had intruded on the school and made it into a force for teaching true religion to the nation’s children. He believed that the Netherlands was now at a historical point in which the guardianship of church and state was no longer needed and had, in fact, become harmful to the wholesome development of schooling and of young people: The nurturing of children is born by three factors: first by domestic nurture, secondly by ecclesiastical teaching, and thirdly, by the influence of society. The first factor