FEN 
rifk. Tjie cafe is different in aCting againrt infantry, as 
the perfons againrt: whom you then direCt your poiht, are 
fo much below your own level, that the weight of your 
fvvord is not felt; confequently it is managed with greater 
facility than with an extended arm carried above the le¬ 
vel of the fhoulder. Therefore, in many inftances againrt 
infantry, the point may be ufed with- as much eft'eCt as 
the edge, and with the fame degree of fecurity. 
Ir. that part of the cavalry fword exercife which relates 
folely to its application againrt; infantry, there are three 
movements, the point, the parry, and the cut. The exe¬ 
cution of the two latter movements differs from the mode 
laid down in the general rules for common practice. This 
difference is cccafioned by the relative fituation of the 
contending parties. A perfon on horfeback is elevated fo 
much above thofe aCting on foot, that it is neceffary for 
him to bend his elbow, in order to take a fweep to give 
his cut with eft'eCtand this may be fecurely done, as the . 
fword-arm is not expofed in the conteft. Only the four 
diagonal cuts can be thus applied againrt infantry : cuts i 
and 4 are made on the near fide, and 2 and 3 on the off 
fide of the horfe. The thruft of a bayonet is parried, 
whether made on the near or off fide, by forcing it back¬ 
ward or forward, as circumrtances may direCt; only jt is 
to be obferved, that the parry is made with the back of 
the blade, inffead of expofing the edge. 
It fhould be remembered, that very little force is re- 
quifite to produce the defired effedt from the application 
of the edge, if condudted with (kill ; and that whether 
with a ftraight fword or fcymiter blade, no cut can be 
made with effedt or fecurity, where the weapon does not 
at once free itfelf from the objedt to which it is applied ; 
otherwife it muff: turn in the hand, and give a contufion 
rather than a cut; for which reafon thofe wounds are the 
mod fevere, which are made neareft to the point. A 
fwordfman cannot therefore be too accurate in judging 
the diftance within the reach of his own weapon, which 
can alone be done by habit and ftriCt attention. With a 
fcymiter, not more than four or five inches of the point 
fhould meet your adverfary, and rtill lefs with a ftraight 
blade, whofe conftruCtion is by no means fo well calcu¬ 
lated for extricating itfelf. 
In coming to the pofition of the guard, diredt the fword- 
hand to the antagonift’s left ear, or immediately to the 
part at which the cut is intended to be made, keeping the 
hand above the level of the fhoulder; and as the hilt is 
to be a protedtion for the head, at the moment the blade 
is in the diredtion of making either a thruft or cut, it 
ought never to be moved from the pofition pointed out, 
when adting againrt cavalry ; and as the antagonift changes 
his ground, let the fword-hand fliift accordingly ; but, 
fhould he get round to the rear, then of courf'e the guard 
muff: give way to the modes of protecting in that di¬ 
redtion.—The further confideration of the evolutions of 
the fword by the cavalry, forms a branch of military 
tactics. 
FEN'CING-MASTER.y. One who teaches the fcience 
of defence, or the ufe of weapons.—A fencing-majlcr named 
•TEmilius Lepidus kept his gladiators there. Rfcommon. 
FEN'CING-SCHOOL,y. A place in which the ufe of 
weapons is taught.—If a man be to prepare his fun for 
duels, I had rather mine fhould he a good wreftler than an 
ordinary fencer, which is the moft a,gentleman can attain 
to, unlefs he will be conftantly in the fencing fchool, and 
qvery day exercifing. Locke. 
To FEND, v. a. To keep off; to flint out. To fend 
the boat, is to keep it from being daihed againrt the rock, 
fliore, &c. 
To FEND, v.n. To difpute; to fliift off a charge.— 
The dexterous management of terms, and being able to 
fend and prove with them, partes fora great part of learn¬ 
ing ; but it is learning diftinCt from knowledge. Locke. 
FEN'DER,y. An iron plate laid before the fire to hin¬ 
der coals that fall from rolling forward to the floor. Any 
thing laid or hung at the fide of a fliip to keep oft'violence. 
V0l, VII. No. 429. 
E .E N 317 
FEN'lDER-BOLTS, /. Iron pins ftuck into the outer- 
moft walls of a fliip, to fave her fides from hurts and 
bruifes. 
