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40 that, to a certain extent, preserved his fame, even when he was least known. Thus a large part of the "Didactica Magna" was written at Lissa. Here, also, Komensky began his pansophic studies at this time, and his first philosophical (or pansophic) book appeared in 1632. Though written during the troublous times of the Thirty Years' War, Komensky's pansophic studies attracted great attention. Indeed, the horrors of that war may have inclined the minds of men to that mysticism that promised them a delightful future, contrasting with the wretched present. It is always in times of great misery that mystic, particularly chiliastic, ideas, such as Komensky professed in the last years of his life, appeal most to the minds of men.

The interest in Komensky's pansophic studies was not limited to Poland, Bohemia, and Germany. His fame spread also to far more distant countries', [sic] particularly to England, that did not interfere in the thirty years' struggle on the Continent, but that was then on the verge of civil war. Samuel Hartlib, well known as a friend of Milton, was greatly interested in the studies of the Bohemian pansophist. A correspondence began between Hartlib and Komensky, to whom Hartlib offered financial aid to enable him to visit England. After some hesitation, Komensky accepted this offer. His temporary hope of returning to Bohemia—founded on the brilliant victories of Gustavus Adolphus—had proved vain. Count Lescynski, his old patron, had died, and shortly afterwards his son had, for political reasons, adopted the creed of Rome.