Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:53:31.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Marquis de Marsay: A Quietist in ‘Philadelphia’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Geoffrey Rowell
Geoffrey Rowell
Affiliation:
Assistant chaplain and Hastings Rashdall Student at New College, Oxford, England.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Charles Hector de St. Georges, Marquis de Marsay (1688–1753), lived for the greater part of his life in the small and obscure principality of Wittgenstein in the upper Eder valley between the Rhineland and Hesse-Kassel. In his earlier years he was a disciple of the Flemish mystic, Antoinette Bourignon, and later came under the influence of the works of Madame Guyon. In Wittgenstein he attempted to put their teachings into practice by following an ascetic pattern of life. He attracted a number of followers, not only from the sectarian groups which had taken refuge in Wittgenstein, but also farther afield, notably in Switzerland, which he visited on a number of occasions. The fact that he was known in Britain to John Wesley and William Law, as well as by the group of mystically inclined gentry in north-east Scotland, is an indication of the contacts that existed between pietistic groups in different parts of Europe. The details of Marsay's life are not without interest is a considered attempt to practice the quietist spirituality of Madame Guyon in a Protestant context.

Type
Articles
Information
Church History , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , March 1972 , pp. 61 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. The chief source for Marsay's life is his autobiography, preserved in manuscript in the Evangelische Kirchenarchiv in Dusseldorf. The greater part of it was printed by de Valenti in his System der höheren Heilkunde (Elberfeld, 1827)Google Scholar, but I have been unable to obtain sight of this. The material for this article has been largely drawn from the English translation of the German autobiography, which is preserved in Dr. Williams' Library as Walton Ms. I.i.44. According to Christopher Walton this translation was made in 1772, probably by a Moravian preacher named Sülger, at the instance of Henry Brooke of Dublin, the nephew of the author of The Fool of Quality. (Walton, C., Notes and Materials for an adequate Biography of the celebrated Divine and Theosopher, William Law, (London [privately printed], 1854), pp. 158, 596)Google Scholar. See also Goebel, M., Geschichte des christlichen Lebens in der rheinisch-westphalischen evangelischen Kirche, III, (Koblenz, 1860).Google Scholar

2. Spener, P. J.: Pia Desideria (ET. T. G. Tappert), (Philadelphia, 1964), p. 95.Google Scholar

3. Ibid. pp. 27, 110–111. SeeSchmidt, M. in Rouse, R. and Neill, S. C., eds., A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517–1948. (London, 1967 2), pp. 82–83Google Scholar; Ibid., “Christian Hoburg and Seventeenth-century Mysticism”, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, XVIII, (1967), pp. 51–58. See William, Law, “A Christ not in us is the same thing as a Christ not ours.” (The Spirit of Prayer, Chapter I).Google Scholar

4. Pia Desideria, pp. 110–111.

5. See Rouse and Neill, loc. cit.

6. Stoudt, J. J.: Sunrise to Eternity: A Study in Jacob Boehme's Life and Thought (Philadelphia, 1957), pp. 292–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7. For an exposition of Joachim's eschatology see Bloomfield, M. W.: “Joachim of Flora”, Traditio, XIII, pp. 249–311.Google Scholar See particularly Joachim's conception of history as “the progressive assimilation of society to the mystical body of Christ” (p. 265).

8. Rouse and Neill, pp. 82–83, 103–105; Renkewitz, H., Hochmann von Hochenau (1670–1721), Leipzig (Breslau diss.), 1935, pp. 44, 47Google Scholar; Keller, E. F., “Die Buttler 'sche Rotte”, Zeitschrift für die historische Theologie, NF. IX, iv.Google Scholar

9. Barth, K., From Rousseau to Ritschl. (London, 1959), p. 44.Google Scholar

10. Sachse, J. F., The German pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania, 1694–1708 (Philadelphia, 1895).Google Scholar

11. Goebel, III, p. 81.

12. Wodrow, R., Analecta. (Glasgow (Maitland Club), 1842–1843), III, p. 473,Google Scholar (January, 1728). See II, p. 350; III, p. 174.

