JAN AMOS KOMENSKY - columbia.edu · Quid ego Tibi scienti commemorem vel sancta conamina Duraei nostri, vel alta molimina paene vestri Comenii, vel fausta auspicia Verulamii. John

JAN AMOSKOMENSKY

(COMENIUS)

OTAKAR ODLO2lLlK. Ph.D.

In commemoration of the 350th anniversary

of Comenius birthday

Published by the

CZECHOSLOVAK NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA

Chicago, 1942

HERBERT «» |H . If. PUBLIC LIBRARY

The Great Czechoslovak

JAN AMOS COMENIUS(KOMENSK?)

"THE TEACHER OF NATIONS"

Quid ego Tibi scienti commemorem vel sancta conamina Duraeinostri, vel alta molimina paene vestri Comenii, vel fausta auspiciaVerulamii.

John Stoughton, Felicitas ultimi saeculi, London 1640.

Tempus erit, quo Te, Comeni, turba bonorumfactaque spesque Tuas vota quoque ipsa colet.

G. W. Leibniz.

Comeni c' est son nom, chasse de Moravie par les feroces Espag-nols, y perdit la patrie, et y gagna . . . le monde. J'entends un sensunique d'universalite. D'un coeur et d'un esprit immense il em-brassa et toute science et toute nation. Par tous pays, Pologne,Hongrie, Suede, Angleterre, Hollande, il alia enseignant: premier e-ment la paix, deuxiemement le moyen de la paix, I'universalite'fraternelle.

Jules Michelet, Nos Fils, Paris, 1869.

The place of Comenius in the history of education, therefore, isone of commanding importance. He introduces and dominates thewhole modern movement in the field of elementary and secondaryeducation. His relation to our present teaching is similar to thatheld by Copernicus and Newton toward modern science, and Baconand Descartes toward modern philosophy.

N. Murray Butler, The Place of Comenius in the Historyof Education, Syracuse, 1892.

In my subsequent journey round the world in 1911).—1918, theBequest of Comenius, together with the Kralice Bible of the Bohe-mian Brethren, was for me a daily memento, national and political.

T. G. Masaryk, The Making of a State, Prague, 1925.

John Amos Comenius was born on the 28th of March,1592, in Moravia and died on the 15th of November, 1670,in Amsterdam.

During his lifetime Europe passed through a series ofgrave conflicts and devastating wars. Conditions changedprofoundly not only in the Kingdom of Bohemia but allover the Continent of Europe. A man who had been bornin the last decade of the sixteenth century, in the atmo-sphere of comparative tranquillity, and upon whose man-hood the long and merciless war cast its shadow, was noteasily understood by the succeeding generation andpassed away almost unnoticed. For some time uncertain-ty prevailed as regards the year of Comenius' death and

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the year 1671 was accepted by some biographers insteadof the correct date.

Of the almost four score years of Comenius' life, morethan a half as spent in exile. Comenius shared the lot ofthousands refugees whom Emperor Ferdinand II haddriven from Bohemia and Moravia after his victory overthe Bohemian rebellion on the White Mountain in 1620.Despite unfavorable conditions, Comenius worked assidu-ously in various fields and attained fame in his ownday. "He did not toil in vain" — thus concludes R. H.Quick his brilliant sketch of Comenius' life — "and historians of education have agreed in ranking him amongthe most influential as well as the most noble-mindedof the Reformers."

There is no doubt that as a champion of new methodsin education Comenius became widely known among hiscontemporaries. In modern times historians of educationhave revived interest in his life and work. The rapid pro-gress of studies and the growth of literature concerningComenius and his ideas went hand in hand with the im-provement of education in the modern age. Time hascome for a close examination of other subjects of hisstudies and deliberations. His life was eventful and hisbiography is full of unforeseen turns and of dramaticepisodes. The present upheavals, accompanied by endlessmigration of peoples whom the conqueror has deprivedof their homes, have sharpened our sight and disposed usfor a new scrutiny of both hopes and sorrows of theexiled scholar and thinker.

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I.

A True Patriot.

Nor can I forget thee, thou Czech and Moravian nation,my native land . . .

Comenius, The Bequest of the Unity of Brethren(1650).

Comenius was the most prominent representative ofthe Czech people in the seventeenth century. Both theplight and noble aspirations of his countrymen have beenreflected in his life and work. Among his contemporarieshe held such a position as John Hus in the fifteenth cen-tury and T. G. Masaryk in the modern era. His ideas andwritings rank among the finest products of the Czechmind.

Like Hus and Masaryk, Comenius was of humble par-entage and owed his rise to prominence solely to educa-tion. The original home of his family was a small village,Komna, in southeastern Moravia -— hence the name Ko-mensky which has become famous in its latinized formComenius. He himself was most likely born in Nivniceand spent part of his childhood in Uhersky Brod and inseveral other places. In the entourage of a Moraviannobleman, Kunovsky of Kunovice, he visited Germany.In 1611 he matriculated at the University of Herborn inNassau. After two years he left for Heidelberg and com-pleted there the course of his education. After his returnto Moravia he was active as schoolmaster in the town ofPferov and later as a minister of the church. In normaltimes and conditions, his career might have culminatedin his ordination and in his appointment to the pastorateof a flourishing congregation at Fulnek, on the borderof Moravia and Silesia.

Soon after his ordination, however, a rebellion flaredup in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Though its immediatecauses were of local importance, it soon assumed thecharacter of a prelude to an European conflagration.Like Czechoslovakia in the thirties of the present century, so Bohemia in the early seventeenth century had

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been a testing ground of conflicting forces. The issuesof the conflict in Comenius' time were both religious andconstitutional. In 1526 the country of John Hus did notoppose effectively the accession of Ferdinand I, of theHouse of Habsburg, to the throne. Thus the seed ordiscord had been sown in the Bohemian soil. The dynastyremained faithful to the Roman church and promotedCatholic religion in all its domains in Central Europe, inAustria, Bohemia, and Hungary. The Bohemian nobilityas well as the people followed in the footsteps of JohnHus. They embraced the Protestant creed and maintainedlively connections with their co-religionists in other partsof Europe.

The difference in religion thwarted collaboration be-tween the ruler and the leading class of the Czech people.Moreover, the nobility viewed with jealous eye the at-tempts of the dynasty to strengthen its position in thecountry and to curtail the prerogatives of the Estates.Religious freedom was considered the foremost privilegeof the free citizens of the kingdom. With the turn of thetide in the struggle between the Catholics and Protestantsall over Europe, the desire grew in Bohemia about theyear 1600 for a solemn confirmation of liberty in mattersof religion and for a written guarantee of peace in thecountry. In 1609 the effort of the Protestant nobility wascrowned with success. The sickly Emperor Rudolph IIissued a charter, known as "the Letter of Majesty," bywhich religious freedom was granted to the inhabitantsof Bohemia.

