This man was ingeniously
defrauded of the work, which owed its conception and execution entirely to
him. Perhaps on the whole he might have been congratulated, as he escaped
the Bastille, to which the appropriators of his work were consigned.
An author who dares to combat the popular superstitious beliefs current in
his time often suffers in consequence of his courage, as Balthazar Bekker
discovered to his cost. This writer was born in West Friezland in 1634,
and died at Amsterdam in 1698. He was a pastor of the Reformed Church of
Holland, and resided during the greater part of his life at Amsterdam,
where he produced his earlier work _Recherches sur les Cometes_ (1683), in
which he combated the popular belief in the malign influence of comets.
This work was followed a few years later by his more famous book _De
Betoverde Weereld_, or _The Enchanted World_, [Footnote: _Le Monde
enchante, ou Examen des sentimens touchant les esprits, traduit du flamand
en francais_ (Amsterdam, 1694, 4 vols., in-l2). One Benjamin Binet wrote a
refutation, entitled _Traite historique des Dieux et des Demons du
paganisme, avec des remarques sur le systeme de Balthazar Bekker_ (Delft,
1696, in-l2).] in which he refuted the vulgar notions with regard to
demoniacal possession. This work created a great excitement amongst the
Hollanders, and in two months no less than four thousand copies were sold.
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