A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations Part 32

Vergniaud (Pierre Victurnien), French Girondist orator, b. Limoges, 31 May, 1759. He studied law, and became an advocate. Elected to the Legislative a.s.sembly in 1791, he also became President of the Convention. At the trial of the King he voted for the appeal to the people, but that being rejected, voted death. With Gensonne and Guadet, he opposed the sanguinary measures of Robespierre, and, being beaten in the struggle, was executed with the Girondins, 31 Oct. 1793. Vergniaud was a brilliant speaker. He said: "Reason thinks, Religion dreams." He had prepared poison for himself, but as there was not enough for his comrades, he resolved to suffer with them.

Verlet (Henri), French founder and editor of a journal, La Libre Pensee, 1871, and author of a pamphlet on Atheism and the Supreme Being.

Verliere (Alfred), French author of a Guide du Libre-Penseur (Paris, 1869); collaborated La Libre Pensee, Rationaliste, etc. To Bishop Dupanloup's Atheisme et Peril Social he replied with Deisme et Peril Social, for which he was condemned to several months' imprisonment.

Vermersch (Eugene), French journalist, b. Lille about 1840. Took part in the Commune, and has written on many Radical papers.

Vernes (Maurice), French critic, b. Mauroy, 1845. Has published Melanges de Critique Religieuse, and translated from Kuenen and Tiele.

Veron (Eugene), French writer and publicist, b. Paris, 29 May, 1825. He wrote on many journals, founded La France Republicaine at Lyons, and l'Art at Paris. Besides historical works he has written L'Esthetique in the "Library of Contemporary Science," '78; The Natural History of Religions, 2 vols., in the Bibliotheque Materialiste, '84; and La Morale, '84.

Viardot (Louis), French writer, b. Dijon, 31 July, 1800. He came to Paris and became an advocate, but after a voyage in Spain, left the bar for literature, writing on the Globe National and Siecle. In '41 he founded the Revue Independante with "George Sand," and Pierre Leroux. He made translations from the Russian, and in addition to many works on art he wrote The Jesuits, '57; Apology of an Unbeliever, translated into English, '69, and republished as Libre Examen, '71. Died 1883.

Vico (Giovanni Battista), Italian philosopher, b. Naples 1668. He became Professor of Rhetoric in the University of that city, and published a New Science of the Common Nature of Nations, 1725, in which he argues that the events of history are determined by immutable laws. It presents many original thoughts. Died Naples, 21 Jan. 1743.

Virchow (Rudolf), German anthropologist, b. Schivelbein Pomerania, 13 Oct. 1821. Studied medicine at Berlin and became lecturer, member of the National a.s.sembly of '48, and Professor of Pathological Anatomy at Berlin. His Cellular Pathology, '58, established his reputation. He was chosen deputy and rose to the leaders.h.i.+p of the Liberal opposition. His scientific views are advanced although he opposed the Haeckel in regard to absolute teaching of evolution.

Vischer (Friedrich Theodor), German art critic, b. Ludwigsburg, 30 June, 1807. Was educated for the Church, became a minister, but renounced theology and became professor of and is Jahrbucher der Gegenwart, '44, was accused of blasphemy and for his Freethinking opinions he was suspended two years. At the revolution of '48 he was elected to the National a.s.sembly. In '55 he became Professor at Zurich. His work on aesthetic, or the Science of the Beautiful, '46-54, is considered cla.s.sic. He has also written, Old and New, '81, and several anonymous works. Died Gmunden, 14 Sept. 1887.

Vitry (Guarin de) French author of a Rapid Examination of Christian Dogma, addressed to the Council of 1869.

Vloten (Johannes van), Dutch writer, b. Kampen, 18 Jan. 1818; studied theology at Leiden and graduated D.D. in '43. He has, however, devoted himself to literature, and produced many works, translating plays of Shakespeare, editing Spinoza, and writing his life--translated into English by A. Menzies. He edited also De Levensbode, 1865, etc.

Voelkel (t.i.tus), Dr., German lecturer and writer, b. Wirsitz (Prussian Poland) 14 Dec. 1841. Studied ('59-65) theology, natural philosophy, and mathematics, and spent some years in France. He returned '70, and was for ten years employed as teacher at higher schools. Since '80 has been "sprecher" of Freethought a.s.sociations and since '85 editor of the Neues Freireligioses Sonntags-Blatt, at Magdeburg. In '88 he was several times prosecuted for blasphemy and each time acquitted. He represented several German societies at the Paris Congress of Freethinkers, '89.

