Leidsch Dagblad
- A Partial Disruption of the Electricity Supply
- Visit of an Arabian Prince
- The Reformed Churches Outside the Synod
The Leidsch Dagblad's front page of 14 October 1926 mixed municipal business, local news and church affairs. A notice signed by Mayor De Gijselaar listed the squares, dikes and towpaths in Leiden where kites could be flown. It was followed by the start of a city-news report on an evening power failure that left several villages dark and in which The Hague brought partial relief. Another report described an Arabian prince in princely robes touring Leiden with Professor Snouck Hurgronje. The party was received at the Town Hall, where the mayor spoke in French and the Jeddah consul Van der Meulen interpreted. A third item printed a statement from a conference of the Reformed churches outside the synod. The conference sought reunion after the Assen Synod of 1926, but only if the synodal churches returned to the Three Forms of Unity and the existing Church Order.
Translation
A PARTIAL DISRUPTION OF THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.
have decided: revoking their decision of 7 June 1906, to designate as places where kites may be flown: the Lammermarkt, the Nieuwe Beestenmarkt, the section of the Maredijk between the Poelwetering and the municipal boundary, the section of the Haarlemmerweg lying between the bridge-keeper's hut and the municipal boundary, the Delftsche Jaagpad and the Kanaalweg. N. C. DE GIJSELAAR, Mayor. VAN STRIJEN, Secretary. Leiden, 14 October 1926. 2159
CITY NEWS.
A PARTIAL DISRUPTION OF THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.
Several villages shrouded in darkness. The Hague brings partial relief.
Yesterday evening at about 6 o'clock the [?]
VISIT OF AN ARABIAN PRINCE.
[?] the minister of foreign affairs of Jeddah, also paid a visit to Leiden. The prince, who arrived here by car, was dressed in the princely robes of his country, which made a picturesque impression. The party was accompanied by Prof. Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, who was the most suitable man for this, since he speaks the language of the country fluently and is familiar with its manners and customs. The first visit was to the Town Hall, where the party was received by the Mayor, Jonkheer De Gijselaar, and shown around the principal rooms. The Mayor gave the explanations intended especially for the prince in French, and these were rendered into the language of the country by the consul of Jeddah, Dr. Van der Meulen. The prince conversed continually with Prof. Snouck Hur-
THE REFORMED CHURCHES OUTSIDE THE SYNOD.
It declares that it wholeheartedly desires that the unity of ecclesiastical fellowship between the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Churches of the restored Church Federation, broken as a result of the decisions of the Extraordinary General Synod of Assen 1926, be restored once more. It considers this possible, however, only if the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands bow unconditionally before the absolute authority of God's Word and thus return to untarnished fidelity to the Three Forms of Unity and to undiminished maintenance of the prevailing Church Order. Furthermore, the conference is aware that the group of Reformed be-
Context
The Arabian prince and Faisal, viceroy of the Hejaz
The prince's party in this report is closely tied to Jeddah. The article mentions a 'minister of foreign affairs of Jeddah' in the group and calls the interpreter, Dr. Van der Meulen, the 'consul of Jeddah'. Jeddah lies in the Hejaz, and after Abdulaziz Al Saud took over that region, his son Faisal was appointed viceroy of the Hejaz on 9 February 1926. Faisal already had experience representing his father in Europe. In 1919 he had been sent to London, which made him the first Saudi royal to visit England. The selected excerpt does not give the prince's name, so the excerpt alone cannot show whether the visitor to Leiden was Faisal himself. Still, a prince of the new Hejaz rulers touring a Dutch city with a foreign minister and a consul fits what is known of Faisal's position in 1926.
Why Snouck Hurgronje guided the visitors
The paper calls Snouck Hurgronje 'the most suitable man' for the visit because he spoke the country's language fluently and knew its customs, and his career supports that judgment. He was fluent in Arabic. In 1884, through mediation with the Ottoman governor in Jeddah, a delegation of Meccan scholars examined him, and on 21 January 1885 he received permission to enter Mecca. He also stayed at the Dutch consulate in Jeddah, where in 1884 he photographed pilgrims from Aceh on their way to Mecca. The photograph shows that pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies passed through the Dutch consulate in Jeddah; in this article, the 'consul of Jeddah' interprets the mayor's French. In 1889 he became professor of Malay at Leiden and official adviser to the Dutch government on colonial affairs. A 1929 article still described him as living in Leiden, retired from his professorship. For a visit from the Hejaz, Leiden therefore had someone at hand who knew Arabic and the customs of Mecca and had long served the Dutch state.
