Download full Essentials of oceanography 6th ed Edition Garrison ebook all chapters

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 60

Download the full version of the ebook at ebookname.

com

Essentials of oceanography 6th ed Edition Garrison

https://ebookname.com/product/essentials-of-
oceanography-6th-ed-edition-garrison/

OR CLICK BUTTON

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Download more ebook instantly today at https://ebookname.com


Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Essentials of systems analysis and design 6th ed Edition


Valacich

https://ebookname.com/product/essentials-of-systems-analysis-and-
design-6th-ed-edition-valacich/

ebookname.com

Essentials of English 6th Edition Vincent F. Hopper

https://ebookname.com/product/essentials-of-english-6th-edition-
vincent-f-hopper/

ebookname.com

Essentials of management 8th ed Edition Dubrin

https://ebookname.com/product/essentials-of-management-8th-ed-edition-
dubrin/

ebookname.com

Criminal Law Core Concepts Larry W. Mays

https://ebookname.com/product/criminal-law-core-concepts-larry-w-mays/

ebookname.com
A Risk Management Strategy for PCB Contaminated Sediments
1st Edition National Research Council

https://ebookname.com/product/a-risk-management-strategy-for-pcb-
contaminated-sediments-1st-edition-national-research-council/

ebookname.com

Surface Analysis The Principal Techniques 2nd Edition John


C. Vickerman

https://ebookname.com/product/surface-analysis-the-principal-
techniques-2nd-edition-john-c-vickerman/

ebookname.com

Organic chemistry with biological applications 3e edition


Edition Mcmurry

https://ebookname.com/product/organic-chemistry-with-biological-
applications-3e-edition-edition-mcmurry/

ebookname.com

Ion exchange membranes preparation characterization


modification and application 1st Edition T. Sata

https://ebookname.com/product/ion-exchange-membranes-preparation-
characterization-modification-and-application-1st-edition-t-sata/

ebookname.com

Practical Guide to the Assessment of the Useful Life of


Rubbers 1st Edition Brown

https://ebookname.com/product/practical-guide-to-the-assessment-of-
the-useful-life-of-rubbers-1st-edition-brown/

ebookname.com
Teaching World Languages For Social Justice A Sourcebook
Of Principles And Practices 1st Edition Terry A. Osborn

https://ebookname.com/product/teaching-world-languages-for-social-
justice-a-sourcebook-of-principles-and-practices-1st-edition-terry-a-
osborn/
ebookname.com
Essentials of Oceanography
This page intentionally left blank
Essentials of Oceanography
FIFTH EDITION

Tom Garrison
Orange Coast College
University of Southern California

Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
Essentials of Oceanography, Fifth Edition © 2009, 2006 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
Tom Garrison
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein
may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means
Publisher: Yolanda Cossio
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying,
Earth Science Editor: Marcus Boggs recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks,
Development Editor: Jake Warde or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under
Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the
Assistant Editor: Liana Monari
prior written permission of the publisher.
Editorial Assistant: Paige Leeds

Technology Project Manager: Alexandria Brady

Marketing Communications Manager: For product information and technology assistance, contact us at
Belinda Krohmer Cengage Learning Academic Resource Center, 1-800-423-0563
Project Manager, Editorial Production:
Andy Marinkovich For permission to use material from this text or product, submit all requests
online at www.cengage.com/permissions
Creative Director: Rob Hugel
Further permissions questions can be emailed to
Art Director: Vernon Boes [email protected]
Print Buyer: Judy Inouye

Permissions Editor: Mardell Schultz-Glinski


Library of Congress Control Number: 2008930579
Production Service: Graphic World Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0-495-55531-5
Text Designer: Cheryl Carrington ISBN-10: 0-495-55531-2

Photo Researcher: Terri Wright


Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning
Illustrator: Precision Graphics, Graphic World
10 Davis Drive
Illustration Studio
Belmont, CA 94002-3098
Cover Designer: Irene Morris USA
Cover Image: © Imageshop/Corbis

Compositor: Graphic World Inc. Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions
with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United
Printer: Transcontinental Printing/Interglobe
Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at
international.cengage.com/region.

Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education,


Ltd.

For your course and learning solutions, visit academic.cengage.com.


Purchase any of our products at your local college store or at our preferred
online store www.ichapters.com.

Printed in Canada
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 09 08
To my family and my students:
My hope for the future

v
This page intentionally left blank
About the Author
Tom Garrison (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is a professor
in the Marine Science Department at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa,
California, one of the largest undergraduate marine science departments
in the United States. Dr. Garrison also holds an adjunct professorship at
the University of Southern California. He has been named Outstanding
Marine Educator by the National Marine Technology Society, is a mem-
ber of the COSEE staff, writes a regular column for the journal Ocean-
ography, and was a winner of the prestigious Salgo-Noren Foundation
Award for Excellence in College Teaching. Dr. Garrison was an Emmy
Award team participant as writer and science advisor for the PBS syndi-
cated Oceanus television series, and writer and science advisor for The
Endless Voyage, a set of television programs on oceanography completed
in 2003. His widely used textbooks in oceanography and marine science
are the college market’s best sellers.
His interest in the ocean dates from his earliest memories. As he
grew up with a U.S. Navy admiral as a dad, the subject was hard to
avoid! He had the good fortune to meet great teachers who supported
and encouraged this interest. Years as a midshipman and commissioned
naval officer continued the marine emphasis; graduate school and 40
years of teaching have allowed him to pass his oceanic enthusiasm to
more than 75,000 students.
Dr. Garrison travels extensively, and most recently served as a guest
lecturer at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Auckland

Bryndis Brandsdottir, University of Iceland


(New Zealand). He has been married to an astonishingly patient lady
for 40 years, has a daughter who teaches fourth grade, a son-in-law, two
truly cute granddaughters, and a son who works in international trade.
He and most of his family reside in Newport Beach, California.

The author standing in Thingvillir graben in Iceland. This cleft—and the area
seen in the middle background—is an extension of the mid-Atlantic ridge above
the ocean’s surface. In a sense, Icelanders live on the seabed.

vii
This page intentionally left blank
Brief Contents
1 Origins 1 Appendix 1
Measurements and Conversions 389
2 History 22
Appendix 2
3 Earth Structure and Plate
Geological Time 392
Tectonics 48
Appendix 3
4 Ocean Basins 76
Absolute and Relative Dating 393
5 Sediments 100
Appendix 4
6 Water 120 Maps and Charts 394

7 Atmospheric Circulation 146 Appendix 5


Latitude and Longitude, Time,
8 Ocean Circulation 170
and Navigation 398
9 Waves 198
Appendix 6
10 Tides 226 The Law of the Sea Governs
Marine Resource Allocation 401
11 Coasts 244
Appendix 7
12 Life in the Ocean 270
Working in Marine Science 403
13 Pelagic Communities 296
Glossary 407
14 Benthic Communities 324
Index 427
15 Uses and Abuses of the Ocean 346

ix
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

Systematic Study of the Ocean Began


Preface xi at the Library of Alexandria 24
Eratosthenes Accurately Calculated the Size
and Shape of Earth 24
1 Origins 1 Oceanian Seafarers Colonized Distant Islands 27
The Chinese Undertook Organized Voyages
The Story of the Ocean 1 of Discovery 29
1.1 Earth Is an Ocean World 1 Prince Henry Launched the European Age
of Discovery 30
1.2 Marine Scientists Use the Logic of Science
to Study the Ocean 3
1.3 Stars and Seas 6
Earth Was Formed of Material Made in Stars 6
Stars and Planets Are Contained within
Galaxies 6
Stars Make Heavy Elements from Lighter
Ones 7
Solar Systems Form by Accretion 7
1.4 Earth, Ocean, and Atmosphere Accumulated
in Layers Sorted by Density 10
1.5 Life Probably Originated in the Ocean 14
1.6 What Will Be the Future of Earth? 15
1.7 Are There Other Ocean Worlds? 16
The Solar System’s Outer Moons 16
Mars 17
Titan 18
Extrasolar Planets 18
Life and Oceans? 19
Questions from Students 20
Chapter Summary 20
Terms and Concepts to Remember 21
Study Questions 21

2 History 22
Making Marine History 23
Tom Garrison

2.1 Understanding the Ocean Began with Voyaging


for Trade and Exploration 23
Early Peoples Traveled the Ocean for Economic
Sólfar, a stylized Viking longship, guards the approach to Reykjavik harbor,
Reasons 24 Iceland. An Arctic Tern, the world’s longest-migrating bird, rests atop the prow.

vii
xi
2.2 Voyaging Combined with Science to Advance 3.5 The Confirmation of Plate Tectonics 64
Ocean Studies 34 A History of Plate Movement Has Been Captured
Captain James Cook Was the First Marine in Residual Magnetic Fields 64
Scientist 34 Plate Movement Above Mantle Plumes and Hot
Accurate Determination of Longitude Was the Spots Provide Evidence of Plate Tectonics 68
Key to Oceanic Exploration and Mapping 35 Sediment Age and Distribution, Oceanic
The United States Exploring Expedition Helped Ridges, and Terranes Are Explained by Plate
Establish Natural Science in America 36 Tectonics 70
Matthew Maury Discovered Worldwide Patterns 3.6 Scientists Still Have Much to Learn
of Winds and Ocean Currents 37 about the Tectonic Process 73
The Challenger Expedition Was Organized from
the First as a Scientific Expedition 38 Questions from Students 74
Ocean Studies Have Military Applications 38 Chapter Summary 75
2.3 Contemporary Oceanography Makes Use Terms and Concepts to Remember 75
of Modern Technology 41 Study Questions 75
Polar Exploration Advanced Ocean Studies 41
New Ships for New Tasks 42
Oceanographic Institutions Arose to Oversee 4 Ocean Basins 76
Complex Research Projects 43
Satellites Have Become Important Tools Deep and Deeper 77
in Ocean Exploration 44
4.1 The Ocean Floor Is Mapped by Bathymetry 77
Questions from Students 45 Echo Sounders Bounce Sound
Chapter Summary 46 off the Seabed 78
Multibeam Systems Combine Many Echo
Terms and Concepts to Remember 46
Sounders 78
Study Questions 47 Satellites Can Be Used to Map Seabed
Contours 78
3 Earth Structure 4.2 Ocean-Floor Topography Varies with
Location 82
and Plate Tectonics 48
4.3 Continental Margins May Be Active
Fire and Ice 49 or Passive 83
Continental Shelves Are Seaward Extensions
3.1 Pieces of Earth’s Surface Look Like They Once of the Continents 84
Fit Together 49 Continental Slopes Connect Continental Shelves
3.2 Earth’s Interior Is Layered 52 to the Deep-Ocean Floor 86
Each of Earth’s Inner Layers Has Unique Submarine Canyons Form at the Junction
Characteristics 52 between Continental Shelf and Continental
Radioactive Elements Generate Heat Inside Slope 87
Earth 54 Continental Rises Form As Sediments
Continents Rise Above the Ocean Because of Accumulate at the Base of the Continental
Isostatic Equilibrium 55 Slope 88
3.3 Wegener’s Idea Is Transformed 56 4.4 The Topology of Deep-Ocean Basins Differs
3.4 The Breakthrough: From Seafloor Spreading from That of the Continental Margin 88
to Plate Tectonics 56 Oceanic Ridges Circle the World 88
Plates Interact at Plate Boundaries 57 Hydrothermal Vents Are Hot Springs on Active
Ocean Basins Form at Divergent Plate Oceanic Ridges 91
Boundaries 57 Abyssal Plains and Abyssal Hills Cover Most
Island Arcs Form, Continents Collide, and Crust of Earth’s Surface 93
Recycles at Convergent Plate Boundaries 60 Volcanic Seamounts and Guyots Project Above
Crust Fractures and Slides at Transform Plate the Seabed 93
Boundaries 62 Trenches and Island Arcs Form in Subduction
Zones 94

xii C O N T E N T S
4.5 The Grand Tour 96
6 Water 120
Questions from Students 97
Chapter Summary 97 Familiar, Abundant, and Odd 121
Terms and Concepts to Remember 97 6.1 The Water Molecule 122
Study Questions 97 6.2 Water Has Unusual Thermal
Characteristics 123
Heat and Temperature Are Not the Same
5 Sediments 100 Thing 123
Not All Substances Have the Same Heat
The Memory of the Ocean 101 Capacity 123
5.1 Sediments Vary Greatly in Appearance 101 Water’s Temperature Affects Its Density 124
Water Becomes Less Dense When It Freezes 124
5.2 Sediments May Be Classified by Particle
Water Removes Heat from Surfaces As It
Size 103
Evaporates 126
5.3 Sediments May Be Classified by Source 104
6.3 Surface Water Moderates Global
Terrigenous Sediments Come from Land 104
Temperature 127
Biogenous Sediments Form from the Remains
Movement of Water Vapor from Tropics to Poles
of Marine Organisms 106
Also Moderates Earth’s Temperature 128
Hydrogenous Sediments Form Directly
Global Warming May Be Influencing
from Seawater 106
Ocean-Surface Temperature 128
Cosmogenous Sediments Come from Space 106
Marine Sediments Are Usually Combinations 6.4 Water Is a Powerful Solvent 129
of Terrigenous and Biogenous Deposits 107 Salinity Is a Measure of Seawater’s Total
Dissolved Organic Solids 129
5.4 Neritic Sediments Overlie Continental
The Components of Ocean Salinity Came
Margins 108
from, and Have Been Modified by, Earth’s
5.5 Pelagic Sediments Vary in Composition Crust 130
and Thickness 109 The Ratio of Dissolved Solids in the Ocean
Turbidites Are Deposited on the Seabed Is Constant 131
by Turbidity Currents 109 Salinity Is Calculated from Chlorinity 131
Clays Are the Finest and Most Easily
Transported Terrigenous Sediments 110
Oozes Form from the Rigid Remains of Living
Creatures 110
Hydrogenous Materials Precipitate out
of Seawater Itself 113
Evaporites Precipitate As Seawater
Evaporates 113
Oolite Sands Form When Calcium Carbonate
Precipitates from Seawater 113
Researchers Have Mapped the Distribution
of Deep-Ocean Sediments 114
5.6 Scientists Use Specialized Tools to Study Ocean
Sediments 114
5.7 Sediments Are Historical Records of Ocean
Processes 116
Questions from Students 118
Chapter Summary 118
Terms and Concepts to Remember 119
Tom Garrison

Study Questions 119


Marine transportation is important to the world economy.