There was, however, much unrest in Europe in theearly seventeenth century and Bohemia was not sparedits echoes and disturbing influences from the outside.Peace in the country was of short duration. In less thana decade — events were moving more slowly in thosetimes than in our century — disputes over "the Letterof Majesty" and over supplementary agreements of theProtestant and Catholic nobility had created such an em-bitterment that a clash became inevitable. The trial anddefenestration of the leaders of the Catholic group byspokesmen of the Protestant nobility in May, 1618, inau-gurated a rebellion in Bohemia. After two years of strug-gle the Emperor, acting as defender of the dynastic inter-ests as well as of those of the church, secured victory overthe revolting nobility and established himself firmly in

the country. For a great majority of the inhabitants ofBohemia and Moravia the day of the victory of the im-perial troops on the White Mountain (November 8, 1620)became the turning point of their life. Quite appropriate-ly a contemporary Czech chronicler called the WhiteMountain "the origin and the door of all the miseriesand calamities that had befallen the Czech nation."

The Unity of Bohemian Brethren to which Comeniusbelonged, incurred the wrath of the Emperor earlier thanthe other Protestant communions both for its close con-nection with the Calvinists in various European countriesand for the participation of its prominent members inthe uprising. Not only against persons of rank but alsoagainst its clergy several Imperial decrees were directed,portending storm and persecution. In 1621 Comenius losthis home •— the fire which the Spanish mercenariesstarted in Fu)nek destroyed not only his house but alsothe library and manuscripts of several works. For severalyears Comenius lived in constant fear and anxiety, chang-ing frequently his places of abode.

The Bohemian rebellion put in motion an avalanche ofenmities and of local conflicts. It passed into an Europeanconflagration "unique in its length, its constant shiftingof scene and motive, its dreariness and ferocity." Forthirty years imperial troops remained on battlefields, op-posed successively either by the armies of individual rul-ers or by coalitions of the foes of the House of Habsburg.With each imperial victory the pressure on Bohemia andMoravia and its population increased. After the promul-gation of a series of decrees in 1627, known as the Re-newed Land Ordinance, even the mountainous districtsof northeastern Bohemia offered no safe refuge. Earlyin 1628 Comenius left Bohemia with hundreds of mem-bers of the Unity and settled in Leszno in Poland. Thus— to use the words of Jules Michelet — "he lost hiscountry and found the world."

The town of Leszno became the center of the exiledmembers of the Unity from Bohemia and Moravia. Theylived there under the protection of the Polish noble fam-ily of Lesczynski, never losing hope of the ultimate defeatof the House of Habsburg and the restoration of Bohe-mian liberties. Leszno became the new home of Comenius.He either lived there amidst his countrymen or wouldreturn there after journeys abroad or prolonged resi-

g

dences in various countries, in England, Sweden, orHungary. The destruction of Leszno during the Swedish-Polish war in 1656, surpassing in its effect and dimen-sions the sack of Fulnek by the Spaniards, terminatedabruptly the sojourn of Comenius in Poland. He acceptedan invitation from Amsterdam and lived there "on theshore of the Great Sea" until his death.

As a bishop of the Unity he was connected with itsdispersed members by the bond of mutual love and co-ordinated his work to the interests of his church and ofhis nation. It would be difficult to understand Comenius'schemes and activities without a knowledge of his rela-tion to the groups of exiles from Bohemia and Moraviaand of his participation in the struggle for the restorationof Bohemian independence. He never severed the tiesbinding him to his native land and directed his efforts toits liberation. The story of his life differs from the simpleand uneventful biographies of great many of his learnedcontemporaries whom the storm of wrath and the pro-longed hostilities had not driven from their homes.Though he was offered several times positions, promisingboth substantial financial aid and a haven of rest, henever yielded to the natural longing for ease and for theend of wandering. Like a prophet and herald of hopes,alternating cyclically with dejection and disappointment,he accompanied his people on the tortuous path leadingthrough the labyrinth of war and of inflamed passions.Up to the end of his days he remained a loyal citizen ofthe Kingdom of Bohemia whose gate, as he often com-plained on the eve of his life, had been closed forever tohim by the implacable tyrant.

For more than two decades prominent noblemen fromBohemia and Moravia stood in the forefront and directedthe course of the struggle for the restoration of indepen-dence of their country. They participated in diplomaticactivities, often helping to bring together the enemies ofthe House of Habsburg and to prepare combined attackson its domains and strategic positions. They offered theirservices to countries which waged war with the Emperor.They mustered regiments of volunteers from the ranksof their exiled countrymen and commanded them inbattles. They fought under Dutch, Danish, and Swedishbanners, linking their cause with the anti-Habsburgfront. On several occasions they entered, along with for-

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eign troops, Bohemia and Moravia and encouraged bytheir proclamations and deeds their countrymen to resistmore effectively the merciless conqueror of their country,whose real aim was the domination of Europe. The per-centage of Czech officers and soldiers in foreign armieswas high, especially in the Swedish armies, which oper-ated for almost twenty years in Germany and in CentralEurope, harassing the imperial troops and preventing theEmperor from consolidating his gains. They kept alivethe spirit of opposition to the "new order" which theHabsburgs introduced into the conquered kingdom byforce, executions, confiscations of property, and banish-ment of opponents.

Comenius was not silent during this life and deathstruggle. He did not wield a sword, but his pen was amighty weapon in the defense of the common cause. Inseveral Czech writings he voiced the grief and anxietyof his people over the catastrophic end of the rebellion,or in the periods of growing preponderance of the im-perial armies over the Protestant forces. With propheticwords, taken as a rule from the books of the Old Testa-ment, he welcomed powerful opponents of the House ofHabsburg and of its lust for world domination. In thehour of decision he became the only spokesman of thefree Czechs and entreated the Swedish delegates at thePeace Conference to secure from the imperial envoystolerable terms for the exiled Czechs and for those inthe occupied country who had resisted the pressure uponmind and conscience and had remained faithful to theircreed. He labored in vain. Ignoring their solemn pledges,the Swedes accepted in the decisive moment a compro-mise and left Bohemia to the mercy of the Habsburgruler. Thus they strengthened enormously the positionof the dynasty which had provoked the long struggle byits intolerant attitude toward the Protestant people andhad been mainly responsible for the horrors of the war.

