appeared so unusual to Komensky's contemporaries in England than they may to the readers of the present day. Komensky, particularly in the "Labyrinth," uses alliteration to a great extent. As far as the totally different character of the English and Bohemian languages permitted, I have endeavoured to follow him in this also.
I must also, writing in a language that is not my own, beg my readers' indulgence to such lapses from the now most usual methods of writing English that may be found in this translation.
It is scarcely necessary to mention that a God-fearing and pious man, such as was Komensky, admitted nothing into his books that could appear otherwise than edifying, or at least morally unobjectionable. Yet the custom of calling a spade a spade was very prevalent in the seventeenth century; and writers, with no evil intent, alluded to matters that it is not now customary to mention. I have therefore thought it advisable not to translate one or two words of the "Labyrinth," nor one somewhat longer passage. I have marked such omissions by asterisks. On the other hand, a few expressions that may now be thought coarse, though they did not appear so in the seventeenth century, have been retained. The "Labyrinth" contains a certain number of Latin words. I have retained these, as they are not difficult to understand, and are very characteristic of Komensky's manner of writing. On the other hand, I have
