A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations Part 11

Echtermeyer (Ernst Theodor), German critic, b. Liebenwerda, 1805. He studied at Halle and Berlin, and founded, with A. Ruge, the Hallische Jahrbucher, which contained many Freethought articles, 1837-42. He taught at Halle and Dresden, where he died, 6 May, 1844.

Edelmann (Johann Christian), German Deist, b. Weissenfels, Saxony, 9 July, 1698; studied theology in Jena, joined the Moravians, but left them and every form of Christianity, becoming an adherent of Spinozism. His princ.i.p.al works are his Unschuldige Wahrheiten, 1735 (Innocent Truths), in which he argues that no religion is of importance, and Moses mit Aufgedecktem Angesicht (Moses Unmasked), 1740, an attack on the Old Testament, which, he believed, proceeded from Ezra; Die Gottlichkeit der Vernunft (The Divinity of Reason), 1741, and Christ and Belial. His works excited much controversy, and were publicly burnt at Frankfort, 9 May, 1750. Edelmann was chased from Brunswick and Hamburg, but was protected by Frederick the Great, and died at Berlin, 15 Feb. 1767. Mirabeau praised him, and Guizot calls him a "fameux esprit fort."

Edison (Thomas Alva), American inventor, b. Milan, Ohio, 10 Feb. 1847. As a boy he sold fruit and papers at the trains. He read, however, Gibbon, Hume and other important works before he was ten. He afterwards set up a paper of his own, then became telegraph operator, studied electricity, invented electric light, the electric pen, the telephone, microphone, phonograph, etc. Edison is known to be an Agnostic and to pay no attention to religion.

Eenens (Ferdinand), Belgian writer, b. Brussels, 7 Dec. 1811. Eenens was an officer in the Belgian army, and wrote many political and anti-clerical pamphlets. He also wrote La Verite, a work on the Christian faith, 1859; Le Paradis Terrestre, '60, an examination of the legend of Eden, and Du Dieu Thaumaturge, '76. He used the pen names "Le Pere Nicaise," "Nicodeme Polycarpe" and "Timon III." Died at Brussels in 1883.

Effen (Justus van), Dutch writer, b. Utrecht, 11 Feb. 1684. Edited the Misanthrope, Amsterdam, 1712-16; translated Robinson Crusoe, Swift's Tale of a Tub, and Mandeville's Thoughts on Religion, 1722; published the Dutch Spectator, 1731-35. Died at Bois-le-Duc, 18 Sept. 1735.

Eichhorn (Johann Gottfried), German Orientalist and rationalist, b. 16 Oct. 1752, became Professor of Oriental Literature and afterwards Professor of Theology at Gottingen. He published Introductions to the Old and New Testaments and A Commentary on the Apocalypse, in which his criticism tends to uproot belief in the Bible as a divine revelation. He lectured every day for fifty-two years. Died 25 June, 1827.

"Elborch (Conrad von)," the pseudonym of a living learned Dutch writer, whose position does not permit him to reveal his true name. Born 14 Jan. 1865, he has contributed to De Dageraad (The Daybreak), under various pen-names, as "Fra Diavolo," "Denis Bontemps," "J. Van den Ende," etc. He has given, in '88, a translation of the rare and famous Latin treatise, De Tribus Impostoribus (On Three Impostors) [Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad], with an important bibliographic and historical introduction.

"Eliot (George)," the pen-name of Mary Ann Lewes (nee Evans) one of the greatest novelists of the century, b. at Arbury Farm, near Griff, Warwickshire, 22 Nov. 1819. In '41 the family removed to Foleshill, near Coventry. Here she made the friendship of the household of Charles Bray, and changed her views from Evangelical Christianity to philosophical scepticism. Influenced by The Inquiry into the Origin of Christianity, by C. C. Hennell (Bray's brother-in-law), she made an a.n.a.lysis of that work. Her first literary venture was translating Strauss' Leben Jesu, published in 1846. After the death of her father ('49) she travelled with the Brays upon the Continent, and upon her return a.s.sisted Dr. Chapman in the editorship of the Westminster Review, to which she contributed several articles. She translated Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity, '54, the only work published with her real name, and also translated from Spinoza's Ethics. Introduced by Herbert Spencer to George Henry Lewes, she linked her life with his in defiance of the conventions of society, July, '54. Both were poor, but by his advice she turned to fiction, in which she soon achieved success. Her Scenes of Clerical Life, Adam Bede, Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, and Theophrastus Such have become cla.s.sics. As a poet, "George Eliot" does not rank so high, but her little piece, "Oh, may I join the choir invisible," well expresses the emotion of the Religion of Humanity, and her Spanish Gipsy she allowed was "a ma.s.s of Positivism." Lewes died in 1878, and within two years she married his friend, J. W. Cross. Her new happiness was short-lived. She died 22 Dec. 1880, and is buried with Lewes at Highgate.