In the anguish of his soul, Comenius announced to thedispersed countrymen the failure of his effort and raisedhis voice to the high-sounding prophecy of the return ofa more propitious age. The often-quoted words fromThe Bequest of the Unity of Brethren: "I trust God thatafter the passing of storm of wrath which our sinsbrought down upon our heads, the rule of thine affairsshall again be restored to thee, 0 Czech people" — com-

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forted the decimated ranks of the exiles. With them inmind Comenius worked on for more than twenty years.He presented the world with a complete edition of hiseducational works and in various books saved from ex-tinction the ideas and the spirit which had permeated theCzech spiritual life in the period of independence.

After more than two hundred and fifty years, theprophecy of Comenius inspired T. G. Masaryk, then onthe Dutch soil, to the struggle for the liberation of theCzechoslovak people. He inscribed Comenius' words onhis revolutionary banner as well as at the head of hisfirst message to the independent people, read in Decem-ber, 1918. Thus the indefatigable zeal and effort ofComenius were revived and linked up with the resurrec-tion of the Czechs and with their reunion with the Slovakpeople.

J2-

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II.

Comenius in England.Here give me leave . . . to recommend to your favourthe noble endeavours of two great and publique spiritswho have laboured much for truth and peace, I meaneComenius and Duraeus; both famous for their learning,piety and integrity and not unknown, I am sure, by thefame of their works to many of this honourable, piousand learned assembly.

John Gauden, The Love of Truth and Peace(preached before the House of Commons, Nov. 29,1640).

During the years of uncertainty after the promulgationof the imperial decrees against Protestant ministers,Comenius was not able to attend publicly and regularlyto his pastoral duties. He lived on the secluded estatesof wealthy patrons of the persecuted clergy and devotedhis time to study and literary activity. The Labyrinth ofthe World and the Paradise of the Heart, accessible tomodern readers in a fine translation of Professor Mat-thew Spinka, is the best of the books and treatises whichComenius wrote during those critical years. During thelast few months of his stay in the mountains of north-eastern Bohemia, he began to work on a book on educa-tion. He completed it in Leszno. The Great Didacticwas written in Czech because it was intended primarilyfor Czech educators upon whose shoulders the new organ-ization of schools was to rest after the liberation of Bo-hemia and Moravia. Only in 1657 Comenius published aLatin version of the book in the magnificent folio ofThe Complete Didactic Works.

The Great Didactic linked Comenius' work in his na-tive land with his activities in the exile. It indicated thatin the early thirties of the seventeenth century the desireto reform education overshadowed all other interests andwholly captured Comenius' mind. Simultaneously withthe theoretical treatise on education grew under hishands a school-book which met with an enormous and im-mediate success. It appeared in Leszno with the title ofJanua linguarum reserata. In an autobiographical work

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(Continuatio fraternae admonition-is), Comenius de-scribed the reception of the Janua in the following words:"From the learned in various lands there came to meletters giving me joy at my new discovery and in diversways encouraging me to yet bolder an enterprise." TheJanua was intended as an introduction to the study ofLatin. It was based on the principle that the understand-ing and the language should advance in parallel line, andthat in the study of languages mechanical memorizing ofwords should be replaced by teaching words throughthings. It inaugurated a new era in the teaching of Latinand made a triumphal procession through Europe. It wasknown in twelve European languages and in Asia it ap-peared in Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Mongolian.

On the title page of the first edition of the JanuaCojtnenius wrote a sentence which he had found in thepreface to Bacon's Novum Organum and used as a motto.Thus he acknowledged his indebtedness to the Englishthinker and presented his work as a continuation of thelatter's effort to advance learning. If we look for paral-lels to the relation between Comenius and Bacon we musteither go back to the Middle Ages and study Wyclif'sinfluence on John Hus, or proceed to the modern age andconsider Masaryk's predilection for English and Ameri-can philosophy. In all these cases the affinity betweenthe English and the Czech thought and the desire of theleading Czech thinkers to out-balance German influencesacted as stimuli.

As the author of the Janua Comenius became quicklyknown in the British Isles. Its first edition, The Gateof Tongues Unlocked and Opened, was prepared for thepress by a French refugee, John Anchoran, and was pub-lished under his name in 1631, "in behalfe of the mostillustrious Prince Charles and of the British, French andIrish youth." The name of Comenius was only affixed tothe preface so that some confusion existed as to theauthorship of the work.

Soon after the publication of the Janua it becameknown to what "bolder enterprise" Comenius had beenencouraged by the admirers of his new method. He con-templated a book in which not only words, as it was thecase in the Janua, but also facts would be classified andarranged according to their affinity. Thus the readerwas to be presented with a survey of all human know-

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ledge which was to serve as "a kind of antidote universalto ignorance, misunderstanding, hallucinations and er-rors." It was the author's desire to produce a work forwhich there was no parallel in the past or contemporaryliterature. During the years of exile he became wellacquainted with the causes of unrest in war-torn Europeand sought for remedies and for guarantees of stability.A reconciliation of churches and a reform of educationwere in his opinion the prerequisites of a durable peace.Therefore, he planned his new work not as a mere surveyof data and facts but wished to incorporate there all thatwas "necessary for the furtherance of felicity in this andthe future life, whether of knowledge or faith, action oraspiration."

The combination of purely theoretical interest with thereform aims corresponded with the state of mind of theexiled scholar. His work was an integral part of theheroic effort of emigres from Bohemia and Moravia toregain independence of their kingdom. He wished to joinhands not with theoretical writers but with the architectsof the new edifice to be erected on the ruins of the oldworld. Though fascinating, this combination proved tobe an insurmountable obstacle and the main cause of hisfailure. For several years, however, both Comenius andhis friends cherished hopes of success of the pansophy —this term had been coined for the new scheme accordingto the current practice of using components of Greek orLatin words. Words of encouragement were comingespecially from London. Samuel Hartlib, whose namealso appeared at the end of the preface to Anchoran'sedition of the Janua, took genuine interest in the pan-sophy. Being of foreign extraction and naturalized, heassumed the role of a mediator between the English andthe Continental scholars. Several members of Hartlib'scircle shared with Comenius the banishment from theirhome countries and the hard lot of exiles. Hartlib wasresponsible both for the edition of a specimen of pan-sophy (Conatuum Comenianorum Praeludia) in Oxfordin 1637 and for an invitation of Comenius to Londonin 1641.

