Fenelon was in exile at his diocese; public rumor before long attributed the work to him; the _Maximes des Saints_ had just been condemned, _Telemaque_ was seized, the printers were punished; some copies had escaped the police; the book was reprinted in Holland; all Europe read it, finding therein the allusions and undermeanings against which Fenelon defended himself.
Louis XIV.

was more than ever angry with the archbishop.

"I cannot forgive M.de Cambrai for having composed the Telemaque," Madame de Maintenon would say.

Fenelon's disgrace, begun by the _Maximes des Saints_ touching absolute (pure) love, was confirmed by his ideal picture of kingly power.

Chimerical in his theories of government, high-flown in his pious doctrines, Fenelon, in the conduct of his life as well as in his practical directions to his friends, showed a wisdom, a prudence, a tact which singularly belied the free speculations of his mind or his heart.