26o

A HISTORY OF BOHEMIAN

LITERATURE

The period of his first residence at Lissa was, on the contrary, one of incessant and fruitful hard work. His duties as a preacher and schoolmaster were fulfilled with equally great conscientiousness, and, from the few sermons that have been preserved, it appears that in this respect also his ability was exceptional. It was also at this time that most of Komensk^'s educational works

were written, though many were re-modelled later. It is therefore very difficult to fix the chronological order

of Komenski^'s works, and even to decide whether the Bohemian or the Latin version of some of them is the original one. The beginning of the " pansophic " studies also dates from this time, and the Physica, Komensk^'s first philosophical work, was completed as early as in 1632.

Of external events there is

at this period of Komensk;^'s

life little that requires mention. The monotonous life of the brethren was only occasionally interrupted by the echoes of the events of the Thirty Years' War. In 1631 the news of Gustavus Adolphus's great victory at Breitenfeld, and in the following year that of the occupation of I have already Bohemia by the Saxons, reached Lissa. noticed the brief and vain hopes that Komensk^ founded on these events. It is worthy of notice that even in those troublous times Komensk^'s literary work soon became known. " His " pansophic studies, that appeal so little to modern readers, then attracted almost more attention than his really valuable educational works. Among those who appear to have taken an early interest in Komensk^'s " pansophy " was Samuel Hartlib, a learned Englishman, who was probably of German origin, "who resided in London, and took a keen interest in everything that