Comenius arrived in England in September, 1641, andleft for Holland at the end of June, 1642. During hisstay in London, he lived in the eastern part of the Cityand frequented ordinarily the congregation in the Dutch

Church (Austin Friars). Soon after his arrival, he wasintroduced to prominent English divines and scholars.James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, John Williams,Bishop of Lincoln and later Archbishop of York, RobertGreville, second Lord Brooke, John Pym, the prominentmember of the Long Parliament, and many others wereinterested in his ideas. He met also Hartlib's intimatefriend, the Scottish clergyman John Durie (Duraeus)who for several years had worked for the reconciliationof Protestant churches. There was perfect harmony be-tween the three men. John Durie spoke of it in a letterto their patron, Sir Cheney Colepeper, in the followingway: "Though our taskes be different yet we are allthree in a knowledge of one another's labours and canhardly be without one another's helpe and assistance."

What Comenius and his patrons contemplated has beenrecorded in the eighteenth chapter of the book Via Lucis(The Way of Light), written in London in the winter of1641-42. He planned an international academy with resi-dent and corresponding members. As the headquarters herecommended a place "to which by the aid of navigation,access shall be easy from every country of the world andfrom which in turn communication can be made to everycountry." He recommended England for the followingreasons: "We may say this first because we rememberthe heroic adventure of the Englishman Drake, who byvoyaging five times round the whole world, gave us aprelude and prophecy of this sacred and universal concertof the nations. And secondly, we may make this claimin memory of Bacon, the most illustrious Chancellor ofEngland, to whom we owe the first suggestion and oppor-tunity for common counsels with regard to the universalreform of the Sciences."

The College of Light was never founded. "One unhappyday bringing tidings of massacre in Ireland and of out-break of civil war there, confounded all plans for thewhole winter" — thus did Comenius describe the frus-tration of his work. Civil War quickly diverted people'sattention from the work for the establishment of 'a greatcenter for scientific research on the Baconian lines. Withthe consent of his English friends and patrons, Comeniusaccepted an offer from Sweden and travelled there viaHolland. A condition was added by the sponsors of his

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scheme, "that should God restore the peace, Comeniuswas not to refuse to return and take up his work."

He never came back to England. For several years helived under Swedish protection in the city of Elblag (El-bing) in western Prussia, maintaining correspondenceboth with the Unity in Leszno and with his friends inLondon. After the abandonment of the Czech exiles bySwedish delegates at the Peace Conference in Westphalia,he sought another patron who would both give him op-portunity for work and be ready to espouse the Czechcause. In 1650, George of Rakoczy, the ruler of Tran-sylvania, extended an invitation to Comenius and en-trusted him with the reform of schools in his country.Comenius did not hesitate to accept an offer from thearch-enemy of the House of Habsburg and spent in histerritory (in Saros Patak) several years. He returned toLeszno only after the outbreak of the Swedish-PolishWar. During that struggle, his house in Leszno wasburned to ashes and his precious library was destroyed.It was easier to exchange letters and ideas with Hartliband other friends from the new home in Holland.

During the forties and fifties of the seventeenth cen-tury, new books by Comenius usually soon after the pub-lication, found way to England, no matter where theyhad been published. The group of English educators andscholars who were interested in his ideas and eagerlyanticipated the fruits of his pansophical studies, wasgrowing steadily during his wandering in Central Eu-rope. Only in the late fifties and in the sixties of theseventeenth century, sceptical voices began to be heardfrom England. Doubts began to gain ground that thelofty scheme might never become a reality. Even SamuelHartlib was troubled about the constant delays and lessimportant projects. In September, 1661, he wrote to JohnWinthrop, Governor of Connecticut, as follows: "Mr.Comenius is continually diverted by particular controver-sies of Socianians and others from his main Pansophicalwork but some weeks agoe hee wrote that hee would nomore engage himself in any particular controversy butwould refer them all to his pansophical worke." Thispromise was not fulfilled.

In the meantime, some friends of Hartlib and certainother scholars who were interested in the progress oflearning were holding sessions in London and in Oxford.

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The outcome of their discussions was the foundation ofthe Royal Society of London in 1662. Out of the magni-ficent edifice of the "College of Light," a part at leastwas built by the more realistic English scientists. Come-nius received news concerning the founding and develop-ment of the Society without jealousy or bitterness. Whenin 1668 he eventually published his Via Lucis, he dedi-cated it "to the torchbearers of this enlightened age,members of the Royal Society of London, now bringingreal philosophy to a happy birth." In the preface he wel-comed the new body, hoping that they would succeed inrealizing their program. "We have no envy towards you ;rather we congratulate you and applaud you and assureyou of the applause of mankind. Throughout the worldthe news will be trumpeted that you are engaged in la-bours the purpose of which is to secure that humanknowledge and the empire of the human mind over mat-ter shall not for ever continue to be a feeble and uncer-tain thing."

In the sixties of the seventeenth century, Comenius wasless interested in the theoretical part of his pansophythan in the program for the pacification of the worldand for the renaissance of human society. In his effortto reform conditions of the world and to achieve the unityof Christian civilization, he was more and more inspiredby visions and prophecies, thus leaving the solid groundof scientific research. He was also more concerned withthe fate of his people and of the Unity and with the wishto preserve its memory among the nations of the world.In 1660, he wrote a concise account of the rules by whichthe Unity was governed, Ratio ordinis et disciplinae. Itappeared in English in 1661, in two parts. The first wasAn Exhortation of the Churches of Bohemia to theChurch of England. Wherein is set forth the good ofunity, order, discipline and obedience in churches ofBrethren of Bohemia. The second part was entitled: ADescription of the Order and Discipline Used in theChurches of Bohemia.

The interest in Comenius' pansophy was rapidly wan-ing in England as well as in other parts of the worldduring the sixties of the seventeenth century. On theother hand, his Exhortation was warmly received. Sever-al writers from the ranks of the clergy quoted from it.During the discussions concerning the church govern-

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ment after the Restoration, voices were heard recom-mending an incorporation of some disciplinary regula-tions of the Unity into the new Constitution of the Churchof England. They remained in minority, but the book ofComenius was not forgotten. In 1703 a book was pub-lished in Edinburgh with the title, Primitive ChurchGovernment in the Practice of the Reformed Churchesin Bohemia. Added to it were some notes from Comenius'Ratio. This evidenced the permanent interest of ScottishProtestants in the country of John Hus and of his follow-er, Paul Kravaf, whose memory lived in Scotland sincehis martyr death at St. Andrews in 1433.

Even minor works of Comenius became popular inEngland during his lifetime. Samuel Pepys left a notein his Diary that one day he entertained himself with aplay of Comenius. He read probably one of dramaticpieces which Comenius had composed in Saros Patak.

