Part 27
Rydberg (Abraham Viktor), Swedish man of Letters, b. Jönköping, 18 Dec. 1829. He has written many works of which we mention The Last Athenian Roman Days, and The Magic of the Middle Ages, which have been translated into English.
Rystwick (Herman van), early Dutch heretic who denied hell and taught that the soul was not immortal, but the elements of all matter eternal. He was sent to prison in 1499, and set at liberty upon abjuring his opinion, but having published them a second time, he was arrested at the Hague, and burnt to death in 1511.
Sabin (Ibn), Al Mursi, Spanish Arabian philosopher, b. Murcia about 1218 of noble family. About 1249 he corresponded with Frederick II., replying to his philosophical questions. Committed suicide about 1271.
Sadoc, a learned Jewish doctor in the third century B.C. He denied the resurrection, the existence of angels, and the doctrine of predestination, and opposed the idea of future rewards and punishments. His followers were named after him, Sadducees.
Saga (Francesco) de Rovigo, Italian heretic, put to death for Anti-Trinitarianism at Venice, 25 Feb. 1566.
Saigey (Emile), French inspector of telegraph wires. Wrote Modern Physics, 1867, and The Sciences in the Eighteenth Century: Physics of Voltaire, '74. Died 1875.
Saillard (F.), French author of The Revolution and the Church (Paris, '69), and The Organisation of the Republic, '83.
Sainte Beuve (Charles Augustin), French critic and man of letters b. Boulogne, 23 Dec. 1804. Educated in Paris, he studied medicine, which he practised several years. A favorable review of V. Hugo's Odes and Ballades gained him the intimacy of the Romantic school. As a critic he made his mark in '28 with his Historical and Critical Picture of French Poetry in the Sixteenth Century. His other principal works are his History of Port Royal, '40-62; Literary Portraits, '32-39; and Causeries du Lundi, '51-57. In '45 he was elected to the Academy, and in '65 was made a senator. As a critic he was penetrative, comprehensive, and impartial.
Saint Evremond (Charles de Marguetel de Saint Denis) seigneur de, French man of letters, b. St. Denys-le-Guast (Normandy), 1 April, 1713. He studied law, but subsequently entered the army and became major-general. He was confined in the Bastile for satirising Cardinal Mazarin. In England he was well received at the court of Charles II. He died in London, 20 Sept. 1703, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Asked on his death-bed if he wished to reconcile himself to God, he replied, he desired to reconcile himself to appetite. His works, consisting of essays, letters, poems, and dramas, were published in 3 vols. 1705.
Saint-Glain (Dominique de), French Spinozist, b. Limoges, about 1620. He went into Holland that he might profess the Protestant religion more freely; was captain in the service of the States, and assisted on the Rotterdam Gazette. Reading Spinoza, he espoused his system, and translated the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus into French, under the title of La Clef du Sanctuaire, 1678. This making much noise, and being in danger of prosecution, he changed the title to Ceremonies Superstitieuses des Juifs, and also to Reflexions Curieuses d'un Esprit Desintéressé, 1678.
Saint-Hyacinthe (Themiseul de Cordonnier de), French writer, b. Orleans, 24 Sept. 1684. Author of Philosophical Researches, published at Rotterdam, 1743. Died near Breda (Holland), 1746. Voltaire published his Diner Du Comte de Boulainvilliers under the name of St. Hyacinthe.
Saint John (Henry). See Bolingbroke, Lord.
Saint Lambert (Charles, or rather Jean François de), French writer, b. Nancy, 16 Dec. 1717. After being educated among the Jesuits he entered the army, and was admired for his wit and gallantry. He became a devoted adherent of Voltaire and an admirer of Madame du Chatelet. He wrote some articles in the Encyclopédie, and many fugitive pieces and poems in the literary journals. His poem, the Seasons, 1769 procured him admission to the Academy. He published essays on Helvetius and Bolingbroke, and Le Catéchisme Universel. His Philosophical Works were published in 1801. Died Paris, 9 Feb. 1803.
Sale (George), English Oriental scholar, b. Kent, 1680, educated at Canterbury. He was one of a society which undertook to publish a Universal History, and was also one of the compilers of the General Dictionary. His most important work was a translation of the Koran, with a preliminary discourse and explanatory notes, 1734. He was one of the founders of the Society for the Encouragement of Learning. Died 14 Nov. 1736.
Salieres (A.), contributor to l'Athée, 1870. Has written a work on Patriotism, 1881.
