Meyer (Lodewijk), a Dutch physician, a friend and follower of Spinoza, who published Exercitatio Paradoxa on the philosophical interpretation of scripture, Eleutheropoli (Amst.), 1666. This has been wrongly attributed to Spinoza. It was translated into Dutch in 1667. He is also credited with Lucii Antistic Constantes, de jure ecclesiasticorum. Alethopoli (Amst.), 1665. This work is also attributed to another writer, viz. P. de la Court.
Mialhe (Hippolyte), French writer, b. Roquecourbe (Tarn), 1834. From ’60–62 he was with the French army of occupation at Rome. He has organised federations of Freethinkers in France, edited L’Union des Libres-Penseurs, and has written Mémoires d’un libre Penseur (Nevers, 1888).
Michelet (Jules), French historian, b. Paris, 21 Aug. 1798. Became a Professor of History in 1821. Has written a History of France and of the French Revolution; The Jesuits, with his friend Quinet, ’43; The Priest, Woman and the Family, ’44; The Sorceress, dealing with witchcraft in the Middle Ages, ’62; The Bible of Humanity, ’64. His lectures were interdicted by the Government of Louis Phillippe, and after the coup d’état he was deprived of his chair. All Michelet’s works glow with eloquence and imagination. He never forgot that he was a republican and Freethinker of the nineteenth century. Died at Hyères, 9 Feb. 1874.
Michelet (Karl Ludwig), German philosopher of French family, b. Berlin, 4 Dec. 1801. In ’29 he became Professor of Philosophy. A disciple of Hegel, he edited his master’s works, ’32. His principle work is A System of Philosophy as an Exact Science, ’76–81. He has also written on the relation of Herbert Spencer to German philosophy.
Middleton (Conyers), Freethinking clergyman, b. York 1683. His Letters from Rome, 1729, showed how much Roman Christianity had borrowed from Paganism, and his Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers supposed to have subsisted in the Christian Church, 1749, was a severe blow to hitherto received “Christian Evidences.” He also wrote a classic Life of Cicero. Died at Hildersham near Cambridge, 28 July, 1750.
Mignardi (G.), Italian writer, who in 1884 published Memorie di un Nuovo Credente (Memoirs of a New Believer).
Milelli (Domenico), Italian poet, b. Catanzaro, Feb. 1841. His family intended to make him a priest, but he turned out a rank Pagan, as may be seen in his Odi Pagane, ’79, Canzonieri, ’84, and other works.
Mill (James), philosopher and historian, b. Northwaterbridge, Montrose, 6 April, 1773. Studied at Edinburgh, and distinguished himself by his attainments in Greek and moral philosophy. He was licensed as preacher in the Scotch Church, but removed to London in 1800, and became editor of the Literary Review, and contributed to the reviews. He published, ’17–’19, his History of British India. He contributed many articles to the fifth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. A friend of Bentham, he wrote largely in the Westminster Review, and did much to forward the views of Philosophic Radicalism. His Analysis of the Human Mind, ’39, is a profound work. In religion he was a complete sceptic. Reading Bishop Butler’s Analogy made him an Atheist. Died 23 June, 1836.
Mill (John Stuart), eminent English writer, son of the preceding, b. London, 20 May, 1806. Educated by his father without religion, he became clerk in the East India House, and early in life contributed to the Westminster and Edinburgh Reviews. Of the first he became joint editor in ’35. His System of Logic, ’43, first made him generally known. This was followed by his Principles of Political Economy. In ’59 appeared his small but valuable treatise On Liberty, in which he defends the unrestricted free discussion of religion. Among subsequent works were Utilitarianism, ’63; Auguste Comte and Positivism, ’67; Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy ’65; Dissertations and Discussions, ’59–’75; and the Subjection of Women, ’69. In ’65 he was elected to Parliament for Westminster, but lost his seat in ’68. In ’67 he was chosen Rector of St. Andrews, and delivered the students an able address. Prof. Bain says “in everything characteristic of the creed of Christendom he was a thorough-going negationist. He admitted neither its truth nor its utility.” Died at Avignon, 8 May, 1873, leaving behind his interesting Autobiography and three essays on “Nature,” “Theism,” and “Religion.”
Mille (Constantin), Roumanian writer, b. at Bucharest, educated at Paris. He lectured at Jassy and Bucharest on the History of Philosophy, from a Materialistic point of view. He was also active with Codreano, and after the latter’s death (’77), in spreading Socialism. Millé contributes to the Rivista Sociala and the Vütorul, edited by C. Pilitis.