180 Education

Exceptionally, the circulation of the newspaper was increased from 300 to 500 copies, and this additional circulation was sent to Krakow, Vilnius and Lviv. My idea will surely gain opponents... fanatical Catholics, nobility and maybe magnates who will oppose granting Cossack nobility, but the greater the reach of the newspaper and the more people it reaches, the greater the chance that I will find allies.

There was a knock on the door of my office, it was Elisabeth... after Sveta's death, only Galina retained the privilege of entering my office unannounced. However, she did not visit me of her own free will, I had to summon her every time.

"I'm not disturbing anything?" (Elisabeth)

"No, how can I help you?" (MC)

"I wanted to remind you that you were supposed to take me to one of your schools and then to the theater." (Elisabeth)

In fact, I promised her something like that. Elisabeth was interested in what our education looks like... and it's a shame to admit, but compared to the Dutch or the English, we were far behind. Currently, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was inhabited by approximately 13-15 million people, and the country covered over 1,200 million square kilometers. However, the illiteracy rate was in the range of 85-90 percent. The only people who could read and write were the nobility, merchants, priests and Jews, some craftsmen could be added, but it was not a great percentage... even Warsaw, despite being the capital of the country, did not have a university.

The changes that I have made, the opening of schools, the Sunday school agreement or Jesuit seminars... have already made a big difference, but I did not expect miracles, if the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth succeeds in reaching 50% of the population capable of reading and writing by the end of the century, it will be miracle... although I do not think that I will be able to live that long.

"I remember, but there are only two schools in the capital that I maintain and I don't know if they are open during these hours, but we can check and then go to the theater." (MC)

The school was open, it was located in a small wooden house on the left bank of the Vistula. Everything was simple, wooden benches and chairs, one small cupboard containing some textbooks I had written, class could accommodate no more than fifteen students at one time... so nothing special.

"Hetman Jazłowiecki is an honor for me... for us to see you here." (Teacher)

I heard similar sentences very often when I visit brothels... It never hurts to suck on someone who pays you.

"I wanted to check if the money I spend on the maintenance of the school does not go down the drain and see the progress of the students, maybe even give them an exam... oh, that's my wife, Princess Elisabeth..." (MC)

The teacher bowed low, I went to one of the pews where the boy was sitting, no more than 11 or 12 years old.

"What's your name?" (MC)

"Marcinek, Lord." (Marcinek)

There was a slight tremor in the boy's voice... the status difference was significant, even adults had problems not to let their voice break when they talked to me, let alone the children... my face didn't help either.

"How long have you been going to school?" (MC)

"It will be three years, Lord." (Marcinek)

"You know 'Old king had two daughters'? If so, recite it?" (MC)

The boy knew the text and recited it almost without error, but these little mistakes were more stressful than not knowing... then I did the same with another student, choosing a different text. The next step was a math test, nothing complicated, simple addition and subtraction and a few history questions... I was rather pleased with the results.

I walked over to Elizabeth.

"I know you didn't understand much, but I did them a simple knowledge test to see what they learned and it turned out rather well." (MC)

"And what are they learning here?" (Elisabeth)

"Writing and reading, simple methematics and the history of the country... if there is an outstanding student, in theory the teachers are to inform me about it and I will provide him with further education." (MC)

"In theory?" (Elisabeth)

"Yes, because such a student has not been found in any of the schools yet... but why did you want to see the school?" (MC)

"If you let me, I would like to open a school too, but only for Protestants." (Elisabeth)

I tried to avoid teaching religion in my schools, but I saw no reason not to let Elisabeth do it. Hetman Radziwiłł was a Calvinist and also opened a school only for them in Vilnius or Kiejdany, so my wife can also do it.

"I agree, but under certain conditions, language and history must be taught at this school, and I will provide textbooks, the rest of the subjects may be at your discretion." (MC)

Before we left school and went to the theater, I awarded each student whom I questioned with a thaler.

"Do you know what play they will be staging today?" (Elisabeth)

Since I returned to Warsaw, every morning I was provided with a program for the day from the theater. Usually the plays were repeated, but there were also days like today.

"It will be a few short plays, than one long... The first is to be 'The Legend of King Popiel' the second play will be 'The Fern Flower' and that's it for today... When winter comes, we can go on a sleigh ride or skate when the Vistula is covered with ice. (MC)

I really need to introduce more entertainment, nowadays Elisabeth either read, watched the sky, go to the theater or prayed... and in the evenings and at night she learned to be a better lover.

If Wroński finds the right piece of land, it will be a step in the right direction, but one thing may not be enough, people need bread and games.