Ellero (Pietro) Italian jurisconsult, b. Pordenone, 8 Oct. 1833, Counsellor of the High Court of Rome, has been Professor of Criminal Law in the University of Bologna. Author of many works on legal and social questions. His Scritti Minori, Scritti Politici and La Question Sociale have the honor of a place on the Roman Index.

Elliotson (John, M.D., F.R.S.), an eminent medical man, b. London, 1791. He became physician at St. Thomas's Hospital in 1822, and made many contributions to medical science. By new prescriptions of quinine, creasote, etc., he excited much hostility in the profession. He was the first in this country to advocate the use of the stethoscope. He was also the first physician to discard knee-breeches and silk stockings, and to wear a beard. In '31 he was chosen Professor at University College, but, becoming an advocate of curative mesmerism, he resigned his appointments, '38. He was founder and President of the London Phrenological Society, and, in addition to many medical works, edited the Zoist (thirteen vols.), translated Blumenbach's Physiology, and wrote an introduction to Engledue's Cerebral Physiology, defending materialism. Thackeray dedicated Pendennis to him, '50, and he received a tribute of praise from d.i.c.kens. Died at London, 29 July, 1868.

Eichthal (Gustave d'), French writer, b. of Jewish family, Nancy, 22 March, 1804. He became a follower of Saint Simon, was one of the founders of the Societe d'Ethnologie, and published Les Evangiles, a critical a.n.a.lysis of the gospels, 2 vols, Paris, '63. This he followed by The Three Great Mediterranean Nations and Christianity and Socrates and our Time, '84. He died at Paris, April, 1886, and his son published his Melanges de Critique Biblique (Miscellanies of Biblical Criticism), in which there is an able study on the name and character of "Jahveh."

Emerson (Ralph Waldo), American essayist, poet, and philosopher, b. Boston 25 May, 1803. He came of a line of ministers, and was brought up like his father, educated at Harvard College, and ordained as a Unitarian minister, 1829. Becoming too broad for the Church, he resigned in '32. In the next year he came to Europe, visiting Carlyle. On his return he settled at Concord, giving occasional lectures, most of which have been published. He wrote to the Dial, a transcendentalist paper. Tending to idealistic pantheism, but without systematic philosophy, all his writings are most suggestive, and he is always the champion of mental freedom, self-reliance, and the free pursuit of science. Died at Concord, 27 April, 1882. Matthew Arnold has p.r.o.nounced his essays "the most important work done in prose"

in this century.

Emerson (William), English mathematician, b. Hurworth, near Darlington, 14 May, 1701. He conducted a school and wrote numerous works on Mathematics. His vigorous, if eccentric, individuality attracted Carlyle, who said to Mrs. Gilchrist, "Emerson was a Freethinker who looked on his neighbor, the parson, as a humbug. He seems to have defended himself in silence the best way he could against the noisy clamor and unreal stuff going on around him." Died 21 May, 1782. He compiled a list of Bible contradictions.

Emmet (Robert), Irish revolutionist, b. in Dublin 1778, was educated as a barrister. Expelled from Dublin University for his sympathy with the National Cause in 1798; he went to the Continent, but returned in 1802 to plan an ill-starred insurrection, for which he was executed 20 Sept. 1803. Emmet made a thrilling speech before receiving sentence, and on the scaffold refused the services of a priest. It is well known that his desire to see once more his sweetheart, the daughter of Curran, was the cause of his capture and execution.

Engledue (William Collins), M.D., b. Portsea 1813. After taking his degree at Edinburgh, he became a.s.sistant to Dr. Lizars and was elected President of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. He returned to Portsmouth in 1835; originated the Royal Portsmouth Hospital and established public baths and washhouses. He contributed to the Zoist and published an exposition of materialism under the t.i.tle of Cerebral Physiology, 1842, republished by J. Watson, 1857. Died Jan. 1859.

