THE LIFE OF 
 
 JOHN KOLLAR 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 ENGLISH VERSION BY JOHN KULAMER. 
 SLOVAK VERSION BY PETER S. KOMPIS. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 
 PITTSBURGH PA. 
 
 JAN KOLLAR 
 
 £ivotopisn0 ndstin. 
 
 SPRACOVALI: 
 
 slovensky: PETER S. KOMPIS 
 
 anglickp: JAN KULAMER. 
 
 VYDALA : 
 
 SLOVENSKA liga v amerike. 
 
 COPYRIGHTED BY 
 
 SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 
 
 FEBRUARY 3rd, 1917. 
 
THE LIFE OF 
 
 JOHN KOLLAR 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 ENGLISH VERSION BY JOHN KU LAMER. 
 SLOVAK VERSION BY PETER S. KOMPIS. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 
 PITTSBURGH PA. 
 
 & 
 
 COPYRIGHTED BY 
 
 SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 
 
 FEBRUARY 3rd, 1917. 
 
4» 
 
 JOHN KOLLAR. 
 
 / 
 
 ©G1.A455443 
 

 Introduction. 
 
 >MONG the world problems of our age the 
 
 Au\ Slavic Question is forging to the forefront. 
 \\ Ninety years ago it was hardly more than 
 academic, yet in the 1 9 th, and at the beginning 
 of the present Century it grew into a political, social and 
 economic idea. This question, in fact, is becoming inter- 
 national. 
 
 It arose naturally out of the awakening of national 
 consciousness in the European races. The consciousness 
 that the Russians, the Poles, the Bohemians, the Slovaks 
 and the South Slavs, in times past, formed but one nation 
 lived in the memory of the Slavs for hundreds of years 
 prior to that period. In Russia the so called Annals of 
 Nestor, originally written in the 1 1 th Century, speak of 
 the common origin of the Slavic nations, who only after 
 they split and migrated to the East, the South and the 
 West assumed their distinctive names. Old historians 
 Kosmas, the Bohemian, ( 1 1 25),Gallus, the Pole, (1 1 10,) 
 Orbini, the South Slav, (1601) all agree in the view 
 that the Slavs are a nation belonging to the same race 
 and that they differ only in dialect and a few special 
 words. Even in the royal documents i — the Danish, 
 the Mecklenburgian, the German, the Pomeranian, etc. 
 — they are referred to by a common name, "Slavi": 
 "quod slavice dicitur", "duces, reges, Slavorum". 
 
 Archaological relics prove that the Slavs lived in 
 Lusatia, in Silesia, in Hungary (in the valley of the Ri- 
 mava) even in the neolithic and the bronze ages. The 
 non-Slavic, the Roman, the Greek, the Arab, historians, 
 chroniclers and geographers, from the 1st to the 12th 
 
Centuries, (from Pliny the Second, to the Arabs, Al Bekri 
 and Edrisi) mention the large area which the Slavs in- 
 habited and their vast numbers. 
 
 But under the pressure of barbaric tribes, the Ger- 
 mans, Asdingians, Silingians ; Magyars, Huns, Tartars 
 and Turks, which in the middle ages overran the Slavic 
 countries and in many places separated the compact 
 masses in which they had lived and thereby weakened 
 them, the consciousness of their unity was nearly wiped 
 out, and that also for the reason that the most progressive 
 ones, the Obodriti, the Letti and the Serbi, residing bet- 
 ween the Baltic sea and the present Saxony and from 
 Dancig to the present Holstein, were, from the 8th to 
 the 12 th Centuries, almost completely exterminated or 
 
 Germanized. 
 
 '- *• * * 
 But an.idea founded in nature and history may be, 
 
 for a time, stifled but never wiped out. 
 
 Then came the 13th, 14th and 15 th Centuries and 
 the Renaissance. Cruel wars were waged incessantly by 
 the Germans and the Turks against the Slavs. But the 
 reformations of Wycliffe, Huss, Luther and Calvin ad- 
 vocated the use of the mother tongue by the church and 
 the state. The Hussites, in particular, were ardent nation- 
 alists. Luther himself acknowledged: "I, Zwingli, Me- 
 lanchton, are all in fact Hussites.'* (See Ranke, History 
 of the Reformation). Huss opposed with all the force 
 of his character the Teutonic attempts to Germanize the 
 University of Prague. His followers in arms, fighting 
 for liberty of conscience and political independence, con- 
 quered with their swords nearly all of Europe. At the 
 same time the Russian empire began to grow in power. 
 Poland, after the might of the Teutonic Order was broken 
 and after it was formed into one political unit, began 
 also to assume great importance among her neighbors. 
 
It seemed then that upon the northern and the western 
 Slavs would dawn the conciousness of their common in- 
 terests. After the 1 5 year Hussite wars, Bohemia grew 
 considerably both politically and nationally. Impelled 
 by the inborn Slavic passion for the equality of man, both 
 the inhabitants of cities and the village communities 
 wrested for themselves certain liberties. But this did 
 not last long. At the instignation of the Teutonic rulers 
 and the nobility, thirsting after glory, new religious 
 and political wars broke out in the year 1485. At the 
 Diet of Kuttenberg the cities were deprived of their re- 
 presentation and the farming population, by new enact- 
 ments, was shorn of its personal liberties and actually en- 
 slaved. In the meanwhile the Turks had conquered the 
 South Slavs, and, after the battle of Mohacs, nearly all 
 of Hungary and a portion of Slovensko. The Teutonic 
 Hapsburgs possessed themselves of the throne of 
 Bohemia. This oppression, practiced by the nobility, 
 lasted until the battle of White Mountain (1620) which 
 sounded the death knell of independent Bohemia. In the 
 30 year's war, out of three million people in Bohemia 
 2,200,000 were either exterminated or banished. True, 
 Germany also broke up into many small states, but these 
 were partly kept together by the Imperial Diet and by 
 the racial consciousness still persisting in the people. 
 Among the Slavs, however, the national feeling slumb- 
 ered. In the northwest they were gradually depleted by 
 the Teutons, in the South by the Turks. It must be ad- 
 mitted that the Turks injured greatly the Slavs in their 
 existence, their language and their distinctiveness, but 
 the Teutons injured them more. 
 
 The Slavic idea languished but did not die out. 
 Even during the centuries of political division and dom- 
 estic strife, there arose mentors who earnestly preached 
 
to the Russians, the Poles, the Bohemians and the Ser- 
 bians their common Slavic tongue. John Benedicti, the 
 Bohemian (15 71) in his grammar enumerates the Bo- 
 hemian, the Slovak, the Serbian as Slavic dialects, spoken 
 from Hungary to Constantinople, and among these he 
 also includes the Polish and the Russian. He, therefore, 
 advocated Pan-Slavism. The Poles, Orzechowski (1564) 
 and Gornicki (1566), in their books advised authors 
 to colaborate and to exchange words and phrases from 
 the various Slavic dialects. 
 
 Even the illustrious descendant of the Polabian 
 Slavs, the world famous genius, philosopher and histor- 
 ian, Leibnitz in 1713 at Torgov thus spoke to Peter the 
 Great, Czar of Russia: "Our origin is the same. Both 
 of us are Slavs". And he advised the Czar to have a 
 collection made of data necessary for the study of the 
 Russian language, similar to the one that had been made 
 at his suggestion of the antiquities of the Obodriti and 
 the Drevani. 
 
 The Serbian scholar, Abraham Brancell of Lusatia, 
 in 1693, spoke of "the famous and powerful Slav nation, 
 before whom the entire world would surely bow, if it had 
 as much luck as it had virtue". He raised the hopes of 
 the Serbs of Lusatia in a better future. (This little Slav 
 island in the Teutonic ocean, Upper and Lower Lusatia, 
 lies southwestwardly from Berlin and northeastwardly 
 from Dresden). 
 
 The South-Slavs of Dalmatia, Croatia, Carinthia and 
 Bulgaria also claimed membership in the Slavic family. 
 Faustin Vrancic, the Croatian, in the preface to his Croat- 
 ian-Krainer dictionary (1605) writes: "So far as known, 
 there is no more extensively spoken language than the 
 Slavic, for it may be heard in large portions of Europe 
 and Asia." Bohoric the Krainer (1584), indicated the 
 
close affiliation of the South-Slavic languages with the 
 Russian, the Polish and the Bohemian. George Krzanic, 
 a Bosnian Serb, who emigrated to Russia, undertook a 
 still greater task; in 1665 he wrote an All-Slavic gram- 
 mar. In Russia alone did Krzanic see the salvation of the 
 scattered Slavic nations. 
 
 Thus did the scholars, poets and preachers of all the 
 branches of the Slavic family try to awaken the Slavic 
 consciousness in the 1 6th, 1 7th and the 1 8th Centuries. 
 But this represents the work of but few individuals who 
 were unable to awaken the masses of the people. 
 
 The entire Slavic race became alive to the full 
 realization of its common interests only in the first half 
 of the 1 9th Century, for which the greatest credit is due 
 to two Slovaks, Paul Joseph Safarik and John Kollar. The 
 former was a scholar, a historian of European fame and 
 the latter a great poet. 
 
 The Western nations, sad to say, know very little 
 about the Slavs, about their history, culture or arts; even 
 thorough and earnest students of human affairs concern 
 themselves more with the African tribes than with their 
 neighbors, the Slavs. And this notwithstandig the fact 
 that the Slavic idea is influencing more than 250 million 
 of people; some of these strive to realize it, others to 
 annihilate it. It is highly important, therefore, to become 
 acquainted, if only in a cursory way, with its foremost 
 apostle, John Kollar. 
 
 To give such information is the purpose of this 
 pamphlet. 
 
Historical Data. 
 
 John Kollar was born in the town of Mosovce, in 
 the County of Turoc, northern Hungary, on the 29th of 
 July, 1793. 
 
 Slovensko, the Northern portion of Hungary, is rich 
 in natural and man-made beauties, in material and spi- 
 ritual treasures, although heretofore little appreciated ancf 
 hardly even known. A French writer on political econ- 
 omy, when traveling through this portion of Hungary 
 said: "When I behold this harmonious blending of mount- 
 ains, valleys and plains, these crystall-clear but mighty 
 rivers and cataracts, these luxuriant forests, extensive rich 
 deposits of minerals and the picturesque type of men, 
 their well developed artistic ornamentation in inexhaust- 
 ible motiffs, applied to the clothing of their men, women 
 and children, to their cottages, houses and furniture and 
 when I behold all these undeveloped slumbering natural 
 resources, all this water power, it seems to me that in this 
 country the myths concerning magic castles and golden 
 palaces should be materialized". Even the native Slovaks 
 acknowledge that the County of Turoc is the most beau- 
 tiful portion of Slovensko. Amid these beautiful sur- 
 roundings, John Kollar spent his tender years. 
 
 His father, Mathew, was quite an important citizen 
 of his town; he had been a justice of the peace, and a 
 notary public. His principal occupation was tilling the 
 soil, but he also engaged in the butcher business. His-, 
 family was of moderate circumstances. His father was 
 strict, economical and as dilligent at his work as at his 
 prayers. He was rather irritable, rash and very obdurate. 
 He was fairly well educated, considering the standing of 
 his family and his calling. Besides finishing the elemen- 
 tary schools at home he attended the three lower grades 
 at the Gymnasium of Asod, where he learned a little 
 Latin. His mother, {Catherine Drozd, came from a good 
 family of trade people. Both were of the Protestant- 
 Lutheran religion. 
 
 His parents raised their boy, John, in a very strict 
 religious atmosphere. He attended the elementary schools 
 
of his town. When he was 1 years old, at the request 
 of his girl friends, he wrote four verses for the reception 
 of the Bishop. At the common scools of Mosovce, as 
 it was in all the schools of his day, the Latin language was 
 considered the foundation of education and, consequent- 
 ly, a good deal of time and attention were spent on it. 
 In Northern Hungary the Latin language maintained its 
 supremacy longer than in any other country. This in 
 spite of the fact that the Slovaks had a translation of the 
 Bible since the times of Cyrill and Methodius (885). 
 Since 1564 — 1588, the Slovaks together with the Bo- 
 hemians had their classic Bohemian-Slovak "Kralitzer" 
 Bible. Under the fostering care of the Veleslavins ( 1 560 
 — 1600), publishers, Bohemian literature flourished 
 and its works were known by the Slovaks. In 1631 the 
 great works of John Amos Comenius had a wide circul- 
 ation. Yet, notwithstanding this, as if under some curse, 
 in the 1 7th, 1 8th and at the beginning of the 1 9th Cen- 
 turies, Latin was taught and spoken not only by the 
 nobility and the burgoise of the cities but even by the 
 cooks, chambermaids and hostlers. Cabbages and pigs 
 were sold in Latin in the market places. 
 
 Kollar, an unusually gifted and dilligent scholar, 
 enthusiastically studied this dead language. He acknow- 
 ledged himself that in his boyhood days he wished that 
 all the other languages perished and that all the people 
 should speak Latin. His farsighted teacher, Sulek, in- 
 stilled into the hearts of his pupils the love of their mother 
 tongue. Bur j an, his second master, exerted the same in- 
 fluence on Kollar. The boy, in the meantime, drank in 
 with avidity the beauties of his picturesque hillsides and 
 forests in which he loved to roam ; he listened to the tune- 
 ful songs of the the harvesters in the fields and the mea- 
 dows. These are replete both with gayety and melan- 
 choly and posses true poetic beauty. 
 
 After he finished his common schools, at the age 
 of 1 3, his father sent him to the gymnasiums at nearby 
 Kremnitz. Here he devoted himself to deeper studies 
 of Latin and its classics. He acquired such through know- 
 ledge of it that he could compose Latin speeches and 
 chronograms. At Kremnitz he passionately applied him- 
 
10 
 
 self to drawing and painting. In his days these arts were 
 specially cultivated in that town. He also learned 
 German. 
 
 After two years he came home with an excellent 
 school record. He came home with the idea of returning 
 to his studies the next Fall. But his hopes were shattered 
 by his exceedingly "practical" father who wanted him 
 to help on the farm and in business, and had him apprent- 
 iced to a butcher. But this occupation went against his 
 grain, and he left his master. His enraged father drove 
 away his 1 6 year son, who, urged by his desire for higher 
 education left his home with a sad heart and sought re- 
 fuge with his cousin, also John Kollar, who was a school 
 teacher in the nearby town of Slovenske Pravno. He 
 sympathized with his relative and encouraged him to per- 
 severe in his purpose. He argued to him that they would 
 find some way for him to attend school. Shortly after- 
 wards Adam Burjan, Kollar' s teacher at Mosovce, came 
 to visit them and took Kollar with him back home as 
 an assistent teacher for one year. His father would have 
 nothing to do with him even then and would not spend 
 anything on his education. His retiring and affectionate 
 mother could offer but little help. But Burjan procured 
 for Kollar help from the gymnasium at Banska Bystrica. 
 Here he made his living by private tutoring and also from 
 his drawings and paintings, while attending his classes 
 regularly. His great intellectual gifts were soon recog- 
 nized and appreciated by professor Magda, who under- 
 took to look after his material and spiritual wants. At 
 Banska Bystrica Kollar devoted himself particularly to 
 the study of the Latin classic authors: Virgil, Horace, 
 Ovid and the philosopher Boothius. 
 
 In two years he completed his gymnasium course. 
 That was in 1812. He departed with the highest honors. 
 The following Fall he made up his mind to go to Press- 
 burgh, to study for the ministry. But he did not go home 
 to his father for his vacation. Money he had none. At 
 the advice of the authorities at Banska Bystrica he be- 
 came a supplicant. Supplicants were poor students, who 
 traveled thoroughout the country collecting gifts, partly 
 for the support of some school, which during the scholas- 
 
li 
 
 tic year furnished common meals to its students either 
 free of charge or for a nominal price, and partly for them- 
 selves. Every supplicant received a collection book and 
 was assigned to a certain district where he could make 
 his rounds. Ordinarily, these supplicants traveled on 
 foot from village to village, from city to city, from school 
 to school. 
 
 Kollar at first covered the northernmost part of his 
 native country.the Counties of Liptov and Orava and then 
 struck out for the Plains, Southern Hungary. On his 
 travels in the south, he was here and there asked by the 
 ministers, overwhelmed with work, to preach on Sun- 
 days, for which he usually received small compensation. 
 The small commission he received from his collections 
 and the help he obtained from his relatives enabled him, 
 in the Fall of 1812 to enter the Academy at Pressburgh 
 to study philosophy and theology. Here he again acted 
 as private tutor to help him out in paying for his tuition 
 and his board. The second year, having proved him- 
 self an excellent scholar, he was given a temporary po- 
 sition as instructor and manager of the Orphan Asylum 
 of the city of Pressburgh. Till then this institution had 
 been neglected, but Kollar introduced the system of Salz- 
 man and Basedowski and raised its standard so high that 
 even the citizens and the nobility sent their children 
 there. 
 
 He did not, in spite of his activities, neglect his own 
 education. He applied himself privately to everything 
 which the poor facilities of the Academy could not supply 
 him. He learned Greek, French, Italian and English; 
 he became proficient in the Old Slavic language. He 
 studied botany, mathematics and astronomy and took 
 exercises in singing, music and even dancing. In a word, 
 he wanted to perfect himself in everything that he thought 
 would be useful to him in his career. He read Iffland, 
 Wieland, Klopstock, the German poets and Cervante's 
 Don Quixote in German translation. These works, how- 
 ever, made little impression on him. 
 
