Johan Amos Comenius

“ It was as a guide to mothers during the years of opening intelligence that Comenius wrote the School of Infancy; but one finds in this quaint old book not only a guide for mothers, but as well for teachers and all others engaged in the high and holy mission of training little ones. Comenius loved children. His faith in the possibility of training the young into useful men and women was bounded only by the blue dome of heaven. ”

“ RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
1. “Rejoice not in impious children. If they be multiplied rejoice not over them; since the fear of God is not in them. For it is better to die childless, than to have impious children.” So said the wise son of Sirach. Above all things, parents should be careful to imbue their children with truth, and not be satisfied with merely outward piety; apart from this, knowledge and manners, however refined, may be more injurious than beneficial; just as a knife, a sword, or a hatchet in the hand of a maniae, the sharper it is, the more dangerous it becomes. ”

“ Who, then, unless he be blind, does not observe that infants, with the milk of the foster mother, imbibe morals other than those of their parents? If married people do not permit their gardens to be sown with foreign seed, why do they allow their human plants to be irrigated with foreign water? If the father has communicated his nature to the offspring, why should the mother deny to it her nature? [4] Why admit a third person to perform that? God, moreover, has united only two persons, as sufficient for producing offspring, and why should we not acquiesce in His will? ”

“ She wrote: “The education that takes place through amusement dissipates thought; labor of some sort is one of the great aids of nature; the mind of the child ought to accustom itself to the labor of study.” ”

“ It will also be beneficial to tell them how excellent a thing it is to attend schools and acquire learning, for only such become great men, lawyers, professors, doctors, preachers of the Divine word, senators, etc., all of them excellent men, celebrated, rich, and wise, whom the rest of mankind are necessarily bound to honor; likewise, that it is better and more becoming to attend school than to drone away in idleness at home, or run about the streets, or learn bad habits; that learning is not labor, but that amusement with books and a pen is sweeter than honey ”

“ Only by the union of manly energy and decision with womanly gentleness does the child rest and sail at the conflux of two streams. The sun raises the tide, and so does the moon; but he raises it only one foot, she three, and both united four. ”

“ Since wine was thus strictly denied to their youth, what, I pray, should we say respecting that maddening drink, recently discovered to the ruin of the human race, namely, wine and brandy, with which both old and young are equally burnt up? It is time, truly, that we learn to be cautious, lest we corrupt and destroy our children. ”

“ After God has brought His gift from darkness to light, and presented it to their eyes, the parents (as a certain pious theologian advises) ought in honor of the grace of God, as manifested in His recent gift, to receive the new stranger into this world with a kiss. For true is the confession of the holy Maccabean mother, who said: “We know not how infants are conceived; we ourselves give to them neither breath nor life, nor do we knit together the members of their body. But the Creator of the world is the maker of the human race.” ”

“ How, I pray, can it agree with nature that they should thrust from themselves that which is a part of themselves?—that they should at last withdraw the milk from their own offspring, which during so many months they bore and nourished beneath their hearts? God certainly gave not the milk for the use of the mothers, but of the children ”

“ It is the office of prudence to allow no man, even from his earliest years, to be idle; but by all means exercise the child with assiduous labors, that thus a door to the most destructive tempter may be closed. I know labors which the shoulders of children can bear, although they were nothing more (which cannot really be the case) than mere play. “It is better to play than to be idle, for during play the mind is intent upon some object which often sharpens the ability.” ”

“ Temperance and frugality claim the first place for themselves, inasmuch as they constitute the foundation of health and life, and are the mothers of all other virtues. Children will become accustomed to these, provided you indulge them in only so much food, drink, and sleep as nature demands. For other animals, following only the leading of nature, are more temperate than we; therefore children ought to eat, drink, and sleep only at the time when nature disposes them so to do, namely, when they appear to suffer from hunger or thirst, or to be oppressed for sleep. ”

“ Fourthly, gold and silver come forth from the earth, children from our own substance; being a part of ourselves, they consequently deserve to be loved by us, certainly not less than we love ourselves; therefore God has implanted in the nature of all living things so strong an affection towards their young that they occasionally prefer the safety of their offspring to their own. If any one transfer such affections to gold and silver, he is, in the judgment of God, condemned as guilty of idolatry. ”

“ Hence it is evident that no little depends on what kind of a nurse [8] one has, not only with regard to the body, but also to the mind and morals; for if a nurse be affected with any manifest or secret disease, the infant will also be subject to it. “If she be unchaste, untruthful, a pilferer, or is drunken or passionate, you can expect no other morals from the infant, which, with the milk, imbibes the seeds of all these evils.”—Didacus Apolephtes. ”

“ All human affairs, to be properly transacted, require due reflection and preparation. This is noticed by the son of Sirach: “Preparation is demanded before prayer, before passing judgment, and before uttering a word, even though the question be quite obvious”; and certainly it is proper, that a creature who is a participator of reason should do nothing without reason and judgment, without prudence and circumspection, so as to reflect beforehand why he does certain things, and what may be the result or what may follow if done in this or any other way. ”

“ You will see them, not only as the future inhabitants of the world and possessors of the earth, and God’s vicars amongst His creatures when we depart from this life, but also equally participators with us in the heritage of Christ, a royal priesthood, a chosen people, associates of angels, judges of devils, the delight of heaven, the terror of hell—heirs of the most excellent dignities throughout all the ages of eternity. ”

“ The plays of the child contain the germ of the whole life that is to follow; for the man develops and manifests himself in play, and reveals the noblest aptitudes and the deepest elements of his being. ”

