Some readers may think my list contains names better omitted, while omitting others well deserving a place. I have, for instance, omitted many foreign Liberal Protestants while including Bishop Colenso, who, ostensibly, did not go so far. But my justification, if any, must be found in my purpose, which is to record the names of those who have contributed in their generation to the advance of Freethought. No one can be more conscious of the imperfections of my work than myself, but I console myself with the reflection of Plato, that "though it be the merit of a good huntsman to find game in a wide wood, it is no discredit if he do not find it all"; and the hope that what I have attempted some other will complete. The most onerous part of my task has been the examination of the claims of some thousand names, mostly foreign, which find no place in this dictionary. But the work throughout has been a labor of love. I designed it as my humble contribution to the cause of Freethought, and leave it with the hope that it will contribute towards the history of "the good old cause"; a history which has yet to be written, and for which, perhaps, the time is not yet ripe. Should this volume be received with an encouraging share of favor, I hope to follow it with a History of Freethought in England, for which I have long been collecting materials. A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FREETHINKERS. Abælardus (Petrus), b. 1079. A teacher of philosophy at Paris, renowned for being loved by the celebrated Eloise. He was accused of teaching erroneous opinions, chiefly about the Creation and the Trinity, and was condemned by a council at Soissons in 1121 and by that of Sens 1140, at the instigation of St. Bernard. He was hunted about, but spent his last days as a monk at Cluni. He died 21 April, 1142. "Abelard," observes Hallam, "was almost the first who awakened mankind, in the age of darkness, to a sympathy with intellectual excellence." Abano (Petrus de). See Petrus, de Abano. Abauzit (Firmin), a French writer, descended from an Arabian family which settled in the South of France early in the ninth century, b. Uzes, 11 Nov. 1679. He travelled in Holland and became acquainted with Bayle, attained a reputation for philosophy, and was consulted by Voltaire and Rousseau. Among his works are, Reflections on the Gospels, and an essay on the Apocalypse, in which he questions the authority of that work. Died at Geneva 20 March, 1767. His Miscellanies were translated in English by E. Harwood, 1774.