BAY 



tlie injfenious abbe, nfterwards cardinal, de Pollfjnac, he 

 freely difclofcd his uiiiverlal Pyrrhonifiii. " I am truly (faid 

 Haylc) a protcftaiit, for I protcH iiidifferciuly againil all 

 fyrtcms and all ftfts." 



Upon the whole we may obfer\'e, that in private life Mr. 

 Baylc was fobcr and temperate, modell and iinafruming, 

 dilinterefted and fincTe. As a writer, his fentimcnts were 

 fluctuating and fceptical, and he is not luijnftly placed at the 

 head of modern fceptics. Althoiip;h he often takes pleafnre 

 in propagating his doubts, and pcrplcxin;^ his readers with 

 a contrariety of opinions, yet he frcqncntly combats hurttiil 

 prejudice and unwarrantable dogmatifni. In many articles 

 of his Diflionary, it does not appear to what count ly, ftft, 

 or perfuafion he belongs ; and this circr.mftance has been re- 

 garded by fome perfons as conlUtuting a qualification for 

 historical difcuffion. rov the pruriency of his ideas, for his 

 iiotorio'-is want of delicacy, and for his difpofition to intro- 

 duce offenfive topics, his mod partial advocates will find it 

 difficult to devife an apology. Tiie pernicious tendency of 

 his fceptical fyftcm, with regard to religion and focicty, is 

 well expofed by lord Lyttleton in his " Dialogues of the 

 Dead," Dial. 24. Works, vol. ii. p. 315. "You have en- 

 deavoured," fays tljis excellent writer, perfonatiiig Locke, 

 " and with fome degree of fnccefs, to (liake thofe founda- 

 tions, on which the whole moral world, and the great fabric 

 of focial happinefs, entirely reft ; how could you, as a phi- 

 lofopher, in the fober hours of refleiElion, anlwcr for this to 

 yourconfcicnce, even fuppofmg you had doubts of the truth 

 of a fyftem, which gives to virtue its fwecteft hope, to impeni- 

 tent vice its greatcft fears, and to tnic penitence its bcft con- 

 lolations; which reftrains even the leaft approaches to guilt, and 

 yet makes thofe allowances for the infirmities of our nature, 

 which the ftoic pride denied to it, but which its real imper- 

 fetlion, and the goodnefs of its infinitely benevolent Creator, 

 fo evidently require .'" As to his ftyle of writing, it is na- 

 tural and lively, but not always correft, and inclining to 

 prolixity j and his manner is rather fatiricnl and humourous, 

 than inflammatory. The beft editions of his Dictionary are 

 thofe of 1720 and 1740. The EngHfh tranfiation of Mr. 

 dc Maizeaux is reckoned a good one. A new and accurate 

 tranfiation of Bajle's diftionary is incorporated in the " Ge- 

 neral Dictionary, Hiftorical and Critital," with rcfleftions 

 on fuch paffagcs of Mr. Baylc, as fetm to favour fcepti- 

 cifm and the Manichce fyllem. Maizeaux's Life of Bavle. 

 Gen. Diel. Gen. Uiog. 



Bayle, Francis, many years proftlTor in medicine and 

 philofophy at Touloufe, and author of numerous Lamed 

 and ingenious works, died September 24th, 1709, aged 87 

 years. The moll elleemed of his productions are, " De 

 Menftruis Mulierum," " Sympathia parlium coiporis hu- 

 mani cum utcro, ufu laffis ad tabidos, &c." Tolof. 1670, 

 4to. He attributes the menftrua! flux to a fermentation oc- 

 curring periodically in the mucous finufes in the uterus, 

 diftcnding and opening their mouths, which collapfe and 

 clofe as foon as the fermentation fubfides ; a notion as philofo- 

 phical as the periodical plethora of Friend. " Diflcrtationes 

 phyfics fcx," Tolof. 1677, i2mo. The third diffcrtation 

 is on phyllognomy, in which ihe autlior had faith, as well 

 as in the power of the imagination of the mother, in marking 

 and mutilating the foetus in utcro. " Difcours fur I'expe- 

 ricnce et la raifon," Pans, 1(^75, i2mo. He here afferts 

 the fuperiority of experience over theory- in medicine. " Hif- 

 toire d'un enfant qui a demeure 25 ans dans Ic ventre de fa 

 mere," Tolof. 1678, i2mo. The fcetus was found uncor- 

 rupted, furroundcd by a firm cruft or ihcU. For the titles 

 of the remainder of this author's works, which were col- 

 lefted and publifhed in four volumes, 410. in the year 1 70 1, 

 U Touloufe, fee Hall. Bib. Anat. & Eloy's Did. Hill. 



