Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/428

 404 S P I S P I of the 19th century, and it has also been widely influential beyond the schools. Instead of his atheism Hegel speaks of his acosmism, and Novalis dubs him a God-intoxicated man. Schleiermacher's fine apostrophe is well known, in which he calls upon us to "offer a lock of hair to the manes of the holy and excommunicated Spinoza." Spinoza's personal appearance is described by Colerus from the accounts given him by many people at The Hague who knew him familiarly. "He was of a middle size, and had good features in his face, the skin somewhat dark, black curled hair, and the long eyebrows of the same colour, so that one might easily know from his looks that he was descended from the Portuguese Jews." Leibnitz also gives a similar description: "The celebrated Jew Spinoza had an olive complexion and something Spanish in his face. " These characteristics are preserved in a portrait in oil in the Wolfenbiittel library, which was probably the original of the (in that case unsuccessfully rendered) engraving prefixed to the Opera Posthuma of 1677. This portrait has recently been photo- graphed for Dr Martineau's Study of Spinoza. In 1880 a statue was erected to Spinoza at The Hague by international subscription among his admirers. Spinoza's philosophy is a thoroughgoing pantheism, which has both a naturalistic and a mystical side. The foundation of the system is the doctrine of one infinite substance, of which all finite existences are modes or limitations (modes of thought or modes of extension). God is thus the immanent cause of the universe ; but of creation or will there can be no question in Spinoza's system. God is used throughout as equivalent to nature (Dcus sivc natura). The philosophical standpoint comprehends the necessity of all that is a necessity that is none other than the necessity of the divine nature itself. To view things thus is to view them, according to Spinoza's favourite phrase, sub specie setcrnitatis. Spinoza's philo- sophy is fully considered in the article CARTESIANISM (see vol. v. p. 152 sq.). Literature. The contents of the Opera Posthuma included the Ethics, the Tractaius Politicus, and the DC Intellcctus Emcndatione (the last two unfinished), a selection from Spinoza's correspondence, and a Compendium of Hebrew Grammar. The Treatise on the Rain- bow, supposed to be lost, was published anonymously in Dutch in 1687. The first collected edition of Spinoza's works was made by Paul us in 1802 ; there is another by Gfrbrer (1830), and a third by Bruder (1843-46) in three volumes. Van Vloten's volume, published in 1862, Ad Benedict! de Spinoza opera qu& supcrsunt omnia supple- mentum, is uniform with Bruder's edition so as to complete it by a supplementary volume. It contained the early treatise DC Deo et homine, the Treatise on the Rainbow, and several fresh letters. A complete and authoritative edition has only recently been achieved by Dr Van Vloten and Professor J. P. N. Land. The work was xmdertaken by them for the Spinoza Memorial Committee formed in Holland to celebrate the bicentenary of the philosopher's death ; the funds remaining after the erection of the statue mentioned above were devoted to the publication of this handsome edition (2 vols., 1882-83). An English translation of The Chief Works of Spinoza, by R. H. M. Elwes, appeared in 1883, and a separate translation of the Ethics by W. H. White was published in the same year ; previous translations were unscholarly in execution. The main authority for Spinoza's life is the sketch published in 1705, in Dutch, with a controversial sermon against Spinozism, by Johannes Colerus. The French version of this Life (1706) has been several times reprinted as well as translated into English and German. The English version, also dating from 1706, has been re- printed by Mr Frederick Pollock at the end of his work, Sjnnoza, his Life and Philosophy (1880). Mr Pollock's book and Dr Martineau's Study of Spinoza (1882), both admirable pieces of work, are in a manner complementary, and may with advantage be studied to- gether. In his introduction Mr Pollock gives a list of the biographi- cal sources, and also some account of the early literature relating to Spinoza. The Spinoza literature in more recent times has become so extensive as to forbid quotation. A. van der Linde's Scnedictus Spinoza: Biblioqrafie (The Hague, 1871) is a classified catalogue as nearly as possible complete down to that date. (A. SE.) SPIRES (Germ. Speyer or Speier), the chief town of the Rhenish palatinate, Bavaria, and formerly a free im- perial city, is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, at the mouth of the Speyerbach, 21 miles to the south of Worms. The principal streets