FLEURY, Claude, sub-prcceptor of the young princes of France, was the son of an advocate before the council, originally from Rouen, and born at Paris on the 6th of December 1640. He studied under the Jesuits, in the College of Clermont, where he passed six years; and he ever afterwards cherished sentiments of the liveliest gratitude towards his kind and able masters. Being intended by his father for the bar, he now applied himself to the study of the civil law and of history, to which he added the belles-lettres, for which he had a strong predilection, and he was admitted as an advocate before the parliament of Paris in 1658. He remained at the bar nine years, during which time the peaceable life he led, a natural taste for solitude, and religious sentiments, the fruits of his early education, insensibly produced in his mind an inclination for the church. As soon as his resolution was fixed, he made a corresponding change in his pursuits, and the works which had hitherto been the objects of his study were replaced by theology, the fathers, ecclesiastical history, and the canon law, in all which he became very learned. He had already been some time in priest’s orders, when, in 1672, he was chosen, on account of his merit, as preceptor to the sons of the Prince of Conti, who were educated along with the dauphin. At the expiration of this engagement, the king, who had occasion to observe and appreciate his merit, entrusted him with the education of the Count of Vermandois, which, however, he did not complete, as this young prince died in 1683. In 1684, the king conferred on him the abbey of Loc-Dieu, belonging to the order of Citeaux; and in 1689, appointed him sub-preceptor to the Dukes of Burgundy, Anjou, and Berry. The Abbé Fleury having thus found himself associated with Fénélon, shared the labour which that illustrious prelate bestowed on the education of his august pupils, and contributed essentially to its success. It was in 1696, whilst he was still occupied with the instruction of the princes, that he was named one of the forty of the French Academy to fill the place of La Bruyère. In other respects he led as retired a life at court as he could have done in the most profound solitude. Entirely occupied with the duties of his office, to which he devoted himself without reserve, he had but few moments of leisure; but these, when he could command them, were given to useful pursuits. When the education of the princes was completed, Louis, who not only knew howto distinguish talents, but also how to reward them, conferred on Fleury the rich priory of Argenteuil; upon which the abbe, faithful to the discipline established by the canons, resigned his abbey into the hands of the king. It was then that, free from all care, he devoted himself entirely to pursuits worthy a man of his station; but Louis XIV. having died, in 1716, he was recalled to the court by the regent, to become confessor to the young king. In appointing him to this office the regent is reported to have said, “I have chosen you because you are neither Jansenist, nor M< linist, nor Ultramontanist.” Fleury discharged with zeal and sagacity the delicate functions of his new situation, which, however, [7:9:622]he resigned in 1722, by reason of his great age. He died on the 14th of July 1723, in his eighty-third year. Fleury was alike remarkable for his great learning and extreme simplicity of manners; in him Christian humility was blended with true dignity, and the gentlest disposition with the loftiest spirit. He was mild, affable, benign, charitable; an ardent lover of truth, and a bright pattern of those virtues which he inculcated on others. His understanding, naturally excellent, was cultivated with infinite labour; and his heart was as carefully disciplined as his understanding. Profound knowledge, sterling rectitude of principle, innocent manners, a simple, laborious, and edifying life, sincere modesty, admirable disinterestedness, unfailing regularity, and the utmost fidelity in the discharge of all his duties; such are the traits of the character of Fleury as delineated by his contemporaries; a character which, in their judgment, exhibited an assemblage of all the talents and virtues which form the profound scholar, the honest man, and the devout Christian. The following is a list of the numerous works which he left behind him, part of which were composed during brief snatches of leisure, whilst occupied with the education of his different royal and noble pupils: 1. Histoire du Droit Français, 1674, in 12mo; 2. Catéchisme Historique, Paris, 1679, in 12mo; 3. Les Moeurs des Israelites, Paris, 1681, in 12mo; 4. Les Moeurs des Chrétiens, 1682, in 12mo; 5. La Vie de la vénérable mere Marguerite d’Arbouze, abbesse et reformatrice du Val-de- Grace, Paris, 1684, in 8vo; 6. Traite du choix et de la méthode des Etudes, Paris, 1686, in 12mo; 7. Institution au Droit Ecclesiastique, Paris, 1687, in 2 vols. 12mo; 8. Les Devoirs des Maitres et des Domestiques, Paris, 1688, in 12mo; 9. La Traduction Latine de l’ Exposition de la Doctrine de l' Eglise Catholique par Bossuet, Antwerp, 1678, in 12mo; 10. Histoire Ecclésiastique, Paris, 1691 and the following years, in 20 vols. 4to, continued by Père Fabre, of the Oratory, Paris, 1726 and the following years, in 16 vols. 4to, making in all 36 vols. 4to; 11. Discours sur l’ Histoire Ecclésiastique, Paris, 1802, in 8vo; 12. Discours sur les Libertés de l’Eglise Gallicane, 1724. Besides these works, the Abbé Fleury was also the author of the following, viz. 1. Discours sur la Predication, 1773, in 12mo; 2. Traité du Droit publique de France, 1769, in 4 vols. 12mo; 3. Le Soldat Chrétien, 1772, in 12mo; 3. Lettres a Santeul, et deux Lettres en vers Latins; 4. Discours sur la Poésie et notamment sur celle des Hébreux; 5. Portrait du Duc dc Bourgogne, et Avis pour ce Prince; 6. Réflexions sur Machiavel; 7. Lettres sur la Justice; 8. Pensées tirées de Saint-Augustin; 9. Mémoires pour le Roi d’Espagne; 10. Discours Académiques. All the works of the Abbé Fleury, with the exception of the Ecclesiastical History, were collected by Rondet, under the titles of Opuscules, Nismes, 1780, in 5 γols. 8vo; but Μ. Emery, superiorgeneral of the Congregation of Saint-Sulpice, published a volume entitled Nouveaux Opuscules, Paris, 1807, in 12mo, containing several unedited pieces, some of them possessing considerable merit.