Since the congregation did not accept civil government, they did not register the birth of their children (Maria Leer was arrested for not registering her daughter) and refused to do military service. The latter refusal became more urgent in the 1830s, starting with the Belgian Revolution, when men were called to arms to help suppress the uprising in what became Belgium. The congregation asked in vain to be exempt on religious grounds, and when the men were called up and refused to handle weapons, they were mistreated in the detention barracks and one man reportedly died. A professor from Leiden who was good friends with William II of the Netherlands, J. W. Tydeman, intervened on their behalf, assuring the king that he had nothing to fear from the group since their goals were only spiritual; as a result the members were given only non-combat duties while serving in the military.