The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-16
WORLDWIDE CELEBRATION TODAY OF 8OTH BIRTHDAY OF HAECKEL.

Monistic philosophers, freethin kers,
 biologists. evoluffonists. and ssts.
 will celebrate today the eightieth
 birthday of Ernst Heinrich HaeclSe1.
 the great German savant. The phil osopher Of Jena is the last survivor, since the recent death of Wallace. o< that group of investigators wao were
 co-workers of Charles Darwin m de-
 veIoping the theory of evolution and natural selection.
 In his latter years Haeclzel has |tbeen the prime mover in the for,uu- lation of the philosophy called mon
 ism, which now has it's disciples all over the globe. The dean Of the worlds scientists insists that there is but one form of reality. and that the human soul, so-calIed, is but 9 func- ton of the brain cell, an1 dies with the body. All intellectual endeavor,
 he declares. is fundamentally srsstscu-. lar activity The immortality of the
 soul is a myth, the Jena philosopher
 insists. In menism Haeckel has att tempted to establish a, philosophy of
 life, materfalistic and rationatisric, to
 take the place of what he describes
 as Irrational and superstitions' reai-
 gions. Monisrn embraces 9 complete
 system of ethics, in which belief in
 the existence Of God or the pc ma hence of the human sollI plays no
 part.
 Some months ago. wheE the world sside celebration of his esghtieth am niversary was first proposed, Prof, HaeekeI issued letter to his Friends, pupils and discip1es,,' in
 which he said:
 tT have been informed that it is. intended to celebrate my eightieth
 birthday by presenting me gifts about
 the form and nature Of which diff
 ferent proposals have been made. Having repeatedly been honored on former occasions by such gifts. I beg you to abstain this time from all per sena1 donations. and to convey the arlc unt destined for that purpose to . fund which shall be glad to put to the disposal of the Ge-man Mon
 ists' Union. The wonderful develop Inent which this modern union oe cul- fs1re has attained since its foundation seven years ago, the high importance which it has acquired for the promo ton of a free and rational conception Of life, as well as for its practical ap- p1icatfon tv a conduct Of life Of super for morals render it's financial sup- port most desirable. The intended new Haeekel Fund for Monisrn will necessarily further this work Of cul- ture of free thought on the positive
 basis of natural science. and further l the necessary means to carry on I,rac-
 ticalIy it's numerous important tasks From the first international Nonfsts' Congress, which took place in 1211 at Hamburg, and was such a sp1en-
 did success, partly because foreign countries so generously took part in l 1t, it became our principal aim to ex- tend the German Moniatss Union. and ten This International Monists' Un- .ion of culture. by uniting .Ee free 1 thinkers of all countries. will be the
 better able to prove it's importance 1 ira eticaIIy if my friends abroad will COT tribute Hberally.''
 This appeal brought resp onses from all over the civilized world. In Ja- pan, where the old religions are crumbling and Christianity has made
 small progress, the materfalistic mon ism of Haeckel has made a special ap- peal and missionaries have expressed the fear that the reIigioE--or rather the irreligion-of Haecke1 may be- conc the dominant belief of the new 1 Nippon. Born at Potsdam on Feb. 16, l4e3A Haa1lxaI laas f4evofa5 rr4a1-a +!1a, three-score years of his life to that
 scientific work which has led to his
 denial of God. immortality and the freedom of the will.
 Sir Gerald Augustus Lowther. tEe 1 British diplomat who WAS made 9