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38 made by one who has been a constant wanderer in the district referred to. Similar attempts to connect great writings with the scenery that surrounded their author while he wrote them have often been made; and it is certain that a man of genius—such as Komensky undoubtedly was—would be more strongly impressed and influenced by the scenery around him than an ordinary man.

Meanwhile, Komensky's stay in his beloved Bohemia was drawing to an end. The condition of the brethren at Brandeis was at first a fairly tolerable one. The Austrian Government, grateful to Zerotin for his fidelity to the house of Habsburg, did not at first molest his protégés much. But the position of non-Catholics became more precarious in the Habsburg dominions every year. Every year the regulations against them became more severe. Komensky, like many of the brethren, lived in secrecy, and only occasionally returned to Brandeis. At last the brethren, among whom was Komensky, decided, at a secret meeting in the village of Doubravic, that they would altogether abandon Bohemia, and settle in Poland and Hungary. It was also agreed to that certain members of the community should precede the general emigration, and seek in these countries places of refuge where the brethren could continue to worship freely according to their doctrine. Komensky was chosen as one of these envoys, and now travelled extensively in Northern Germany and Poland. It was decided that Komensky and other brethren