685 



BAYER, GOTTLIEB SIEGFRIED. 



BAYLE, PETER. 



586 



drawing backs, or backs into fronts, and vice versa, by drawing fronts. 

 Bayer has chosen the first, with the exceptions noted in italics iu the 

 preceding list, for which he haa been blamed by Schiekard, Bartsch, 

 Hevelius, Flamsteed, and others : but, singularly enough, he has not 

 carried his own system through ; for Andromeda, of which he has 

 represented the face, is precisely one of those signs in which a crucial 

 word is found in Ptolemjeus, who places one star between the shoulders 

 (iv T$ utTtufipfvif). Flamsteed cuts the knot by assuring us that vSnav 

 and fMrtffptnr, which vulgar scholars imagine to mean ' the back,' 

 and ' the part of the back between the shoulders," sometimes mean 

 ' the front ' and ' the chest,' in proof of which he brings his own con- 

 viction, that Homer and others must in some places have adopted 

 these senses. Montucla, with great probability, conjectures that 

 Bayer intended to draw a convex sphere, but overlooked, or was 

 ignorant of, the proper method of inverting the figures ou the copper. 



Circumstances which we shall have to mention in FLAMSTEED make 

 it worth while to give the preceding details. The rest of the history 

 of Bayer's work is as follows : In 1627, Julius Schiller published at 

 Augsburg his 'Cooluin Stcllatum Chris tianu in, &c. social! opeia J. 

 Bayeri, &c. Uranometriam novam priore accuratiorem locupletio- 

 reuique suppeditantis.' This was an attempt to change the names of 

 the constellations into others derived from the Scriptures ; as, for 

 instance, calling the twelve signs of the zodiac after the apostles, &c. 

 The northern constellations were taken from the New Testament and 

 the southern from the Old. Schiller's account is as follows : that 

 Bayer, having laid down the positions of the stars, left all the rest to 

 Schiller, but died before the whole (and Ursa Minor in particular) 

 was completed, and without having time to finish some astronomical 

 ' Prolegomena ; ' that the new Uranometry of Bayer differed from the 

 old in the number and positions of the stars, which he had altered, 

 as well from nuuy nights' observations of his own (whether of posi- 

 tions or of magnitudes is not stated), as from various books which he 

 had found ; and that, for this reason, he (Bayer) was anxious that the 

 old Uranometry should never be republished. These maps also repre- 

 sented the convex side of the sphere, that men might see the fronts 

 of these Christian constellations, it being judged indecorous that the 

 apostles should turn their backs. Thus we see that Bayer committed 

 a mistake again, as far as Ptolemsus's sphere is concerned. He should 

 have drawn the inside or concave of the sphere, in turning the fronts 

 towards the spectator. This work of Schiller's is also mentioned by 

 Gassendi as follows : ' Ccelum Christianum a J. Bayero affectum, et a 

 Julio Schillero confectum.' (Gass. ' Vit. Peir.' in ann. 1628.) It is 

 remarkable that, in this edition, Bayer has abandoned his letters and 

 taken numbers, either of his own or from Ptolemajus. The plates are 

 remarkably well executed for the period, and the grouping of the 

 constellations is strikingly beautiful, but the stars are almost lost in 

 the shading. 



Schiller states, that a surreptitious edition of Bayer was offered for 

 sale at Frankfurt Fair in autumn 1 624 ; which, by means of the words 

 'nova methodo delineate,' was made to pass for the expected edition 

 of 1627, that is Schiller's own ; but it was struck from the same plates 

 as that of 1603, and therefore probably could not be distinguished 

 from the subsequent editions. 



The second edition of the ' Uranometria ' (plates only, and without 

 letter-press) was printed at Ulm in 1648, and the third (plates only) 

 at Ulm in 1666. In the meanwhile, the letter-press of the first 

 edition, with additions, had been printed under the following clumsy 

 title : ' Explicatio Characterum ;cneis Uranometrias Imaginum Tabulis 

 insculptorum addita.' First edition, Strasbourg, 1624; second, Ulm, 

 1640; third, Augaburf?, 1654 ; fourth, Ulm, 1697. 



BAYER, GOTTLIEB SIEGFRIED, grandson of John Bayer the 

 astronomer, was born at Konigsberg in 1694. He applied zealously 

 to the study of the Oriental languages under the tuition of Abraham 

 Wolf, and of some learned Rabbis : he also took a peculiar interest in 

 the study of the Chinese language. After travelling in various parts 

 of Germany for his improvement, he returned to Konigsberg in 1717, 

 when be was appointed librarian to the University. In 1726 he was called 

 to St. Petersburg to fill the chair of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 

 His health became impaired by intense study, and he died February 

 21, 1738. He wrote numerous works, some of which are printed 

 separately ; others are inserted in the ' Memoirs of the Academy of 

 St. Petersburg ' and in the ' Acta Eruditorum ; ' and some were left at 

 his death in manuscript. Of those that have been published sepa- 

 rately the principal are : ' Museum Sinicum,' 2 vols. 8vo, St. Petersburg, 

 1730. The greater part of the first volume is occupied by an interest- 

 ing preface, in which the author recapitulates the labours of those 

 who preceded him in the field of Chinese literature; this is followed 

 by a general Chinese grammar ; and by a grammar of the popular 

 Chinese dialect of the province of Chin Cheu, which, he says, differs 

 but little from the language of the learned or mandarins. This is 

 followed by a letter from some missionaries at Tranquebar concerning 

 the Tamul language. The second volume contains a Chinese Lexicon, 

 extracts from several Chinese works, a commentary on the Siao ul 

 lun, or Origines Sinica;, a treatise on Chinese chronology; and another 

 on the weights and measures of the Chinese. ' Historia Osrhocina et 

 Edesaena ex numis illustrata,' 4to, 1734, ' Biog. Univ.' This work, 

 which lie dedicated to Joseph Simonius Assemani, is much esteemed. 

