1880.03

[Untitled comment.]

In: Heb de waarheid en de vrede lief. Open brief aan Dr. A. Kuyper, hoogleeraar aan de Vrije Universiteit op Gereformeerden Grondslag en redacteur van “De Heraut,” alsmede aan de “Heraut”-lezers en alle gereformeerden in den lande, door L. Lindeboom.

Leiden, D. Donner 1880, pp. 3–6.

A comment on a public meeting held in Amsterdam to discuss the founding of the Vrije Universiteit, taken from De Heraut, no. 130, June 6, 1880. Public meetings were held throughout the Netherlands to promote the Vrije Universiteit and to defend the right and significance of its establishment. One such meeting took place in Amsterdam on May 28, 1880. After a lengthy address by Kuyper, Rev. H. Beuker (1834–1900) raised six objections to the founding of the Vrije Universiteit. A motion to adjourn the meeting was then tendered on account of the advanced hour, preventing any further discussion of the matter. The motion to adjourn provoked the Rev. L. Lindeboom (1845–1933).

Looking back on this meeting in the untitled comment in De Heraut, Kuyper terms it a “sad incident.” After making several less than flattering remarks about Rev. Lindeboom, Kuyper reports that when Rev. Lindeboom had risen to speak he had been reminded that only the motion to adjourn could be discussed. Rev. Lindeboom reportedly reacted by exclaiming that those from the Christian Reformed party were apparently not welcome to speak at the meeting.

This report prompted Rev. Lindeboom to write an open letter to Kuyper in which he reprinted the comment from De Heraut. At the conclusion of the brochure Een zestal bezwaren tegen den grondslag der Vrije Universiteit, ingebracht en gehandhaafd op de eerste en tweede meeting te Amsterdam (Amsterdam: B.H. Blankenberg, [1880]), Rev. Beuker (Amsterdam) provided qualified support to Rev. Lindeboom’s account of the events.