C O N T E N T S xiii
The Ocean Is in Chemical Equilibrium 132 Sonar Systems Use Sound to Detect Underwater
The Ocean’s Mixing Time Is Short 132 Objects 140
6.5 Gases Dissolve in Seawater 133 Questions from Students 143
Nitrogen 133 Chapter Summary 144
Oxygen 133
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 133 Terms and Concepts to Remember 145

6.6 Acid-Base Balance 134 Study Questions 145

6.7 The Ocean Is Stratified by Density 135


The Ocean Is Stratified into Three Density Zones 7 Atmospheric Circulation 146
by Temperature and Salinity 135
Water Masses Have Characteristic Temperature, Change Is in the Air 147
Salinity, and Density 137
7.1 The Atmosphere and Ocean Interact with Each
6.8 Light Does Not Travel Far through Other 148
the Ocean 137
7.2 Earth’s Atmosphere Is Composed Mainly
The Photic Zone Is the Sunlit Surface of the
of Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Water Vapor 148
Ocean 137
Water Transmits Blue Light More Efficiently 7.3 The Atmosphere Moves in Response to Uneven
Than Red 137 Solar Heating and Earth’s Rotation 148
The Solar Heating of Earth Varies with
6.9 Sound Travels Much Farther Than Light
Latitude 149
in the Ocean 139
The Solar Heating of Earth Also Varies
Refraction Can Bend the Paths of Light and
with the Seasons 150
Sound through Water 139
Earth’s Uneven Solar Heating Results
Refraction Causes Sofar Layers and Shadow
in Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation 150
Zones 139
7.4 The Coriolis Effect Deflects the Path of Moving
Objects 152
An Easy Way to Remember the Coriolis
Effect 153
The Coriolis Effect Influences the Movement
of Air in Atmospheric Circulation Cells 154
Six Atmospheric Circulation Cells Exist in Each
Hemisphere 154
7.5 Atmospheric Circulation Generates
Large-Scale Surface Wind Patterns 155
Monsoons Are Wind Patterns That Change
with the Seasons 155
Sea Breezes and Land Breezes Arise from
Uneven Surface Heating 156
El Niño, La Niña 156
7.6 Storms Are Variations in Large-Scale
Atmospheric Circulation 158
Storms Form within or between Air Masses 158
Extratropical Cyclones Form between Two Air
Masses 158
Tropical Cyclones Form in One Air Mass 159
7.7 The Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2005 Was
the Most Destructive Ever Recorded 164
Hurricane Katrina Was the United States’ Most
Tom Garrison

Costly Natural Disaster 165


Hurricane Rita Struck Soon after Katrina 166
A researcher at the Cape d’Aguilar laboratory, Hong Kong University, studies a
plankton sample.

xiv C O N T E N T S
Hurricane Wilma Was the Most Powerful
Atlantic Hurricane Ever Measured 167
9 Waves 198
Why Was the 2005 Season So Devastating? 167 “. . . change without notice.” 199
Questions from Students 168
9.1 Ocean Waves Move Energy across the Sea
Chapter Summary 169 Surface 200
Terms and Concepts to Remember 169 9.2 Waves Are Classified by Their Physical
Study Questions 169 Characteristics 201
Ocean Waves Are Formed by a Disturbing
Force 201
8 Ocean Circulation 170 Waves Are Weakened by a Restoring Force 201
Wavelength Is the Most Useful Measure of Wave
Palm Trees in Britain? 171 Size 202
8.1 Mass Flow of Ocean Water Is Driven by Wind 9.3 The Behavior of Waves Is Influenced
and Gravity 171 by the Depth of Water through Which
8.2 Surface Currents Are Driven by the Winds 172 They Are Moving 203
Surface Currents Flow around the Periphery 9.4 Wind Blowing over the Ocean Generates
of Ocean Basins 173 Waves 204
Seawater Flows in Six Great Surface Circuits 174 Larger Swell Move Faster Than Small Swell 206
Boundary Currents Have Different Many Factors Influence Wind Wave
Characteristics 175 Development 206
A Final Word on Gyres 180 Wind Waves Can Grow to Enormous Size 207
8.3 Surface Currents Affect Weather 9.5 Interference Produces Irregular Wave
and Climate 181 Motions 208
8.4 Wind Can Cause Vertical Movement of Ocean 9.6 Deep-Water Waves Change to Shallow-Water
Water 181 Waves As They Approach Shore 210
Nutrient-Rich Water Rises near the Equator 181 Waves Refract When They Approach a Shore
Wind Can Induce Upwelling near Coasts 181 at an Angle 211
Wind Can Also Induce Coastal Waves Can Reflect from Large Vertical
Downwelling 182 Surfaces 212
8.5 El Niño and La Niña Are Exceptions to Normal 9.7 Internal Waves Can Form between Ocean
Wind and Current Flow 183 Layers of Differing Densities 213
8.6 Thermohaline Circulation Affects All 9.8 “Tidal Waves” Are Probably Not What You
the Ocean’s Water 189 Think 214
Water Masses Have Distinct, Often Unique 9.9 Storm Surges Form beneath Strong Cyclonic
Characteristics 189 Storms 214
Thermohaline Flow and Surface Flow:
The Global Heat Connection 189 9.10 Water Can Rock in a Confined Basin 216
The Formation and Downwelling of Deep Water 9.11 Water Displacement Causes Tsunami
Occurs in Polar Regions 189 and Seismic Sea Waves 217
Deep Water Formation Can Affect Climate 190 Tsunami Are Always Shallow-Water Waves 217
Water Masses May Converge, Fall, Travel Tsunami Move at High Speed 218
across the Seabed, and Slowly Rise 191 What’s It Like to Encounter a Tsunami? 218
8.7 Studying Currents 193 Tsunami Have a Long and Destructive
History 219
Questions from Students 196 Tsunami Warning Networks Can Save Lives 221
Chapter Summary 196 Questions from Students 223
Terms and Concepts to Remember 197 Chapter Summary 224
Study Questions 197 Terms and Concepts to Remember 224
Study Questions 225

C O N T E N T S xv
Questions from Students 242
10 Tides 226
Chapter Summary 243
Maelstrom! 227 Terms and Concepts to Remember 243
10.1 Tides Are the Longest of All Ocean Study Questions 243
Waves 228
10.2 Tides Are Forced Waves Formed by Gravity
and Inertia 228
11 Coasts 244
The Movement of the Moon Generates Strong “. . . the finest harbour in the world.” 245
Tractive Forces 228
The Sun Also Generates Tractive Forces 232 11.1 Coasts Are Shaped by Marine and Terrestrial
Sun and Moon Influence the Tides Together 233 Processes 245
10.3 The Dynamic Theory of Tides Adds Fluid 11.2 Erosional Processes Dominate Some
Motion Dynamics to the Equilibrium Coasts 248
Theory 234 Erosional Coasts Often Have Complex
Tidal Patterns Center on Amphidromic Features 249
Points 235 Selective Erosion Can Straighten Shorelines 249
The Tidal Reference Level Is Called the Tidal Land Erosion and Sea-Level Change Also Shape
Datum 237 Coasts 249
Tidal Patterns Vary with Ocean Basin Shape Volcanism and Earth Movements Affect
and Size 237 Coasts 251
Tide Waves Generate Tidal Currents 237 11.3 Beaches Dominate Depositional Coasts 252
Tidal Friction Gradually Slows Earth’s Beaches Consist of Loose Particles 252
Rotation 239 Wave Action, Particle Size, and Beach
10.4 Most Tides Can Be Predicted Accurately 240 Permeability Combine to Build Beaches 252
10.5 Tidal Patterns Can Affect Marine Beaches Often Have Distinct Profiles 252
Organisms 240 Waves Transport Sediment on Beaches 253
Sand Input and Outflow Are Balanced in Coastal
10.6 Power Can Be Extracted from Tidal Cells 255
Motion 241
11.4 Larger-Scale Features Accumulate
on Depositional Coasts 256
Sand Spits and Bay Mouth Bars Form When
the Longshore Current Slows 256
Barrier Islands and Sea Islands Are Separated
from Land 257
Deltas Can Form at River Mouths 258
11.5 Biological Activity Forms and Modifies
Coasts 260
11.6 Fresh Water Meets the Ocean in Estuaries 262
Estuaries Are Classified by Their Origins 262
Estuary Characteristics Are Influenced by Water
Density and Flow 262
Estuaries Support Complex Marine
Communities 263
11.7 Characteristics of U.S. Coasts 264
The Pacific Coast 264
The Atlantic Coast 265
The Gulf Coast 265
Tom Garrison

11.8 Humans Have Interfered in Coastal


Processes 266
Northern California’s Point Arena shoulders a storm.

xvi C O N T E N T S
Questions from Students 268 Scientific Names Describe Organisms 290
Chapter Summary 269 12.8 Marine Organisms Live Together
Terms and Concepts to Remember 269 in Communities 290
Organisms Interact within Communities 290
Study Questions 269 Competition Determines Each Organism’s
Success in a Community 290
12 Life in the Ocean 270 Marine Communities Change through Time 291
12.9 Rapid and Violent Change Causes Mass
The Ideal Place for Life 271 Extinctions 292
12.1 Life on Earth Is Notable for Unity and Questions from Students 294
Diversity 272 Chapter Summary 295
12.2 Energy Flowing through Living Things Allows Terms and Concepts to Remember 295
Them to Maintain Complex Organization 272 Study Questions 295
Energy Can Be Stored through
Photosynthesis 272
Energy Can Also Be Stored through 13 Pelagic Communities 296
Chemosynthesis 273
12.3 Primary Productivity Is the Synthesis Masters of the Storm 297
of Organic Materials 274 13.1 Pelagic Communities Occupy the Open
Primary Productivity Occurs in the Water Ocean 297
Column, Seabed Sediments, and Solid
Rock 274 13.2 Plankton Drift with Ocean Currents 299
Food Webs Disperse Energy through 13.3 Plankton Size Determines Collection
Communities 276 Method 299
12.4 Marine Life Success Depends upon Physical 13.4 Most Phytoplankton Are Photosynthetic
and Biological Environmental Factors 278 Autotrophs 300
Photosynthesis Depends on Light 278 Picoplankton 301
Temperature Influences Metabolic Rate 279 Diatoms 301
Organic Matter Production Requires Dissolved Dinoflagellates 302
Nutrients 280 Coccolithophores and Other Phytoplankton 304
Salinity Influences the Function of Cell 13.5 Phytoplankton Productivity Varies with Local
Membranes 280 Conditions 306
Dissolved Gas Concentrations Vary
13.6 Zooplankton Consume Primary
with Temperature 281
Producers 307
Dissolved Carbon Dioxide Influences the Ocean’s
Acid-Base Balance 281 13.7 Nekton Swim Actively 309
Hydrostatic Pressure Is Rarely Limiting 282 Squids and Nautiluses Are Mollusks 309
Substances Move Through Cells by Diffusion, Shrimps and Their Relatives Are the Most
Osmosis, and Active Transport 282 Successful Nektonic Invertebrates 310
Fishes Are the Most Abundant and Successful
12.5 The Marine Environment Is Classified
Vertebrates 310
in Distinct Zones 284
Sharks Are Cartilaginous Fishes 311
12.6 The Concept of Evolution Helps Explain Bony Fishes Are the Most Abundant
the Nature of Life in the Ocean 285 and Successful Fishes 312
Evolution Appears to Operate by Natural Fishes Are Successful Because of Unique
Selection 285 Adaptations 312
Evolution “Fine Tunes” Organisms to Their Sea Turtles and Marine Crocodiles Are
Environment 286 Ocean-Going Reptiles 314
12.7 Oceanic Life Is Classified by Evolutionary Some Marine Birds Are the World’s Most
Heritage 288 Efficient Flyers 315
Systems of Classification May Be Artificial Marine Mammals Include the Largest Animals
or Natural 288 Ever to Have Lived on Earth 316