 The City of Pressburg was in those days rather in- 
 teresting. It lies on the Danube not far from Vienna, 
 on the main road to Budapest. Important personages, 
 
12 
 
 artists, scientists, were wont to stop at Pressburg. Here 
 Kollar saw the conquerors of Napoleon at the battle of 
 Leipzig, when they came there on excursions from the 
 Congress of Vienne. Here he saw how brutally the Aus- 
 trians treated their French captives, etc. Here he became 
 acquainted with Francis Palacky, who was his fellow- 
 student, and who later became a famous Bohemian histo- 
 rian. At that time there were also several South Slav 
 students attending the Academy, with whom he struck 
 up an acquintance. 
 
 After three year's attendance at the Academy he 
 passed the required examinations in theology and began 
 thinking of going to some German university to complete 
 his education. To provide himself with the necessary 
 funds he accepted the position of private tutor with a weal- 
 thy family of Banska Bystrica for a year and a half. Here 
 he became acquainted with Rev. Samuel Roznay, the 
 incumbent of the Lutheran parish, who was only 6 years 
 older than himself. Roznay was very highly educated, 
 a man of deep sympathies and of a pleasing personality. 
 He was an enthusiastic Slovak and Slavonian. He exert- 
 ed a great influence on Kollar. In a great measure we 
 can thank Roznay for making John Kollar a prophet of 
 Panslayism. But Roznay died in a few months after 
 he became a friend of Kollar. 
 
 In the Fall of 1817 Kollar started on his journey to 
 Jena. At Buda (then not yet joined to Pesth, although 
 a seat of several government offices) he procured his 
 passport and then went through Pressburgh, Vienna to 
 Prague. Here he became acquainted with seme of the 
 best known Bohemian scholars, authors, and particular- 
 ly with Joseph Jungman, and the philologist, Joseph Do- 
 brovsky. Prague at that time, although inhabited mostly 
 by Bohemians, was almost completely Germanized. It 
 made a sad impression on Kollar. He said about Prague 
 that it looked to him like the petrified history of the Bo- 
 hemian nation. At that time he did not even dream that 
 within few years it would become a powerful center of 
 the scientific and industrial activities of Bohemia. 
 
 Leaving Prague he stopped for a few days at Dres- 
 den and there visited the world famous picture galleries. 
 
13 
 
 From there he went by Leipzig to Jena. He was then 
 24 years old. 
 
 Jena, a city in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, is even 
 to-day unimportant from the industrial standpoint. At 
 the beginning of the 19th Century it had hardly 10,000 
 inhabitants and 2,000 to 3,000 of these were university 
 students. But in a spiritual sense, it was, together with 
 the neighboring city of Weimar, about 1 2 miles ( 1 9 kilo- 
 meters) from Jena, one of the greatest seats of learning 
 and enlightment, the home of geniuses. Before Kollar's 
 advent the great philosophers Fichte, Schelling, Hegel 
 and the poet Schiller were giving lectures at this Uni- 
 versity. In Kollar's time their scholars, Fries and Ok en 
 were teaching there. The entire University, professors and 
 students were liberal; everybody was impregnated with 
 the spirit of truth and liberty. At Weimar Herder, Wie- 
 land, Schiller, Goethe, Arndt and others made their 
 homes. Kollar knew the great Goethe personally. He 
 made several translation of Slovak songs into the German 
 language for him. Goethe called [Collar's attention to 
 the great poetical beauty of folksongs, and, because the 
 renowned Herder had already in 1 778 published his 
 famous collection of the "Folksongs" which contained 
 a good many Slavic songs, principally Serbian, Kollar 
 resolved to make a complete collection of Slovak folk- 
 songs. 
 
 A new world revealed itself to the vision of Kollar 
 at Jena. The professors at the University occupied the 
 front ranks among world renowned scholars; the Univer- 
 sity Library was one of the best for those days. In the 
 nearby city of Leipzig there was another famous Univer- 
 sity, which two years prior to Kollar's advent to Jena, in 
 1816, was consolidated with the universities of Halle and 
 Erfurt. All this spiritual wealth and the beauties of the 
 valley of the river Saale deeply affected the sensitive soul 
 of Kollar. He thus describes his feelings in his "Me- 
 moirs": "Jena and its vicinity, nay my entire journey 
 through Saxony, aroused new and hertofore unknown 
 emotions in my soul. Everywhere Slavic names and non- 
 Slavic inhabitants!" 
 
 Here he studied theology, philosophy, the natural 
 
14 
 
 sciences and universal history. He wanted to acquire all 
 knowledge, all the sciences, but he saw that it was im- 
 possible; so, in order not to dissipate his mental energies, 
 he mapped out for himself a definite course of studies. 
 Besides the above subjects, he took a course in philology 
 and privately devoted himself to reading the works of 
 Goethe, Rousseau, Chateaubriand, Ossian, Petrarca and 
 others. He also studied poetics and acquired a work- 
 ing knowledge of the technique of poetry. The works 
 of Herder profoundly affected the views of Kollar. Her- 
 der, as early as 1 787 in his work, "Ideen zur Geschichte 
 der Menschcheit" (Ideas to the History of Humanity) 
 speaking of the unhappy history of the Slavs, said: "The 
 wheel of changing time is forever turning, because these 
 nations (the Slavic) for the most part inhabit the most 
 fertile poritons of Europe and because they are rather 
 uncivilized and their commerce is little developed. Since 
 it is obvious that in Europe laws and politics will encou- 
 rage civil and mutual cooperation rather than miliatrism, 
 therefore, you too, Slavic races, now at such a low ebb 
 of development, will at some future time be prosperous 
 and happy; you will awaken from your long, deep slum- 
 bers and will be freed from your chains; you will enjoy 
 your beautiful countries, from the Adriatic to the Tatra 
 and from the Don to the Mulda and will celebrate your 
 ancient festivals of peaceful labor and commerce*'. 
 
 The works of Herder have not been fully appreciat- 
 ed by his own people, the Germans, to this day; but 
 Kollar understood fully Herder's lofty spirit. 
 
 John Benedicti, another Slovak youth of high ideals 
 and noble purposes was Kollar's fellow student at Jena, 
 ihe two countrymen soon became fast friends. On Sun- 
 days and holidays they would ramble in the flowery 
 meadows and hillsides and made short excursions to the 
 neighboring villages and towns. They found out that all 
 around them the names of the communities, mountains, 
 streams and of the families were Slavic. They found 
 further that the inhabitants still remembered that Slavic 
 blood coursed in their veins and that they were German- 
 ized by force. Both the comrades applied themselves to 
 learning the old Slavic chronicles from which fragmentary 
 
15 
 
 collection they gradually reconstructed the glorious hi- 
 story of their Slavic brethren: they sorrowed over the fate 
 of so many Slavic families, mercilessly exterminated and 
 estranged. The result of these discoveries was that 
 Kollar applied himself with zeal to the study of Slavic 
 history and antiquities. 
 
 His surcharged soul sought expression in poetry. 
 His determination to write poetry was stimulated by an 
 unusual experience. Even among the professors of the 
 University he was known as an eloquent speaker. In the 
 nearby community of Lobeda, the minister, Schmidt by 
 name, was taken seriously ill. His wife went to Jena to 
 ask the Bishop and the professor J. G. Marezoll, to send 
 somebody to take his place at the services in the church 
 the following Sunday At the recommendation of Ma- 
 rezoll, she asked Kollar. Accompanied by his friend Be- 
 nedicti, Kollar went to Lobeda a day ahead, in order 
 to acquaint himself with the preacher; he also met his 
 beautiful daughter, Wilhelmina, who was then 22 years 
 old. He had seen her at a previous entertainment, but 
 now he met her at home and fell in love with her on the 
 spot. Her father, Schmidt, told Kollar that he, too, was 
 of Slavic descent. 
 
 From that day Kollar was a frequent visitor at the 
 home of Schmidt; he also began to write poetry, sonnets, 
 idelaizing the young woman. To him she played the 
 role of Laura to Petrarca and Beatrice, to Dante. He 
 called her Mina, and she finally became the "Daughter 
 of Slavia", the incarnation of all the fires that consumed 
 his ardent soul. 
 
 Pastor Schmidt of Lobeda died soon after that. The 
 members of his congregation had become so fascinated 
 with Kollar that they called him to their parish. Had 
 he accepted this call he would have accomplished two 
 things; he could have married his beloved and would 
 have assured a comfortable living for himself. Mrs. 
 Schmidt heartily approved this plan. She informed her 
 daughter's suitor that she would consent to the union but 
 only on condition that they would iemain in Germany. 
 She did not want even to listen to the suggestion that her 
 daughter go to Hungary with her prospective husband. 
 
16 
 
 She looked upon Hungary as a barbarous country; Hun- 
 gary and Siberia meant the same thing to her. [Collar 
 was face to face with a struggle between love and duty. 
 Love for his people came out victor over his love for 
 his sweetheart. He answered the parishioners of Lobeda 
 that he was a Slovak and not a German and that, since 
 the Germans had an abundance of excellent preachers and 
 the Slovaks had hardly any, he considered it his duty 
 and his vocation to labor for the uplift of his own people. 
 In the year 1869, after a sojourn of a year and a half, he 
 left Jena with a heavy heart. Before returning to his 
 native land, however, he planned to make a trip through 
 Poland and Russia with three of his Russian fellow-stud- 
 ents. But one of these fell in a student's duel and the 
 others then hastened home. Kollar and another friend 
 visited Saxony, Brandenburg and Pomerania as far as 
 the Baltic sea; all these are Germanized Slavic countries. 
 "It seemed to him as if he were threading on the graves 
 of his dear departed. He went as far as Holland to the 
 grave of the famous pedagogue, John Amos Comenius, at 
 Narden, near Amsterdam. From there he journeyed by 
 water up the river Rhine and a short piece up the river 
 Danube and, after several weeks he reached Prague. 
 Here his spirit gained new vigor from the sympathic 
 friendship of renowned Bohemian patriots. Finally he 
 returned, by way of Pressburgh, to his beloved Turoc. 
 But even then he did not enter his father's house, but 
 went to the home of his cousin, John Kollar, at Slovenske 
 Pravno. He spent the summer in writing poetry and 
 just drinking in the beauties of nature. 
 
 In the Fall of 1819, the German-Slovak evangelical 
 church of Pesth needed a curate who knew both German 
 and Slovak. Bishop Lovich knew Kollar* s special quali- 
 fications for the position and recommended him to the 
 church autorities. Thus he came to settle at Pesth. But 
 here he got between two, or rather three fires. The 
 Slovaks of Pesth demanded as their natural right and as 
 being in consonance with the principles of protestantism, 
 that the common administration allow the church services 
 to be held in their mother tongue also, the same as they 
 had been prior to that held both in the German and 
 
17 
 
 Magyar languages. The Germans and the Magyars were 
 opposed this. Soon afterwards their common preacher, 
 Molnar, died ; the Slovaks elected Kollar and the Germans 
 Kalchbrenner, as his successor. The Slovaks demanded 
 that certain hours be set apart for them to conduct their 
 services in the common church. The Germans did all 
 they could to prevent this. They locked the church and 
 the parish house in the face of the Slovaks. Nay, one 
 Sunday they even brought the county officials, accom- 
 panied with an armed posse, to keep Kollar and his fol- 
 lowers out of the church. On this occasion he succeeded 
 in convincing the autorities of his right to conduct the 
 services in that church. The separation of the two factions 
 of the congregation followed, but the Slovaks got the 
 short end in the partition of the property. From new 
 donations they founded, in connection with their church, 
 a school also. Kollar soon found out that to educate his 
 neglected Slovaks, who for hundreds of years suffered 
 untold persecutions at the hands of the Germans and the 
 Magyars, just because they wanted to cultivate their 
 mother tongue — the tradesmen and artisans were driven 
 out of their business establishments and workshops and 
 the farmers were subjected to daily lashings by their su- 
 periors — it was necessary to begin with composing spel- 
 lers and primers, and so in 1825 and 1826 he wrote and 
 published such books for the children. In 1821, under 
 the title "Poems", he published a portion of his sonnets 
 and in 1824 his "Daughter of Slavia" an amplified col- 
 lection of the same, was given to the Slovak world. After 
 every publication of the works Kollar, the German "pro- 
 pagators of culture" (Kulturtrager) called together meet- 
 ings at which resolutions, addressed to the church and 
 state authorities, were passed protesting against his act- 
 ivities; insulting, anonymous letters poured in on him; his 
 windows were broken and he was nightly treated to cater- 
 wauling concerts. 
 
 But his longsuffering and conciliatory spirit soon 
 made for him both humble sympathizers and powerful 
 friends even in the camp of his enemies, to which alone 
 he could attribute the fact that he was able to maintain 
 himself in Pesth at all. Of course, his rabid enemies did 
 
18 
 
 not cease persecuting him even after that, but less fierce- 
 ly. Due to this continuous strain and to his arduous 
 labors he twice took seriously ill, from hemorrhages. His 
 friends on both occasions sent him to one of those famous 
 watering places with which Slovensko, above all other 
 countries, abounds. He thus regained his health in the 
 neighborhood of his birthplace, at Stubna. 
 
 But his ill health did not prevent him from doing 
 his work both in the church and the school, and he con- 
 tinued writing also. He made an ample collection and 
 contribution to Jungmann's epochal "Bohemian-German 
 Dictionary' *, on which Jungmann and his assistants 
 worked for over thirty years. 
 
 Ever since his younger days, Kollar was making a 
 collection of Slovak popular songs. He published a port- 
 ion of it, under the title "Songs of the Slovak People of 
 Hungary," at Pesth in 1823. This book, however, he 
 published in the names of his friends, Safarik the historian 
 and Bendicti. His name was left out, although the prin- 
 cipal collector, with the consent of his friends, for fear 
 that his fellow preachers would enter protests against him 
 for engaging in popular wordly poetry. During the fol- 
 lowing eleven years, he considerably enlarged and per- 
 fected this collection and in 1834 — 35 he published it 
 in two volumns called: "National Songs, or the Wordly 
 Songs of the People of Hungary, Sung both by the Com- 
 monalty and the Educated Classes; collected from all 
 sources, arranged and supplied with explanations, and 
 published at Buda, 1834 — 35." This is a magnificient 
 work, with which there was nothing to compare until 
 some 40 — 60 years later when similar works of Russian, 
 Polish, French and English folklorists appeared. 
 
 In 1834 a great change occured in the life of Kollar, 
 which finally healed up at least one wound inflicted on 
 his tender heart. He was informed by one of his student 
 friends at Jena, a certain Blazy, that Mina Schmidt, his 
 deified "Daughter of Slavia", still lived at Jena and was 
 unmarried. 
 
 After Kollar' s departure from Jena, the mother of 
 Mina succeeded in stopping the correspondence between 
 her daughter and Kollar. It would seem that she even 
 
19 
 
 assisted in spreading a rumor, which reached Kollar after 
 his arrival at home, that Mina had died. At any rate he 
 considered her as dead. But now Blazy informed him 
 that her mother had died. After waiting 1 6 years, he re- 
 newed his suit for the hand of Mina. He received a 
 favorable reply; so he went, in 1835 to Germany and re- 
 turned home with his 40 year old bride. Their union 
 was a happy one. One girl, Ludmila, was born to them. 
 The wife and the daughter survived their husband and 
 father. 
 
 Kollar spent his following years in editing his "Ser- 
 mons for Sundays, Holy days and Other Occasions", some 
 of which, according to the custom of Slovak preachers 
 of his days, he had published in separate tracts. A col- 
 lection of his sermons appeared finally; the first volumn 
 in 1831 and the second in 1844. These two volumns 
 contained about 1500 pages. The second volumn, in 
 particular, contains sermons directed at developing in 
 man the heigher religious and moral sense rather than 
 homilies on current theological questions. Their main 
 theme is that religion and nationalism are kindred ideas, 
 which he called "sisters''. He appreciated well the fact 
 that all the great reformers maintained their influence 
 over the masses by proclaiming their ideas in plain, every 
 day language. He approved of protestantism mainly be- 
 cause it insisted on the use of the mother tongue at the 
 church services. He well understood the interdependence 
 between the sentiments of filial affection, brotherly love, 
 nationalism and the love of God, and he preached that 
 he who estranges himself from his people can neither 
 serve God, nor love his parents nor be a good patriot 
 nor be capable of true reverence for his ancestors. In 
 his religious teachings he laid great stress on moral per- 
 fection and the development of good character. He was 
 particular in impressing upon his congregation the im- 
 portance of the community of Slavic interests. 
 
 At this time he confined his researches to history, 
 archaeology, mythology and philology. 
 
 He contributed articles to the Bohemian-Slovak 
 magazines, dealing with the history of civilization, folk- 
 lore, songs, traditions, customs and Slavic festivals. He 
 
20 
 
 published his "Literaty Connection between the Various 
 Slavic Branches and Dialects." This book appeared in 
 German under the title, "Ueber die literarische Wechsel- 
 aeitikzeit zwischen den verschiedenen Stammen und Mun- 
 darten der Slavischen Nation" (Pesth 1837 — 38, Second 
 Edition 1844.) He also published the historical and my- 
 thological work, "The Goddess Slava and the Origin of 
 the Name Slav or Slavonian." (1839). This book is a 
 rich collection of quotations and data from the then 
 extant literature. 
 