What the 1926 Synod of Assen decided
The conference statement refers to the Extraordinary General Synod of Assen 1926, which divided the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland. This denomination had been founded in 1892 through the merger of two groups that had split off from the Dutch Reformed Church. The 1926 conflict concerned biblical interpretation. The orthodox majority maintained the historicity of the account of Adam and Eve, while the more liberal wing treated it as allegory. In the disciplinary case around Dr. Geelkerken, the synod ruled that the view under dispute was not in agreement with the clear meaning of the Scripture narrative. Its exhortation was sent to the congregations; a minister at Oosterend on Texel recalled receiving it on Saturday 13 March 1926. The synod deposed all elders and deacons who stood behind Geelkerken and declared that the Reformed Church of Amsterdam-Zuid had broken its bond with the Reformed Churches. The liberal wing then formed the Gereformeerde Kerken in Hersteld Verband, the 'restored Church Federation' named in the article.
Why the excluded churches demanded a return to the Forms and the Church Order
The statement in the paper reverses the charge of unfaithfulness. The churches outside the synod present themselves as the faithful party and make reunion depend on the synodal churches returning to the Three Forms of Unity and the existing Church Order. This appeal to church order had a concrete basis in the dispute. A minister who sided with Geelkerken later wrote that by deposing the office-bearers, the synod had broken the church law of the Doleantie. That accusation carried weight because the Gereformeerde Kerken descended partly from the group around Abraham Kuyper that formed in the 1886 split from the Dutch Reformed Church. The pressure after Assen also reached individual ministers. In the classis of Alkmaar, every minister was asked personally whether he agreed with the Assen decisions without reserve. The memoirist answered no and was suspended for three weeks after a heated discussion. The position adopted at Assen lasted for decades; the Gereformeerde Kerken only renounced it in 1971/1972.
Original
EEN PARTIEELE STORING IN DE ELECTRICITEITSVOORZIENING.
hebben besloten: met intrekking van hun besluit van 7 Juni 1906, aan te wijzen tot plaatsen waar vliegers mogen worden opgelaten: de Lammermarkt, de Nieuwe Beestenmarkt, het gedeelte Maredijk tusschen de Poelwetering en de grens der gemeente, het gedeelte Haarlemmerweg gelegen tusschen het brugwachtershuisje en de grens der gemeente, het Delftsche Jaagpad en den Kanaalweg. N. C. DE GIJSELAAR, Burgemeester. VAN STRIJEN, Secretaris. Leiden, 14 October 1926. 2159 STADSNIEUWS. EEN PARTIEELE STORING IN DE ELECTRICITEITSVOORZIENING. Verschillende dorpen in duister gehuld. Den Haag brengt gedeeltelijk uitkomst. Gisteravond omstreeks 6 uur werden de [?]
BEZOEK VAN EEN ARABISCHEN PRINS.
[?] de minister van buitenlandsche zaken van Djeddah, ook een bezoek gebracht aan Leiden. De prins, die hier per auto arriveerde, was in het vorstelijk gewaad van zijn land gekleed, wat een schilderachtigen indruk maakte. Het gezelschap werd vergezeld door prof. dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, die daarvoor de meest aangewezen man was, omdat hij de taal van het land vloeiend spreekt en met de zeden en gewoonten er van bekend is. Het eerste bezoek gold het Stadhuis, waar het gezelschap door den Burgemeester jhr. De Gijselaar, werd ontvangen en in de voornaamste vertrekken werd rondgeleid. De burgemeester gaf zijn inlichtingen speciaal voor den prins bestemd, in de Fransche taal, welke door den consul van Djeddah, dr. Van der Meulen, in de taal des lands werden overgebracht. De prins onderhield zich voortdurend met prof. Snouck Hur -
DE GEREF. KERKEN BUITEN DE SYNODE.
Zij spreekt uit, van harte te begeeren, dat de ten gevolge der besluiten van de Buitengewone Generale Synode van Assen 1926 verbroken eenheid van kerkelijk samenleven tusschen de Geref. Kerken in Nederland en de Kerken van het herstelde Kerkverband wederom worde hersteld. Zij acht dit echter alleen mogelijk, indien de Geref. Kerken in Nederland onvoorwaardelijk buigen voor het volstrekte gezag van Gods Woord en dus terugkeeren tot ongerepte trouw aan de Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid en onverzwakte handhaving der geldende Kerkverordening. Voorts is de conferentie er zich van bewust, dat de groep van Gereformeerde be -
Source: Source: Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken (leiden.courant.nu)