Janua Linguarum; the claim has been made with equal assurance by all the inventors of infallible language-methods, from that day to this.
More original, and full of sound common-sense, were the ideas of J. Cecilius Frey, a physician residing in Paris. He had brought out a work on education in 1629,[1] and this must have come into Comenius’ hands shortly after publication. According to Frey, all languages should be learned colloquially, and attention should be given to arithmetic, geography, drawing, and mechanics. In this upholder of “real studies” Comenius must have hailed a kindred spirit.
With these works before him Comenius applied himself to the double task of creating a more comprehensive and philosophically-based scheme of education than had ever before been devised, and of compiling a series of classbooks suited to the various stages of scholars. These books, while carefully adapted to the capacity of the schoolboy, were written in accordance with the philosophic principles set forth in The Great Didactic, and thus to a remarkable degree combined theory and practice. The class-books were written for the practical teacher, the Didactic was intended for the schoolmaster whose interest in his work was not confined to the school-room, and for nobles, statesmen, and philosophers who wished to reform the schools of their country, but found no scheme ready to hand that was both practical and comprehensive.
Comenius’ aims were revolutionary, and his didactic principles were capable of changing by slow degrees the aspect of civilisation, but the philosophic basis on which they rested was that of harmonious development from existing institutions. Children were to learn their lessons in less time and with less trouble. This had been suggested by previous writers. The time thus gained was to be
- ↑ J. C. Frey, Medici, Paris. Opuscula varia nusquam edita, Parisiis, 1646, pp. 327–331. Frey recommends “Coenobia,” or continuous conversation in a boarding-school, as the best means of learning a language.