 In 1841 he made his first journey through Styria and 
 Italy, partly for pleasure and partly to gather further in- 
 formation. He described his experiences, impressions, 
 thoughts and feelings of this journey in his first "Trav- 
 els through Upper Italy". This work appeared in 1843. 
 He took his second trip to Italy, through Switzerland, in 
 1844. His book describing this trip was not published 
 until after his death, in 1853. Besides this he collected 
 material for his "Slavic Ancient Italia" which was pub- 
 lished posthumously in 1853. Then followed the stormy 
 days of the Hungarian revolution, 1 848 — 49, in which 
 the Magyar leaders paraded before the world as the 
 champions of the liberty, fraternity and equality of the 
 Hungarian nationalities, whereas in fact it was a struggle 
 to reestablish the power of the feudal nobility over the 
 nations of that country. It is worthy of notice that from 
 1830 to 1848 two thirds of the inhabitants of Hungary 
 were Non-Magyar and that even to-day, in spite of the 
 padding of the census statistics by the officials, the Ma- 
 gyars are in the minority. It must not be forgotten either 
 that at the Diet of Pressburgh, in 1847, the originator 
 of this revolution, the notorious Louis Kossuth, a renegade 
 Slovak, expressed his views on the rights of oppressed 
 people in these sophisticated words: "It is the course and 
 order of the world that he who is low in the social scale is 
 oppressed and enslaved and he who exalts himself is 
 well cared for and showered with priviledges". Within 
 three months after that, Kossuth, carried away by the 
 strong current that set in, was forced, although only ex- 
 ternally, to advocate the liberation of the serfs, while at 
 the same time he ordered the incarceration and execution 
 
21 
 
 of innocent Serbs, Slovaks and Rumanians whose only 
 crime was that they refused, under the duress of Kos- 
 suth's terrorism, to denounce their own people. (The 
 number of Serbian, Slovak and Rumanian men, women 
 and children condemned to death without trial by the 
 Kossuth regime exceeded 5 1 00. Great many of these 
 were liberated from their dungeons by the Austrian and 
 Russian armies, but quite a number were executed). 
 Kollar was arrested at his parish house by the "honvids" 
 (protectors of the realm) but was soon freed from prison 
 by the Imperial army. In 1 849 the Vienna government 
 invited him to become a counsellor on Slavic matters, 
 but within a month he was appointed professor extra- 
 ordinary of Slavic archaeology by the University of Vien- 
 na. At this time he wrote his "Memoirs" which included 
 his earliest experiences. His eyes became so weakened 
 that he could only dictate his work. He died after a 
 short illness in 1853, at the age of 59 years and 6 months. 
 He was buried in St. Marx Cemetary at Vienna and his 
 wife erected a modest tombstone over his grave. In 
 1893 his mortal remains were transferred with great 
 pomp to Prague and interned in "Na Olsanoch" Ce- 
 metary. 
 
 THE CHARACTER AND LIFE-WORK OF KOLLAR. 
 
 Kollar's life-work was epochal, his character lofty 
 and his personality engaging. He exerted a powerful 
 influence not only upon his immediate kindred national- 
 ities, but upon all the Slavs; the South Slavs, Croatians, 
 Serbs ,Krainers, Poles, Russians and Lusatian Serbs liv- 
 ing in Germany; nay to acertain degree even the Germans 
 and the other neighboring nations felt his influence. 
 
 While Kollar was principally a poet, he was more; 
 he was not only a poet in the scholastic sense, but also, ac- 
 cording to Emerson's definition, a thinker, prophet and 
 a creator of a new era. 
 
 Unquestionably his most important work is his col- 
 lection of poems, the "Daughter of Slavia." 
 
 Joseph Perwolf, the slavist, philosopher, historian 
 and archaeologist, professor at the University of Warsaw, 
 
M 
 
 said:"The "Daughter of Slavia" created a great sensation. 
 In it Slavism for the first time appeared as a finished 
 picture, painted in ideal colors, warmed with inspired 
 love; in it, thoughts about Slavism were expressed clear- 
 ly and boldly, and the collection of historical material, 
 unusually rich for those days, concerning all-Slavism, to 
 which the poet later added hiis copious commentaries, 
 spread the knowledge of Slavic history and conditions 
 in ever widening circles". 
 
 Kollar came in the fullnes of time. Just as under 
 the quickening touch of the warm breath of Spring, 
 spreading over the wide fields, meadows and dells, the 
 swelling buds burst forth, so, from time to time, there rise 
 intellectual and spiritual currents, bringing with them 
 their prophets, heralds and champions, under whose in- 
 fluence men's souls open up to new visions. Every op- 
 position and every impediment to such currents serves 
 but as a new impulse to produce quicker and mightier 
 growth, just as the feathery snow, falling on the bursting, 
 tender sprouts and blossoms of the trees, the shrubs 
 and plants retards them, so that they do not open too 
 early and become but stunted shoots, and gives them op- 
 portunity to assimilate properly the nourishment already 
 absorbed by their cells and to build up the tissues and 
 membranes into strong and efficient organs. 
 
 Such an intellectual current spread all over Europe 
 at the end of the 1 8th and the beginning of the 1 9th 
 Centuries. The great Fichte preached the philosophy of 
 the free ego — "das freie Ich" — and was followed 
 by Schelling, proclaiming the identity of the ideal with 
 the real and the right to existance only of such states as 
 could harmonize the positive liberty of man with the com- 
 mon interests. Hegel, with his teachings about subject- 
 ive, objective and absolute spirit, inspired the Germans 
 with national consciousness and ambition, but founded 
 on state unity. But the young Slovaks, absorbing all this 
 abstarct theorizing, reflected practically, somewhat in this 
 fashion; "If the Teutonic subject can and ought to dev- 
 elope, the Slavic individual has the same right; we are, 
 as a people, just as worthy as the Germans". It is true 
 that Hegel in his "Philosophy of History" held that nature 
 
23 
 
 had it so ordered that in all ages there were nations 
 chosen as standard bearers of enlightment ( "Weltgeist" ) 
 before whom all other nations were without any rights, 
 until they themselves disintegrated and perished, the 
 Slovaks did not agree with him. "According to this, 
 justly remarked Dr. Albert Stockel, history is but a 
 calvary of objective spirits". The Slavs energetically 
 dissented from these views of Hegel; they proclaimed 
 the equal worth of nations, the right and the duty of 
 every organism to develope freely, but only so as not 
 to interfere with a similar right to free development of 
 other organism, or nations. In this they were supported 
 by Herder, whose philosophy was more cosmopolitan. 
 National consciousness was beginning to spread very 
 rapidly among all the Slavic branches. 
 
 In Bohemia, Dobrovsky (1 755 — 1829), a profound 
 scholar, the founder of Slavism (the study of Slavic 
 languages, anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, history, 
 literature, folklore etc.) inspired the Bohemian patriots 
 to renewed efforts in the days of their nation's deepest 
 humiliation and utter hopelessness. Besides others, he 
 found a tireless co-worker in Joseph Jungmann (1 773 — 
 1847.) 
 
 Vuk Karadzic (1787 — 1864) was /arousing Ithe 
 Croatians by founding, about the year 1814, a new pop- 
 ular literature. 
 
 The renowned philologist, Bartholomew Kopitar 
 (1780 — 1844) distinguished himself as a scientist and 
 Slavic patriot. 
 
 In Russia Michael Petrovic Pogodin (1800 — 1875) 
 actively labored to spread the Slavic idea. 
 
 Among the Poles, among others, Vaclav Maciejow- 
 ski (1793—1883), Andrew Kucharski, (1795—1862) 
 as scholars and the poet Adam Mickiewicz ( 1 798 — 
 1855) made quite a progress in the study of the Slavic 
 question. 
 
 Besides these there were other enthusiastic workers, 
 all of whom, however, cannot be mentioned in a small 
 work as this is. 
 
 As it will appear from comparing these dates, all 
 these were contemporaries of John Kollar and his ren- 
 
24 
 
 owned fellow-countryman, Paul Joseph Safarik. (1795 
 — 1863.) 
 
 All of them recognized each other as fellow-workers 
 in the neglected vineyards of their respective nations. 
 They read each other's owrks and nearly all of them came 
 into contact with each other either personally or through 
 correspondence. They aided each other in their work 
 both spiritually and materially. But only two, Kollar 
 and Safarik, were equal to the occasion of arousing all 
 the Slavs. It is true, as has already been stated, they 
 found the soil fairly well prepared. 
 
 But why is it, one may ask, that it was just these two 
 Slovaks who became the apostles of the Slavic idea> 
 The nation out of which they arose is almost the smallest 
 of the Slavic branches. And besides, if not absolutely 
 prevented, nearly insurmountable obstacles lay in the 
 way of all Slovaks trying to reach the fountains of higher 
 knowledge in a natural way, that is, through their mother 
 tongue. 
 
 This little nation has its peculiar genius. After re- 
 viewing all the different opinions, data and researches 
 regarding the original home of the Slavs, beginning with 
 Herodotus, Strabo, Ptolomi, Plini, through the chronic- 
 lers of the middle ages, down to the modern and most 
 recent scholars, the conclusion is unavoidable that the 
 cradle of the Slavs is the region lying about the Carpa- 
 thian, the Tatra, mountains. While it is true that some 
 modern historians — particularly Professor J. L. Pic — 
 assert that the Slavs first inhabited the country of the 
 lower Danube, Pannonia, there are others, and these are 
 in the majority, who locate the cradle of the Slavs to the 
 North and not to the South of the Carpathians. Quite 
 convincing proofs, such as archaeological discoveries, 
 indicate that Moravia and Selesia were the ancient domi- 
 cile of the Slavs. All of which shows that Slovensko, and 
 the countries abutting upon it, is the birth place of the 
 Slavs as a typically distinct and by its language different- 
 iated nation, a branch of the Indo-European race. Quite 
 a number of relics were found from the neolithic and the 
 first metal ages in these countries. There is an uninter- 
 rupted succession of monuments to the prehistoric civili- 
 
25 
 
 zation of these ancient Slavs; lake dwellings, wooden 
 stockades, later stone fortifications, the oldest most 
 simple and the more recent quite pretentious. 
 
 Slovensko is truly the center of Slavism. It is worthy 
 of notice that when scholars of the Old Slavic Church 
 language become acquainted with the Slovak language as 
 it is spoken by the common people of Slovensko, they 
 are astonished at its close similarity to the ancient church 
 language. Vladimir Ivanovifi Lamanskij, professor at 
 the University of Petrograd, when he first visited Sloven- 
 sko, said, "The Slovak language is the 'Old Slavic lan- 
 guage". Of course, the very close relationship between 
 the Slovak literary language and the Bohemian language 
 cannot be denied. John Huss, the reformer, really wrote 
 in Slovak; both the Bohemian and the Slovak common 
 man can read without a dictionary, and understand, the 
 writings of the Moravian Slovak Komensky and of the 
 Hungarian Slovaks, Safarik and Kollar. 
 
 Slovaks, whether illiterate or educated, learn the 
 other Slavic dialects with remarkable ease, quicker and 
 more perfectly than men belonging to other nations, more 
 closely related to each other. A Slovak merchant visiting 
 Russia can within a fortnight converse with a Russian 
 peasant; a Slovak student attending a Serbo-Croatian 
 college can, without especially studying this language, 
 make equal progress with his Serbo-Croatian fellow- 
 students. Slovak teachers, preachers, professors, doctors 
 etc., being unable to secure positions at home, because 
 of their persecution by the state officials, have for many 
 decades been emmigrating to Russia, Poland, Bohemia, 
 Serbia and Croatia, where they have practised their 
 professions withouth difficulty and with marked success. 
 
 The Italian anthropologist and psychiatrist, Cesare 
 Lombroso, in his book "Genio e follia" demonstrates 
 that nations consisting of mountaineers contributed the 
 greatest number of remarkable men to humanity. The va- 
 riety of natural phenomena, the richness of impressions 
 and incentives, the possibility of making a living only by 
 hard and sustained labor, all tend to the development of 
 mentally and physically vigorous race. Well, the Slovaks 
 are a nation of mountaineers. And because they inhabited 
 
26 
 
 the same country for hundreds of years, they developed 
 into a nation of rare possibilities, thirsting after enlight- 
 ment and liberty, and in all their tastes they are so artistic 
 that the English writer, Scotus Viator (R. W. Seaton- 
 Watson) on his second visit to Slovensko in 1910, felt 
 justified in saying: "Our Ruskin was looking all his life 
 for a model nation, i. e. for one which is harmonious and 
 artistic in all the expressions of its being. Ruskin looked 
 in vain and died without the satisfaction of havng found 
 one. It is a pity! If Ruskin were living to-day, I would 
 have brought him here and would shown him the Slovak 
 nation." 
 
 In spite of all the oppression to which they had 
 been subjected the Slovaks distinguished themselves in 
 the fields of science also. 
 
 Taking, then, all this into consideration, it is no 
 wonder that the Slovak nation produced the greatest 
 champion of the Slavic idea, John Kollar. It would seem 
 at if the thought of the racial unity of all Slavs were 
 inborn even in the common people of Slovensko. 
 
 After all, Kollar was but the product of his environ- 
 ment in accordance to the law of evolution. Suffering 
 humanity evolved the greatest men. To understand the 
 aspirations and the needs of the downtrodden masses' 
 even a genius must go down to them and be able to think 
 and feel with them. Power and wealth are obstacles 
 which even a genius cannot overcome, because they breed 
 pride and contempt for the weak on whom they feed and 
 without whom they cannot subsist. Such men as Kollar 
 are the concrete expression of the feelings and the needs 
 of oppressed peoples. So that it is no wonder that the 
 Slovaks, who for a thousand years have uninterruptedly 
 felt the iron heel of tyranny crushing them, finally gave 
 vent to their pent up feelings through Kollar. For hun- 
 dreds of years they waited for their Messiah and when 
 he appeared they knew and followed him. In his words 
 they saw the yearnings of their innermost souls revealed; 
 they accepted him for their spokesman. John Kollar 
 was not only an individual but also the incarnation of the 
 soul of the Slovak nation. 
 
27 
 
 In his "Daughter of Slavia" Kollar gave this thought 
 a fitting expression. 
 
 The "Daughter of Slavia" first appeared, under this 
 name, in 1824 at Pesth. (Among the older editions there 
 were those of 1832 and 1845; recently there were many 
 published.) Portions of this work were published at 
 Prague as early as 1821, and some of its best parts circu- 
 lated among his friends in written copies, their printing 
 having been prohibited by the Austrian state censor. The 
 final edition consists of the Prologue and five Cantoes, 
 altogether of 645 sonnets. The Prologue is written in 
 ancient classic distichs (in couplets of one hexameter and 
 one pentameter). The sonnets are Petrarcan, consisting 
 of 14, nine and ten syllable lines; their meter is trochaic. 
 Kollar was an adept in writing both these forms. He 
 adopted the ancient distichs and the more modern 
 sonnets to show that his mother tongue was sufficiently 
 fluent, musical and rich enough to enable him to express 
 his hghest ideals and his profoundest emotions in such 
 highly technical and artistic forms and melodious rhymes. 
 Petrarca was Kollar's pattern as to his technique. In his 
 diction and conceptions, however, Kollar followed "one 
 of the greatest poets of all times", Dante Alleghieri. 
 Undoubtedly the divinity of Dante, Beatrice, floated be- 
 fore Kollar's vision when he was creating his poetic 
 fancy, the idealized Mina. The last two Cantoes, "Lethe" 
 and "Acheron" describing the Slav Heaven and Hell are 
 unquestionably in imitation of Dante. But in analyzing 
 the "Daugther of Slavia" the facts that the magnificent 
 conceptions, the multitude of inimitable poetic beauties 
 and the classic and delicate diction of the "Divina Co- 
 meda" influenced Kollar, and that he knew Lord Byron's 
 "Child Harold", should not be given first importance, 
 because, it must be remembered, Kollar from his child- 
 hood was particularly captived with the mellifluous 
 character of his mother tongue. In accentuation, fluency, 
 richness of words and of descriptive terms and phrases, 
 the Slovak language can be compared only to the classic 
 Greek of Attica. 
 
 Such a language was at the disposition of Kollar; 
 and if he, instead of writing his poetry in foreign forms, 
 
28 
 
 had adopted his meters directly from the poetry of his 
 own people, as the later poets did and the modern ones 
 are doing, he would have been more original and effect- 
 ive. But even as it is he reached the masses of the people. 
 Because the first edition of the "Daughter of Slavia" was 
 rather small, and because the enemies of the Slovaks 
 bought up and destroyed as many copies of those that 
 appeared on the shelves of the book stores as they could, 
 the Slovaks took copies either of the entire book or of 
 some of its parts. 
 
 This was done by the common people also, such as, 
 farmers, mechanics, teachers in villages and especially 
 by the students in the academies. On all sides, men, 
 women, boys and girls learned whole sections by heart 
 and recited the sonnets. His crystallized thoughts, ex- 
 pressed in such poetic language, were rapidly becoming 
 the property of the entire nation. Kollar soon had a host 
 of enthusiastic disciples. Among the first was that 
 renowned trinity, consisting of a poet, a scholar and a 
 statesman, Michael M. Hodza (1811 — 1870), Louis 
 Stur (1815—1856) and Joseph M. Hurban (1817— 
 1888). These were followed by a whole constellation of 
 lesser stars, all earnest men who by word of mouth and 
 in writing spread the Slavic national consciousness and 
 enlightment; Kuzmany, Zello, Ivan Chalupka, Samuel 
 Chalupka, Jonas Zaborsky, Samuel Tomasik, Krai, Kalin- 
 cak, Stephen Marko Daxner, Botto, Francisci, Matuska, 
 etc. The "Daughter of Slavia" had a similar effect upon 
 the nearest kin of the Slovaks, the Bohemians. 
 
