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.
CHAPTER V
CLOSING YEARS: 1656–1670
Flight to Amsterdam—Reception by Lawrence de Geer—Religious freedom in Holland—Publication of the complete edition of his writings—Other educational activities—The “One thing needful”—Death at Amsterdam and burial at Naärden—Family history of Comenius—Alleged call to the presidency of Harvard College—Portraits—Personal characteristics.
During his last year’s residence at Saros-Patak, Comenius had sustained a great loss in the death of his friend and former patron, Lewis de Geer. In a funeral oration which he composed, he characterized his benefactor as “a man pious toward God, just toward men, merciful to the distressed, and meritoriously great and illustrious among all men.” The rich Dutch merchant bequeathed his estates to his son, Lawrence de Geer of Amsterdam; and not only his estates, but also his deep interest in the welfare of the Moravian reformer.
Learning of the severe illness of Comenius, Lawrence de Geer wrote him to leave Hamburg and come directly to Amsterdam, where all the needs of his closing years would be provided. The younger de Geer, it would seem, had not only a real and profound affection for the aged Comenius, but also a keen and intelligent interest in all his schemes for educational reform.