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improvements by the author, in 1627, under a new title, viz. Coe-lum Stellatum Christianum; the Christian Stellated Ileaven, orthe Starry Heavens Christianized ; for in this work, the heathennames and characters, or figures of the constellations, were reject-ed, and others, taken from the scriptures, were inserted in theirstead, to circumscribe the respective constellations. This was theproject of one Julius Schiller , a civilian of the same place. Butthis attempt was too great an innovation, to find success, or a ge-neral reception, which might occasion great confusion. And, weeven find in the later editions of this work, in 1654 and 1601, thatdie ancient figures and names were restored again.

11AYEUX, a town of France, in the department of Calvados .Long. 0. 43. W. Lat. 49. 16. N.

BAYLE, Peter, author of the Historical and Critical Dic-tionary, was born Nov. 18, 1657, at Chula, in France , where hisfather John Bayle was a Protestant minister. In 1681 he waschosen professor of philosophy and history at Rotterdam , with asalary ot about 4'51. a-year. In 1682, he published his Lettersconcerning Comets . And Father Maimbourg having publishedhis History of Calvinism, wherein he endeavours to draw upon theProtestants the contempt and resentment of the Catholics , Mr.Bayle wrote a piece to confute it. The reputation which he hadnow acquired, induced the States of Friczland, in 1684, to oilerhim a professorship in their university ; but he wrote them a letterof thanks, and declined the offer. ' This same year he began topublish his Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres. In NovemberIt >90, M. de Beauval advertised in his Journal, A Scheme for aCritical Dictionary. 'Phis was the work of Mr. Bayle. The ar-ticles of the three first letters of the alphabet were already prepar-ed ; but a dispute happening betwixt him and M. de Beauval,•bliged him for some time to lay aside the work. Nor did he re-sume it till May, 1692, when he published his scheme ; but thepublic not approving of his plan, he threw it into a different form :and the first volume was published in August 1695, and the 2d inOctober following. The work was extremely well received bythe public; but it engaged him in disputes, particularly with Mr.Jtirieu and the Abbe Renaudot. Mr. Jurieu published a piece,wherein he endeavoured to engage the ecclesiastical assemblies tocondemn the dictionary; he presented it to the senate sitting atDelft , but they took no notice of the affair. The consistory ofRotterdam granted Mr. Bayle a hearing ; and after having heardhis answers to their remarks on his dictionary, declared themselvessatisfied, and advised him to communicate this to the public. Mr.Jurieu made another attempt with the consistory in 1698 ; and sofar he prevailed with them, that they exhorted Mr. Bavle to bemore cautious with regard to his principles in the 2d edition of hisdictionary ; which was published in 1702, with many additions andimprovements. Mr. Bayle was a most indefatigable writer. Inone of his letters to Maizeux, he says, that since his 20th year, hehardly remembers to have had any leisure. II is intense applicationcontributed to impair his constitution, lie had a decay on thelungs, which weakened him considerably; and as this was a dis-temper which cut off several of his family, he judged it to be mor-tal, and w ould take no remedies. He died 28th Dec. 1706, afterhe had been writing the greatest part of the day. lie wrote severalbooks besides what we have mentioned, many of which were inliis own defence against attacks he had received from the abbe Re-uaudot, Mr. Clerk, M. Jaquelot, and others. Among the pro-ductions which do honour to the age of Louis XIV. Mr. Voltaire has not omitted the Critical Dictionary: “ It is the first workof the kind (he says) in which a man may learn to think.” Andhe remarks that “ the decree of the parliament of Toulouse , whenit declared his will valid in France , notwithstanding the rigour ofthe laws, expressly said, that such a man could not be consideredas a foreigner.” It is extremely difficult, according toM. Saurin,to form a proper opinion of this extraordinary man ; on the onehand, he says, he was free, at least to appearance, from all the pas-sions which’are inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity ; and onthe other employing all the strength of his genius to overthrow thefoundation of al’l moral and Christian virtues.

BAYONET , in the military art, a short broad dagger, formerlywith a round handle fitted for the bore of a firelock, to be fixedthere after the soldier had fired; but they are now made with ironhandles and rings, that go over the muzzle of the firelock, and arescrewed fast, so that the soldier fires with his bayonet on the muzzleof his piece, and is ready to act against cavalry. To this the French ,

VOi.. i.— no. 26 .

says M. Folard, owe a great part of their victories in the 17th cen-tury ; and to the neglect of this in the next succeeding war, andtrusting to their lire, the same author attributes most of the lossesthey sustained.

