CHAPTER IV

CAREER AS AN EDUCATIONAL REFORMER: 1628–1656

Flight to Poland—Appointed director of the gymnasium at Lissa—Reforms introduced—Literary projects—Need of a patron—Call to England—Friendship with Hartlib—Interest of the English Parliament—Discontent with existing educational institutions—Lewis de Geer, his Dutch patron—Call to Sweden—Interview with Oxenstiern—Located at Elbing—Reform of the Swedish schools—Return to Poland—Consecration as senior bishop—Consequences of the treaty of Westphalia—Ecclesiastical ministrations—Call to Hungary—Reform of the schools at Saros-Patak—Plan of a pansophic school—Return to Lissa—The city burned—Flight of Comenius from Poland.

After the flight from Bohemia, Comenius and his compatriots found a refuge at Lissa, Poland, with Count Raphael, a powerful prince of the faith of the Moravian Brethren, to whose estate hundreds of persecuted Bohemians had already fled. Twelve years were passed in Lissa, during which time Comenius was actively engaged in educational reform. Besides the composition of three of his most important books—the _Janua_, in 1631, the _Great didactic_, probably in 1632, and the _School of infancy_, in 1633—he engaged actively in the work of teaching. A secondary school of acknowledged repute had been maintained in Lissa by the Moravian Brethren since 1555, and here Comenius found the opportunity of putting into practice some of his educational theories. It is apparent, however, from his writings, that he read widely before undertaking the reorganization of the gymnasium at Lissa, and that he sought aid from all the writers on education, both ancient and modern. His correspondents at this period included such distinguished names as Lubin, Andreæ, Ritter, Vogel, Ratke, Frey, Mencel, Hartlib, Evenius, Johnstone, and Mochinger. To these distinguished contemporaries he expresses his dissatisfaction with current educational practices, and seeks guidance in the reform movement he has instituted in Poland.

“When our people attend school for the sake of the learned languages, what do they bring with them on returning home?” he asks. “What beyond that which they obtain there—the tinkling of human eloquence, the love of disputation, and the knowledge that puffeth up instead of the charity that buildeth up. Moreover, some acquire corrupt morals; some, a desire to make themselves agreeable by a show of external civility; some, habits of intemperance and a distaste or hatred of firm discipline. And yet these very men were trained for the lights of the Church and the pillars of the State. O that, instead of such an education, we had retained the simplicity of childhood. O that we might bring back the ancient custom of the Spartans, who, more than all the other Greeks, were intent upon the rational education of their youth.”

A noteworthy feature of his work as a reformer at Lissa consisted in a careful grading of the schools, and the formulation of a course of study for the successive grades. The guiding principle in this schematization of school work was that each grade should pave the way for the one next higher,—the elements of all subjects of study being comparatively simple, these elements should be gradually introduced and elaborated from grade to grade. These reforms were not only far-reaching, they were revolutionary; and they made possible the modern graded school.

Civilized Europe did not long remain in ignorance of these reforms. They were discussed with approval in England, Germany, France, and Sweden; and several foreign governments sought his services in the work of educational reform. Sweden, in 1638, tendered him a remunerative position and unlimited opportunities of reforming the schools of the kingdom along the lines laid down in his writings. He replied that he was willing to recommend a competent person to undertake the work, but that he was not in position to sever his relations with the Moravian Church in Poland and to leave unfinished some important educational writings.

His own poverty, as well as that of his brethren, made him realize keenly the need of a wealthy patron to aid him in the realization of his educational ideals. “The vastness of the labors I contemplate,” he wrote, “demands that I should have a wealthy patron, whether we look at their extent, or at the necessity of securing assistants, or at the expense generally. I propose to render the study of science, philosophy, and theology more accessible to all parties, and of greater usefulness in the regulation of human affairs than has hitherto been the case. In order to do this, two kinds of books are necessary—(1) for philosophical research and (2) for elementary training.

“Books of the first class would primarily have reference to the Latin language, and of this class I would adopt eight:—

“1. The _Vestibulum_, or introduction to the Latin tongue.

“2. The _Janua_, or gate of the Latin tongue.

“3. The _Palace_, or essentials of the Latin language.

“4. A dictionary giving the meaning of the Latin words in the mother-tongue.

“5. A dictionary giving all the words of the native language in Latin, and more especially supplying phrases of the former language with corresponding phrases in the latter.

