Jakob Abbadie
Encyclopedia
Jakob Abbadie also known as Jacques or James Abbadie, was a Protestant
divine
and writer. He became dean of Killaloe
, in Ireland.
, Béarn, probably in 1654, although 1657 and 1658 have been given. There is some colour for the assertion of Samuel Smiles
that he was "the scion of a distinguished Béarnese family"; although it is probable that the poverty of his parents would have excluded him from a learned career if some of the leading Protestants of the district had not charged themselves with the expenses of his education. This was commenced under M. Jean de la Placette, the minister of Nay, He studied at Puylaurens
, the Academy of Saumur
, and the Academy of Sedan
. He received the degree of doctor in theology
, it is said, at the age of seventeen. An obituary notice, however, which appeared in the Daily Courant
for 5 October 1727, says: "He was not above twenty-two when he undertook of himself his admirable treatise on the “Truth of the Christian Religion”".
About the same time he was sent for by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
, to be minister of the French church at Berlin. The electoral summons found Abbadie at Paris, and it was conveyed through the Count d'Espense, who had been commissioned by his master to make the selection. After spending some years in Berlin as minister of a French Protestant church, where he had great success as a preacher
. The congregation of refugees, small enough at first to be accommodated in an apartment of the Count d'Espense's residence, grew gradually from increased emigration to Brandenburg
, caused by the revocation of the edict of Nantes
in 1685. The elector ordered the ancient chapel of his palace to be prepared for the congregation, and the services were frequently attended by the younger members of his family. Abbadie's arrival in Berlin has been variously assigned to the years 1680 and 1681. During seven or eight years he used his increasing favour with the elector to relieve the distress of the refugees from France, and especially from his native province of Béarn. Abbadie continued to occupy his pastorate at Berlin until the death of the great elector, which took place 29 April 1688.
He then accompanied Marshal Schomberg
to England in 1688, and the following year became minister of the French church in the Savoy
area of London. There William III promoted him to the deanery
of Killaloe
in Ireland. In the autumn of 1689 he went to Ireland with the marshal.
After the battle of the Boyne
, Abbadie repaired to London, where he was presently appointed minister of the French church in the Savoy, which had been founded about the year 1641. Abbadie subsequently published a revised version of the French translation of the English liturgy used at this church, with an epistle dedicatory to George I
. He was often appointed to deliver occasional discourses, both in London and Dublin, but his want of facility in English prevented his preferment in England, and also excluded him from the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin
, to which William III
wished to promote him. Abbadie's health suffered from devotion to his duties in the Savoy, and from the climate of this country. He therefore settled in Ireland, and in 1699 the deanery of Killaloe was conferred upon him by the king. whose special favour he had attracted by a vindication of the Revolution of 1688
.
The remainder of Abbadie's life was spent in writing, preaching, and in the performance—not too sedulous, for he was frequently absent from his benefice—of the ordinary duties of his office, varied by visits to England and to Holland, where most of his books were printed. Abbadie visited Holland to see his La Vérité through the press; and afterwards stayed more than three years at Amsterdam
, 1720–23, during the preparation of Le Triomphe and other works. He returned to Ireland in 1723. Abbadie's income as dean of Killaloe was so small that he could not afford a literary amanuensis; and Hugh Boulter
, archbishop of Armagh
, having appealed in vain to Lord Carteret
, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
, on Abbadie's behalf, gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. Edmund Gibson
, bishop of London
, and Abbadie left Ireland. He established himself at Marylebone
. He died at his lodgings at Marylebone on Monday, 25 September 1727, in aged 74.
While at Berlin he made several visits to the Netherlands, in 1684, 1686, and 1688, chiefly for the purpose of superintending the printing of several of his works, including the Traité de la Vérité, 1684. The book went through a vast number of editions and was translated into several languages, an English version, by Henry Lussan, appearing in 1694. Completed by a third volume, the Traité de la Divinité de Nôtre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, it appeared at Rotterdam, 1689. An English translation, entitled A Sovereign Antidote against Arian Poyson, appeared in London, 1719, and again ‘revised, corrected, and, in a few places, abridged, by Abraham Booth,’ under the title of The Deity of Jesus Christ essential to the Christian Religion, 1777. The entire apology for Christianity formed by the three volumes of the Traité, which combated severally the heresies
of atheism
, deism
, and Socinianism
, was received with praise. La Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne Réformée (1717) was a controversial treatise which in its four parts attacks the characteristic doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church; it was translated into English, for the use of the Roman Catholics of his diocese of Dromore, by Dr. Ralph Lambert, afterwards bishop of Meath
. The work was completed in 1723 in Le Triomphe de la Providence et de la Religion; ou, l'Ouverture des sept Seaux par le Fils de Dieu, où l'on trouvera la première partie de l'Apocalypse clairement expliquée par ce qu'il y a de plus connu dans l'Histoire et de moins contesté dans la Parole de Dieu. Avec une nouvelle et très-sensible Démonstration de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne.