 ' De Eclipai Sinica liber singularis,' in which he examines and confutes 



the Chinese account of a total eclipse, which a Jesuit asserted to have 

 occured at the time of our Saviour's death. Of his scattered disser- 

 tations, some are on the Mongol, Tangutian, and Brahmanic languages ; 

 one is ' De Elementis Calmucicis ; ' another on some books in an 

 unknown language, found near the banks of the Caspian Sea. His 

 ' Opuscula,' which treat of several topics of erudition, were published 

 by Klotz, 8vo, Halle, 1770, with a biography of Bayer. 



BAYLE, PETER, an eminent critic and controversial writer of the 

 17th century, was born November 18, 1647, at Caila-le-Cointe 1 , in the 

 department of Anege (the ancient county of Foix) in France. Of his 

 early life we shall only state, that he displayed great aptitude for 

 learning, and an uncommon passion for reading, and that his educa- 

 tion was commenced under the care of his father, the Protestant 

 minister of Carla, continued at the Protestant University of Puy- 

 laurens, where he studied from February 166ii to February 1669, and 

 concluded at the Catholic University of Toulouse. He had not been 

 there more than a month when he made public profession of the 

 Roman Catholic religion, to which, it is said, lie was converted by 

 the free perusal of controversial divinity at Puylaurens. It would 

 seem that his creed was lightly taken up, for, during his short residence 

 at Toulouse, he was reconverted to Protestantism by the conversation 

 of his Protestant connections. 



In" August 1670 he made a secret abjuration of Catholicism, and 

 went to Geneva, where he formed an acquaintance with many eminent 

 men, and especially contracted a close friendship with James Basuage 

 and Miuutoli. At Geneva and in the Pays de Vaud he lived four 

 years, supporting himself by private tuition. In 1874 he removed 

 first to Rouen, and soon after to Paris. The treasures of the public 

 libraries, and the easy access to literary society, rendered that city 

 agreeable to him above all other places. He corresponded freely on 

 literary subjects with his friend Basnage, then studying theology iu 

 the Protestant University of Sedan, who showed the letters to the 

 theological professor, M. Jurieu. By these, and by the recommenda- 

 tions of Basnage, Jurieu was induced to propose their author as a 

 proper person to fill the then vacant chair of philosophy, to whicli, 

 after a public disputation, Bayle was elected, November 2, 1675. For 

 five years he seems to have been almost entirely occupied by tho 

 duties of his office. In the spring of 1681 however he found time to 

 write his celebrated letter ou comets, in consequence of the appear- 

 ance of the remarkable comet of 1680, which had excited great alarm 

 among the superstitious and vulgar. But the licence for its publica- 

 tion being refused, it was not published till the following year, after 

 the author's removal to Rotterdam. 



In July 1681 the University of Sedan was arbitrarily disfranchised 

 by a decree of Louis XIV. Deprived of employment, Bayle obtained, 

 through the agency of one of his pupils, a pension from the magistracy 

 of Rotterdam, who were induced to form a i:ew establishment for 

 education, iu which Bayle was appointed professor of history and 

 philosophy, and Jurieu of theology. Bayle delivered his first lecture 

 in December 1681. In the following spring the letter ou comets 

 was anonymously printed ; but its author was soon discovered, and 

 obtained a considerable increase of reputation. In the same spring 

 (1682) he wrote an answer to Maimbourg's ' Histoire du Calvinisme," a 

 libellous misrepresentation of the conduct of the French Protestant 

 Church. ('Critique Ge'ne'rale de 1'Hist. du Calv. de M. Mainib.') This 

 was composed in a fortnight, during the Easter vacation. It met with 

 great success, and having been condemned to be publicly burnt in Paris, 

 was bought and read in that city with great avidity. 



We pass over some minor works to mention that in 1684 Bayle 

 commenced his 'Nouvelles de la Rdpublique des Lettres.' Thesa 

 were published monthly, beginniug with March 1684, and consisted 

 of a series of reviews of such works as the editor thought worthy of 

 special notice, and a list of new publications, with short remarks on 

 them. In May the states of Friesland offered to make Bayle pro- 

 fessor of philosophy in the University of Franeker, but he declined 

 the appointment, although it was more lucrative than that which he 

 held. On completing the first year of the ' Nouvelles,' Bayle affixed 

 his name to the work, contrary to his usual practice, which was care- 

 fully to conceal the parentage of all that he wrote. In fact, whether 

 from timidity, habitual love of secrecy, or the wish to leave himself 

 at liberty to take either side of a question, Bayle generally employed 

 the most elaborate devices of false dates and fictitious prefaces, to 

 divert public suspicion from himself. 



At this time men's minds were deeply steeped in the bitterness of 

 political and religious dissension. The revocation of the Edict of 

 Nantes, and persecution of the French Protestants, had raised a violent 

 indignation on the part of those who were banished for conscience- 

 sake, and a strong sympathy in all Protestant countries for the suffer- 

 ings of their brethren. Bayle expressed his feelings on this' subject 

 with moderation in the ' Nouvelles ; ' but he made a bitter attack on 

 the dominant church in an anonymous publication (' Ce qua c'est qua 

 la France toute Cathclique sous la Regne de Louis le Grand'), which 

 he followed in the same year (1686) by a ' Philosophical Commentary 

 on the words of St. Luke xiv. 23, " Constrain them to come in." In 

 these two works he laboured to expose the atrocious conduct of the 

 French government towards the 1'rotestaats, and the odious nature of 

 persecution iu general. The pains which Bayle bestowed upon this 

 work brought on an illness iu the spring of 1687, which incapacitated 