Sallet (Friedrich von), German pantheist poet of French descent, b. Neisse (Silesia), 20 April, 1812. An officer in the army, he was imprisoned for writing a satire on the life of a trooper. In '34 he attended Hegel's lectures at Berlin, and in '38 quitted the army. He wrote a curious long poem entitled the Layman's Gospel, in which he takes New Testament texts and expounds them pantheistically--the God who is made flesh is replaced by the man who becomes God. Died Reichau (Silesia), 21 Feb. 1843.
Salmeron y Alonso (Nicolas), Spanish statesman, b. Alhama lo Seco, 1838. Studied law, and became a Democratic journalist; a deputy to the Cortes in 1871, and became President thereof during the Republic of '73. He wrote a prologue to the work of Giner on Philosophy and Arts, '78, and his own works were issued in 1881.
Salt (Henry Stephens), English writer, b. India, 20 Sept. 1851; educated at Eton, where he became assistant master. A contributor to Progress, he has written Literary Sketches, '88. A monograph on Shelley, and a Life of James Thomson, "B.V.", 1889.
Saltus (Edgar Evertson), American author, b. New York 8 June 1858. Studied at Concord, Paris, Heidelberg and Munich. In '84 he published a sketch of Balzac. Next year appeared The Philosophy of Disenchantment, appreciative and well written views of Schopenhauer and Hartmann. This was followed by The Anatomy of Negation, a sketchy account of some atheists and sceptics from Kapila to Leconte de Lisle, '86. Has also written several novels, and Eden, an episode, '89. His brother Francis is the author of Honey and Gall, a book of poems (Philadelphia, '73.)
Salverte (Anne Joseph Eusèbe Baconniere de), French philosopher, b. Paris, 18 July, 1771. He studied among the Oratorians. Wrote Epistle to a Reasonable Woman, an Essay on What should be Believed, 1793, contributed to Maréchal's Dictionnaire des Athées, published an eloge on Diderot, 1801, and many brochures, among others a tragedy on the Death of Jesus Christ. Elected deputy in '28, he was one of the warm
## partisans of liberty, and in '30, demanded that Catholicism should not
be recognised as the state religion. He is chiefly remembered by his work on The Occult Sciences, '29, which was translated into English, '46. To the French edition of '56 Littré wrote a Preface. He died 27 Oct. 1839. On his death bed he refused religious offices.
Sand (George), the pen name of Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin, afterwards baroness Dudnevant, French novelist, b. Paris, 1 July, 1804, and brought up by her grandmother at the Château de Nohant. Reading Rousseau and the philosophers divorced her from Catholicism. She remained a Humanitarian. Married Sept. 1822, Baron Dudnevant, an elderly man who both neglected and ill-treated her, and from whom after some years she was glad to separate at the sacrifice of her whole fortune. Her novels are too many to enumerate. The Revolution of '48 drew her into politics, and she started a journal and translated Mazzini's Republic and Royalty in Italy, Died at her Chateau of Nohant, 8 June, 1876. Her name was long obnoxious in England, where she was thought of as an assailant of marriage and religion, but a better appreciation of her work and genius is making way.
Sarcey (Franscique), French critic, b. Dourdan, 8 Oct. 1828, editor of Le XIXe. Siècle, has written plays, novels, and many anti-clerical articles.
"Sarrasi," pseudonym of A. de C....; French Orientalist b. Department of Tarn, 1837, author of L'Orient Devoilé, '80, in which he shows the mythical elements in Christianity.
Saull (William Devonshire), English geologist, b. 1783. He established a free geological museum, contributed to the erection of the John Street Institute, and was principally instrumental in opening the old Hall of Science, City Road. He wrote on the connection between astronomy, geology, etc. He died 26 April, 1855, and is buried in Kensal Green, near his friends, Allen Davenport and Henry Hetherington.
Saunderson (Nicholas), English mathematician b. Thurleston (Yorkshire), 2 Jan. 1682. He lost both his eyes and his sight by small pox when but a year old, yet he became conversant with Euclid, Archimedes, and Diophantus, when read to him in Greek. He lectured at Cambridge University, explaining Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, and even his works on light and color. It was said, "They have turned out Whiston for believing in but one God, and put in Saunderson, who believes in no God at all." Saunderson said that to believe in God he must first touch him. Died 19 April, 1739.
Sauvestre (Charles), French journalist, b. Mans. 1818, one of the editors of L'Opinion Nationale. Has written on The Clergy and Education ('61), Monita Secreta Societatis Jesu; Secret Instructions of the Jesuits ('65), On the Knees of the Church ('68), Religious Congregations Unveiled ('70), and other anti-clerical works. He died at Paris in 1883.
