578 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



destined to ascend the throne. 

 Every thing in them is made to 

 connect itself with this almost 

 exclusive object. The precision, 

 the simplicity, and the perspi- 

 cuity of some of these fables, 

 which were probably the first that 

 were written, evince that they 

 were addressed to a child whose 

 mindshould not beoverburthened, 

 and to whom such things only 

 should be presented as could easily 

 be apprehended. Others possess 

 a more elevated character ; and 

 they contain allusions to history 

 and mythology, according as the 

 young prince became better able 

 to comprehend and to apply 

 them. 



The fables which Fenelon wrote 

 for the duke of Burgundy, had 

 almost always an allusion to some 

 circumstance that had previously 

 happened, and the impression of 

 which being yet fresh upon his 

 mind, he could not mistake the 

 application. They formed a mir- 

 ror in which he could not help 

 beholding himself, and in which 

 he sometimes appeared in a man- 

 ner little gratifying to his self-love. 

 But then, the tenderest wishes, 

 the mildest hopes were added to 

 these humiliating pictures, lest the 

 child should naturally imbibe an 

 aversion to a species of instruction 

 which merely recalled to him 

 painful recollections, or which 

 contained severe reproaches. It 

 was thus, with such delicate 

 propriety, and with such imper- 

 ceptible advances, that Fenelon 

 gradually rendered his pupil sus- 

 ceptible of the first dictates of 

 reason, and of the first lessons of 

 virtue. 



But it was not in the power of 

 Fenelonf j subdue, all at once, so 



imperious a character. It too 

 often resisted the paternal hand 

 which sought to restrain its im- 

 petuosity. 



When the young prince broke 

 forth into those violent excesses 

 of passion which were so habitual 

 to him, the governor, the precep- 

 tor, the sub-preceptor, the gen- 

 tlemen in waiting, and all the ser- 

 vants in the house, concerted to- 

 gether to preserve towards hira 

 the most profound silence. They 

 avoided answering anyof his ques- 

 tions ; they waited upon him with 

 averted looks; or if they directed 

 their eyes towards him, it was 

 with an expression of fear, as if 

 they dreaded to be in the company 

 of a being who had degraded 

 himself by bursts of rage which 

 were incompatible with reason. 

 They appeared to attend to him 

 only from that kind of humiliating 

 compassion which is shewn to- 

 wards persons who are insane. 

 They merely performed those of- 

 fices about him which seemed to 

 be simply necessary for the preser- 

 vation of his miserable existence. 

 They took from him all his books 

 and all his means of instruction, as 

 if they would be henceforth useless 

 to him, being reduced to such a 

 deplorable state. They then left 

 him to himself, to his own reflec- 

 tions, to his own regret, and to 

 his own remorse. Struck with 

 such an entire desertion, and the 

 distressing solitude to which he 

 was consigned, the penitent prince 

 convinced of his fault, was eager 

 to fly once more to the indulgence 

 and goodness of his preceptor. 

 He threvv himself at his feet, con- 

 fessed his errors, and declared his 

 firm resolution of avoiding them 

 in future; and he watered with 