English (George Bethune), American writer and linguist, b. Cambridge, Ma.s.s., 7 March, 1787. He studied law and divinity, and graduated at Harvard, 1807, but becoming sceptical published Grounds of Christianity Examined, 1813. The work excited some controversy, and has been reprinted at Toronto, 1839. He joined the Egyptian service and became General of Artillery. He had a variable genius and a gift of languages. At Ma.r.s.eilles he pa.s.sed for a Turk with a Turkish amba.s.sador; and at Washington he surprised a delegation of Cherokees by disputing with them in their own tongue. He wrote a reply to his critics, ent.i.tled Five Smooth Stones out of the Brook, and two letters to Channing on his sermons against infidelity. Died at Washington, 20 Sept. 1828.

Ense (Varnhagen von). See Varnhagen.

Ensor (George), an Irish writer, b. Loughgall, 1769. Educated at Trinity College; he became B.A. 1790. He travelled largely, and was a friend of liberty in every country. Besides other political works he published, The Independent Man, 1806; On National Government, 1810; A Review of the Miracles, Prophecies and Mysteries of the Old and New Testaments, first printed as Ja.n.u.s on Sion, 1816, and republished 1835; and Natural Theology Examined, 1836, the last being republished in The Library of Reason. Bentham described him as clever but impracticable. Died Ardress, Co. Armagh, 3 Dec. 1843.

Epicurus, Greek philosopher, b. Samos, B.C. 342. He repaired to Athens, B.C. 323. Influenced by the works of Demokritos, he occupied himself with philosophy. He purchased a garden in Athens, in which he established his school. Although much calumniated, he is now admitted to have been a man of blameless life. According to Cicero, he had no belief in the G.o.ds, but did not attack their existence, in order not to offend the prejudices of the Athenians. In physics he adopted the atomic theory, and denied immortality. He taught that pleasure is the sovereign good; but by pleasure he meant no transient sensation, but permanent tranquility of mind. He wrote largely, but his works are lost. His principles are expounded in the great poem of Lucretius, De Rerum Natura. Died B.C. 270, leaving many followers.

"Erdan (Alexandre)," the pen-name of Alexandre Andre Jacob, a French writer, b. Angles 1826. He was the natural son of a distinguished prelate. Educated at Saint Sulpice for the Church, he read Proudhon, and refused to take holy orders. He became a journalist and an advocate of phonography. His work, La France Mystique (1855), in which he gives an account of French religious eccentricities, was condemned for its scepticism which appears on every page. Sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine of three thousand francs, he took refuge in Italy. Died at Frascati, near Rome, 24 Sept. 1878.

Ernesti (Johann August), German critic, b. Tennstadt, 4 Aug. 1707. Studied at Wittenberg and Leipsic, where he was appointed professor of cla.s.sical literature. Renowned as a philologist, he insisted that the Bible must be interpreted like any other book. Died Leipsic, 11 Sept. 1781.

Escherny (Francois Louis d') Count, Swiss litterateur, b. Neufchatel, 24 Nov. 1733. He spent much of his life in travel. At Paris he became the a.s.sociate of Helvetius, Diderot, and particularly Rousseau, whom he much admired. He wrote Lacunes de la Philosophie (Amsterdam, 1783) and a work on Equality (1795), in which he displays his Freethought. Died at Paris, 15 July, 1815.

Espinas (Alfred), French philosopher, b. Saint-Florentin, 1844. Has translated, with Th. Ribot, H. Spencer's Principles of Psychology, and has written studies on Experimental Philosophy in Italy, and on Animal Societies (1877).

Esp.r.o.nceda (Jose), popular Spanish poet, b. Almendralejo (Estremadura) in 1810. After the War of Independence he went to Madrid and studied under Alberto Lista, the poet and mathematician. He became so obnoxious to the government by his radical principles that he was imprisoned about the age of fifteen, and banished a few years later. He pa.s.sed several years in London and Paris, and was brought under the influence of Byron and Hugo. He fought with the people in the Paris Revolution of July, 1830. On the death of the Spanish King in '33 he returned to Madrid, but was again banished for too free expression of his opinions. He returned and took part in the revolutionary contest of '35-36. He was elected to the Cortes in '41, and appointed secretary of emba.s.sy to The Hague. Died 23 May, 1842. Among his works are lyrical poems, which often remind us of Heine; an unfinished epic, El Pelayo; and El Diablo-Mundo (the Devil-World), a fine poem, due to the inspiration of Faust and Don Juan. Esp.r.o.nceda was a thorough sceptic. In his Song of the Pirate he asks, "Who is my G.o.d?--Liberty"; and in his concluding lines to a star he says:

I unheedingly follow my path, At the mercy of winds and of waves.

