Of the Anti-Trinitarian Biography of the Rev. Robert Wallace, or of the previous compilations of Saudius and Bock, I have made but little use. To include the names of all who reject some of the Christian dogmas was quite beside my purpose, though I have included those of early Unitarians and Universalists who, I conceive, exhibited the true spirit of free inquiry in the face of persecution. To the Freydenker Lexikon of J. A. Trinius (1759) my obligations are slight, but should be acknowledged. To Bayle’s Dictionary, Hoefer’s Nouvelle Biographie Generale, Meyer’s Konversations Lexikon, Franck’s Dictionnaire des Sciences Philosophiques, and to Larousse’s Grand Dictionnaire Universel I must also express my indebtedness. In the case of disputed dates I have usually found Haydn’s Dictionary of Biography (1886) most trustworthy, but I have also consulted Oettinger’s valuable Moniteur des Dates.
The particulars have in all cases been drawn from the best available sources. I have not attempted to give a full view of any of the lives dealt with, but merely sought to give some idea of their services and relation to Freethought. Nor have I enumerated the whole of the works of authors who have often dealt with a variety of subjects. As full a list as is feasible has, however, been given of their distinctive Freethought works; and the book will, I hope, be useful to anyone wishing information as to the bibliography of Freethought. The only work of a bibliographical kind is the Guide du Libre Penseur, by M. Alfred Verlière, but his list is very far from complete even of the French authors, with whom it is almost entirely occupied. I should also mention La Lorgnette Philosophique, by M. Paquet, as giving lively sketches, though not biographies, of some modern French Freethinkers.
In the compilation of my list of names I have received assistance from my friends, Mr. G. W. Foote (to whom I am also indebted for the opportunity of publication), Mr. W. J. Birch, Mr. E. Truelove and Mr. F. Malibran. For particulars in regard to some English Freethinkers I am indebted to Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, Mr. George Jacob Holyoake and Mr. E. T. Craig, while Professor Dalla Volta, of Florence, has kindly assisted me with some of the Italian names. I must also express my indebtedness to A. de Gubernatis, whose Dizionario Biografico degli Scrittori Contemporanei I have found of considerable service. My thanks are also due to G. K. Fortescue, Esq., for permission to examine the titles of all Freethought works in the British Museum.
Some readers may think my list contains names better omitted, while omitting others well deserving a place. I have, for instance, omitted many foreign Liberal Protestants while including Bishop Colenso, who, ostensibly, did not go so far. But my justification, if any, must be found in my purpose, which is to record the names of those who have contributed in their generation to the advance of Freethought. No one can be more conscious of the imperfections of my work than myself, but I console myself with the reflection of Plato, that “though it be the merit of a good huntsman to find game in a wide wood, it is no discredit if he do not find it all”; and the hope that what I have attempted some other will complete.
The most onerous part of my task has been the examination of the claims of some thousand names, mostly foreign, which find no place in this dictionary. But the work throughout has been a labor of love. I designed it as my humble contribution to the cause of Freethought, and leave it with the hope that it will contribute towards the history of “the good old cause”; a history which has yet to be written, and for which, perhaps, the time is not yet ripe.
Should this volume be received with an encouraging share of favor, I hope to follow it with a History of Freethought in England, for which I have long been collecting materials.
A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers.
Abælardus (Petrus), b. 1079. A teacher of philosophy at Paris, renowned for being loved by the celebrated Eloise. He was accused of teaching erroneous opinions, chiefly about the Creation and the Trinity, and was condemned by a council at Soissons in 1121 and by that of Sens 1140, at the instigation of St. Bernard. He was hunted about, but spent his last days as a monk at Cluni. He died 21 April, 1142. “Abelard,” observes Hallam, “was almost the first who awakened mankind, in the age of darkness, to a sympathy with intellectual excellence.”
Abano (Petrus de). See [Petrus, de Abano].
Abauzit (Firmin), a French writer, descended from an Arabian family which settled in the South of France early in the ninth century, b. Uzes, 11 Nov. 1679. He travelled in Holland and became acquainted with Bayle, attained a reputation for philosophy, and was consulted by Voltaire and Rousseau. Among his works are, Reflections on the Gospels, and an essay on the Apocalypse, in which he questions the authority of that work. Died at Geneva 20 March, 1767. His Miscellanies were translated in English by E. Harwood, 1774.