and then was silent. They said that is only child's play, and letting me down again they put me on a stool, but asked me no questions, and said nothing to me. They fastened an iron bar to my feet with two chains, and hung on the bar three heavy weights. When they drew me up again a Spaniard tried to hit me in the face with a chain, but he could not reach; while I was hanging I struggled hard, and got one foot through the chain, but then all the weight was on one leg. They tried to fasten it again, but I fought with all my strength. That made them all laugh, but I was in great pain.” He was afterward burned to death by a slow fire at Deventer, in May, 1571.[1] Their meetings were held in secret places, often in the middle of the night, and in order to prevent possible exposure under the pressure of pain, they purposely avoided knowing the names of the brethren whom they met, and of the preachers who baptized them.[2] A reward of 100 gold guilders was offered for Menno, malefactors were promised pardon if they should capture him,[3] Tjaert Ryndertz was put on the wheel in 1539 for having given him shelter, and a house in which his wife and children had rested, unknown to its owner, was confiscated. He was, as his followers fondly thought, miraculously protected however, died peacefully in 1559, and was buried in his own cabbage garden. The natural result of this persecution was much dispersion. The prosperous communities at Hamburg and Altona were founded by refugees, the first Mennonites in Prussia fled there
