These essays have emerged out of a conference held in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 17–19 September 1997, which was the culmination of a series of academic symposia which began in 1988 during the William and Mary Tercentenary, and which has resulted in the publication of two previous volumes: O. P. Grell, J. I. Israel and N. Tyacke (eds), From Persecution to Toleration: The Glorious Revolution and Religion in England (1991); and O. P. Grell and Bob Scribner (eds), Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation (1996).

The issue of toleration still remains as important today as it was during the Enlightenment. The continuous conflict in the former Yugoslavia, with its horrific examples of intolerance between different religious and ethnic groups, which started in Bosnia and has now moved on to Kosovo, reminds us that toleration cannot simply be a passive response, something akin to indifference. We are reminded that, if it is to have any meaning, toleration will occasionally mean active intervention to protect those who are exposed to intolerance and persecution. Edmund Burke's 200-year-old dictum: ‘For evil to succeed it only takes good men to do nothing’ remains as relevant as ever.

The editors are grateful to all the contributors for their cooperation in transforming conference papers into published essays, aided by constructive referees' reports provided by Cambridge University Press, and the encouragement of Richard Fisher of the Press.

We are beholden to the William and Mary History of Toleration Committee and the British Academy for their generous financial support of the conference which made this volume possible. For administrative aid, the editors wish to thank Frieda Houser.