American geologist, author of A Critique of Design +Arguments. Boston, 1883. + +Hitchman (William), English physician, b. Northleach, Gloucestershire, +1819, became M.R.C.S. in '41, M.D. at Erlangen, Bavaria. He established +Freelight, and wrote a pamphlet, Fifty Years of Freethought. Died 1888. + +Hoeffding (Harald), Dr., Professor of Philosophy at the University of +Copenhagen, b. Copenhagen, 1843. Has been professor since '83. Is +absolutely free in his opinion and has published works on the newer +philosophy in Germany, '72, and in England, '74. In the latter work +special attention is devoted to the works of Mill and Spencer. German +editions have been published of his works Grundlage der humanen +Ethik (Basis of Human Ethics '80), Psychologie im Umriss (Outlines +of Psychology '87), and Ethik 1888. + +Holst (Nils Olaf), Swedish geologist, b. 1846. Chairman of the Swedish +Society for Religious Liberty. + +Ignell (Nils), Swedish rationalist, b. 12 July, 1806. Brought +up as a priest, his free views gave great offence. He translated +Renan's Life of Jesus, and did much to arouse opposition to orthodox +Christianity. Died at Stockholm, 3 June, 1864. + +Jacobsen (Jens Peter), Danish novelist and botanist, b. Thistede, +7 April, 1847. He did much to spread Darwinian views in Scandinavia, +translating the Origin of Species and Descent of Man. Among his +novels we may name Fru Marie Grubbe, scenes from the XVII. century, +and Niels Lyhne, in which he develops the philosophy of Atheism. This +able young writer died at his birth place, 3 April 1885. + +Kleist (Heinrich von), German poet, b. Frankfurt-on-Oder, 18 +Oct. 1777. Left an orphan at eleven, he enlisted in the army in 1795, +quitted it in four years and took to study. Kant's Philosophy made +him a complete sceptic. In 1800 he went to Paris to teach Kantian +philosophy, but the results were not encouraging. Committed suicide +together with a lady, near Potsdam, 21 Nov. 1811. Kleist is chiefly +known by his dramas and a collection of tales. + +Letourneau (Charles Jean Marie), French scientist, b. Auray +(Morbihan), 1831. Educated as physician. He wrote in La Pensée +Nouvelle, and has published Physiology of the Passions, '68; Biology, +'75, translated into English by W. Maccall; Science and Materialism, +'79; Sociology based on Ethnography, '80; and the Evolution of +Marriage and the Family, '85. He has also translated Büchner's Man +According to Science, Light and Life and Mental Life of Animals, +Haeckel's History of Creation, Letters of a Traveller in India, +and Herzen's Physiology of the Will. + +Lippert (Julius), learned German author of works on Soul Worship, +Berlin, 1881; The Universal History of Priesthoods, '83; and an +important Culture History of Mankind, '86-7. + +Lloyd (William Watkiss), author of Christianity in the Cartoons, +London 1865, in which he criticises Rafael and the New Testament side +by side. He has also written The Age of Pericles, and several works +on Shakespeare. + +Lucian, witty Greek writer, b. of poor parents, Samosata, on +the Euphrates, and flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and +Commodus. He was made a sculptor, but applied himself to rhetoric. He +travelled much, and at Athens was intimate with Demonax. His principal +works are dialogues, full of wit, humor, and satire, often directed +against the gods. According to Suidas he was named the Blasphemer, +and torn to pieces by dogs for his impiety, but on this no reliance +can be placed. On the ground of the dialogue Philopatris, he has +been supposed an apostate Christian, but it is uncertain if that +piece is genuine. It is certain that he was sceptical, truth-loving, +and an enemy of the superstition of the time which he depicts in his +account of Alexander, the false prophet. + +Maglia (Adolfo de), Spanish journalist, b. Valencia, 3 June, +1859, began writing in La Tronada at Barcelona, and afterwards +published L'Union Republicana. He founded the Freethinking group +"El Independiente" and edits El Clamor Setabense and El Pueblo +Soberano. Was secretary for Spain at the Anticlerical Congress at Rome +in '85, and in '89 at Paris. During this year he has been condemned +to six years' imprisonment and a fine of 4,000 francs for attacking +Leo XIII. and the Catholic dogmas. + +disciples, whom he conducted from faith to scepticism. He was the most +eminent predecessor of Ibn Roschd or Averroës. Died Oct.