Groen (Van Prinsterer), Willen

Groen (van Prinsterer), Willen a Dutch statesman and historian, was born at the Hague, August 21, 1801. He studied at Leyden, was appointed secretary to the king in 1827, and soon afterwards director of the royal archives; was, in the Dutch Parliament, the leader of the anti-revolutionary party, and opposed with great zeal the separation of State and Church, and emancipation of the school from the Church. He was a Christian statesman, and his idea was that Christianity should be the basis of all instruction, since the school has for its. object not only the information, but also the education, of the individual. He has often-been called the "Dutch Stahl," but Groen was more conspicuous in his -position towards Rome than Julius Stahl (q.v.). Groen died May 19, 1876. He published, Archives ou Correspondance medite de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau (1840-55, 13 volumes): — Handbook der Geschiedenis van het Vaderland (Amsterdam, 1852): — Maurice et Barnevelt, Etude Historique (Utrecht, 1875). See Cohen- Stuart, In Memoriam Groen van Prinsterer (Utrecht, 1876); Saint-Hilaire in the Revue Chretienne Necrol. Page 594 sq.; Lichtenberger, Encyclop. des Sciences Religieuses, s.v.; Plitt-Herzog, Real-Encyklop, s.v. (B.P.)