In the Jansenisit disputes F'enelon wrote against Jan- senius, and expressed himself verj' strongly, though at first charitably, against Quesnel and Pascal. See Jansexis:m ; Port Royal. He wrote a Mtmnire de- manding a judgment frcm the pcpe to settle the con- troversy by a dogmatic decision, to which all must submit. This Mfmoire was laid before the pope (Clem- ent XI), and his bull Vineam Domini shows evident traces of its influence. He also wrote a treatise, De Suvimi Pont'ficis Auctoritate (in his (Euvres, Versailles, 1820, tom. ii), in which he j-ielded more to the papal claims than became him as a Galilean bithop. Denj'- ing the direct temporal power of the pope, he admits a potestas dircclnria, equivalent to wliat is called the in- direct temporal power. See Pope, Tejipokae Pow- er OF.
In his personal habits Fenelon was temperate al- most to abstemiousness, took no repose except a few hours daily iu the ex-ercises of walking or riding, while the rest of his time wa;' devoted to social intercourse with his friends, to visiting the poor, and ether pasto- ral functions. The most of his revenues were devoted to benevolent uses. He died at Cambray Jan. 7, 1715.
We cite a passage from Dr. Channing on the char- actar and v.ritings of Fenelon: 'His works have the
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great charm of coming fresh from the soul. He wrote from experience, and hence, though he often speaks a language which must seem ahiiost a foreign one to men of the world, yet he always speaks in a tone of reality. That lie has excesses we mean not to deny, hut tliey are of a liind whicli we regard witli more than indulgence, almost with admiration. Common fanaticism we cannot away with, for it is essentially vulgar, the working of animal passions, sometimes of sexual love, and oftener of earthl}' ambition. But when a pure mind errs bj' aspiring after disinterested- ness and purity not granted to our present infant state, we almost reverence its errors ; and still more, we recognise in them an essential truth. They only anticipate and claim too speedily the good for which man was made. They are the misapprehensions of the inspired prophet, who hopes to see in his own day what he was appointed to promise to remoter ages. Fenelon saw far into the human heart, and especialh' into the lurkings of self-love. He looked with a pierc- ing eye through the disguises of sin. But he knew sin, not, as most men do, by bitter experience of its power, so much as by his knowledge and experience of virtue. Deformity'- was revealed to him by his re- fined perceptions and intense love of moral beauty. The light, which he carried with him into the dark corners of the luimali heart, and b}^ which he hiid open its most hidden guilt, was that of celestial goodness. Hence, though the severest of censors, he is the most pitying. Not a tone of asperity escapes him. He looks on human error with an angel's tenderness, with tears which an angel might shed, and thus reconciles and binds us to our race at the very moment of reveal- ing its corruptions" (Christian Examiner, vi, 7).
Literature. — The writings of Fenelon are too numer- ous to be mentioned in detail. They are classified as follows in the Versailles edition of his works (1820, 22 vols. 8vo) : Metaphysical and Theological Writings, vols, i-iii ; The Quietistic Controversg, and Discussions thereon ivith Bossuet, vols, iv-ix ; writings on Jansen- ism, vols, x-xvi ; Education of Girls, Sermons, Relig- ious Meditations, vols, xvii, xviii ; Fables, Dialogues, sma'ler writings, vol. xix ; TeUmaque, vol. xx ; Dia-
1 igues on Eloquence, Correspondence, Lives of Ancient Phi- lowphers, vols, xxi, xxii. There are many collective editions of the writings of Fenelon, of which the most complete is that of Lebel, commenced at Versailles 1820-24, in 22 vols. 8vo., with 11 vols, additional of Correspondance (Paris, 1827-29), and 1 vol. of Tables et Index (Paris, 1830), making 34 vols, in all. Tlie next best (in some respects the best) is that of the abbe Gosselin (Paris and Besancon, 1851-52, 10 vols, imp. 8vo), with a copious literary historj"^ of Fenelon. Of editions of his select works, the best are that of Pc- risse (Paris, 1842, 4 vols, large 8vo) ; that of Dufour, the first volume of which is a Vie de Fenelon (Paris, 182G, 12 vols. 8vo) ; and that of Lefevre, with Vie by Aiin6 jiartin (Paris, 1835 ; and by Didot, 1838, 3 vols, largo 8vo). Of his separate writings the editions are too numerous to be mentioned here. Many of his writings have been translated into English ; among them are, On the Education of Daughters (Lond. 1703; Albanj', 180G) ; Dialogues on Eloquence (Lond. 1808 ; Boston, 1832) ; Demonstration of the Existence of God (London, 1749, 12mo) ; Spiritual Works, translated by Houghton, with Life (Duldin, 1771, 2 vols. 8vo) ; Te- lemachus (many editions ; best by Hawkesworth, Lond.
2 vols. 12mo, 1808) ; Lives of the Anc. Philosophers, with Life of Fenelon, by Cormach (N. Y. 1841, 12mo) ; Selec- tions from the Writings of Fenelnn, with a Memoir of his Life by Mrs. Follen (Boston, 1829; new ed. 1859, 12mo). Of L'ves of Fenelon, besides those already cited in con- nection with editions of his works, we name Ramsaj', Vie de Fi-nelon (Paris, 1725, 12mo) ; Querbeuf, Vie de /\ (Paris, 1787 ) ; Bausset, Hist, de Fendon (Par. 1817, 3d ed., 4 vols. 8vo) ; Mudford, Life ofF. (transl. from Bans- set, Lond. 1810, 2 vols. 8vo) ; Butler, Life of Fenelon