Perilous Journey: The Mennonite Brethren in Russia 1860-1910, John B. Toews, 1988

ens protested, Hahn reminded him that he was "only a farmer with 65 dessia tines of land and as a farmer was subject to the mayor and also not exempt from corporal punishment." 31 He threatened to make official representations aimed at abolishing the Privilegium if the other elders continued to support Wiens. If their intentions were honorable, they must depose Wiens. The elders capitulated. By threatening loss of privileges, impri- sonment and even physical punishment the earthly city won the day. In a sense Johann Cornies typified the priorities of the earthly city. He advocated an efficient economy capable of responding to expanding international markets and an education 19 system capable of preparing the young Mennonite for the broader world. Though he never denied the existence of the heavenly city, his activities eventually relegated its champions, the congre- gational leaders, to a lesser role. The elders had played into the hands of the Mennonite state and so established something of a precedent for dealing with religious nonconformity. If there was still a line of demarcation between religion and politics the initiative now lay with civic officials. By and large the elders submitted without protest. When the Molotschna Brethren seceded from the old church in 1860 district chairman David Friesen felt entirely within his rights when he ordered close surveillance of the dissenters. In a report to Friesen in 1860 the Molotschna elders listed the concerns of the protesters: the apostacy of the existing church; the need for a separate observance of the Lord's Supper; the importance of personally understanding the Scriptures. The elders nevertheless argued for the suppression of the group. "We cannot give our consent to the formation and existence of a free and new religious fellowship within our Mennonite community." 32 Further action was left to the discretion of civil officials, for the elders did not wish to specify what other "treatment or punishment be applied." 33 Like exasperated medieval bishops they turned the unrepentant heretics over to the state. Dialogue and conciliation seemed out of the question. The state easily confronted deliberate, public nonconformity. It was, however, powerless to control another kind of inner journey which drew its nourishment from the printed word. Economic progress, though narrowing the base of political power, contributed to a modest revival of schools and learning. In 1838 David Epp was enthusiastic about his visit to Heinrich Heese's Ohrloff school and Friedrich Lange's newly erected school in Steinbach. The next decade did not bring universal public education to the Mennonite colonies but it was a beginning. If the aspirations of the teacher and the community were compatible, an elementary school might flourish for decades. At first most schools were only an extension of village priorities and left much to be desired in terms of curriculum and