"[3] Van der Palm's mother was Machteld von Tonsbergen, a member of a middle-class family and directly descended from a Knight of Malta who had left the Order at the time of its decline.

According to a report from an unnamed fellow-student, during his time at university van der Palm demonstrated "a consistent whole of rare qualities, eminent zeal, agreeable intercourse, virtuous conduct, and a character by which he won the hearts of all who enjoyed his acquaintance and society.

"[12] At that time van der Palm was involved with the more moderate side of the Patriot movement, a complex group largely inspired by Europe's so-called Enlightenment principles and whose main objectives were the ending of the Stadtholderate (or stewardship) of William V, Prince of Orange[13] and the democratisation of the Netherlands after the model of the United States.

[15] Van der Palm had been raised in a household which strongly supported Patriot principles; he in turn met many of similar mind at university, including Professor Schultens, and then again found himself in the company of many more in Maartensdijk.

Beets tells how a close friendship with poet Jacobus Bellamy "had blown the youthful fire of excited patriotism into a great flame" and because van der Palm was seen participating in civilian weapons exercises, and was even advocating this to others from the pulpit, he was criticised by "several people who were calmer, or who were attached to another party.

Once the Prussian invasion began, and he was already under attack not so much from residents of his own town as Orangists from Bunschoten, van der Palm and his wife fled[18] on 16 September, going to Monster in South Holland where his brother-in-law Johannes Wilhelmus Bussingh[19] was Minister.

Despite appeals from some for him to return to Maartensdijk, there was opposition from others; but regardless, van der Palm had no desire to do so, he tendered his resignation on 30 October, informal acceptance was received on 4 November, and formal release in writing was sent on 12 March 1788.

He was an avid collector of arts objects, had already developed a large, comprehensive library, set up a science museum[29] and engaged in scientific research[30] (much of it in collaboration with his wife whose specific interest was physics).

Also in 1795–1796 he regularly wrote for and sometimes edited a weekly magazine called De Vriend des Volks (The People's Friend) whose objective was to monitor the needs of Zeelanders and propose ways in which these could be addressed.

"[44] Given the period of this debate and this writer's use of the words "moderate Protestants", it can be seen why van der Palm would have been an enthusiastic participant and that his views both as a Patriot and an educationist would have prepared him well to perform this role as education policy-maker in the new republic.

Add to this the effects of civil and religious factions, and the alienations which they engender; the almost general discontent, arising from the calamity of the times still more than from the essential defects of our form of government; and the state of the public treasury, which, exhausted by an amazingly expensive land force, and by the national debt, which has increased far beyond our ability, can offer no effectual assistance by which otherwise the greatest and most numerous grievances might perhaps be alleviated.

As Beets reveals, quoting van der Palm himself, his time in politics was not entirely rewarding: "Such were my views of my office, when I labored for a government in whose employ no effectual support, little encouragement, was experienced, and in which want of fixed principles, at least in this department, and an undue regard to personal considerations, rendered uncertain the issue of all that was undertaken.

His preference would have been his original professorship in oriental literature and antiquities, but in his absence this had been occupied from 1794 by Sebald Fulco Rau[54] who was also Professor of Theology as of 1797,[55] and van der Palm accepted sacred poetry and rhetoric as an alternative.

[56] In 1805, however, Rau was reprimanded by the university because of his political opinions and his professorship was restricted to theology, meaning that responsibilities for oriental literature and antiquities were returned to van der Palm while also continuing to hold sacred poetry and rhetoric.

The following month former Orangists and Patriots joined forces to create a new government, and in December they welcomed the return of Prince William, this time with the old north and south portions of the Low Countries united as one nation.

"[65] The constant picture of van der Palm is that his primary objectives were positive discourse, harmonious social interaction, concordance and peace, and therefore hypocritical game-playing, aggressive self-promotion and grandiose point-scoring could never play any role in achieving good outcomes.

[72] His first child to live to full adulthood and first daughter was born in 1790, named Cornelia Mathilda, and later married Pieter Loopuyt (Loopuijt),[73] a wealthy banker and member of the Eerste Kamer (Upper House of the States-General).

She was followed by Adelaïda Louise who was born in 1806 and married Gillis André de la Porte [nl] founder and director of an insurance company and later member of the Arnhem City Council.

Even more significantly, there had already been a massive intake of immigrants: refugee Huguenots from France and Puritans from England, increasing numbers of Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews (although Jewish people had been living there since the time of the Roman invasion.

Enlightenment concepts had begun to emerge in the Netherlands by the middle of the 17th century carrying among them considerations about the primacy of reason, the rights and roles of the individual, constitutional government, the separation of church and state, and, more specifically, the replacement of a world-view based on theological belief structures with one derived from philosophical discourse.

"[87]The context of van Eijnatten's essay began with this opening statement: "Charity and peace for all mankind are usually ranged among the characteristic aspects of the message put forward in the sacred texts on which the Christian religion is based.

Yet the official interpreters of these texts (theologians and ecclesiastical office holders) in Western countries of the early modern period are often associated with exactly the opposite: with hostility, antagonism, belligerence— in short, with what was at the time called odium theologicum or theological hatred.

He represents Christ's present exaltation, “not because he was from eternity with the Father, but because he has been made perfect by obedience and suffering, and has obtained the delivery of men by his blood.”[95] Of the Holy Spirit he always speaks as of the power of God.

"[98]In practical terms, therefore, van der Palm set out this principle in a sermon where he is quoted as saying, "As the apostle John left the secret of Christ's nature unresolved for his pupils, so will I not try for you to lift this veil of mystery.

In 1816 the new monarch, King William I reconstituted the Reformed Church under the name Nederlandsche (or Nederlandse, according to the new spelling) Hervormde Kerk, with a new constitution which gave civil authorities control over the appointment of new clergy, the choice of those who attended synods, and what preachers could say from the pulpit.

"[110] But more than a passive participant or even a grand public moraliser, van der Palm emerged in the eyes of others clearly as one who lived out his everyday existence by exactly the same standards he would have aspired for the society around him: "The chief trait of his character was love.

Not surprising that he would say in his correspondence with the 1829 synod, "After all the years of labor bestowed on the books of Solomon, I still find so much matter for new investigation that I am obliged to proceed much more slowly than I had anticipated, as I endeavor studiously to avoid all precipitation, though sometimes tempted to it.

[123] One of his longest projects apart from the translation of the Bible was the weekly series of essays published under the title Salomo (Solomon) which focussed on the language, meaning and moral teachings of the Old Testament book of Proverbs.

[126] Possibly his most highly regarded work was Gescheid- en redekunstig gedenkschrift van Nederlands Herstelling in den jare 1813 (Historical and rhetorical account of the emancipation of the Netherlands, in the year 1813).

This was written in response to a prize of 700 guilders offered in May 1815 by Jan van Kinsbergen,[127] a celebrated naval officer (by this time retired), author and philanthropist, for the writing of a history and memoir analysing the country's restoration as the United Netherlands under the princedom of William I, soon to be king.