BAY 



after his return was mads mafter of requefis, and liad alfo 

 the abbacies of Grenetiere and Charroux. Tlie precife time 

 of his birth and death is unknown. As a writer he feems to 

 have been the firll who introduced the Greek ti^agedy anionii 

 his countryx.en, by his tranflations of the " Elcftra," of 

 Sophocles, and the " Hecuba," of Euripides, into French 

 verfe. He was alfo the author of two learned treatifes, " De 

 re vtftiaria, et de vafculis," Bafil, 1526, 4to. and " De re 

 Navaii," Par. 1536, 4to. ; and he trar.flatcd fome Lives of 

 Plutarch. Moreri. 



Bayf, John Anthony. See BiiF. 



BAYJA, Baja or Baia, in Geography, a town of 

 Africa, in the kingdom of Tunis, not far from the frontiers 

 of the Alj^erine?, is fuppofcd to be the ancient '• Vacca" 

 of Salluil, the " Oppidum Vagenfe" of Piiny, and the 

 " BAFA" of Plutarch ; and it is at this day, as it was formerly, 

 a place of great trade, being the chief mart of the whole 

 ki.igdom, particularly for corn, which is fupplied in fuch 

 abundance by the plains of Bufdera, along the banks of the 

 Mejerda, that the Tun;fian5 fay proverbially concerning it, 

 that if there was another fuch town for plenty of com, it 

 would become as common and cheap as fand. It has alfo 

 every fummer a public fair, to which the mod diftant Arabian 

 tribe? refort with their flocks, their manufa&urts, and their 

 families. However, the inhabitants, fubjeft to the oppreffive 

 exaiSior.s of government, and the frequent incurfions of the 

 Arabs, who are numerous and powerful in its vicinity, are 

 extremely poor, and a great part of their ground remains 

 uncultivated. It is feated on tlie declivity of a hill in the 

 road to Conftantina, about 10 leagues from the northern 

 coaft, and 36 W. S. W. from Tunis ; and has the conveni- 

 ence of being well watered. On the furamit of the hill is a 

 citadel of no great ftrength. The walls, which are raifed 

 out of the materials of the old Roman Vacca, are ftill entire 

 and have fome ancient infcriptions. N. lat. 36^ 42'. E. 

 long. 9" 25'. Shaw's Travels, p. 92. 



BAYLE, Peter, in Biography, an eminent critic and 

 philofopher, was the fon of a proteftant miniller at Carla, 

 in the county of Foix in France, where he was born in 1647. 

 \VTiil;l he purfued his lludies, firll under his father, and 

 afterwards in the protellant academy at Puylaurens, whither 

 he was fent in 1666, his application was fo intenfe and un- 

 intermitting as to injure his health. His reading was very 

 extenfive ; but his favourite authors were Plutarch and 

 Montagne. From Puylaurens he removed in 1669 to the 

 univeriity of Touloufe, with the hope of enjoying fuperior 

 advantages for improvement, and of making more rapid pro- 

 grefs. Here he attended the philofophical leAures that 

 were read in tb.e college of the Jefuits ; and his difputes 

 with a popifh prieft, who lodged in the fame hovife with 

 him, ferved to increafe the fcruples which he had already 

 begun to entertain againll the proteftant religion, and at 

 length to induce him to avow himfelf a Roman cathohc. 

 This change of opinion, which feemed to be on his part 

 the refult of inquiry and of convidion, although produced 

 by arguments which maturer examination would difcover 

 to be inadequate, manifefted an ingenuity of mind. How- 

 ever, it fo grieved and offended his father, that he withdrew 

 from him the neccffary means of fubfiftence. In thefe def- 

 titute circumflances, he wasgencroufly relieved by the bifliop 

 of Rieux, who mull unqueilionably have been gratified by 

 the accefiion of fuch a convert. Upon further inquiiy 

 Bayle found, that he had been too precipitate in abandon- 

 ing his religion ; and he therefore determined to leave Tou- 

 loufe after having continued there about eighteen months, 

 and to renounce the errors into which he had been betrayed. 