Voglet (Prosper), Belgian singer, b. Brussels, 1825. He was blinded through his baptism by a Catholic priest, and has in consequence to earn his living as a street singer. His songs, of his own composition, are anti-religious. Many have appeared in La Tribune du Peuple, which he edited.

Vogt (Karl), German scientist, b. Giessen, 5 July, 1817, the son of a distinguished naturalist. He studied medicine and became acquainted with Aga.s.siz. In '48 he was elected deputy to the National a.s.sembly. Deprived of his chair and exiled, he became professor of Natural History at Geneva. His lectures on Man, His Position in Creation and in the History of the Earth, '63, made a sensation by their endors.e.m.e.nt of Darwinism. They were translated into English and published by the Anthropological Society. He has also written a Manual of Geology, Physiological Letters, Zoological Letters, Blind Faith and Science, etc., and has contributed to the leading Freethought journals of Germany and Switzerland.

Volkmar (Gustav), Swiss critic, b. Hersfeld, 11 Jan. 1809. Studied at Marburg '29-32; became privat docent at Zurich, '53, and professor '63. He has written rationalist works on the Gospel of Marcion, '52; Justin Martyr, '53; the Origin of the Gospels, '66; Jesus and the first Christian Ages, '82, etc.

Volney (Constantin Francois Cha.s.sebouf de), Count, French philosopher, b. Craon (Anjou) 3 Feb. 1757. Having studied at Ancenis and Angers, he went to Paris in 1774. Here he met D'Holbach and others. In 1783 he started for Egypt and Syria, and in 1787 published an account of his travels. Made Director of Commerce in Corsica, he resigned on being elected to the a.s.sembly. Though a wealthy landlord, he wrote and spoke for division of landed property. In 1791 his eloquent Ruins appeared. During the Terror he was imprisoned for ten months. In '95 he visited America. Returning to France, Napoleon asked him to become colleague in the consuls.h.i.+p but Volney declined. He remonstrated with Napoleon when he re-established Christianity by the Concordat, April 1802. Among his other works was a History of Samuel and the Law of Nature. Died 25 April, 1820.

Voltaire (Francois Marie. Arouet de), French poet, historian and philosopher, b. Paris 21 Nov. 1694. Educated by the Jesuits, he early distinguished himself by his wit. For a satirical pamphlet on the death of Louis XIV he was sent to the Bastille for a year and was afterwards committed again for a quarrel with the Chevalier de Rohan. On his liberation he came to England at the invitation of Lord Bolingbroke, and became acquainted with the English Freethinkers. His Lettres Philosophiques translated as "Letters on the English," 1732, gave great offence to the clergy and was condemned to be burnt. About 1735 he retired to the estate of the Marquise de Chatelet at Cirey, where he produced many plays. We may mention Mahomet, dedicated to the Pope, who was unable to see that its shafts were aimed at the pretences of the church. In 1750 he accepted the invitation of Frederick II. to reside at his court. But he could not help laughing at the great king's poetry. The last twenty years of his life was pa.s.sed at Ferney near the Genevan territory, which through his exertions became a thriving village. He did more than any other man of his century to abolish torture and other relics of barbarism, and to give just notions of history. To the last he continued to wage war against intolerance and superst.i.tion. His works comprise over a thousand pieces in seventy volumes. Over fifty works were condemned by the Index, and Voltaire used no less than one hundred and thirty different pen-names. His name has risen above the clouds of detraction made by his clerical enemies. Died 30 May, 1778.

Voo (G. W. van der), Dutch writer, b. 6 April, 1806. For more than half a century he was schoolmaster and teacher of the French language at Rotterdam, where he still lives. He contributed many articles to De Dageraad.

Vosmaer (Carel), Dutch writer, b. the Hague 20 March, 1826. Studied law at Leyden. He edited the Tydstroom (1858-9) and Spectator (1860-73), and wrote several works on Dutch art and other subjects. Died at Montreux (Switzerland), 12 June, 1888.

Voysey (Charles), English Theist, b. London 18 March, 1828. Graduated B.A. at Oxford, '51, was vicar of Healaugh, Yorks.h.i.+re, '64-71, and deprived 11 Feb. '71 for heresy in sermons published in The Sling and the Stone. He has since established a Theistic Church in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, and his sermons are regularly published. He has also issued Fragments from Reimarus, '79, edited The Langham Magazine and published Lectures on the Bible and the Theistic Faith, etc.