C O N T E N T S xvii
Questions from Students 322 14.7 Tropical Coral Reef Communities Are
Chapter Summary 322 Productive Because Nutrients Are Efficiently
Recycled 336
Terms and Concepts to Remember 323 Coral Animals Build Reefs 336
Study Questions 323 Tropical Coral Reefs Support Large Numbers
of Species 337
Coral Reefs Are Classified by Their History 337
14 Benthic Communities 324 Coral Reefs Are Stressed by Environmental
Change 340
The Resourceful Hermit 325
14.8 The Deep-Sea Floor Is Surprisingly Well
14.1 Benthic Organisms Live On or In the Sea Populated 341
Floor 325
14.9 Vent Communities Depend
14.2 The Distribution of Benthic Organisms Is on Chemosynthetic Producers 342
Rarely Random 326
14.10 Specialized Communities Form around
14.3 Seaweeds and Marine Plants Are Diverse Whale Falls 342
and Effective Primary Producers 326
Questions from Students 344
Complex Adaptations Permit Seaweeds to Thrive
in Shallow Waters 326 Chapter Summary 344
Seaweeds Are Nonvascular Organisms 327 Terms and Concepts to Remember 345
Seaweeds Are Classified by Their Photosynthetic Study Questions 345
Pigments 328
Seaweed Communities Shield and Feed Benthic
Animals 329 15 Uses and Abuses
True Marine Plants Are Vascular Plants 329
of the Ocean 346
14.4 Salt Marshes and Estuaries Are Highly
Productive Benthic Habitats 330 A Cautionary Tale 347
14.5 Rocky Intertidal Communities Can Thrive 15.1 Marine Resources Are Subject to the
Despite Wave Shock 331 Economic Laws of Supply and Demand 349
14.6 Sand Beach and Cobble Beach Communities 15.2 Physical Resources 350
Exist in One of Earth’s Most Rigorous Petroleum and Natural Gas Are the Ocean’s Most
Habitats 334 Valuable Resources 350
Large Methane Hydrate Deposits Exist
in Shallow Sediments 351
Marine Sand and Gravel Are Used in
Construction 352
Salts Are Gathered from Evaporation Basins 352
Fresh Water Is Obtained by Desalination 353
15.3 Marine Energy 354
Windmills Are Effective Energy Producers 354
Waves and Currents Can Be Harnessed to
Generate Power 354
15.4 Biological Resources 356
Fish, Crustaceans, and Mollusks Are the Ocean’s
Most Valuable Biological Resources 357
Today’s Fisheries Are Not Sustainable 358
Much of the Commercial Catch Is Discarded
as “Bycatch” 359
Drift Net Fishing Has Been Particularly
Tom Garrison

Disruptive 359
Whaling Continues 360
A jetliner rushes east across the Pacific with an assist from a very fast jet stream

xviii C O N T E N T S
Marine Botanical Resources Have Many Appendix 1
Uses 361
Organisms Can Be Grown in Controlled
Measurements and Conversions 389
Environments 361
New Generations of Drugs and Bioproducts Appendix 2
Are of Oceanic Origin 362 Geological Time 392
15.5 Nonextractive Resources Use the Ocean
in Place 364 Appendix 3
15.6 Marine Pollutants May Be Natural Absolute and Relative Dating 393
or Human-Generated 366
Pollutants Interfere with Organisms’ Biochemical Appendix 4
Processes 366
Oil Enters the Ocean from Many Sources 367 Maps and Charts 394
Cleaning a Spill Always Involves Trade-Offs 369
Toxic Synthetic Organic Chemicals May Be Appendix 5
Biologically Amplified 370 Latitude and Longitude, Time,
Heavy Metals Can Be Toxic in Very Small
Quantities 370 and Navigation 398
Eutrophication Stimulates the Growth of Some
Species to the Detriment of Others 371 Appendix 6
Plastic and Other Forms of Solid Waste Can Be The Law of the Sea Governs
Especially Hazardous to Marine Life 372
Pollution Is Costly 374
Marine Resource Allocation 401
15.7 Organisms Cannot Prosper If Their Habitats Appendix 7
Are Disturbed 374
Bays and Estuaries Are Especially Sensitive Working in Marine Science 403
to the Effects of Pollution 374
Other Habitats Are at Risk 374
15.8 Marine Conservation Areas Offer a Glimmer Glossary 407
of Hope 375
15.9 Earth’s Climate Is Changing 375 Index 427
The Protective Ozone Layer Can be Depleted
by Chlorine-Containing Chemicals 375
Earth’s Surface Temperature Is Rising 377
What Percentage of Global Warming Is Caused
by Human Activity? 380
Mathematical Models Are Used to Predict Future
Climates 381
Can Global Warming Be Curtailed? Should It Be
Curtailed? 382
15.10 What Can Be Done? 384
Questions from Students 387
Chapter Summary 388
Terms and Concepts to Remember 388
Study Questions 388

C O N T E N T S xix
This page intentionally left blank
Preface for Students and Instructors

T his book was written to provide an interesting, clear,


current, and reasonably comprehensive overview of
the marine sciences. It was designed for students who
are curious about Earth’s largest feature, but who may have
little formal background in science. Oceanography is broadly
ate intervals in the text itself rather than gathered together at
the end of the chapter.
And as before, a great many students have participated
alongside professional marine scientists in the writing and
reviewing process. In response to their recommendations, as
interdisciplinary; students are invited to see the connections well as those of instructors who have adopted the book and
between astronomy, economics, physics, chemistry, history, the many specialists and reviewers who contributed sugges-
meteorology, geology, and ecology—areas of study they tions for strengthening the earlier editions, I have
once considered separate. It’s no surprise that oceanography
courses have has become increasingly popular!
• Modified every chapter to reflect current thought
and recent research. This is especially true of Chapter
Students bring a natural enthusiasm to their study of
15 (Uses and Abuses of the Ocean), which, among
this field. Even the most indifferent reader will perk up when
other things, summarizes the growing controversies
presented with stories of encounters with huge waves, photos
surrounding the causes of and potential remedies for
of giant squids, tales of exploration under the best and worst
global climate change.
of circumstances, evidence that vast chunks of Earth’s sur-
face slowly move, news of Earth’s past battering by asteroids,
• Emphasized the process of science throughout.
Underlying assumptions and limitations are discussed
micrographs of glistening diatoms, and data showing the
throughout the book.
growing economic importance of seafood and marine mate-
rials. If pure spectacle is required to generate an initial inter-
• Enhanced the visual program for increased clarity and
accuracy, adding and modifying illustrations to make
est in the study of science, oceanography wins hands down!
ideas easier to grasp.
In the end, however, it is subtlety that triumphs. Study-
ing the ocean reinstills in us the sense of wonder we all felt as
• Modified headings to full sentences to convey more
accurately the content that follows. The headings have
children when we first encountered the natural world. There
been sequentially numbered to allow easy reference.
is much to tell. The story of the ocean is a story of change and
chance—its history is written in the rocks, the water, and the
• Covered communities more thoroughly, emphasizing
community ecology in the sections of the text on
genes of the millions of organisms that have evolved here.
marine biology.
• Generated a new website specific to this textbook.
In addition to keying more than 3,000 active sites to
specific points in the text, the website now includes an
The Fifth Edition integrated learning system that is described in more
My aim in writing this relatively compact book was to pro- detail below. The website is available at:
duce a text that would enhance students’ natural enthusiasm http://academic.cengage.com/earthscience/garrison/
for the ocean. My students have been involved in this book essentials5e
from the very beginning—indeed, it was their request for • Refined the pedagogy to include Study Breaks within
a readable, engaging, and thorough text that initiated the the chapters. These allow progressive checks of
project a long time ago. Through the nearly 30 years I have understanding as a chapter unfolds. The answers to
been writing textbooks, my enthusiasm for oceanic knowl- the Checks are listed in the book’s dedicated website.
edge has increased (if that is possible), forcing my patient Updated versions of Chapter at a Glance and Questions
reviewers and editors to weed out an excessive number of from Students continue in this new edition.
exclamation points. But enthusiasm does shine through.
One student reading the final manuscript of an earlier edi-
tion commented, “At last, a textbook that does not read like
stereo instructions.” Good! Ocean Literacy and the Plan
This new edition builds on its predecessors. As in previ-
ous editions, this Essentials text employs a somewhat simpler
of the Book
writing style and reduced vocabulary. It is truly an “essen- Ocean literacy is the awareness and understanding of fun-
tials” presentation—only the most important concepts are damental concepts about the history, functioning, contents,
introduced and developed. Rather than interrupt the text and utilization of the ocean. An ocean-literate person recog-
with text boxes, any crucial information previously boxed nizes the influence of the ocean on his or her daily life, can
has been incorporated into the text itself. As in previous edi- communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way, and is
tions of Essentials, the key ideas are interspersed at appropri- able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding

xxi
Warmed by the Gulf and underlying geology of the study area. This book is orga-
Stream, palm-like nized to make those connections from the first.
trees grow on
the west coast of
Ireland.
Organization and Pedagogy
A broad view of marine science is presented in 15 chapters,
each free standing (or nearly so) to allow an instructor to
assign chapters in any order he or she finds appropriate.
Each chapter begins with a Study Plan (an outline of the
organization of the chapter) followed by a vignette, a short
illustrated tale, observation, or sea story to whet the appe-
tite for the material to come. Some vignettes spotlight sci-
entists at work; others describe the experiences of people or
animals in the sea. Each vignette ends with a brief overview
of the chapter’s high points and a few advance organizers
for what’s to come.
The chapters are written in an engaging style. Terms are
defined and principles developed in a straightforward man-
ner. Some of the more complex ideas are initially outlined
in broad brushstrokes, and then the same concepts are dis-
cussed again in greater depth after students have a clear view
of the overall situation. When appropriate to their meanings,
the derivations of words are shown. Measurements are given

Tom Garrison
in both metric (S.I.) and American systems. At the request of
a great many students, the units are written out (that is, we
write kilometer rather than km) to avoid ambiguity and for
ease of reading.
the ocean and its resources. This book has been designed with The photos, charts, graphs, and paintings in the exten-
ocean literacy guidelines firmly in mind. sive illustration program have been chosen for their utility,
The book’s plan is straightforward: We begin with a clarity, and beauty. Heads and subheads are now written as
brief look at the history of marine science (with additional complete sentences for clarity, with main heads sequentially
historical information sprinkled through later chapters). numbered. Internet icons are provided at nearly all of the
Because all matter on Earth except hydrogen and some subheads, indicating that text-specific web links provide
helium was generated in stars, our story of the ocean starts additional information. A set of Study Breaks concludes
with stars. Have oceans evolved elsewhere? The theories of each chapter’s major sections—the answers are provided in
Earth structure and plate tectonics are presented next, as a the book’s dedicated website.
base on which to build the explanation of bottom features Also concluding each chapter is a Questions from
that follows. A survey of ocean physics and chemistry pre- Students section. These questions are ones that students
pares us for discussions of atmospheric circulation, classi- have asked me over the years. This material is an important
cal physical oceanography, and coastal processes. Our look extension of the chapters and occasionally contains key
at marine biology begins with an overview of the problems words and illustrations. Each chapter ends with an array of
and benefits of living in seawater, continues with a discus- study materials for students, beginning with a new feature,
sion of the production and consumption of food, and ends Chapter Summary, a narrative review of the chapter just
with taxonomic and ecological surveys of marine organisms. concluded. Important Terms and Concepts to Remem-
The last chapters treat marine resources and environmental ber are listed next; these are also defined in an extensive
concerns. Glossary in the back of the book. Study Questions are
This icon {GW icon} appears when our discussion turns also included in each chapter; writing the answers to these
toward the topic of global climate change. Oceanography questions will cement your understanding of the concepts
is central to an understanding of this interesting and con- presented.
troversial set of ideas, so those areas have been expanded, Appendixes will help you master measurements and
emphasized, and clearly marked in this edition. As always conversions, geological time, latitude and longitude, chart
in my books, connections between disciplines are emphasized projections, the mathematics of Coriolis Effect and tidal
throughout. Marine science draws on several fields of study, forces, the taxonomy of marine organisms, and other useful
integrating the work of specialists into a unified whole. For skills. In case you’d like to join us in our life’s work, the last
example, a geologist studying the composition of marine appendix discusses jobs in marine science.
sediments on the deep seabed must be aware of the biology The book has been thoroughly student tested. You need
and life histories of the organisms in the water above, the not feel intimidated by the concepts—this material has been
chemistry that affects the shells and skeletons of the crea- mastered by students just like you. Read slowly and go step
tures as they fall to the ocean floor, the physics of particle by step through any parts that give you trouble. Your pre-
settling and water density and ocean currents, and the age decessors have found the ideas presented here to be useful,

xxii P R E F A C E
inspiring, and applicable to their lives. Best of all, they have
found the subject to be interesting!

