Curious History of the Life of Jean de Labadie

nature; But because it is important that posterity preserves the Copy of this significant Original, we intend to portray him in full color, and to sketch him as faithfully as some of the memoirs we have received from the hands of Persons of integrity and credit depict him to us.

We will be easily forgiven, as we hope, if we say nothing of his air, his stature, his appearance, or his physiognomy—all these external things being so subject to deceiving and lying that it is not possible to draw an assured conclusion of integrity from them. For it is well known that there are heads that can be dismantled A 17th-century idiom suggesting people who can change their expression or persona at will., faces that wear makeup, appearances that are faked, and people so symbolic in this world that at the very moment they show the simplicity of doves in their eyes, they carry the prudence of serpents in the depths of their hearts. A reference to Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." It is enough to say that our Mr. de Labadie has a very engaging air, attractive speech, honeyed discourse, and a manner so suited to winning the favor of the weaker sex A common, though patronizing, historical reference to women., that just as he knows that the devil, to seduce man and make him fall into rebellion, attacked the woman, whom he easily engaged in his party; so too he has the skill to make advantageous use of these same weapons, by addressing himself to women whom he cajoles as tenderly as possible for a good end, that is to say

to say, to engage entire families through them into his maxims and his sentiments. This is a skill which few or none of our Doctors Learned theologians or scholars of the church. have thought of, except perhaps some wicked Heretics who have done nothing but trouble the Church and who are not worth the honor of being named; but it is a skill which he uses so admirably that it has been noted that he pronounces, with an air much more sweet and touching, the term My Sister than that of My Brother.

This does not prevent him from winning the affections of the stronger sex with almost as much ease, and from occasionally so well-preparing their inclinations to his advantage that some would declare themselves as frankly his martyr as that of JESUS CHRIST; because most of these good people whom he engages in his party make no distinction between the Master and the Minister, and they judge that their interests being merged, the zeal they show for the one can conveniently be extended to the other. If one were curious to know who taught this great man this fine method, it would be easy to satisfy them: it is because he had the good fortune to be instructed at the feet of the Gamaliels A reference to Gamaliel, a celebrated doctor of Jewish Law and teacher of St. Paul. Here, it refers to influential teachers. of the Order of Loyola The Jesuits, founded by Ignatius of Loyola. The author implies Labadie's persuasive tactics were learned during his time as a Jesuit., who although they support doctrines that are not received in our Churches and which Mr. de Labadie has abandoned, nevertheless have a very particular skill for infil-