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

egative results, even there where people had been enthused for the Russian language with a kind of naive patriotism. By now, thank God, the straw-fire of this enthusiastic movement has burnt down, and people have once again arrived at a “Russian Mennonitism” using the German language in prayer, and making it predominant in the family, usually in the Low-German idiom, and with a thorough knowledge of the German and Russian language (as a goal ). 6 This is evident, among other things, from the fact that all church documents which are related to the government are composed originally in Russian at congregational meetings, and then translated into German for the larger church community . 7 (Since these translations are usually made in great haste and then submitted to the printer, there appears in them a kind of German that can be put alongside the heavily ridiculed American “Pennsylvania-Dutch,” which is certainly worse than the amusing German of the “Uncle” and “Aunt” letters in the Mennonitische Rundschau. In general, our Mennonite pulpit German is not pure.) Preservation of Independence 629 2. A powerful movement first came into our Mennonite society §291 through the so-called new order of the life of the state when people discovered that in the legislative bodies, the Imperial Duma and the Imperial Council, the question of religion (i.e., the laws concerning religion) should be subjected to review. "When reforms and liberties are provided for others in Russia, we Mennonites are always short-changed” some claimed, remembering the abolition of serfdom (1861) which resulted in a lowering of the social and judicial status of Mennonites, as well as of all colonists. They were put on the same level as the new peasant class (1870) and subject to the new military law (1874) which, for the vast majority of the country, was far more wise and just than the previous one. The Mennonites, however, lost their absolute freedom from military service. Deputies were elected: Elder Isaak Dyck, Chortitza, and Elder Abraham Goerz, Ohrloff, to enter into contact, at the appropriate time, with the legislative bodies and administrative federal authorities. It was feared that the "democratic” first and second Dumas would infringe on the military privilege— “nonresistance.” But the matter took a completely different turn: there was a threat of a troubling change in the internal self -administration of the brotherhood. The matter is clearly discernible (in its essence) in the documents and related items presented in the following chapter. XXXV. STEPS TAKEN FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MAXIMALLY UNRESTRICTED INTRA-CHURCH INDEPENDENCE OF THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY 1. A legislative project of the Minister of the Interior concerning §292 those of another faith was brought to the attention of the authorized brethren, Elder Isaak Dyck and Elder Abraham Goerz, by the member of the third Imperial Duma, Mr. Bergmann. This resulted i