During all this time, the Janua retained its position inschools and in families. New editions of that work werecoming from printing presses in England and on the Con-tinent. Another introduction into the study of Latin, theOrbis Pictus (The World in Pictures) which in fact wasa shortened, simplified, and illustrated version of theJanua, went after its first publication in 1658 throughnumberless editions and commanded the attention ofboth parents and teachers. An English edition appearedin 1659 under the title, / . A. Comenius' Visible World.On the title page it was recommended as one of his bestessays and the most suitable to children's capacities ofany that he had hitherto made. During the seventeenthand eighteenth centuries, the book retained its popularityall over the world. In England it went into twelveeditions.

The twelfth edition of the Orbis Pictus appeared inLondon in 1777. For several following decades little washeard of Comenius in the British Isles. With the revivalof interest in his educational method on the Continent,scientific study of his life and ideas was inauguratedalso in England and Scotland. In 1858, Daniel Benthampublished in London a modern edition of the School ofInfancy, based on the first English version of 1641. Trans-lations of other works, articles, and books on Comenius'life from the pen of English and Scottish scholars fol-lowed after the successful start by Bentham. Hardly any-

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body has done more for the popularity of Comeniusamong modern educators than R. H. Quick who inserteda succint biography into his Essays on Educational Re-formers. Following in his footsteps, S. S. Laurie wrotefrom original sources the first biography of Comenius inEnglish, called John Amos Comenius, Bishop of the Mo-ravians. His Life and Educational Works. It appearedin Edinburgh in 1881 and was reprinted several timesboth in Great Britain and in the United States. In t»heancient capital of Scotland, M. W. Keatinge was workingduring the early nineties of the nineteenth century on atranslation of the Great Didactic and on a biographicalsketch which were published in 1896.

Keatinge stated openly in his introduction that hiswork was based upon original research and on the bestGerman authorities. Of the works of Czech scholars, onlythose written in German were accessible to him. A devi-ation from the current practise to study only the Latinworks by Comenius and to rely only on the results of Ger-man studies, is noticeable from about 1900. Count FrancisLuetzow, a student of Czech history and author ofseveral books on Bohemia, translated into English andedited in 1901 one of the most remarkable books of Come-nius in Czech, The Labyrinth of the World, and theParadise of the Heart. His translation was reprintedseveral times and made Comenius' allegory popular withmodern readers.

Count Luetzow's efforts to familiarize English andAmerican scholars with the fruits of Czech scholarshipfound its continuation in the literary activities of Dr. R.Fitzgibbon Young. He devoted much of his time to thestudy of Czech exiled scholars of the seventeenth century,and scrutinized the sources relating to Comenius' sojournin London. His monograph, Comenius in London, broughtto light a wealth of details concerning the educator's visitand his plans. Based partly on monographs of Czechscholars, partly on the author's systematic research, ithas thrown new light on Comenius' activities. If it hadnot revived the memory of the exiled bishop on both sidesof the Atlantic, and if it had not called attention of bothBritish and American scholars to his co-operation withEnglish learned contemporaries, it would not have beenso easy to unite the English learned world last fall in thecommemoration of the three hundreth anniversary of

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Comenius' coming to London. The celebrations culminatedin commemorative services held at the University ofCambridge on October 24, on which occasion PresidentBenes of Czechoslovakia was the chief speaker.

From selected documents which Dr. Young has pub-lished in English translations, from critical notes andcomments, it has become apparent that there was anaffinity between Comenius' ideas and the Englishthought of that time. The exiled bishop of the Unitywas an ardent admirer and worthy continuator of Fran-cis Bacon. He took a prominent position among thosewho have promoted mutual understanding and collabora-tion between the English speaking world and the Slavpeoples.

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III.

The American Echo.That the brave old man Johannes Amos Comenius,

the fame of whose worth hath been trumpetted as faras more than three languages (whereof everyone isindebted unto his JanuaJ could carry it was indeed,agreed withal, by our Mr. Winthrop in his travelsthrough the Low Countries, to come over into New Eng-land and illuminate this (i. e. Harvard) College andcountry in the quality of a president. But the solicita-tions of the Swedish Ambassador, diverting him anotherway, that incomparable Moravian became not an Ameri-can.

Cotton Mather, Magnolia Christi Americana (1702),IV, 128.

In the summer of 1637, John Harvard arrived in NewEngland. Among the books which he brought from Eng-land and later bequeathed to the college in Cambridge,Massachusetts, was also Anchoran's Porta linguarum,.Thus two years after the founding of the college, itslibrary owned the book which had carried Comenius' fameall over Europe.

Little is known concerning the curriculum at HarvardCollege in the early period of its existence. We may as-sume that from Comenius' Janua many students learnedLatin, those especially who "came to the university notwith the intention to make scholarship their professionbut only to get such learning as may serve for delight andornament." Several copies of successive editions of theJanua were bequeathed to American libraries either byHarvard alumni or their heirs. There is, therefore, agreat deal of evidence of the use of the Janua as a text-book throughout the seventeenth century. It was intro-duced also into the Boston Latin School. One copy of theJanua is particularly interesting. It was owned by anIndian student, Joel Jacoomis, who studied at Harvardwith his friend, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, in 1665 andfrom it acquired his knowledge of Latin. Comenius' Ja-nua circulated in New England in a large number of copiesand preserved its author's reputation on this side of the

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Atlantic. It is also known that an introduction into phys-ics by Comenius (Physicae ad lumen divinum reformataesynopsis) found its way to Harvard College. A copy ofthat book had been in the possession of John Barnardwho had entered the Boston Latin School in 1689 andgraduated from Harvard in 1700.

Not only the Janua but also the pansophic ideas andthe educational method of Comenius attracted the atten-tion of those interested in the progress of learning inNew England. It is very likely that John Winthrop (1606-1676), son of the Governor of Massachusetts, met Come-nius in London during his stay there in the winter of1641-42, which coincided with Comenius' sojourn there.As S. E. Morison pointed out in his "Founding of Har-vard College," "John Winthrop Jr. was asked by the firstBoard of Overseers, when he went abroad, to invite someoutstanding figure in education to be Master of HarvardCollege—someone whose name alone would advertise theCollege and attract more students from England."

