Secularisation

Found it! I am in the Athaeneum bookshop on the Gedempte Oude Gracht in Haarlem. There, on a table of newly published books, lies the hefty, almost fist-thick biography of Nicolaas Beets. Its author is Leiden professor Rick Honings. The title is promising: ‘God, Family and Fatherland. The Age of Nicolaas Beets 1814–1903’. I immediately look for information about his hymns. In vain!