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

us thankfully rejoice in this blessing of our fathers, under whose shadows we live as the birds in the branches of the tree which has grown to maturity from the mustard seed of our forefathers’ faith! Let us rejoice, but not be proud or secure: let us much more fear to provoke the threat of punishment of this selfsame righteous God through our own fault; let us, where provocation has taken place, rather seek to turn this p unishm ent from us through penance and renewal of life (Daniel 9!); let us, in our time and with the resources available to us, prepare new channels for the old stream in God’s countryside, in accordance with the gifts and the possibilities, and therefore also the obligations, God has given us! Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27! 86 DUTCH-PRUSSIAN ANABAPTISTS » Tsarina Catherine II (1762-1796). c. THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD OF DUTCH-PRUSSIAN ORIGIN IN RUSSIA, 1789-1860 (i.e., from the immigration to the founding of a separate Mennonite Brethren Church) VII. THE EMIGRATION OF PRUSSIAN MENNONITES TO RUSSIA 1. It was during the reign of Frederick William II, nephew of §27 Frederick II, “old Fritz,” that our forefathers in Prussia came to be severely oppressed. At the same time, they were forbidden to emigrate! Those who emigrated had to steal their way out of the country, for a veritable system of oppression had been created. 2. Large scale impoverishment, with a consequent decline in the §28 cultural, religious, and ethical values of the once highly lauded Mennonites, developed in alarming proportions. Many became dis- couraged to the point of dull hopelessness. Even though large numbers of Mennonites had repeatedly gone to North America, that country was too far away, requiring a journey of several months by ship. Then news from the east burst upon them like a fairy tale! 1 The great Catherine II, Empress of Russia, extended an invitation through her representative at the government of the free city 2 of Danzig, at that time still under Polish sovereignty, to the Mennonites of the Danzig area, and indirectly to the Mennonites of Prussia, to help settle and develop the vast tracts of land recently acquired in an area known as New Russia. They were promised complete freedom of religion, freedom from military service, etc., in perpetuity, with 182 acres (65 dessiatines) of land for each family. This was a Prussian Mennonite utopia 3 on earth! The invitation was confirmed through a Mr. von Trappe, an energetic and tactful special envoy sent by the empress. The first information came in the fall of 1786, and before winter set in, two delegates of the Danzig area Mennonites, Hoeppner 87 88 IN RUSSIA 1789-1860 and Bartsch, went to Russia taking with them a letter of authorization signed by sixty Mennonite men and a letter of recommendation from von Trappe. In the spring of 1787, in the presence of some of her highest officials and the dignitaries of foreig