CHAMBERLAIN
CHAMISSO
(published in the North American Review,
and reprinted in the Freethinker, Nov. 15,
1908) in the course of which he describes
himself as " a Freethinker," and says :
" I reject the whole Christian religion."
He just as emphatically rejects " a pre
siding or controlling Deity," and is sceptical
about a future life. D. Apr., 1907.
CHAMBERLAIN, Houston Stewart,
writer. B. (Portsmouth) Sep. 9, 1855. Ed. Versailles, Cheltenham College, Geneva, and Vienna. He left England in 1870, and lived chiefly in Vienna until 1908. Since then he has mostly lived at Bayreuth. He is an enthusiastic Wag- nerian, an assiduous student of science and philosophy, a Rationalist with some leaning to Hindu mysticism. Since 1888 he has written in German a number of extremely popular works, chiefly Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (1899) and Immanuel Kant (1905).
CHAMBERS, Ephraim, F.R.S., natu ralist. B. about 1680. Ed. Kendal Gram mar School. Being apprenticed to a map- maker, Chambers conceived at an early age, and began to write, his famous Cyclo- pcedia. It appeared, in two volumes, in 1728 and passed through many editions. A French translation of it led to the compiling of the French Dictionnaire Encyclopedique. Although he " was an avowed Freethinker " (Diet. Nat. Biog.), he was admitted to the Royal Society, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. D. May 15, 1740.
CHAMBERS, Robert, LL.D., writer. B. July 10, 1802. Ed. Peebles Grammar School. He was destined for the Church, but became a clerk, and then a bookseller, at Edinburgh. With his brother he founded the firm of W. and R. Chambers, and in 1832 he established Chambers s Journal. As the author of various literary and historical works, he was in 1840 admitted to the Edinburgh Royal Society, and in 1843 he published anonymously his 155
famous Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation, the authorship of which was kept
secret until 1884. The book was attributed
to, among others, Sir C. Lyell and Prince
Albert. Chambers belonged to no sect,
and seems to have been a Theist. D.
Mar. 17, 1871.
CHAMFORT, Sebastian Roch Nicolas,
French writer. B. 1741. Ed. College des Grassins. He was a natural son, taking his mother s name (Nicolas) until he quitted college, when he called himself M. de Chamfort. At first a lawyer s clerk, then private secretary, he gradually developed his literary power and won various prizes from the Academy and other learned bodies. The widow of Hel- vetius assisted him, and he became very popular. He embraced the Revolution, but shrank from and caustically censured its excesses. His chief and most hetero dox work (published in 1803) is Pensees, Maximes, et Anecdotes. D. Apr. 13, 1794.
CHAMISSO, Adelbert von, French poet and naturalist. B. Jan. 30, 1781. His family was driven from France to Prussia by the Revolution, and he served for a time in the Prussian Army. He returned to France under Napoleon, but was back in Berlin in 1812, when he wrote his chief work, Peter Schlemihl. In 1815 he sailed round the world in the Burik, and on his return became Custodian of the Berlin Botanical Institute. Like Goethe, he was equally, devoted to science and poetry, and he is regarded as Germany s finest lyrist. There has been some contro versy about Chamisso s religious opinions, though many of his poems are bitterly anti-clerical ; but a letter which he wrote to De la Foye on June 9, 1838, just before his death, plainly tells his scepticism (A. von Chamisso s WerJce, vi, 179), and his friend and biographer Hitzig agrees. He also translated into German the very Rationalistic songs of Beranger. Du Bois- Reymond has written a volume on his command of science. D. Aug. 21, 1838. 156