 The center around which Kollar' s teachings grav- 
 itate is Slavic Reciprocity. This idea was in the 30*s of 
 the last Century christened as Panslavism, and as such it 
 became known all over Europe and even beyond its 
 borders. 
 
 SLAVIC RECIPROCITY-PANSLAVISM. 
 
 Not only men and books but words also have their 
 fate. It not infrequently happens that in the brains and 
 on the lips of superficial or malicious persons the meaning 
 of a word is distorted so that ultimately it is taken to 
 mean just the contrary to what it was intended to ex- 
 
29 
 
 press. It is difficult to find a word whose meaning was 
 more distorted and falsified by its enemies than that of 
 Panslavism. It was maltreated by the Teutons and by 
 the Magyars. They proclaimed in newspapers and 
 books, on the floors of parliaments, at public gatherings, 
 from the pulpits and in schools that Panslavism was a 
 movement to exterminate Germanism, Magyarism and 
 then the rest of the world, and to establish every where 
 Slavic political supremacy and tyranny. According to 
 their interpretation, Panslavism meant the destruction of 
 all civilization, culture and liberty in Europe. That it 
 was an evil, nay a criminal tendency which must at all 
 cost be uprooted and burnt. Consequently a crusade 
 was proclaimed against all believers in Slavic Reciprocity. 
 In parliaments and by religious synods laws were passed 
 against it: every one who fell under the suspicion of the 
 informers was hailed before the civil and ecclesiastical 
 tribunals for "sympathyzing with Panslavism". When- 
 ever some depraved state official, priest or doctor (e. g. 
 B. Griinwald, department head in the Department of the 
 Interior) committed a henious crime, he could easily 
 escape its consequences by simply whispering into the 
 ear of the committing magistrate that he was only fight- 
 ing Panslavism. Such things happened in Hungary, 
 Austria and Prussia (See the Laws of Expropriation 
 against the Poles of Posen, a thing impossible in the 
 United States). These persecutions were not dissimilar 
 from those of the early Christians. But this explenation 
 of Panslavism was but a specious pretext for the Teuto- 
 nic, Magyar and Turkish tyranny over the Slavs. 
 
 The most authoritative, reliable and correct ex- 
 pounder of any doctrine, every conception and idea is its 
 author. What did Kollar mean by Slavic Reciprocity? 
 
 The following can be considered a summary of 
 what he says in his "Daughter of Slavia": The Slavic 
 people have from prehistoric times inhabited by right of 
 peaceful possession and not of conquest the countries 
 from the Island of Ruegen to the Ural mountains and 
 from the Baltic to the Adriatic seas and to Constantin- 
 ople; they have by their indefatigable and hard labor 
 developed and made productive these extensive do- 
 mains; they have suffered for a thousand years all man- 
 
30 
 
 ner of wrongs, opressions and persecutions at the hands 
 of the rapacious Teutons, Huns, Tartars and Turks; it is 
 a decree of the Almighty, written across the pages of 
 history, that mankind cannot approach its ideal by 
 negativing its nature and that by physically and spiritually 
 murdering nations the aims of humanity cannot be 
 attained; consequently the Slavs must by united efforts 
 defend their natural rights, preserve the seeds of their 
 national characteristics and raise from them cosmopolitan 
 civilization, enlightment and liberty, for only through the 
 cultivation of the national spirit can these seeds be made 
 to blossom and bear fruit. A renegade is the lowest 
 reprobate and degenerate.*) 
 
 "Death is the just penalty of murder, arson, robbery, 
 treason and poisoning; pride, envy, fraud and lechery, 
 undermining morality and breeding abomination, are the 
 children of deepest Hell, but all these are of the whiteness 
 of driven snow when compared to the scarlat crime, 
 which robs, spreads evil, destroys itself, defames ances- 
 tors and pollutes descendants, the crime of the ingrate to 
 his nation" (Daughter of Slavia, Canto II, Sonnet 121). 
 
 Kollar's Slavic Reciprocity does not call for venge- 
 ance for wrongs suffered, but only demands the pre- 
 vention of further wrongs. While he said that "so much 
 blood and ink were spilt by no enemy as by the Teutons 
 in their attempts to exterminate the Slavs" he im- 
 mediately added; "He is fit for liberty who can place 
 true value on it; whoso places chains on slaves is a slave 
 himself". 
 
 According to Kollar, if the Slavs should unite for 
 the purpose of raising themselves to the highest spiritual 
 altitudes, they must not desire that the Teuton, the Anglo- 
 Saxon, the Frenchman or the Italian be prevented from 
 trying for the same hights. On the contrary, his 
 doctrine demands that every nation be at liberty, — 
 but without suppressing or destroying others, — to strive 
 
 * )The translator is not a poet and he could never master tin 
 intricacies of the sonnet, so rather than to torture the English 
 language by trying to put the quotations here cited into bad verse, 
 he gives their free meaning with great regret, for thereby he 
 deprives them of their poetic beauty.) 
 
31 
 
 for the attainment of the ideals of humanity. "Look 
 upon thy nation but as a mould of humanity; when thou 
 call est for a Slav, there must respond a man''. 
 
 Kollar never wanted the Slavs to become a nation 
 of conquerors and plunderers. He well understood the 
 natural inclination of the Slavic soul to suffer rather than 
 to cause suffering. He was of the same opinion as the 
 late Leo Nikolajevic Tolstoj, who in his book "Koniec 
 Vieka" (The End of an Era", 1905) demonstrated that 
 the Russian nation has no ambitions to rule over others. 
 
 How diametrically opposed to each other are Kol- 
 lar* s Slavic Reciprocity and the Teutonic Pangermanism ! 
 In 1876 Dr. Pfeiderer, in his preface to the translation 
 of "Divina Comedia" explained that Dante himself ex- 
 pected the salvation of his nation through the "German 
 World Empire'' (deutsches Weltkaisertum). "Die Blonde 
 Bestie (The Blond Beast) a book published some seven 
 or eight years ago is the most striking picture of Pan- 
 germanism. In it Germanism is represented as the only 
 true civilization, because Christ himself was a Panger- 
 manist! Pangermanism cannot conceive of national 
 developement, of human progress, of the attainment of 
 ideals without the subjection of other nations, the 
 extinction of their languages and the deprivation of their 
 right to individual self government. This Teutonic 
 brigandage reared its bloody head since the days of 
 Charles the Great to this very day, and Slavic Reciprocity 
 alone can finally put it down, just as Slavic might has 
 rolled back the Tartar hordes. 
 
 Kollar and his bosom friends Safarik, by their inter- 
 course, confirmed each other in their belief that the Slavs 
 should unite politically also, under the leadership of the 
 most powerful Slavic branch, the Russian, but they did 
 not give expression to this their belief, because in their 
 days that would have meant death. Notwithstanding 
 this however, Kollar fearlessly hurled his shafts against 
 the Teutonic the Magyar and the Turkich excesses, 
 beastial rapacity, and at the same time like a true prophet, 
 he displayed to the view of his nation, oppressed for a 
 thousand years but now awakening to its destiny, his 
 conception of its future glory and greatness. 
 
32 
 
 "What will become of us Slavs in a hundred years? 
 What will become of Europe? In spite of the deluge, 
 the Slavic spirit will spread to its utmost limits; and the 
 language upon which the Teuton looks as that of serfs 
 will resound beneath the palace roofs and will be on the 
 lips of foes; culture, too, will flow through Slavic chan- 
 nels; the costumes, habits and the songs of our people 
 will become the fashion on the Seine and Elbe. Oh, for 
 the days of Slavic preeminence! I wish I were living 
 then, or if dead, I wish to come to life again". 
 
 Kollar uttered these prophetic words about the year 
 1824. Since then not a hundred years have elapsed 
 and who can doubt that his prophecy is about to be ful- 
 filled? 
 
 World renowned German, French and English 
 universities have already founded Slavic faculties; the 
 works of the Slavic authors, particularly Russian and 
 Polish, are already read by the entire cultured world; 
 Slavic works of art, music, painting and sculpture are 
 already admired and prized from one end of the world 
 to the other; Slavic brains are contributing their quota to 
 the world's fund of knowledge, their share to its in- 
 ventions and their measure to the wealth of nations; but 
 above all, the central idea of Slavic Reciprocity, the 
 brotherhood of all nations, has already permiated the 
 minds of the western sociologists and statesmen, who, 
 especially the Slavophils and the French nationalists, are 
 already proclaiming the beneficial results which it will 
 produce by reviving and rejuvenating the declining, nay 
 decrepit nations of Western Europe. 
 
 John Kollar, then, was not only a narrow enthu- 
 siast but a prophet of the most exalted ideal of humanity, 
 universal brotherhood, and deserves credit and appre- 
 ciation not only from his own nation, into which he 
 breathed a new soul, but from the entire civilized world 
 also. 
 
JAN KOLLAR 
 
 Zivotopisny nastin. 
 
 SPRACOVALI: 
 
 slovenskp: PETER S. KOMPIS 
 
 anglicky: JAN KULAMER. 
 
 VYDALA : 
 
 ' T ' 
 
 Slovenskd Liga v Amerike. 
 
 TLAdOU P. JAMRISKA & CO., 88 So. 13th STREET, PITTSBURGH, PA 
 
jAn kollAr. 
 
Uvod. 
 
 'EDZI svetovymi problemami najnovsiej doby 
 
 M\\) silne do popredia tisne sa otazka slavianska. 
 \\ Pred devafdesiat rokmi bola to otazka temer 
 vylucne literarna, no behom devat'nasteho a 
 pociatkom beziaceho storocia vzrastla na ideu politicku 
 i socialnu i ekonomicku. Otazka ta stava sa takreceno 
 medzinarodnou. 
 
 Vznikla prirodzene s budenim sa narodneho pove- 
 domia europejskych narodnych kmenov. Povedomie 
 toho, ze Rusi, Poliaci, Cesi, Slovaci, Juhoslaviani tvorili 
 v davnoveku jeden narod, zilo v slavianstve od sta a sta 
 rokov. Ved* uz rusky, takzvany Nestorov Letopis i — 
 pochadzajuci povodne z Xi. stoletia hovori o spolocnom 
 povode slavianskych narodov, ktore len ked' rozsirili sa 
 na juh, vychod i zapad prijali rozlicne mena. Starf de- 
 jepisci (Cech Kosmas, r. 1125, Poliak Gallus, r. 1110, 
 Juhoslavian Orbini, r. 1601) shoduju sa v mienke, ze 
 Slaviani su narod jedneho plemena a lisia sa len vyslov- 
 nost'ou reci a niektorymi odchylnymi slovami. Ale i v 
 listinach panovnikov danskych, meklenburskych, nemec- 
 kych, pomoranskych atd*. menujii sa Slaviani spolocnym 
 menom "Slavi" "quod slavice dicitur" duces reges Sla- 
 vorum , \ 
 
 Starozitnicke pamiatky (archaeologicke) dokazuju, 
 ze Slaviani zili v Luzici, Sliezsku, v Uhorsku (v susedstve 
 
Rimavy) uz v dobe novokamennej (neolithickej) a vca- 
 snej bronzovej. I neslavianski, rimanski, grecki, arab- 
 ski kronikari, zemo- a dejepisci od I. az do XII. stoletia 
 (od Plinia Secundusa az po Arabov — Al Bekri-ho a 
 Edrisi-ho spominajii rozsiahlu vlast' slaviansku a jej na- 
 rody. 
 
 Ale pod navalom divokych narodov (Germanov, 
 Asdingov, Silingov, Hunov, Mad'arov, Tatarov, Turkov) 
 ktore sa v stredoveku prez slavianske zeme prehanaly a 
 suvisle slavianstvo na mnohych miestach rozcesly, 
 oslablo, utuchlo povedomie slavianskej spolupatricnosti, 
 tym skor, ze prave najvyvinutejsie vetve zapadne: Obo- 
 driti, Veleti (Lutici) Srbi (vsetko od Baltickeho mora az 
 do terajsieho Saska, a od Gdanska (Danzig) az po te- 
 rajsie Holstynsko boly od 8. do 12. storocia temer uplne 
 vyhubene a zciastky i ponemcene. 
 
 No ideu javiacu sa v pnrode a dejinach mozno na cas 
 pridusit', ale udusit' nie. 
 
 Prislo 13., 14., 15. storocie.. Krute vojny Nemcov 
 a Turkov proti Slavianom neustavaly Ale reformacia 
 Wiclifovska, Husova, Lutherovska i Kalvinova vztycily 
 zasadu reci materinskej, v cirkvi i state. Zvlaste Husiti 
 boli horlivymi narodovcami. I sam Luther uznaval, ze 
 "ja, Zwingli, Melanchton boli sme, ba sme Husiti" (Vid' : 
 Ranke, Dejiny reformacie). Hus sa celou vahou charak- 
 teru svojho vzoprel proti germanizacnym snaham na 
 universite prazskej. Jeho bojovni naslednici v bojoch 
 za svobodu svedomia i politicku neodvislost' zbranou v 
 rukach ubili temer celu Europu. Zacala mohutniet' i 
 drzava ruska. PoFsko po konecnom zlamani Nemecke- 
 ho Ritierskeho Radu a utvorenim jednotnej vlady zmo- 
 hutnelo politicky na vonok. Tedy zdalo sa, ze severne 
 a zapadne Slavianstvo pride k silnemu povedomiu spo- 
 
locnych cieFov. Po patnastfrocnych vojnach husitskych 
 vyvinovalo sa Cesko v narodnom i politickom smere 
 dobre. Dl'a vrodeneho slavianskeho citu Fudskej rovno- 
 pravnosti mestianske i dedinske sedliacke obyvateFstvo 
 vymohlo si iste svobody. Ale netrvalo to dlho. Na 
 podnety nemeckych panovnikov a vladobaznych ritie- 
 rov vypukly nabozenske i politicke rozbroje d'alej. R. 
 1485 v Kutnej Hore pozbavene boly mesta zastupiteF- 
 stva na snemoch a sedliactvo bolo zakonami uvedene do 
 stavu osobneho nevol'nictva — skutocneho otroctva. 
 Medzitym Turci opanovali cele Juhoslavianstvo a po bit- 
 ke u Mohaca i temer cele Uhorsko s cast'ou Slovenska. 
 Nemcom z rodu Habsburgskeho podarilo sa dostat' na 
 kraFovsky tron cesky. Rozopre, utisky so strany sFach- 
 ty trvaly d'alej az do bitky na Bielej Hore (r. 1620) v 
 ktorej padol samostatny stat cesky. V 30-rocnej vojne 
 vykynozene a vyhnate bolo z ceskej vlasti z troch mil- 
 lionov Fudi 2,200,000. Ovsem i Nemecko roztresklo 
 sa na mnoho drobnych statov. Avsak tieto akotak spo- 
 jene boly "risskym snemom" a udrziavane v narode po- 
 vedomie plemennej jednoty. Ale u Slavianov narodny 
 cit upadol. Na severozapade kvarili ich Nemci, na juhu 
 Turci. Avsak treba uznat', ze Slavianstvu na jeho byte, 
 reci, vobec rydzosti poskodili Turci mnoho, ale Nemci 
 nesmierne viae. 
 
 Slavianska myslienka zaspala, ale neumrela. I v do- 
 bach vseobecnej politickej rozdrobenosti a domacich ne- 
 svarov, vyskytovali sa buditelia, ktori razne vyhlasovali 
 "jazyk slaviansky za spolocny Rusom, Cechom, Polia- 
 kom i Srbom." Cech Jan Blahoslav (1571) vo svo- 
 jej grammatike (1571) hovori o "dialektoch slavian- 
 .skych": ceskom, slovenskom, hrvatskom od Uhorskej 
 
zeme az po Carihrad rozsirenom, a tak i o poFskom a 
 ruskom. Tedy Vseslavian! 
 
 Poliaci: Orzechowski (1564) i Gornicki (1566) 
 vo svojich knihach radia, aby sa slavianski spisovatelia 
 blizili tak, zeby prejimali potrebne slova a vyrazy z ja- 
 zykov bratskych slavianskych. 
 
 Este i potomok polabskych Slavianov, svetochyrny 
 a genialny myslitel' polyhistor Leibnitz vyslovil sa r. 
 1713. v Torgove pred carom ruskym, Petrom Velikym: 
 "Nas povod je ten isty. Obidvaja sme Slaviani". Radii 
 carovi, aby dal sostavovat' potrebne pomocky k poznaniu 
 jazyka ruskeho, tak ako na Leibnitzov podnet so sbiera- 
 ne boly pamiatky po Obodritoch a Drevanoch. 
 
