Show own ACCOUNT i ELDER RELATES TIIE tue STORY OF nis ills CAPTIVITY rt our readers will remember some time ago several items appearing in this paper rola roia relative tive to the arrest and imprisonment at prague Bo bohemia lemia lemla of thomas biesinger Ble bie singer an ilder eider leider leiden laborin laboring in the swiss and german mission W we e have been permitted lately to peruse a letter from irom brother biesinger giving an account of his experience which for its intrinsic interest as well as the fact that it is the first narration wo we have yet vet seen from his own pence wc deem worthy of being placed before our readers lie he writes from bern switzerland to brother charles kroph 1 I arrived in my neld field of labor laber in the city of vienna on the of november 1883 where I 1 labored with brother P hammer up to february 26 1884 on which date I 1 left him and the few members of the church who had been baptized while we were there with the intention of opening a new liew field in the city of prague the capital ot of Boh bohemia emla emia I 1 arrived there the next day with the blessing of the lord I 1 had bad ie te opportunity of bea bearing testimony to quite a few persons b but oo no sooner had I 1 commenced my labors than the enemy of truth was as at my heels brother hammer hammen on the the of march had received notice at vienna to appear before the police court courton on the day following but instead of doing so he left vienna and madellia ma made mada dellis his bis way straight to the city of prague where I 1 was and after staying with me three days left for f or Sch sich lesien through this the attention of the police was directed to me twelve days later or on the night of march soth I 1 was awakened from sleep by the noise of two men stepping into my my bedroom bed room coming up to the bed aney they requested me llie to get up and go with them to the tile police station as tiley ther they were officers As there were two of them and each one considerably larger than myself I 1 thought I 1 had better bette robey ebey I 1 therefore told tola them I 1 would willingly go eib with them because I 1 bouli could not help myself after they had examined and searched my room all through and got all my letters books and pamphlets they transported tran sported them and myself to the police headquarters having arrived there I 1 wa wase wasy questioned for two or three hours and then put in prison it would be impossible lor for me to tell you yon on a small piece of paper all I 1 experienced while in confinement suffice it that I 1 stayed there for sixty eight davs dars company with murderers robbers and criminals of different kinds this was not a very desirable place to be in as I 1 was not used to the customs of this class of people neither was I 1 used to having a servant to open and close the door for fon me and bring myford my food with a guard standing by him with loaded gun and pointed i bayonet nevertheless 4 have not seer geen the lay even under those tr trying yint circumstances cum cam stance stances s when I 1 did not feel to lift my heart in supplication with dumble humble prayer and thankful thanks ul falness to almighty god for being thought worthy of acting as a messen per e r titi of the gospel of christ to a fallen cation for it has given me an opportunity to bear my testimony to the courts of that country in their decision of judgment iwas I 1 was found gul guilty lity and sentenced cea to one months im imprisonment voris after having been in prison rison already for thirty seven days I 1 told told them I 1 accepted the situation since they considered themselves able to measure arms with the almighty and reject a message he had sent for their salvation but from that time the responsibility should rest upon them and not on me on the ath day of june I 1 real regained ned my liberty I 1 stayed two days in prague a and L baptized one nian man after which I 1 went to vienna to nind find out what cur our friends were doing there to my my disappointment I 1 found those we had baptized about as good as dead spiritually and the others so scared seared that they did not want to know any more of the Gi gospel glaspel the fate of those who live godly in christ jesus Is rather too goulkin muc for the most of mankind I 1 have had other prospects since that time but through opposition and lack of means was advised to come to 8 switzerland w itz for the time bein being my field of labor is no now w to preside over the berne conference succeeding brother stuck who was released to go home I 1 shall labor here till I 1 r get et some means from somewhere and the lord will open a away way for me moe again in At austria istria and bohemia when I 1 shall return there for I 1 cannot see that the devil would stir up such a row unless there were some honest people there to embrace the gospel |