Suggestions for Using This


Book
1. Begin with a preview. Scout the territory ahead—read
the vignette that begins each chapter, flip through
the assigned pages reading only the headings and
subheadings, look at the figures and read captions that
catch your attention.
2. Keep a pen and paper handy. Jot down a few
questions—any questions—that this quick glance
stimulates. Why is the deep ocean cold if the inside
of Earth is so hot? What makes storm conditions like
those seen in 1997–1998? Where did sea salt come

G. Neukum, European Space Agency


from? Will global warming actually be a problem? Does
anybody still hunt whales? Writing questions will help
you focus when you start studying.
3. Now read in small but concentrated doses. Each
chapter is written in a sequence and tells a story. The
logical progression of ideas is going somewhere.
Find and follow the organization of the chapter. Stop
occasionally to review what you’ve learned. Flip back A glacier of water
and forth to review and preview. ice rests in a crater
4. Strive to be actively engaged! Write marginal notes, near the north pole
of Mars.
underline occasional passages (underlining whole
sections is seldom useful), write more questions, draw
Acknowledgments
on the diagrams, check off subjects as you master Jack Carey at Thomson Learning, the grand master of college
them, make flashcards while you read (if you find them textbook publishing, willed the first edition of this book into
helpful), use your book! being. His suggestions have been combined with those of
5. Monitor your understanding. If you start at the more than 1,000 undergraduate students, and 155 reviewers,
beginning of the chapter you will have little trouble to contribute to my continuously growing understanding of
understanding the concepts as they unfold. But if you marine science. Donald Lovejoy, Stanley Ulanski, Richard
find yourself at the bottom of the page having only Yuretich, Ronald Johnson, John Mylroie, and Steve Lund at
scanned (rather than understood) the material, stop my alma mater, the University of Southern California, deserve
there and start that part again. Look ahead to see where special recognition for many years of patient direction. For
we’re going. Remember, students have been here before, this edition, I have especially depended on the expert advice
and I have listened to their comments to make the of William F. Johnson, Sierra Community College; Mark T.
material as clear as I can. This book was written for you. Stewart, University of South Florida; Otto H. Muller, Alfred
6. Check out the study tools on the book’s website. University; Jonathan H. Sharp, University of Delaware;
http://academic.cengage.com/earthscience/garrison/ William H. Hoyt, University of Northern Colorado;
essentials5e provides media-enhanced activities and Karl-Heinz Szekielda, City University of New York; James F.
helpful tutorials. It allows you to develop a personal Tait, Southern Connecticut State University; and Rick Grigg,
learning plan and focus on the concepts you most need University of Hawai’i. Reviewers specific to this edition
to master. were Benjamin P. Horton, The University of Pennsylvania;
7. Use the Internet sites. We have placed more than Richard L. Iverson, Florida State University; Stephen Macko,
1,500 Internet sites through the text for you to explore. The University of Virginia; Leslie A. Melim, Western Illinois
They provide expanded information and different University; and Erin E. Wolfe, Coastal Carolina University.
ways of looking at the material in the text. Fire up your My long-suffering departmental colleagues Dennis
computer and link to the designated site as you read Kelly, Jay Yett, Erik Bender, and Robert Profeta again should
the associated passage of the book. be awarded medals for putting up with me, answering hun-
8. Enjoy the journey. Your instructor would be glad dreds of my questions, and being so forbearing through the
to share his or her understanding and appreciation book’s lengthy gestation period. Thanks also to our dean, Dr.
of marine science with you—you have only to ask. Roger Abernathy, and our college president, Robert Dees, for
Students, instructors, and authors all work together supporting this project and encouraging our faculty to teach,
toward a common goal: an appreciation of the beauty conduct research, and be involved in community service.
and interrelationships a growing understanding of the Our past and present department teaching assistants deserve
ocean can provide. praise as well, especially Timothy Riddle, the Internet wiz-

P R E F A C E xxiii
ard responsible—among many other things—for the website Taylor at the Centre for Maritime Research in Greenwich
and extensive links. dug through their archives one more time. Don Dixon,
Yet another round of gold medals should go to my fam- William Hartmann, Ron Miller, and William Kaufmann
ily for being patient (well, relatively patient) during those provided paintings, Dan Burton sent photos, and Andrew
years of days and nights when dad was holed up in his dark Goodwillie printed customized charts. Bryndís Brandsdót-
reference-littered cave, throwing chicken bones out the door tir of the Science Institute, University of Iceland, patiently
and listening to really loud Glenn Gould Bach recordings, showed me to the jaw-slackening Thingvillir rift. Wim van
again working late on The Book. Thank you Marsha, Jeanne, Egmond contributed striking photomicrographs of dia-
Greg, Grace, Sarah, John, and Dinara for your love and toms and copepods. Kim Fulton-Bennett of MBARI found
understanding. extraordinarily beautiful photos of delicate midwater ani-
The people who provided pictures and drawings mals. Peter Ramsay at Marine Geosolutions, Ltd., of South
have worked miracles to obtain the remarkable images Africa sent state-of-the art side-scan sonar images. Michael
in these pages. To mention just a few: Gerald Kuhn sent Boss kindly contributed his images of Admiral Zheng He’s
classics taken by his late SIO colleague Francis Shepard, astonishing beochuan. Bill Haxby at Lamont provided truly
Vincent Courtillot of the University of Paris contributed beautiful seabed scans. Karen Riedel helped with DSDP core
the remarkable photo of the Aden Rift, Catherine Devine images. James Ingle offered me a desk at Stanford when-
at Cornell provided time-lapse graphics of tsunami propa- ever I needed it. NOAA, JOI, NASA, USGS, the Smithso-
gation, Robert Headland of the Scott Polar Research Insti- nian Institution, the Royal Geographical Society, the U.S.
tute in Cambridge searched out prints of polar subjects, Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard came through time and
Charles Hollister at Woods Hole kindly provided seafloor again, as did private organizations like Alcoa Aluminum,
photos from his important books, Andreas Rechnitzer Cunard, Shell Oil, The Maersk Line, Grumman Aviation,
and Don Walsh recalled their exciting days with Trieste, Breitling-SA, CNN, Associated Press, MobileEdge, and the
and Bruce Hall, Pat Mason, Ron Romanoski, Ted Delaca, Los Angeles Times. The Woods Hole team was also generous—
William Cochlan, Christopher Ralling, Mark McMahon, especially Robin Hurst, Jack Cook, Larry Madin, and Ruth
John Shelton, Alistair Black, Howard Spero, Eric Bender, Curry. Thanks also to WHOI researchers Philip Richardson,
Ken-ichi Inoue, and Norman Cole contributed beauti- William Schmitz, Susumu Honjo, Doug Webb, James Broda,
ful slides. Seran Gibbard provided the highest-resolu- Albert Bradley, John Waterbury, and Kathy Patterson who
tion images yet made of the surface of Titan, and Michael all provided photographs, diagrams, and advice. Individuals
Malin forwarded truly beautiful images of erosion on Mars. with special expertise have also been willing to share: Hank
Herbert Kawainui Kane again allowed us to reprint his mag- Brandli processed satellite digital images of storms, Peter
nificent paintings of Hawai’ian subjects. Deborah Day and Sloss at the National Geophysical Data Center helped me sort
Cindy Clark at Scripps Institution, Jutta Voss-Diestelkamp through computer-generated seabed images, Steven Grand
at the Alfred Wegener Institut in Bremerhaven, and David of the University of Texas provided a descending deep-slab

xxiv P R E F A C E
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
gentleness and charity of Fénélon, so simple and true in all its
demonstrations, excites a tender reverence. The soul of both was
love. Socrates mingled wisdom with his worship of the beautiful,
which to him typified the supreme Being. Fénélon, in adoring God,
believed, that to love the supreme Being was the first, and, if
properly accomplished, the only duty of human beings.
François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénélon, was born at the château
of Fénélon, in Périgord, on the 6th of August, 1651. His family was
ancient and illustrious. His father had been previously married, had
several children, and was advanced in years; which caused his
relations to oppose his second marriage, especially as the lady of his
choice had but small fortune. She was, however, of a high family,
being of the same, though a younger branch, as the countess of
Soissons, wife of the famous prince Eugène's elder brother.
Mademoiselle de la Cropte added beauty and merit to her
distinguished birth. As the child of his old age, the count de Fénélon
educated his younger son carefully; his gentle, affectionate nature
soon displayed itself, and caused him to be beloved. His constitution
was delicate, even to being weakly; but such care was taken to
fortify it, that he became capable of great bodily and mental labour.
His lively, just, and penetrating mind,—his upright, generous, and
feeling heart,—his peculiarly happy dispositions, were perceived by
his father in childhood, and cultivated: he was early taught to aspire
to regulate his conduct by virtuous principles; and the natural
instinct for justice which distinguished him, inclined him to listen and
obey. His disposition being flexible and mild, he soon took pleasure
in fulfilling his duties, in order, and in attention. Anecdotes are told
of his display of reason and his gentleness, during childhood.
Religiously and kindly educated, he early learnt to examine his own
motives, and to restrain himself; docility was natural to him; but
added to this, he already showed toleration for the faults of others.
His health being delicate, it was resolved not to send him to any
school; a tutor was engaged, happily formed for the task. The young
Fénélon was treated neither with severity nor caprice; his lessons
were made easy and agreeable, and his capacity rendered the
acquisition of knowledge agreeable. At the age of twelve he wrote
French and Latin with elegance and facility, and was well advanced
in Greek. He had studied with care, and even imitated, the
historians, poets, philosophers, and orators of the ancient world. His
mind was thus refined and enriched, and he never lost his taste for
ancient learning, while he carried into religious studies the good
taste, grace, and variety of knowledge he acquired. Being early
destined for the ecclesiastical state, no doubt care was taken to
direct his studies in such a way as best accorded with a taste for
retirement; and that submission and docility were inculcated as
virtues of the first order. Submission and docility he had, but they
were based on nobler principles than fear or servility. They arose
from a well-regulated mind, from charity, gentleness, and a piety
that animated rules and obedience with the warm spirit of love of
God.
It was necessary for the purposes of a clerical education, that he
should quit his paternal roof. There was a university at Cahors, not
far distant, and the abbé de Fénélon (as he was then called) was
sent there, at the age of twelve. He did not at first enter on the
course of philosophy; although sufficiently advanced, it was feared
that his young mind was not as yet capable of the attention that it
required, and that he might be disgusted by its dryness, and the
difficulties presented. He began, therefore, with a course of rhetoric,
which forced him to retread old ground, and to relearn what he
already knew. Being so well advanced, he was, of course, greatly
superior in knowledge to his equals in age: but this excited no
vanity; he felt that he owed the distinction to the cares bestowed on
his early years. By the age of eighteen, he had finished his course of
theology; he took his degree in the university of Cahors, and
returned to his family.
The marquis de Fénélon, his uncle, invited him to his house in Paris,
and treated him as his son. The marquis was lieutenant-general of
the armies of the king, a man of distinguished valour, and a friend of
the great Condé, who said of him, that "he was equally qualified to
shine in society, in the field, and in the cabinet." He added piety to
his more worldly qualities, and soon perceived and took pride in the
admirable dispositions of his nephew. At the age of nineteen, the
abbé preached sermons that were generally applauded. This success
alarmed his uncle. He perceived the pure and upright character of
his nephew; but, aware of his sensibility, he feared that public
applause might spoil him, and substitute vanity for the holy love of
duty that had hitherto actuated his conduct. From these reasons, he
counselled him to retire from the world, and to enter a seminary,
where in solitude and silence he might cultivate the virtues best
suited to an ecclesiastic. Fénélon yielded; he entered the seminary
of Saint Sulpice, and put himself under the direction of the abbé
Tronson, who was its superior-general. The house was celebrated for
its piety, its simple manners, its pure faith, and, added to these, its
studious and laborious pursuits. He passed five years in this retreat,
devoted to his duties and to the acquirement of knowledge. Thus
were the ardent years of early youth spent in religious silence and
obedience—in study and meditation. There was no worldly applause
to flatter, no fame to entice; his happiness consisted in loving his
companions, and being attached to his duties. His mind became
strengthened in its purposes by example, and his virtues confirmed
by habit. At the age of twenty-four he entered holy orders; and his
future destiny as a priest was unalterably fixed.
167 A catholic priest's duties are laborious and strict. Fénélon
5.
Æta
fulfilled them conscientiously; he visited the sick, he assisted
t. the poor. He was attentive at the confessional, and in
24. catechismal examinations; the obscure labours which, when
sedulously followed up, amount to hardships, but which are the most
meritorious and useful of an ecclesiastic's duties, were so far from
being neglected, that Fénélon devoted himself to them with zeal and
assiduity. He had an exalted notion of the sacred office which he had
taken on himself, looking on it as that of mediation between God
and man. Humble, gentle, and patient, he never sought the rich, nor
disdained the poor; nor did he ever refuse his counsel and
assistance to any one who asked them. Content to be in the most
useful, but the humblest class of priests, he neither sought to rise,
nor even to be known.
His zeal, however, was not satisfied by his exertions in his native
country. He resolved to emigrate to Canada, and to devote his life to
the conversion of the savages; and when considerations of health
prevented the fulfilment of this plan, he turned his eyes to the East.
We read with interest his fervent expressions on this subject, which
show how deeply he was imbued with the love of the good and the
beautiful. "All Greece opens itself to me," he wrote to a friend; "the
sultan retires in affright; the Peloponnesus already begins to breathe
in freedom; again will the church of Corinth flourish; again will she
hear the voice of her apostle. I feel myself transported to these
delightful regions; and while I am collecting the precious monuments
of antiquity, I seem to inhale her true spirit. When will the blood of
the Turks lie mingled with the blood of the Persians on the plains of
Marathon, and leave Greece to religion, to philosophy, and the fine
arts, which regard her as their native soil!"—