 Luzicky ucenec, Srb, Abraham Frencel (Brancel) 
 r. 1693. hovori o "slavnom a mohutnom narode sla- 
 vianskom ktoremu by sa iste cely svet poklonil, keby Sla- 
 viani mali tol'ko st'astia kol'ko maju cnosti.*' I vzbu- 
 dzoval nadeje v lepsiu buducnost luzickych Srbov. 
 (Tento ostrovcek slaviansky v nemeckom mori ma este 
 dodnes asi 150,000 siivisle byvajucich Srbov. Homa a 
 Dolna Luzica, juinovychodne od Berlina a severovy- 
 chodne od Drazdian. ) 
 
 K vseslavianskej rodine prihlasovali sa i Juhoslavia- 
 ni v Dalmacii, Hrvatsku, Korutanoch (Karintia) v Srbii 
 a Bulharsku. Hrvat Faustin Vrancic v predmluve ku 
 slovniku hrvatsko-slovinskemu (r. 1605) pise: niet va£~ 
 sieho jazyka na svete, pokial' vedomo, od nasho slavian- 
 skeho, lebo tento zaujima dobry diel Europy i Asie". 
 Tak i Slovinec Bohoric (1584) prizvukuje uzke pribu- 
 zenstvo jazykov juznoslavianskych s ruskym a pol'skym 
 i ceskym. Bosensky Srb, Juraj Krizanic, ktory vysteho- 
 val sa do Ruska, chytil sa do hlbsej prace: napfsal r. 
 1 665 slaviansku grammatiku. Krizanic videl spasu ostat- 
 
nych rozdrobenych a potlacenych Slavianov jedine v 
 Rusku. 
 
 Tak budili slavianske povedomie vedomci, basnici, 
 knazi, vsetkych vetvf tohto naroda v 16., 17. a 18. sto- 
 roci. Ale bolo to len povedomie zriedkavych jednot- 
 livcov, ktori nevladali rozvlnit? siroke a hlboke vrstvy 
 naroda 
 
 Cele Slavianstvo prebudilo sa k povedomemu zi- 
 votu az v prvej polovici devat'nasteho storocia a o to pre- 
 budenie maju najvacsie, neuvadle zasluhy dvaja Slova- 
 ci: Pavel Jozef Safarik a Jan Kollar. Prvy na europej- 
 skej urovni stojaci ucenec-dejepisec, druhy genialny bas- 
 nik. 
 
 Zapadne narody, zial'bohu podnes vel'mi malo ve- 
 dia o Slavianstve vobec o jeho dejinach, kulture, zivo- 
 te, umeni a slavianskou ideou zaoberaju sa i vysoko po- 
 staveni muzovia zriedkavejsie, nez africkymi koloniami. 
 A predsa slavianska otazka uz teraz hybe dvestopat'de- 
 siat millionmi narodov; totiz jednych co za fiu pracuju 
 a tych, ktori by ju chceli zabit?. 
 
 Tedy najvys potrebne je aspon strucne oboznamit? 
 sa s jednym z jej najprednejsich predstavitel'ov, s Ja- 
 nom Kollarom. 
 
 Tomu cieFu maju sluzif nasledujuce riadky. 
 
Zivotopisne data. 
 
 Jan Kollar narodil sa 29. jula 1 793. v mestecku 
 Mosovciach, stolici Turcianskej na Slovensku (Severnom 
 Uhorsku. ) 
 
 Slovensko-Severne Uhorsko, je krajina plna prirod- 
 nych i Fudskych kras i prirodnych i duchovnych pokla- 
 dov, dosial' ovsem nevyuzitych, ba sotva ze odkrytych. 
 
 Jeden francuzsky narodnohospodarsky spisovateF. 
 ktory r. 1886. cestoval Hornym Slovenskom, vyslovil sa: 
 "Ked' tu vidim tu suladnu rozmanitost' vrchov, dolin a 
 roviniek, tie bystre, krystalove, ale mohutne potoky, vo- 
 dopady, bujne lesy, mohutne loziska nerastov a malebne 
 strojny, krasneho typu Tud, s vytribenym umeleckym 
 oraamentom v nevycerpaternych motivoch prevedenom 
 na oblekoch, zenskych, muzskych i detskych, chalupach, 
 domoch, kastiel'och, chramoch, na domacom naradi i 
 riade, a vidim tie spiace poklady prfrodne, tie sily vod- 
 ne: tak sa mi zda, akoby sa v tomto kraji maly uskutoc- 
 nif stare povesti o carovnych zamkoch a zlatych pala- 
 coch." 
 
 Nuz a stolicu Turciansku i sami domorodi Slovaci 
 uznavaju za jednu z najkrajsich casti Slovenska. A v 
 tomto krasnom okoli narodil sa Jan Kollar. 
 
 Jeho otec Matej, bol vaznym mest'anom; byval rych- 
 tarom, inokedy notarom obecnym. Ale hlavnym povo- 
 lanim jeho bolo pol'ne hospodarstvo, a pobocne ma- 
 siarsky obchod. Dom bol stredne zamozny. Otec bol 
 prisny, sporovny, nabozny, neunavne pilny v praci i mod- 
 litbe. Ale l'ahko vznetlivy, prchlivy, a v umysloch za- 
 novity. Pomerne k svojmu povolaniu bol dost vzdela- 
 ny; okrem l'udovej skoly doma, chodil i do pociatocnych 
 tried strednej skoly v d'alekom Asode, kde sa poducil 
 trochu latinsky. Matka, Katarina Drozd, pochadzala z 
 dobrej kupeckej rodiny. Vierovyznania boli protestant- 
 skeho luteranskeho. 
 
Rodicia vychovavali svojho synka Janka v prisnom 
 naboznom duchu. Do prvej skoly chodil v rodnom me- 
 stecku. Uz co desat'-rocny na poziadanie mosovskych 
 paneniek slozil im styri versiky k uvitaniu biskupa. V 
 mestianskej skole mosovskej, ako vtedy vobec vo vset- 
 kych skolach mestianskych povazovali latincinu za za- 
 klad vsetkej vzdelanosti a preto na vyucovanie tejto reci 
 kladli najvacsiu vahu. V Severnych Uhrach latincina po- 
 drzala svoje panstvo dlhsie, nez u inych narodov. 
 
 Sice Slovaci mali uz z casov Cyrilla a Methoda ur- 
 cite od r. 885. svoj preklad biblie. Od 1564 — 1588 
 mali spolu s Cechmi uz klassicku, cesko-slovensku Bib- 
 liu Kralicku. Za takzv. Veleslavinskej doby 1560 — 
 1600 kvida literatura v Cechach a jej diela zname boly 
 na Slovensku. Od r. 1631. sirily sa recou i obsahom 
 veFkolepe spisy Jana Amosa Komenskeho (Comenius). 
 A predsa pod tlakom akoby nejakej kliatby na Slovensku 
 v 1 7. i 1 8. a ciastocne az 19. storoci ucili sa a hovorili 
 latinsky nielen zemski pani, panie, ale i kucharky, me- 
 stania a sluhovia. Ovsem len vtedy ked' chceli ukazat', 
 ze su vzdelani. 
 
 Tak i Kollar, neobycajne nadany, pilny ziak, hor- 
 live ucil sa tuto mrtvu rec. Ba sam vyznava, ze v dobe 
 chlapectva prial si, aby vsetky ine reci zanikly a vsetci 
 l'udia aby len latinsky hovorili. No jeho rozumny uci- 
 teF Sulek viedol svojich ziakov i k laske k reci materin- 
 skej. Tak ucinkoval na Kollara i novy ucitel', Burjan. 
 Chlapec medzitym rad chodil po krasnych strafiach a le- 
 soch svojho malebneho rodiska; nacuval melodicke pie- 
 sne znic, hrabacok, zencov a koscov po poliach a lukach; 
 piesne to obdivuhodne jasavymi i melancholickymi me- 
 lodiami i esteticky, poeticky vytribenym obsahom. 
 
 Po skonceni domacej skoly dal ho otec — 1 3-roc- 
 neho — do gymnasiuma blfzkeho mesta Kremnice na 
 studia. Tak oddal sa menovite hlbsiemu studovaniu la- 
 tinskych klassikov. Nadobudol si takej znalosti, ze zruc- 
 ne skladal latinske reci a chronostichy. V Kremnici na- 
 ruzive zaoberal sa i kreslenim a mal'bou. Bola to vtedy 
 v torn rneste zal'uba vseobecna. Ucil sa i nemcinu. 
 
 Po dvoch rokoch vratil sa z Kremnice s vytecnymi 
 
10 
 
 vysvedceniami. Prisiel domov s umyslom, ze na buducu 
 jasen pojde na d'al'sie studia. Ale zbytocne "prakticky" 
 otec chcel mat' zo syna pomocnika pri hospodarstve a re- 
 mesle, nuz dal ho na masiarstvo. Ale toto zamestnanie 
 sa synovi naskrze nepacilo; zanechal ucnovstvo. Tu na- 
 hnevany otec vyhnal 1 6-rocneho Jana z domu a tento 
 hnany tuzbou za vyssim vzdelanim, v fazkom dusevnom 
 boji opustil dom rodicoysky a odisiel do ned'alekeho me- 
 stecka, Slovenskeho Pravna, ku svojmu bratancovi, me- 
 nom tiez Janovi Kollarovi, tamejsiemu mlademu ucite- 
 l'ovi. Tento povzbudil svojho pokrevneho, aby v svo- 
 jom umysle vytrval. Ved* ze sa im podari najst' sposob, 
 akym sa dostane do skol. O nedlho prisiel ta na navste- 
 vu mosovsky ucitel' Burjan a pojal Kollara nazpat do 
 Mosoviec, k sebe za ucitel'skeho pomocnika. Za rok bol 
 pomocnikom. Otec ani potom nechcel nic pocut' o torn, 
 zeby mal na d'alsie skoly synove nieco obetovat'. A ti- 
 cha, laskava matka len malickosti mohla dodaf. Ale 
 ucitel' Burjan zaopatril mu podporu pri gymnasiume v 
 Banskej Bystrici. Tu zivil sa sukromnym vyucovanim 
 kresleniu a mal'be; ovsem skolske hodiny riadne navste- 
 voval. Zvlaste dobre zbadal velike duchovne dary svoj- 
 ho ziaka ucitel' Magda a zaujal sa za Kollara v hmotnom 
 i dusevnom ohl'ade. V Banskej Bystrici studoval Kol- 
 lar najviac latinskych basnikov, Horaca, Vergila, Ovidia 
 a filozofa Boethia. 
 
 Za dva roky skoncil studia gymnazialne. Bolo to 
 r. 1912. Odisiel s najlepsim vysvedcenim. Na budu- 
 cu jasen chcel isf do Presporku ucit' sa za knaza. 
 
 Ale na prazdniny domov k otcovi nesmel fstf! A 
 penazi nemal. Tedy s odporucanim skolskej spravy 
 bansko-bystrickej vybral sa na supplikacku, — bol sup- 
 plikantom. 
 
 Supplikantmi byvali chudobni ziaci, ktori po bliz- 
 sich, d'alsich stoliciach Uhorska medzi majetnejsim obe- 
 censtvom sbierali milodary s jednej ciastky na skolu, kto- 
 ra ziactvu cez skolsky rok davala spolocne obedy, bud*- 
 to za maly poplatok, alebo uplne zdarma — a s druhej 
 ciastky na seba, na d'alsie studia. Kazdy supplikant 
 dostal sberaciu knizocku a legitimaciu i vydeleny mu bol 
 
11 
 
 urcity okres, v ktorom smel sberaf. Supplikant cestuval 
 riadne pesky od obce k obci, od fary ku fare, od skoly 
 ku skole. 
 
 Tak precestoval i Kollar najprv naj Severn ejsie sto- 
 lice svojej vlasti, Lip to v a Oravu a potom i Dolniu Zem 
 — Juzne Uhorsko. Cestou na Dolnej Zemi tu i tarn 
 knazi vacsich cirkvi sue zahrnutf mnohymi povinnost'a- 
 mi, davali mu kazatf v kostoloch. Za tieto kazne dostal 
 nejaky honorar. Nieco pripadlo mu co odmena z navy- 
 beranych milodarov supplikacnych, nieco k tomu prilo- 
 zili pribuzm a tak mohol sa v jaseni 1812 vybrat? do 
 Presporku na bohoslovecky ustav. 
 
 Zivnostf ako i znacny plat uciteFom musel si nado- 
 byvat? sukromnym vyucovanim. No po roku co vybor- 
 nemu ziakovi sverene mu bolo docasne miesto ucitel'a a 
 spravcu pri presporskom sirotinci. Ustav tento bol do- 
 Hal' zanedbany, ale Kollar uviedol tarn vychovu dl'a za- 
 sad Salzmannovskych a Basedowskych i priviedol ho k 
 rozkvetu, tak ze i mest'ania a pani posielali ta svoje de- 
 ti-nesiroty. 
 
 Pri torn neunavne vzdelaval i seba. Ucil sa sukrom- 
 ne vsetkemu, co mu tehdajsia biedna skolska vyucba v 
 Presporku neposkytovala. Ucil sa grectinu, francuzsti- 
 nu, taliancinu, anglictinu; oboznamoval sa s jazykom sta- 
 roslavianskym. Pestoval i rastlinopis (botaniku), ma- 
 thematiku, hvezdarstvo. Cvicil sa v speve, hudbe, i tan- 
 ci. To vsetko mienil upotrebit? v praktickom, spolocen- 
 skom zivote. Okrem toho cital Ifflanda, Wielanda, Klop 
 stocka, basnikov to nemeckych a Cervantesovho Don 
 Quixota v nemeckom preklade. Ale tieto diela nemaly 
 nanho zvlastneho vplyvu. 
 
 Mesto Presporok bolo v tej dobe zvlaste zanimave. 
 Lezi pri Dunaji ned'aleko Viedne na hlavnej ciare do 
 Pesti veducej. Co vyznamnejsi l'udia, umelci, vedom- 
 ci radi sa zastavili v Presporku. Kollar videl tu vitfazov 
 nad Napoleonom z bitky u Lipska, ked' prisli zavse z 
 Viederiskeho kongresu do Presporku na zabavku. Vi- 
 del i ako nel'udsky nakladali Rakusania s francuzskymi 
 zajatymi, atd*. 
 
12 
 
 Tu oboznamil sa i s Frantiskom Palackym, ktory 
 tiez v Presporku, na tej istej skole, co Kollar studoval, 
 a neskor stal sa slavnym dei'episcom ceskym. Studovali 
 tarn vtedy i viaceri Juhoslaviani, Srbi, s ktorymi sa tiez 
 priatel'sky stykal. 
 
 Po trojrocnom pobyte v Presporku slozil predpisa- 
 ne zkusky bohoslovecke a zamysl'al ist' cieFom dovrse- 
 nia skolskeho vzdelania na niektoru nemecku universitu. 
 Ale aby si k tomu zaopatril potrebne peniaze, predbez- 
 ne na poldruha roka prijal vychovavatel'ske miesto u 
 jednej zamoznej rodiny v Banskej Bystrici. Tu obo- 
 znamil sa s tamo j sim od neho len o 6 rokov starsim fa- 
 rarom ev. cirkvi, Samuelom Roznajom. Roznaj bol muz 
 vysoko vzdelany, hlboko citny, sposobami uchvatny. 
 Odusevneny Slovak a Slavian. Na vyvin Kollara mal 
 veliky vplyv. Z vel'kej casti Roznaj ovi mozno d'akovaf. 
 ze sa Kollar stal vesfcom Slavianstva. Roznay vsak 
 zomrel uz o niekol'ko mesiacov neskor. 
 
 Kollar v jaseni 1817. vybral sa na universitetu do 
 Jeny. Zaopatriv si v Budine (vtedy este nespojenom s 
 Pest'ou, ale uz sidlom niektorych krajinskych uradov) 
 cestovny list (pass), cestoval cez Presporok, Viedefi, do 
 Prahy. Tu osobne oboznamil sa s najprednejsimi ce- 
 skymi ucencami, spisovatel'mi, zvlaste Joz. Jungmannom 
 a vel'kym slavistom (filologom) Joz. Dobrovskym. No 
 Praha bola vtedy mestom ackol'vek prevazne ceskym, ale 
 po nemecky hovoriacim. Na Kollara urobila zial'ny do- 
 jem. Vyslovil sa o Prahe, ze vyzera jako "skamenele 
 dejiny ceskeho naroda". Vtedy netusil, ze mesto to sta- 
 ne sa behom niekol'ko rokov mohutnym, ziarivym stre- 
 diskom ceskeho vedeckeho, umeleckeho i hospodarskeho 
 zivota. 
 
 Z Prahy iduc zastavil sa na oar dni v Drazd'anoch, 
 kde obzrel si zvlaste tamejsiu, svetochyrnu obrazaren. 
 Odtial' cez Lipsko dosiel do Jeny. Bol vtedy 24-rocny. 
 
 Jena, mesto vojvodstva Sasko-Weimarskeho, je co 
 tyka sa vyznamu narodno-hospodarskeho este i dnes me- 
 sto nepatrne. Na pociatku 1 9. storocia malo vsak sotva 
 10,000 obyvatel'ov, ale medzi nimi 2 — 3000 univer- 
 sitnych posluchacov. V duchovnom ohl'ade bolo vtedy 
 
13 
 
 jednym z najvacsich ohnisk nemeckej vedy a so sused- 
 nym mestom Weimarom ( 1 2 mil \ — 1 9 kilometrov od 
 Jeny) i sidlom najvacsich basnickych geniov. Uz pred 
 prichodom Kollara do Jeny boli tam na universite pred- 
 nasali slavni filozofi: Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, i basnik 
 Schiller. V dobe Kollarovej vyucovali tam ich odcho- 
 vanci, Fries a Oken. Cely duch universitity, profesorov 
 i ziactva bol svobodomyslny; vsetko horelo za pravdou 
 a svobodou. Vo Weimare byvali v torn case Herder, 
 Wieland, Schiller, Goethe, Arndt a inf. Goetheho po- 
 znal Kollar osobne i prekladal prefiho niektore slovenske 
 l'udove piesne do nemciny. Velikan Goethe upozornil 
 Kollara na veliku poeticku hodnotu narodnych piesni a 
 ponevac i znamenity Herder uz r. 1778. bol vydal svo- 
 ju chyrnu sbierku "Volkslieder" ("Narodne piesne" do 
 ktorej zabral i mnoho piesni slavianskych, menovite srb- 
 skych), Kollar umienil si cim uplnejsie sosbierat' piesne 
 slovenske. 
 