-Nov. 931. His +works were publicly burned at Seville. + +Mata (Pedro), Spanish physician, professor at the University of +Madrid. Author of a poem, Glory and Martyrdom, 1851; a Treatise on +Human Reason, '58-64; and on Moral Liberty and Free Will, '68. + +Mendizabal (Juan Alvarez), Spanish Liberal statesman, b. Cadiz, +1790. Was minister during the reign of Cristina, and contributed +to the subjugation of the clerical party. He abolished the religious +orders and proclaimed their goods as national property. Died at Madrid, +3 Nov. 1853. + +* Meredith (Evan Powell), b. 1811. Educated at Pontypool College, he +became a Baptist minister, and was an eloquent preacher in the Welsh +tongue. He translated the Bible into Welsh. Investigation into the +claims of Christianity made him resign his ministry. In his Prophet +of Nazareth he mentioned a purpose of writing a work on the gospels, +but it never appeared. He died at Monmouth 23 July, 1889. + +Miralta (Constancio), the pen name of a popular Spanish writer, +b. about 1849. Has been a priest and doctor of theology, and is one +of the writers on Las Dominicales. His most notable works are Memoirs +of a Poor Clerical, The Secrets of Confession, and The Sacrament +Exposed. His work on The Doctrine of Catholicism upon Matrimony has +greatly encouraged civil marriages. + +Moraita (Miguel), Spanish historian, b. about 1845. Is Professor +of History at Madrid, and one of the most ardent enemies of +clericalism. Has written many works, including a voluminous History +of Spain. In '84 he made a discourse at the University against +the pretended antiquity of the Mosaic legends, which caused his +excommunication by several bishops. He was supported by the students, +against whom the military were employed. He is Grand Master of the +Spanish Freemasons. + +Moya (Francisco Xavier), Spanish statistician, b. about 1825. Was +deputy to the Cortes of 1869, and has written several works on the +infallibility of the Pope and on the temporal power. + +Nakens (José), Spanish journalist, b. 1846. Founder and editor of El +Motin, a Republican and Freethought paper of Madrid, in connection +with which there is a library, in which he has written La Piqueta--the +Pick-axe. + +Nees Von Esenbeck (Christian Gottfried), German naturalist, +b. Odenwald, 14 Feb. 1776. He became a doctor of medicine, and was +Professor of Botany at Bohn, 1819, and Breslau, '31. He was leader of +the free religious movement in Silesia, and in '48, took part in the +political agitations, and was deprived of his chair. Wrote several +works on natural philosophy. Died at Breslau, 16 March, 1858. + +Nyblaus (Claes Gudmund), Swedish bookseller, b. 1817, has published +some anti-Christian pamphlets. + +Offen (Benjamin), American lecturer, b. England, 1772. He emigrated to +America and became lecturer to the Society of Moral Philanthropists at +Tammany Hall, New York, and was connected With the Free Discussion +Society. He wrote A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion, a +critical review of the Bible. Died at New York, 12 May, 1848. + +Palmaer (Bernhard Henrik), Swedish satirist, b. 21 Aug. 1801. Author of +The Last Judgment in the Crow Corner. Died at Linkoping, 7 July, 1854. + +Panizza (Mario). Italian physiologist and philosopher; author of a +materialist work on The Philosophy of the Nervous System, Rome, 1887. + +Perez Galdos (Benito), eminent living Spanish novelist, b. Canary +Islands, lived since his youth