[21] Barclay's "Inner Life," p. 549. This sentence is first omitted in the edition of 1765, and has been lost from the work since!
After attending the Yearly Meeting in London, Robert Barclay went on a mission to the Continent. Of this visit, unfortunately, we have no record. Probably, one object for which he made it was to see to the publication of his Apology in Amsterdam. But one incident of the journey is full of interest. He visited Elizabeth, Princess Palatine of the Rhine, granddaughter of James I. and aunt of George I.; an accomplished lady and a most exemplary ruler. She was not only a distant relative of his (his mother and she were third cousins), but she also attracted him by her spiritual-mindedness. She had appreciated all that was best in the teachings of De Labadie, a Jesuit who turned Protestant, and by his preaching led many to seek after spiritual religion, and a simple, self-denying life.[22] So in afterwards stating the reasons for a subsequent visit, William Penn says, "Secondly, that they (the Princess and her friends) are actually lovers and favourers of those that separate themselves from the world for the sake of righteousness. For the Princess is not only a private supporter of such, but gave protection to De Labadie himself and his company, yea when they went _under the reproachful name of Quakers_, about seven years since."[23]
[22] The following note concerning De Labadie, by Whittier, the American poet, may interest the reader. "John De Labadie, a Roman Catholic priest converted to Protestantism, enthusiastic, eloquent, and evidently sincere in his special calling and election to separate the true and living members from the Church of Christ from the formalism and hypocrisy of the ruling sects. George Keith and Robert Barclay visited him at Amsterdam, and afterwards at the Communities of Herford (the Princess Elizabeth's home) and Wieward; and according to Gerard Croese, found him so near to them on some points, that they offered to take him into the Society of Friends. This offer, if it was really made, which is certainly doubtful, was, happily for the Friends at least, declined. Invited to Herford, in Westphalia, by Elizabeth, daughter of the Elector Palatine, De Labadie and his followers preached incessantly, and succeeded in arousing a wild enthusiasm among the people, who neglected their business, and gave way to excitements and strange practices. Men and women, it was said, at the Communion drank and danced together, and private marriages or spiritual unions were formed. Labadie died in 1674, at Altona, in Denmark, maintaining his testimonies to the last. 'Nothing remains for me,' he said, 'except to go to my God. Death is merely ascending from a lower and narrower chamber to one higher and holier.'"