the most devoted adherent of the new method, and, in his young enthusiasm, brought out an edition of the Vestibulum and a German translation of the Schola Ludus. A follower of Comenius in one direction, he soon became his disciple in another, embraced the doctrine of Chiliasmus, and joined the crowd of Protestants who, throughout Europe, were eagerly awaiting the fulfilment of the Drabician prophecies.
That the Pansophia made but slow progress need cause little surprise, as, in addition to his occupations of a purely theological nature, Comenius had undertaken the task of managing the finances of the Bohemian Brethren. The sympathy of friends in England had not been confined to words, but had led to collections on a large scale. In 1658 £5900, and in the following year £3000, were sent to the Continent in aid of the exiled victims of Catholicism. At the same time, collections were made in Holland and in Switzerland, and the whole sum of money had to pass through Comenius’ hands. Applications for assistance poured in from every side, and the aged Bishop had to tear himself from his philosophic labours and undertake the duties of a paymaster-general. From England supplies continued to come in until, in 1661, Charles II., alarmed at the removal of so much money from the country, put a stop to the collection, and impounded the money that was ready for transmission. Needless to say, an indignant letter from Amsterdam remained ineffective and unanswered. In the midst of so many distractions it is remarkable that Comenius, whose health was rapidly failing, found time to conduct some physical experiments on the nature of heat and cold, and to correspond with Robert Dalgarno in England on the subject of a complicated clockwork construction that the latter was devising.[1]
Of the last ten years of Comenius’ life our information, never very direct or very full, is extremely scanty. His correspondence with Hartlib ceases in 1662, and we are
- ↑ The works of the Hon. Robert Boyle. London, 1772. Vol. vi. p. 99.