Not only John Winthrop Jr., but also some Englishclergymen who were interested in missionary work amongthe Indians in New England, took into consideration Co-menius' unusual qualities and encouraged him to the jour-ney across the Ocean. It would not have been difficultto combine educational work at Harvard with missionaryactivities among the Indians and to promote intellectuallife in New England in both ways. In the preface to Vialucis, Comenius stated that he had come to London inSeptember, 1641, "on the advice of certain pious theolo-gians and bishops (the occasion being the propagation ofthe Gospel unto the nations of the world and in particularthe sowing thereof made then in New England)." Whenthe interest in the "College of Light" faded away therewas more ground for the hope that Comenius would con-sider seriously both Mr. Winthrop's sounding and theadvice of his friends from the ranks of the English clergy.There was some reason to expect that the "incomparableMoravian would become an American."

After some deliberation, Comenius declined the offer.According to Cotton Mather, whose story contains sometruth despite confusion in regard to the date and circum-stances, "the solicitations of he Swedish Ambassador di-verted Comenius another way." The invitation from the

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Swedish government was, no doubt, more attractive thanthe prospect of a long journey to the other shore of theAtlantic. Swedish troops still stood in the field and Swed-ish statesmen were bound by solemn pledges to work forthe restoration of Bohemian liberties. It was advisableto offer service to the country which sponsored the Czechcause and to strengthen the bond between Sweden andthe groups of exiles from Bohemia and Moravia.

Comenius had not set foot on the American soil butinfluenced by his writings the intellectual life in NewEngland. As Albert Matthews has written in his illumi-nating article, "Comenius and Harvard College," thescholars of New England were not content with merelybuying the works of Comenius or with using them atschool or college; they also studied them and quoted themin their own books. The effort of Comenius to save fromoblivion the Unity and its main principles was crownedwith remarkable success. The account of the sufferingsof the faithful Christians in Bohemia and Moravia whichhad appeared originally in Czech and in 1648 in Latin,was translated into English and published in London in1650. Copies of The History of the Bohemian Persecution,describing the savagery of the imperial officials and sol-diers in Bohemia and Moravia after the White Mountain,circulated also in New England. The book reminded peo-ple of the plight and sacrifices of the Czech people duringthe Thirty Years' War and kept alive the memory oftheir heroic struggle for religious freedom.

Of special interest for theologians and ministers ofchurches in New England was Comenius' description ofthe rules and discipline of the Unity. A prominent Con-gregational minister, Increase Mather, who was activesuccessively as pastor in Boston and as president of Har-vard College, was responsible for its introduction intoNew England as well for its popularity. In 1661 he sentfrom Europe a copy of Comenius' Ratio ordinis et dis-ciplinae to his father, Richard. The latter corroborated inhis Defense of the Answer (1664) his views by referencesto Comenius' work and gave him publicity in learnedcircles in New England.

In the Mather family, which had given New Englandprominent ministers and prolific writers, Comenius'Ratio was held in high esteem. Several of the Mathers

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quoted from it in their treatises and kept the memory ofthe Unity alive on this side of the Atlantic just as someEnglish clergymen did in their own country. IncreaseMather enthusiastically mentioned, in 1700, the order ofthe Unity in his Order of the Gospel Professed and Prac-ticed by the Churches of Christ in New England andreferred to Comenius' Ratio in the text. Increase's eldestson, Cotton Mather, in his Faithful Account of the Dis-cipline Professed and Practiced in the Churches of NeivEngland (1726) "imitated a little what was done in theRatio Disciplinae Fratrum Bohemorum, written by thatincomparable Comenius." Similarly, Samuel Mather, inhis Apology for the Liberties of the Churches in NeivEngland (1738) supported his argument by quotationsfrom a large number of books dealing with the historyand the government of Protestant churches in Europe —it goes without saying that Comenius' Ratio supplied himwith examples and was mentioned several times. Morethan a century after the publication of Cotton Mather'sFaithful Account, in 1829, an interesting book appearedin Portland (Me.). Under the title of Ratio Disciplinae:or the Constitution of the Congregational Churches, T. C.Upham reprinted extracts with alterations from theRatio Disciplinae Fratrum Bohemorum by Comenius andfrom Cotton Mather's account.

In Congregational churches of New England, the mem-ory of the Unity and of the effort of the Bohemian Breth-ren to create an ideal Christian communion lived beforethe coming of the first group of the spiritual heirs of thatchurch, the Moravians. In their desire to preserve theheritage of John Hus and of his followers, the Moravianswere inspired by the example and ideas of Comenius andsaved his name from oblivion into which it had been fall-ing during the eighteenth century both in Europe andin America.

Early in the nineteenth century, the interest in Come-nius' Orbis Pictus revived. As the ties between the cen-ters of learning on the American side of the Ocean andEngland had been severed during the struggle for inde-pendence, it was considered necessary to arrange for anew edition of the book to satisfy the demand. It wasprinted in New York by T. & J. Swords, No. 160 PearlStreet, in 1810. On the title page it has been expresslystated that this was the first American edition. It is

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very likely that the book of which Harvard College Li-brary has a copy, was not only the first American editionof the Orbis Pictus, but the first book by Comenius thatcame from an American printing press. Prior to that,copies of his works had been imported from Europe.

The American editor of the Orbis Pictus, W. Jones,wrote in the preface that after a careful examination ofthe Orbis he had found it "by far the best book extantfor the purpose of introducing boys to the knowledge ofthings as well as of Latin terms." The knowledge ofLatin and its use were, however, steadily declining.Therefore, the first American edition of the Orbis wasnot for a long time followed by another printing. Onlyin 1887 a new edition of the Orbis was prepared and pub-lished by C. W. Bardeen in Syracuse, N. Y. It followedthe same English edition (1727) on which the firstAmerican edition had been modeled, without mentioningthe pioneer work of W. Jones.

C. W. Bardeen's edition was an evidence of a renewedinterest of American educators in Comenius' ideas andmethod. Efforts to establish his place in the history ofeducation went along with scientific study of Comenius'books. A mention of Comenius became an integral partof American histories of education. H. J. Smith, of theTheological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., set an examplefor all subsequent writers by including an account ofComenius' life and activities in his Education, publishedin New York, in 1842.

The interest of American educators in Comenius wasstimulated by the development of studies of his work inEurope, especially in Bohemia, Germany, and England.In his native land, Comenius was unknown almost forone hundred and fifty years. He was symbol of thatchapter in Bohemian history which the Habsburgs andtheir henchmen tried to depict not as a period of glorybut as of aberration and of decline. Only small groupsof Protestants, hiding in mountainous districts of Bohe-mia and Moravia, preserved copies of his books in Czech,partly in original editions, partly in eighteenth centuryreprints which had been published in various Germancities or in Slovakia, and had found their way across thefrontier. From those sources, the leading Czech historian,Frantisek Palacky, received information upon which hebased his biographical sketch of Comenius (1829), which

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appeared as a harbinger of a new era. During the Met-ternich period, various restrictions hampered free courseof research. The era of Comenius, coinciding with therebellion of the Czechs against the Habsburgs, was con-sidered a dangerous subject of study for a loyal citizenof the Habsburg monarchy. Important discoveries ofComenius' manuscripts were made at the end of theabsolutist era by the scientist, J. E. Purkyne. They gavea fillip to new research, which had been freely developingsince the fall of Metternich. Only then did Comenius comeback to his own country from which he had been bannedin 1627 by the conqueror and tyrant.

