572 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



that no temptation may change or 

 weaken the pious sentiments with 

 which he will inspire you. Such 

 is the prayer made by the church 

 to obtain the love of God for its 

 children. 



'< I am, with respect, &c." 



Fenelon was worthy of hearing 

 such language, dictated by the 

 best and most tender motives. He 

 retraced in it all ihose principles 

 in which he had been brought up, 

 and which had been so useful in 

 regulating his conduct. r3ut this 

 paternal voice must have awaken- 

 ed in him painful recollections. 

 Of the three persons who had 

 guided his infancy and his youth, 

 M. Tronson was the only one that 

 now remained. His uncle, the 

 marquis de Fenelon, had been 

 dead since the year 1683 ; but he 

 had to mourn a much more re- 

 cent loss in the death of his other 

 uncle, the bishop of Sarlat, who 

 died on the 1st of May, in 1688, 

 in the 83rd j'ear of his age. 

 There can be no doubt that two 

 relations, so affectionate and so 

 pious, and who had been as a father 

 to their nephew, would have ex- 

 perienced the highest gratification 

 in seeing all France applaud a 

 choice which has justified their 

 cares and their hopes ; and Fe- 

 nelon himself must have regret- 

 fed that he had lost such tender 

 witnesses of the purity of his in- 

 tentions, and such useful guides 

 to secure him from the rocks 

 which now threatened his course. 

 The duke de Beauvilliers had 

 too much esteem for Fenelon, and 

 too much confidence in him, to 

 wish otherwise than that he should 

 be perfectly free in the nomina- 

 tion of those w ho should act un- 



der "him in educating the. young 

 prince. The abbe de Langeron 

 was therefore appointed reader ; 

 he was one of the oldest of Fene- 

 lon's friends, and he deserved to 

 be so. The abbe Fleury was 

 made sub-preceptor ; of such a 

 choice we need not mention the 

 propriety. All his works are im- 

 pressed with the qualities of his 

 heart and genius. His virtue ob- 

 tained the veneration of his con- 

 temporaries, and his name is still 

 pronounced with esteem, in an 

 age different from the one in 

 which he lived. He knew by ex- 

 perience how to educate, and well 

 educate, princes. Previously to 

 his being called to his situation 

 about the duke of Burgundy, he 

 had been entrusted with the in- 

 struction of the prince of Conti 

 and the count of Vermandois. 

 The death of the latter, in 1683, 

 had restored the abbe Fleury 

 to the freedom of his own stu- 

 dies ; but his first desire was, to be 

 useful to the church ; and when, 

 in 1685, Fenelon was charged with 

 the missions of Poitou, he called 

 upon Fleury, and Fleury attended 

 at his call. The more Fenelon 

 knew him, the more he learned 

 to love and esteem him ; and he 

 considered it as a fortunate cir* 

 cumstance with regard to himself, 

 and an invaluable advantage to 

 the duke of Burgundy, the con- 

 currence of such an assistant to- 

 wards such an education. 



The abbe de Beaumont, the 

 son of a sister of Fenelon, was 

 also associated with him in the 

 capacity of sub-preceptor. His 

 zeal and his assiduity sufficiently 

 evinced that he was not influenced 

 by motives of personal considera- 

 tion. He was ten years the sub*- 



