Contribution to the official memorial volume for the solemn oath of office and inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam on September 6, 1898. The piece was published in the second part of the memorial volume. In the context of the history of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kuyper unfolds the purpose of the phrase “by the grace of God,” as traditionally used before the title “queen” in official documents. (Consider, for example, the opening words of the first proclamation of Queen Wilhelmina, in which she informed the Dutch people that she had accepted the government: “We Wilhelmina, by the grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands …”).

In this contribution Kuyper also points to the many spheres of human life that have their own sovereignty and independent existence, not simply by nature but by the grace of God. The queen also bore her crown bij de gratie Gods and the mercy of God ought to be the foundation for respect for that authority.

The second part of the Officieel Gedenkboek (published in four parts) was published a few days prior to the inauguration.