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

lords of the French Assembly with regard to their major religious concerns because of their “meekness,” so did the strict lords of the Society and the Supervisory Co mmis sion indulge what seems to us the small-minded religious concerns of our Kleine Gemeinde brethren. “The meek shall inherit the earth!” The yards, fields, gardens and cattle of the Kleine Gemeinde belonged to the best in the colonies. And the honorable Franz Isaak, who lived in those days, asserts that chairman Johann Comies, who was involved in a major battle with Jakob Warkentin and Heinrich Wiens in 1842 and 1847 (did he have to carry it out in the manner he did?), in 1843 convinced the government to grant the Kleine Gemeinde equal status with the other churches! d) Now, did Johann Comies never make any mistakes? "Who amongst us does not make mistakes!” Did Menno not make mistakes? (“The marriage ban,” etc.). Have our favorites, such as Pastor Wuest, Bernhard Fast, August Lenzmann, Bernhard Harder, Johann Claassen, Abraham Unger, and the favorites of others not made mistakes? Have not “Ohrloff,” “Gnadenfeld,” the “Kleine Gemeinde,” the “Large Congregation” and the “M.B. Church” made mistakes? “All of us have sinned— and come short” (of perfection). In the lawful position assigned him by the highest authorities Johann Comies was, in his own way and under the circumstances of the time, a small scale version of that which world history has called the “enlightened despot,” a dictator who rules for the benefit of his subjects: Duke Ernst the Pious of Gotha, Peter the Great, Frederick II, and Joseph II. Such idealistic men of power perform Documentary Supplement 199 great feats but also commit great mistakes! 110 Comies also made mistakes. He was probably not without guilt in the Gnadenfeld matter (F. Lange) or in the matter concerning Elder H. Wiens. 111 The good he has accomplished, however, by far outweighs his mistakes, and we honor him ardently for his accomplishments. We agree with what Johann Claassen 112 said to his brethren: “It is self-evident that we must be model farmers in return for all of the imperial privileges!” (Compare also the letter of Rev. Johann Wall #62, 2). We believe everyone must be a model in his given occupation; and where this is not the case, it is a double sin and shame to us,— may it irritate you and me! Menno and Comies have given us Russian Mennonites, both in Russia and America, our ecclesiastical and cultural character for all time; as yet, however, it is far from perfect! We see in Comies’ reform the healthy body (culture and civic co mmuni ty) for Menno 's spirit (the heart of Christianity and church community). And we call upon our more than a hundred-thousand brothers and sisters in Russia and America: Let us remember our two teachers, Menno and Corniest Let us acquire what we have inherited from our fathers! (According to A. Kroeker’s Family Almanac of 1900, M.F.S. and P.W.M.) e) The chai