are broad but irregular, and the general appearance of the town little corresponds to its high antiquity, owing to the fact that it was burned by the French in 1689. The only important ancient build- ing that has survived the flames is the cathedral, a very large and imposing basilica of red sandstone, and one of the noblest examples of Romanesque architecture now extant. Beyond the general interest attaching to it as one of the old Romanesque churches of the Rhineland, Spires cathedral has a peculiar importance in the history of architecture as probably the earliest Romanesque basilica in which the nave as well as the side arcades was vaulted from the first. Built in 1030-61 by Conrad II. and his successor, this church has had a chequered history, its disasters culminat- ing in 1689, when the soldiers of Louis XIV. burned it to the bare walls and scattered the ashes of the eight German emperors who had been interred in the kings' choir. Re- stored in 1772-84 and provided with a vestibule and fagade, it was again desecrated by the French in 1794; but in 1846-53 it was once more thoroughly restored and adorned in the interior with gorgeous frescos at the expense of the king of Bavaria, The large cathedral bowl (Domnapf) in front of the west fagade formerly marked the boundary between the episcopal and municipal territories. Each new bishop on his election had to fill the bowl with wine, while the burghers emptied it to his health. The heathen tower to the east of the church, on foundations supposed to be Roman, was probably part of the town wall built in 1080 by Bishop Rudger. Of the Retscher, or imperial palace, so called because built after the model of the Hradschin at Prague, only a mouldering fragment of wall remains. It was in this palace that the famous diet of Spires met in 1529, at which the Reformers first received the name of Protestants. The Altportel (alta porta), a fine old gateway of 1246, is a relic of the free imperial city. Among the modern buildings are several churches and schools, a museum and picture gallery, &c. Spires, although rebuilt in 1697, has never recovered from the cruel injuries inflicted by the French in 1689. Its trade is insignificant, although it still has a free harbour on the Rhine. Its manufactures include paper, tobacco and cigars, sugar, sugar of lead, vinegar, beer, and leather. Vines and tobacco are grown in the neighbourhood. The population in 1880 was 15,589 and in 1885 16,228. Spires, known to the Romans as Augusta Ncmetum or Ncmctse, and to the Gauls as Naviomagus, is one of the oldest towns on the Rhine. The modern name appears first, under the form Spira, about the 7th century. Captured by Julius Cfesar in 47 B.C., it was repeatedly destroyed by the barbarian hordes in the first few centuries of the Christian era. The town had become an episcopal seat in the 4th century; but heathenism supervened, and the present bishopric dates from 610. In 830 Spira became part of the Prankish empire, the emperors having a "palatium" here ; and it was especi- ally favoured by the Salic imperial house. The contentions between the bishops and the citizens were as obstinate and severe as in any other city of Germany. The situation of the town opposite the mouths of several roads through the Rhine valley early fostered its. trade ; in 1294 it rose to be a free imperial city, although it owned no territory beyond its walls and had a population of less than 30,000. It enjoyed great renown as the seat of the imperial supreme court from 1527 till 1689 ; it was fifth among the free cities of the Rhine, and had a vote in the Upper Rhenish diet. Numerous imperial diets assembled here. From 1801 till 1814 it was the capital of a department of France ; but it was restored to Bavaria in the latter year. By the peace of Spires in 1544 the Hapsburgs renounced their claims to the crown of Sardinia. SPIRITUALISM. The term " spiritualism " is used by philosophical writers to denote the opposite of materialism. It is also used in a narrower sense to describe the belief that the spiritual world manifests itself by producing in the physical world effects inexplicable by the known laws of nature. The belief in such occasional manifestations has probably existed as long as the belief in the existence of spirits apart from human bodies, and a complete exa- mination into it would involve a discussion of the religions of all ages and nations. In 1848, however, a peculiar form of it, believed to be based on abundant experimental evidence, arose in America and spread there with great rapidity and thence over the civilized world. To this movement, which has been called " modern spiritualism, " the discussion in the present article is confined. The movement began in a single family. In 1848 a Mr and