Page:Comenius' School of Infancy.pdf/20

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xiv
INTRODUCTION.

all invited him to come and live among them, and reconstruct their educational systems.

On the two hundredth anniversary of his death there was founded at Leipzig a national pedagogical library in his memory which now numbers over sixty-six thousand volumes. Besides the review (Monatshefte der Comenius Gesellschaft) already noted, there are in many German cities Comenian societies which have for their object the study of his educational theories and practices. On the 28th of March, 1892, the three hundredth anniversary of his birth, educators the world over met to honor his memory and reflect upon the vast significance of his life and teachings. At the same time there was erected at Naärden, Holland, a modest but appropriate monument. It stands in a little park that is tastefully ornamented with shrubs and flowers, and consists of a pyramid of rough stones, with two marble slabs containing beautiful gold furrowed inscriptions in Latin, Dutch, and Slavonic. Here in this quiet little Dutch town, where he passed his closing days in exile, hundreds of educators come annually from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Poland, Sweden, and other European countries to pay willing homage to the memory of a great teacher and a good man. That an American edition of his School of Infancy may do something towards contributing to this interest, is the sincere hope of the editor.