for leaving Lissa, though his son and successor, Count Bohnslav Lescynski,[1] continued to afford protection to the brethren even after he had adopted the Roman faith.
In the year 1647 Komenský started for England, and, after a very perilous journey, during which his vessel was once driven near to the Norwegian coast and he was once nearly shipwrecked, he arrived in London on September 21st of that year. The description of the perils of the sea, which Komenský introduced into the later editions of the Labyrinth, is founded on these personal experiences. Of the small coterie that welcomed Komenský in London, Mr. Keatinge gives the following interesting account. "Komenský," he writes, "was received with open arms by the little band, of which Hartlib was the centre. A man of great enthusiasm but less judgment, Hartlib knew everybody in England who was worth knowing. . . . At that time in easy circumstances, he was living in Duke's Place, Drury Lane, an address which, we may be sure, was the centre of Komenský's London experiences. Here would have met to discuss the intellectual and political problems of the day men like Theodore Haak, John Durie, John Beale, John Wilkins, John Pell, and Evelyn, who had just returned to London after a three months' journey through Europe. Milton was living in London, and must certainly have met and conversed with the illustrious stranger."
Komenský's impressions of England are contained in an interesting letter which, shortly after his arrival on the 18th (old style 8th) of October 1641, he addressed to
- ↑ Bohnslav Lescynski was the grandfather of Stanislas Lescynski, for some time King of Poland.