“6. A Latin dictionary explaining all the peculiar idioms of the language.

“7. An elementary grammar containing all the declensions and conjugations, and to be used in connection with the _Vestibulum_.

“8. A more comprehensive grammar, to be used in connection with the _Janua_.

“The books to be used in connection with elementary training are three:—

“1. _Pansophia_, or universal wisdom. This book should comprise the sum total of human wisdom, and be so expressed as to meet the requirements of both the present and future ages. The method to be followed in such a book would be to reduce it to certain fundamental principles, beyond the compass of which no part of human knowledge can reach. Such first principles are God, the world, and common sense.

“2. _Panhistoria_, or universal history. This work must comprehend the most vital facts of all ages. Universal history is a most excellent handmaid of the understanding, searching into the causes of all things, and inquiring into the laws of cause and effect. Instruction in history must be graded. It might be arranged in six classes—Bible history, natural history, history of inventions, history of morals, history of the various religious rites, and general history.

“3. General dogmatics. These have to treat of the different theories taken by human ingenuity, the false as well as the true, thereby preventing a relapse into vain speculations and dangerous errors.

“One man is not able to accomplish an undertaking of such magnitude. There ought to be some clever linguists, perhaps three well versed in philosophy, an able historian, and a man thoroughly acquainted with Biblical literature. As regards the philological labors, I have already met with an excellent assistant in Mr. Wechner. Nor are clever coadjutors wanting for the _Pansophia_, who have not only offered the treasures of their libraries, but who have offered themselves in their coöperation in this work. Among these my friend Hartlib far excels. I do not know his equal in the extent of his knowledge, his acuteness of reasoning, his zeal to become useful to the welfare of mankind, his fervent love for a philosophy unmixed with errors and fanciful speculations, and his self-denial in order to further the objects in view.”

Such a patron, however, was not at once forthcoming, although it would appear from his letters that Count Bohulslaw of Lissa, whom he styles “the chief in the kingdom of Poland,” was of some pecuniary assistance to him at this time in the development of his theories.

The wide publication of his writings aroused a keen interest in his reforms, and especially in England. Samuel Hartlib, who corresponded extensively with the learned men of Europe, had already translated into English several of the educational writings of Comenius, and in various other ways had interested the English public in the work of the Moravian reformer.

The keen personal interest of Hartlib in the work of Comenius had important temporary consequences on the direction of the reformer’s activities during the next few years. Hartlib at this time was the most interesting figure in English educational history. “Everybody knew him,” says Professor Masson.[16] “He was a foreigner by birth, being the son of a Polish merchant who had left Poland when the country fell under Jesuit rule, and had settled in Elbing in Prussia, in very good circumstances. Twice married before to Polish ladies, this merchant had married in Prussia for his third wife the daughter of a wealthy English merchant at Dantzig; and thus our Hartlib, their son, though Prussian born and with Polish connections, could reckon himself half English. The date of his birth was probably about the beginning of the century. He appears to have first visited England in or about 1628, and from that time, though he made frequent journeys to the continent, London had been his headquarters. Here, with a residence in the city, he carried on business as a merchant, with extensive foreign correspondence, and very respectable family connections. But it did not require such family connections to make Hartlib at home in English society. The character of the man would have made him at home anywhere. He was one of those persons now styled philanthropists, or friends of progress, who take an interest in every question or project of their time promising social improvement, have always some irons in the fire, are constantly forming committees, or writing letters to persons of influence, and live altogether for the public. By the common consent of all who have explored the intellectual and social history of England in the seventeenth century, he is one of the most interesting and memorable figures of that whole period. He is interesting both for what he did himself and on account of the number and intimacy of his contacts with other interesting people.”

Through Hartlib’s influence the English Parliament invited Comenius to England. This was in the summer of 1641. Comenius himself may be permitted to tell how all this came about: “After my _Pansophia_ had been published and dispersed through the various countries of Europe, many learned men approved of the object and plan of the work, but despaired of its ever being accomplished by one man alone, and therefore advised that a college of learned men should be instituted to carry it into effect. Mr. Samuel Hartlib, who had forwarded its publication in England, labored earnestly in this matter, and endeavored by every possible means to bring together for this purpose a number of intellectual men. And at length, having found one or two, he invited me with many strong entreaties. As my friends consented to my departure, I proceeded to London, and arrived there on the autumnal equinox (September the 22d) in the year 1641, and then learned that I had been called thither by an order of the Parliament. But, in consequence of the king having gone to Scotland, the Parliament had been dismissed for three months, and, consequently, I had to winter in London.”

