SCHMIDT
SCHOELCHER
Schlegel (who, however, did none of the
work) he undertook a German translation
of Plato (5 vols., 1804-10). From that
time he began to write ethical works
showing Greek influence, and to develop
an advanced Eationalism. In 1810 he
was appointed professor at the new Berlin
University, which he had helped to found.
Both as professor and writer he had an
immense influence at Berlin. His Christ-
lichc Glaube nach den Grundsdtzen der
evangclischen Kirche (2 vols., 1821-22),
his chief work, is an attempt to rationalize
Christianity, and Scheiermacher professed
to the end to remain a Christian theologian.
The profession can scarcely dispense us
from including him in this Dictionary, as
he notoriously rejected quite fundamental
Christian doctrines, such as personal im
mortality. He believed only in an immor
tality which meant absorption in the
Infinite ; and his conception of the Deity
seems to have been Pantheistic. It is
acknowledged that his idea of Christianity
and the evolution of its doctrines was
naturalistic. He held, however, that reli
gion is not a matter of intellect, but of
feeling, and thus was not a Rationalist in
the customary sense. In 1811 he was
admitted to the Berlin Academy of Sciences,
and in 1814 he became secretary of its
political section and abandoned clerical
work. His collected works comprise no
less than thirty volumes (1836-65). D.
Feb. 12, 1834.
SCHMIDT, Professor Eduard Oskar,
German zoologist. B. Feb. 21, 1823. Ed. Halle and Berlin Universities. In 1847 he began to teach zoology at Jena University, and two years later he was extraordinary professor. He was appointed professor at Cracow in 1855, at Gratz in 1857, and at Strassburg (zoology and com parative anatomy) in 1872. Schmidt, who wrote much on zoology and anatomy, was one of the first German men of science to adopt and defend Darwinism (Deszend- enzlehre und Danvinismus, 1873). He made a very spirited and effective struggle 717
to get it recognized. His Rationalist views
may also be seen in his Goethe s Verhdltniss
zu den organischen Naturwissenschaften
(1853) and Das Alter der Menschheit und
das Paradies (1866). D. Jan. 17, 1886.
SCHMIDT, Kaspar ("Max Stirner"), German writer. B. Oct. 25, 1806. Ed. Berlin, Erlangen, and Konigsberg Univer sities. Schmidt was trained in theology as well as philology, and he adopted teach ing as his profession. In 1845 he attracted a good deal of attention by a very able and unconventional work, Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum, a brilliant plea for the rights of the individual against Church, State, and moralists. He wrote this and various other works (chiefly Geschichte der Reaction, 2 vols., 1852) under the pen- name of Max Stirner, which was well known in Germany in the last century. He also translated into German Adam Smith s Wealth of Nations and Leon Say s Mamial of Practical Political Economy. D. June 26, 1856.
SCHOELCHER, Victor, French poli tician. B. July 21, 1804. At an early age Schoelcher joined the very Rationalistic society at Paris which took the title " Aide-toi, le ciel t aidera " (" Heaven helps those who help themselves "). He travelled in the French colonies, and became zealous for the abolition of slavery. In 1848 he was appointed Under Secretary in the Ministry of Marine, and he secured the enfranchisement of all slaves in French territory. From 1848 to 1850 he repre sented Martinique in the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies. He was wounded at the barricades in 1851, and then fled to England. Until 1870, when he returned to Paris, he was very well known in the Rationalist movement in London. He contributed to the Eeasoner and the National Reformer. He sat on the ex treme left in the National Assembly from 1871 to 1876, and in the latter year he was made a life-member of the Senate. Besides a number of works on colonial 718
