Greetings to the Reader

God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us ; >That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Psalm 67: 1, 2

1. Didactic signifies the art of teaching. Several men of ability, taking pity on the Sisyphus-labour of schools, have lately endeavoured to find out some such Art, but with unequal skill and unequal success.

2. Some merely wished to give assistance towards learning some language or other with greater ease. Others found ways of imparting this or that science or art with greater speed. Others suggested improvements of various kinds; but almost all proceeded by means of unconnected precepts, gleaned from a superficial experience, that is to say, a posteriori.

3. We venture to promise a Great Didactic, that is to say, the whole art of teaching all things to all men, and indeed of teaching them with certainty, so that the result cannot fail to follow; further, of teaching them pleasantly, that is to say, without annoyance or aversion on the part of teacher or pupil, but rather with the greatest enjoyment for both; further of teaching them thoroughly, not superficially and showily, but in such a manner as to lead to true knowledge, to gentle morals, and to the deepest piety. Lastly, we wish to prove all this a priori, that is to say, from the unalterable nature of the matter itself, drawing off, as from a living source, the constantly flowing runlets, and bringing them together again into one concentrated stream, that we may lay the foundations of the universal art of founding universal schools.

4. The prospect which is here held out is indeed great and very desirable, though I can easily foresee that to many it will appear to be an idle dream rather than the exposition of a real possibility.

5. The matter is indeed a serious one, and, as all should earnestly wish for the result, so should all, with united effort, carefully pass judgment on the means, since the salvation of the human race is at stake.

6. Now to portray the art of arts is a troublesome matter, and calls for exceptional criticism; and not that of one man alone, but of many; since no individual is so keen-sighted that the greater part of any matter does not escape his observation.

7. With justice therefore I demand from my readers, and adjure all who shall see this undertaking, by the salvation of mankind: firstly, not to attribute it to indiscretion if any one resolve not only to investigate so weighty a matter, but also to give promises; since this can only have the advantage of others as its object. Secondly, not to lose heart at once, if the first attempt do not succeed on the spot, and the longed-for result be not brought to full completion by us. For in any matter it is necessary that the seed should first sprout, and then raise itself gradually.

8. This art of teaching and of learning was in former centuries to a great extent unknown, at any rate in that degree of perfection to which it is now wished to raise it, and on that account the world of culture and the schools were so full of toil and weariness, of weakness and deceits, that only those who were gifted with parts beyond the ordinary could obtain a sound education.

9. But recently it has pleased God to let the morning glow of a newly-rising age appear, in which He has inspired some sturdy men in Germany, who, weary of the errors of the present method of instruction, began to think out an easier and shorter way of teaching languages. This they did, the one after the other, and therefore some with greater, others with less success, as may be seen in the didactic works that they gave to the world.

10. I here allude to men like Ratke, Lubin, Helwig, Ritter, Bodin, Glaum, Vogel, Wolfstirn, and he who deserves to be placed before them all, John Valentine Andreae (who in his golden writings has laid bare the diseases not only of the Church and the state, but also of the schools, and has pointed out the remedies). In France too they set this stone in motion, since, in the year 1629, Janus Caecilius Frey brought out a fine work on Didactic (under the title, A new and easy way to the goodly Sciences and Arts, to Languages, and to Rhetoric).

11. It is almost incredible what pleasure I found, and how my pain over the decline of my native land and the terribly oppressed state of all Germany was lightened whenever opportunity arose and I turned over the pages of these writings. For I began to hope that it was not without purpose that the providence of the Almighty had allowed it to come to pass that the decline of the old schools and the foundation of new ones in harmony with new ideas should take place at one and the same time. For he who intends to raise a new building, invariably levels the ground beforehand and removes the less comfortable or ruined houses.

12. This thought raised in me a joyful hope mingled with pleasant emotion; but I soon felt this vanish, and reflected that it would be impossible to reconstruct such an important institution from the very beginning.