Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/106

 the reign of peace was to commence, and, this expectation falsified, 1671 or 1672 was the next date to which Comenius, inspired by Drabik, had given his entire confidence. The alliance of Rakoczy with Charles Gustavus, and the death of Ferdinand II., had given a passing air of plausibility to Drabik’s ravings, and poor Comenius finally threw common-sense scruples to the wind and definitely identified himself with the party of prophecy. The publication by him of Lux in Tenebris, or the collected prophecies of Kotter, Poniatowska, and Drabik, may have been largely due to de Geer’s influence, but it must be borne in mind that men like Thomas Burnet and William Whiston were staunch adherents of the doctrine of Chiliasmus, and that both on the continent and in England a large number of Protestants had no doubt whatever that Drabik was directly inspired from heaven. “This last week I have twice read the book of Drabicius,” writes Beale to Hartlib, “and cannot doubt but, in the main, God is in it.” Comenius was now leaving the legitimate paths of Churchmanship and pedagogy, and entering upon the trackless maze of vaticination. Revelation succeeded revelation. “About three weeks ago,” writes Hartlib to Pell in 1658, “Mr. Comen did impart unto me a copy of the last three visions of Drabicius from March 8th to September 1st, wherein he says again that the king of France is to be the German emperor.” In the following year appeared the History of the Revelations; in 1663, the more recent visions of Drabik were given to the public; and, two years later, a complete illustrated edition of all the prophecies up to date, under the title Lux e Tenebris, was issued.

In spite of the popularity of these works, murmurs of disapproval were heard in many quarters. Nicholas Arnold, a professor at Franecker, gave vent to his feelings in his Discursus Theologicus contra Comenium, and Samuel Des Marets, Professor of Theology at Groningen, published several brochures, in which, however, he was careful to state that the object of his attack was not Comenius, but the Revelations fathered by him. Even in his own