FENE'GUE-HOTUN, a town of Chinefe Tartary: 
630 miles eart-north-eaft of Peking. - ' 
FENELO'N ( Francis de .Salignac de la Motte), arch- 
bifliop of Cambray, one of the moft excellent and diftin- 
gniffied perfons of his time, was born of an ancient family 
at the caftle of Fenelon, in Quercy, in the province of 
Perigord, in 16(51. His father, Pons de Salignac, was 
marquis of Fenelon ; his mother was Louife de la Cropte, 
fifter to the marquis de St. Abre. He received the rudi¬ 
ments of his education at home, where the native fweet- 
nefs of his temper, arid the delicacy of his fentiments, 
were fondly clierirtied and improved. The early dawn of 
his genius proved an unerring prognoftic of his future re¬ 
putation. Fie might, indeed, be faid to have inherited 
both, from a long roll of illuffrious ancestors ; his own 
being the ninth literary name 1 that has reflected luftre on 
the lioufe of Salignac. At the age of twenty-four, Fene¬ 
lon was ordained a pried, and engaged in th£ duties of the 
fiicred office with exemplary attention. We find him not 
long afterward lent by Louis XIV. at the head of a million 
for converting the proteftants in Saintonge and A.unis. 
That unfortunate feCt had experienced all the rigours of 
perfecution, under the influence of oldTellier, the chan¬ 
cellor, and Louvois, his foil. The fcaftbld, the gallows, 
and dragonade, incefluntly difplayed the barbarous impo¬ 
licy of the French court, and the conftancy of the mar¬ 
tyred Hugonots. The king, Louis XIV. perceiving at 
laft the pernicious effects of this depopulating cruelty, 
difpatched Fenelon to combat hereby in thofe provinces 
with the gentle arms of eloquence and ability. This 
amiable ecclefiaftic, therefore, having obtained a promife, 
that the bloody arm of coercion fliould be fufpended 
within the precincts of his million, preached peace and 
good-will to the long perfecuted Calvinifts. His converts, 
it is true, were net numerous, but they were the converts 
of conviction or of perfualion at lead. Even fucli as re¬ 
jected his doCtrine, could not help efteeming the man, 
and wondering how fo much charity and benevolence 
could be united with fo unmerciful a religion. 
In 1689, having juft completed the thirty-eighth year 
of his age, the king appointed him preceptor to the duke 
of Burgundy, the prefumptive heir to the crown. Some 
of the moft amiable and accompliflied men in the king¬ 
dom were aflbeiated with him, in forming the mind of a 
young prince, on whofe propenfities, whether good or 
evil, the fate of millions was afterwards to depend. The 
celebrated Fleury was fub-preceptor; Langeron, the faith¬ 
ful friend of Fenelon, was reader; and Valois, an horieft 
jefuit, was confeflbr to the duke of Burgundy. Among 
the members of this alfociation, the moft perfeCt unani¬ 
mity prevailed. They feemed actuated by one mind, and 
labouring only for one objeCt, the improvement of their 
royal charge. Tin ugh the foil on which thefe virtuous 
fellow-labourers were employed was not ungrateful, it 
yet abounded with rank weeds, produced or cherifhed by 
early indulgence and flattery. The duke of Burgundy, 
then in his eighth year, was quick, penetrating, and re¬ 
markably diligent for fo .lender an age, but he was alfo 
choleric, impetuous, haughty, and capricious. The. good 
fe'nfe of the inftruCtors, as well as the elevated rank of 
their pupil, forbade theadoption of corporeal chaftitement 
ip eradicating his foibles. They ufed a more gentle and 
effectual method, which might perhaps in fome meafure 
be introduced into q,very family, and into moft feminaries 
..of private or public.education. Whenever any thing de- 
ferving of reprehenjion appeared in the prince's conduCt, 
a fevere filence prevailed throughout the houfehold; even 
the loweft domeftic was taught to lignify his difappreba- 
tion by a melancholy yeferve. The royal tranfgreflor, 
fenfible and ingenuous, abandoned thus to folitary reflec¬ 
tion amidft the general gloom, foon burft into tears, and 
implored forgivenefs, which Was never fternly reft. .‘d. 
3 M The 
