This will suffice to show something of the trend of his work. Much that he urged is, of course, commonplace now, but it was not so in his day. He shows in his book so much knowledge of the needs and characteristics of little children not only, but of the special difficulties and infirmities of women, that it remains a marvel where, at this period of his life, he could have gained such insight into both. And all is illumined with his beautiful style and gentle spirit. Mr. John Morley remarks, “When we turn to modern literature from Fénelon’s pages, who does not feel that the world has lost a sacred accent, as if some ineffable essence had passed out from our hearts?” Madame de Maintenon has been mentioned as one of the little circle to whose intimacy Fénelon was introduced when beginning his Parisian career. The full particulars of her remarkable history must be sought in larger works. Yet it is essential that we know something concerning her, since for a while she was one of Fénelon’s best supporters, and then became one of his most persistent foes. She was the grandchild of Theodore Agrippa d’Aubigne, a noted Protestant warrior and a noble friend of Henry of Navarre, who died at Geneva in 1630.[3] Her father was a scamp, her mother a jailer’s daughter. She was a stout Protestant in her younger days, but being left penniless at an early age, and wholly dependent upon charitable relatives, she was placed in a Parisian convent, and there converted to Catholicism. She was still only seventeen and uncommonly good-looking when, to escape the pressure of dependence, she consented to become the wife of Scarron, a writer of comic poetry and a cripple. So Frances d’Aubigne became Madame Scarron, and somewhat improved her position. Her husband died in five years, leaving her a pension. Falling in with Madame de Montespan, the king’s mistress, that lady took a liking to her, and it was not long before she was established at a fine house in one of the suburbs, with a large income and a numerous staff of servants, as governess of the king’s illegitimate children by this mistress. At the end of four years the children, with their governess, were housed in the palace, and the influence of the said governess over the king, who was naturally thrown much in contact with her, steadily increased. By the savings from her salary and the presents of the king she was able to purchase the estate of Maintenon, not far from Paris, and the king, who never had liked the harsh name of Scarron, soon began to call her Madame de Maintenon, which henceforth became her title. In the midst of all the vicissitudes of her life she had maintained a good character, inheriting much from her grandfather, and now she became yet more austere in her piety. The Abbé Gobelin, a severe Jesuit confessor, directed her conscience, and Bossuet impressed his strong personality upon her. They persuaded her that she was the chosen instrument for the conversion of the king. So she set