Comenius and the Beginnings of Educational ReformMonroe, W. S. (Will Seymour)
History
Comenius and the Beginnings of Educational Reform
Monroe, W. S. (Will Seymour)
Comenius, Johann Amos, 1592-1670; Education -- History; Educational change -- History
3. Careful examination has been made of the numerous lives of Comenius
printed in the German language, as well as those printed in the Czech;
and, although less noteworthy distinctions are recorded, there is no
mention of a call to Harvard College or America.
4. In the _Journals_ of Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts, there
are no allusions to Comenius. Governor Winthrop died in 1649; and
it was not until 1653 that President Dunster fell “into the briers
of Antpædo-baptism,” when he bore “public testimony in the church
at Cambridge against the administration of baptism to any infant
whatsoever.” And the historians of the college report that up to this
time (1653) Dunster’s administration had been singularly satisfactory,
so that there could have been no thought of providing his successor
before the death of Governor Winthrop. Mather is either in error or he
does not refer to Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts. He may refer to
Governor Winthrop of Connecticut, the eldest son of the Massachusetts
governor, although evidence is wanting to show that the Connecticut
governor had anything to do with the management of Harvard College.
Young Winthrop was in England from August the 3d, 1641, until the
early part of 1643. It will be recalled that Comenius spent the winter
of 1641–1642 in London, and the fact that both knew Hartlib most
intimately would suggest that they must have met. In a letter which
Hartlib wrote to Winthrop after the latter’s return to America, he
says, “Mr. Comenius is continually diverted by particular controversies
of Socinians and others from his main Pansophical Worke.”[25]
5. Mather is clearly in error in regard to the date of the call of
Comenius to Sweden. The negotiations were begun in 1641 and were
completed in August of the next year, so that the “solicitations of
the Swedish Ambassador diverting him another way” took place more than
twelve years before the beginning of the troubles at Cambridge which
led to the resignation of Dunster.
With so many flaws in Mather’s statement, and the absence of
corroborative evidence, it seems altogether improbable that Comenius
was ever called to the presidency of Harvard College.[26]
In closing, brief mention may be made of his most dominant physical
and personal characteristics. Several excellent portraits of Comenius
are in existence, the best perhaps being by Hollar and Glover. From
these it is apparent that he was a man of imposing figure, with high
forehead, long chin, and soft, pathetic eyes. It is not difficult to
read into his sad, expressive countenance the force of the expression
in his last published utterance, “My whole life was merely the visit of
a guest; I had no fatherland.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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