Studies of Comenius in Germany and in Great Britainwere better known to American educators of the nine-teenth century than the writings and the editions ofComenius' books by Czech scholars. The exchange ofideas between Germany and Great Britain was regular,whereas there was but little contact with the Czech lands,incorporated in the Habsburg monarchy and attractingonly few visitors from beyond the seas. It is significantthat the first article on Comenius in a modern Americanperiodical was an adaptation of K. G. von Raumer's bio-graphical sketch for American readers. It appeared inthe fifth volume of Barnard's American Journal of Edu-cation in 1858 which was also the year of the publicationof the English version of Comenius' School of Infancy inLondon by Daniel Benham.

Step by step, American educators built up their ownliterature on Comenius, adding in short intervals valuablearticles and books to the writings of European scholars.If we also take into consideration the American editionsof some English works, we get quite a respectable list ofcontributions to the knowledge of Comenius. They forma modern parallel to the writings of the seventeenth andthe eighteenth centuries and to references to Comeniusin books published in those two centuries on both sidesof the Atlantic. As Nicholas Murray Butler has said inhis lecture, "The Place of Comenius in the History ofEducation," American educators "found in Comenius thesource and the forecasting of much that inspires anddirects the new education."

The three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Come-nius did not pass unnoticed in America. The March num-ber of the Educational Review, edited by Nicholas Murray

Butler, was devoted to Comenius. An editorial was fol-lowed by three papers: "The Place of Comenius in theHistory of Education," by S. S. Laurie; "The Text-booksof Comenius," by C. W. Bardeen; "The Permanent In-fluence of Comenius," by P. H. Hanus. At the meeting ofDepartment of Superintendence of the National Educa-tion in Brooklyn in February, 1892, a special session washeld in commemoration of Comenius, with J. M. Hark ofLancaster, Pa., W. H. Maxwell, and N. M. Butler, asspeakers. At the end of the year, the monthly Educationbrought an article on "Comenius, the Evangelist of Mod-ern Education," by W. S. Monroe. This was a specimenof the author's studies of Comenius. It was followed, in1896, by the first American edition of The School ofInfancy, and matured in 1900 in a biography, Comeniusand the Beginnings of the Educational Reform, whichNicholas Murray Butler, the chief promoter of Comeniusstudies in the United States, included in the series, TheGreat Educators.

In the commemoration of Comenius in 1892, bothAmerican educators and Czech colonies in various partsof the country, participated. Meetings were held in Chi-cago, in Racine, Wis., in Omaha, Neb., in St. Paul, Minn.and elsewhere. The Czech dailies published in Americacarried in March 1892, articles on the great son of Mora-via and on his place in the history of the Czech people.They manifested the desire of the Czech-speaking citizensof the United States to preserve in their new homes theideas of Comenius and to bring his humanitarian prin-ciples into harmony with the American traditions.

Celebrations of Comenius in 1892 were followed byoccasional publications during the following years, espe-cially during the War period of 1914-18. In recent time,the interest culminated in a comprehensive biography,Jean Amos Comenius, published in French in 1928 by Dr.Anna Heyberger of Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.Another evidence of permanent interest in the work ofComenius among the Americans of Czechoslovak descentwere articles by Dr. Matthew Spinka, supplemented in1940 by a masterly translation of the Bequest of theUnity of Brethren.

Thanks to Dr. Spinka, the memorable message of Co-menius to the exiled Czechs, from which Masaryk haddrawn inspiration during his struggle for the liberation

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of his people, appeared for the first time in English toannounce to the world the everlasting longing of theCzechoslovak people for independence. Like a clarioncall, summoning faithful patriots to action, sounds theprophecy of Comenius: "I trust God that after the pass-ing of the storm of wrath which our sins brought downupon our heads, the rule of thine affairs shall again berestored to thee, 0 Czech people."

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IV.

The Noble Priest of Humanity.It is the salvation of the whole world that we seek . . ,

Comenius, Via Lucis (The Way of Light).

In the last decade of his life, Comenius was absorbedby polemics with opponents from the ranks of the Dutchclergy. The invectives of Samuel Desmarets (Maresius)surpassed in incisiveness and bias anything that had beenpublished during the previous years or struggles. Thelife of Comenius was really "going down in sorrows andhis years in lamentations." But bitter controversies werenot the only source of his unhappiness and anxiety. Thepacification of Europe was slowed up by new conflicts.The war between England and Holland shattered theexile's hope in an effective collaboration of Protestantnations which might have brought a readjustment ofthe harsh terms of the Peace of Westphalia concerningtheir correligionists in the Habsburg lands. From hisstudy in Amsterdam, Comenius sent a message to the rep-resentatives of the belligerent countries, assembled inBreda. The book was entitled Angelus Pads (The Angelof Peace), and urged the delegates to terminate hostilitiesand to restore peaceful relations. New problems wereappearing on the horizon in the last phase of Comenius'life. The venerable educator was overshadowed by hisyounger contemporaries who were rising to prominencewith the decline of his prestige and influence.

From an outstanding member of the young generationof thinkers, G. W. Leibniz, a prophecy came which hasbeen fulfilled in modern times. After a temporary eclipseof the fame of Comenius, interest in his work was rapidlyincreasing during the nineteenth century. A large num-ber of people of good will from all parts of the worldreally united in the praise of the deeds, hopes, as wellas aspirations of the exiled bishop of the Unity. His bookswere studied and his ideas influenced modern educators.We may say with Nicholas Murray Butler that the great

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educational revival of the nineteenth century shed thelight of scholarly investigation upon all the dark placesso that Comenius is being honored "wherever teachersgather together and wherever education is the theme."Summarizing the indebtedness of modern education toComenius, the author has written as follows: "The infantschool of kindergarten, female education, the incorpora-tion of history and geography in the curriculum, the valueof drawing and manual training, the fundamental im-portance of selftraining, the physical and the ethicalelements in education, and finally that education is forall, and not for a favored few only, were all articlesin the creed of Comenius."