"Arva beata!
Petamus Arva divites et insulæ!"

He was turned from this project by objects of infinite importance in


his native country.
M. de Harlay, archbishop of Paris, heard of his merits, and named
him Superior to the convent of new converts in Paris. The spirit of
proselytism was abroad in France, as the only excuse for the
persecution of the Huguenots; and missions were sent into various
provinces. It was important to select for missionaries men suited to
the task, well versed in controversy, benevolent, patient, and
persuasive. Louis XIV. was informed of the peculiar fitness of
Fénélon to the office through his sweetness and sincerity, and
appointed him to the province of Poitou. Fénélon accepted the
office, making the sole request, that the military should be removed
from the scene of his mission. With a heart penetrated by a love of
God, and reverence for the church, he devoted himself to his task
with zeal and ability, treating his proselytes with a gentleness and
charity that gained their hearts. He listened to their doubts and their
objections, and answered all; consoling and encouraging, and
adopting, for their conversion, a vigilance, an address, and a
simplicity that charmed and persuaded. Do we not find in this
occupation the foundation for his toleration for all religious sects?
While hearing the ingenuous and sinless objections to Catholicism
raised by his young and artless converts, he must have felt that God
would not severely condemn a faith to which no blame could be
justly attached, except (as he believed) that it was a heresy.
During the exercise of this office, he became acquainted with the
celebrated Bossuet. This great man began his career by an
engagement of marriage with mademoiselle des Vieux, a lady of
great merit, who afterwards, impressed with a sense of the career
which his eloquence would procure him in the church, consented to
give up the engagement. As a priest, he became celebrated for his
sermons, till his pupil Bourdaloue surpassing him, he yielded his
place to him. His reputation as an orator rests on his funeral
orations: these bear the impress of a lofty and strong mind, and are
full of those awful truths which great men ought to hear and mark.
[104] Louis XIV. named him governor of the dauphin, on which he
resigned his bishopric of Condom, that he might apply himself more
entirely to so arduous a task as the education of the heir to the
throne of France. He wrote his Discourse on Universal History, which
Voltaire and D'Alembert both pronounce to be a sketch bearing the
stamp of a vast and profound genius. He describes the manners and
government, the growth and fall of empires, with majestic force,
with a rapid pen, and an energetic conception of truth. When the
education of the dauphin was completed, the king made him bishop
of Meaux; and he employed himself in writing controversial works
against the protestants.
Fénélon became at once the friend and pupil of this great man. He
listened to him with docility: he admired his erudition and his
eloquence; he revered his character, his age, his labours. He visited
him at Germany, his country residence; where they had stated hours
of prayer, meditation, and conversation; and passed their days in
holy and instructive intercourse. Fénélon lived also in society with
the most distinguished and excellent men of the age. The duke de
Beauvilliers, governor of the duke of Burgundy, had begged him to
write a treatise on the education of girls; of which task Fénélon
acquitted himself admirably. His first chapters, which relate equally
to both sexes, are the foundation of much of Rousseau's theory on
the subject of education. He insists on the importance of the female
character in society, and the urgent reasons there are for cultivating
their good sense, and giving them habits of employment. "Women,"
he says, "were designed by their native elegance and grace to
endear domestic life to man; to make virtue lovely to children, to
spread around them order and grace, and give to society its highest
polish. No attainment can be above beings whose aim it is to
accomplish purposes at once so useful and salutary; and every
means should be used to invigorate, by principle and culture, their
native elegance." In addition to this treatise, he wrote one on the
ministry of pastors, the object of which was to prove the superiority
of the Roman catholic institution of pastors over the ministers of the
reformed religion.
The duke de Beauvilliers was fully aware of the greatness of his
merit. He was the governor of the sons of the dauphin; the elder,
and apparent heir to the crown, the duke of Burgundy, was a child of
ardent temperament and great talents; but impetuous, haughty,
capricious, and violent. The duke was a man of virtue; he added
simplicity of mind to a love of justice, a gentle temper, and
persuasive manners; he felt the importance of his task, and was
earnest to procure the best assistance; at his recommendation,
168 Fénélon was named preceptor to the princes.[105] Men of the
9.
Æta first talent were associated in the task of education; the duke
t. de Beauvilliers was governor; the abbé de Langeron reader;
38. he was a man of lively and amiable disposition, friendly and

