Chapter III: Part 3

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?