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.