 Kollarovi zjavil sa v Jene novy svet. Na svetovej 
 vedeckej urovni stojaci professoria, na tu dobu bohata 
 universitna kniznica, v blizkom meste Lipsku tiez sveto- 
 chyrna universita, sjednotena dva roky pred prichodom 
 Kollarovym do Jeny s universitou hallskou a roku 1816. 
 s erfurtskou; krasne okolie pri rieke Sale, vsetko to po- 
 sobilo na vnimavu dusu Kollarovu zvlastne, hlboko. Sam 
 rozprava o torn vo svojich rozpomienkach z mladosti 
 ("Pamati") : "Jena a cele okolie, ba cela cesta cez Sasko 
 ucinila na moju dusu novy, pred tym nikdy neciteny 
 dojem. Vsade slavianske mena a neslavianski oby- 
 vatelia." 
 
 Studoval theologiu; filozofiu, prirodne vedy a vseo- 
 obecne dejiny. Bol by rad obsiahnul vsetky vedy, vsetky 
 umenia. Ale nahliadol, ze sa to neda. Tedy aby sa ne- 
 rozptylil, zaviedol si isty poriadok studii. 
 
 Okrem toho vsimal si jazykovedy (filologie) a do- 
 ma zahrbil sa do citania diel Goetheho, Rousseaua, Cha- 
 teaubrianda, Ossiana, Petrarcu a inych. Basnictvo stu- 
 doval i s theoretickej stranky. Menovite mocny ucinok 
 na Kollarove nazory maly diela Herderove. Totiz Her- 
 der uz r. 1 787 vo svojom diele "Ideen zur Geschichte der 
 
14 
 
 Menschheit", — "Idey k dejinam Fudstva" hovoriac o 
 trudnych dejinach narodov slavianskych, pise: "Koleso 
 meniveho casu neustale sa toci a ponevac tie narody 
 (Slaviani) z najvacsej casti byvaju v najkrajsich kraji- 
 nach europejskych, totiz keby boly dokonale vzdelane a 
 zacal by sa medzi nimi obchod; a ponevac neda sa ne- 
 myslef, ze v Europe zakonodarstva a politika namiesto 
 valecneho ducha viae a viae musia a budu podporovaf 
 obciansku pilnost' a vzajomne styky medzi narodami: 
 tedy i vy slavianske narody, teraz tak hlboko klesle, vo- 
 Fakedy pilne a sfastne, prebudfte sa zo svojho dlheho 
 tazkeho spanku, a budete od otrockych okovov osvo- 
 bodene i budete uzivat' svoje krasne krajiny od Adriatic- 
 keho mora az k Tatram, od Donu az ku Ulde a slavitf 
 na nich svoje stare slavnosti pokojnei pracovitosti a ob- 
 chodu**. 
 
 Herderove idey jeho vlastny narod nemecky ani 
 podnes neocenil dostatocne. Ale Kollar pochopil toho 
 vzneseneho ducha v plnej hl'bke a podstate. 
 
 Na Jenanskej universite prave v tych rokoch studo- 
 val aj iny idealneho vzletu a vysokeho nadania sloven- 
 sky mladenec, Jan Benedicti. Tento oboznamil sa s Kol- 
 larom, co svojim rodakom dostf skoro. Potom uz v 
 svobodnom case, po nedeliach a sviatkovych kratsich 
 prazdninach spolu cestuvali po kvetnatych udoliach, stra- 
 nach, i dedinach a mesteckach okolo Jeny, blizsfch i 
 d'alsich. Tu zvedeli, ze v tomto kraji mena obci, vrchov, 
 potokov i rodin su slavianske. Ba ze samo obyvatel'stvo 
 este vie, ze je zo slavianskej krvi, len nasilne ponemcene. 
 Teda obidvaja priatelia dali sa do studovania starych 
 kronik o Slavianstve a vyobrazili si i z tych kusych zprav 
 kronikarskych krasnu minulost' slavianskych bratov: i 
 zialili, ze tol'ke rodiny naroda boly nemilosrdne vynice- 
 ne, alebo odcudzene. Kollar pohruzil sa nasledkom toho 
 do historickych a starozitnych studii o Slavianstve. 
 
 Preplnena dusa jeho hl'adala vyraz v basnictve. K 
 tomu, aby zacal basnit' dostal podnet zvlastnou uda- 
 lost'ou. Na universite bol i professorom znamy, co vy- 
 tecny recnik. V blizkej osade. Lobede ochorel vazne 
 tamejsi farar Schmidt. Jeho manzelka sla do Jeny po- 
 
15 
 
 ziadat' biskupa, sucasne i professora na universite, J. G. 
 Marezolla, aby vyslal niekoho zastupit' jej muza budvi- 
 cej nedele pri sluzbach Bozich. Marezoll odporucil jej 
 Kollara. Tedy poziadala tohoto. Kollar este pred ne- 
 del'ou vybral sa i s priatel'om Benediktim do Lobedy, 
 predstavif sa Schmidtovi a jeho rodine a tu poznal sum- 
 nu, 22-rocnu dceru Schmidtovie, Wilhelminu. Videl ju 
 bol uz predtym na nejakej zabave. Teraz vsak poznal 
 ju v rodicovskom dome a zahorel k nej horucou a nepre- 
 mozitel'nou Tubost'ou. Jej otec rozpraval Kollarovi, ze 
 i on — Schmidt je slavianskoho povodu. 
 
 Od tych cias Kollar byval castym host'om u Schmi- 
 dtov. Zacal pisat? krasne basne, sonetty na svoju zboz- 
 iiovanu devu. Zidealizoval si ju ako Petrarca svoju Lau- 
 ru a Dante Beatricu, nazval si ju Minou, vybajil si ju co 
 "Slavy Dceru" — akoby bohynu slaviansku a v umelec- 
 kej forme vyslovil vsetko, cim jeho mlada dusa horela. 
 
 Farar Schmidt v Lobede o nedlho zomrel. Cirkev- 
 nici boli si medzitym obl'ubili jeho pomocnika, Kollara 
 natoFko, ze mu ponukli urad kazatel'a tej cirkvi. Keby 
 to bol prijal,bol by dosiahol spojenie s milovanou devou a 
 zaistenu hmotnu postaf. I matka, pani Schmidtova bola 
 za to. Povedala milencovi svojej dcery, ze dopusti so- 
 brat' sa im len ak ostanu v Nemecku. Inac nechcela ani 
 pocut' o torn, zeby jej dcera mala odist' s muzom do 
 Uhorska. Matka povazovala Uhorsko za divoku kraji- 
 nu. Uhorsko a Sibir znamenalo jej jedno. Tedy Kollar 
 musel podstupit' srdcovy boj. No zvit'azila laska k na- 
 rodu nad laskou k milenke. Kollar odpovedal lobedan- 
 skym cirkevnikom, ze ponevac je on nie Nemec, ale Slo- 
 vak, a Nemci maju hojnost' vybornych kazatel'ov, Slovaci 
 vs^ 1 ^ nie, tedy ze poklada za svoju povinnost' a urcenie 
 pracoyat' v prospech svojho zanedbaneho naroda. Prv 
 nezby sa bol navratil do svojej vlasti, bol by rad so svo- 
 jimi troma spoluziakmi, Rusmi, siel podivat' sa do Pol'- 
 ska a Ruska. Ale jeden z tych Rusov padol v student- 
 skom suboji a pozostali dvaja nahlili sa cim skor dostat' 
 domov. Tedy Kollar so svojim inym priatel'om na- 
 vstivil Sasko, Braniborsko, Pomoransko az po Balticke 
 more: ponemcene to krajiny slavianske. "Zdalo sa mu, 
 
16 
 
 akoby kracal po hroboch drahych zosnulych." Zasiel po- 
 tom az do Hollandska, ku hrobu slavneho pedagoga Ko- 
 menskeho (Jana Amosa Comeniusa) v Narden-e pri 
 Amsterdame. Odtial' plavil sa hore Rynom, potom na 
 kuse vysnym Dunajom a konecne zastavil sa na nekol'- 
 ko tyzdfiov v Prahe. Tu okrial v priatel'skom kruhu vy- 
 tecnych ceskych vlastencov. Konecne vratil sa cez Pres- 
 porok do svojho mileho Turca. Ale ani teraz nesmel isf 
 otcovi na oci. Tedy uchylil sa ku svojmu, uz spomenu- 
 temu bratancovi, Janovi Kollarovi do Slovenskeho Prav- 
 na. Leto ztravil tarn v basneni a obdivovani kras toho 
 kraja. 
 
 V jaseni roku 1819. evanjelicka nemecko-slovenska 
 cirkev v Pesti potrebovala kaplana (pomocneho 
 farara), ktory by znal dokonale nemecky i slovensky. 
 Biskup Lovich znal Kollara, ako na taky urad vytecne 
 sposobneho, odporucal ho a Kollar dostal sa do Pesti. 
 No tu dostal sa medzi dva, pot'azne medzi tri ohne. Slo- 
 yaci v Pesti ziadali, aby spolocny cirkevny sbor povolil 
 na zaklade prirodzeneho prava a dl'a zasad protestan- 
 tizmu bohosluzbu v reci materinskej, slovenskej, tak, 
 ako to Nemci a Mad'ari uz davno uzivali. Nemci a Ma- 
 d'ari sa tomu vzpriecili. No spolocny farar Molnar zo- 
 mrel uz po par mesiacoch a slovenski evanjelici vyvolili 
 si za svojho kazatel'a Kollara; Nemci vsak ciroho Nemca, 
 Kalchbrennera. Slovaci vyzadovali si, aby im boly ur- 
 cene hodiny, v ktorych v chrame dotial' spolocnom, mo- 
 hli by odbavovat' svoje bohosluzby. Nemci kladli tejto 
 ziadosti vsemozne prekazky. Kostol pred Slovakmi zam- 
 kli, i cely fararsky byt. Ba v jednu nedel'u dovedli si 
 Nemci i stolicny urad so zbrannou assistenciou, aby zaka- 
 zal Kollarovi a veriarim vstupit' do chramu. No Kollarovi 
 podarilo sa na ten cas odpor premoct'. Nasledovalo od- 
 delenie slovenskei cirkvi od nemeckej ; ovsem pri del'be 
 majetku obstali Slovaci kratko. No zo svojich novych 
 obeti zalozili si pri cirkvi skolu. Kollar vediac, ze za- 
 nedbanych Slovakov, ktori za poslednych sto rokov zna- 
 sali nevyslovne utisky od Nemcov i Madarov (slovenski 
 remeselnici i kupci boli zo svojich obchodov vyhanani, 
 sedliaci z vrchnostenskeho nariadenia palicovani len 
 
17 
 
 len preto, ze chceli sa vzdelavat' i vo svojej reci) treba 
 zacatf vzdelavat! od slabikara a citanky, napisal a vyda! 
 taketo ucebne knihy pre dietky r. 1825. a 1826. Uz 
 predtym (r. 1821.) vydal pod nazvom "Basne" cast' 
 svojich zneliek (sonett) a r. 1824. nove znacne rozmno- 
 2ene vydanie pod nazvom "Slavy Dcera". Temer po 
 kazdom vydani niektoreho diela Kollarovho nemecki 
 "nosicia vzdelanosti" ( "Kulturtrager" ) svolavali proti 
 nemu nicomne konventy, vyzyvali o zakrocenie cirkevne 
 t politicke vrchnosti, hrnuly sa mu urazlive, bezmenne 
 listy, vybijali mu obloky na byte a robili mu nocne "ma- 
 cacie muziky*' ("Caterwauling"). Tak to sam pise. 
 
 No jeho krotka, vznesena prit'azliva povaha, 
 ziskala mu i sFachetnych a mocnych priaznivcov a pria- 
 tel'ov este i v protivnickom tabore, a tomu mozno d'a- 
 kovat?, ze Kollar v Pesti vobec mohol vydrzat'. Pravda 
 nepriatelia neprestali ho prenasledovat' ani neskor; ac- 
 koFvek uz menej zurive. 
 
 V takom ustavicnom rozcul'ovani a prepinavej pra- 
 ci dva razy upadol do t'azkej nemoci — chrlenia krvi. 
 Ale jeho priatelia po obidva razy vyslali ho do vybornych 
 liecivych kupel'ov, na ake je Slovensko take bohate, ako 
 sotva ktory iny kraj zeme. I zotavil sa — prave v bliz- 
 kosti svojho rodiska (v Stubnanskych Teplicach. ) 
 
 Pracoval i potom neunavne v chrame, skole i pri 
 spisovatel'skom stole. Sosbieral a podal vzactne prispev- 
 ky do epochalneho Jungmanovho "Slovnika cesko-ne- 
 meckeho", na ktorom Jungmann a jeho pomocnici pra- 
 covali za tridsat'pat' rokov. 
 
 Kollar uz od svojich mladych rokov sbieral l'udove 
 piesne slovenske. Ciastku svojej sbierky vydal r. 1823. 
 v Pesti, pod nazvom "Piesne svetske l'udu slovenskeho 
 v Uhrach" Ale v tejto knihe pornenoval co vydavate- 
 l'ov len svojich priatel'ov, historika Safarika a Blahoslava 
 (Benediktiho). Svoje meno, co hlavneho sberatel'a, so 
 suhlasom priatel'ov zamlcal, ponevac sa obaval, ze jeho 
 duchovni spolubratia, knazi, zacnu proti nemu boj, ze 
 sa i Fudovou poesiou zaobera. No za jedenast' rokov 
 tuto sbierku znamenite rozmnozil a zdokonalil, i vydal r. 
 1834 — 35, dva objemne svazky "Narodnie Zpievanky 
 
18 
 
 cili piesne svetske Slovakov v Uhrach", jak pospoliteho 
 l'udu, tak i vyssich stavov sobrane od mnohych, v po- 
 riadok uvedene vysvetleniami opatrene a vydane v Bu- 
 dine, r. 1834. a 1835." Je to vel'kolepa praca, s akou 
 nedaju sa porovnat' len ak o 40 — 60 rokov pozdejsie 
 diela ruskych, poFskych, francuzskych a anglickych fol- 
 kloristov 
 
 R. 1834. stala sa v sukromnom zivote Kollarovom 
 vel'ka zmena, ktora zahojila aspon jednu jeho zivotnu 
 ranu. Od jednoho jenanskeho stud en ta, isteho Blazyho, 
 dozvedel sa, ze Mfna Schmidtova, jeho zboznovana Sla- 
 vy Dcera, zije v Jene a je dosial' svobodna 
 
 Totiz po odchode Kollarovom z Jeny, Minina matka 
 vedela prekazit', znemoznit' i dopisovanie medzi svojou 
 dcerou a Kollarom. Ba tak sa zda, ze stara Schmidtova 
 pomahala k tomu, ze Kollar, ked' uz bol doma, dostal 
 chyry, ze jeho Mina umrela. Urcite drzal ju za mrtvu. 
 Teraz vsak Blazy tvrdil mu, ze Minina matka umrela. 
 Tedy po 1 6. rokoch poziadal znovu Minu o manzelstvo, 
 a ked' dostal priaznivu odpoved', vybral sa r. 1835 do 
 Nemecka a doviedol si svoju 40-rocnu nevestu domov. 
 Manzelstvo to bolo st'astne. Mali z neho jedinu dceru 
 L'udmilu. Matka a dcera prezila otca. 
 
 V nasledujiicich rokoch Kollar pilne pracoval na 
 sostaveni pod tlac svojich "Nedelnych, sviatocnych i 
 prilezitostnych kazni", z ktorych jednotlive uz predtym 
 co osobitne sosity vydaval, ako to slovenski farari casto 
 robievali. Konecne vydal ich sobrane. A sice I. svazok 
 uz r. 1831. a druhy 1844. Spolu vyse 1500 stran. Naj- 
 ma tento druhy diel nezaobera sa otazkami beznej cir- 
 kevnej theologie, ale su to viae popularne prednasky, 
 urcene na to, aby viedly l'ud k vyssiemu povedomeniu 
 naboznosti Hlavna ich myslienka je, ze naboznost' a 
 narodnost' su sestry. Kollar vedel, ze vsetci veliki re- 
 formatori l'udstva dosiahli veliky svoj vplyv hlavne tym 
 sposobom, ze svoje idey hlasali prostorozumnou, narod- 
 nou recou. I protestantskii reformaciu vazil si hlavne 
 preto, ze uvedla materinske jazyky do sluzieb bozich. 
 Kollar spravne chapal suvis citov, lasky k rodicom, brat- 
 stvu, narodu s citami lasky k Bohu a zretedlne hovoril, 
 
19 
 
 ze kto sa odcudzuje svojmu narodu, ten nemoze ostatr 
 ani milovnikom Boha, ani dobrym vlastencom, ani die- 
 tafom, ctitel'om predkov. V uceni nabozenskom hlav- 
 nu vahu kladie na mravne zdokonalovanie a zosTachto- 
 vanie cloveka. Osadnikom svojim kladol horlive na 
 srdce myslienku slavianskej vzajomnosti. 
 
 Basnil uz malokedy. Ako sa sam vyslovil "tehdaj- 
 sia doba jej rozkladnymi i smutnymi zjavmi v Uhorsku 
 nepovzbudzovala ho k basneniu. 
 