It was in the Irish camp with Schomberg that Abbadie commenced one of his most successful works, which was published at Rotterdam in 1692, as L'Art de se connoître soi-même; ou, La Recherche des Sources de la Morale, and went through many editions and amplifications. Translations of this work into other languages include a popular English version by the Rev. Thomas Woodcock, The Art of Knowing One-self, 1694. The last 50 pages of this 274-page work deals with pride
, which he divided into five branches: love of esteem, presumptuousness, vanity, ambition and arrogance.
Among the early writings of Abbadie were four Sermons sur divers Textes de l'Ecriture, 1680; Réflexions sur la Présence réelle du Corps de Jésus-Christ dans l'Eucharistie, 1685; and two highly adulatory addresses on persons in high stations, entitled respectively Panégyrique de Monseigneur l'Electeur de Brandebourg, 1684; and Panégyrique de Marie Stuart, Reine d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, de France, et d'Irlande, de glorieuse et immortelle mémoire, décédée à Kensington le 28 décembre 1694, 1695, also published in England as A Panegyric on our late Sovereign Lady, 1695. These four productions, with other occasional sermons, were in 1760 republished collectively, in three volumes, at Amsterdam, and preceded by an Essai historique sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de M. Abbadie. The pamphlet on the Eucharist
was also reprinted at Toulouse
, in 1835, under the title of Quatre Lettres sur la Trans-substantiation, and appeared in an English translation, by John W. Hamersley, as the Chemical Change in the Eucharist, 1867.
Défense de la Nation Britannique, 1693 was an elaborate defence of the Glorious Revolution
, written in answer to Pierre Bayle's
Avis important aux Réfugiés, 1690. He gave a funeral oration on Queen Mary
. Abbadie had also written, at the request of the king, Histoire de la dernière Conspiration d'Angleterre, 1696, a history of the conspiracy of 1696, which was reprinted in Holland and translated into English, and for which the Earl of Portland
and Secretary Sir William Trumbull
placed original documents at the author's disposal. This work helped Abbadie's preferment. After its production, "his majesty sent him to Ireland, with an order to the lords justices to confer upon him some dignity in the church, which order was complied with by his promotion to the deanery of Killalow" (Daily Courant, 5 October 1727).
He revised his works for a complete edition in four volumes, in which were also to be included two unpublished treatises, Nouvelle Manière de prouver l'Immortalité de l'Ame, and Notes sur le Commentaire philosophique de M. Bayle. No trace of them could be found after his death.
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
divine
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
and writer. He became dean of Killaloe
Killaloe Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St. Flannan, Killaloe is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Killaloe, County Clare in Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin....
, in Ireland.
Life
Jacques Abbadie was born at NayNay, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Nay is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It lies in the former province of Béarn.-Geography:The land of the commune are crossed by the Gave de Pau and one of its tributaries, the Béez-Place names:...
, Béarn, probably in 1654, although 1657 and 1658 have been given. There is some colour for the assertion of Samuel Smiles
Samuel Smiles
-Early life:Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, the son of Samuel Smiles of Haddington and Janet Wilson of Dalkeith, Smiles was one of eleven surviving children. The family were strict Cameronians, though when Smiles grew up he was not one of them...
that he was "the scion of a distinguished Béarnese family"; although it is probable that the poverty of his parents would have excluded him from a learned career if some of the leading Protestants of the district had not charged themselves with the expenses of his education. This was commenced under M. Jean de la Placette, the minister of Nay, He studied at Puylaurens
Puylaurens
Puylaurens is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-References:*...
, the Academy of Saumur
Academy of Saumur
The Academy of Saumur was a Huguenot university at Saumur in western France. It existed from 1593, when it was founded by Philippe de Mornay, until shortly after 1683, when Louis XIV decided on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, ending the limited toleration of Protestantism in...
, and the Academy of Sedan
Academy of Sedan
The Academy of Sedan was a Huguenot academy in Sedan, founded in 1579 and suppressed in 1681. It was one of the main centres for the production of Reformed pastors in France for a hundred years.-History:...
