MENNONITES
97
MENNONITES
must be acquainted with Latin and Greek. Thev at- tend at a literary institution for instruction in Hebrew, ecclesiastical history, physics, natural and moral philos- ophy, etc. They have private lodgings in different parts of the city. The college was established nearly t century ago, and was at lirst supported by the Amster- dam ^iennonites alone ; but lately other churches send in their contributions. Some of the students receive support from the public fund ; they are all intended for the Christian ministry. Thus provided with an edu cated ministry, they were placed on a more equal foot' ing with the other Protestant bodies of the country. The names Oosterbaan, Stinstra, and Hesselink arc men tioned with pride as theologians of Holland, and not sim- ply as Mennonite ministers, by every Dutchman. In 1795 they were granted equality with the other Prot- estants, and soon after they began gradually to drop peculiar characteristics, so as to form substantially onlj^ one national bodj'. In 1811 all jMennonites united in the formation of a society for the support and encour- agement of theological education. In 1835 the ter- centennial date of jNIenno's withdrawal from the Papal Church was unitedly observed by all his followers. A missionary society, sustaining three laborers in .Java, is supported by aU Mennonites, and so is the Teyler Theo- logical Society at Haarlem. According to the Mennon- ite '-Year-Book" of 1850 (the last published by the de- nomination), they had then in Holland 127 congrega- tions and 140 ministers, not counting the retired preach- ers and those engaged as professors.
The Mennonites in Germany, etc. — In Germany the Mennonites were rather numerous in the 17th century. In Moravia alone they counted some 70,000. They were expelled from that country by Ferdinand II in 1622, and, after a short stay in Hungarj'- and Transyl- vania, finally found a resting-place in Russian territorj' (see below). The Mennonites were very largely repre- sented in Eastern Prussia. They were particularly nu- merous at Dantzic, IMarienburg, and Elbing. Their Dutch neatness and Dutch industry' soon made these desolate and swampy regions to flourish like a garden. But almost incessant persecution largely reduced their number by emigration. In 1730 and in 1732 they Avere threatened with expatriation on account of their refusal to serve in the array; but the storm passed by, and king Frederick II gave them additional privileges — not, how- ever, until the order had been weakened by emigration. Gradually they increased again until 1789, when they were forbidden to purchase landed property. But, not- withstanding all difficulties, the Mennonites have re- mained, in part at least, on Prussian soil, particularly the valley of the Vistula, called " the Garden Spot of Prussia." Their number in all Germany is estimated at about 18,000.
The Mennonites in Russia. — Russia gladly availed her- self of Prussia's intolerance, and diil much to secure these valuable citizens for her own territory. Catharine II in 1786 had invited the Mennonites to Russia, along with other German colonists, and in 1789 228 families arrived in Russia, and between 1793 and 1796 there was an immigration of 118 more families. These all settled on and near the island of Khortitz, on the Lower Dnie- per, beloAv Tekaterinoslav. The conditions on which they came to Russia were : Protection from all attacks, freedom of worship, a gift of lands to the amount of 190 acres for each family, exemption from all taxes and im- posts for ten years, money for their journey, and money and wood with which to establish themselves, freedom of trade and manufactures, the administration of oaths in their own way, and exemption forever from military service. These privileges were confirmed by the em- peror Paul, and extended to all Mennonites who should come thereafter. In spite, therefore, of the repeal and mitigation of the severe laws against them in Prussia, there was a continued and large immigration of Mennon- ites into Russia up to the year 1817. These colonists settled near their brethren in the government of Tau- VI.— G
rid, in the region between the- rivers Molotchna, Dnie- per, and Tokmak, not far from the town of Berdiansk. From that time the Mennonites have gone on increasing and prospering, until they now number about 40,000 souls. They have always been protected and favored by the government, so that they have almost entirely governed themselves, and have preserved their German character and institutions intact. This they in great part owe to the character and efforts of Johann Cornies, who, up to his death in 1848, exercised a very powerful influence over them, though he held no office and no rank. Titles and orders were on several occasions of- fered to him by the imperial government, which highly appreciated his services, but they were always refused. His advice was several times asked by the minister of domains, and the governor-general of New Russia rare- ly took an important measure without first consulting Cornies. These Mennonites not only had their own schools and churches, and retained in their integrity the language, habits, and usages of their ancestors, but had a sort of self-government, each group of villages being under a governor appointed by themselves from their own ranks, who acted as the organ of communication between them and the general government. In 1861, the present czar (Alexander II) granted new lands and renewed all the old concessions to a colony of Mennon- ites who settled on the Volga. These lands, however, as also those ceded by Catharine, were not given in fee simple. The receivers were allowed to leave them to their children and to sell them to each other, but could not dispose of them to any other than a Mennonite without special permission of the government.