The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius/The Great Didactic/Chapter 33
CHAPTER XXXIII
OF THE THINGS REQUISITE BEFORE THIS UNIVERSAL METHOD CAN BE PUT INTO PRACTICE
1. There is no one, I imagine, who, after a careful examination of the question, will not perceive how blessed would be the condition of Christian kingdoms and states if they were supplied with schools of the kind that we desire. We must therefore see what is necessary in order that these speculations may not remain speculations, but may be realised in some definite form. Not without reason does John Cæcilius Frey express his surprise and indignation that throughout so many centuries no one has ventured to reform the barbarous customs of our schools and universities.
2. For more than a hundred years much complaint has been made of the unmethodical way in which schools areconducted, but it is only within the last thirty that any serious attempt has been made to find a remedy for this state of things. And with what result? Schools remain exactly as they were. If any scholar, either privately or in school, embarked on a course of study, he found himself a butt for the mockery of the ignorant or the malevolence of the ill-disposed, or finally, being unable to obtain any assistance, found his endeavour too laborious, and gave it up. Thus all efforts have hitherto been in vain.
3. We must therefore seek and find some way by which, with God’s assistance, motive power may be supplied to the machine that is already sufficiently well constructed, or at any rate can be constructed on the foundations which exist, if the obstacles and hindrances that have hitherto been present be wisely and firmly removed.
4. Let us isolate and examine these obstacles.
(i) There is a great lack of methodical teachers who could take charge of public schools and produce the results that we have in view (indeed, with regard to my Janua which is already used in schools, a man of great judgment has written to me complaining that in most places one thing is lacking, namely, suitable men to use it).
5. (ii) But even if teachers of this kind existed, or if they could all perform their task with ease by using time-tables and forms all ready prepared for them, how would it be possible to support them in each village and town, and in every place where men are born and brought up in Christ?
6. (iii) Again, how can it be arranged that the children of the poor shall have time to go to school?
7. (iv) The opposition of pedants, who cling to old ways and despise everything that is new, is greatly to be dreaded, but for this some remedy can easily be found.
8. (v) There is one factor which by its absence or its presence can render the whole organisation of a school of no avail or can aid it in the highest degree, and that is a proper supply of comprehensive and methodical class-books. Since the invention of printing, it has been an easy matter to find men who are able and willing to make use of it, who will supply the funds necessary for the printing of good and useful books, and who will purchase books of this kind. Similarly, if the subsidiary apparatus necessary for comprehensive teaching were provided, it would be easy to find men to employ it.
9. It is evident, therefore, that the success of my scheme depends entirely upon a suitable supply of encyclopædic class-books, and these can be provided only by the collaboration of several original-minded, energetic, and learned men. For such a task transcends the strength of one man, and especially of one who is unable to devote his whole time to it, or who may be imperfectly acquainted with some of the subjects that must be included in the comprehensive scheme. Moreover, if absolute perfection be desired, one lifetime is not sufficient for the completion of the work, which must therefore be entrusted to a collegiate body of learned men.
10. But it is impossible to call such a body into existence unless it be supported and financed by some king or state, while to ensure success a quiet and secluded spot and a library are necessary. In addition, it is essential that no one offer any opposition to such a goodly plan for glorifying the Creator and benefiting the human race, but rather that all prepare to work in harmony with the grace of God, which will be communicated to us more liberally through these new channels.
11. Therefore let your zeal blaze forth when ye hear this wholesome counsel. O dearest parents of children, into whose charge God has entrusted His most precious treasures, those made in His own image, may ye never cease to entreat the God of Gods that these efforts may have a successful issue, and by your prayers and solicitations to work upon the minds of powerful and learned men. In the meantime, bring up your children piously in the fear of God, and thus prepare the way for that more universal education of which we have spoken.
