CHARACTERS. 



573 



preceptor of the grandson of Louis 

 XIV. without receiving, and with- 

 out soliciting, the smallest mark 

 of his favour. Included in the 

 proscription of Fenelon, he had 

 the glory of participating in his 

 misfortunes, his exile, and in his 

 labours. 



All the persons who were con- 

 cerned in the education of the 

 young prince, entered upon their 

 office in the month of September, 

 1689. Fenelon was then in his 

 thirty-eighth year, and the duke 

 de Beauvilliers was in his forty- 

 first. 



There never was an instance, 

 and perhaps there never will be 

 again, of such an unanimity as 

 reigned between all the persons 

 about the duke of Burgundy. 

 They seemed to have but one 

 heart, one mind, and one soul, 

 and this soul was that of Fenelon. 

 Such was the extraordinary 

 charm of Fenelon, and the irre- 

 sistible ascendancy which he ob- 

 tained over every one who ap- 

 proached him, that neither differ- 

 ence of age, nor pre-eminence of 

 rank and titles, nor even the supe- 

 riority of talents and knowledge 

 in those branches of science with 

 which he was unacquainted, were 

 able to prevent his friends from 

 becoming his disciples, and from 

 interrogating him as an oracle, 

 whicli was invested with an au- 

 thority 10 direct all their thoughts 

 and all their actions. Such is the 

 character of hira as it is delivered 

 down to us by his contemporaries ; 

 and their testimony is the less 

 likely to be partial, as it proceeded 

 from persons, whom difference of 

 opinion, or a certain malignity of 

 mind, would incline to judge Fe- 

 nelon with severity. 



The chancellor D'Aguesseaii 

 has given us, in his Memoirs of 

 the Life of his Father, the follow- 

 ing interesting portrait of Fene* 

 Ion : — 



" The archbishop of Cambrai 

 was one of those uncommon men 

 who are destined to give lustre to 

 their age, and who do equal ho- 

 nour to human nature by their 

 virtues, and to literature by their 

 superior talents. He was affable 

 in his deportment and luminous in 

 his discourse, the peculiar qualities 

 of which were a rich, delicate, 

 and a powerful imagination, but 

 which never let its power be felt. 

 His eloquence had more of mild- 

 ness in it than vehemence, and he 

 triumphed as much by the charms 

 of his conversation as by the su- 

 periority of his talents. He always 

 brought himself to the level of 

 his company; he nevsr disputed, 

 andappearedtoyieldtoothfcfsatthe 

 very time that he wasleading them. 

 Grace dwelt upon his lips; he 

 seemed to discuss the greatest 

 subjects with facility ; the most 

 trifling were ennobled by his pen; 

 and upon the most barren topics 

 he scattered the flowerd of rhe- 

 toric. A noble singularity per- 

 vaded his whole person ; and a 

 certain indefinable and sublime 

 simplicity gave to his appearance 

 the air of a prophet. The pecu- 

 liar, but unaffected mode of ex- 

 pression which he adopted, made 

 many persons believe that he pos- 

 sessed universal knowledge as if 

 by inspiration : it might, indeed, 

 have been almost said that he ra- 

 ther invented what he knew than 

 learned it. He was always ori- 

 ginal and creative ; imitating no 

 one, and himself inimitable. His 

 talents, which had been long hid- 