. He received the degree of doctor in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, it is said, at the age of seventeen. An obituary notice, however, which appeared in the Daily Courant
Daily Courant
The Daily Courant was reputed to be the world's first regular daily newspaper, commencing in 1702 from premises in Fleet Street.It was first published on 11 March 1702 by Elizabeth Mallet from her premises "against the Ditch at Fleet Bridge". However, as people were not ready at the time to know...
for 5 October 1727, says: "He was not above twenty-two when he undertook of himself his admirable treatise on the “Truth of the Christian Religion”".
About the same time he was sent for by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
, to be minister of the French church at Berlin. The electoral summons found Abbadie at Paris, and it was conveyed through the Count d'Espense, who had been commissioned by his master to make the selection. After spending some years in Berlin as minister of a French Protestant church, where he had great success as a preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
. The congregation of refugees, small enough at first to be accommodated in an apartment of the Count d'Espense's residence, grew gradually from increased emigration to Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, caused by the revocation of the edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
in 1685. The elector ordered the ancient chapel of his palace to be prepared for the congregation, and the services were frequently attended by the younger members of his family. Abbadie's arrival in Berlin has been variously assigned to the years 1680 and 1681. During seven or eight years he used his increasing favour with the elector to relieve the distress of the refugees from France, and especially from his native province of Béarn. Abbadie continued to occupy his pastorate at Berlin until the death of the great elector, which took place 29 April 1688.
He then accompanied Marshal Schomberg
Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg
Friedrich Hermann , 1st Duke of Schomberg , KG , was a marshal of France and a General in the English and Portuguese Army....
to England in 1688, and the following year became minister of the French church in the Savoy
Savoy Palace
The Savoy Palace was considered the grandest nobleman's residence of medieval London, until it was destroyed in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. It fronted the Strand, on the site of the present Savoy Theatre and the Savoy Hotel that memorialise its name...
area of London. There William III promoted him to the deanery
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of Killaloe
Killaloe, County Clare
Killaloe is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland, situated in the midwest of Ireland. The village is on the south end of Lough Derg, while the settlement spreads across the River Shannon, with the County Tipperary side known as Ballina...
in Ireland. In the autumn of 1689 he went to Ireland with the marshal.
After the battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
, Abbadie repaired to London, where he was presently appointed minister of the French church in the Savoy, which had been founded about the year 1641. Abbadie subsequently published a revised version of the French translation of the English liturgy used at this church, with an epistle dedicatory to George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
. He was often appointed to deliver occasional discourses, both in London and Dublin, but his want of facility in English prevented his preferment in England, and also excluded him from the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Saint Patrick's Cathedral , or more formally, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Patrick is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland which was founded in 1191. The Church has designated it as The National Cathedral of Ireland...
, to which William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
wished to promote him. Abbadie's health suffered from devotion to his duties in the Savoy, and from the climate of this country. He therefore settled in Ireland, and in 1699 the deanery of Killaloe was conferred upon him by the king. whose special favour he had attracted by a vindication of the Revolution of 1688
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
.
The remainder of Abbadie's life was spent in writing, preaching, and in the performance—not too sedulous, for he was frequently absent from his benefice—of the ordinary duties of his office, varied by visits to England and to Holland, where most of his books were printed. Abbadie visited Holland to see his La Vérité through the press; and afterwards stayed more than three years at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 1720–23, during the preparation of Le Triomphe and other works. He returned to Ireland in 1723. Abbadie's income as dean of Killaloe was so small that he could not afford a literary amanuensis; and Hugh Boulter
Hugh Boulter
Hugh Boulter was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, from 1724 until his death. He also served as the chaplain to George I from 1719.-Background and education:...
, archbishop of Armagh
Archbishop of Armagh
The Archbishop of Armagh is the title of the presiding ecclesiastical figure of each of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland in the region around Armagh in Northern Ireland...
, having appealed in vain to Lord Carteret
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark, KG, PC , commonly known by his earlier title as Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763.-Family:...
, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, on Abbadie's behalf, gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. Edmund Gibson
Edmund Gibson
Edmund Gibson was a British divine and jurist.-Early life and career:He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's College, Oxford...
, bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, and Abbadie left Ireland. He established himself at Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
. He died at his lodgings at Marylebone on Monday, 25 September 1727, in aged 74.