12. Do you also, O instructors of the young, whose task it is to plant and water the tender grafts of paradise, pray with all earnestness that these aids to your labours may be perfected and brought into daily use as soon as possible. For since ye have been called that “ye may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth” (Isaiah li. 16), what can be more pleasing to you than to reap as rich a harvest as possible from your labour? Therefore, let your heavenly calling, and the confidence of the parents who entrust their offspring to you, be as a fire within you, and give you and those who come under your influence no rest until the whole of your native land is lit up by this flaming torch.
13. Ye men of learning, to whom God has given wisdom and keen judgment that ye may be able to criticise such matters as these and improve them by your counsels, see that ye delay not to assist the sacred fire with your sparks, nay, rather with your torches and with your fans. Let all consider that saying of our Christ: “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what will I if it is already kindled?” (Luke xii. 49). If He wish His fire to burn, woe unto him who, when he has the opportunity of bringing fuel to the flames, contributes nothing but the smoke of envy, malevolence, and position. Remember the reward that He promises to His good and faithful servants who employ the talents entrusted to them in such a way that they gain others, and the threats that He utters against the slothful who bury their talents in the earth (Matt. xxv. 25). Therefore, let not your own knowledge suffice you, but use all your strength to further the instruction of others. Be guided by the example of Seneca, who says: “I wish to communicate all that I know to others”; and again: “If knowledge were given me on the condition that I should keep it to myself and not share it with others, I should refuse it” (Epist. 27). Do not, therefore, withhold instruction and wisdom from the Christian people, but rather say with Moses: “Would God that all the Lord’s peoples were prophets!” (Num. xi. 29). The reformation of the Church and of the state is comprised in the proper instruction of the young; and shall we, who know this, stand idle, while others put their hand to the work?
14. May we all, with one accord, be moved to promote such a worthy object in every possible manner by advising, warning, exhorting, reforming, and in every way furthering the work for God and for posterity. And let no one think that he is not called upon to act in the matter. For though a man may be naturally unsuited to be a schoolmaster, or may be fully engaged by his duties as a clergyman, a politician, or a physician, he makes a great mistake if he think that he is on that account exempt from the common task of school-reform. If he wish to prove his devotion to his calling, to him who calls him, and to those to whom he is sent, he is bound not only to serve his God, his Church, and his country, but also to train up others to do so after him. Socrates has been praised because he employed his time in educating the young instead of holding some public office. “It is of more use,” said he, “to train men who can govern, than to govern oneself.”
15. O learned scholars, I beseech you not to despise these suggestions because they originate with one less learned than yourselves. Remember the saying of Chrysippus: “Many a market-gardener has spoken to the point. Perchance an ass may know what you do not.” And of Christ: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye hear its voice, but know not whence it comes or whither it goes.” In the sight of God I protest that it is not by any overweening confidence in myself, or by a desire for fame or for personal advantage, that I am impelled to advertise these ideas of mine. It is the love of God and the wish to improve the condition of humanity that goad me on, and will not suffer me to keep silence when my instinct tells me what should be done. Therefore, if any oppose my efforts, and hinder the realisation of my ideas instead of aiding it, let him be assured that he is waging war, not against me, but against God, against his own conscience, and against nature, whose will it is that what is for the common good be given over for the use of all men.
16. To you also I appeal, Theologians, since it is in your power to be the greatest assistance or the greatest obstacle to my designs. If you choose the latter course, the saying of Bernhard will be fulfilled: “That Christ has no bitterer enemies than His followers, and especially those who hold the first place among them.” But let us hope that your actions will be worthier, and more suited to your calling. Remember that our Lord charged Peter to feed not only His sheep but also His lambs, enjoining him to take especial care of the latter (John xxi. 15). This is a reasonable injunction, since shepherds find it easier to feed sheep than to feed lambs, which have still to be moulded by the discipline of the flock and the staff of the herdsman. Surely a man betrays his ignorance if he prefer unlettered hearers! What goldsmith does not try to procure the very purest gold? What shoemaker does not try to obtain the finest leather? Let us likewise be children of light and wise in our generation, and let us pray that schools may supply us with as many educated hearers as possible.
