Leidsch Dagblad
- THE STONES SPEAK.
- THE RETURN OF Mr. D. FOCK.
- LOEVESTEIN.
The Leiden daily's front page of 4 November 1926 reported a lecture on the Roman catacombs. The speaker used a map of Rome and the different types of tombs to argue that early Christian paintings and sculptures show life understood, as the Gospel teaches, as a struggle that ends in victory. The page also listed the people who welcomed former Governor-General D. Fock home: a former minister, members of parliament, Vrijheidsbond representatives, colonial and press societies, a folk-singing deputation and Hague councillors. A short item said the government had moved a large stock of gunpowder out of the cellars of Loevestein Castle and would stop using the cellar under its Maas Tower as a munitions workshop.
Translation
THE STONES SPEAK.
To help the audience understand what follows, the speaker shows a map of Rome marking the location of the Catacombs, which encircle the Eternal City like a belt. The speaker points to the different kinds of graves, such as loculi, arcosolia and cubicula, and the testimony they bear is fact. They depict the particular ideas people held about life and death. Just as Catholics today do on a prayer card, the first Christians did this through figures and scenes. The speaker then considered what idea of eternity the first Christians held. The many paintings, sculptures and so on showed clearly that, following the Gospel, they thought of life as a struggle through which victory was to be won.
THE RETURN OF Mr. D. FOCK.
Among those present were former minister Lely; the members of parliament mr. Droogleever Fortuyn and mr. G. A. Boon, Colonel Merens and Mr. A. S. J. Fernandes, on behalf of the Vrijheidsbond; Prof. E. Moresco; Mr. Zuidenhoff, chairman of the Oost en West association; Mr. De Hans, chairman of the Netherlands Journalists' Circle; a deputation from The Hague branch of the Netherlands Association for Folk Singing, made up of Messrs. Arn. Spoel, E. A. Kingma and K. Muys and Mrs. De Ridder-Loder (Mr. Fock is honorary chairman of this association); mr. Crena de Iongh, ir. Van Sandick and M. Joëls, members of The Hague municipal council; and many others.
LOEVESTEIN.
By order of the government, the large quantity of gunpowder stored in the cellars of Loevestein Castle has been moved to a more suitable place. The cellar under the Maas Tower will also no longer be used as a munitions workshop.
Context
How Fock's five years as governor-general have been judged
The reception on this page welcomed home Dirk Fock, who was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 24 March 1921 to 6 September 1926. He received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion on 7 September 1926, on leaving that office. Fock reached the colony during a severe financial crisis, and its books were finally balanced in 1925. The Dutch parliamentary biography credits him with taking a firm line against the nationalists and with putting the colony's finances in order. In 1923 he enacted article 161bis of the criminal code, which made incitement to strike a crime. The same biography also calls him conservative and rather colourless in the post. The newspaper excerpt itself records only who came to greet him. The judgements of his term come from these later reference works, not from the 1926 report.
Why liberal politicians and a folk-singing society greeted Fock
The guest list follows Fock's political and social ties. According to the paper, a group including the MPs Droogleever Fortuyn and G. A. Boon attended on behalf of the Vrijheidsbond, the Liberal State Party. About two months later, on 8 January 1927, Fock became chairman of that party and held the post until 15 October 1933. He had already chaired the Liberale Unie from 1914 to 1916. The paper notes that Fock was honorary chairman of the Netherlands Association for Folk Singing, and the parliamentary record lists him as honorary chairman of its Hague branch. This explains the singing society's deputation alongside the politicians. The turnout of a former minister, members of parliament and party representatives came on the eve of his return to the leadership of Dutch liberalism.
Loevestein as a military depot
Loevestein had long served military purposes. An earthwork fortress was built around the castle in the 16th century, and the expanded stronghold had two moats, an arsenal and barracks for a commander and soldiers. In the 19th century the castle was incorporated into a new and larger earthwork fortress, making it an important stronghold in the New Dutch Waterline. The castle's bailey was demolished during that work, and the round tower that survived was used as a powder magazine. The 1926 notice therefore concerns explosives moved out of a working part of the national defence line. The paper says only that the powder went to a 'more suitable place', and the sources consulted give no reason for the decision. Loevestein lost its military function only in 1952.
Father Hendrichs and his catacomb book
The page credits the catacomb lecture to Father F. Hendrichs S.J. The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (DBNL) lists a Fr. Hendrichs as the author of 'Het Christelijk getuigenis der catacomben' (The Christian Testimony of the Catacombs), first published in 1926. It also records that he published 'De maaier van den dood' (The Reaper of Death) in 1921 under the pseudonym Edw. Halliwells. The lecture treated tombs and their images as factual testimony to early Christian ideas of life and death. The book published the same year carries the same idea in its title, which places the talk alongside his written work.
Original
DE STEENEN SPREKEN.
Tot goed begrip van wat volgen gaat laat spr. een kaart van Rome zien met de ligging der Catacomben, die als een gordel de eeuwige stad omvat houden. Spr. wijst op de verschillende soorten van graven als loculi, arcosaulei en cubiculi en de getuigenissen, die ze afleggen zijn feiten. Daar zijn uitgebeeld de bepaalde denkbeelden, die men had over leven en dood en zooals de Katholieken van tegenwoordig dat doen op een bidprentje deden de eerste Chr. het in figuren en voorstellingen. Spr. ging dan de vraag na welke eeuwigheidsgedachte de eerste Christenen hadden en uit de talrijke schilderingen, sculptures enz. bleek dan duidelijk dat zij volgens het Evangelie het leven zich dachten als een strijd om daardoor de zegepraal te verwerven.
DE TERUGKEER VAN Mr. D. FOCK.
Onder de aanwezigen waren oud-minister Lely, de Kamerleden mr. Droogleever Fortuyn en mr. G. A. Boon, kolonel Merens en den heer A. S. J. Fernandes, namens den Vrijheidsbond; prof. E. Moresco, de heeren Zuidenhoff, voorzitter van de Vereeniging Oost en West; De Hans, voorzitter van den Ned. Journalistenkring; een deputatie van de afd. Den Haag van de Ned. Vereeniging voor den Volkszang, bestaande uit de heeren Arn. Spoel, E. A. Kingma en K. Muys en mevr. De Ridder-Loder (van welke vereeniging de heer Fock eere-voorzitter is), mr. Crena de Iongh, ir. Van Sandick en M. Joëls, leden van den Haagschen Gemeenteraad, en vele anderen.
LOEVESTEIN.
Op last der regeering is de groote hoeveelheid buskruit, welke zich in de kelders van het Slot Loevestein bevond, naar een geschiktere plaats overgebracht. De kelder onder den Maastoren zal in het vervolg ook niet meer als munitie-werkplaats worden gebruikt.
Source: Source: Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken (leiden.courant.nu)