Comenius 37 



Sense-Realism in education which flowed through Ratke, 

 Andreae, and Alsted to Comenius, and on through him to 

 Francke, Spener, and Hecker in Germany, and to Newton, 

 Bentley, Spencer, and Huxley in England. However much 

 Comenius may have been inspired by Bacon, and in spite of the 

 fact that he considered the " Instauratio Magna " the most phil- 

 osophical work of the century, he felt that Bacon " while giving 

 the true key of Nature, did not unlock her secrets, but only 

 showed, by a few examples, how they should be unlocked, and 

 left the rest to future observations to be extended through cen- 

 turies." In the preface to his " Physics " Comenius further in- 

 sists upon the necessity of going to Nature rather than to books 

 for our information. The senses are, before all, the great means 

 of knowing. Throughout his " Didactica Magna" (circ. 1631) 

 his great teacher is Nature, and her operations determine the 

 character of the educational process which he outlines. This 

 parallelism with the course of Nature constitutes what he calls 

 the Syncretic mctJiod, by which, together with the analytic and 

 synthetic modes, mankind learns to attain and to comprehend 

 true knowledge. 



For Comenius the aim of education summed itself up under 

 three heads : Eniditio, Virtus seu Mores Honesti, and Religio 

 seu Pietas. Genetically, the seeds of Knowledge, Virtue, and 

 Religion are implanted in human nature, but not these qualities 

 themselves. Their development is the task of education. The 

 process of education if it is to proceed compendiose, jncunde, 

 solide, must follow the guidance of Nature, and must fulfil the 

 following conditions : 



1. It must begin early before the mind is corrupted. 



2. The mind must be duly prepared to receive it. 



3. We must proceed from the general to the particular. 



4. And from what is easy to what is more difficult. 



5. The pupil must not be overburdened by too many subjects. 



6. Progress must be slow in every case. 



7. The intellect must be forced to nothing to which its natural 



bent does not incline it, in accordance with its age and 

 with the right method. 

 9. Everything must be taught through the medium of the 

 senses. 