17. And suffer not envy to enter into your hearts, O servants of the living God, but rather lead others to that charity that envies not, seeks not its own advantage, and thinks no evil. Let envious thoughts arise if others originate schemes that have never entered into your minds, but be content to learn from others; in order that (as Gregory says) all, being full of faith, may praise God, and may be instrumental in spreading the truth.
18. But to you, in particular, do I direct my prayers, ye rulers and magistrates, who, in God’s name, preside over human affairs. To you, as to Noah, it has been entrusted from on high to build an ark for the preservation of the Word of God in this terrible deluge of disasters (Gen. vi.) It is your duty, as it was that of the princes of old, to aid in the building of the sanctuary, and to see that no obstacle be placed in the way of the artificers whom the Lord has filled with His Spirit and has taught to devise ingenious plans (Exod. xxxvi.) You, like David and Solomon, should summon architects to build the temple of the Lord, and should supply them with the necessary materials (1 Kings vi.; 1 Chron. xxix.) You are those centurions whom Christ will love if you have loved His little ones, and erected schools for them (Luke vii. 5).
19. For Christ’s sake, for the sake of our children’s salvation, I beseech you to listen to me. This is a weighty question, and concerns the glory of God and the salvation of mankind. Well do I know how much you love your country. If a man came to you and promised to tell you how all your towns might be fortified at a slight cost, how all your youths might be instructed in the art of warfare, how your rivers might be made navigable and be filled with merchant-vessels, in short, how your state might be brought to a higher pitch of prosperity and security, you would give, not only your careful attention, but your heartiest thanks as well, to him who showed such solicitude for your welfare. And now, what is far more important than any of these things has been shown you, namely, the real and never-failing method by which a supply of such men may be secured, men who, by discoveries such as I have indicated, can be of immense service to their country. With truth did the sainted Luther write, when exhorting the cities of Germany to found schools: “Where one ducat is expended in building cities, fortresses, monuments, and arsenals, one hundred should be spent in educating one youth aright, since, when he reaches manhood, he may induce his fellows to carry out useful works. For a good and wise man is the most precious treasure of a state, and is of far more value than palaces, than heaps of gold and of silver, than gates of bronze and bars of iron.” Solomon also is of the same opinion (Eccles. ix. 13). If then we acknowledge that no expense should be spared in order to give one youth a thorough education, what can we say when the gate is opened to the universal education of all, and to an unfailing method by which the understanding may be developed? when God promises to shower His gifts upon us? when our salvation seems so near at hand that His glory dwells with us on earth?
20. Open wide your gates, O princes, that the King of glory may come in (Psalm xxiv.) Give to the Lord glory and honour, ye sons of the mighty. May each one of you be like David, who sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty one of Jacob: “Surely I will not come unto the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids; until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psalm cxxxii.) Stay not to consider the expense. Give to the Lord, and He will repay you a thousandfold. He who says, “The silver is mine and the gold is mine” (Haggai ii. 9), can demand this as a right, yet of His mercy He adds (when exhorting the people to build His temple): “Prove me now forthwith if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mal. iii. 10).
21. Do Thou, therefore, O Lord our God, give each one of us a joyful heart to serve Thy glory as best he may. For Thine is the grandeur, the power, the glory, and the victory. All that is in heaven and in earth is Thine. Thine, O Lord, is the kingdom; Thou art over all princes. Thine are the riches, and Thine is the glory, the might, and the power; Thou canst glorify and magnify whatsoever Thou pleasest. For what are we, who have but received Thy gifts from Thy hands? We are but strangers in Thy sight as were our fathers. Our life on earth is but a shadow and passes away. O Lord our God, all that we do to the honour of Thy name, comes from Thee. Give to Thy Solomons a perfect heart that they may do all that tends to Thy glory (1 Chron. xxix.) Strengthen, O God, that which Thou hast wrought for us (Psalm lxviii. 28). Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory upon their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish Thou, the works of our hands upon us (Psalm xc. 16). In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, let me never be confounded. Amen.