FOREWORD

FROM

THE PRINTER.

Messrs. des Marets, the brothers, Henry and Samuel des Marets, influential theologians and pastors who opposed Labadie. Pastors in the Walloon Churches French-speaking Protestant churches in the Netherlands, primarily composed of refugees from the Southern Netherlands and France. of Delft and The Hague, were urgently requested by their friends six weeks ago to justify the proceedings of the Synods Formal assemblies of church leaders or "classes" convened to decide on matters of doctrine and discipline. against Mr. de Labadie, to lift the veil from his mystery of iniquity, original: "mystere d'iniquité" — a biblical allusion to 2 Thessalonians 2:7, suggesting a hidden or spiritual evil. to uncover his hypocrisy, and above all to refute the Manifesto of his schism, which bears the title The Christian Declaration, etc., printed in The Hague long before the last Walloon Synod held in Dordrecht had pronounced his deposition. A formal removal of a minister from their religious office. Although this hateful subject should have excused them from such an unpleasant task—allowing them to apply their time and their studies to works more worthy of their vigilance and their care—nonetheless, misfortune having willed that a good number of people of