rique et Critique_, of which the first edition
was published in 1697. Science, which found its popular interpreter
in Fontenelle, was a region hardly entered by Bayle; the general
history of Europe, from the close of the mediaeval period, and
especially the records in every age of mythologies, religions,
theologies, philosophies, formed his province, and it was one of wide
extent. Born in 1647, son of a Protestant pastor, educated by Jesuits,
converted by them and reconverted, professor of philosophy at Sedan,
a fugitive to Rotterdam, professor there of history and philosophy,
deprived of his position for unorthodox opinions, Bayle found rest
not in cessation from toil, but in the research of a sceptical scholar,
peaceably and endlessly pursued.

His early zeal of proselytism languished and expired. In its place
came a boundless curiosity, a penetrating sagacity. His vast
accumulations of knowledge were like those of the students of the
Renaissance. The tendencies of his intellect anticipate the
tendencies of the eighteenth century, but with him scepticism had
not become ambitious or dogmatic. He followed tranquilly where reason
and research led, and saw no cause why religion and morals more than
any other subjects should not be submitted to the scrutiny of rational
inquiry. Since men have held all beliefs, and are more prone to error
than apt to find the truth, why should any opinions be held sacred?
Let us ascertain and expose the facts. In doing so, we shall learn
the lesson of universal tolerance; and if the principle of authority
in matters of religion be gently sapped, can this be considered an
evil? Morals, which have their foundation in the human understanding,
remain, though all theologies may be in doubt. If the idea of
Providence be a superstition, why should not man guide his life by
good sense and moderation? Bayle did not attack existing beliefs with
the battering-ram: he quietly removed a stone here and a stone there
from the foundations. If he is aggressive, it is by means of a tranquil
irony. The errors of human-kind are full of curious interest; the
disputes of theologians are both curious and amusing; the moral
licences of men and women are singular and often diverting. Why not
instruct and entertain our minds with the facts of the world?

The instruction is delivered by Bayle in the dense and sometimes heavy
columns of his text; the entertainment will be found in the rambling
gossip, interspersed w