175 - BAYLE (Pierre), 1647–1706.

BAYLE (Pierre), 1647–1706. L.A., n.p. (“Holland” [Rotterdam]), January 15, 1699, 3 pp., in-4, addressed to Mr. Arabet, a merchant in Carla in the county of Foix (for the attention of his cousin), discussing at length the dispute between Fénelon and Bossuet over Quietism and their numerous recent publications on the subject: “[...] You speak only of a book by Mr. de Cambrai against Mr. de Meaux, but there are several on both sides, both on matters of law and on matters of fact [...] the first of the two prelates is out of favor at the French Court, but things are not going badly at the Court of Rome, and he has many supporters in France. He is considered to be very witty, but he has made poor use of it; how many mystical visions of devotion—barely forgivable even in hermits or fanatical nuns—are fitting for an archbishop? My opponent has not responded to Mr. de Meaux’s *Apocalypse*, I have only heard it said that in the third edition of his *Fulfillment of the Prophecies* he intended to respond, and that this third edition is still in the bookseller’s warehouse—or has long since been printed, or is well advanced—but he has never dared to publish it [...] "" He subsequently mentions the intervention of the Protestant pastor and lawyer Claude Brousson (1647–1698) in the controversy sparked by the entry “David” in the first edition of Bayle’s dictionary, which was accused of having “sought to destroy David.” ""[...] I have promised to rewrite that article for the second edition. The printers are working on it constantly, and I am very busy correcting and expanding it. [...]” After sharing some news about mutual acquaintances, he concludes by mentioning Basnage, who “has finally completed his major work on the history of the Church [...] and has included in it a response to Mr. de Meaux’s objections.” An interesting letter from the father of the famous *Dictionnaire historique et critique*, who had been in exile in Rotterdam for 18 years, perfectly illustrating the religious and intellectual controversies of the late reign of Louis XIV, behind which lies a broader debate on freedom of conscience, religious authority, and the possibility of freely exercising critical thinking, in a Europe still deeply marked by confessional conflicts. Pierre Bayle was a native of Carla-le-Comte (now called Le Carla-Bayle in his honor), located in the former county of Foix. In the extensive correspondence of the Protestant philosopher Pierre Bayle, the Arabet family appears on several occasions. This was a long-established Protestant family firmly rooted in Le Carla. Mr. Arabet was a merchant there and regularly served as an intermediary to smuggle or discreetly deliver letters between Pierre Bayle (then in exile in Rotterdam) and his family or his cousin Naudis, who had remained in the county of Foix. Accompanied by its original certificate of export for cultural property issued by the Ministry of Culture.