His friends meanwhile examined with more detail his educational views and encouraged him to elaborate his views in a tract, which he named _Via lucis_, or the way of light. This, as he himself says, was “a national disquisition as to the manner in which wisdom—the intellectual law of minds—may at length toward the evening of the world be felicitously diffused through all minds in all nations.”

Around Comenius Hartlib soon collected a group of thoughtful men interested in the Moravian reformer’s views; and together we may suppose they discussed at length the larger educational problems already formulated by Comenius in his published writings. The group included, besides Hartlib, Mr. John Pell, a mathematician of acknowledged repute; John Milton, the poet and educational writer; Theodor Haak, the expositor of philosophic systems; John Wilkins, the agricultural enthusiast; John Durie, the advocate of evangelical unity; Thomas Farnaby, the schoolmaster at Sevenoaks and one of the English editors of Comenius’ _Janua_; and probably the American Winthrop, later governor of Connecticut, who was wintering in London. He was delighted with London and the people he met. Writing to friends in Lissa, he says: “I live as a friend among friends; though not so many visit me as would if they knew that I could speak English, or if they had more confidence in their own Latin.”

When Parliament finally convened “and my presence being known,” writes Comenius, “I was commanded to wait until after some important business having been transacted, a commission should be issued to certain wise and learned Englishmen to hear me and be informed of my plan. As an earnest, moreover, of their intentions, they communicated to me their purpose to assign to us a college with revenues, whence some men of learning and industry selected from any nation might be honorably sustained either for a certain number of years or in perpetuity. The Savoy in London, and beyond London, Winchester, and again near the city, Chelsea, were severally mentioned, and inventories of the latter and its revenues were communicated to me; so that nothing seemed more certain than that the designs of Lord Bacon to open a universal college of all nations, devoted solely to the advancement of the sciences, were now in way of being carried into effect.”

Comenius had assumed that when the call to England came to him at Lissa, it simply represented a private movement backed by Hartlib and other influential Englishmen; and he expresses himself in terms of delighted surprise upon arriving in London to find that he had been summoned thither by the Parliament of the realm. The parliamentary sanction of this summons has never been corroborated. Professor Masson made the attempt, but was unable to find in the Lords’ or Commons’ _Journal_ for the years 1641 and 1642 any traces of communication between Comenius and the Parliament of which he speaks. He admits that there may be such corroborative evidence, since the indexes for these years are incomplete. There are, however, no good and sufficient reasons for doubting the word of Comenius in this matter.

There are traces at this period of parliamentary dissatisfaction with current English education, and more particularly with university education in England. Professor Masson thus states the matter: “There had for some time been a tradition of dissatisfaction with the existing state of the universities and the great public schools. In especial, Bacon’s complaints and suggestions in the second book of his _De Augmentis_ had sunk into thoughtful minds. That the universities, by persistence in old and outworn methods, were not in full accord with the demands and needs of the age; that their aims were too professional and particular, and not sufficiently scientific and general; that the order of studies in them was bad, and some of the studies barren; that there ought to be a bold direction of their endowments and apparatus in the line of experimental knowledge, so as to extract from nature new secrets and sciences for which humanity was panting; that, moreover, there ought to be more fraternity and correspondence among the universities of Europe and some organization of their labors, with a view to mutual illumination and collective advancement:—all these Verulamian speculations, first submitted to King James, were lying here and there in English intellects in watch for an opportunity.”

But the time was not yet come for the reform movement in English education. Ireland was in a state of commotion; two hundred thousand Englishmen had been massacred;[17] the sudden departure of the king from London on the 10th of January, 1642, and the prospect of a prolonged civil war convinced Comenius that it would be useless to tarry longer in England. He informed his friends of his disappointment of his plans. Hartlib was hopeful and urged delay, but a call to Sweden, made four years previous, was renewed at this time, and he left London on the 10th of June, in the year 1642.