Vulpian (Edme Felix Alfred), French physician, b. 5 Jan. 1826. Wrote several medical works and upon being appointed lecturer at the School of Medicine, '69, was violently opposed on account of his Atheism. He was afterwards elected to the Academy of Sciences. Died 17 May, 1887.

Wagner (Wilhelm Richard), German musical composer and poet, b. Leipsic, 22 May, 1813. From '42-49 he was conductor of the Royal Opera, Dresden, but his revolutionary sentiments caused his exile to Switzerland, where he produced his "Lohengrin." In '64 he was patronised by Ludwig II. of Bavaria, and produced many fine operas, in which he sought that poetry, scenery, and music should aid each other in making opera dramatic. In philosophy he expressed himself a follower of Schopenhauer. Died at Venice, 13 Feb. 1883.

Waite (Charles Burlingame), American judge, b. Wayne county, N.Y. 29 Jan. 1824. Educated at Knox College, Illinois, he was admitted to the Bar in '47. After successful practice in Chicago, he was appointed by President Lincoln Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah. In '81 he issued his History of the Christian Religion to the year A.D. 200, a rationalistic work, which explodes the evangelical narratives.

Wakeman (Thaddeus B.), American lawyer and Positivist, b. 29 Dec. 1834, was one of the editors of Man and a president of the New York Liberal Club. A contributor to the Freethinkers' Magazine.

Walferdin (Francois-Hippolyte), b. Langres, 8 June, 1795. A friend of Arago he contributed with him to the enlargement of science, and was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1844. He published a fine edition of the works of Diderot in '57, and left the bust of that philosopher to the Louvre. Died 25 Jan. 1880.

Walker (E.), of Worcester. Owenite author of Is the Bible True? and What is Blasphemy? 1843.

Walker (Edwin C.), editor of Lucifer and Fair Play, Valley Falls, Kansas.

Walker (Thomas), orator, b. Preston, Lancas.h.i.+re, 5 Feb. 1858. Went to America and at the age of sixteen took to the platform. In '77 he went to Australia, and for a while lectured at the Opera, Melbourne. In '82 he started the Australian Secular a.s.sociation, of which he was president for two years when he went to Sydney. In '85 he was convicted for lecturing on Malthusianism, but the conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court. In '87 he was elected M.P. for Northumberland district. Is President of Australian Freethought Union.

Walser (George H.), American reformer, b. Dearborn Co. Indiana, 26 May, 1834. Became a lawyer, and a member of the legislature of his State. He founded the town of Liberal Barton Co. Missouri, to try the experiment of a town without any priest, church, chapel or drinking saloon. Mr. Walser has also sought to establish there a Freethought University.

Ward (Lester Frank). American botanist, b. Joliet, Illinois, 18 June, 1841. He served in the National Army during the civil war and was wounded. In '65 he settled at Was.h.i.+ngton and became librarian of the U.S. bureau of statistics. He is now curator of botany and fossil plants in the U.S. national museum. Has written many works on paleo-botany, and two volumes of sociological studies ent.i.tled Dynamic Sociology. He has contributed to the Popular Science Monthly.

Ward (Mary A.), translator of Amiel's Journal, and auth.o.r.ess of a popular novel Robert Elsmere, 1888.

Warren (Josiah). American reformer, b. 26 June, 1798. He took an active part in Robert Owen's communistic experiment at New Harmony, Indiana, in '25-6. His own ideas he ill.u.s.trated by establis.h.i.+ng a "time store" at Cincinnati. His views are given in a work ent.i.tled True Civilisation. Died Boston, Ma.s.s. 14 April, 1874.

Washburn (L. K.), American lecturer and writer, b. Wareham, Plymouth, Ma.s.s., 25 March, 1846. In '57 he went to Barre. Was sent to a Unitarian school for ministers, and was ordained in Ipswich, Feb. '70. He read from the pulpit extracts from Parker, Emerson, and others instead of the Bible. He went to Minneapolis, where he organised the first Freethought Society in the State. He afterwards resided at Revere, and delivered many Freethought lectures, of which several have been published. He now edits the Boston Investigator.

Waters (Nathaniel Ramsey), American author of Rome v. Reason, a memoir of Christian and extra Christian experience.

Watson (James), English upholder of a free press, b. Malton (Yorks), 21 Sept. 1799. During the prosecution of Carlile and his shopmen in 1822 he volunteered to come from London to Leeds. In Feb. '23 he was arrested for selling Palmer's Principles of Nature, tried 23 April, and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, during which he read Gibbon, Hume, and Mosheim. When liberated he became a compositor on the Republican. In '31 Julian Hibbert gave him his type and presses, and he issued Volney's Lectures on History. In Feb. '33 he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for selling The Poor Man's Guardian. Hibbert left him 450, which he used in printing d'Holbach's System of Nature, Volney's Ruins, F. Wright's Lectures, R. D. Owen's pamphlets, Paine's works, and other volumes. Died at Norwood, 29 Nov. 1874.