BAY 



B.VYLli, In Fort'ificalion, the fpace outfide the ditch of 

 our ancient fortrefles, commonly lurrpunded by flrong pal- 

 lifades, and fometimes by a low embattled wall. 



Bayly, Lewis, in Biography, an Englilli bifhop in the 

 reign of James I., was born at Carmarthen, in South 

 Wales, and educated at Oxford. Being an eminent preacher, 

 he was appointed one of the king's chaplains, and promoted 

 to the fee of Bangor in 1 616. In 162 1 he was committed 

 to the Fleet, probably on account of his concern in prince 

 Henry's matcli with the Infanta of Spain He died in 1632, 

 and was buried in the church of Bangor. This prelate was the 

 author of a famous piece called " The PraifUcc of Piety," 

 which has been fo popular, that the edition of 1734 was tlie 

 59th. It was tranllated into Wclfh and alio into French 111 

 1733; ^"^ * complaint was alleged againft it, that the com- 

 mon people regarded its authority as equal to that of the 

 Bible. Biog. Brit. 



BAYN'A, in Geugraphy, a town of Hungary, in the Bo- 

 dok dill rift, the inhabitants of which are principally farmers 

 and hnfoandmen. 



EAYNES, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Calvados, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrift of 

 Bayeux, 3I leagues W.S.W. of Baycux. 



BAYNET, a town and bay on the fouth fide of the 

 ifland of St. Domingo, 4? leagues from Petit Guave, oa 

 the north (ide of the ifland, and about 8 leagues well of 

 Jackmel. N. lat. 18° 17'. 



BAYON, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Meurtc, and chief place of a canton in the diftrift of Luiie- 

 ville, feated on the Mofelle. N. lat. 48^ 30'. E. long. 14'* 

 42'. 



BAYONA, a fea-port town of Spain in Gallicia, fuuated 

 in a fmall gulf, near the mouth of the Minho, with a con- 

 venient harbour. The coall near it abounds with excellent 

 fifli ; and the land, «-atered by many fprings, is fertile. 

 N. lat. 42° 15'. W. long. 9° 30'. 



Bavona Bay and JJlamls, lie on the fouth part of the 

 great bay of Vigo, and to the caft of cape Paflelis, on the 

 weft coaft of Spain, in the Atlantic ocean. The bay form* 

 the harbour of the town of Bnyoi.a. The two iflands are fitu- 

 ated a little to the weft of north from the town. They 

 were ar.ciently calUd " Infulx Deorum," or the ifles of the 

 Gods. A large rock, with many fmall ones about it, lies 

 at the fouth end of Bavona iflands. 



BAYONET, in the iMililnry jlrl, fignifies a (hort broad 

 dagger, ufed by all modern armies, fince the fword has been 

 laid afide, as a neceffary appendage to the infantry. The 

 origin of the term is not corredlly known ; but is moll pro- 

 bably derived from having been firft manufadlured at the 

 city of Bayonne, or originally invented by an engineer of 

 that place. 



Bayonets were formerly made with a round handle, 

 adapted to the bore of a firelock, fo as to be fixed there 

 after the ioldier had difchargtd his piece. They arc now 

 conftrufted with iron handles and rings which go over the 

 muzzle of the firelock, and are fcrewed faft ; thus enabling 

 the foldier to fire and load with his bayonet iixed, and ready 

 to aft, if necefl"ary, againft horfc. I'his is particularly of 

 fervice to dragoons and fulileers, after they have expended 

 all their powder and ball. 



The ufe of the bayonet fattened on the muzzle of the 

 firelock was a great improvement, firft introduced by the 

 French, and to whicfi, according to tiic chevalier de Folard 

 (Comm.fur Polyb. vol.i. p. 135. edit. Paris, 1727), they 

 owed in a great meafure their vidtories obtained in the war 

 of 1689. To its negledt in the next war, the fame writer 

 attributes moft of the lolTes they fuftained. It is to marfhal 

 Catinat, the French are indebted for the great fuperiority 



they 