 Jeho kazdodennou cetbou boly teraz spisy obsahu 
 historickeho, archaeologickeho, mythologickeho i filo- 
 logickeho. 
 
 Pisal clanky do casopisov (magazinov) ceskoslo- 
 venskych. Kulturhistoricke a folkloristicke uvahy (es- 
 says) a piesnach, povest'ach, zvykoch a slavnost'ach sla- 
 vianskych. Vydal svoje myslienky "O literarnej vza- 
 jomnosti medzi rozlicnymi konarmi a nareciami (dia- 
 lektami) slavianskeho naroda". Toto dielo napisal a 
 vydal po nemecky "Ober die literarische Wechselseitig- 
 keit zwischen den verschiedenen Stammen und Mundar- 
 ten der slavischen Nation." (Pest', 1837. 2. vyd. 1844.) 
 Dalej vel'ky spis mythologicky a kulturhistoricky : "Sla- 
 va bohyna a povod mena Slavov ci Slavianov". (roku 
 1839.) V tomto diele zahrnute je vel'ke mnozstvo vse- 
 liakych dat a citatov zo vsetkych literatur, ktore dotial' 
 zname boly. 
 
 Roku 1841. podujal cestu cez Styrsko do Italie, zcia- 
 stky k voli zotaveniu, i zciastky k voli d'alsim studiam. 
 Svoje cestovne zkusenosti, dojmy a myslienky opisal v 
 svojom prvom "Cestopise do Hornej Italie*'. Toto die- 
 lo vyslo r. 1843. Druhu cestu taktiez do Italie vyko- 
 nal cez Svajciarsko r. 1 844. Ale cestopis o tejto druhej 
 ceste bol vydany az po Kollarovej smrti. 
 
 Okrem toho nasbieral latky pre svoj objemny spis 
 "Staroitalija slavianska", ktory vysiel tlacou tiez po smr- 
 ti povodcovej r. 1853. 
 
20 
 
 Medzitym nadisly burlive roky mad'arskej revolu- 
 cie 1848 — 49, v ktorej mad'arski nacelnici zahranicne- 
 mu svetu — Nemecku, Francii, Anglii, Amerike, pred- 
 stavovali sa co bojovnici za svobodu, rovnopravnost? a 
 bratstvo uhorskych narodov, v skutocnosti vsak bol to 
 boj za neobmedzenu nadvladu mad'arskej feudalnej 
 sl'achty nad nemad'arskymi narodmi tej krajiny. Tu ne- 
 treba zabudat', ze v r. 1830 — 1848 vyse dvoch tretfn 
 obyvatel'stva Uhorska bolo nemad'arskeho, ba este ani 
 dnes, vzdor schvalne falosnej mad'arskej uradnej sta- 
 tistike, Mad'ari netvoria vacsinu obyvatel'stva. Dalej, 
 ze hlavny osnovatel' mad'arskej revolucie, vychyreny 
 Ludvik Kossuth, r. 1847. na Presporskom sneme taky- 
 mito rabulistickymi frazami hlasal opravnenost' potlaca- 
 nia l'udu: "To je uz raz taky beh a poriadok sveta, ze 
 ten, kto v spolocnosti nizsie klesa, byva utlaceny a oda- 
 neny; ten vsak, kto sa v obcianskom zivote vyssie vy- 
 svihne, byva setreny a pravami obdareny!" Ovsem o 
 stvrf roka na to silnym prudom casu i Kossuth priniiteny 
 bol aspon na oko hlasat' osvobodenie l'udu z poddanstva, 
 ale sucasne dal do zalara a na sibenice odsudzovat' proti 
 Uhorsku v nicom sa neprevinivsich nemad'arskych na- 
 rodovcov, Srbov, Slovakov, Rumunov, len preto, ze ne- 
 chceli v oci svojmu vlastnemu l'udu zurit' dl'a chut'ok 
 kossutoyskeho terrorizmu. (Pocef Kossuthovskou vla- 
 dou r. 1849. bez vysluchu odsudenych Slovakov, Srbov, 
 a Rumunov prevysil 5 1 00 muzov, zien a deti. Z tych 
 ovsem bola vacsina rakuskym a ruskym vojskom este 
 zavcasu zo zalarov vysvobodena, ale mnohi uz boli po- 
 vesani). V torn case bol i Kollar v Pesti na svojej fare 
 mad'arskymi "honvedami", — po slovensky "obranca- 
 mi vlasti", chyteny a zajaty. No prisle cisarske vojsko 
 ho zo zajatia vysvobodilo. Viedenska vlada ho r. 1 849. 
 povolala za dovernika a informatora v zalezitostiach sla- 
 vianskych, ale uz asi po mesiaci bol vymenovany za mi- 
 moriadneho professora slavianskej archaeologie na vie- 
 denskej universite. Tu sice pilne pracoval. Napisal i 
 svoje "Pamati" z dob mladosti. Ale trpel castou cho- 
 robou ocnou, tak ze svoje prace mohol len diktovat. 
 Zomrel po kratkej nemoci 1853. roku, 59 a pol rocny. 
 
21 
 
 Pochovany bol vo Viedni v takzv. St. Marxovskom hro- 
 bitove. Manzelka dala mu postavit' na hrob skromny 
 pomnik. Telesne pozostatky Kollarove prevezene boly 
 r. 1894 slavnostnym sposobom do Prahy a ulozene 
 vo veFkolepom hrobitove "Na Olsanoch". 
 
 VtZNAM KOLLAROVEJ PRACE. 
 
 Vyznam Kollarovej prace a charakteru je epochalny 
 nielen na jeho blizsich sukmenovcov, Slovakov a Cechov, 
 ale na cele Slavianstvo — na Juhoslavianov, Srbov, Hr- 
 vatov, Slovincov, na Poliakov, Rusov, na Luzickych 
 Srbov v Nemecku, ba i v istom ohl'ade i na Nemcov, a 
 ostatne so Slavianmi susediace narody. 
 
 Ovsem je Kollar epochalny m hlavne co basnik, ale 
 ten to pochop nesvobodno brat' v obycajnom skolskom 
 smysle, ale v smysle Emersonovskom : basnik, myslitel', 
 prorok, tvorca novych dob. 
 
 Rozhodne najvacsie » — co do vyznamu — dielo 
 Kollarovo je sbierka basnf "Slavy Dcera". 
 
 "Slavy Dcera" — pise znamenity slavista-filo- 
 zof, historik a archaeolog, professor varsavskej univer- 
 sity, Jozef Perwolf — "ucinila ohromnu sensaciu. Sla- 
 vianstvo vystupilo tu po prvy raz v celkovom obraze, 
 licene v idealnych, horucou laskou nadchnutych barvach; 
 tu boly jadrne vyslovene smele myslienky o celom Sla- 
 vianstve a nahromadenym — na ten cas neobycajnym — 
 historickym materialom z celeho Slavianstva, (ku ktore- 
 mu potom basnik vydal obsfrny a dolezity vyklad) vni- 
 kly znamosti o dejinach a pomeroch slavianskych i do 
 sirsich kruhov". 
 
 Kollar prisiel "v plnosti casu". Jako ked' na jar 
 velika tepla vlna vzduchu rozprestre sa po sirych luci- 
 nach, stranach a lesoch a jej budiacim ucinkom razom 
 zacnu sa rozvijaf uz napuchnute puky rastlin, tak s ca- 
 su na cas zjavuju sa i duchovne, myslienkove prudy a 
 razom tvoria si svojich hlasatel'ov, zastavateFov, bojov- 
 nikov. Kazdy odpor, kazda prekazka stava sa im len 
 podnetom k rychlejsiemu, mohutnejsiemu rozvitiu, cel- 
 kom tak, ako posledny Tahky sniezik, padly na puciace 
 
22 
 
 kypre listky a kvety stromov, krov a pol'nych bylin, spo- 
 sobi len, aby ony prirychle nevyhukly do slabych vyhon- 
 kov, ale aby za kratky cas nalezite zpracovaly uz pri- 
 jatu do buniek potravu a tvorily si z protoplasmy mem- 
 brany, cievy, slovom pevnejsie ustroje. 
 
 Taky ideovy prud zavial i Europou koncom 18. a 
 pociatkom 1 9. stoletia. Veliky filozof Fichte hlasal svo- 
 bodu osobnosti — "das freie Ich", za nim Schelling 
 ucil identitu ducha a prirody, idealu s realom, opravne- 
 nost? len takeho statu, ktory vie do suhlasu doviesf po- 
 sitivnu svobodu individua so vseobecnou nutnost'ou. He- 
 gel svojim ucenim o subjektivnom, objektivnom a ab- 
 solutnom duchu budil tiez silne nemecke narodne — i 
 statne povedomie. Ale mladi Slaviani mysleli o iiom 
 tak; "Ked* sa germansky subjekt moze a ma vyvinovatf, 
 slavianska narodna osobnost' ma take iste prava. Ved' 
 sme s Germanmi co l'udia rovnocenni!" Pravda Hegel 
 vo svojom nazore na dejiny tvrdil: ze v kazdej periode 
 je isty urcity narod zvlastnym nosicom sveto-ducha- a 
 v oci tomuto su vsetky ostatne narody bezpravne, dokial' 
 dr. A. Stockel spravne poznamenava — "boly by cele de- 
 dr. Albert Stock el spravne poznamenava — "su cele de- 
 jiny len akoby kostnicou — kalvariou objektivneho du- 
 cha". Slaviani s takymito vyvodmi Hegelovymi uz ne- 
 suhlasili, ale zastavali rovnocennost? narodov, ale tak, 
 zeby pri torn bol mozny i svobodny vyvin inych, pot'a- 
 zne vsetkych narodov. Upevnil ich v takom smysl'a- 
 ni i Herder svojimi humanitnymi ideami. Tedy rychle 
 budilo sa narodne povedomie u vsetkych vetvi slavian- 
 skych. 
 
 V Cesku Dobrovssky (1753—1829) co hlboko- 
 umny ucenec stal sa zakladatel'om slavistiky (nauky o 
 Slavianstve v ohl'ade jazykopytnom, — lingvistickom i 
 narodopisnom-ethnografickom, starozitnickom-archaeolo- 
 gickom, dejepisnom, literarnom i l'udovom-folkloristic- 
 kom atd*.) povzbudil ceskych narodovcov ku zdarnej pra 
 ci prave v dobe hlbokeho ponizenia a v zufalych pome- 
 roch toho naroda. Nasiel okrem viacerich inych i neu- 
 navneho spolupracovnika v Jozefovi Jungmannovi (1 773 
 — 1847). 
 
23 
 
 Srbo-Hrvatov budil Vuk Karadzic (1787—1864) 
 od roku 1814,, zaloziac im novu literaturu Fudovu. 
 
 Vytecny filolog, Bartolomej Kopitar (1780-1844) 
 uz r. 1 808 vynikal i jako vedomec i jako horlivy Slavian. 
 
 U Rusov Michail Petrovic Pogodin (1800 — 1875) 
 vyvinul znamenitu cinnost? za slaviansku vec. 
 
 U Poliakov pokracovali o torn case v studiach sla- 
 vianskej otazky po viacerfch starsich menovite Vaclav 
 Maciejowski (1793 — 1883), Andrej Kucharski (1795- 
 1862), a slavny basnik Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855). 
 
 Boly tucty inych pracovnikov, ale priestor tohoto 
 diela nadopusti nam ich dFa mien spomenutf. 
 
 Ako z podanych letopoctov vidno, temer vsetci tu 
 spomenuti boli vrstovnikmi Jana Kollara i jeho vel'keho 
 spolurodaka Pavla Jozefa Safarika (1795 — 1863). 
 
 Vestci ti znali sa navzajom co pilni oraci zaned- 
 banej narodnej role. Citali jedni diela druhych, temer 
 vsetci sa i osobne i listovne stykavali, i v pracach sa via- 
 ceri z nich duchovne i hmotne podporovali. Ale ohrom- 
 ne t'azku ulohu: zatriast' odrazu celym Slayianstvom, ve- 
 deli vykonat' na ten cas len dvaja Slovaci, Safarik a Kol- 
 lar. Ovsem, ako sme podotkli, oni nasli uz podu ob- 
 stojne obrobenu. 
 
 Avsak preco a jako prave Slovaci mohli sa staC ta- 
 kymi apostolmi slavianskej idey_? Ved* narod z ktore- 
 ho vznikli je jeden z najmensich konarov vel'naroda! A 
 okrem toho, Slovakom od davna, ked* nie celkom zne- 
 moznena, predsa nesmierne prekazkami zatarasena je 
 cesta dostal? sa k zriedlam vyssej vzdelanosti prirodze- 
 nym sposobom, to jest na zaklade reci materinskej! 
 
 No narodik ten to ma svoje zvlastnosti a skvele pred- 
 nosti. Ked' shrnieme vsetky dosavadne mienky, udaje 
 a vyskumy o povodnych sidlach Slavianov, — pocnuc 
 od Herdota, Straba, Ptolomaeusa, Plinia — od stre- 
 dovekych kronikarov — az po novych a najnovsich ve- 
 domcov, dojdeme k tomu vysledku, ze koliska Slavian- 
 stva sti kraje okolo karpatskych, tatrianskych hor. Ovsem 
 jedni moderni ucenci tvrdia, ze prvotne sidlo slavianske 
 bolo na strednom a dolnom Dunaji a v Pannonii, (Prof. 
 J. L. Pic), naproti tomu druhi a sice vacsina slavistov, 
 
24 
 
 kladu kolisku Slavianstva nie na juh, ale na sever od Kar- 
 patov. Nie menej vazne dovody, archaeologicke nale- 
 zy atd'. hovoria za Moravu a Sliezsko, co starodavne 
 byliska Slavianov. No vsetko toto poukazuje na to, ze 
 rodne hniezdo Slavianstva, — co naroda, jazykove a ty- 
 picky od inych narodov indoeuropejskych uz oddeleneho 
 
 — differencovaneho, — je Slovensko a kraje s mm naj- 
 blizsie susediace. Tu nachadza sa mnozstvo pamiatok 
 z doby mladsej kamennej, neolithickej, i prvych dob ko- 
 vovych, tu v nepretrzenom postupe su pamiatky stavieb 
 mocarne-nakolne "lake-dwellings", za tym drevene hrad- 
 ky, potom kamenne zamky, prve jednoduche a potom 
 az do dob novohistorickych cim dial' tym nadhernejsie. 
 
 Ano, Slovensko je stredom Slavianstva 1 Pozoru- 
 hodne je, ze ked* vytecni znalci staroslavianciny (Old 
 Church Slavic or Old Slavonic language) poznali prosto- 
 narodnu slovencinu, tak jako iu hovori pospolity l'ud, 
 ostali nadmier zadiveni nad jei uzkou podobnost'ou so 
 starcslaviancinou. Professor Vladimir Ivanovic Laman- 
 skij, univ. prof, v Petrohrade, ked' po prvy raz navstivil 
 Slovensko, vyslovil sa: "Slovencina je vlastne starosla- 
 viancina!" 
 
 Ovsem, kultiirna, jazykova i typicka najblizsia su- 
 vislost' Slovakov s Cechmi neda sa odtajif. Reformator 
 Cech Jan Hus pisal vlastne slovensky, moravsky Slovak 
 Komensky a uhorski Slovaci Safarik a Kollar cesky a ich 
 spisy cita tak slovensky ako cesky jednoduchy clovek bez 
 slovnika a rozumie im! 
 
 Slovaci, tak obecny l'ud, ako intelligent^ ucia sa 
 ostatnym slavianskym reciam s obdivuhodnou l'ahko- 
 st'ou a tak rychle, i dokonale, ako ziaden iny, trebars i jim 
 najblizsi susedny narod. Slovensky kupec, ked' pride 
 do Ruska, o strnasf dm uz bezne plynne shovara sa s ru- 
 skym dedincanom, sedliakom, slovensky student na srb- 
 sko-hrvatskom gymnasiume bez zvlastnych fazkosti a 
 bez predbezneho ucenia sa srbskej mluvnice, zdarne po- 
 kracuje v studiach rovnako so Srbo-Hrvatmi. Slovenski 
 ucitelia, knazia, professoria, lekari, atd*. nemohuc doma 
 
 — nasledkom prenasledovania so strany mad'arskej vla- 
 dy — dostaf postavenia, uz od desiatok rokov odcha- 
 
25 
 
 dzaju do Ruska, Ceska, Pol'ska, Srbska a Hrvatska, kde 
 v torn istom odbore zivotnej prace, ktoremu sa vyucili, 
 nemyleno ucinkuju a obycajne i znamenite vynikaju. 
 
 Taliansky anthropolog a psychiater, Cesare Lomb- 
 roso, (v svojom diele "Genio e follia" — "Genialnosf a 
 blaznovstvo" ) , dokazuje, ze narody vrchov davaju l'ud- 
 stvu pomerne najviac vysokonadanych l'udi. Rozmani- 
 tost' prirodnych zjavov, bohatstvo dojmov a podnetov, 
 len pri napinavej a stalej praci mozna vyziva: vsetko to 
 napomaha vyvin telesne i duchovne silnych plemien. 
 