13. Cockburn, John, Bourignianism Detected (London, 1698)Google Scholar, Preface.

14. A Letter from John Cockburn, D.D. to his Friend in London (from Rotterdam), (London, 1698), p. 22.Google Scholar

15. Bodleian Library, Rawlinson Ms.D.833, f.80.

16. For the Philadelphians see Thune, Nils, The Behmenists and Philadelphians (Uppsala, 1948)Google Scholar; Walker, D. P., The Decline of Hell (London, 1964), pp. 218 ff.Google Scholar

17. The Principles of a People stiling themselves Philadelphians (London, 1697)Google Scholar; “The State of the Philadelphian Society”, Theosophical Transactions of the Philadelphian Society, I, x (London, 03 1697)Google Scholar; The Declaration of the Philadelphian Society of Eng-Society, (Hoxton, 10, iii, 1702).Google Scholar

18. Bodleian Library, Rawlinson Ms.D.832, f.36.

19. Eckhardt, M., Die Einfluss der Madame Guyon auf die nord-deutsche Laienwelt im 18. Jahrhundert (Köln (Diss.), 1928), p. 13.Google Scholar

20. Wernle, P., Der schweizerische Protestantismus im XVIII Jahrhundert (Tübingen), I (1923), pp. 123, 259.Google Scholar

21. The counts of Wittgenstein are somewhat confusing. Three separate branches existed, of which two, Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Sayn-Wittgenstein with Hohenstein, are important in the history of Wittgenstein as a center of religious freedom and toleration in the early eighteenth century. For the inter-relationships of the different branches of the house of Wittgenstein see Loringhoven, , Europäische Stammtafeln, IV, (Marburg, 1961).Google Scholar

22. Wernle, I, p. 141.

23. Eckhardt, pp. 11–12.

24. The grandfather of Count Casimir of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Georg Wilhelm (+ 1684), had married Amalie Marguerite de la Place de Machaut, whose sister, Anna Helena, was the wife of count Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein with Hohenstein, and mother of count Heinrich Albrecht, who himself married Casimir's sister, Sophie.

25. Thune, pp. 148–150.

26. Benz, E., Die protestantische Thebais; ([Mainzer] Akademie der Wissenchaf ten und der Literatur, Abhandlungen des geistes-und socialwissenschaftlichen Klasse. Jg. 1963. Nr. 1.)Google Scholar, (Wiesbaden, 1963), pp. 81–82, 87.

27. The full title of the Berleburger Bible is Die Heilige Schrift nach dem Grund-Text aufs neue übersehen und übersetzt; nebst einiger Erklärung des buchstäblichen Sinnes, wie auch der fürnehmsten Reich…welchem allem noch untermängt eine Erklärung die den innern Zustand des geistlichen Lebens zu erkennen gibt.

28. Walton Ms. I, i, 44, p. 3.

29. Bourignon, A., Lumière née en Tenebres (Amsterdam, 1684), iii, p. 136.Google Scholar See pp. 138–9, iv, p. 55.

30. Bourignon, A., The Light of the World (1863 reprint from the English translation of 1696), p. 482.Google Scholar See pp. 50, 90, 116.

31. Lumière, ii, p. 111.

32. See the remarks of Knox, R. A., Enthusiasm (Oxford, 1950), pp. 352–355.Google Scholar For fuller biographical details see MacEwen, A. R., Antoinette Bourignon, Quietist (London, 1910).Google Scholar

33. Henderson, G. D., Chevalier Ramsey (London, 1952), p. 18.Google Scholar

34. Walton Ms. I, i, 44, p. 10.

35. Ibid., p. 16. See Wernle, I, pp. 147–8. When Cordier returned from Damascus he tried to persuade Marsay to live under his direction and unsuccesfully prosecuted the Marsays for immorality before the court of Wittgenstein.

36. Possibly Friedrich de Watteville (von Wattenwyl), father of Zinzendorf's close associate at Herrnhut, and a relative of the Abbé Gabriel de Watteville.

37. Walton Ms. Chapter III (Life of Lady Callenburg).

38. Ibid., p. 31.

39. Ibid.

40. Eckhardt, pp. 11–12; Wernle, I, p. 141.

41. Probably Herr Sandoz, a pietist. See Wernle, I, pp. 176–177.

42. Aunt of Françoise Louise de la Tour, later Mme. de Warens, Rousseau's mistress.

43. La Vie de Madame Jeanne Marie Bouvières de la Mothe Guyon (Cologne, 1720), ii, p. 131.Google Scholar See Antoinette Bourignon's description of her followers as ‘Enfans de Dieu’. Lumière, iv, pp. 215–216.

44. Guyon, Madame, A Method of Prayer (ET. MacFadyen, D.), (London, 1902), pp. 1, 66.Google Scholar

45. Bodleian Library, Mss. Add.A,24.

46. Ibid., ff.38, 27–88.

47. Ibid., f.28.

48. Wernle, I, pp. 171, 394.

49. The pietist group with which Magny was associated included the women of the de la Tour family, and he also influenced Judith Rousseau, the aunt of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. See Ritter, E.: “Magny et le piétisme Romand”, Mémoires et documents publiés par la Société d'historie de la Suisse romande. 2nd ser., III, (Lausanne, 1891).Google Scholar

50. Wernle, I, p. 171.

51. D. P. Walker, pp. 253–263; Wernle, I, p. 168; Témoinage d'un enfant de la verité et droiture des voyes de l'Esprit, ou Réponse à la Question Quel est l'Esprit de l'Inspiration d'aujourd'hui? (Berlebourg, 1738)Google Scholar, [By Marsay].

