He was but eight years old, and Fenelon had been only a few months with him, when the child put into his hands one day the following engagement:-- "I promise M.l'Abbe de Fenelon, on the honor of a prince, to do at once whatever he bids me, and to obey him the instant he orders me anything, and, if I fail to, I will submit to any kind of punishment and disgrace." "Done at Versailles the 29th of November, 1689.
"Signed: Louis." [Illustration: Fenelon and the Duke of Burgundy----610] The child, however, would forget himself, and relapse into his mad fits.
When his preceptor was chiding him one day for a grave fault, he went so far as to say, "No, no, sir; I know who I am and what you are." Fenelon made no reply; coldly and gravely he allowed the day to close and the night to pass without showing his pupil any sign of either resentment or affection.

Next day the Duke of Burgundy was scarcely awake when his preceptor entered the room.

"I do not know, sir," said he, "whether you remember what you said to me yesterday, that you know what you are and what I am.

It is my duty to teach you that you do not know either one or the other.

You fancy yourself, sir, to be more than I; some lackeys, no doubt, have told you so, but I am not afraid to tell you, since you force me to it, that I am more than you.