Saville (Sir George), Marquis of Halifax, English statesman, b. Yorkshire, 1630. He became President of the Council in the reign of James II., but was dismissed for opposing the repeal of the Test Acts. He wrote several pieces and memoirs. Burnet gives a curious account of his opinions, which he probably tones down.
Sawtelle (C. M.), American author of Reflections on the Science of Ignorance, or the art of teaching others what you don't know yourself, Salem, Oregon, 1868.
Sbarbaro (Pietro), Italian publicist and reformer, b. Savona, 1838; studied jurisprudence. He published a work on The Philosophy of Research, '66. In '70 he dedicated to Mauro Macchi a book on The Task of the Nineteenth Century, and presided at a congress of Freethinkers held at Loreto. Has written popular works on the Conditions of Human Progress, the Ideal of Democracy, and an essay entitled From Socino to Mazzini, '86.
Schade (Georg), German Deist, b. Apenrade, 1712. He believed in the immortality of brutes. In 1770 he was imprisoned for his opinions on the Isle of Christiansoe. He settled at Kiel, Holstein, in 1775, where he died in 1795.
Scherer (Edmond), French critic and publicist, b. Paris 8 April, 1815. Of Protestant family, he became professor of exegesis at Geneva, but his views becoming too free, he resigned his chair and went to Strasburg, where he became chief of the School of Liberal Protestants, and in the Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie Chrétienne, '50-60, put forward views which drew down a tempest from the orthodox. He also wrote in the Bibliotheque Universelle and Revue des Deux-Mondes. Some of his articles have been collected as Mélanges de Critique Religieuse, '60; and Mélanges d'Histoire Religieuse, '64. He was elected deputy in '71, and sat with the Republicans of the Left. Died 1889.
Scherr (Johannes), German author, b. Hohenrechberg, 3 Oct. 1817. Educated at Zürich and Tübingen, he wrote in '43 with his brother Thomas a Popular History of Religious and Philosophical Ideas, and in '57 a History of Religion, in three parts. In '60 he became Professor of History and Literature at Zürich, and has written many able literary studies, including histories of German and English literature. Died at Zürich, 21 Nov. 1887.
Schiff (Johan Moriz), German physiologist, b. Frankfort, 1823. Educated at Berlin and Gottingen, he became Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Berne, '54-63; of Physiology at Florence, '63-76, and at Genoa. Has written many physiological treatises, which have been attacked as materialistic.
Schiller (Johann Christoph Friedrich von), eminent German poet and historian, b. Marbech, 10 Nov. 1759. His mother wished him to become a minister, but his tastes led him in a different direction. A friend of Goethe, he enriched German literature with numerous plays and poems, a History of the Netherlands Revolt, and of the Thirty Years' War. He died in the prime of mental life at Weimar, 9 May, 1805.
Schmidt (Eduard Oskar), German zoologist, b. Torgau, 21 Feb. 1823. He travelled widely, and became professor of natural history at Jena. Among the first of Germans to accept Darwinism, he has illustrated its application in many directions, and published an able work on The Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism in the "International Scientific Series." Died at Strasburg, 17 Jan. 1886.
Schmidt (Kaspar), German philosopher, b. Bayreuth, 25 Oct. 1806. Studied at Berlin, Erlangen, and Königsberg, first theology, then philosophy. Under the pseudonym of "Max Stirner" he wrote a system of individualism The Only One, and His Possession (Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum), '45. He also wrote a History of Reaction in two parts (Berlin, '52), and translated Smith's Wealth of Nations and Say's Text-book of Political Economy. Died at Berlin, 25 June, 1856.
Schneeberger (F. J.), Austrian writer, b. Vienna, 7 Sept, 1827. Has written some popular novels under the name of "Arthur Storch," and was one of the founders of the German Freethinkers' Union.
Schoelcher ( Victor), French philosophist, b. Paris, 21 July 1804. While still young he joined the secret society Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera, and studied social questions. He devoted himself from about '26 to advocating the abolition of slavery, and wrote many works on the subject. On 3 March, '48, he was made Under Secretary of the Navy, and caused a decree to be issued by the Provisional Government enfranchising all slaves on French territory. He was elected Deputy for Martinique '48 and '49. After 2 Dec. '51, he came to London, where he wrote occasionally in the Reasoner and National Reformer. He returned to France during the war, and took part in the defence of Paris. In '71 he was again returned for Martinique, and in '75 he was elected a life senator.
Scholl (Aurélien), French journalist, b. Bordeaux, 14 July, 1833. He began life as a writer on the Corsaire, founded Satan, Le Nain Jaune, etc., and writes on l'Evénement. Has written several novels, and le Procès de Jésus Christ, '77.
