FENELON. 528 FENELON. Upon him the great principles of truth and jus- and the vanity of earthly glory, power, and happiness that are not accompanied by a tense of duty well done. In order to fulfill these lofty purposes to his satisfaction, Fenelon found himself under the necessity of composing his own text-books. To this we owe many works still popular in educational use — the Fables, the Dia- logues des morts, Aor6g4 des vies tics anciens philosophes, and the preliminary sketch, at least, of Telemaque. There was also a translation df the I.'nrid of Vergil, and a Vie de Charle- magne, hut unfortunately the first is lust, and the manuscript of the second was destroyed by fire at the burning of the arehiepiseopal palace of Cambray in 1697. His services as preceptor obtained for him in 1694 the abbacy of Saint Yalery in the diocese of Amiens, and in the fol- lowing year the Archbishopric of Cambray, He accepted the archbishopric only on the express condition that he should be allowed to live at his see the nine months of each year required by the canons, and that not even his duties as preceptor royal should interfere with this re- quirement. During his preceptorship he became acquainted with Madame Guyon (q.v.), a pious widow who was wont to give spiritual conferences to ladies of rank and who had written a Short and Easy Method of Prayer, a commentary on certain parts of the Bible, and several other mystical works in which she expounded her views regarding the inner life. Not long be- fore the writings of Miguel de Molinos, the founder of the Quietists, had been condemned as heretical. (See Quietism; Molinos.) Moli- nos taught that perfect contemplation of God is a state wherein one neither reasons nor reflects, but passively receives the impression of heavenly light. In this mental inaction, a soul neither tears hell nor desires salvation. The practice of the virtues of faith, hope, and love becomes un- necessary in this state, which Molinos called 'quiet.' Even vile thoughts and devout aspira- tions become indifferent. Madame Guyon was not a professed follower of Molinos, but she fa- vored his spiritual doctrine at least to the ex- tent of teaching that in the state of perfect contemplation the soul resigns itself so entirely to the will of God as to care not whether it is to be damned or saved. Sin professed readiness to submit to the decision of the Church, but her teaching was distinctly dangerous. Bossuet, with characteristic acumen, recognized the danger, but, with what cannot but be considered now as in- temperate zeal, harshly condemned where gentle persuasion might, have sufficed. Fenelon, con- vinced of the uprightness of Madame! Suyon and her g I intentions, defended her. In a hook writ- ten during the controversy, called Uaximes des saints, he unconsciously fell into sonic of the erroneous tendencies of Madame Guyon's teach- ing. After considerable delay, twenty-three propositions from the maxims were condemned by the Pope, who relinked the lack of moderation of some of Fenelon's opponents bj adding, "lie I through excess of Divine hue. bul you have erred through lack of love fur your neigh- bor " I 'i" lOB :n need his eollilenillal inn to his own people at once and expressed his full sub- mission, lie seemed happy to give an example of docility and humility to hi- flock. Afterwards he presented a golden ostensorium to hi- cathe dral on which appeared the figure of the of Truth trampling on forbidden bonk-. One of the titles in evidence was Maximes des saints. After this unfortunate episode Fenelon devoted himself entirely to the care of his diocese. The fame of his benevolence and enlightened charity spread far and wide. When the region about Cambray was invaded by the armies of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, those command- ers gave strict orders to respect the estates of Fenelon, and, in a time of great scarcity. Alar] borough provided a guard to protect the Arch- bishop's granaries. Notwithstanding these pre- cautions, his valuable library was burned. In it were some of his precious manuscripts not vet given to the printer. Fenelon's only remark was, "I would much rather that this were destroyed than the cottage of some poor peasant." Fenelon fell into disgrace at Court by reason of his TGUmatfue, which was regarded as a masked satire upon royalty and its surrounding-. The work had been printed from a copy surreptitious- ly obtained by the Archbishop's servant. Critics freely pointed out the characters presumably satirized. Sesostris was supposed to represent the Grand Monarch himself; Calypso, Madame de Montespan; Protesilaus. Louvois; and Eueharis, Mademoiselle de Fontanges. As Louis XIV. fell into decline, there were hopes that Fenelon would be the Minister of the Duke of Burgundy when he should follow his grandfather to the throne. Fenelon even sketched a complete scheme of political reform, which he sent to the Duke, who still retained, in spite of the King's adverse in- fluence and continued hostility, all his pristine affection for his former preceptor. Fenelon's political maxims were far in advance of the time. These hopes were disappointed by the premature death of the Duke in 1712. Fenelon survived him only until January 7. 1715, dying in sentiments of the greatest piety and resigna- tion to the Divine Will. Consult his works (23 vols., Paris, 1820-30), and his letters (11 vols., ib., 1827-29) ; Lettres et opuscules in4dits (ih., 1850); Bausset, Vie de Fenelon (3 vols., ih., 1808); Crausle. Fenelon ct Bossuet (Paris, 1895), in favor of the latter; Sanders, Fenelon: His Friends and His Enemies (London. 1901); Viscount Saint Cyres, Francois de Finelon I Lon- don, 1901). FENELON, Francois de Salignac de i.a Mothe (1641-79). A French missionary in America, a half-brother of the great Fenelon. He entered the Order of Saint Sulpice in 1664) and in 1666, when there came a request from Bishop Laval at Quebec for volunteer mission- aries in the New World, fenelon was one ol the lir-t to respond. In 1668 he established a Sub pician mission among the Cayugas on the Baj of QuintC on the north shore of Lake Ontario. On Easter Sunday. 1674, Fenelon preached a ser mon at Montreal in which, in describing the ideal chief magistrate, he made a covert attack on Frontenac. The Sulpioians disclaimed responsi bility for the sermon, but the question of the privileges of their Order being raised, they de fended him. Fenelon was summoned to appeal before the council at Quebec, which hesitated to act, but tendon returned to France and he was commanded bj the King noi to return to Canada.