Lewis de Geer, a rich Dutch merchant and philanthropist, residing at Nordköping, Sweden, had offered to render him financial aid in working out his educational reforms in Sweden. But de Geer’s notions of reform differed widely from those of the English friends. He was less interested in universal research, the founding of pansophic colleges, and the results of original investigation than Hartlib and the Englishmen. What he wanted was better school-books for the children, rational methods of teaching for the teachers, and some intelligent grading of the schools. The English friends were satisfied with the broad generalities of pansophic learning, the unrealized dreams that were so very near the reformer’s heart; the Dutch merchant would be satisfied with nothing less than concrete applications of theories. There is no doubt that Comenius would have preferred lingering in England or going to some place where his cherished pansophic schemes might be given a hearing. But he was human and had organic needs, and he knew that the liberal remuneration offered him by de Geer would avert poverty even though the realization of his pure and exalted pansophic dream was deferred.

“In the history of great renunciations,” says Mr. Keatinge,[18] “surely none is stranger than this. We have a man little past the prime of life, his brain teeming with magnificent, if somewhat visionary, plans for social reform, a mighty power in the community that shaved his religious ideas, and an object of interest even to those who may have shrugged their shoulders at his occasional want of balance. Suddenly he flings his projects to the winds, consigns his darling plans to the dustheap of unrealizable ideas, and retires to a small seaside town—not to meditate, not to give definite form to latent conceptions or to evolve new ones, not to make preparation for the dazzling of intellectual Europe with an octavo of fantastic philanthropy or of philosophic mysticism, but—to write school-books for the little boys in Swedish schools.”

Comenius went from London to Nordköping, where he spent some days in conference with his new patron, Lewis de Geer. He was not to receive a stipulated salary, but to be paid certain sums upon the completion of definite texts, the number and character of the same to be determined by the educational authorities at Stockholm, whither de Geer directed Comenius to go for further orders. In Stockholm he met with Lord Axel Oxenstiern, grand chancellor of the kingdom of Sweden, and Dr. John Skyte, professor of canon and civil law (as well as chancellor) in the University of Upsala. Of this conference Comenius says: “These two exercised me in debate for four days, and chiefly Oxenstiern, that eagle of the north. He inquired into the foundations of both my schemes, the didactic and the pansophic, so searchingly that it was unlike anything that had been done before by any of my learned critics. In the first two days he examined the didactics, with, at length, this conclusion: ‘From an early age,’ said he, ‘I perceived that our method of studies generally in use is a harsh and crude one, but where the root of the trouble was I couldn’t find out. At length having been sent by my king [Gustavus Adolphus], of glorious memory, as ambassador into Germany, I conversed on the subject with various learned men. And when I heard that Wolfgang Ratke was toiling at a reformed method, I had no rest of mind until I had got that gentleman into my presence; but, instead of a talk on the subject, he offered me a big volume in quarto to read. I swallowed that trouble; and, having gone through the book, I noted that he detected not badly the maladies of the schools; but the remedies he proposed did not seem to me sufficient. Yours, Mr. Comenius, rest on firmer foundations.’”[19]

The consultation with Oxenstiern and Skyte continued four days, at the conclusion of which they rendered their decision on his various theories. With reference to his pansophic notions, they saw little of immediate utility to the welfare of mankind. But his didactics they regarded with favor. They urged him to give his attention to the reformation of teaching and the preparation of suitable text-books. While somewhat chagrined at this unsympathetic attitude toward his pansophic theories, and a little surprised to learn that de Geer should be of the same mind, he was forced to acquiesce, not, however, without the earnest solicitations of Hartlib and his English friends not to forsake the cherished pansophic principles.[20]

The town of Elbing, on the Baltic Sea, in West Prussia, was designated by de Geer as a suitable residence for Comenius during the time that he should be in the service of the Swedish educational department. Here he settled, with his family and the assistants de Geer had permitted him to employ at the patron’s expense, in October, 1642. The chief task imposed upon him was the compilation of a series of text-books for use in elementary and secondary schools. But progress was slow; the Swedes became impatient, and de Geer grew restive. In consequence, the relations with his patron soon became strained, and continued so during most of the Elbing period. In reply to a complaint from de Geer, Comenius wrote him in September, 1643: “I compose books and do not merely copy those of others. Our proposed work is not merely a book, but a real treasure for the aiding of whose production my patron will assuredly have no cause for regret.” He admits that he has been diverted from the completion of a work on language teaching by a philosophic treatise which he considers of far greater importance than the details of methodology.

