Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-06-23
AN OLD SAGE.
A Pioneer Educator Whose Path Was Fflled
MIN Obstacles.


Comenius, whose birthday sntfiver.
sary was recently celebrated in Prague
by a riot, was born In Mofayia three
hundred years ago. During the latter
part OF his life Europe was wrecked by
the series of conflicts Known ms the
Thirty Years War. Twice, at long ID
tervals, Comenius was obliged to fly
from captured cities, leaving behind
him the manuscripts which were the re-
suits Of Years Of labor,
It Is noteworthy that ffien whose
hafhes are connected with great educa'
tional reform Have GENERALLY lived hi
times when il seenled hopeless to try to
help people by other means.
The educational methods in use in his
time seelhed formal and 1ifeless to
Comenius. They taught words only,
not considering that words were only
conveniences for indicating things. He
believed that words should always be
taught in connection with the things
which they Indicated. In pursuance Of
this idea lie very iduch desired that the
textbooks which he compiled should be
illustrated. The difficulty which he
Encountered In getting Illustrations for
the I'Orbis Pictiis, . OF "Painted World, !"
the first child's picture book ever pub
lished, can hardly be imagined iii these
HaSs This work has continued to be a
favorite child's book i'll Germany up to
the present time
This idea Of always CONNECTING words
with things naturally led to the theory
of universal education. The text
books of Comenius consist mainly Of
lists of sentences. 1t was his idea that
every sentence should convey useful in
formation and that the whole should
constitute compendium OF all knowl-
edge: In days when scienGe was unde.
veloped and the majority of phenomena
were referred directly to Providence,
such work was comparatively simple.
The book In which Comenius embodied
his idea began with the creation of the
world and ended with chapter on
| angels 1t was soon translated into
twelve European languages and into
| Arabic, Persian and Turkish.
In our day, when science is continual
| ly making known hitherto unobserved
phenomena, the application of such a
theory requires tiicety Of discrimina-
ton which would seem to be rare. 1t
is interesting, in this connection, to
note the complaint of Prof. Mahaffy, OF
Dublin, which is quoted and heartily
corlcrirred in by Matthew Arnold, that
'the majority of boys all over England
and Ireland, without being ovcrworked,
are added by the multiplicity of their
sub ects." When the masters were
asked to point out brilliant boy they
replied that the race had died out.
Prof. Mahaffy declared that thoughtful
educators with whom he conferred
agreed that this was due not to any fail
ure in the stock, but to the constant
addition OF new subjects; in fact, to an
injurious system ''of so teaching the
boys everything that they can reason
intelligently in nothing"
Although this theory of Comenius is
at the bottom of the modern abuses
which are so sharply criticised, the
cause of education Is intellectually In.
debted to him. He was distinguished by
that ardent desire for the greater happi-
ness of the people which is the most
striking characteristic of modern edu-
cational reformers. 1t was probably
that same love for the people which led
him to prophesy that the millennium
was close at hand 1t is melancholy
commentary on his hopes that the three
hundredth anniversary of his birth was
celebrated in his native country by a
oloody conflict between the people and
the uthorities.-Detroit Free Press.