LAB 
L.VAS, or Losch, a town of the duchy of Carniola, 
•with a citadel: nine miles weft of Gottfchee, and twen¬ 
ty-three eaft-north-eaft of Triefte. Lat. 45.58. N. Ion. 
14. 25. E. 
LAAS'PHE, or Laspe, a town of Germany, in the 
county of Witgenftein : twenty-two miles fouth-weft of 
Waldeck, and lixty-four eaft of Cologne. Lat. 50. 53. N. 
Ion. 8. 30. E. 
LAB, a town of Germany, in the biffiopric of Wurz- 
burgli: fix miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Volkach. 
LABAAR', a town of Hindooftan, in fubah of Agra : 
forty miles eaft of Gwalior, and feventy-five fouth-fouth- 
eaft of Agra. 
LA.BACCAN', a northern province of Celebes, which, 
together with Bougero and Sageree, are the plains lying 
between Tello and Tanete, the proper granaries of 
Celebes. 
LABAD'DE, a town and diftrkft of Africa, on the 
Gold Coaft. 
LABADI'E (John), a famous French enthufiaft, fon 
of John-Charles Labadie, governor of Bourges and gen¬ 
tleman in ordinary of the bedchamber to the French king, 
was born in 1610. He entered young into the Jefuits’ 
college at Bourdeaux; which, by his own account, he 
afterwards quitted ; but by other accounts was expelled 
for his peculiar" notions, and for hypocrify. He became 
a popular preacher; but, being repeatedly detected in 
working upon female devotees with fpiritual inftruc- 
tions for carnal purpofes, his lofs of character among the 
catholics drove him among the protefrants. A reformed 
Jefuit being thought a great acqnilition, he was precipi¬ 
tately accepted as a pallor at Montauban, where he offi¬ 
ciated for eight years; but, attempting the chaftity of a 
young lady whom he could not convert to his purpofe, 
and quarrelling with the catholic prieft about the right of 
interring a dead body, he was at length banifhed that 
place. The ftory of his affair with the lady, as related 
by Mr. Bayle, may here be given asafpecimen of his mi- 
niftry. Having directed this damfel to the fpiritual life, 
which he made to confift in internal recolle&ion and men¬ 
tal prayer, he gave her out a certain point of meditation ; 
and, having ftrongly recommended it to her to apply her- 
felf entirely for fome hours to fuch an important objeX, 
he went up to her when he believed her to be at the height 
of her abftrafHon, and-put his hand into her bofom. She 
gave him a hafty repulfe, expreffed a great deal of furprife 
at the proceeding, and was even preparing to rebuke him, 
when he, without being in the leaft difconcerted, and 
with a devout air, prevented her thus : “ I fee plainly, my 
child, that you are at a great diftance from perfection ; ac¬ 
knowledge yourweaknefs w'ith an humble fpirit; a(k for- 
giver.efs of God for your having given fo little attention 
ito the myfteries upon which you ought to have meditated. 
Had you bellowed all necelfary attention upon tliefe things, 
you would not have been feniible of what was doing about 
your breaft ; but you are fo much attached to fenfe, fo lit¬ 
tle concentered with the Godhead, that you were not a 
anoment in difcovering that I had touched you. I want¬ 
ed to try whether your fervency in prayer had raifed you 
above the material world, and united you with the Sove¬ 
reign Being, and living fource of immortality and of a 
fpiritual ftate; and I fee, to my great grief, that you have 
made very fmall progrefs, and that you only creep on the 
ground. May this, my child, make you alhamed, and for 
the futuremove you to perform the duties of mental prayer 
better than you have hitherto done.” The young lady, 
who had as much good fenfe as virtue, was no lets pro¬ 
voked at tliefe words than at the bold afrions of her ghoft- 
ly inftruijtor; and could never afterwards bear the name 
of fuch a holy father. Labadie, being driven out of Mon¬ 
tauban, went to feek an afylum at Orange; but, not find¬ 
ing himlelf fo fafe there as he imagined, he withdrew pri¬ 
vately to Geneva, where he impofed on the people by his 
devout prbaching and carriage; and from thence was in¬ 
vited to Middleburg, where his fpirituality made him and 
his followers be confidered as lo many faints* diftinguifhed 
LAB 
by the name of Labadijls. They increafed fo much, 
that he excited the attention of the other churches, whole 
authority he difputed, till he was formally depofed by the 
fynod of Dort. Inftead of obeying, he procured a tu¬ 
multuous fupport from a crowd of his devotees; and at 
length formed a little fettlement between Utrecht and Am- 
fterdam, where he ereCted a printing-prefs, which fent 
forth many of liis works. Here he was betrayed by fome 
deferters, who expofed his private life, and informed the 
public of his familiarities with his female difciples, under 
pretence of uniting them more particularly to God ; and 
was finally obliged to retire to Altena in Holftein, where 
he died in 1674. He w'as the author of a variety of pub¬ 
lications, befides his treatifes on mental prayer, and felf- 
abftraclion, with fuch quaint titles as, “The Herald of 
King Jefus;” “True Exorcifm, or the only Means of 
driving the Devil from the Chriftian World “The holy 
Decades;” “The Empire of the Holy Ghoft, &c.” which 
are not deferving of being particularifed. 
