of Switzerland, far from cities and towns, and had little intercourse with other men, their speech is rude and uncouth, and they have difficulty in understanding any one who does not speak just their way. Two of them have gone to Deventer, to see whether they can get a livelihood in this country.”
Most of them went to the Palatinate to seek their kinsmen and friends, and before long a deputation from them came back here. On the first of May we find three of their preachers, Hans Burchi or Burghalter,[1] Melchoir Zaller, and Benedict Brechtbühl,[2] with Hans Rub and Peter Donens, in Amsterdam, where they gave a further account of their affairs with the Bern magistracy, and apparently consulted with the committee as to whether they should establish themselves near the Palatinate brethren or on the lands in the neighborhood of Campen and Groningen, which was to be gradually purchased by the committee on behalf of the fugitives. The majority preferred a residence in the Palatinate, but they soon found great difficulty in accomplishing it. The Palatinate community was generally poor, so that the brethren, with the best disposition, could be of little service in insuring the means of gaining a livelihood; there was a scarcity of lands and farm-houses, and there was much to be desired in the way of religious liberty, since they were subject entirely to the humors of the Elector, or, worse still, his officers. For nearly seven years, often supported by the Netherland brethren, they waited and persevered, always hoping for better times. Then, their numbers
