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 SOUTHWELL

SPENCEE

physiologist in his later years, and his theory that Jesus was partly insane startled many. D. 1906.

SOUTHWELL, Charles, lecturer. B. 1814. Southwell served with the British Legion in Spain, and on his return took to the stage. He became one of the social missionaries of the Owenite movement, and when it split over the question of Eationalism he and Holyoake and others devoted themselves to Eationalist propa ganda. In 1841 Southwell started the Oracle of Reason, and in the following January he was condemned to a year in prison and a fine of 100 for an article in it. He lectured a good deal for the move ment, and wrote a number of pamphlets. In 1845 he published an autobiographical Confessions of a Freethinker. He migrated to New Zealand in 1856, and ceased to be prominent. D. Aug. 7, 1860.

SPAYENTA, Professor Bertrando,

Italian philosopher. B. 1817. Spaventa made a thorough study of German and the German philosophy, and in 1859 he was appointed professor at Modena University. Three years later he took the chair of philosophy at Bologna University, and in 1861 at Naples. He was the leader of the Italian Hegelians, and wrote a good deal on Kant and Hegel, and in criticism of Catholic philosophy. He \vas warmly attacked by the clergy. His views, a sort of Hegelian Pantheism, are best seen in his Paolottismo, Positivismo, Razionalismo (1868). Spaventa took no less interest in progressive politics, and was four times returned to the Italian Parliament. D. Feb. 22, 1883.

SPENCER, Herbert, philosopher. B. (Derby) Apr. 27, 1820. Ed. privately. In 1837 he became assistant in a school at Derby, but after a few months he left it to take up engineering. When the railway work, on which he was engaged, ended in 1841, Spencer tried his fortune in jour nalism. He wrote in the Nonconformist 751

a series of letters which were republished as The Proper Sphere of Government (1843). They show his pronounced individualism already developed. In 1844 he became sub-editor of the Birmingham Pilot, and took an active part in politics. The Eationalist views he had already developed drew hostility upon him, and he returned to civil engineering and mechanical inven tion. In 1848 he was appointed sub-editor of the Economist at London, and he entered upon his life-long friendship with Lewes, Huxley, and Tyndall. He was greatly attracted to George Eliot, and there is good reason to think that he meditated proposing marriage to her. His Social Statics (1851) proved his power ; and in 1852 he con tributed to the Leader an article on &quot; The Development Hypothesis,&quot; which is one of the earliest statements of evolution. In 1853 he received a legacy of 500, and with this slender capital he retired from the Economist to devote himself to study and waiting. The Principles of Psychology appeared in 1855, and his Eationalism was now so plain that E. H. Hutton attacked him as an Atheist; which, no doubt, led Spencer to stress the religious aspect of his Agnosticism. In 1857 he conceived the great scheme of his Synthetic Philosophy, and appealed for subscribers to the succes sive volumes. He got four hundred in England and two hundred in America, and applied himself to the programme. First Principles was published in 1862, and the Principles of Biology (2 vols.) in 1864 and 1867. In 1865 the scheme was endan gered through the loss of subscribers ; but Spencer s father died and left him some money, and his American admirers invested 7,000 dollars in his name. Through twenty years of ill health he then steadily pursued his programme, and the well-known volumes were laboriously compiled. It was one of the most astounding achievements in litera ture, and the service Spencer thus rendered to Eationalism throughout the world is incalculable. His philosophy of Agnos ticism and religious sentiment for the Unknowable may not be permanent con-

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