Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/99

 On the 2nd of June he delivered a farewell oration in the great hall of the Gymnasium. All the circumstances that had led to friction between himself and his colleagues were forgotten, and, in an eloquent speech, he wished prosperity to the school, and reminded its governors and patrons of the golden rules by which it might be attained. Shortly afterwards he left Saros-Patak.

He did not, however, go straight back to Lissa, but stayed for a few weeks at Lednic, where he was in daily communication with Drabik. During the last few months of his residence in Hungary he had redoubled his efforts to induce George Rakoczy to take an interest in the Revelations, and had actually been invited to go to Siebenbürgen and expound them in person. This he had been unable to do, but, with the object of retaining the Count’s interest, he wrote the tractate Gentis felicitas, in which, after discussing the general essentials of good and successful government, he treats of Hungary in particular, and urges the Count, as the perfect ruler and saviour of the Hungarian nation, to place himself in opposition to the house of Hapsburg and uphold the cause of Evangelism.

Under the fire of so much exhortation, George Rakoczy was unable to make up his mind. From a letter to Count Jonas Mednyanszky it appears that he did not attach very much importance to the prophecies, though, for other reasons, he was decidedly disposed to take the line suggested by them. To Comenius he wrote that his difficulties were immense, as he had to cope with the Emperor, the king of Poland, the Turks, and the fickleness of his own subjects. If, however, another defender of Evangelism were to arise, he would be quite willing to assist him.

The occasion was not far to seek. The succession of Charles Gustavus to the throne of Sweden introduced a new element into the political situation, and may have induced Rakoczy to think that Drabik’s forecast of striking events in the near future was, after all, a divine communication. That he was greatly tempted to abandon the cautious pro-