“ The first care, therefore, ought to be of the soul, which is the principal part of the man, so that it may become, in the highest degree possible, beautifully adorned. The next care is for the body, that it may be made a habitation fit and worthy of an immortal soul. [3] Regard the mind as rightly instructed which is truly illuminated from the effulgence of the wisdom of God, so that man, contemplating the presence of the Divine Image in himself, may diligently observe and guard that excellence. ”

“ Second, if the mother be of such corrupt morals as to occasion obstruction to the virtue of the infant, providing a nurse of upright morals and piety can be found, I should not deny that in order to secure the graceful endowments of the mind, the infant may be entrusted to her. Inasmuch, however, as in these times even honorable, noble, and pious matrons deliver their recently born offspring to worthless, disreputable, and impious women, sometimes in a much more feeble state of health than themselves, such practice can admit of no excuse ”

“ But when the little ones are somewhat advanced and begin to take to their feet, they may be allowed to run and do this or that little matter (at the beck of the mother or nurse) . The more a child is thus employed, runs about and plays, the sweeter its sleep, the more easily does its stomach digest, the more quickly does it grow and flourish, both in body and mind; care being only taken that it in no way injures itself. Therefore a place should be found in which children may run about and exercise themselves with safety. ”

“ For, alas! often the whole life of man is not sufficient to efface what he has absorbed in childhood, the impressions of early youth, simply because his whole being, like a large eye, was open to them and wholly given up to them. ”

“ Didacus Apolephtes calls such not mothers, but step-mothers, saying, that many prefer the burdens of wealth rather than to carry their own offspring in their bosom; and many blush more at carrying their own offspring, than a dog or a squirrel in their arms. What animal, I pray, is so savage as to entrust its own young to others? Nay, a race of animals is said to exist in which the male contests with the female for the privilege of caring for the offspring. ”

“ First, that no such thing is found in nature, not even among wild beasts: the wolf, the bear, the lioness, the panther, and other such ferocious animals, nourish their offspring with their own milk; and shall the mothers of the human race be less affectionate than the dams of all these? Does not God himself indicate this very thing in the lamentations of Jeremiah, saying, “The dragons make bare the breast and suckle their young; the daughter of my people is cruel as the ostrich in the desert.” ”

“ It is better, therefore, to restrain children by discipline and fear than to reveal to them the overflowing of your love, and thus open as it were a window to frowardness and disobedience. [8] It is also useful to grant even to others the power of rebuking children, so that not only under the eye of their parents, but wherever they are, they may be accustomed to have due regard to themselves, and by this means to cause modesty and due respect for all men to take root in their hearts. ”

“ It is necessary that children should have presented before them a perpetual good example, [2] since God has implanted in them a certain imitative principle, namely, a desire to imitate what they see others do. So much so, that although you never desire a boy to do a certain thing, if you do or say that thing in his presence you will see that he will try to do the same; and this perpetual experience confirms. For this reason, there is need of the greatest circumspection in the home where there are children, so that nothing be done contrary to virtue ”

“ Children should also learn to attend silently to the orders of their father and mother in everything. The other benefit of keeping silence is with a view to well-ordered speech, so that before the speaker replies to any question, children may consider what the matter is, and how to speak reasonably; for to utter whatever comes uppermost is folly, and it is not becoming in those whom we desire to see intelligent beings. However, I incessantly repeat that these things should be done as far as the age permits, and which circumspect parents should attend to with the greatest care. ”

“ Sometimes, also, he may give a writing tablet, a pen, a penny, a piece of sugar, some fruit, or the like, to the child. However, that this may not be at his own expense, the parents, whose interest it really is, should remunerate him, or previously send the gift. In this way child will readily acquire a love for, and joyous anticipation of, the school and teacher, especially where the disposition of the child is generous; and the work so well begun is now half done; for when to children the school becomes an amusement, they will make progress with rapidity and delight. ”

“ Labor ought to have been bestowed that the tender tree should be planted, duly inclined, and made straight, so as not to have grown so gnarly. But as most persons neglect discipline, there is no wonder that youths everywhere grow up froward, impetuous, and impious, provoking God and distressing the parents. A certain wise man has said that, “although an infant seems to be an angel, yet it requires the rod.” ”

“ But Comenius believed in moderation in all things. ↑ “Play,” observes Jean Paul Richter, “is the working off at once of the overflow of both mental and physical powers; afterwards when the school scepter has carried off the mental source of all fire, even till rain comes, the limbs only throw off the fullness of life by running, throwing, carrying. Play is the first poetry of the human being.” ”

“ That children ought to be dearer and more precious to parents than gold and silver, than pearls and gems, may be discovered from a comparison between both of these gifts from God: for first, gold, silver, and such other things, are inanimate, being only somewhat harder and purer than the clay which we tread beneath our feet; whereas children are the lively image of the living God. ”

“ CHARACTER OF EARLY INSTRUCTION.
1. Every one knows that whatever disposition the branches of an old tree possess, they must necessarily have been so formed from the first growth. The animal, unless it receive in its very first formation the foundations of all its members, no one expects that it would ever receive them, for who can amend that which was born lame, blind, defective, or deformed? Man, therefore, in the very first formation of body and soul, should be molded so as to be such as he ought to be throughout his whole life. ”

“ It is sufficient for them that such things be supplied them according to nature. Care must be taken that their appetites be not provoked by pastry or any innutritious delicacies; for these are the oiled vehicles which carry in more than is necessary, and the stomach is enticed to eat more than enough. Such things are really enticements to luxurious living. For although it may not be improper to occasionally give children something savory, yet to malke their food of sweetmeats is as destructive to health (as shown in the fifth chapter) as it is to sound morals. ”