Scholl (Karl), German writer and preacher to the Free religious bodies of Mannheim and Heidelberg, b. Karlsruhe, 17 Aug. 1820. He became a minister '44, but was suspended for his free opinions in '45. His first important work was on the Messiah Legend of the East (Hamburg, '52), and in '61 he published a volume on Free Speech, a collection of extracts from French, English, and American Freethinkers. In '70 he started a monthly journal of the Religion of Humanity, Es Werde Licht! which continued for many years. Has published many discourses, and written Truth from Ruins, '73, and on Judaism and the Religion of Humanity, '79.
Schopenhauer (Arthur), German pessimist philosopher, b. Danzig, 22 Feb. 1788. The son of a wealthy and well-educated merchant and a vivacious lady, he was educated in French and English, and studied at Göttingen science, history, and the religions and philosophies of the East. After two visits to Italy, and an unsuccessful attempt to obtain pupils at Berlin, he took up his abode at Frankfort. In 1815 he wrote his chief work, The World as Will and Idea, translated into English in '83. His philosophy is expressed in the title, will is the one reality, all else appearance. He also wrote The Two Ground Problems of Ethics, '61, On the Freedom of Will, and a collection of essays entitled Parega and Paralipomena ('51). Died at Frankfort, 21 Sept. 1860. Schopenhauer was a pronounced Atheist, and an enemy of every form of superstition. He said that religions are like glow-worms; they require darkness to shine in.
Schroeter (Eduard), German American writer, b. Hannover, 4 June, 1810, studied theology at Jena; entered the Free-religious communion in '45. In '50, he went to America, living since '53 in Sauk City, and frequently lecturing there. In '81, he attended the International Conference of Freethinkers at Brussels. He was a constant contributor to the Freidenker, of Milwaukee, until his death 2 April, 1888.
Schroot (A.), German author of Visions and Ideas (Berlin, 1865), Natural Law and Human Will; Creation and Man, and Science and Life (Hamburg, 1873).
Schuenemann Pott (Friedrich), German American, b. Hamburg, 3 April, 1826. He joined the "Freie Gemeinde," and was expelled from Prussia in '48. After the Revolution he returned to Berlin and took part in democratic agitation, for which he was tried for high treason, but acquitted. In '54 he removed to America, where he made lecturing tours over the States settling at San Francisco.
Schultze (Karl August Julius Fritz), German writer, b. Celle, 7 May, 1846, studied at Jena, Göttingen and Münich, has written an able study on Fetishism, Leipzig '71, a pamphlet on Religion in German Schools, '72, a History of the Philosophy of the Renaissance, '74, and Kant and Darwin, '75. In '76, he was appointed Professor of Philosophy in Jena, since which he has written The Elements of Materialism, '80, Philosophy of the Natural Sciences, 2 vols. '81-82, and Elements of Spiritualism, 1883.
Schumann (Robert Alexander), German musical composer, b. Nekau, 8 July, 1810. He studied law at Leipsic, but forsook it for music. He started a musical journal '34, which he edited for some years. His lyrical compositions are unsurpassed, and he also composed a "profane" oratorio, Paradise and the Peri ('40). His character and opinions are illustrated by his Letters. Died 29 July, 1856.
Schweichel (Georg Julius Robert), German writer, b. Königsberg, 12 July, 1821. He studied jurisprudence, but took to literature. Taking
## part in the events of '48, after the reaction he went to
Switzerland. Has written several novels dealing with Swiss life, also a Life of Auerbach. He wrote the preface to Dulk's Irrgang des Leben's Jesu, 1884.
Schweitzer (Jean Baptista von), German Socialist poet, b. Frankfort, 12 July, 1833. He studied law in Berlin and Heidelberg; became after Lassalle's death president of the German Workmen's Union, and was sent to Parliament in '67. He wrote the Zeitgeist and Christianity, '62, The Darwinians, '75, and several other works. Died 28 July, 1875.
Scot (Reginald), English rationalist, author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, the first English work to question the existence of witches. It was burnt by order of King James I, and was republished in 1886. Scot died in 1599.
Scott (Thomas), English scholar, b. 28 April 1808. In early life he travelled widely, lived with Indians and had been page to Chas. X, of France. Having investigated Christianity, he in later life devoted himself to Freethought propaganda by sending scholarly pamphlets among the clergy and cultured classes. From '62-77, he issued from Mount Pleasant, Ramsgate, over a hundred different pamphlets by Bp. Hinds, F. W. Newman, Kalisch, Lestrange, Willis, Strange, etc., most of which were given away. He issued a challenge to the Christian Evidence Society, and wrote with Sir G. W. Cox, The English Life of Jesus '71. Altogether his publications extend to twenty volumes. Little known outside his own circle, Thomas Scott did a work which should secure him lasting honor. Died at Norwood, 30 Dec. 1878.
