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

already at her side. In spite of this, they took her, without regard to the tears and lamentations of her little children, to the prison at Leeuwarden where, after three weeks of imprisonment, she gave birth to a boy. Later this beloved of Christ was tormented with severe sufferings and so horribly tortured that she was no longer able to lift her hands to her head. She was so inhumanl y tortured primarily because she would give the authorities no information about the brethren. For the wolves could not be satiated and panted after more innocent blood. But the faithful God, who is a haven in time of need and a defence for all those who trust in Him, guarded her tongue so that no one was delivered up to suffering through her. When all attempts failed to turn her from Christ, she was condemned to die at the above-named place, stuffed in a sack like Em animal and dumped into the water until she was drowned.” o) “In the year 1551 Hieronymus Segerson and another person were burned at Antwerp. The letters, which Segerson wrote from prison, breathe a spirit of serene piety and courageous patience. ‘I would much sooner,’ he said, ‘have let myself be tortured ten times in one day and then finally roasted on a gridiron than to have renounced the faith which I have confessed.’ ” p) “Lysken, Segerson’s wife, was drowned. The account of her torture and death is quite remarkable. It states: ‘Lysken, our sister, after languishing in bondage for a long time, has finally ended her pilgrimage, remaining steadfsist in the Word of the Lord to the end. The Lord be prEiised for ever! She confessed her faith before the court, the officials, and the masses quite freely and frEinkly. At first she was questioned regarding baptism. She responded: ‘I recognize only one true baptism and that is the baptism practiced by Christ and His disciples and which they handed on to us.’ ‘What do you t hink of infant baptism?’ asked the magistrate. Lysken answered him: ‘It is nothing more than the bathing in water of a small child and a purely human practice.’ Thereupon the judges arose and conferred together: meanwhile Lysken confessed and explained the foundations of her faith in lucid words to the people. Then the judges pronounced her sentence. Lysken responded Persecutions 25 with the following words to the court: ‘You are now the judges, but the time will come when you will wish you had been shepherds; for there is one Lord and Master over all; He will judge you when the time comes. For we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but with the princes, the powerful, the Lords of this world, who rule in the darkness of this world.’ To this the court answered: ‘Take her from the court.’ Thereupon the people, filled with compassion, ran to her to look at her more closely. And Lysken spoke earnestly to them in a voice deeply moved: ‘You should know that I am not suffering because I have committed robbery, murder, or any other evil deed,