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 " The
Development Hypothesis," 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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