John Stuart Mill in his "Autobiography" declares with truth that
"the world would be astonished if it knew how great a proportion
of its brightest ornaments, of those most distinguished even in
popular estimation for wisdom and virtue are complete sceptics in
religion." Many of these, as Mill points out, refrain from various
motives from speaking out. The work I have undertaken will, I trust,
do something to show how many of the world's worthiest men and women
have been Freethinkers.
My Dictionary does not pretend to be a complete list of those who
have rendered services to Freethought. To form such a compilation
would rather be the task of an international society than of an
individual. Moreover details concerning many worthy workers are now
inaccessible. Freethought boasts its noble army of martyrs of whom
the world was not worthy, and who paid the penalty of their freedom
in prison or at the stake. Some of the names of these are only known
by the vituperation of their adversaries. I have done my best to
preserve some trustworthy record of as many as possible.
The only complete work with a similar design of which I have any
knowledge, is the Dictionnaire des Athées anciens et modernes,
by Sylvain Maréchal with its supplements by Jerome de Lalande the
Astronomer, An. VIII. (1800)-1805. That work, which is now extremely
rare, gave scarcely any biographical details, and unfortunately
followed previous orthodox atheographers, such as Buddeus, Reimmann,
Hardouin, Garasse, Mersenne, in classing as Atheists those to whom
the title was inapplicable. I have taken no names from these sources
without examining the evidence.
A work was issued by Richard Carlile in 1826, entitled A Dictionary of
Modern Anti-Superstionists; or, "an account, arranged alphabetically,
of those who, whether called Atheists, Sceptics, Latitudinarians,
Religious Reformers, or etc., have during the last ten centuries
contributed towards the diminution of superstition. Compiled by
a searcher after Truth." The compiler, as I have reason to know,
was Julian Hibbert, who brought to his task adequate scholarship
and leisure. It was, however, conceived on too extensive a scale,
and in 128 pages, all that was issued, it only reached to the name of
Annet. Julian Hibbert also compiled chronological tables of English
Freethinkers, which were published in the Reasoner for 1855.
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.