 Nuz a Slovaci su narod vrchov. A ponevac byvaju 
 na tej istej zemi od mnohych davnych stoleti, vyvinuli sa 
 v narod zriedkavych schopnosti, za osvetou, svobodou 
 tuziaci a v celom svojom citeni taky umelecky, ze ang- 
 licky spisovatel', Seaton Watson (Scotus Viator) pocas 
 svojej druhej navstevy Slovenska, r. 1910. mohol plnym 
 pravom vyslovif sa takto: 
 
 "Nas slavny Ruskin za cely svoj zivot hl'adal vzor- 
 ny narod, t. j. taky, ktory by bol vo vsetkych svojich zi- 
 votnych prejavoch harmonicky, umelecky. Ruskin hl'a- 
 dal taky narod, ale nenasiel ho — a neuspokojeny zo- 
 mrel. Skoda! Keby Ruskin este zil, doviedol by som 
 ho sem, a ukazal by som mu narod slovensky!" 
 
 Ale Slovaci pri vsetkej svojej potlacenosti vynikli 
 a vynikaju i vo vedeckych pracach. 
 
 Nuz, ked' uvazime i len dosial' povedane, hebudeme 
 sa divif, ze prave v slovenskom narode narodil a vyvi- 
 nul sa najvacsi hlasateF slavianskej idey, Kollar. Mys- 
 lienka plemennej totoznosti je akoby vrodena uz v po- 
 spolitom slovenskom l'ude. 
 
 Kollar svojou "Slavy Dcerou" dal jej vel'kolepy 
 vyraz. "Slavy Dcera'* pod tymto nazvom vysla r. 1824. 
 v Pesti (d'alsie starsie vydania r. 1832, 1845, novsie 
 mnohe.) Jednotlive ciastky z nej vydane boly tlacou uz 
 r. 1821, v Prahe, a najlepsie, ktore tehdajsia rakiiska 
 statna cenzura nedovolila vytlacit', kolovaly v odpisoch 
 medzi priatel'mi. Konecne uplne vydanie pozostava z 
 predspevu a pat? oddielov-spevov, spolu 645 zneliek. 
 Predspev pisany je v klassickych antickych distichach, 
 dvojversoch, (hexametre s pentametrom — sestimere s 
 
26 
 
 patimerom). Znelky-sonetty, sii Petrarcovske, 1 4-riadko- 
 ve, riadky desat'- a devafslabicne. Prizvucne trochaeicke. 
 Obidve formy ovladal Kollar majstrovsky. Volil formu 
 antickeho disticha i moderneho sonetta i preto, aby uka- 
 zal, aka ohybna, l'ubozvucna i bohata je jeho materin- 
 fika rec, ked'ze mozno v nej takymi nesnadnymi umelec- 
 kymi formami a melo dicky mi rymami vyjadrovaf i naj- 
 vyssie idey a najhlbsie city. Petrarca bol tedy Kollarovi 
 vzorom co tyka sa zovnajsej formy. Ale vo vnutornom 
 slozeni, v koncepcii a celej komposicii diela bol mu vzo- 
 rom "jeden z najvacsich basnikov vsetkych vekov" — 
 Dante Alighieri. Pri basnickej tvorbe i idealizovani Mi- 
 ny Kollarovi rozhodne tkvela pred ocima postava Dan- 
 teovej svatice. Tak i posledne dva spevy Slavy Dcery, 
 "Lethe" a "Acheron", znaciace slavianske peklo a nebo, 
 su zretedlne ponasky na Danteho. Avsak ze "Bozska 
 komedia" vel'kolepou svojou komposiciou, mnozstvom 
 nedostiznych basnickych kras, obrazov a idei i klassickou, 
 mohutnou i neznou mluvou (dikciou) ucinkovala na Kol- 
 lara, ako i okolnosf, ze Kollar znal Byronovho "Child 
 Harolda", to ma pri uvazovani "Slavy Dcery" len druho- 
 stupnovy vyznam. Lebo tu treba znovu pripomenutf, 
 ze Kollar uz od detstva mal cujne, jemne ucho pre krasy 
 svojej materinskej reci. Co tyka sa melodickeho akcentu 
 (prizvuku), plynnosti, plno- a l'ubozvucnosti, bohatstva 
 slov, obraznych vyrazov a zvratov, mozno slovencinu 
 prirovnat' len ku starej, klassickej attickej grectine. 
 Basnik Adolf Hejduk, ked* poznal slovencinu, vyslovil 
 «a o nej takto odusevnene: 
 
 "Ach, ta sloven cina — svata fee to, vim! 
 
 Jazykem ta veru neni svetovym. 
 
 Jestli so vsak andel v nebi 
 
 Bohu zpevem vdecf: 
 
 nesmi Mu on jinak zpfvat, 
 
 nez slovenskou feci!" 
 Nuz a tuto rec mal Kollar uz hotovu. Ba keby ne- 
 bol svoje basne skladal v cudzich formach, ale bol by 
 bral versove miery priamo z poezie svojho Fudu — ako 
 to neskor mnohi slovenski basnici cinili a cinia, bol by 
 ostal povodnejsim i ucinnejsim. Pravda i tak, ako je, vni- 
 
27 
 
 kol do Sirokych vrstiev naroda. Ponevac prve vydanie 
 Slavy Dcery tlacene bolo len v nevel'kom naklade a z to- 
 ho, ked' zjavilo sa v knihkupectvach, nepriatelia Slova- 
 kov zakupili a znicili tol'ko vytiskov, kol'ko mohli, tedy 
 mnohi Slovaci odpisovali si to dielo bud' to cele, bud' to 
 vo vyt'at'hu. Robili to pospoliti l'udia remeselnici, dedin- 
 ski ucitelia a najma studenti strednych skol. Na vset- 
 kych stranach ucili sa muzovia, zeny, mladenci, panny, 
 celym odsekom nazpamat', prednasali jednotlive znelky. 
 Myslienky, vykrystalizovane, vznesenou basnickou recou 
 vyslovene, rychle stavaly sa majetkom celeho naroda. 
 V zapati Kollarovych krokov vyrastali temer sucasne je- 
 ho nadseni nasledovnici. V prvom rade genialna trojica 
 slovenskych basnikov, vedomcov i politikov. Michal M. 
 Hodza (1811 — 1870), L'udevit Stiir (1815—1856) a 
 Jozef M. Hurban (1817 — 1888) a za nimi cela plejada 
 vytecnikov, ktori tak zivym, ako tlacenym slovom za- 
 pal'ovali narodne, slavianske povedomie a sirili osvetu 
 v massach Fudu. Kuzmany, Zello, Jan Chalupka, Samo 
 Chalupka, Jonas Zaborsky, Samo Tomasik, Krai, Kalin- 
 cak, Stefan Marko Daxner, Botto, Francisci, Matuska 
 atd\ Taky ucinok mala Slavy Dcera i na najblizsich 
 bratov Slovakov, na Cechov. 
 
 Tazisko celeho vplyvu Kollarovho je VSESLAVIAN- 
 SKA VZAJOMNOST. Tento pochop v rokoch tridsiat- 
 ky 19. stoletia dostal nazov panslavismus, a toto slovo 
 rozsirilo sa po celej Europe, ba i za jej hranice. 
 
 VSESLAVIANSKA VZAJOMNOST. 
 
 PANSLAVIZMUS. 
 
 Nielen l'udia a knihy, ale i jednotlive slova maju 
 svoje osudy. Nezriedka zvrhne sa pravy smysel' slova — 
 v hlavach a ustach povrchnych alebo zlomysel'nych Fudi 
 na uplny opak pravdy. Ale t'azko by bolo najst' slova, 
 ktoreho pochop bol nepriatel'mi tak prekruteny, tak zfal- 
 sovany, ako pochop panslavizmu. Zfalsovali ho Nemci 
 a Mad'ari. Rozhlasovali v casopisoch, knihach, v sne- 
 moc,h shromazdeniach, s kazateFni, v skolach, ze pan- 
 
28 
 
 slavizmus je snaha: vykynozit Germanstvo, Mad'arstvo 
 a potom cely ostatny svet a uviest* vsade slavianske poli- 
 ticise panstvo, nadvladu, tyranniu. DFa tych vyvodov 
 panslavizmus znamena zkazu a zahubu vsetkej vzdelano- 
 sti, kultury, svobody europejskej. Je to zlocinny, krimi- 
 nalny smer, ktory treba do korena vynicif, vypalif. Preto 
 vyhlasili kriziacku vojnu proti vsetkym vyznavacom vse- 
 slavianskej vzajomnosti. Vynasali zakony na snemoch 
 i cirkevnych kongresoch, fahali pred svetske i cirkevne 
 sudy kazdeho, na koho padlo i len denunciantske podo- 
 zrenie, le "suciti s panslavmi". 
 
 Ked' akykol'vek podly cloyek, statny uradmk, knaz, 
 lekar, statny sekretar (B. Griinwald) spachal nejaky kri- 
 kl'avy zlocin, l'ahko sa osvobodil od nasledkov, ked* vy- 
 setrujucemu sudcovi, alebo aspon svojmu predstavene- 
 mu posepnul, ze on bojuje proti panslavismu. Tak to 
 bolo v Uhorsku, Rakusku i v Prusku (Expropriacne za- 
 kony proti pozfianskym Poliakom.) Bolo to podobne 
 utrpeniu prvych krest'anov. No take vysvetFovanie pan- 
 slavismu bolo len satanskou zamienkou pre nemecke, ma- 
 d'arske a turecke tyranstvo nad Slavianmi! 
 
 Ale najhodnovernejsfm, najopravnenejsim, authen- 
 tickym vysvetrovatel'om kazdeho ucenia, kazdej myslien- 
 ky a idy je jej povodca. Tedy co znamena vseslavianska 
 vzajomnost' v smysle Kollarovom? 
 
 Ked' dovedna shrnieme, co Kollar v Slavy Deere 
 hlasa, dojdeme k nasledujucim zakladnym vetam: 
 
 Slavianstvo uz v predhistorickych dobach nie vy- 
 bojne, ale pokojne osadilo sa v krajinach od Rujany po 
 Ural, od Baltu po Adriu, i Carihrad a huzevnatou, ne- 
 umornou pracou obrobilo, vzdelalo tieto rozsiahle kraje, 
 trpelo za tisicletia krivdy, napady, utisky od draveho 
 sveta germanskeho, hunskeho, tatarskeho, tureckeho. No, 
 bozska myslienka dejin hovori, ze Tudstvo negaciou svo- 
 jej podstaty nemoze sa blizit' svojmu idealu; ze akym- 
 kol'vek vrazdenim narodov, fyzickym alebo duchovnym, 
 nemozno dosiahnut' ciel'ov clovecenstva : tedy Slavian- 
 stvo ma sa sjednotit' a zastat' si na obranu svojich vse- 
 l'udskych prav; ma zachranit' jadro svojej vrodenej po- 
 vahy a utvorif z neho pravu vseclovecensku vzdelanost'. 
 
 
29 
 
 osvetu a svobodu. Vyvin, vzrast a rozkvet toho jadra 
 je pestovanie narodnosti. Odrodilstvo je vobec najhorsi 
 stupen degeneracie — zvrhlosti. 
 
 "Hfich je ovsem velky, vrazda vztekla, 
 kradez, zrada, zharstvo, otravy, 
 hodny, aby mecem popravy 
 krev a duse z tela jejich tekla; 
 
 I lez, pycha, zavist, svod a smekla 
 chlipnost, cihajici na mravy, 
 a jak slujou ony ohavy 
 pfisle na zem z horouciho pekla: 
 
 Vsak znam draka s tvafi cernoduchou, 
 proti nemuz tyto ulomky 
 hnchu jeste snehu belsi budou. 
 
 Ten sam loupi, repce, uci zlemu, 
 
 bije sebe, predky, potomky, 
 
 a zni: Nevdek ku narodu svemu." 
 
 (Slavy Dcera, spev II. 121.) 
 
 Kollarovska vseslavianska vzajomnostf nevola o 
 pomstu za utrpene krivdy, ale ziada len zamedzit' d'aFsie 
 bezpravie. Kollar vie, ze tol'ko krvi a cernidla nevylial 
 nikde ziaden nepriatel', koFko vylial k zahube Slavian- 
 stva Nemec", ale lined* doklada, ze 
 
 "Sam svobody kto hoden, svobodu zna vaziti KAZDO, 
 ten kto do pout jima otroky, sam je otrok." 
 
 Tedy, ked' Slavianstvo ma sa spojit* v jeden celok, 
 aby mohlo sa povzniest k najvyssim sferam ducha, tym 
 naskrze neziada, aby nesnazil sa ta i German, Anglosas, 
 Francuz alebo Talian. Naopak, zasada tato vyzaduje, 
 aby kazdy narod svobodne — ale bez nicenia, dusenia 
 inych, vyvieoval sa do miery praveho cloveka. 
 
 "Narod tak povazuj jedine jako nadobu Tudstva. 
 A vzdy volas-li SlavianI nech se ti ozve: clovek!" 
 
30 
 
 Kollar nechcel, zeby Slaviani mali by? vychovavany 
 za narod dravy, vybojny. On skutocne dokonale pocho- 
 pil vrodenu vlastnosf slavianskej duse, totiz, ze sice ne- 
 rada trpi, ale ani nerada cini nasilie. Podobne, ako veliky 
 myslitel' a skumatel' dusi, Lev Nikolajevic Tolstoj, vo 
 svojom diele "Konec vieka" (1905) dokazuje, ze rusky 
 narod nema niakej naklonnosti k panovaniu nad inymi. 
 
 Aky to ohromny, priamo diametralny rozdiel medzi 
 Kollarovskou vseslavianskou vzajomnosfou a medzi 
 Nemcami hlasanym pangermanismom! 
 
 Roku 1876. dr. Pfeiderer, v Kommentari ku prekla- 
 du Danteho "Divina Comedie'^ vyklada, ze uz Dante 
 ocakaval spasu svojho naroda od nemeckeho "svetoveho 
 cisarstva'* — "deutsches Weltkaisertum!" Pred 7. — 8. 
 rokmi vydana nemecka kniha "Die blonde Bestie" (Pla- 
 va selma) t. j. Nemectvo je jedinym predstavitel'om l'ud- 
 skej vzdelanosti, lebo vraj i Kristus bol German! Panger- 
 manismus vobec nevie si myslet' dobry vyvin narodov, 
 pokrok clovecenstva, dosiahnutie idealnych ciel'ov, bez 
 zbijania inych narodov o zem, rec, sabaurcovanie. Je 
 to odveka germanska dravost', ktora javi sa od Karola 
 Velikeho az do nasich ciast a ktorej len slavianska idea 
 postavi konecnu hradzu. 
 
 Kollar so svojim priateFom Safarikom v rozhovo- 
 roch utuzovali sa vo viere, ze Slaviani pod nacelnictvom 
 naimohutnejsie konara svojej rodiny, Ruska, sjednotia 
 sa i politicky. Ovsem, v onej dobe vyslovovat' take 
 mienky v Rakusku a verejne bolo by ich zivoty stalo. 
 
 No pritom vsetkom Kollar ohnivym, bleskovym slo- 
 bestialnu dravost', a s druhej strany ako pravy prorok od- 
 halil zavoj slavnej buducnosti svojho, za tisicletia suzene- 
 halil zavoj slavnej buducnosti nasho, za tisicletia suzene- 
 ho, ale prebudzajuceho sa vel'naroda: 
 
 "Co z nas Slavu bude o sto roku? 
 Coze bude z cele Europy? 
 Slavsky zivot navzdor potopy 
 rozsiri svych vsude meze kroku. 
 
31 
 
 A ta, ktorou mely za otroku 
 jen fee — kfive Nemcu pochopy, 
 ozyvati se ma pod stropy 
 palacu i v ustech samych soku. 
 
 Vedy slavskym potekou tez zlabem, 
 
 kroj, zvyk i zpev lidu naseho 
 
 bude modnym nad Seinou i Labem. 
 
 O kyz i ja radej v tu jsem dobu 
 narodil se panstvi slavskeho, 
 aneb potom vstanu jeste z hrobu! 
 
 Kollar povedal tieto pamatne prorocke slova okolo 
 roku 1824. Este neminulo od tych cias doslovne rata- 
 nych sto rokov, ale kto by pochyboval, ze Kollarovske 
 proroctvo sa uz vel'kolepe plm? 
 
 Vidno to nielen v torn, ze na svetochyrnych univer- 
 sitach — nemeckych, francuzskych, anglickych — pe- 
 stuje sa slavistika; nielen, ze diela slavianskych basnikov, 
 menovite ruskych a pol'skych, citaju sa v celom kultur- 
 nom svete, ze tvorby slavianskeho umenia, hudby, mai'by 
 i socharstva nadobyvaju si uznania a uctu od jednej casti 
 zemegule po druhu; ze Slaviani pilne prispievaju cenny- 
 mi pracami, urodnymi myslienkami i na poli vedy, vyna- 
 lezov a v priemysle; ale co je najhlavnejsia vec i — vo 
 vseslavianskej vzajomnosti vyslovena idea sbratrenia 
 vsetkych narodov vnika uz i do hlav jasnejsie mysliacich 
 zapadnickych sociologov, politikov a statnikov; ze tito 
 nahliadaju aky blahodarny vplyv bude mat na vzpruze- 
 nie, ozdravenie a d'al'si rozkvet, — v mnohom ohl'ade 
 jednostranne sa vyvinujucich, — ba ako najma ruski 
 Slavianofili hovoria a menovite francuzski narodovci uz- 
 navaju — rychle starnucich zapadnych narodov. 
 
 Tak tedy narody zapadu maju a iste i budii uprim- 
 ne vitat?, sFachetne napomahat uskutocnenie Kollarovych 
 idei. 
 
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