HUMANE SOCIETY

humane society, royal. this society was founded in england in 1774 for the purpose of rendering "first aid" in cases of drowning and for restoring life by artificial means to those apparently drowned. dr william hawes (1736-1808), an english physician, became known in 1773 for his efforts to convince the public that persons apparently dead from drowning might in many cases be resuscitated by artificial means. for a year he paid a reward out of his own pocket to any one bringing him a body rescued from the water within a reasonable time of immersion. dr thomas cogan (1736-1818), another english physician, who had become interested in the same subject during a stay at amsterdam, where was instituted in 1767 a society for preservation of life from accidents in water, joined hawes in his crusade. in the summer of 1774 each of them brought fifteen friends to a meeting at the chapter coffee-house, st paul's churchyard, when the royal humane society was founded. the society, the chief offices of which are at 4 trafalgar square, london, has upwards of 280 depots throughout the kingdom, supplied with life-saving apparatus. the chief and earliest of these depots is the receiving house in hyde park, on the north bank of the serpentine, which was built in 1794 on a site granted by george iii. boats and boatmen are kept to render aid to bathers, and in the winter ice-men are sent round to the different skating grounds in and around london. the society distributes money-rewards, medals, clasps and testimonials, to those who save or attempt to save drowning people. it further recognizes "all cases of exceptional bravery in rescuing or attempting to rescue persons from asphyxia in mines, wells, blasting furnaces, or in sewers where foul gas may endanger life." it further awards prizes for swimming to public schools and training ships. since 1873 the stanhope gold medal has been awarded "to the case exhibiting the greatest gallantry during the year." during the year 1905 873 persons were rewarded for saving or attempting to save 947 lives from drowning. the society is maintained by private subscriptions and bequests. its motto is _lateat scintillula forsan_, "a small spark may perhaps lie hid." (see also drowning and life-saving.) humanism (from lat. _humanus_, human, connected with _homo_, mankind), in general any system of thought or action which assigns a predominant interest to the affairs of men as compared with the supernatural or the abstract. the term is specially applied to that movement of thought which in western europe in the 15th century broke through the medieval traditions of scholastic theology and philosophy, and devoted itself to the rediscovery and direct study of the ancient classics. this movement was essentially a revolt against intellectual, and especially ecclesiastical authority, and is the parent of all modern developments whether intellectual, scientific or social (see renaissance). the term has also been applied to the philosophy of comte in virtue of its insistence on the dignity of humanity and its refusal to find in the divine anything external or superior to mankind, and the same tendency has had marked influence over the development of modern christian theology which inclines to obliterate the old orthodox conception of the separate existence and overlordship of god. the narrow sense of the term survives in modern university terminology. thus in the university of oxford the curriculum known as _litterae humaniores_ ("humane literature") consists of latin and greek literature and philosophy, i.e. of the "arts," often described in former times as the "polite letters." in the scottish universities the professor of latin is called the professor of "humanity." the plural "humanities" is a generic term for the classics. in ordinary language the adjective "humane" is restricted to the sense of "kind-hearted," "unselfish": the abstract "humanity" has this sense and also the sense of "that which pertains to mankind" derived in this case with the companion adjective "human."