In addition to the philosophic studies, in which de Geer and the Swedes had little or no interest, Comenius dissipated his energies in other ways. When it became generally known that he had located in Elbing, the wealthy patrons of the local high school petitioned the town council to secure him to give weekly lectures to the pupils. In other ways he identified himself with local interests, which diverted his time from his assigned tasks. Moreover, his connection with the Moravian Brethren compelled him to make frequent trips to Poland to attend ecclesiastical conventions and minister to the needs of the scattered brethren. De Geer’s patience must have been sorely tried, for he sent to Elbing, with annoying frequency, to inquire concerning the progress of the work. In reply, Comenius begged his patron have patience; he explained the difficult nature of his labors, and assured him that he was making as much progress as was consistent with the nature of his undertaking.

Toward the close of 1646 he went to Sweden and made a personal report to his patron, covering the four years of his employment. A government committee was appointed to review his work; its report was most favorable to Comenius; and he was urged to get the work in shape for immediate publication. He had prepared during this time, in spite of distractions, a work on language teaching, which treated of its nature, function, and the laws to be observed in language teaching; a lexicon based on these laws; and a series of graded reading books.

At the death of Justinus, the senior bishop of the Moravian Brethren in 1648, Comenius was elected his successor. His new duties made his removal to Lissa necessary, and he took with him the unfinished treatises for the Swedes, and sent them to de Geer as rapidly as he was able to complete them. It caused him no pang of sorrow to sever his connection with the Dutch merchant and the Swedes. For he was isolated at Elbing; his labors were uncongenial, and the remuneration which he received was small. It is apparent from his letters, subsequently written, that it was not merely the Dutchman’s gold that held him to tasks so arduous and uncongenial. He hoped by this connection to secure the moral support of the Swedes in removing from the Moravian Brethren the ban which exiled them from their beloved fatherland.

The treaty of Westphalia, however, shattered this hope. There was not a single stipulation in favor of the exiled brethren. The promises Sweden had made to Comenius in this matter were disregarded. In vain he implored Oxenstiern not to forsake his people. “My people have aided your arms with their weapons, the unceasing offerings of their tears and supplications to God; and now, when they see your success and may rejoice in the hope for a more favorable issue of affairs, they are troubled with dread apprehension lest they should be forsaken.” Later he wrote him: “Of what use is it to us, who are now deprived of every hope of peace, to have assisted you with our tears in obtaining victory; when, although it lay within your power to release us from our prison-house, you surrender us anew into the hands of our oppressors? Of what avail now all those holy evangelical alliances formed by our ancestors, and consecrated with their sacred martyr-blood?”[21] But these importunities were of no avail; for, while equal privileges were granted to the Reformed, Lutheran, and Catholic churches in Germany, in Bohemia, and Moravia, the ritual of the latter alone was established. It was a severe blow to Comenius, as well as to the whole brotherhood of the Moravian Church.

The years 1648 to 1650 were passed in ministrations to the dispersed brethren;[22] he was especially conscientious in the discharge of the duties of his episcopal office; he established more intimate relations between the Polish and Hungarian branches of the Moravian churches; he sought and secured important financial aid for the brotherhood in England, Holland, and Sweden; he secured positions as teachers for many of his exiled countrymen; and induced the University of Oxford to create stipends for Bohemian students. Gindely remarks that at this period there were few European countries in which the protégés of Comenius could not be found in the capacity of private tutors, public school-teachers, artists, or clergymen.

The impoverished condition of the Moravian Church caused Comenius no little concern, and induced him to look with some favor on the numerous calls to important educational posts which came to him from foreign countries. That from the widow of Prince Rakoczy and her son Sigismund was especially tempting. They wanted him to come to Transylvania, Hungary, and reform the school system. A liberal salary was offered, together with complete facilities for the organization of a school system in accordance with his own views—including a printing establishment for the publication of required books. It was further stipulated that he might bring with him ten or a dozen Bohemian youths to be educated at the expense of the prince and his mother. The scattered members of the Moravian Church in Hungary, in the belief that the presence of the bishop in that country would unify the interests of the brotherhood, also urged him to accept the Transylvanian call, at the same time petitioning the general synod to relieve Comenius of his clerical functions at Lissa for a few years.

