The publication of the Janua and the success with which it met brought Comenius into contact with many of the most striking and influential men of the day. In England in particular the book had been well received, and an English version, brought out shortly after its publication at Lissa in 1631 under the title Janua Linguarum Trilinguis, at once attracted the attention of Samuel Hartlib.[1] Of German origin, Hartlib resided in London, and took a keen interest in everything that savoured of intellectual progress. The friend of Milton and of Evelyn, he formed the centre of a circle of thinkers to which any foreigner who arrived in England readily found access, and, in spite of his many engagements at home, contrived to keep up a correspondence with men of mark in Europe. At the beginning of 1632, greatly struck by Comenius’ didactic venture, and especially by its Encyclopædic features, he sent him a friendly message with a copy of Streso’s Of the use and abuse of reason. He also hinted that it might be possible to procure him some monetary aid in England to enable him to carry on his work with greater ease.
Comenius, in answering, expressed his satisfaction at the approval with which his efforts had been received. Any pecuniary assistance would be useful. At the moment he was being aided by the Palatine of Belz, but, as he was travelling, the funds came in but slowly. He was getting on with his didactic works as fast as possible, as there would be much to do wh the Brethren were allowed to return to their labours in Bohemia.
As a matter of fact his scholastic work was to be interrupted. A Latin Grammar that he wrote in 1631[2] had not satisfied him, and for the next few years he devoted himself to history and physics. The Synod of the Brethren that sat in 1632 asked him to write an account of the events that had befallen the “Unity,” and this request caused him to compose his History of the Bohemian Brethren and
