THE BIBLE OF KRALICE

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" Nothing have we taken with us. Everything is lost; We have but our Bible of Kralice, Our ' Labyrinth of the World! "

After the forcible re-establishment of the doctrine of Rome, it became a grave offence to be found in possession of a copy of the " Bible of Kralice." The Jesuits in particular were indefatigable in their endeavours to discover and destroy all copies of the book. The " Bible of Kralice" has recently been reprinted by the British Bible Society exactly from the edition of 1613. Another interesting record of the Unity is the collection of reports of the proceedings at the general meetings It has already been mentioned that of the community. The numerous these meetings were very frequent. hymn-books (" Kancionaly," as they were called) of the brethren also deserve notice. They contained hymns by Brothers Lucas, Augusta, Blahoslav, and many others. The last Bohemian Kancional was published by Komensk^ in 1659, when the brethren had already long been expelled from their native land. I have now to deal with Komensk^, who, under the Latinised name of Comenius, is widely known beyond the limits of Bohemia. The value of Komensk^'s writings has been judged very differently at different periods. His mystic, not to say superstitious and credulous, nature was particularly antipathetic to a French writer The latter has, therefore, in his Dicsuch as Bayle. tionnaire Historique et Critique judged the whole work of Komensky very unfavourably, and this judgment has With time opinion changed. His often been repeated. educational works, though for a long time only those that are little more than school-books were well known.