Part 17

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.