Seaver (Horace Holley), American journalist, b. Boston, 25 Aug. 1810. In '37 he became a compositor on the Boston Investigator, and during Kneeland's imprisonment took the editorship, which he continued for upwards of fifty years during which he battled strenuously for Freethought in America. His articles were always very plain and to the point. A selection of them has been published with the title Occasional Thoughts (Boston, '88). With Mr. Mendum, he helped the erection of the Paine Memorial Hall, and won the esteem of all Freethinkers in America. Died, 21 Aug. 1889. His funeral oration was delivered by Colonel Ingersoll.
Sebille (Adolphe), French writer, who, under the pseudonym of "Dr. Fabricus," published God, Man, and his latter end, a medico-psychological study, 1868, and Letters from a Materialist to Mgr. Dupanloup, 1868-9.
Sechenov or Setchenoff (Ivan), Russian philosopher, who, in 1863, published Psychological Studies, explaining the mind by physiology. The work made a great impression in Russia, and has been translated into French by Victor Derély, and published in '84 with an introduction by M. G. Wyrouboff.
Secondat (Charles de). See Montesquieu.
Seeley (John Robert), English historian and man of letters, b. London, 1834, educated at City of London School and Cambridge, where he graduated in '57. In '63, he was appointed Professor of Latin in London University. In '66, appeared his Ecce Homo, a survey of the Life and Work of Jesus Christ, published anonymously, and which Lord Shaftesbury denounced in unmeasured terms as vomitted from the pit of hell. In '69, he became professor of modern history at Cambridge, and has since written some important historical works as well as Natural Religion ('82). Prof. Seeley is president of the Ethical Society.
Segond (Louis August), French physician and Positivist, author of a plan of a positivist school to regenerate medicine, 1849, and of several medical works.
Seidel (Martin), Silesian Deist, of Olhau, lived at the end of the sixteenth century. He held that Jesus was not the predicted Messiah, and endeavored to propagate his opinion among the Polish Socinians. He wrote three Letters on the Messiah, The Foundations of the Christian Religion, in which he considered the quotation from the Old Testament in the new, and pointed out the errors of the latter.
Sellon (Edward), English archæologist, author of The Monolithic Temples of India; Annotations on the Sacred Writings of the Hindus, 1865, and other scarce works, privately printed.
Semerie (Eugène), French Positivist, b. Aix, 6 Jan. 1832. Becoming physician at Charenton, he studied mental maladies, and in '67 published a work on Intellectual Symptoms of Madness, in which he maintained that the disordered mind went back from Positivism to metaphysics, theology, and then to fetishism. This work was denounced by the Bishop of Orleans. Dr. Semerie wrote A Simple Reply to M. Dupanloup, '68. During the sieges of Paris he acted as surgeon and director of the ambulance. A friend of Pierre Lafitte, he edited the Politique Positive, and wrote Positivists and Catholics, '73, and The Law of the Three States, '75. Died at Grasse, May, 1884.
Semler (Johann Salomo), German critic, b. Saalfeld, 18 Dec. 1725. He was professor of theology at Halle and founder of historical Biblical criticism there. He translated Simon's Critical History of the New Testament, and by asserting the right of free discussion drew down the wrath of the orthodox. Died at Halle, 4 March, 1791.
Serafini (Maria Alimonda), Italian authoress of a Catechism for Female Freethinkers (Geneva, 1869), and a work on Marriage and Divorce (Salerno, '73).
Serveto y Reves (Miguel), better known as Michael Servetus, Spanish martyr, b. Villanova (Aragon), 1509. Intended for the Church, he left it for law, which he studied at Toulouse. He afterward studied medicine at Paris, and corresponded with Calvin on the subject of the Trinity, against which he wrote De Trinitatis Erroribus and Christianismi Restitutio, which excited the hatred of both Catholics and Protestants. To Calvin Servetus sent a copy of his last work. Calvin, through one Trie, denounced him to the Catholic authorities at Lyons. He was imprisoned, but escaped, and to get to Naples passed through Geneva, where he was seized at the instance of Calvin, tried for blasphemy and heresy, and burnt alive at a slow fire, 26 Oct. 1553.
Seume (Johann Gottfried), German poet, b. near Weissenfels, 29 Jan. 1763. He was sent to Leipsic, and intended for a theologian, but the dogmas disgusted him, and he left for Paris. He lived an adventurous life, travelled extensively, and wrote Promenade to Syracuse, 1802, and other works. Died at Teplitz, 13 June, 1810.