THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

nditions in the city of Ekaterinoslav were miserable and the courts there inconvenient. In a real sense our forefathers stood abandoned, poor as a churchmouse in body and soul. Through the written authorization from Prussia they had an elder [Behrent Penner] confirmed. ... It hurt him to be forced to officiate at the Lord’s Supper in a pair of home-made shoes, commonly worn at the time, whereupon four of the participating brethren banded together to buy him a pair of boots which one of the delegates, Bartsch, made for him. The poor co mmuni ty desired with all its heart to partake of the holy sacrament, but when they remembered the solemnity of these occasions in their former homeland, where they dressed in their Sunday best, there was loud sobbing. c) “The arrival of our Molotschna brethren during the years 1803-05 saved our community from toted bankruptcy; for it was through them that money once again began to circulate amongst us. These comely brethren encountered much better conditions than had our [Chortitza] fathers; for the late nobleman Contenius [the chief welfare officer for the South Russian colonists] had already arrived, and it was he who poured out upon them all the benefits of which the government was capable, benefits which had been so sparingly extended to our fathers. These new immigrants paid our fathers in cash for living quarters and bams, which till then had not been used because, for the sake of convenience, our cattle had been fed outside throughout the winter. Our fathers, in return for a fee, also took care of their purchases Documentary Supplement 113 from the Russians and earned money while assisting them in the building-up of their colony on the Molotschna. Thus the wholly enervated co mmuni ty was partially restored to life. Lord Contenius was also continuously present with his untiring words of advice, encourage- ment and threats. Our insensitivity, however, caused him considerable grief. [Various matters concerning culture follow: sheep-breeding, silk industry]. . . . Before his death in 1830, 37 Lord Contenius had the pleasure of seeing our community prosper. With him we also buried the paternal care we had experienced ; those days will not come again, for we have outgrown the shoes of our childhood and wish to be mature. [The later Privy Councillors, Hahn and Baron Rosen played the same role, however!] Today our industry could nearly universally be considered passable in contrast to our old lethargy; morals, too, have improved to the same degree. Nevertheless, our education still stands at a deplorably low level. The reading of the sermons in the churches has begun to be somewhat livelier, and the need for a more meaningful education for the children seems to be recognized, but there still seems to be no taste [ in the Chortitza area] for singing in harmony. We will have to place our hopes in our secondary schools. Some of the young teachers from these schools