FENELON
38
FENELON
opposed to their beliefs, did not disturb their tran-
quillity."
In spite of the multiplicity of his labours, F&elon found time to carry on an absorbing correspondence with his relatives, friends, priests, and in fact every one who sought his advice. It is in this mass of cor- respondence, ten volumes of which have reached us, that we may see F^nelon as a director of souls. People of every sphere of life, men and women of the world, religious, soldiers, courtiers, servants, are here met with, among them Mcsdaraes de Maintenon, de Gramont, de la Maisonfort, de Montebron, de Noailles, members of the Colbert family, the Marquis de Sci- gnelay, the Due de Chaulnes, above all the Dues de Chevreuse and de Beauvilliers, not forgetting the Duke of Burgundy. Fenelon shows how well he pos- sessed all the qualities he required from directors, patience, knowledge of the human heart and the spir- itual life, equanimity of disposition, firmness, and straightforwardness, "together with a quiet gaiety altogether removed from any stern or affected aus- terity". In return he required docility of mind and entire submission of will. He aimed at leading souls to the pure love of God, as far as such a thing is hu- manly possible; for though the errors of the " Maximes des Saints" do not reappear in the letters of direction, it is still the same Fenelon, with the same tendencies, the same aiming at self-abandonment and detach- ment from all personal interests, all kept, however, within due limits; for as he says "this love of God does not require all Christians to practise austerities like those of the ancient solitaries, but merely that they be sober, just, and moderate in the use of all things expedient"; nor does piety, "like temporal affairs, exact a long and continuous application"; "the practice of devotion is in no way incompatible with the duties of one's state in life". The desire to teach his disciples the secret of harmonizing the duties of religion wit h those of everyday life suggests to Fene- lon all sorts of advice, sometimes most unexpected from the pen of a director, especially when he happens to be dealing with his friends at court. This has given occasion to some of his critics to accuse him of ambi- tion, and of being as anxious to control the State as to guide souls.
It is especially in the writings intended for the Duke of Burgundy that his political ideas are apparent. Be- sides a great number of letters, he sent him through his friends, the Dues de Beauvilliers and de Chevreuse, an "Examen de conscience sur les devoirs de la Roy- aut^ ", nine memoirs on tlie War of the Spanish Suc- cession, and " Plans de Gouvernement, concretes avec le Due de Chevreuse". If we add to this the "T6\&- maque ", the " Lettre a Louis XIV ", the " Essai sur le Gouvernement civil", and the "M6moires sur les pre- cautions k prendre aprcs la mort du Due de Bour- gogne", we have a complete exposition of F(5nelon's political ideas. We shall indicate only the points in which they are original for the period when they were written. F(5nelon's ideal government was a mon- archy limited by an aristocracy. The king was not to have absolute power; he was to obey the laws, which he was to draw up with the co-operation of the nobil- ity; extraordinary subsidies were to be levied only with the consent of the people. At other times he was to be assisted by the States-General, which was to meet every three years, and by provincial assemblies, all to be advisory bodies to the king rather than repre- sentative assemblies. The State was to have charge of education; it was to control public manners by sumptuary legislation and to forbirl both sexes misuit- able marriages (mi'fiiilli(tnres). The temporal arm and the spiritual arm were to be indepomlont of each other, but to afford mutual support. Ilis iilcid state is out- lined with much wisdom; in his j)oliliriil writings are to be found many observations remarkably judicious, but also not a little Utopianism.
Fenelon also took much interest in literature and
philosophy. Monsieur Dacier, perpetual secretary to
the AcaderaieFran^aise, having requested him, in the
name of that body, to furnish him with his views on the
works it ought to undertake when the " Dictionnaire "
was finished, Fdnelon replied in his " Lettre sur les oc-
cupations de I'Academie Frangaise ", a work .still much
admired in France. This letter, which treats of the
French tongue, of rhetoric, poetry, history, and an-
cient and modern writers, exhibits a well-balanced
mind acquainted with all the masterpieces of antiq-
uity, alive to the charm of simplicity, attached to
classical traditions, yet discreetly open to new ideas
(especially in history), also, however, to some chimeri-
cal theories, at least concerning things poetical. At
this very time the Due d'Orl^ans, the future regent,
was consulting him on quite different subjects. This
prince, a sceptic through circumstances rather than
by any force of reasoning, profited by the appearance
of Fenelon's "Traite de I'existence de Dieu" to ask its
author some questions on the worship due to God, the
immortality of the soul, and free will. Fenelon re-
plied in a series of letters, only the first three of which
are answers to the difficulties proposed by the prince.
Together they form a continuation of the "Traite de
I'existence de Dieu", the first part of which had been
published in 1712 without Fenelon's knowledge. The
second part appeared only in 1718, after its author's
death. Though an almost forgotten work of his
youth, it was received with much approval, and was
soon translated into English and German. It is from
his letters and this treatise that we learn something
about the philosophy of Fenelon. It borrows from
both St. Augustine and Descartes. For Fenelon the
strongest arguments for the existence of God were
those based on final causes and on the idea of the in-
finite, both developed along broad lines and with
much literary charm, rather than with precision or
originality.
Fenelon's last years were saddened by the death of his best friends. Towards the end of 1710 he lost Abb6 de Langeron, his lifelong companion; in Febru- ary, 1712, his pupil, the Duke of Burgundy, died. A few months later the Due de Chevreuse was taken away, and the Due tie Beauvilliers followed in August, 1714. Fenelon survived him only a few months, mak- ing a last request to Louis XIV to appoint a successor firm against Jansenism, and to favour the introduc- tion of Sulpicians into his seminary. With him disap- peared one of the most illustrious members of the French episcopate, certainly one of the most attrac- tive men of his age. He owed his success solely to his great talents and admirable virtues. The renown he enjoyed during life increased after his death. Un- fortunately, however, his fame among Protestants was largely due to his opposition to Bossuet, and among the philosophers to the fact that he opposed and was punished by Louis XIV. Fenelon is therefore for them a precursor of their own tolerant scepticism and their infi<lel philosophy, a forerunner of Rousseau, beside whom they placed him on the facade of the Pantheon. In our ilays a reaction has set in. due to the cult of Bossuet and the publication of Fenelon's correspondence, which has brought into bolder relief the contrasts of his character, showing him at once an ancient and a modern. Christian and profane, a mystic and a statesman, democrat and aristocrat, gentle and obstinate, frank and subtle. He would perhaps have seemed more human in our eyes were he a lesser man; nevertheless he remains one of the most attractive, brilliant, and puzzling figures that the Catholic Church has ever produced.
The most convenient and best edition of Fenelon's works is that begun by Lebel at Versailles in 1820 and completed at Paris by Leclere in 1830. It comprises twenty-two volumes, besides eleven volumes of let- ters, in all thirty-three volumes, not including an