The Church granted the petition, and Comenius settled in Saros-Patak, in May, 1650. He at once drew up a sketch of a seven-grade school, which he published a year later under the title _Plan of a pansophic school_. “In scope and breadth of view,” remarks a modern historian, “the scheme was centuries in advance of its time, while many of the suggestions which it contained are but imperfectly carried into effect at the present day.”

The _Plan_ is a detailed course of study with specific directions for the application of the course for the use of teachers. In these directions he explains the great danger of overworking the children; and to avoid this, a rest-pause of a half-hour is provided after each hour’s instruction for free, spontaneous play. After each meal a full hour’s rest is granted. The pupils are to have eight hours of sleep; they are granted a half-holiday on Sundays and Wednesdays, with fortnight vacations at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and a month’s vacation in the summer. This gave a school year of forty-two weeks, with thirty hours for school work in each week. The forenoon instruction was as follows: From 6 to 7 o’clock, religious instruction, including hymns, prayers, and Bible readings. From 7.30 to 8.30, theoretical exposition of the new subject-matter of the day’s lesson; and from 9 to 10, a practical treatment and review of the same. There was music (and mathematics) in the afternoon from 1 to 2; history from 2.30 to 3.30; and composition, with exercises in style, from 4 to 5.

The _Plan_ requires that the seven grades of the school meet in separate rooms, and that a teacher be provided for each grade. In each class, the text-books must be adapted to the capacities of the children. The Vestibulum is the lowest class. Over the door of this room is the motto, “Let no one enter who cannot read.” The room is so decorated that the pictures illustrate the subjects taught in this grade; and, by means of these illustrations, the senses are trained. The pupils are taught short maxims containing the most important rules of conduct, a few common Latin words, the elements of arithmetic, the scales in music, and some short hymns and prayers. Writing and drawing are also taught, and special attention is given to the games of the children.

The Janual is the second class. The motto over the class-room door of this grade is, “Let no one enter who is ignorant of mathematics.” Provided the more common objects mentioned in the _Janua_ cannot be readily obtained, pictures of these objects are hung on the wall. The text-books used are, besides the _Janua_, the Latin vernacular dictionary and the Janual grammar. In composition, the pupils are exercised in the structure of phrases, sentences, and periods; in religion, they learn the catechism; in mathematics, addition and subtraction and plane figures in geometry. There are more advanced exercises in music; and, as in the preceding grade, the teachers are urged to encourage the plays and games of the children.

The Atrial is the third class. Its motto is, “Let no one enter who cannot speak.” Here Bible readings, in abridged form and suited to the intelligence of the children, are begun. The text-book is the _Atrium_, together with a grammar of eloquence and a Latin-Latin dictionary. In arithmetic, the pupils master multiplication and division, and in geometry, solid figures. The musical instruction includes harmony and the rudiments of Latin verse. Famous deeds in Biblical narrative furnish the basis of the historic instruction. In composition there are exercises in style, consisting of paraphrasing and the transposition of sentences. Before the pupils are permitted to pass from this grade they must be able to read the Latin authors readily and to converse in the Latin fluently.

The Philosophical is the fourth class, with the motto, “Let no one who is ignorant of history enter here.” The walls are decorated with pictures illustrative of arithmetic, geometry, and physics, and connected with this class-room are a chemical laboratory and a dissecting-room. The religious instruction includes hymns, Psalms, an epitome of the New Testament, and a life of Christ. The text-book is called the _Palace of wisdom_; in it the genesis of natural phenomena are described. In mathematics, the pupils learn the rules of proportion; they begin the study of trigonometry; also statics, and instruction on musical instruments. Greek is begun, and the pupils study natural history through Pliny and Ælian. Comenius mentions that he does not consider Greek a difficult study; and he thinks it need cause the pupils no alarm, since an exhaustive knowledge of Greek is not required, and the difficulties of the study will be largely overcome by the use of rational methods of teaching.

