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F L I F L I 307 for all classes of society; but at the time in which his great work appeared it wa3 less religion than theology that absorbed the attention of the clergy and the educated pub lic ; anJ his work, as well as all those that had been published previously, is therefore more a work for the student than one for the people, dwelling as it does very particularly on questions of doctrine, of discipline, of supremacy, and of rivalry between the priesthood and the imperial power, while it notices very slightly general ques tions affecting religion and morality. This fault, which was then looked upon as a merit, secured to the Histoire Ecclesiastique a very great success. The first edition, printed at Paris in 20 volumes 4to, 1691, was followed by many others, among w r hich may be mentioned that of Brussels, in 32 vols. 8vo, 1G92, and that of Nismes, in 25 vols. 8vo, 1778 to 1780. The work of Fleury only comes dovu to the year 1414. It was continued by J. Claude Fabre and Goujet down to 1595, in 1G vols. 4to. In con sulting the work of Fleury and its supplement, the general table of contents, published by Rondel, Paris, 1758, 1 vol. 4to, will be found very useful. Translations have been made of the entire work into Latin, German, and Italian. The Latin translation, published at Augsburg, 1758-59, 85 vols. Svo, carries the work down to 1G84. Fleury, who had been appointed confessor to the king in 1716, died in 1723. Fleury left many works besides his Histoire Ecdtsiastiquc. The following deserve special mention : Histoire du Droll fran- cois, 1674, 12mo ; Catechisms historique, 1679, 12mo ; Mceursdes Israelites, 1681, 12mo ; Mceurs dcs Chretiens, 1682, 12mo ; Traite du clutix ct de la methode des etudes, 1686, 2 vols. 12mo ; Institution du Droit ccclesiastique, 1687, 2 vols. 12mo ; Les Devoirs dcs maitrcs ct dcs domcsliijucs, 1688, 12mo. The Koman Congregation of the Index has condemned the Cattcldsmc historique and the Institution dii Droit ccclesiastique. The books to be specially consulted on Fleury s biography are Chr. Ernst Simonetti, Dcr Character dues Gcschichtsschrcibcrs in dcm Lcbcn und aus den Schriften dcs Abbts C. Fleury, Gottingen, 1746, 4to ; J. F. Lebrct, Dissertatio dc C. Flcuryo, Gallo-catholico an acatholico, Tiibingen, 1800, 4to ; Chr. F. Ph. Jaeger, Notice sur C. Fleury, considere commc historicn dc I Eijlise, Strasburg, 1847, 8vo. FLIEDNER, THEODORE (1800-1864), a German phil anthropist and restorer of the office of deaconess to the Protestant Church of Germany, was born January 21, 1800, at Eppstein, a small village on the frontiers of Hesse and Nassau, where his father was parish clergyman. He early showed a preference for the pastoral office, to qualify himself for which he studied at the universities of Giessen and Gottingen, and at the theological seminary of Herborn. At the age of twenty he passed his final examination; and after a year spent in teaching and preaching, he accepted a call from the Evangelical Church at Kaiserswerth, a little town on the Rhine a few miles below Diisseldorf. His stipend was only 27, and the failure, soon after he was settled, of a large firm of velvet manufacturers, which sup plied a large proportion of the members of his congregation, rendered even this small sum no longer secure. To provide an endowment for his church, he undertook journeys through part of Germany, and then to Holland and Eng land. He met with considerable success, and had opportu nities of observing what was being done in those countries towards prison reform, a subject which soon attracted his attention. The German prisons were then in a very bad state. The prisoners were huddled together in dirty rooms, were badly fed, and were left in complete idleness. No one dreamed of instructing them or of collecting statistics to form the basis of useful legislation on the subject. Fliedner at first singly undertook the work. He applied for permission to be imprisoned for some time, in order that he might look at prison life from the inside. This petition was refused, but he was allowed to hold fortnightly services in the Diisseldorf prison, and to visit the inmates individually. The work grew. Those interested in the subject banded themselves together, and on June 18, 1826, the first Prison Society of Germany was founded. The fact was clearly recognized that if any permanent good was to be done, the prisoners must be looked after on their release ; and therefore in 1833 Fliedner opened at Kaiserswerth a refuge for discharged female convicts. His circle of practical philanthropy rapidly increased. The state of the sick poor had for some time excited his interest, and it seemed to him that hospitals might be best served by an organized body of women specially trained and devoted to the work. Accordingly in 1836 he began the first deaconess house, and the hospital at Kaiserswerth. By their ordination vows the deaconesses devoted them selves to the care of the poor, the sick, and the young. They were to be dressed in a plain uniform without dis tinctive badge, and their engagements w r ere not final they might leave their work and return to ordinary life if they chose. To these institutions Fliedner added in 1836 an infant school, then a normal school for infant school mis tresses, an orphanage for orphan girls of the middle class (1842), and an asylum for female lunatics (1847). Besides these, he assisted at the foundation and in the management of various similar institutions, not only in Germany, but in different parts of Europe. In 1849 he resigned his pastoral charge, and from 1849 to 1851 he travelled over a large part of Europe, America, and the East, the object of his journeys being to found " mother houses," which might not merely be training schools for deaconesses, but also centres whence other training establishments might arise. He established a deaconess house in Jerusalem, and after his return assisted by counsel and money in the erection of establishments at Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, and Bucharest. Among his later efforts may be mentioned the Christian house of refuge for female servants in Berlin (connected with which other institutions soon arose) and the " house of evening rest" for retired deaconesses at Kaiserswerth. These and similar labours wore out a naturally strong constitution, and in 1856 he visited the East for the sake of his health. He returned worse rather than better, and thereafter was for the most part confined to his room ; he continued, however, by correspondence to promote the objects of his life. He died October 4, 1864, leaving behind him over 100 stations attended by 430 deaconesses ; and these by 1876 had increased to 150 with an attendance of 600. In 1855 Fliedner received the degree of doctor in theology from the university of Bonn, in recognition rather of his practical activity than his theological attainments. He scarcely seems indeed to have concerned himself with the great controversies which during his lifetime agitated the German Church, his whole life being devoted to steady, well-directed, and eminently successful efforts to benefit the poor, the weak, and the suffering. His character was marked by prompt decision, clear insight, and great prac tical sagacity. Nor was it without traits of quaint Teutonic humour w T hich relieved its sterner features. Fliedner s writings are almost entirely of a practical character, lie edited a periodical, Dcr Armcn und Krankcn Frcund, which con tained information regarding the various institutions, and also the yearly almanac of the Kaiserswerth institution. Besides purely educational and devotional -works, he wrote Such der Martyrer; NachricM iiber das Diakonisscn- WerTc in dcr Christ. Kirclw ; Die evangel. Mdrtyrcr Ungarns und Sicbenbiirycns; and Bcschreibung dcr Rcise nach Jerusalem und Constantinopcl. All were published at Kaiserswerth. There is a translation of the German life, prepared by the family, by C. Winkworth (London, 1867). On Fliedner and his work see also Kaiserswerth Deaconesses, London, 1857 ; Dean. Howson s Deaconesses, London, 1862 ; The Service of the Poor, by E. C. Stephen, London, 1871 ; Stevenson s Praying and Working, London, 1865.