wished for completed works and not new plans, and that an angry letter from him was on its way.
This news made Comenius anxious, and, as the conference progressed but slowly and promised to be a long affair, he determined to return to Elbing. Just before leaving Thorn he received from de Geer the letter that had been heralded by Hotton. It was violent and full of accusations. He had better get those for whom he worked to support him. The three years at Elbing had been fruitless, since he had published nothing. Descending to particulars, de Geer complained that the salary of 400 thaler promised to a Dr. Cyprian Kinner was far too high.
At first, Comenius was completely overcome by this attitude on the part of his patron, but, by the time he returned to Elbing, he had recovered his self-possession, and wrote de Geer a calm justification of his conduct. He pointed out that his works, which, as a matter of fact, were nearly completed, formed a harmonious whole, so that one could not be published before the other; that the distracting occupations, that de Geer cast in his teeth, were no more than was necessary to give his mind needful relaxation after its arduous labours. Coming to the incident of Kinner, he pointed out that a captain in the army received more pay than the salary that was considered too high, and that, if de Geer wanted the books finished at all, it was absolutely essential that he should supply competent assistance. If he wished, he might withdraw his support. “Were I not beset with applications on every side,” he concludes, “and, in addition, threatened by approaching old age, I should desire nothing better than to retire into some solitude and there give myself up to my favourite investigations. I should seek no patron, but rather strive with all my might to stand in need of none.”
Comenius’ friends in Lissa now came to the rescue, not with funds, for money was a very scarce commodity among the Moravian Brethren, but with what was, from their point of view, the soundest advice under the circumstances.