kind, with a mind enlightened by study. The abbé de Fleury, under-


preceptor, is celebrated by his works. These men, and others, all
united in a system which had the merit of success, and was founded
on a knowledge of the human heart, joined to that of the peculiar
disposition of their pupil: pupil we say, because, though there were
three princes, the eldest, who was just seven years of age, was the
chief object of their labours. They excited his curiosity in
conversation, and awakened a desire to become acquainted with
some portion of history, which led also to a geographical knowledge
of various countries. He was taught the principal facts of ancient and
modern history by dialogues; the knowledge of morals was
inculcated by fables. As at first the vehemence of his temper
frequently led him to deserve punishment, they contrived that the
privation of a walk, an amusement, or even of his accustomed tasks,
should take that form; added to these, when he transgressed
flagrantly, was the silence of his attendants; no one spoke to him; till
at last this state of mute loneliness became intolerable, and he
confessed his fault, that he might again hear the sound of voices.
Candour, and readiness to ask forgiveness, were the only conditions
of pardon; and to bind his haughty will more readily, all those who
presided over his education frankly acknowledged any faults which
they might commit towards him; so that the very imperfections of
his masters served as correctives of his own. This system was
admirably adapted to the generous and fervent nature of the young
prince. He became gentle, conscientious, and just. His love for his
preceptor, under his wise fosterage, was extended to a love for his
fellow-creatures. Fénélon had a deep sense of his responsibility to
God and man in educating the future sovereign of France. He
studied his pupil's character; he adapted himself to it. Nature had
clone even more in fitting him: his enthusiasm, joined to his angelic
goodness, excited at once the love and reverence of the prince, at
the same time that he was the friend and companion of his hours of
pastime. He conquered his pride by gentleness, by raillery, or by a
dignified wisdom, which convinced while it awed. When the boy
insolently asserted his superiority, Fénélon was silent; he appeared
sad and reserved, till the child, annoyed by his change of manner,
was brought to a temper to listen docilely to his remonstrances. His
disinterestedness and truth gave him absolute power, and the boy
eagerly acknowledged his error. He spared no labour or pains. We
owe his fables, many of his dialogues, and his great work,
Telemachus, to his plan of forming the mind and character of his
pupil.[106] Religion, of course, formed a principal portion of his
system. He often said that kings needed religion more than their
subjects; that it might suffice to the people to love God, but that the
sovereign ought to fear him. The duke of Burgundy grew devout,
and the charity that formed the essence of his preceptor's soul
passed into his. It is impossible to say what France would have
become if this prince had reigned. The energy of his character gave
hope that he would not have been spoilt by power, which, in the
course of nature, he would not have inherited till he was more than
thirty; when his views would have been enlightened by experience,
and his virtues confirmed by habit. He had none of the ordinary
kingly prejudices in favour of war and tyranny. He was high-minded,
yet humble; full of talent, of energy, and respect for virtue. His early
death destroyed the hope of France; and hence ensued the misrule
which the revolution could alone correct.
Fénélon continued long unrecompensed. The king bestowed a small
benefice on him; but he was passed over when other preferment
presented itself. On the death of Harlay, it was expected that he
would be named archbishop of Paris; but it was bestowed, on the
contrary, on Noailles, whose nephew had married madame
Maintenons niece. Soon after, however, he was named archbishop of
Cambray. Madame de Coulanges, writing to madame Sévigné, says
that Fénélon appeared surprised at his nomination; and, on thanking
the king, represented to him that he could not regard that gift as a
reward, whose operation was to separate him from his pupil; as the
council of Trent had decided that no bishop could be absent more
than three months in the year from his diocese, and that only from
affairs important to the church. The king replied, by saying that the
education of the prince was of the greatest importance to the
church, and gave him leave to reside nine months of the year at
Cambray, and three at court. Fénélon, at the same time, gave up his
two abbeys, having a scruple of conscience with regard to pluralities.
[107]We have now arrived at the period when Fénélon's career was
marked by persecution instead of reward; and he himself became
immersed in controversies and defence, which, though admirable in
themselves, absorbed a talent and a time that might have been far
more usefully employed. We must go back a short time, to trace the
progress of circumstances that led to his disgrace and exile.
The characteristic of the French church during the reign of Louis XIV.
was its spirit of controversy and persecution. We do not speak of the
Huguenots; they were out of the pale of the church. But first came
jansenism, which declared that faith and salvation depended on the
immediate operation of the grace of God. This doctrine was
supported by the sublime genius of Pascal by the logic and virtues of
Arnaud; and boasted of the first men of the kingdom, Racine,
Boileau, Rochefoucauld, &c., as its disciples. The king was taught by
the jesuits to believe that the sect was dangerous, its supporters
intriguers, and the whole system subversive of true piety. Fénélon
declared himself the opposer of jansenism. He looked upon the free
will of man as the foundation of religion, and considered the elective
grace of the jansenists as contradictory of the first principles of
Christianity. In his opinion, love of God was the foundation of piety;
and he found in the writings and doctrines of madame Guyon the
development and support of his ideas. Madame Guyon, a lady of
irreproachable life, who from the period of an early widowhood had
devoted herself to a life of piety, was an enthusiast. Her soul was
penetrated with a fervent love of God, and so far she merited the
applause of Christians; but by considering that this heavenly love
was to absorb all earthly affection, she impregnated the language, if
not the sentiment of divine love, with expressions of ecstasy and
transport that might well shock the simple-minded. In exposing this
objectionable part of her writings, Bossuet apostrophises the
seraphs, and entreats them to bring burning coals from the altar of
heaven to purify his lips, lest they should have been defiled by the
impurities he is obliged to mention. The language of love is
fascinating; and Fénélon, who believed the love of God to be the
beginning and end of wisdom and virtue, might well use expressions
denoting the dedication of his whole being to the delightful
contemplation of divine perfection; but that he should approve
expressions that diverge into bombast and rhapsody, is inexplicable,
except as a proof that the wisest and best are liable to error. It is
true that the catholic religion is open to such sentiment and
phraseology. Nuns, who are declared the spouses of Jesus, are
taught to devote the softer feelings of their hearts to their celestial
husband; but certainly a well-regulated mind will rather avoid
mingling questionable emotions and their expression with piety, even
in their own persons; and, above all, they ought to be on their guard
against misleading others, by inciting them to replace a reasonable
sense of devotion and gratitude to the supreme Being by ecstatic
transports, which defeat the chief aim of religion, which is to
regulate the mind. Madame Guyon thought far otherwise; at least,
as regarded herself. Living in solitude, and in distant provinces, she
indulged her enthusiastic turn, and wrote down effusions dictated by
emotions she believed to be praiseworthy. She wrote simply, and
without art; but her works were full of ardour. She allowed others to
read them, and a portion was copied and published. Some of her
readers were edified; others naturally recoiled from a style of
sentiment and expression which, however we may love God, is
certainly not adapted to any spiritual state of feeling. Her faith was,
that we ought to love God so entirely for himself alone, that our
salvation or damnation becomes indifferent to us, since we should
be willing gladly to endure eternal misery, if such were the will of
God. A notion of this kind confounds at once all true religion, since
we ought to love God for his perfection; and the infliction of pain on
the just, cannot be the work of a perfect Being. However, by
reasoning on our imperfect state of ignorance and error, madame
Guyon was able to make some show of argument, while her
expressions are in many parts incomprehensible. She says, that "the
soul that completely abandons itself to the divine will, retains no fear
or hope respecting any thing either temporal or eternal,"—a doctrine
subversive of the Christian principle of repentance. She asserts that
man is so utterly worthless, that it scarcely deserves his own inquiry
whether he is to be everlastingly saved or not; that the soul must
live for God alone, insensible to the turpitude and debasement of its
own state. Added to this heresy, was her notion of prayer, which she
made consist, not in the preferment of our requests to God, such as
Jesus Christ taught, but in a state of mind embued with the sense of
God's presence, and an assimilation of the soul with God's
perfection.
Her health suffered from the constant excitement of her mind. It
was considered that the climate of the province where she resided
was injurious, and she visited Paris to recover. She became
acquainted with the dukes de Beauvilliers and Chevreuse; her
doctrines became known and discussed in Paris; madame de
Maintenon was struck and attracted; Fénélon, his own heart full of
love, became almost a convert; madame Guyon herself was full of
talent, enthusiasm, and goodness; Fénélon became her friend, and
denied the odious conclusions which her enemies drew from her
doctrines.
As the doctrine gained ground, it met opposition. Des Marais, the
bishop of Chartres, in whose diocese was Saint Cyr, the scene of
these impassioned mysteries, became alarmed at its progress; and,
with the deceit which a priest sometimes thinks he is justified in
using in what he deems a righteous cause, he made use of two
ladies of great repute for piety, as spies, and from their accounts of
what passed in the society of Quietists, found sufficient cause of
objection to the sect. Madame de Maintenon listened to his
censures, and withdrew her favour. Fénélon saw the danger that
threatened madame Guyon, and, steady in his attachment to one
whom he considered worthy his friendship, he assisted her by his
counsel. Following his advice, and secure in her own virtue, she
applied to Bossuet. His manly and serious mind, strengthened by
age, rejected at once her mysticism, while her personal merits won
his esteem and condescension. It is a singular circumstance, and
shows her candour, that she confided her thoughts and her writings
far more unreservedly to Bossuet than to Fénélon. Bossuet saw her,
explained his objections; and she acquiescing in every thing he
suggested, he administered the sacrament to her; a token at once of
her submission and his good opinion.
Bossuet penetrated the real piety of the lady, and was unwilling to
distress her by opposition, as long as her tenets were confined to
her own mind. For what would be highly injurious if spread abroad,
was innocuous while it related solely to herself. He therefore
recommended retirement and quiet, to which she for a time
adhered; but as she had the spirit of proselytism awake in her, she
soon grew weary of obscurity, and applied to madame de Maintenon
to prevail on the king to appoint commissioners to inquire into her
doctrines and morals. The bishops of Meaux and Chartres, and M.
Tronson, were accordingly named. For six months they held
conferences, and discussed the subject. Bossuet admitted that he
was little conversant with the writings of the mystical saints, whose
doctrines and expressions were the model of those of madame
Guyon; and Fénélon made a variety of extracts, at his request, which
were to serve as authorities for the lady's writings. At the conclusion
of the conferences, thirty articles were drawn up, to which Fénélon
added four; in which, without direct allusion to madame Guyon, the
commissioners expressed the doctrines of the church of Rome on
the disputed points. In these they name salvation as the proper
subject of a Christian's desire and prayer; and assert, that prayer
does not consist in a state of mind, but in an active sense of
resignation: they do not reprobate passive prayer; but they regard it
as unnecessary; while they agree in the propriety of direct addresses
to the Deity, and frequent meditation on the sufferings of the
Saviour. Although these articles subverted her favourite doctrine of
the holy state of mind being the life in God necessary to a Christian,
Madame Guyon, as a dutiful daughter of the church, signed the
articles without hesitation.
Bossuet's mind, however, was now awakened to the evils of
quietism; and perceiving that it gained ground, he wrote his
"Instruction sur les États de l'Oraison," which he wished Fénélon to
approve. The latter declined, as it denied in too unqualified a
manner his belief in the possibility of a pure and disinterested love of
God, and denounced madame Guy on in too general and severe a
manner. His refusal was not censured by his fellow bishops; but he
was required to publish some work that should prove his adhesion to
the thirty-four articles before mentioned. For this purpose he wrote
his "Explication des Maximes des Saints sur la Vie intérieure." The
style of this work is pure, animated, elegant, and winning; the
principles were expressed carefully and with address. But this very
act occasioned contradictions: he feared at once to be accused of
giving too much to charity, too little to hope; of following Molinos, or
of abandoning St. Theresa. The bishops approved of his book in
manuscript, declaring it, in energetic terms, to be a "book of gold:"
but the moment it was printed, the outcry against it was violent.
Bossuet had not seen it previous to publication. Looking on false
mysticism as injurious to true religion and morals, he thought that
nothing should be written on the subject, except to condemn it; and
that the true mystic, whose state was peculiar and unattainable by
the many, should be left in peace with God.
So far we consider Bossuet to be in the right. Love of God being a
duty, all that exalts and extends the sentiment into a passion, is at
once fascinating and hurtful. The gentle and tender soul of Fénélon
could see no evil in love: he thought to soften and purify the heart
by spiritual passion; but Bossuet knew human nature better, and its
tendency to turn all good to evil, when not tempered by judgment
and moderation. He did well, therefore, to oppose the doctrines of
madame Guyon; and, if possible, to enlighten his friend. Yet, even in
reasoning, he was uncharitable; so that it has been said, comparing
his harshness with Fénélon's benignity, that Bossuet was right most
revoltingly, and Fénélon in the wrong with sweetness. This was the
more apparent, when his conduct on the publication of the book
showed the cloven foot of intolerance and persecution.
Henceforward, we love Fénélon, and condemn his opponent. The
latter had right on his side, on the question of doctrine; in conduct,
he was entirely and deplorably in the wrong. French writers impute
to him the base motives of envy and jealousy. These passions
exercise so covert an influence when they spring up in conscientious
minds, that Bossuet might fancy himself urged by purer feelings. Still
he cannot be justified. Either from fear that the king, who abhorred
novelties in religion, would blame him severely, or wishing to make a
deep impression, he threw himself at Louis's feet, and besought "his
pardon for not having sooner informed him of the fanaticism of his
brother." Louis did not like Fénélon.[108] His elevation of character
appeared to him pretension; and in the principles he instilled into his
royal pupil he saw the condemnation of himself. These principles
were so moulded by the spirit of Christianity, that he could not
object; but he gladly availed himself of the archbishop's error, to
destroy, as much as he could, the general esteem in which he was
held, and to visit him with heavy penalties. Madame de Maintenon
also became unfriendly: in matters of religion, she always adopted
the views of Louis. Her good sense made her see the evil of
quietism; and now that Fénélon was accused of it, she withdrew her
kindness and support. Louis XIV. angrily denounced all the adherents
of madame Guyon; he upheld Bossuet in demanding a formal
retractation of the doctrines inculcated in the Maxims of the Saints;
he refused to permit Fénélon to repair to Rome; his work having
been referred to the pope, for a decision on it; but at once exiled
him; that is, ordered him to repair immediately to his diocese, and
there to remain. Fénélon wrote to madame de Maintenon, to deplore
the king's displeasure; and declared his readiness to submit to the
decision of the holy see with regard to his book. He then quitted
Paris: he stopped before the seminary of St. Sulpice, where the
years of his early manhood had been spent in seclusion and peace;
but he would not enter the house, lest the king should manifest
displeasure towards its inhabitants for receiving him. From Paris he
proceeded at once to Cambray.
169 Although we may pronounce Fénélon's principles to be
7.
Æta
erroneous, his conduct was in every respect virtuous and