52. Walton Ms., pp. 52–53.

53. Ibid., p. 56.

54. Ibid., p. 58.

55. Ibid., pp. 59–62. Marsay considered emigrating to Pennsylvania at this time, where many other Wittgenstein sectaries had gone.

56. Cranz, D., The Ancient and Modern History of the Brethren, (London, 1780), p. 46Google Scholar; Spangenberg, A. G., The Life of Nicholas Lewis, Count Zinzendorf, (London, 1838), pp. 125–128Google Scholar; Büdingische Sammlung, I, (Büdingen, 1740), pp. 40–44.Google Scholar

57. de Marsay, C. H., Discourses on subjects relating to the spiritual life (Edinburgh, 1749), p. 41.Google Scholar

58. [Marsay]: Témoinage … ou l'on traite de la Magie, Divine, Angelique, Naturelle et Charnelle (Berlebourg, 1739), pp. 75–76.Google Scholar

59. Walton Ms., pp. 62–67.

60. Wernle, I, p. 171. Marsay wrote of the Moravians to Etienne Duval in 1739: “Ces gensla sont accoutumés à faire les fanfarons, à l'intrigue, en une mot: la charlatanerie spirituelle est leur profession.” (Wernle, I, p. 394). In 1731 the works of Madame Guyon were being circulated at Herrnhut; and Zinzendorf, who was suspicious of them, delivered a series of lectures on subjects connected with them (Spangenburg, p. 133).

61. Bodleian Library, Add. Ms.A,24, f.27; See Henderson, G. D., Mystics of the North-East, (Aberdeen (Third Spalding Club), 1934), p. 48.Google Scholar

62. See note 42.

63. [Marsay, ], Témoinage … ou Explication mystique et literale de l'Apocalipse de Jesus Christ revélee à S. Jean Apotre (Berlebourg, 1739), p. 620.Google Scholar

64. [Marsay, ], Témoinage … ou Abrégé de l'Essence de la vraie Religion Chretienne par Demands et Réponses (Berlebourg, 1740), pp. 45, 57.Google Scholar

65. See Winchester, Elhanan, Life of Dr. George de Benneville (Boston, 1791).Google Scholar

66. Témoinage … ou Explication … de l'Apocalipse, p. 87; Abrégé, pp. 65–66. For the idea of the astral body see Walker, D. P., “The Astral Body in Renaissance Medicine,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, XXI (1958).Google Scholar Désirée Hirst gives further instances of the concept. (Hidden Riches: Traditional Symbolism from the Renaissance to Blake (London, 1964), pp. 64, 251).Google Scholar

67. Moritz, K. P., Anton Reiser (ET. Matheson, P. E.), (London, 1926), pp. 2–3.Google Scholar

68. Edelmann, J. C., Selbstbiographies (ed. Klose, C. R. W.), (Berlin, 1849), p. 233.Google Scholar

69. Quoted in Eckhardt, p. 37.

70. Wernle, III, (Tübingen, 1925), p. 179.

71. Walton Ms., p. 76.

72. Ibid., pp. 76–77, 79–80, 86; See Wernle, I, p. 172.

73. For example, Edelmann, Dippel and certain of the Swiss pietists. See Tillich, P., Perspectives on Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Protestant Theology (London, 1967), p. 19.Google Scholar

74. See Benz, Die protestantische Thebais.

75. Wernle, I, p. 330; III, pp. 179–193; Rouse and Neill, pp. 117–119.

76. Byrom, J., Remains (Manchester [Chetham Society]), II, 1856, p. 309Google Scholar [17, xii, 1741].

77. Ibid., pp. 330–332. [22,viii,1742].

78. Walton, C., Notes and Materials, p. 370.Google Scholar

79. Ibid., p. 157.

80. See Henderson, , Mystics of the North-East, pp. 50–51.Google Scholar

81. Ibid., p. 48.

82. Medwyn, Lord, Biographical Sketch of Alexander, Lord Pitsligo, appended to thoughts concerning man's condition and duties in this life and hopes in the world to come (London, 1854 4), p. 27.Google Scholar

83. Walton, , Notes and Materials, p. 158.Google Scholar

84. Ibid., p. 320.

85. Wesley, John, Journal (Standard Edition), VI, pp. 202–3Google Scholar, [4,viii,1778]; See pp. 70–71, [July 1775].

86. Enthusiasm, p. 581.