Of the three plain sects the Mennonites are the oldest historically and the most numerous. They stem from one Menno Simons, a Catholic parish priest, who seceded from the church of his fathers in 1536. He was one of that large group of Anabaptists who could not in good conscience join the Lutheran and Reformed movements because they believed in infant baptism. Menno Simons believed only in the baptism of the believer. “Don’t baptize a baby that does not know what it’s doing, but baptize only one who believes.” The Mennonite woman will wear a trim little black bonnet (some are blue, brown, green) with no skirt on it. Her prayer cap is perched jauntily on the back of her head. The material in the cap is net, much finer than the Amish cap. The cap may have strings or not, dependent on the individual’s choice. Her dress may be a solid color, but usually it will be a print. Her cape is square and is fastened to the belt in front. Among our Mennonite friends, the apron has disappeared; except among the more conservative groups. The Mennonite men usually wear black hats, not broad brimmed. They are, as a rule, smooth shaven. Their coats are Cadet type, no collars or lapels; buttoned up to the neck. Their trousers are styled like those of the gay people. In 1693 in the Canton of Berne in Switzerland lived Jacob Amman, in all probability a Mennonite bishop, surely a Mennonite clergyman. He seceded from the Mennonites on the question of church discipline. Said he, you Mennonites have lost the way of life of Menno Simons. You are far too easy on your people. If you excommunicate a brother or sister for transgressing the laws of God or violating the rules of the church, all that it means is that they can’t partake of the Holy Communion. It ought to mean far more than that. It ought to mean “meidung”—a German word meaning avoidance, shunning, ostracism. If we excommunicate some one, we will have no fellowship whatever with him. If we pass him on the street, we will ignore him. We will not buy from him, nor will we sell to him. If he’s a member of our family we will not eat at the same table with him. The Old Order House Amish carry on that tradition to this very day. Let us first describe the dress of our Amish friends. The Amish man in the winter time will wear a broad-brimmed, low crowned, felt hat. In the summer time, natural rye straw. He will wear a beard after marriage, but no moustache. The moustache in former generations was the hall-mark of a soldier and, of course, he is adverse to anything that savors of the Military. His dress jacket will be fastened with hooks and eyes rather than buttons. The button is too characteristic of the Military uniform. The front of his dress coat (mootza) is usually cut in a V at the top and has the old fashioned Prince Albert coat tails. There are no collar or lapels on his coat. His trousers are broadfalls, buttoned on the hips like a sailor’s trousers.