t. laudable. Circumstances had engaged him in the dispute, and
46. he believed that neither honour nor conscience permitted him
to yield. As a bishop, it derogated from his dignity to receive the law
from his equals in rank. He esteemed madame Guyon; she was
unfortunate and calumniated; and he felt that it would be
treacherous to abandon her, and much more so to ally himself to her
enemies. He founded his opinion and conduct on the writings and
actions of saints and holy men, and believed himself to be in the
right. No personal interest could bend him; on the contrary, delicacy
of feeling and zeal caused his attachment to his cause to redouble in
persecution; while at the same time he was firm in his resolution to
abandon it, if condemned by the church, his first principle being
obedience to the holy see; looking upon that as the corner stone of
the Roman catholic religion. His exile found him firm and resigned.
The duke of Burgundy was more to be pitied: he threw himself at
the king's feet, offering to justify his preceptor, and answering for
the principles of religion which he had inculcated. Louis coldly
replied, that M. de Meaux understood the affair better than either he
or his grandson; and that therefore he had no power to grant a
favour on the subject. To pacify the duke, he allowed Fénélon to
retain for a time the title of preceptor. With this barren honour he
returned to Cambray. Not long before his palace had been burnt to
the ground, together with all his furniture, books, and papers. When
he heard the news, he simply remarked, that he was glad this
disaster had befallen his palace rather than the cottage of a peasant.
On arriving at Cambray, he wrote to his excellent friend the duke de
Beauvilliers, expressing his submission to the holy see, and his hope
that he was actuated by pious and justifiable motives: "I hold by
only two things," he continues, "which compose my entire doctrine.
First, that charity is a love of God, for himself, independent of the
motive of beatitude which is found in him: secondly, that in the life
of the most perfect souls, charity prevails over every other virtue;
animating them, and inspiring all their actions; so that the just man,
elevated to this state of perfection, usually practises hope and every
other virtue with all the disinterestedness that he does charity itself."
There is a mysticism in all this which it is dangerous to admit into a
popular religion; but while we read, we feel wonderstruck and
saddened to think how a man so heavenly good as Fénélon, and so
noble minded as Bossuet, could have drawn matter for hate and
pain out of such materials: charity, love of God, the welfare of man,
—such were the missiles levelled at each other; and human passion
could tip with poison these celestial-seeming weapons. Sir Walter
Scott has, with the wisdom of a sage, remarked, that it is matter of
sadness to reflect how much easier it is to inflict pain than
communicate pleasure.[109] The controversy of Bossuet and Fénélon
is a melancholy gloss on so true a text.
The cause was now carried to Rome. The tenets of Fénélon objected
to by Bossuet were two:—1st, that a person may obtain an habitual
state of divine love, in which he loves God purely for his own sake,
and without the slightest regard to his own interests, even in respect
to his eternal happiness. 2dly, that in such a state it is lawful, and
may even be considered an heroic effort of conformity to the divine
will, to consent to eternal reprobation, if God should require such a
sacrifice. Certainly no general good could arise from men
entertaining the belief that God might eternally punish those
submissive to his law; and if we add to these fundamental objections
the exaggerated point of view in which madame Guyon placed them,
and Fénélon in some degree approved, maintaining the possibility of
a state of divine love dependent only on faith and a kind of mental
absorption in the deity, from which prayer and meditation on divine
blessings were absent, and which confounded resignation with
indifference to salvation, and conjoin to this unnatural supposition,
the high-flown and, we may almost say, desecrating expressions
with which it was supposed right to address the Deity, we cannot
help siding with Bossuet's opinions, while we blame his conduct, and
admire that of Fénélon. The former carried on his cause at Rome
through his nephew, the abbé Bossuet, and the abbé de
Phillippeaux, both attached to the bishop de Meaux, but both tainted
by all the violence of party spirit, which is always most virulent in
religious disputes. The abbé de Chanterac, a relation of Fénélon, and
his most intimate and confidential friend, a man of probity,
gentleness, and learning, and inspired by a sincere affection and
veneration for the archbishop, was the agent of the latter at Rome.
At first the king and the bishop de Meaux fancied that the pope
would at once condemn a book they reprobated: but Innocent XII.
appointed a commission. The commissioners stated objections.
Bossuet and Fénélon were called upon to deliver answers. These
answers were printed; and hence arose a controversy, now
forgotten, but to the highest degree exciting at the time, in which
Bossuet displayed all his energy and eloquence, and Fénélon poured
forth the treasures of his intellect and his heart. His writings on this
occasion are considered his best.[110] His heart and soul were in
them; yet they are now usually omitted from the editions of his
works, as regarding a question which the church has set at rest for
ever. The delay of the pope, and the popularity which Fénélon
gained by his candour and simplicity, enraged the king. His distaste
for his theories, which were founded on a belief in virtue, grew into
a positive dislike and even hatred for the man, whom he now looked
on as dangerous. With his own hand he erased his name, which had
remained on the list of the royal household as preceptor to the
princes; he dismissed his friends, the abbés Beaumont and
Langeron, from their employments as sub-preceptors; he forbade
the court to all his relations and many of his friends; and, added to
these mundane inflictions, was the clerical insult of the Sorbonne,
when it condemned twelve propositions drawn from his book.
Fénélon observed on these indignities,—"Yet, but a little, and the
deceitful kingdom of this world will be over. We shall meet in the
kingdom of truth, where there is no error, no division, no scandal;
we shall breathe the pure love of God; and he will communicate to
us his everlasting peace. In the mean time, let us suffer, let us
suffer. Let us be trodden underfoot; let us not refuse disgrace: Jesus
Christ was disgraced by us; may our disgrace tend to his glory!" Nor
would he listen to any advice to turn the tables on Bossuet, by
accusing him, in his turn, of error; but earnestly replied, "Moriamur
in simplicitate nostra?"
Great indeed were the indignities that were heaped on Fénélon; if
the untainted can be said to receive indignity from insult. A
miserable maniac, who pretended to an improper intercourse with
madame Guyon, was brought forward. She, then imprisoned in the
castle of Vincennes, heard the accusation with calm contempt, and
the confirmed madness of the poor wretch soon caused it to fall to
the ground. Bossuet then published his "Account of Quietism," which
brought forward many private letters, papers, and conversations,
which tended to throw light on the characters of the partisans, which
entertained all Paris, and excited a curiosity which this great man
ought to have despised. The work, however, is decisive as to the
folly and injurious nature of Quietism. Bossuet said that he had long
condemned Fénélon's notions concerning prayer, and was glad when
madame Guyon referred to him, as this would afford him an
opportunity to express his own opinions. She confided to him all her
manuscripts, and a history of her life, which for some reason she
kept back from Fénélon. Bossuet saw much in her ecstacies and
enthusiasm to disapprove, especially when rendered public, as well
as in her pretended spirit of prophecy and of working miracles. He
saw still more to condemn in her principles with regard to prayer,
when she said that it was contrary to her doctrine to pray for the
remission of her sins. Bossuet expressed his disapprobation to
Fénélon, who defended her; and the writer remarks, that he was
astonished to see a man of so great talent admire a woman of such
slender knowledge and small merit, who was deceived also by
palpable delusions. Bossuet then goes on to express his opinion of
the dangerous tendency of the "Maxims of the Saints," against which
the outcry had been spontaneous and general. "Can it be said," he
continues, "that we wish to ruin M. de Cambray? God is witness! But
without calling so great a testimony, the fact speaks. Before his book
appeared, we concealed his errors, even to meriting the reproaches
of the king. When his work came out, he had ruined himself. My
silence was impenetrable till then. How can we be accused of
jealousy? Could we envy him the honour of painting madame Guyon
and Molinos in favourable colours? We desire and we hope to see M.
de Cambray soon acknowledge at least the inutility of his
speculations. It was not worthy of him, nor of the reputation he
enjoys, nor of his character, his position, nor understanding, to
defend the books of a woman of this kind; and we continually hear
his friends lament that he displayed his erudition, and employed his
eloquence, on such unsubstantial subjects."
Such an exposition confounded even Fénélon's friends: they drooped
till his answer came, whose gentle, unaffected, yet animated
eloquence convinced the public, and prevented it from any longer
confounding his cause with that of madame Guyon. He called to
witness those eyes that enlighten earthly darkness, that he was
attached to no person nor book, but to God and the church only, and
that he prayed unceasingly for the return of peace and the
shortening the period of scandal, and that he was ready to bestow
on M. de Meaux as many blessings as he had heaped crosses on
him. He declared that he had long ago rejected his book, and been
willing to be thrown into the sea to calm the storm, had he thought
that his work could foster illusion or occasion scandal; but that he
could not allow himself to be disgraced for the sake of his sacred
calling. He appealed to Bossuet against himself, and showed with
dignity, how injuriously he was treated, on being held up as an
impostor by a man who once had called him, "his dear friend for life,
whom he carried in his heart." He then proved that he had not
supported madame Guyon[111], nor approved her visions,
concerning which Bossuet knew much more than he; and asserted
that he had excused the intention, not the text, of her works. He
proceeds, "Whatever conclusion the holy pontiff may give to this
affair, I await it with impatience, desirous only of obeying; not
fearing to deceive myself, only seeking peace. I hope that my
silence, my unreserved submission, my horror for delusion, my
dislike for every suspected book or person, will make manifest that
the evil you deprecate is as chimerical as the scandal created is
real."
He concludes by throwing himself upon the support of God alone:
single and destitute of human help, oppressed by the sovereign of a
great nation, and its hierarchy, he declared that he should stand firm
till the word should be pronounced by which he promised to abide.
169 That word came. The pope condemned his book. With all the
9.
Æta
childlike simplicity that he so earnestly recommended to
t. others, the learned and wise archbishop yielded instant
48. obedience to a fiat which it was a portion of his faith to deem
infallible. He was in the act of ascending his pulpit to preach, when
he received a letter from his brother, which conveyed intelligence of
the pope's brief. Fénélon paused for a few moments to recollect
himself; and then, changing the plan of his sermon, preached on the
duty of obedience to the church. His calm and gentle manner, the
sentiments it expressed, the knowledge that was abroad of how
sorely his adherence to his doctrine was about to be tried, deeply
moved his audience, inspiring it at once with respect, regret, and
admiration.
He did not delay a formal and public announcement of his
obedience. He addressed a pastoral letter to all the faithful of his
district, saying in it, "Our holy father has condemned my book,
entitled the 'Maxims of the Saints,' and has condemned in a
particular manner twenty-three propositions extracted from it. We
adhere to his brief; and condemn the book and the twenty-three
propositions, simply, absolutely, and without a shadow of reserve."
[112] He sent his pastoral letter to the pope, and solemnly assured
his holiness, that he could never attempt to elude his sentence, or to
raise any objections with regard to it. To render his obedience clear
and universal to the unlettered and ignorant of his diocese, he
caused to be made for the altar of his cathedral a sun borne by two
angels, one of whom was trampling on several heretical books,
among which was one inscribed with the title of his own.
There is something deeply touching in this humility and obedience.
We examine it carefully to discover its real merits; what the virtues
were that dictated it, and whether it were clouded by any human
error. We must remember that Fénélon opposed the jansenists, who
had sought to elude the papal decrees; that he supported the
infallibility of his church, and considered that the pure Catholicism
rested chiefly on the succession of pastors who had a right to exact
obedience from all Christians; that the language he thought due to
the papal authority was, "God forbid that I should ever be spoken of,
except to have it said that a shepherd thought it his duty to be more
docile than the last sheep of his flock." Supporting these opinions,
he had but one course to pursue,—unqualified and instant
submission. This his conduct displayed; yet it remains as a question,
whether his heart acknowledged the justice of the condemnation of
a book which he wrote in a fervent belief in its utility, and had
defended with so much zeal. His meaning in his submission was this,
—that the book contained nothing heretical, nothing that the saints
had not said; and that he might adhere to the principles it
enounced: but that the expression and effect of the book was faulty;
and that he believed this in his heart ever since the pope's brief had
so declared it. His own account of his sentiments, rendered several
years after to a friend, gives this explanation:—"My submission," he
said, "was not an act of policy, nor a respectful silence; but an
internal act of obedience rendered to God alone. According to the
catholic principle, I regarded the judgment of my superiors as an
echo of the supreme will. I did not consider the passions, the
prejudices, the disputes that preceded my condemnation; I heard
God speak, as to Job, from the midst of the whirlwind, saying to me,
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
And I answered from the bottom of my heart, What shall I answer
thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. From that moment I have
not entrenched myself in vain subterfuges concerning the question
of fact and right; I have accepted my condemnation in its whole
extent. It is true that the propositions and expressions I used, and
others much stronger, and with much fewer correctives, are to be
found in canonised authors, but they were not fit for a dogmatic
work. A different style belongs to different subjects and persons.
There is a style of the heart, and another of the understanding; a
language of sentiment, another of reason. What is a merit in one is
an imperfection in another. The church, with infinite wisdom, permits
one to its untaught children, another to its teachers. She may,
therefore, according to the variation of circumstances, without
condemning the doctrine of the saints, reject their fanatic
expressions, of which a wrong use is made."[113]
Such was Fénélon's explanation of his feelings several years after.
His letters at the time are full of that gentle spirit of peace and
resignation which was his strength and support in adversity. In
general, however, he avoided the subject. He had struggled
earnestly in the cause of his book, while its fate was problematical;
but he considered the question decided, and he wished to dismiss
the subject from his own thoughts and the minds of others.
There were several accompanying circumstances to mitigate the
disgrace of defeat. The expressions used by the pope in his
condemnation were very gentle. His propositions and expressions
were declared rather as leading to error, than erroneous; they were
pronounced to be rash, ill sounding, and pernicious in practice; but
not heretical. While condemning the book, the pope had learned to
respect the author; and said of him, to his opponents, "Peccavit in
excessu amoris divini; sed vos peccastis defectu amoris proximi;" an
antithesis that caught the ear, and was speedily in every body's
mouth. His enemies were nettled. They endeavoured to find flaws in
his pastoral letter; they tried to induce the pope to condemn the
various writings which Fénélon had published in defence of his work;
but this Innocent XII. peremptorily refused.
The king and the inimical bishops continued inveterate. The brief
was received and registered according to form. The metropolitan
assemblies applauded Fénélon's piety, virtue, and talents: some of
his own suffragans had the indecency and servility to make
irrelevant objections to his pastoral letter; but these were overruled.
Bossuet drew up a report of the whole affair, to be presented at the
next assembly of the clergy. Considerable want of candour is
manifest in his account. He does what he can to weaken the effect
of Fénélon's submission, while he insinuates excuses for his own
vehemence. The report is remarkable with regard to the testimony it
gives to the innocence of madame Guyon. "As to the abominations,"
it said, "which seemed the necessary consequences of her doctrine,