 Having made his abjuration in the prefence of his eldeft 



DAY 



brother and fome other minillers, he immediately fet out 

 for Geneva, in order to profecute his ftudies. Here he 

 foon found reafon for rclir.quifning the phi'ofophy of Arif- 

 totle, to which he had been zealouily attached, and to adopt 

 that of Defcartc?. His reputation introduced him to 

 an acquaintance with feveral pcrfons of eminence at Geneva, 

 and particularly with Mr. James Bafnage ; between whom 

 and Bayle an intimate fritndihip fubfiflcd as long as they 

 botii hved. At this time Bayle acquired the means of fup- 

 port by private tuifon ; but diffatiified with this mode of 

 life, which did not fuit the independence of his fpirit, nor 

 correfpond to his dcfire of further improvement, he wifiied 

 to exchange it for fome fituation better adapted to his 

 genius and views. After a few years employed in this 

 way, an opportunity offered for gratifying his wiilies. In 

 the fpring of 1675 ''^^ removed to Paris, and undertook the 

 tuition of MelTrs. d; Bcringhen, brothers to a counftUor in 

 the parliament of Paris. From this city, however, to 

 which his wilhes had bein directed, he foon removed, at 

 the defire of his friend Mr. Bafnage, in order to offer him- 

 felf as a candidate for the vacant profefforlhip of philofophy 

 in the proteftant univerfity of Sedan. His views were fa- 

 voured by Mr. Jurieu, the profefTor of divinity, who favoured 

 Bayle, partly becaufe he was anxious to exclude another 

 candidate. Bayle evinced a decided fuptriority to the 

 other competitors in a public difputation, and having fe- 

 cured his eledion, began his leftures, Nov. ii, 1675. B7 

 the affiduity with which he difcharged the duties of his 

 public cifice, and by the amiable temper which he manifefted 

 in private hfe, he gained great reputation, and many friends, 

 at Sedan ; and he devoted his hours of leifure to compofi- 

 tions of the critical kind, which habituated hira to that 

 accuracy and depth of reafoning, that afterwards confti- 

 tuted his diilinguifhing excellence. The firll work, which 

 he committed to the prefs, was his Obfervations on the 

 comet that made its appearance in December 1680; the- 

 firfl edition of which was printed at Rotterdam in 16.S2, 

 without a name, and under the affumed character of a 

 Roman catholic, under the title of " Lettre a M. L. A. D. 

 C. doiSleur de Sorbonnc," ccc. and Cologne was the pre- 

 tended place of publication. In this treatifc, afterwards 

 called " Penfees fur la Comete," &c. many delicate quef- 

 tions are difcufTed, rtlative to fuppofcd miracles wrought, 

 and prefages given among the heathen?, to the companfoa 

 of the milchiefs of atheii'm with thofe of idolatry, and to 

 other points which afforded a range to the author's fpirit 

 of free enquiry. In i^lSl the univerfity of Sedan was fup- 

 preffed by an arbitrary edict of Lewis XIV. ; and Mr, 

 Bayle, deprived of his profeflbrfhip, was reduced to lh<»' 

 neceffity of feeking fome new employment. At this lime, 

 the magitlrates of Rotterdam eftabUllied a " Schola lUuf- 

 tris;" and Bayle was appointed profeiTor of philofophy 

 and hiilory ; and at his recommendation Jurieu was en- 

 gaged as profeffor of divinity. In December 1681, Bayle 

 entered on his new office. In the next year he publiihed 

 a criticifm on Maimbourg's " Hiilory of Caivinifni," in the 

 form of letters, under the title of " Critique Generate de 

 I'Hifloire du Calvinifme de M. Mainibourg." This work, 

 written in a lively manner, and with a vein of raillery, was 

 read with picafure by perfons of the reformed religion, and 

 it was particularly agreeable to the prince of Conde, who 

 was no friend to Maimbourg. Although it was pubhcly 

 condemned at Paris, it became popular in Holland, and a 

 new edition of it, with cnlargem.tnts, wasfpeedily publilhed. 

 Jurieu had alio publilhed a refutation of Maimbourg ; but 

 being much lefs popular than Baylc's, the author began to 

 regard his brother profeffor with a confiderable degree of 



jealoafy. 



