Page:A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists.djvu/82

 BONAPARTE

BONNYCASTLE

BONAPARTE, Prince Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul, second son of the preceding. B. Sep. 9, 1822. Ed. Vienna, Trieste, and Borne. After the Eevolution of 1848 he returned to France and sat in the Con stituent Assembly. He acted with the Eepublicans and anti-clericals, though he later modified his political (not his Bation- alist) views. He received the title of Prince, and a seat in the Senate and on the Council in 1853, and married Princess Clothilde of Italy. After the fall of the Empire he lived for some time in England and became friendly with Mr. Bradlaugh (see Mrs. Bradlaugh Bonner s biography of her father). He returned to France in 1873, entered the Chambre in 1876, and strongly opposed the Clericals. French historians regard him as &quot;by far the cleverest of the Bonapartes after the founder of the family.&quot; He was uncon scious when the clergy ministered to him on his death-bed, and had not altered his views. D. Mar. 17, 1891.

BONGHI, Professor Ruggero, LL.D., Italian philosopher and statesman. B. Mar. 20, 1828. Bonghi translated from the Greek several chapters of Plotinus at the age of eighteen, and the Philebos of Plato in the following year. In 1859 he became professor of philosophy at Milan, in 1860 deputy to the Italian Parliament, in 1864 professor of Greek literature at Turin University, in 1865 professor of Latin at Florence and a member of the Higher Council of Education, and in 1870 professor of ancient history at Eome University. He was Minister of Public Instruction 1874-76, when he greatly improved the schools of Italy and resisted the clericals. His writings are very numerous and varied, and they frequently express his Platonist Theism. Oxford University conferred on him the honorary degree in law. D. Oct. 22, 1895.

BONHEUR, Marie Rosalie (&quot; Eosa &quot;), French painter. B. Oct. 22, 1822. She received her artistic education from her 91

father, a Saint-Simonian, and at Paris. Her first picture, an animal picture, was exhibited in 1841, and she won gold medals in 1845 and 1848. In 1853 she painted her famous &quot; Horse Fair &quot; and earned a world- wide repute. She wore the cross of the Legion of Honour. T. Stanton s Reminiscences of Rosa Bonheur (1910) contains an interesting discussion of her views on religion (pp. 78-82). Her friend Louis Passy describes her as Agnostic, and she was at the most a Pantheist and non-Christian. She consented to a religious funeral in order to be buried near a friend, and said : &quot; Though I make this concession as to my body, my philosophical belief remains unaltered.&quot; D. May 25, 1899.

BONI, Filippo de, D. es L., Italian writer. B. 1820. He was educated for the Church and was ordained priest, but he abandoned his office and became a tutor. Expelled from Italy in 1846 on account of his advanced ideas, he migrated to Lausanne, and edited Cost la penso. In 1848 he was chosen by Mazzini to edit the Italia del Popolo, and he was appointed Italian ambassador to Switzerland. He returned to Italy in 1859 and became a parliamentary leader of the anti-Clericals. His many works (especially Ragione e Dogma, 1861) are Agnostic. D. Nov. 7, 1870.

BONNET, Charles, Swiss natural philo sopher. B. (of French refugee family) Mar. 13, 1720. He graduated in law, but devoted himself to natural history and became one of its foremost representatives in Europe in the eighteenth contury. From 1752 to 1768 he was a member of the Grand Conseil. Contemporaries describe him as an Atheist, but he was a Deist and had somewhat mystic ideas about a future life. D. June 20, 1793.

BONNYCASTLE, John, mathematician.

J5. 1750. He kept a school at Hackney

(London), and some time between 1782

and 1785 became professor of mathematics

92