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

in them. They had set up their tents in heaven, not here on earth. The angel of the Lord has swung the sword before them so that the helmet of their salvation and the golden shield of David could not be struck from them. They heard and understood well the trumpet call in Zion; for that reason they conquered all pain and torture and were not frightened by it. Their holy disposition accounted the things of this world a mere shadow, for they had been assured greater things. God had educated them to know nothing, seek nothing, want nothing, love nothing except that eternal heavenly possession alone. — c) Therefore they exemplified more patience in their sufferings than their enemies did in their torturing!’’ B. THE DUTCH-PRUSSIAN ANABAPTISTS OR MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IV. THE ANABAPTISTS (DOOPSGEZINDE) IN HOLLAND 1. Beginnings, —a) According to Reiswitz and Wadzeck, it is §8 impossible to demonstrate that the Anabaptists first made their appearance in the United Netherlands. On the contrary, according to the same authors the first historically discernible Anabaptists lived dispersed in Germany and Switzerland much earlier, and only later made their way to the Netherlands where they established small congrega- tions. William I of Orange, governor of the Netherlands and ancestor of the reigning Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, was the first to tolerate 1 the Anabaptists in spite of the protests of the foremost ministers of the Reformed State Church. On the one hand, William of Orange extended toleration to the Anabaptists because of his own tolerant disposition,— a marvel in his own time— for he detested every violation of freedom of conscience. On the other hand, the Anabaptists had contributed large sums of money to a government in desperate straits, an action that brought them William’s good will. This initial toleration was eventually extended to a complete equality with all the other Dutch Churches. b) Nevertheless, according to Reiswitz and Wadzeck, this initial toleration was often placed in jeopardy, or at the very least interrupted, through spiteful slander; and only when their blameless life was recognized; when the innocence of their peculiar doctrines, upon which they placed so high a value that they willingly sacrificed life and property for them, was recognized; more particularly, when some amongst them became wealthy through their thrift and moderation, their honest industry and the sweat of their brows, and willingly came to the aid of their hard pressed government— were they granted freedom and the undisturbed exercise of their religion instead of being subjected to persecution. Bentheim, in his Hollaendische Kirchen- und Schulstaat, (The Dutch Church and School State) calls the Mennonites “honeybees of the republic” [thus far essentially according to Reiswitz and Wadzeck]. 29 30 DUTCH-PRUSSIAN ANABAPTISTS a) Dirk Philips (1504-1570). First Elder in Hans de Ries, author of