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

ussian subjects when we were admitted. Whoever deliberately despises and defies all governmental and human authority in spite of this cannot complain when he receives the judgment he deserves, u) Likewise, the St. Petersburg reporter has no reason to lament that ‘after the Mennonite clergy requested help from the secular government, imprisonment and other coercive measures were immediately employed and that this oppression and persecution not only did not relent but became more and more serious.’ A few of the most impudent and brutal secessionist members were punished with a few days of detention in the Area Administrative Office, not because of their faith or their Christian life, but partly because they had acted contrary to their 382 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH promise given to the government, and partly because they were guilty of coarse and irresponsible slander against the church and its leaders. Thus they only received such punishment as would be meted out to any other crude and indecent person guilty of a similar offence, in accordance with the existing order for maintaining good discipline and morality. Moreover, those arrested were held only until they promised not to insult and slander the church and their superiors any more and to strive to be decent and moral citizens, v) Furthermore, this ‘fellowship of living brethren,’ as the reporter from St. Petersburg likes to call them, or ‘the church of the saints,’ as they like to call themselves, young as it is, has experienced severe fragmentation, in that they have already splintered into three or more parties who want no association with each other. w) Late in the summer of 1862, J. Claassen returned from St. Petersburg without having achieved his or his associates’ objectives, except that he had finally succeeded in submitting a written complaint and petition to His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia. This document was soon sent by the Imperial Office to the Supervisory Commission in Odessa with a demand for a report to the Imperial Office concerning Claassen’s activities in the colony, the reputation he has acquired in the Mennonite brotherhood, and the complaints he had handed in. The Supervisory Commission will no doubt have responded to this request and a resolution from the highest authority in St. Petersburg is now expected. x) In the meantime, Claassen and associates have once more begun to disturb the Sunday worship services in the villages of Liebenau and Wemersdorf. They appeared at the services, winked and smiled at each other during the singing and the sermon and addressed the congregation immediately after the service. The mayor’s office of Liebenau remonstrated with Claassen and consorts and prohibited such disruptive conduct; but they believed they had a biblical right to do so and refused to promise obedience. Consequently, the Liebenau Mayor’s Office felt obliged to report these persons to the District Office for disturb