Wrapt thus within the arms of Fate, What care I if lost or saved.

Estienne (Henri), the ablest of a family of learned French printers, known in England as Stephens; b. Paris, 1528. At the age of eighteen he a.s.sisted his father in collating the MSS. of Dionysius of Halicarna.s.sus. In 1557 he established a printing office of his own, and issued many Greek authors; and in 1572 the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. His Apologie pour Herodote (Englished as a World of Wonders) is designed as a satire on Christian legends, and directed against priests and priestcraft. He was driven from place to place. Sir Philip Sidney highly esteemed him, and "kindly entertained him in his travaile." Died 1598. Gara.s.se cla.s.ses him with Atheists.

Esteve (Pierre), French writer, b. Montpelier at the beginning of the eighteenth century. He wrote a History of Astronomy and an anonymous work on the Origin of the Universe explained from a Principle of Matter; Berlin, 1748.

Ettel (Konrad), Austrian Freethinker, b. 17 Jan. 1847, at Neuhof, Sternberg. Studied at the Gymnasium Kremsier, and at the wish of his parents at the Theological Seminary Olmutz, which he left to study philosophy at Vienna. He has written many poems and dramas. His Grundzuge der Naturlichen Weltanschauung (Sketch of a Natural View of the World), a Freethinker's catechism, 1886, has reached a fourth edition.

Evans (George Henry), b. at Bromyard, Herefordshire, 25 March, 1803. While a child, his parents emigrated to New York. He set up as a printer, and published the Correspondent, the first American Freethought paper. He also published the Working Man's Advocate, Man, Young America, and the Radical. He labored for the transportation of mails on Sundays, the limitation of the right to hold lands, the abolition of slavery, and other reforms. His brother became one of the chief elders of the Shakers. Died in Granville, New Jersey, 2 Feb. 1855.

Evans (William), b. Swansea, 1816, became a follower of Robert Owen. He established The Potter's Examiner and Workman's Advocate, '43, and wrote in the Co-operative journals under the anagram of "Millway Vanes." Died 14 March, 1887.

Evanson (Edward), theological critic, b. Warrington, Lancashire, 21 April, 1731. He graduated at Cambridge, became vicar of South Mimms, and afterwards rector of Tewkesbury. Entertaining doubts on the Trinity, he submitted them to the Archbishop of Canterbury without obtaining satisfaction. He made some changes in reading the Litany, and for expressing heretical opinions in a sermon in 1771, he was prosecuted, but escaped in consequence of some irregularity in the proceedings. In 1772 he published an anonymous tract on the Trinity. In 1797 he addressed a letter to the Bishop of Lichfield on the Prophecies of the New Testament, in which he tried to show that either Christianity was false or the orthodox churches. In the following year he resigned both his livings and took pupils. In 1792 he published his princ.i.p.al work, The Dissonance of the Four Generally-Received Evangelists, in which he rejected all the gospels, except Luke, as unauthentic. This work involved him in a controversy with Dr. Priestley, and brought a considerable share of obloquy and persecution from the orthodox. Died 25 Sept. 1805.

Eve'merus or Euhemerus, a Sicilian author of the time of Alexander the Great, who sought to rationalise religion, and treated the G.o.ds as dead heroes. He is usually represented as an Atheist.

Eudes (Emile Francois Desire), French Communist, b. Roncey, 1844. He became a chemist, and was condemned, with Regnard, to three months'

imprisonment for writing in La Libre Pensee, '67, of which he was director. He joined the ranks of the Commune and became a general. When the Versailles troops entered Paris he escaped to Switzerland. On his return after the Amnesty, he wrote with Blanqui. Died at a public meeting in Paris, 5 Aug. 1888.