After his death, his followers removed their wandering 
community to Wiewert, in the diltriCt of North-Holland, 
where it found a peaceful retreat, and foon fell into obli¬ 
vion ; fo that few, if any, traces of it are now to be found. 
Some of the opinions of the Labadifts were: 1. That God 
might, and did on certain occafions, deceive men. 2. 
That the holy fcriptures were not fufficient to lead men 
to falvation, without certain illuminations and revelations 
from the Holy Ghoft; that, in reading the fcriptures, we 
ought to give lefs attention to the literal meaning of the 
words than to the inward fuggeftions of the fpirit; and 
that the efficacy of the word depended upon him that 
preached it. 3. That the faithful ought to have all things 
in common. 4. That there is no fubordination or diftinc- 
tion of rank in the true church of Chrift. 5. That Chriffc 
was to reign a thoufand years upon earth, 6. That the, 
contemplative life is a ftate of grace and union with God, 
and the very height of perfection ; that the Chriftian, 
whofe mind is contented and calm, fees all things in God, 
enjoys the Deity, and is perfectly indifferent about every¬ 
thing that paffes in the world ; and that the Chriftian ar¬ 
rives at that happy ftate by the exercife of a perfeCt felf- 
denial, by mortifying the flefli and all fenfual affeCtions 3 , 
and by mental prayer. 
LA'BAN, [Heb. white.] Son of Bethuel, and grand- 
foil of Nahor, brother to Rebekah, and father to Rachel 
and Leah. When Jacob came into Mefopotamia, A. M. 
2245, ante A.D. 1759, he was well received by his un¬ 
cle Laban. Gen. xxviii. See. A month after his arrival, 
Laban faid to him, Becaufe thou art my brother [my brother’s 
fon JhouldeJl thou therefore ferve me for noughtP Gen. xxix. 
15. Jacob propoled to ferve him feven years for his 
youngeft daughter Rachel; and Laban contented. Many 
are of opinion that Jacob ferved him feven years before 
he married Rachel; and they are certainly borne out by 
the words of the text ; but others affert the contrary. 
Jacob faid to Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfill¬ 
ed ; ver. ai. Laban, therefore, made a wedding-feaft, but 
conveyed Leah into Jacob’s chamber, fo that Jacob per¬ 
ceived nothing of the fraud. Next morning he complained 5 
but Laban replied, that it was unlawful to marry the 
younger daughter before the elder; but, if he would ferve 
him (even years more, he would give him Rachek; to this 
Jacob confented. 
It does not appear that, in this marriage of two Afters, 
there was at that time, and in. that country, what would 
be efteemed fuch a notorious and flagrant breach of pro¬ 
priety (if indeed there was any thing remarkable in it) as 
there would be among us. Our days are days of happier 
refinement than to tolerate fuch connexions ; but this 
was long before Moles ; and that fuch c tftoms continued 
long after the time of Jacob is afeertained by a biftory re¬ 
corded of Omar, the fecond caliph after Mahomet. 
While he was on his journey, there came, at one of his 
ftages, a complaint before him of a man who had married 
two wives, that were filters both by father and mother; a 
thing which the old Arabians, fo long as they continued 
