Altmeyer, Professor Jean Jacques, Ph.D., D.C.L., Belgian writer. B. Jan. 24, 1804. Ed. Luxemburg Athenaeum and Louvain University. He was appointed professor of rhetoric at Ypres, but he abandoned the Church of Rome, and in 1834 he took the chair of history at the Brussels Free University. Altmeyer was prominent among the early workers for Rationalism and enlightenment in Belgium. He wrote a number of historical works, the chief of which is his Rationalistic Introduction to the Philosophical Study of the History of Humanity (1836). The King of Denmark honoured his work with a gold medal. D. Sep. 15, 1877.
Alviella, Count d' . See Goblet, F.
Amari, Professor Michele, Italian historian and statesman. B. July 7, 1806. In 1830, while he was in the Civil Service, Amari translated Scott's Marmion, and in 1842 he published a warmly anti-clerical history of the Sicilian Vespers, for which he was compelled to fly to France. He returned to Sicily at the Revolution of 1848 and became Minister of Finance. He was compelled again to leave the country at the collapse of the Revolution, but he returned with Garibaldi in 1859, and was appointed professor of Arabic at Palermo. In 1862 he became Minister of Public Instruction and Senator. He was a consistent and powerful Rationalist. D. July 16, 1889.
Amicis, Edmondo de, Italian writer. B. Oct. 21, 1846. Ed. Cuneo, Turin, and the Modena Military Academy. He served in the war against Austria and the Papacy, and assisted in propaganda. He edited Italia Militare in 1867, and wrote his first book, La Vita Militare, in 1868. After the recovery of Rome from the Papacy he quitted the army and devoted himself entirely to letters. De Amicis became one of the most extensively read Italian authors of the last three quarters of a century" (Athenæum), and his literary distinction was not less than his popularity. His Cuore (Heart), which passed through 300 editions in Italian and was translated into twenty other languages, is a beautiful story for boys. He was deeply interested in education, especially on the ethical side, and wrote many stories to promote it. He was an Agnostic, as he freely expresses in his Memorie (1898). He rejects the hope of immortality, and is merely "fascinated and tormented by the vast mystery of life" (p. 355). D. Mar. 12, 1903.
Amiel, Henri Frédéric, Swiss writer. B. Sep. 27, 1821. A descendant of an exiled Huguenot family, Amiel devoted himself to the study of German philosophy, and in 1849 he was appointed professor of aesthetics at Geneva Academy. In 1854 he was promoted to the chair of moral philosophy. His famous work, the Journal Intime (published 1883-84), which is familiar to mystical readers all over Europe, is a beautiful expression of a mind that rejects Christianity with pain and regret. He remains theistic and mystic, yet his scepticism is profound. "The apologies of Pascal, Leibnitz, and Secretan," he says, "seem to me to prove no more than those of the Middle Ages." D. Mar. 11, 1881.
Anderson, George, philanthropist. B. 1824. Anderson was a self-made man who prospered in business and very generously supported advanced movements. He was a personal friend of Bradlaugh, Holyoake, and Watts, and one of the founders of the Rationalist Press Association. The first issue of cheap reprints by the Association was made possible by a generous gift from him of £2,000. He gave with equal liberality to hospitals and other charitable institutions. D. Aug. 12, 1915.
Andrews, Stephen Pearl, American reformer. B. Mar. 22, 1812. Ed. Amherst College. Andrews won a consider-