The crisis through which the world has been passingsince the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 had opened oureyes to those other aspects of Comenius' life and workwhich were corollary to his educational theory. We real-ize that he really sought not only a partial reform butthe salvation of the whole world. Accounts of his lifewhich do not pay sufficient attention to his desire toimprove the lot of mankind and to heal the scars of thelong war, overlook the most important and dynamic fac-tor in his life. During his forty years in exile, he analyzedthe causes of unrest in the world and in several writingsdrew up a program for a renaissance of human society.He linked up the Czech cause with the broad scheme ofa general pacification of Europe.

There are parallels in Czech history to the desire ofComenius to lead mankind from calamities to the greenpastures of peace and prosperity. Three centuries beforethe publication of the Angelus Pads, a thorough reformof the medieval Church had been vehemently advocatedby Comenius' countryman, Jan Milic of Kromefiz, as theonly way to save European peoples from disaster. Alarmedby the growth of anarchy in the world as well as by thedecline of both political and ecclesiastical authorities, Mi-lic urged, in 1368, Pope Urban V to convoke a generalcouncil. In the assembly of delegates from all parts ofEurope, the causes of unrest were to be investigated anda remedy sought for the existing decline of morals.Though primarily concerned with conditions in Bohemiaand Moravia, Milic soon widened the sphere of his inter-est and formulated his proposals in general terms so that

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they might have been applied to the whole of Christen-dom, had they fallen on fertile ground.

A century later, George of Podebrady, the HussiteKing of Bohemia, promulgated the idea of a league ofChristian princes. He was well aware that the stabilityof Europe and peace among its inhabitants were jeopar-dized by disturbing forces. The southeastern part of theContinent had fallen under Turkish rule before George'saccession to the Bohemian throne. During one century,the enemy of Christendom had consolidated his positionin the Balkans as well as on the shores of the easternMediterranean and was steadily advancing. No singlecountry was strong enough to defeat the Turkish armiesinspired, as they were, by the teaching of the Prophetand elated by their victories over the disunited opponents.

Though the lands of the Bohemian Crown were notdirectly menaced by the Turks, George realized the grav-ity of the situation. He saw that no compromise waspossible between the Christian peoples and the Infidelsaiming at the subjugation of Europe. Neither the Em-peror nor the Pope had sufficient authority to build upa united front against the invaders, since they were ineclipse. Taking fully into account both the decline ofthe medieval institutions and the growth of nationalstates, George urged the rulers of leading European coun-tries to form a league, so as to make an end to localconflicts and to concentrate all efforts on the defeat ofthe common foe. The native land of the Hussite Kingwould have profited from the establishment and workingof the league, as it had always been strengthened by thesuppression of hostilities on the Continent. Its positionat the crossroads of Europe has made it extremely sus-ceptible to any swing in international relations.

George's lofty vision of a brotherhood of Christiannations welded in the face of the formidable enemy, anddefending resolutely the common heritage against hisassaults, had not captured the minds of the contemporaryrulers and statesmen. There was less understanding ofthe need of subordination of particular interests to thecommon cause in George's time than in the years follow-ing the first World War. The League of Nations pro-posed by President Woodrow Wilson corresponded to theeternal longing of human heart for justice and peace

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just as accurately as George's scheme. The failure ofGeorge's endeavor to achieve a union of European coun-tries cannot be taken as evidence of his lack of politicalwisdom. The responsibility fell on his contemporarieswho were unable to conceive of a radical change in inter-national relations and turned a deaf ear to George'spleading.

Comenius' desire to suppress the disturbing forces andto restore harmonious collaboration of the peoples ofEurope emanated from the depths of the Czech souldeeply concerned not only with the fate of his own coun-try but also with the lamentable decline of morals anddecency. Lack of foresight and selfishness made possiblethe victory of the Habsburgs who in the seventeenth cen-tury threatened the existence of small and freedom-loving peoples in the same manner as the dictators doin our time. From his early years Comenius opposed theidea of universal monarchy. On various occasions hecalled to arms people of good will against the tyrannicaldesigns of the Caesar of that time.

Thus he set an example for his spiritual heir, T. G.Masaryk, who considered The Bequest of Comenius hisdaily memento. Masaryk's work for the liberation of theCzechs and Slovaks from the Habsburg rule cannot bedissociated from the noble efforts of many of his con-temporaries to build new Europe on the basis of auto-cratic monarchies. With Comenius he believed that notCaesar's, but Jesus', example should inspire peoples anddirect their mutual relations. The present struggle ofthe Czechs and Slovaks against the conqueror and tem-porary master of their own countries, have likewise beeninspired by the work of Comenius.

Comenius was not a statesman. Nor was diplomacy orstrategy his concern or occupation. He was depressed bythe current political ideas and their application. He wrotein the Via lucis that "the main political theories on whichthe present rulers of the world support themselves aretreacherous quagmires and the real causes of the gen-erally tottering and indeed collapsing condition of theworld." His proposals differed from the rigid clausesof the peacemakers. They were not dictated by reasonbut emanated from the heart of a leader of homelessexiles. Toward the end of his life, his thought was de-

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fleeted from normal channels by prophecies and beliefin miracles.

The lofty vision of the golden age comforted him inthe years of depression and gloom. He had not given uphope that one day he might be able to announce how inhis judgment "learning, religion and government maybe brought to certain immutable principles or bases, totheir best foundation, so that ignorance, uncertainty, dis-cussions, the noise and tumult of disputes, quarrels andwars shall cease throughout the world, and light, peace,health return, and the golden age which has ever beenlonged for, the age of light and peace and religion maybe brought to sight."

In various ways and on various occasions Comeniusproclaimed his belief that peoples of Europe would findthe way out of the labyrinth of passions and of conflict-ing interests and that they would join hands in the recon-struction of the Continent. He did not expect salvationfrom mere successes of the armies or from diplomaticnegotiations on the current pattern. The real causes oftrouble were to be discovered and eliminated by combinedefforts of statesmen and scholars as a preliminary to thepeace conference. Once he quoted a saying that a con-tentious philosophy was the parent of a contentious the-ology and consequently of the series of conflicts anddevastating wars. His desire for the restoration of orderand of normal relations between European countries wasgenuine and deeply rooted in his heart. He worked forpeace among free peoples, knowing well that harmonycannot be restored by force or compulsion. His programwas a just and durable peace based on Christian principlesand supported wholeheartedly by all members of thefamily of nations.

He did not labor in vain. His writings and ideas havebeen a permanent source of inspiration not only for hi?countrymen but for the whole civilized world. As a truepatriot he worked for the liberation of his people and hasgrown amidst war and high-running passions into anoble priest of humanity.

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