Sentence:  Let me inform you "en passant", Ladies, that those Villains the "Heathens", as my <WSD>Authors</WSD> tell me, (and I thought it wou'dsic not be amiss to communicate such a nice Observation to this House) used to call our Saviour "Chrestus", and not "Christus", by way of Contempt and Derision ... 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  One's authority for something: an informant.