they were wholly out of the question; she herself always mentioned
them with horror." No reconciliation ever took place between
Fénélon and Bossuet, who died in 1714.[114]
Louis XIV. was inexorable. Fénélon continued in exile and his friends
in disgrace; such displeasure was shown, that the servile courtiers,
among whom we must rank, on this occasion, madame de
Maintenon, kept aloof from him. His friends, however, were true and
faithful. They took every opportunity of meeting together; it was
their delight to talk of him, to regret him, to express their wishes for
his return, and to contrive means of seeing him.
The circumstance that confirmed the king's distaste to the virtuous
archbishop, was the publication of Telemachus. Fénélon appears to
have employed his leisure, while preceptor to the princes, on
composing a work which hereafter would serve as a guide and
instructor to the duke of Burgundy. The unfortunate affair of
quietism led him from such studies; but Telemachus was already
finished: he gave it to a valet to copy, who sold it to a bookseller in
Paris. The spies, who watched every movement of the archbishop,
gave notice of the existence of the book; and when the printing had
advanced to the 208th page, the whole was seized, and every
exertion to annihilate the work was made. Fortunately, motives of
gain sharpened men's wits for its preservation; a manuscript copy
was preserved; it was sold to Adrian Moetjens, a bookseller at the
Hague, who published it in June, 1699,—incorrectly, indeed, as it
remained during the author's life; but still it was printed; editions
were multiplied; it was translated into every European language, and
universally read and admired. In the work itself there was much to
annoy Louis XIV., who, as he grew old and bigoted, lost all the
generosity which he had heretofore possessed, and, spoilt by the
sort of adoration which all writers paid, grasped at flattery more
eagerly than in his earlier and more laudable career. The lessons of
wisdom sounded like censure in his ear. The courtiers increased his
irritability, by making particular applications of the personages in the
tale[115]; but without this frivolous and unfounded interpretation,
there was enough to awaken his sense of being covertly attacked.
The very virtues fostered in the duke of Burgundy, were, to his
haughty mind, proof of the archbishop's guilt. He saw, in the
mingled loftiness and humility of his heir, in his high sense of duty
and love of peace, a living criticism of his reign. From that moment
Fénélon became odious; to visit, to love, to praise him, ensured
disgrace at court. Telemachus was never mentioned, though Louis
might have been aware that silence on such a subject, was to
acknowledge the justice of the lesson which he believed that it
conveyed.
Meanwhile Fénélon looked upon his residence in his diocese as his
natural and proper position. To cultivate internal calm, and to spread
the blessings of peace around, were the labour of his day. On his
first arrival, he had been received with transport. "Here I am," he
cried, "among my children, and therefore in my true place." And to
the duke de Beauvilliers he wrote: "I work softly and gently, and
endeavour, as much as I can, to put myself in the way of being
useful to my flock. They begin to love me. I endeavour to make
them find me easy of access, uniform in my conduct, and without
haughtiness, rigour, selfishness, or deceit: they already appear to
have some confidence in me; and let me assure you, that even these
good Fleminders, with their homely appearance, have more finesse
than I wish to put into my conduct towards them. They inquire of
one another, whether I am really banished; and they question my
servants about it: if they put the question to me, I shall make no
mystery. It is certainly an affliction to be separated from you, and
the good duchess and my other friends; but I am happy to be at a
distance from the great scene, and sing the canticle of deliverance."
In accordance with this view, from this hour he devoted himself to
his diocesans. Rich and poor alike had easy access to him.
Disappointment and meditation had softened every priestly asperity.
His manner was the mirror of his benevolent expansive heart. A
curate wishing to put an end to the festive assemblies of the
peasants on Sundays and other festivals, Fénélon observed, "We will
not dance ourselves, M. le Curé, but we will suffer these poor people
to enjoy themselves." That he might keep watch over his inferior
clergy, he visited every portion of his diocese; twice a week, during
lent, he preached in some parish church of his diocese. On solemn
festivals he preached in his metropolitan church; visited the sick,
assisted the needy, and reformed abuses. He was particularly
solicitous in forming worthy ecclesiastics for the churches under his
care. He removed his seminary from Valenciennes to Cambray, that
it might be more immediately under his eye. His sermons were plain,
instructive, simple; yet burning with faith and charity. He lived like a
brother with his under-clergy, receiving advice; and never used
authority except when absolutely necessary.
He slept little, and was abstemious at table. His walks were his only
pleasure. During these, he conversed with his friends, or entered
into conversation with the peasants he might chance to meet; sitting
on the grass, or entering their cottages, as he listened to their
complaints. Long after his death, old men showed, with tears in their
eyes, the wooden chair which, in their boyhood, they had seen
occupied by their beloved and revered archbishop. His admirable
benevolence, his unbounded sympathy and calm sense of justice,
won the hearts of all. One man of high birth, who had been
introduced into his palace, ostensibly as high vicar, but really as a
spy, was so touched by the unblemished virtue he witnessed, that he
threw himself at Fénélon's feet, confessed his crime, and then,
unable to meet his eye, banished himself from his presence, and
lived ever after in exile and obscurity.
The duke of Burgundy had been commanded to hold no intercourse
with his beloved and unforgotten preceptor; and the spies set over
both were on the alert to discover any letters. When the duke of
Anjou was raised to the throne of Spain, his elder brother conducted
him to the frontier. Soon after his return, he came to a resolution to
break through the king's restriction, and wrote to his revered teacher
through his governor, the duke de Beauvilliers. His letter is
unaffected and sincere; it laments the silence to which he had been
condemned, and assures the archbishop that his friendship had been
augmented, not chilled, by his misfortunes. It speaks of his own
struggles to keep in the paths of virtue; and relates that he loved
study better than ever, and was desirous of sending several of his
writings to be corrected by his preceptor, as he had formerly
corrected his themes. Fénélon's answer marks his delight in finding
that his pupil adhered to the lessons he had taught him. He confirms
him in his piety: "In the name of God," he writes, "let prayer nourish
your soul, as food nourishes your body. Do not make long prayers;
let them spring more from the heart than the understanding; little
from reasoning—much from simple affection; few ideas in
consecutive order, but many acts of faith and love. Be humble and
little. I only speak to you of God and yourself. There need be no
question of me: my heart is in peace. My greatest misfortune has
been, not to see you; but I carry you unceasingly with me before
God, into a presence more intimate than that of the senses. I would
give a thousand lives like a drop of water, to see you such as God
would wish you to be!"
In all Fénélon's letters there is not a querulous word concerning his
exile, although we perceive traces in the view he takes of the
position of others, and in the advice he gives, of the pleasure he
must have derived from the cultivated society then collected in Paris;
but he could cheerfully bear absence from the busy scene. His
simple and affectionate heart found food for happiness among his
flock. To instruct his seminarists with the patience and gentleness
that adorned his character; to watch over the affairs of his diocese;
to teach by sermons, which flowed from the abundance of his heart;
and in writing letters of instruction to various of the laity, who placed
themselves under his direction,—were his occupations; and his time
employed by these duties and by writing, was fully and worthily
employed. He regretted his absence from some of his friends, with
whom he corresponded; but he never complained. The peace of
heaven was in his heart; and he breathed an air purged of all human
disquietude. It was his religion not to make himself unhappy about
even his own errors. He taught that we ought to deliver our souls
into the hands of God, and submit, as to his pleasure, to the shame
and annoyance brought on us by our imperfections; not only to feel
as nothing before him, but not even to wish to feel any thing. "I
adore you, infant Jesus," he wrote, "naked, and weeping, and
stretched upon the cross. I love your infancy and poverty: O! that I
were as childlike and poor as you. O Eternal wisdom, reduced to
infancy, take away my vain and presumptuous wisdom; make me a
child like yourself. Be silent, ye wise men of the earth! I desire to be
nothing, to know nothing; to believe all, to suffer all, and to love all.
The Word, made flesh, lisps, weeps, and gives forth infantine cries;
—and shall I take pride in wisdom; shall I take pleasure in the
efforts of my understanding, and fear that the world should not
entertain a sufficiently high idea of my ability. No, no; all my delight
will be to grow little; to crush myself; to become obscure; to be
silent; to join to the shame of Jesus crucified, the impotence and
lisping of the infant Jesus."
When we reflect that this was written by a man who sedulously
adorned his mind by the study of the ancients, and who added to his
own language, books written with elegance and learning, and which
display a comprehensive understanding and delicate taste, we feel
the extent of that humility which could disregard all these human
acquirements compared with the omniscience of God; and that as
Socrates acknowledged that he knew nothing, and was therefore
pronounced to be the wisest of men, so did the sense which Fénélon
entertained of the nothingness of human wisdom, stamp him as far
advanced in that higher knowledge which can look down on all
human efforts as the working of emmets on an ant-hill.
Fénélon believed that man had no power to seek heavenly good
without the grace of the Saviour. When man does right, he alleged
that he only assented to the impulse of God, who disposed him
through his grace so to assent. When he did ill, he only resisted the
action of God, which produces no good in him without the co-
operation of his assent, thus preserving his free will. He considered
true charity, or love of God, to which he gave this name, as an
intimate sense of and delight in God's perfections, without any
aspiration to salvation. He supposed that there was a love of the
beautiful, the perfect, and the orderly, beyond all taste and
sentiment, which may influence us when we lose the pleasurable
sense of the action of the grace of God, and which is a sufficing
reason to move the will in all the pains and privations which abound
on the holy paths of virtue. He would have carried this notion
further, but was obliged to mould his particular notion by the faith of
the church, which enforces what it calls a "chaste hope of salvation,"
in contradiction to the quietists, who banish every idea of
beatification, and profess to be willing to encounter perdition, if such
were the Almighty's will. He was more opposed to jansenism, which
makes salvation all in all, while it confines it to the elect of God.
Jansenism, indeed, he considered as peculiarly injurious, and
destructive to the true love of God. But as bigotry made no part of
his nature, he tolerated the jansenists, though he would gladly have
converted them; he invited their chief, father Quesnell, to his palace,
promising not to introduce any controversy unless he wished; but
testifying his desire, at the same time, to prove that he mistook the
meaning of St. Augustin, on whom Jansenius founded his doctrine.
Of Pascal's Provincial Letters, he wrote to the duke de Beauvilliers,
that he recommended that his royal pupil should read them, as the
great reputation they enjoyed, would cause him certainly to desire to
see them; and sent a memorial at the same time, which he
considered as a refutation of the mistakes into which he believed
Pascal had fallen. He was equally tolerant of protestants; and when
M. Brunier, minister of the protestants dispersed on the frontiers of
France, came to Mons to see him, Fénélon received him with his
accustomed cordial hospitality, and begged him often to repeat his
visit.
During the war for the Spanish succession, Fénélon's admirable
character shone forth in all its glory. Living on a frontier exposed to
the incursions of the enemy, he was active in alleviating the
sufferings of the people. The nobles and officers of the French
armies, who passed through Cambray, pointedly avoided him, out of
compliment to their mistaken sovereign; while a contrary sentiment,
a wish to annoy Louis XIV., joined to sincere admiration of his genius
and virtue, caused the enemy to act very differently. The English,
Germans, and Dutch, were eager to display their veneration of the
archbishop. They afforded him every facility for visiting the various
parts of his diocese. They sent detachments to guard his fields, and
to escort his harvest into the city. He was often obliged to have
recourse to artifice to avoid the honours which the generals of the
armies of the enemy were desirous of paying. He declined the visits
of the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene, who were desirous
of rendering homage to his excellence. He refused the military
escorts offered to ensure his safety; and, with the attendance only
of a few ecclesiastics, he traversed countries devastated by war,
carrying peace and succour in his train, so that his pastoral visits
might be termed the truce of God. The French biographers delight in
recording one trait of his benevolence. During one of his journeys,
he met a peasant in the utmost affliction. The archbishop asked the
cause of his grief; and was told that the enemy had driven away his
cow, on which his family depended for support, and that his life was
in danger if he went to seek it. Fénélon, on this, set off in pursuit,
found the cow, and drove it home himself to the peasant's cottage.
Deserted and neglected by his countrymen, he took pleasure in
receiving foreigners, and learning from them the manners, customs,
and laws of their various countries. His philanthropy was of the most
extensive kind: "I love my family," he said, "better than myself; I
love my country better than my family; but I love the human race
more than my country." A German prince visited him, desirous of
receiving lessons of wisdom. Him he taught toleration; satisfaction in
a constitutional government; and a desire for the progress of
knowledge among his subjects. The duke of Orleans, afterwards the
libertine regent of France, consulted him with regard to many
sceptical doubts. He asked him how the existence of God was
proved; what worship the Deity approved, and whether he was
offended by a false one. Fénélon replied by a treatise on the
existence of God, which is characterised, as his theology always is,
by a fervent spirit of charity.
In 1702 the duke of Burgundy headed the army in Flanders. He with
difficulty obtained leave to see the archbishop, when he visited
Cambray; his interview, when permitted, was restricted to being a
public one. Fénélon, fearing to raise a painful struggle in his beloved
pupil's mind, had left Cambray, when the letter came to apprise him
that they were allowed to meet. They met at a public dinner at the
town-house of Cambray. It passed in cold ceremony and painful
reserve: it was only at the close, when Fénélon presented the napkin
to the prince, that the latter marked his internal feeling, when, on
returning it, he said aloud, "I am aware, my lord archbishop, of what
I owe you, and you know what I am." They corresponded after this,
and Fénélon's letters are remarkable for the care he takes to check
all bigotry, intolerance, and petty religious observances in his pupil;
telling him that a prince cannot serve God as a hermit or an obscure
individual. He informed him that the public regarded him as virtuous,
but as stern, timid, and scrupulous. He endeavoured to raise him
above these poorer thoughts, to the lofty height he himself had
reached. He taught him to regard his rank in its proper light, as a
motive for goodness and benevolence, and to desire to be the father,
not the master of his people. His opinions with regard to the duke
are given in great detail in a letter of advice addressed to the duke
Beauvilliers, in which we see that the priest has no sinister influence
over the man; and that while Fénélon practised privation in his own
person, he could recommend an opposite course to an individual
differently placed. This intercourse was again renewed in 1708,
when the duke again made a campaign in Flanders. The letters of
his ancient preceptor on this occasion, are frank and manly: he tells
him the public opinion; he advises him how best to gain general
confidence; and to sacrifice all his narrow and peculiar opinions to
an elevated, unprejudiced view of humanity. The reply of the prince,
thanking him for his counsels, and assuring him of his resolution to
act upon them, is highly worthy of a man of honour and virtue.
The effect of the war was to spread famine and misery 170
throughout France: 1709 was a year marked by suffering and 9. Æta
want; the army in Flanders was destitute of dépôts for food. t.
Fénélon set the example of furnishing the soldiery with bread. 58.
Some narrow-minded men around him remonstrated, saying that the

You might also like