Ewerbeck (August Hermann), Dr., b. Dantzic. After the events of 1848, he lived at Paris. He translated into German Cabet's Voyage en Icarie, and in an important work ent.i.tled Qu'est ce que La Religion? (What is Religion), '50, translated into French Feuerbach's "Essence of Religion," "Essence of Christianity," and "Death and Immortality." In a succeeding volume What is the Bible? he translated from Daumer, Ghillany, Luetzelberger and B. Bauer. Ewerbeck also wrote in French an historical work on Germany and the Germans; Paris, 1851.

Fabre D'Eglantine (Philippe Francois Nazaire), French revolutionist and playwriter, b. Carca.s.sonne, 28 Dec. 1755. After some success as a poet and playwright he was chosen as deputy to the National Convention. He voted for the death of Louis XVI., and proposed the subst.i.tution of the republican for the Christian calendar, Sept. 1793. He was executed with his friend Danton, 5 April, 1794.

Fabricatore (Bruto), Italian writer, b. Sarno, Naples, 1824. His father Antonio had the honor of having a political work placed on the Index, 1821. He took part in the anti-papal Freethought Council of 1869, and has written works on Dante, etc.

Farinata. See Uberti (Farinata degli).

Fauche (Hippolyte), French Orientalist, b. Auxerre, 22 May, 1797. Translations of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the plays of Kalidasa, attest his industry and erudition. He contributed to La Liberte de Penser. Died at Juilly, 28 Feb. 1869.

Fausto (Sebastiano), Da Longiano, Italian of the beginning of the 16th century, who is said to have projected a work The Temple of Truth, with the intention of overturning all religions. He translated the Meditations of Antoninus, also wrote observations on Cicero, 1566.

Feer (Henri Leon), French Orientalist, b. Rouen, 27 Nov. 1830, is chiefly known by his Buddhistic Studies, 1871-75.

Fellens (Jean Baptiste), Professor of History, b. Bar-sur-Aube, 1794. Author of a work on Pantheism, Paris, 1873.

Fellowes (Robert), LL.D., b. Norfolk 1771, educated at Oxford. He took orders in 1795, and wrote many books, but gradually quitted the doctrines of the Church and adopted the Deistic opinions maintained in his work ent.i.tled The Religion of the Universe (1836). Dr. Fellowes was proprietor of the Examiner and a great supporter of the London University. Died 5 Feb. 1847.

Fenzi (Sebastiano), Italian writer, b. Florence, 22 Oct. 1822. Educated by the Jesuits in Vienna, England and Paris. Founded in '49 the Revista Britannica, writer on the journal L'Italiano, and has written a credo which is a non-credo.

Feringa (Frederik), Dutch writer, b. Groningen, 16 April, 1840. Studied mathematics. A contributor to De Dageraad (The Daybreak) over the signature, "Muricatus"; he has written important studies, ent.i.tled Democratie en Wetenschap (Democracy and Science), 1871, also wrote in De Vrije Gedachte (Freethought).

Fernau (Rudolf), Dr., German author of Christianity and Practical Life, Leipsic, 1868; The Alpha and Omega of Reason, Leipsic, 1870; Zoologica Humoristica, 1882; and a recent work on Religion as Ghost and G.o.d Worship.

Feron (Emile), Belgian advocate, b. Brussels, 11 July, 1841. Councillor of the International Freethought Federation.

Ferrari (Giuseppe), Italian philosopher, b. Milan 7 March, 1811. A disciple of Romagnosi, a study of whose philosophical writings he published '35. He also published the works of Vico, and in '39 a work ent.i.tled Vico and Italy, and in the following year another on the Religious Opinions of Campanella. Attacked by the Catholic party, he was exiled, living in Paris, where he became a collaborator with Proudhon and a contributor to the Revue de Deux Mondes. In '42 he was made Professor of Philosophy at Strasbourg, but appointment was soon cancelled on account of his opinions. He wrote a History of the Revolution of Italy, '55, and a work on China and Europe. His history of the Reason of the State, '60, is his most p.r.o.nounced work. In '59, he was elected to the Italian Parliament, where he remained one of the most radical members until his death at Rome 1 July, 1876.

Ferri (Enrico), Member of the Italian Parliament, formerly professor of criminal law at the University of Siena, studied at Mantua under Professor Ardigo. Has written a large work on the Non-Existence of Free Will, and is with Professor Lombroso, leader of the new Italian school of criminal law reform.