BAYONNE, a city of France, in the department of the LowerPyrenees. The military weapon, the Bayonet , bears the name ofthis city, in which it was invented, as the pistol, for the same rea-son, is so called from Pistoia . Long. I. 20. VV. Lat. 43. 20. N.

BAY ZE, BAYS, or BAIZE, in commerce, a sort of openwoollen stuff, having a long nap, sometimes frize.d, and sometimesnot. This stuff' is without wale, and is wrought in a loom w ithtwo treddles, like llanncl. It is chiefly manufactured at Colches-ter and Bockin in Essex, where there is a hall called the Dutch bay-hall, or raw-hall.

BAZAR, or BASAR, a denomination among the Turks andPersians , given to a kind of exchanges, or places where their fineststuffs, and other wares are sold.

BAZAS, a town of France , 30 miles S. of Bourdeaux.

BDELLIUM, [/SJixxio*, S<-ia, badil, a separation or flowingapart, so called from its oozing from the plants that produce it,] aitaromatic gum brought from the Levant, used as a medicine, and aperfume ; and also a gummy resinous juice, produced by a tree iatlie East Indies.

BEACHY-IIEAD, a promontory on the coast of Sussex,Long. 0. 20. E. Lat. 50. 54. N.

BEACON, [Sax. from been, a signal, or becnan, whencebeckon, to make a signal,] a public signal to give warning againstrocks, shelves, invasions, See. See the article Signal. Ft is madeby putting pitch barrels upon a long pole, and fixing them upon aneminence, so that they may be seen afar oft'; for the barrels beingfired, the flame, in the night-time, and the smoke in the day, givenotice, and in a few hours may alarm the whole kingdom, uponan approaching invasion, Ac.

Beacons on the sea-coasts, for guiding and preserving vesselsat sea, by night as well as by day, are erected by the king’s au-thority, being a branch of the royal prerogative. The king hasthe exclusive power, by commission under his great seal, to causebeacons, light-houses, and sea-marks, to be erected in fit and con-venient places, as well upon the lands of the subject, as upon thedemesnes of the crown : which power is usually vested by letterspatent in the office of lord high admiral. And by statute 8 Eliz.c. 13. the corporation of the Trinity-house are impowered to setup any beacons or sea-marks wherever they shall think them ne-cessary ; and if the owner of the land or any other person shalldestroy them, or shall take down any steeple, tree, or otherknown sea-mark, he shall forfeit 100/. or, in case of inability topay it, shall be ipso facto outlawed.

BEACON AGE, atax paid towards the maintenance of a beacon.

BEACON'SFIELD, a town of Buckinghamshire , 25 miles \\ .N. W. of London . Lon. 0.25, W. Lat.51. 36. N.

BEAD, \Jicade, prayer, Saxon,] small globes or balls of gins?or pearl, or other substance, strung upon a thread, and used bythe Romanists to count their prayers; from whence the phraseto tell beads, or be at one’s beads, Is to be at prajer.

Bead, in architecture, a round moulding, commonly made uponthe edge of a piece of stuff', in the Corinthian and Roman orders,cut or carved in short embossments, like beads in necklaces.

Bead, in assaying, the small lump or mass of pure metal sepa-rated from the scoria?, and seen distinct and pure in the middle ofthe coppel while in the fire.

Beads, in commerce, those glass globules, which, on thecoast of Africa , previously to the abolition of the slave-trade, werebartered with the poor negroes in exchange for their liberty, thusdenominated, because they are strung together tor the conve-nience of traffic.

Beads, used in necklaces, are made of various materials; suckas steel, garnet, coral, diamond, amber, crystals, pastes, Ac.

Bf.adle, an officer in universities, whose place is to walk beforethe masters at all public processions, Ac. with a mace-. It is alsoapplied to those church officers who keep the keys of the churchesand seals.

BEA D-M AKERS, called by the French paler-nostriers, are thoseemployed in making and selling beads for devotional purposes.

Bead-Proof, a term used bv distillers to express that sort oiproof of the standard strength ot spirituous liquors, which consistsin their having, when sbakdi iu a pliial, or poured from on high5 K.