S86 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



I 



dift'ercncc between our own times 

 and those in which he lived. The 

 advantage which he possessed of 

 being a christian, places him 

 above all the heroes of pagan an- 

 tiquity ; and the circumstance of 

 being always successful in his en- 

 terprises, renders him a more in- 

 teresting model than St. Louis." 

 When Fenelon thought that the 

 duke of Burgundy had made 

 sufficient progress in the study 

 of ancient and modern history, he 

 conceived the design of recalling 

 to him, successively, all the prin- 

 cipal personages who have distin- 

 guished themselves on the theatre 

 of the world. In doing this, he 

 would not only invigorate his me- 

 mory, with regard to the events 

 in which these individuals were 

 concerned, but he intended also 

 to fix the attention of the young 

 prince on their real and undisguis- 

 ed merits. He was anxious that 

 his pupil should not be dazzled 

 by that kind of illusive renown 

 which accompanies the memory of 

 celebrated men. 



To accomplish this, Fenelon 

 wrote his Dialogues of the Dead. 

 They were produced in pro|)or- 

 tion as the duke of Burgimdy 

 made such progress with historical 

 authorsand facts as enabled him to 

 derive from them a due advantage. 

 These dialogues are well known, 

 and any particular observations 

 upon them would be superfluous. 

 Yet, it may be permitted to advert 

 to the singular variety of subjects 

 which Fenelon has chosen. From 

 a casual inspection of the work, 

 it niight be supposed that he had 

 resigned himself wholly to his 

 imagination, or, in choosing his 

 subjects, he had employed those 

 which were most obviously con- 



trasted. Such, however, was not 

 the case. If we accurately ex- 

 amine the book, we shall easily 

 perceive that its author was ac- 

 tuated by one prevailing motive, 

 which was, the education of his 

 pupil. This object was constantly 

 present to him, and his attention 

 to it may be traced even in those 

 dialogues which appear to have 

 the least connexion with the du- 

 ties of a prince destined to ascend 

 the throne. Such are the two 

 dialogues between Parrhasius and 

 Poussin, and between Leonardi do' 

 Vinci and Poussin. But Fenelon 

 knew, that a king, and above all, 

 a king of France, should neither 

 be ignorant of, nor indifferent to, 

 the progress of the fine arts. 



Last Hours, and Character of Fc- 

 nelim. [F?ojn the same fVork, 

 Vol. //.] 



We have now to behold Fe- 

 nelon in the closing scene of ex- 

 istence. Of this awful and solemn 

 moment we have an account writ- 

 ten by an eye witness of the event, 

 which faithfully records all the 

 details, a fidelity which is due to 

 the memory of great men. 



The grief which Fenelon felt 

 for the death of the duke de 

 Beauvilliers did not induce him 

 to suspend, for an instant, the 

 performance of those duties which 

 his ministry exacted. 



*' A few weeks before he died," 

 says the duke de St. Simon, in 

 his Memoirs, " he performed a 

 short journey of episcopal visits : 

 his carriage was overturned in a 

 dangerous place ; no one was hurt; 

 but he perceived all the danger, 

 and iiis feeble frame received the 



