Part 2

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.