The fifth class is the Logical. Over the door is the inscription, “Let no one enter who is ignorant of natural philosophy,” and the walls are covered with the rules of logic. The pupils have a Bible manual and a class-book on problems in philosophy. The problems include a survey of things that have been and may be discovered by man; a formal logic explaining the processes of reasoning, and a repertory of such philosophical problems as present themselves to the human mind. In arithmetic, the rules of partnership and allegation are studied; in geometry, mensuration of heights and distances and plane surfaces; in geography, a description of the earth; in astronomy, an account of the heavens; in history, a survey of mechanical inventions. For the formation of a literary style, such historians as Curtius, Cæsar, and Justin are read. The study of Greek is continued, and Isocrates and Plutarch are recommended for reading. Dramatic performances are introduced in the fifth class. Grammar, logic, and metaphysics are represented in conflict, but a reconciliation is finally effected through study.

The sixth is the Political class. Its motto, “Let no one enter who cannot reason.” Sallust, Cicero, Virgil, and Horace are read for style; provision is made for verse writing; attention is given to geography and the parts of astronomy dealing with the planets and the laws of the eclipses; the Bible is read through; more advanced topics in arithmetic and geometry are taken up; the special class-book studied deals with human society and the laws of economics; in Greek the pupils read from Thucydides and Hesiod. Dramatic performances are continued, the degeneration and moral downfall of Solomon being rendered.

The seventh and last grade of the course is the Philosophic. Its motto is, “Let no one enter who is irreligious.” The instruction is of an essentially theological character. On the walls are inscribed numerous mystic symbols illustrative of the hidden wisdom of the Holy Scriptures. The most devotional Psalms and church hymns are used in the school exercises. There are readings from the Scriptures, the works of the most inspired theologians and martyrs, and a _résumé_ of Christian beliefs, duties, and aspirations, all written in the phraseology of the Bible. The text-book of the grade is ultra-religious in character. It includes (1) an account of the earthly and heavenly revelations of God; (2) a commentary for Scriptural reading; and (3) a detailed account of the mysteries of salvation. In arithmetic, the sacred and mystic numbers that occur in the Scriptures; in architecture, the sacred structures as exemplified by Noah’s ark, the tabernacle, and the Temple; in history, the general history of the Church; and in ancient language, Hebrew takes the place of Greek—this, that the students may be able to read and understand the Scriptures in the original text. Oratory is studied that those who become preachers may know how to address a congregation, and that those who engage in politics may know how to reason with their hearers.

Such is a condensed survey of the course of study which Comenius devised for the schools at Saros-Patak; and in no small degree his reputation as a reformer rests upon this piece of work. For the Saros-Patak _Plan_ became a model for educators in many lands, and the progenitor of a long line of graded schemes of instruction which constitute such an essential feature of the educational economy of to-day. Not only were subjects of study graded in accordance with the laws of the development of child-mind, but text-books were graded as well. Moreover, the scheme made necessary the employment of teachers who comprehended the character of the work, and, more particularly, those with some appreciation of the natural history of the child and the causes which condition its growth. Little as Comenius understood psychology, at least in the modern use of that term, he was alive to the fact that in childhood the senses are keenest, and that the line of least resistance in the acquisition of new impressions is through (1) objects, (2) pictures, and (3) interesting verbal descriptions in the mother-tongue.

His labors at Saros-Patak terminated at the close of the fourth year, during which time the first three grades of the _Plan_ were organized. All contemporary evidence confirms the success of the scheme. Although so marked a departure from traditional educational practices, it succeeded to a degree that must have been surprising even to Comenius himself. The fact that the teachers in the schools were trained under Comenius at Lissa did much, doubtless, to remove otherwise possible frictions.

But careful gradation was not the only marked reform carried out at Saros-Patak during this period. Pictures were introduced as aids in teaching, and the first child’s picture book, the first of a long line of books so popular in our own day, was written. This was the famous _Orbis pictus_, to be discussed in a subsequent chapter.

Comenius returned to Lissa in 1654, to resume his ecclesiastical labors. But his sojourn was brief; for, with the invasion of Poland by the Swedes, came the fall and conflagration of the city. Comenius escaped, “almost in a state of nudity,” to use his own words. He had not only lost his property and his library in the conflagration, but he had sustained a yet greater loss in the burning of his numerous manuscripts, and, more important (to him) than all the others, his entire pansophic work, on the composition of which he had labored so arduously for many years. Writing to Montanus, he says, “The loss of this work I shall cease to lament only when I cease to breathe.” He escaped from Lissa to Silesia, where he found refuge for a time in the home of a nobleman. He shortly afterward pushed on to Frankfort, but not feeling secure here he moved to Hamburg, where for two months he was prostrated by a severe illness.