An open letter of thanks, written in response to a letter of support from the Rotterdam electoral association Nederland en Oranje [The Netherlands and the House of Orange]. In its letter the association had communicated its disapproval of the fact that A.F. de Savornin Lohman had become editor in chief of the newspaper De Nederlander (cf. 1895.03). The letter had also expressed the association’s sincere and grateful loyalty to Kuyper as leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party. In this response Kuyper expresses his hope that the opposition between him and De Savornin Lohman will be replaced by fraternal cooperation. He acknowledges that he values such expressions of sympathy in these “days which are so difficult for me.”

Shortly after writing this letter, Kuyper cut short his summer vacation because of serious illness (see 1894.14). Kuyper recuperated in Brussels, where he was cared for by the Van Deth family. Kuyper had provided advice and assistance to A.G. van Deth (1828–1905), who went on to found the Reformed Church in Brussels on December 23, 1894. In the middle of October, Kuyper traveled to the south of France. He finally returned to Amsterdam on New Year’s Eve of 1894, after having been away for six months (cf. 1895.01).