In speaking of his own experience at school, he says, "I was continually full of thoughts for the finding out of some means whereby more might be inflamed with the love of learning, and whereby learning itself might be made more compendious, both in the matter of charge and cost, and of labor belonging thereto, that so the youth might be brought by a more easy method unto some notable proficiency in learning."[98]
The life of Comenius, which extended over nearly eighty years, was full of vicissitudes and trials. Briefly told, it is as follows: He was left an orphan at an early age, had poor educational advantages in childhood, began the study of Latin at sixteen, and completed his studies at Heidelberg at twenty-two, having previously studied at Herborn. After leaving the university, he was teacher of the Moravian School at Prerau for two years, and then having been ordained to the ministry, became pastor of Fulnek. Here he remained for a number of years, living a happy and useful life. In the meantime, the Thirty Years' War had broken out, the battle of Prague had been lost by the Protestants, and the town of Fulnek sacked. Comenius lost everything he possessed, and this misfortune was soon followed by the death of his wife and child. After hiding in the mountains for some time, he was banished from his native land, together with all the other Protestants. This took place in 1627, when Comenius was thirty-five years old. Though he often longed to return to his fatherland, he was never permitted to do so.
He settled in Poland, and began by the study of the works of Ratke, Bacon, and other writers to prepare himself for the great task of educational reform. Of this experience he writes, "After many workings and tossings of my thoughts, by reducing everything to the immovable laws of nature, I lighted upon my 'Didactica Magna,' which shows the art of readily and solidly teaching all men all things."
He visited England, Sweden, and Hungary in the interests of education, and was invited to France, but did not accept the invitation. While living at Leszno, Poland, for a second time his house was sacked and all his property destroyed. Among other things, his work on Pansophia, and his Latin-Bohemian dictionary, on which he had labored for forty years, were burned. He closed his days at Amsterdam, Holland. In addition to the great honors bestowed upon him by the various countries that sought his advice on educational matters, he was made the chief bishop and head of the Moravian Brethren. Raumer forcibly sums up the life of Comenius as follows: "Comenius is a grand and venerable figure of sorrow. Though wandering, persecuted, and homeless, during the terrible and desolating Thirty Years' War, yet he never despaired, but with enduring courage, and strong faith, labored unweariedly to prepare youth by a better education for a happier future. Suspended from the ministry, as he himself tells us, and an exile, he became an apostle to the Christian youth; and he labored for them with a zeal and love worthy of the chief of the apostles."[99]
Pedagogical Work.—The great educational works of Comenius are his "Gate of Tongues Unlocked," the "Great Didactic," and his "Orbis Pictus." Mr. Quick thinks that the "Great Didactic" contains, in the best form, the principles he afterward endeavored to work out"[100] in his other educational writings. "The services of Comenius to pedagogy," says Professor Williams, "were of a threefold character, in each of which his merit was very great. First, he was the true originator of the principles and methods of the Innovators. Second, he was a great educational systematist. Third, he was the author of improved text-books, which were long and widely famous."[101] This is a fair summing up of the remarkable activity of this man with the exception of the first point. Montaigne, Ratke, and Bacon had previously taught many of the fundamental truths which Comenius merely amplified and brought to practical fruition, and he himself acknowledged the influence of the last two men upon him. That the whole purpose of the life of Comenius was far nobler than that of Ratke or Bacon, there remains no room for doubt. Compayré says, "The character of Comenius equals his intelligence. Through a thousand obstacles he devoted his long life to the work of popular instruction. With a generous ardor he consecrated himself to infancy. He wrote twenty works and taught in twenty cities. Moreover, he was the first to form a definite conception of what the elementary studies should be."[102]
Bacon gave the inspiration and Comenius worked the truth into practical form; Bacon invented a new theory of scientific investigation, Comenius employed that theory in education; Bacon originated and Comenius applied. This does not detract from the merit of Comenius any more than his work detracts from the merit of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, or Horace Mann, all of whom gathered inspiration from him.
Summary of the Work of Comenius.—(1) He was the author of the first illustrated text-book, the "Orbis Pictus."[103] The cost of illustrations was for a long time a serious barrier to their general adoption in schoolbooks; but modern inventions and improvements have removed this obstacle, and many of the text-books of to-day are as valuable for their illustrations as for their text. The "Orbis Pictus" appeared in 1658.
(2) In his "Great Didactic," he presents a scheme for general organization of the school system which covers the first twenty-four years of life. It divides this time into four equal periods of six years, each as follows:—
1. Infancy, or the mother school, from birth up to six years of age.
2. Boyhood, the vernacular or national school, from six to twelve.