In 1693, Mr Bayle was deprived of his professor ship and of the salary annexed to it, and even pro. hibited from teaching privately. This harsh treat ment he himself ascribed to the machinations of Jurieu, and to the offence which, through his means, the magistrates had taken at the Letter on Comets. But it would appear that he was mistaken as to the cause of his deposition. The true cause is to be found in the unwarrantable fears, the rash policy, and tyrannical conduct of King William. That prince had heard of the " Project for a General Peace ;" and, as the publication of such treatises at Amster. dam had formerly been instrumental in bringing about the peace of Nimcguen, he was afraid that there was ' a design to make use of the same methods at Rot terdam for putting an end, however imperious, to the important contest in which he was engaged. He therefore, without examining the project itself, or making any enquiry into the character of Mr Bayle, ordered the magistrates to expel him from his office. These men, though perfectly satisfied that the suspi cions of William were groundless, and that they were commanded to do what was both unjust and cruel, obeyed the order they had received without address ing one word of remonstrance to the prince, or con descending, as they had promised, to hear the de fence which Mr Bayle might think it necessary to adduce. This act of undeserved severity had no dis grace in it except for those by whom it was com mitted. It neither greatly disturbed the tranquillity, nor at all injured the reputation of Mr Bayle; on the contrary, he bore it with the utmost fortitude and composure. The sense of the public was loudly ex pressed in his favour. And the same stroke which deprived him of an honourable employment and an independent -rowenue, afforded him the leisure that he would not otherwise have found, for the composition of a work on which his future fame was principally to rest.
This work was his Historical and Critical Dic tionary. The original plan; of which he published a specimen in 1692, under the title of Projet et Frag,mens d'un Dictionaire Critique, was to col lect, under the different articles of which he should treat, all the errors and mistatements that were to be found in other dictionaries, and to make remarks on the character .of authors as occasion should offer. However interesting and useful such a publication might be deemed, it did not meet with that degree of approbation which could justify the prosecution of his design. He therefore abandoned it, and 'ap plied himself to the composition of another dictionary on a more liberal and extended scale. So diligently did he labour, and so much had lie his learning at command, that, notwithstanding the interruptions which he repeatedly received from the malice of Ju rieu, the frequent necessity he was under of defending himself, the painful indisposition which he suffered in consequence of the closeness and severity of his studies, and other serious disadvantages under which he laboured, his new work, in two vo lumes, was ready for publication in about four years after it was begun. It came out in 1697, with the following title, Dictionairc Ilistorique et Critique par Monsieur Bayle. Pie put his name to this work, contrary to his former unvaried practice, not from any change in his sentiments on that point, but because the states of Holland made it the condition of granting the privilege for which his bookseller had applied. The duke of Shrewsbury, at that time se cretary of state in England, expressed a wish that it should be dedicated to him; but Mr Bayle declined complying with his grace's request, both because he had often made a jest of dedications, and because he disdained to praise any one who held an official situa tion under a prince from whom he had experienced such cruel and unprovoked injury.
The plait of the dictionary is well known. It con ' • sists of two parts: one of which is a succinct narration of facts, and the other " a large commentary," as ' Mr Bayle himself -expresses it, " a medley of proofs and discussions, a criticism of many errors, and some times a long train of philosophical reflections." The public were highly pleased with it when it first ap peared, and to the present day it has continued to be a work of great authority and repute. The learn ing and acuteness of the author are every where con spicuous. That freedom of disquisition 'which con tributes so much to the elucidation of truth, is in dulged in with little reserve. The mistakes and mis representations of other critics are exposed. New facts are brought forward. The merits and demerits of character are ascertained with much precision. The history of literature is, in many cases, well il lustrated. Superstition and enthusiasm are happily ridiculed. Many maxims of a political, moral, and philosophical kind are deduced and established. In short, it contains a great deal of useful and entertain ing matter, and is written in that easy, perspicuous, and agreeable style by which all Mr Bayle's compo sitions are distinguished.
Mr Bayle's dictionary procured for him a high de gree of celebrity, but it also involved him in much disagreeable controversy. Jurieu, of course, was the very first to attack and decry the merits of the work. Mr Le Clerc found fault with his statement of the Manichean system. Mr Tessier blamed him for cri ticising falsely, several passages in his " Additions to the Eulogies of Learned Men." MrJaquelot reproach ed him for his alleged heterodoxy respecting free will, moral evil, and Pyrrhonism. And by many others he was subjected to the severest censure and animadver sion. But against all of them lie defended himself with boldness, ability, and success. The consistory of the Walloon church of Rotterdam, were induced, through the influence of Jurieu, to examine the dictionary. They found many parts of it inconsistent with sound doctrine and with good morals. They communica ted their remarks to Mr Bayle, and gave him an op portunity of answering for himself. With his an. savers, which consisted partly of explanation, partly of concessions, and partly of promises to correct or expunge what had given offence, they declared them selves to be satisfied, and concluded their proceed ings with presenting to him a memorial of the prin cipal things to which they requested his attention in the second edition of his dictionary. Jurieu seems to have been mortified and displeased that Mr Bayle did not experience a more rigid treatment from the consistory. But that enmity must have been exces sive indeed, which was not fully gratified by the re proofs that were administered, and the restraints that were imposed on the philosopher, by the humble tone of acquiescence and submission in which he replied to the ministers, and by the injunctions which they gave him to behave with greater moderation towards MrJu. rieu ; a pastor whose ministry and labours had been and still were of singular edification to the church.