§ 11. Soon after the arrival of Comenius in Sweden, the great Oxenstiern sent for him to Stockholm, and with John Skyte, the Chancellor of Upsal University, examined him and his system. “These two,” as Comenius says, “exercised me in colloquy for four days, and chiefly the most illustrious Oxenstiern, that eagle of the North (_Aquila Aquilonius_). He inquired into the foundations of both my schemes, the Didactic and the Pansophic, so searchingly, that it was unlike anything that had been done before by any of my learned critics. In the first two days he examined the Didactics, and finally said: ‘From an early age I perceived that our Method of Studies generally in use is a harsh and crude one (_violentum quiddam_), but where the thing stuck I could not find out. At length, having been sent by my King of glorious memory [_i.e._, by Gustavus Adolphus], as ambassador into Germany, I conversed on the subject with various learned men. And when I had heard that Wolfgang Ratichius was toiling at an amended Method I had no rest of mind till I had him before me, but instead of talking on the subject, he put into my hands a big quarto volume. I swallowed this trouble, and having turned over the whole book, I saw that he had detected well enough the maladies of our schools but the remedies he proposed did not seem to me sufficient. Yours, Mr. Comenius, rest on firmer foundations. Go on with the work.’ I answered that I had done all I could in those matters, and must now go on to others. ‘I know,’ said he, ‘that you are toiling at greater affairs, for I have read your _Prodromus Pansophiæ_. That we will discuss to-morrow, I must now to public business.’ Next day he began on my Pansophic attempts, and examined them with still greater severity. ‘Are you a man,’ he asked, ‘who can bear contradiction?’ ‘I can,’ said I, ‘and for that reason my _Prodromus_ or preliminary sketch was sent out first (not indeed that I sent it out myself, this was done by friends), that it might meet with criticism. And if we seek the criticism of all and sundry, how much more from men of mature wisdom and heroic reason?’ He began accordingly to discourse against the hope of a better state of things arising from a rightly instituted study of Pansophia; first, objecting political reasons, then what was said in Scripture about ‘the last times.’ All which objections I so answered that he ended with these words: ‘Into no one’s mind do I think such things have come before. Stand upon these grounds of yours; so shall we some time come to agreement, or there will be no way left. My advice, however,’ added he, ‘is that you first do something for the schools, and bring the study of the Latin tongue to a greater facility; thus you will prepare the way for those greater matters.’” As Skyte and afterwards De Geer gave the same advice, Comenius felt himself constrained to follow it; so he agreed to settle at Elbing, in Prussia, and there write a work on teaching, in which the principles