in Madrid. Of his novels we mention +Gloria, which has been translated into English, and La Familia +de Leon Roch, 1878, in which he stoutly attacks clericalism and +religious intolerance. He has also written Episodes nacionales, +and many historical novels. + +Regenbrecht (Michael Eduard), German rationalist, b. Brannsberg, +1792. He left the Church with Ronge, and became leader of the free +religious movement at Breslau, where he died 9 June, 1849. + +Robert (Roberto). Spanish anti-clerical satirist, b. 1817. Became +famous by his mordant style, his most celebrated works being The +Rogues of Antonio, The Times of Mari Casania, The Skimmer of the +Centuries. Died in 1870. + +Rupp (Julius), German reformer, b. Königsberg, 13 Aug. 1809. Studied +philosophy and theology, and became in '42 a minister. He protested +against the creeds, and became leader of the Free-religious movement +in East Prussia. + +Ryberg (Y. E.), Swedish merchant captain, b. 16 Oct. 1828. He has +translated several of Mr. Bradlaugh's pamphlets and other secular +literature. + +Sachse (Heinrich Ernst), German atheist, b. 1812. At Magdeburg he +did much to demolish the remains of theism in the Free-religious +communities. Died 1883. + +Sales y Ferre (Manuel), Spanish scientist, b. about 1839. Professor +at the University of Seville. Has published several works on geology +and prehistoric times. + +Schneider (Georg Heinrich), German naturalist, b. Mannheim, +1854. Author of The Human Will from the standpoint of the New +Development Theory (Berlin, 1882), and other works. + +Schreiner (Olive), the daughter of a German missionary in South +Africa. Authoress of "The Story of an African Farm," 1883. + +Serre (... de la), author of an Examination of Religion, attributed to +Saint Evremond, 1745. It was condemned to be burnt by the Parliament +of Paris. + +Suner y Capderila. Spanish physician of Barcelona, b. 1828. Became +deputy to the Cortes in 1829, and is famous for his discourses +against Catholicism. + +Tocco (Felice), Italian philosopher and anthropologist, b. Catanzaro, +12 Sept. 1845, and studied at the University of Naples and Bologna, +and became Professor of Philosophy at Pisa. He wrote in the +Rivista Bolognese on Leopardi, and on "Positivism" in the Rivista +Contemporanea. He has published works on A. Bain's Theory of Sensation, +'72; Thoughts on the History of Philosophy, '77; The Heresy of the +Middle Ages, '84; and Giordano Bruno, '86. + +Tommasi (Salvatore), Italian evolutionist, author of a work on +Evolution, Science, and Naturalism, Naples 1877, and a little pamphlet +in commemoration of Darwin, '82. + +Tubino (Francisco Maria), Spanish positivist, b. Seville, 1838, took +part in Garibaldi's campaign in Sicily, and has contributed to the +Rivista Europea. + +Tuthill (Charles A. H.), author of The Origin and Development of +Christian Dogma, London, 1889. + +Vernial (Paul), French doctor and member of the Anthropological +Society of Paris, author of a work on the Origin of Man, 1881. + +Wheeler (Joseph Mazzini), atheist, b. London, 24 Jan., 1850. Converted +from Christianity by reading Newman, Mill, Darwin, Spencer, etc. Has +contributed to the National Reformer Secularist, Secular Chronicle, +Liberal, Progress, and Freethinker which he has sub-edited since +1882, using occasionally the signatures "Laon," "Lucianus" and other +pseudonyms. Has published Frauds and Follies of the Fathers '88, +Footsteps of the Past, a collection of essays in anthropology and +comparative religion '86; and Crimes of Christianity, written in +conjunction with G. W. Foote, with whom he has also edited Sepher +Toldoth Jeshu. The compiler of the present work is a willing drudge +in the cause he loves, and hopes to empty many an inkstand in the +service of Freethought. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREETHINKERS *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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