Works
Abbadie is best known by his religious treatises, several of which were translated from the original French into other languages and had a wide circulation throughout Europe. The most important of these are Traite de la verité de la religion chrétienne (1684); its continuation, Traité de la divinité de Jesus-Christ (1689); and L'Art de se connaitre soi-meme (1692).While at Berlin he made several visits to the Netherlands, in 1684, 1686, and 1688, chiefly for the purpose of superintending the printing of several of his works, including the Traité de la Vérité, 1684. The book went through a vast number of editions and was translated into several languages, an English version, by Henry Lussan, appearing in 1694. Completed by a third volume, the Traité de la Divinité de Nôtre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, it appeared at Rotterdam, 1689. An English translation, entitled A Sovereign Antidote against Arian Poyson, appeared in London, 1719, and again ‘revised, corrected, and, in a few places, abridged, by Abraham Booth,’ under the title of The Deity of Jesus Christ essential to the Christian Religion, 1777. The entire apology for Christianity formed by the three volumes of the Traité, which combated severally the heresies
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
of atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, deism
Deism
Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
, and Socinianism
Socinianism
Socinianism is a system of Christian doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini , which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries and embraced also by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period...
, was received with praise. La Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne Réformée (1717) was a controversial treatise which in its four parts attacks the characteristic doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church; it was translated into English, for the use of the Roman Catholics of his diocese of Dromore, by Dr. Ralph Lambert, afterwards bishop of Meath
Bishop of Meath
The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
. The work was completed in 1723 in Le Triomphe de la Providence et de la Religion; ou, l'Ouverture des sept Seaux par le Fils de Dieu, où l'on trouvera la première partie de l'Apocalypse clairement expliquée par ce qu'il y a de plus connu dans l'Histoire et de moins contesté dans la Parole de Dieu. Avec une nouvelle et très-sensible Démonstration de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne.
It was in the Irish camp with Schomberg that Abbadie commenced one of his most successful works, which was published at Rotterdam in 1692, as L'Art de se connoître soi-même; ou, La Recherche des Sources de la Morale, and went through many editions and amplifications. Translations of this work into other languages include a popular English version by the Rev. Thomas Woodcock, The Art of Knowing One-self, 1694. The last 50 pages of this 274-page work deals with pride
Pride
Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two common meanings. With a negative connotation, pride refers to an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris...
, which he divided into five branches: love of esteem, presumptuousness, vanity, ambition and arrogance.
Among the early writings of Abbadie were four Sermons sur divers Textes de l'Ecriture, 1680; Réflexions sur la Présence réelle du Corps de Jésus-Christ dans l'Eucharistie, 1685; and two highly adulatory addresses on persons in high stations, entitled respectively Panégyrique de Monseigneur l'Electeur de Brandebourg, 1684; and Panégyrique de Marie Stuart, Reine d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, de France, et d'Irlande, de glorieuse et immortelle mémoire, décédée à Kensington le 28 décembre 1694, 1695, also published in England as A Panegyric on our late Sovereign Lady, 1695. These four productions, with other occasional sermons, were in 1760 republished collectively, in three volumes, at Amsterdam, and preceded by an Essai historique sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de M. Abbadie. The pamphlet on the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
was also reprinted at Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in 1835, under the title of Quatre Lettres sur la Trans-substantiation, and appeared in an English translation, by John W. Hamersley, as the Chemical Change in the Eucharist, 1867.
Défense de la Nation Britannique, 1693 was an elaborate defence of the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, written in answer to Pierre Bayle's
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695....
Avis important aux Réfugiés, 1690. He gave a funeral oration on Queen Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
. Abbadie had also written, at the request of the king, Histoire de la dernière Conspiration d'Angleterre, 1696, a history of the conspiracy of 1696, which was reprinted in Holland and translated into English, and for which the Earl of Portland
William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland
Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, Baron Bentinck of Diepenheim and Schoonheten, KG, PC was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. He was steady, sensible, modest...
and Secretary Sir William Trumbull
William Trumbull
Sir William Trumbull was an English statesman who held high office as a member of the First Whig Junto.-Biography:...
placed original documents at the author's disposal. This work helped Abbadie's preferment. After its production, "his majesty sent him to Ireland, with an order to the lords justices to confer upon him some dignity in the church, which order was complied with by his promotion to the deanery of Killalow" (Daily Courant, 5 October 1727).
He revised his works for a complete edition in four volumes, in which were also to be included two unpublished treatises, Nouvelle Manière de prouver l'Immortalité de l'Ame, and Notes sur le Commentaire philosophique de M. Bayle. No trace of them could be found after his death.
External links
- Abbadie, Jacques in the Christian Cyclopedia
- Works of Jacques Abbadie in the Post-Reformation Digital Library