Part 12

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.