Helvetius, Claude Adrten, a French infidel, was born in Paris in January, 1715, and was educated by the Jesuits at the College of Louis-le-Grand. He after- wards studied law and finance, and, through the influ- ence of queen Maria Leczinska, became a farmer-gener- al. His life was disorderly up to the time of his mar- riage in 1751. In 1758 he published his De VEsprit, which was a summary of the doctrines of the Encyclo- pedic. The book was bitterly denounced ; and, " to re- gain the favor of the court, Helvetius successively pub- lished three letters of apologj' which gradually advanced in humility and submission. Notwithstanding the con- fession which they contained of a Christian faith, and his disclaimer of all opinions inconsistent with its spirit, the doctors of the Sorbonne drew up a formal condem- nation of the work, which they declared to be a com- pendiimi of all the evil contained in aU the bad books that had yet appeared. It was publicly burned, accord- ing to a decree of the Parliament of Paris." The style of the book is vicious and declamatory'. Helvetius died at Paris Dec. 26, 1771, leaving a work behind him enti- tled De VHomme, de ses Facultes, et de son Education, which was published the same year at London and Am- sterdam by prince Gallitzin, 2 vols. 8vo. '• By cprit Helvetius understood as well the mental faculties as the ideas acquired by them. Both facidties and ideas he reduced to simple sensation, and he accounts for man's superiority over the brutes by the finer organism of his senses and the structure of his hands. jMan, he consid- ers, is the work of nature, but his intelligence and virtue are the fniit of education. The end oi' virtue is happi- ness, and utility determines the value of all actions, of which those are virtuous which are generally useful. Utility and inutility are, however, merely relative, and
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there is consequently nothing which is either absolutely good, or absolutely evil. The happiness and enlight- enment of the people he makes to be the true end of all human government ; and, denying a divine Providence in the government of the world, he declares all religion to be a cheat and a prejudice" {^Enyl. Cydoptedia, s. v.). His system is simply the lowest materialism. There have been several editions of his complete works (Lond. 1777, 2 vols. 4to; 1794, 5 vols. 8vo; Paris, 1795, 14 vols. 18mo, ed. by Lefebvre ; Paris, 1818, 3 vols. 8vo). See St. Lambert, Essai sur la Vie et les Ouvrages d'Helvetius; Enfjlish CyclopcEdia, s. v. ; Hoefer, Now. Biog. Generale, xx'iii, 885 ; MoreU, Histori/ of Modern Philosophi/, p. 1 10, 337 ; Eemusat, in jRevue d. deux Mondes, Aug. 15, 1858 ; Farrar, Critical History of Free Thought, lect. v.
Helvicus (Helwig), Ciiristoph, was bom Dec. 26, 1581, at Sprendlingen, Darmstadt, where his father was minister. He studied at Marburg, and was able to teach Hebrew at twenty. It is said that he spoke He- brew as freely as his mother tongue. In 1605 he was made professor of Greek and Hebrew at the School of Giessen, which in 1606 was erected into a university by the landgrave. In 1610 he was made professor of di- vinity. "He died Sept. 10, 1617. His most important work is Theatrum Bistoricum et Chronologicum sice Chronologies Systema novum (1610, often reprinted, and translated into English) ; also a Chronologia Universalis (1612).— Bayle, Dictionary, s. v.
Helvidius, a so-called heresiarch of the 4tii centu- ry, a layman who opposed the growing superstitions of the Church, and especially the nascent worship of the Virgin ]\Iary. He was a pupil of Auxentius, bishop of INIilan, and the precursor of Jovinian (q. v.). Jerome was at the time preaching the " gospel of celibacy," and Helvidius opposed this tendency also. He maintained that J\lary had other cliildren besides Jesus, and sup- ported his opinion by the N. Test., and by the authority of TertuUian and Victorinus. " He affirmed also that by this opinion he in nowise infringed on the honor of ]\iary. He attacked also the exaggerated undervalua- tion of married life. He quoted the examples of the patriarchs, who had maintained a pious life in wedlock ; 'while, on the other hand, he referred to the examples of such virgins as had by no means lived up to their calling. These opinions of Helvidius might lead us to conclude that the combating of a one-sided ascetic spirit was a matter of still more weight with him than the defence of his views with regard to Mary. Perhaps, also, he may have been led into these views simply by exegetical inquiries and observations, and so had been drawn into this opposition to the overvaluation of celi- bacy merely for the purpose of defending his opinion against an objection on the score of propriety" (Nean- der, Ch. Hist., Torrey's, ii, 340). Augustine {De Hceres. c. 84) calls his follower'^ //i/ri'Jiani. Jerome wrote a treatise against him (mlr. II, Iridium), in which we lind some passages of llelviilius's writings. See Epiphanius, Hieres. c. 70, 78 ; Augustine, Hceres. c. 56, 84 ; Neander, I.e.
Helyot, Pierre, a Franciscan monk of great learn- ing (known also as father Hippolytus), was born at Paris in 1660, and died in 1716. He went twice to Rome on business of the order, and travelled through the whole of France. He is chiefly distinguished as the author of the Histoire des ordi-es monastiques reli- ffieux et militaires (Paris, 1714-21, 8 vols. 4to), of which he gathered the materials during his travels, and which is to this day the most complete work of the kind, though several of the orders are not treated in it. He died during the publication of the fifth volume, and the work was finished by Bullot. A new edition by INIigne appeared at Paris in 1847-50 (4 vols, royal 8vo). See Lelong, Bihl, histor. de la France ; Querard, La France litter. ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. xxiii, 893.