LA BADIE, LABADISTS. Jean de la Badie, a noted Pietist leader in the 17th century, was the son of Jean Charles de la Badie, governor of Guyenne; he was born in the town of Bourg not far from Bordeaux, on the 13th of February 1610, and died in Altona, on the 13th of February 1674. He was sent along with two brothers to the Jesuit school at Bordeaux, where his talents attracted the attention of bis teachers, and they secured him for their order against the wishes of his parents. In 1626 he began to study philosophy and theology, and in due time made his profession. From a study of the Bible, of Augustine, Bernard, and the mystics, he was led to hold somewhat extreme views about the efficacy of prayer and the direct influence of the Holy Spirit upon believers, and adopted Augustinian views about grace, free will, and predestination, which brought him into collision with his order. The result was that he resigned and was separated from the Jesuits on the plea of ill health. He then became a preacher to the people, and was encouraged by his bishop to devote himself to this work. The study of Calvin’s Institutes, however, taught him that he had more in common with the Reformed than with the Roman Catholic Church, and after various adventures he joined the Reformed Church of France at Montauban in 1650. His fame had preceded him, and his accession to the ranks of the Protestants was deemed a great triumph; no such man since Calvin himself, it was said, had left the Roman Catholic Church. He was called to the pastorate of the church at Orange on the Rhone, and at once became noted for the severity of the discipline he exercised. He set his face zealously against dancing, card-playing, and worldly entertainments. The unsettled state of the country, recently annexed to France, ...