Watson (Thomas), author of The Mystagogue, Leeds, 1847.

Watts (Charles), Secularist orator, b. Bristol, 28 Feb. 1835. Converted to Freethought by hearing Charles Southwell, he became a lecturer and a.s.sistant editor on the National Reformer. Mr. Watts has had numerous debates, both in England and America, with Dr. s.e.xton, Rev. Mr. Harrison, Brewin Grant, and others. He started the Secular Review with G. W. Foote, and afterwards Secular Thought of Toronto. He wrote a portion of The Freethinker's Text Book, and has published Christianity: its Origin, Nature and Influence; The Teachings of Secularism compared with Orthodox Christianity, and other brochures.

Watts (Charles A.), a son of above, b. 27 May, 1858. Conducts Watts's Literary Gazette and edits the Agnostic Annual.

Watts (John), brother of Charles, b. Bedminster, Bristol, 2 Oct. 1834. His father was a Wesleyan preacher, and he was converted to Freethought by his brother Charles. He became sub-editor of the Reasoner, and afterwards for a time edited the National Reformer. He edited Half Hours With Freethinkers with "Iconoclast," and published several pamphlets, Logic and Philosophy of Atheism, Origin of Man, Is Man Immortal? The Devil, Who were the Writers of the New Testament, etc. Died 31 Oct. 1866.

Watts (of Lewes, Suss.e.x), author of the Yahoo, a satire in verse (first published in 1833), also The Great Dragon Cast Out.

Webber (Zacharias), Dutch painter, who in the seventeenth century wrote heretical works On the Temptation of Christ and The Seduction of Adam and Eve, etc. He defended Bekker, whom he surpa.s.sed in boldness. Under the pen name J. Adolphs he wrote The True Origin, Continuance and Destruction of Satan. Died in 1679.

Weber (Karl Julius), German author, b. Langenburg, 16 April, 1767. Studied law at Erlangen and Gottingen. He lived for a while in Switzerland and studied French philosophy, which suited his satirical turn of mind. He wrote a history of Monkery, 1818-20; Letters of Germans Travelling in Germany, '26-28; and Demokritos, or the Posthumous Papers of a Laughing Philosopher, '32-36. Died Kupferzell, 19 July, 1832.

Weitling (Wilhelm), German social democrat, b. Magdeburg, 1808. He was a leader of "Der Bund der Gerechten," the League of the Just, and published at Zurich The Gospel of Poor Sinners. He also wrote Humanity, As It Is and As It Should Be. He emigrated to America, where he died 25 Jan. 1871.

Wellhausen (Julius), German critic, b. Hameln 17 May, 1844, studied theology at Gottingen, and became professor in Griefswald, Halle, and Marburg. Is renowned for his History of Israel in progress, '78, etc., and his Prolegomena to the same, and his contributions to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Westbrook (Richard Brodhead), Dr., American author, b. Pike co., Pennsylvania, 8 Feb. 1820. He became a Methodist preacher in '40, and afterwards joined the Presbyterians, but withdrew about '60, and has since written The Bible: Whence and What? and Man: Whence and Whither? In '88 Dr. Westbrook was elected President of the American Secular Union, and has since offered a prize for the best essay on teaching morality apart from religion.

Westerman (W. B.) During many years, from 1856-68, an active co-operator on De Dageraad.

Westra (P.), Dutch Freethinker, b. 16 March, 1851. Has for some years been active secretary of the Dutch Freethought society, "De Dageraad."

Wettstein (Otto), German American materialist, b. Barmen, 7 April, 1838. About '48 his parents emigrated. In '58 he set up in business as a jeweller at Roch.e.l.le. He contributed to the Freethinkers' Magazine, The Ironclad Age, and other journals, and is treasurer of the National Secular Union.

White (Andrew d.i.c.kson), American educator, b. Homer, N.Y., 7 Nov. 1832. He studied at Yale, where he graduated in '53; travelled in Europe, and in '57 was elected professor of history and English literature in the University of Michigan. He was elected to the State Senate, and in '67 became first president of Cornell, a university which he has largely endowed. Among his works we must mention The Warfare of Science (N.Y., '76) and Studies in General History and in the History of Civilisation, '85.