Page:A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists.djvu/225

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
IMBAULT-HUART
INGERSOLL

own. His Layman's Vindication of the Christian Religion (1730) purported to be a reply to Anthony Collins, but it was heterodox, and Hive soon became widely known as a bold "infidel." In 1733 he delivered and published an address in which he denied the doctrine of eternal torment, and he followed it up with A Dialogue between a Doctor of the Church of England and Mr. Jacob Ilive upon the subject of the Oration spoke at Joyner's Hall, wherein is proved that the miracles said to be wrought by Moses were artificial acts only. In 1738 he wrote a criticism of Felton's True Discourses, and rejected the idea of personal resurrection. When he went on in 1756 to attack the Bishop of London's sermons, and rejected the divinity of Christ and "all revelation," he was sent to jail for three years. In prison he wrote a number of humanitarian pamphlets on the reform of the penal system. Ilive was one of the bravest of the Deists. He used to lecture in London halls on "The Religion of Nature." D. 1768.

Imbault-Huart, Professor Clement, French Orientalist. B. Feb. 15, 1854. Ed. E'cole des langues orientales vivantes, E'cole pratique des hautes études, and College de France. As he had acquired a thorough knowledge of Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and modern Greek, he was appointed to the French embassies at Damascus and Constantinople. In 1898 he was recalled to France and nominated professor at the Special School of Oriental Languages and First Secretary for foreign languages to the Government. Writing in the name of Clément Huart, he has issued a large number of works on oriental literature and history, including a very useful study of Behaism (La Religion du Bab, 1889).

Immermann, Karl Leberecht, German poet and dramatist. B. Apr. 24, 1796. Ed. Magdeburg Gymnasium and Halle University. At the close of his academic career he took a commission in the army against Napoleon, and fought at Ligny and Waterloo. In 1817 he entered the State service and rose to a distinguished position. He was Referendary from 1817 to 1819, Auditor at Munster from 1819 to 1824, Criminal Judge at Magdeburg from 1824 to 1827, and Legal Councillor at Düsseldorf from 1827 to 1835. During nearly all this time Immermann was writing enthusiastically for the stage. His early plays (Die Prinzen von Syrakus, 1821, etc.) did not please the public, but he presently proved his power and was much esteemed. For three years (1835-38) he was Director of the Düsseldorf Theatre, which he raised to a high level of art. He also wrote various novels, and translated Scott's Ivanhoe. Immermann was a Pantheist of Goethe's school (see his mystic poem Merlin, 1832; his novel Die Epigonen, 1835, etc.). D. Aug. 25, 1840.

Ingersoll, Robert Green, American orator. B. Aug. 11, 1833, son of a Congregationalist minister. Ed. private schools and Princeton. In 1852 Ingersoll taught for a few months in a private school, and he seems already, in spite of his rigorous upbringing, to have developed germs of Rationalism. Pressed one day by a group of ministers to say if he thought baptism useful, he replied: "Yes—with soap." In 1853 he began the study of law, and in the following year he was admitted to the Bar. He entered the office of a clerk of the county court at Shawneetown, but presently set up a legal firm with his brother, and in 1857 removed to Peoria. He was quickly recognized as one of the most promising barristers in the States. In 1862 he married Eva A. Parker, an Agnostic like himself, who still survives and maintains her thorough Rationalism. The Civil War withdrew Ingersoll from the law for a time, and he served as Colonel of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry Volunteers, which he had organized. He had delivered his first Rationalist lecture, at Pekin (Illinois), in 1860; and from 1869 onward he lectured regularly. There was

377
378