Note 723 — XIII. OF FASHION.
Henri Van Laun translation
None of La Bruyèreʼs commentators have observed that the “unknown jargon” seems to refer to the mystic quietism taught by Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon (1648-1717), who was at the height of her reputation when this paragraph was published for the first time in the eighth edition of the “Characters” in 1694. To our author has also been attributed “Dialogues sur le Quiétisme.”