activities requiring his support outside the hours of the monthly meetings, and was also
provided with an extra flOO,- on top of his regular salary by the trustees “for which amount he
should supply both the Trustees and the two Societies with Fire and Light, Pipes, Coffee and
Tea”.98 In a clear indication of what was considered necessary for a fruitful meeting in those
days, upon hearing this news the members of the Second Society noted that this meant that
“only tobacco and wine remain excepted, and at the expense of the Members of this
Society.”99 In addition to the caretaker’s help, the members of the Societies could also rely on
the Foundation’s servant, and van der Vinne agreed to his two housemaids catering to the
Societies during meetings as well, provided they received some kind of payment at the end of
each year. At the end of 1778 it was decided to pay the housemaids f4,- each for their
troubles, and to pay the servant f3,- for his. This money was taken out of the f600,- that the
Society was provided with according to Teyler’s will and which in turn was always paid out
in April. There was some discussion as to whether the servant should receive any pay at all,
because
“on Mondays, when the First Society [Teylers Theological Society] met, the said beadle
[servant] was not in the Foundation House, and equally on Fridays, when the Second Society
meets, remained no longer present than the Trustees [of the Teyler Foundation] remained
together, and that he therefore evidently provided no other service to these Societies than
announcing the meetings and going on further errands out of doors that he was instructed to
undertake by the presiding member.” 100
This, in turn, provides a fairly clear description of what was required of the servants during
meetings.
7. Prize Essay Competitions
Having attended to the necessary administrative and formal problems, the members of the
Societies could now focus on what Teyler had identified as their most important task, i.e. to
organise the annual prize essay competitions. In November 1779 the Theological Society’s
draft for the topic of a first essay was approved by the trustees. Just a few weeks later the
Second Society’s first question was approved as well. It was on “phlogisticated and
dephlogisticated air”. Both questions were published in Dutch, French and Latin in a number
98 “voor welke hij zo aan HH. Directeuren als aan de beide Collégien moet bezorgen Vuur en Licht, Pijpen,
Coffij en Thee”; “Directienotulen”, 06.11.1778, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 5.
99 “alleen tabak en wijn blijven uitgezonderd, en ten kosten der Leden van dit Collegie.” “Notulen Tweede
Genootschap”, 06.11.1778, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
100 “gemelde pedel zieh des maandags, als ‘t Eerste Collegie zit, niet bevond i n ’t Fondatie-huis, en ook des
vrijdags, wanneer dit Twééde Collegie vergadert, niet langer bleef, dan zoo lang de Heeren Directeuren en
Exsecuteuren bij één bleven, en dat hij midsdien evidentelijk aan deeze Collégien geenen anderen dienst
praesteerde, dan het aanzeggen der Vergaderingen, en het doen der verdere boodschappen buiten ’s huis, welken
hem bij ’t voorzittend lid wierden belast.” “Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 08.01.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol.
1382.
of national and foreign newspapers. All entries had to be submitted within the next one and a
half years.
As for the competition on theology, entries poured in. By the closing date for submissions in
1780, a total of 11 essays had been submitted.101 As for the Second Society’s competition,
however, only one single essay was submitted, just one day before the deadline 9 this
particular example will be discussed in more detail later on, because the author turned out to
be Martinus van Marum. This only transpired a lot later though, because in compliance with
the rules set up by Teyler himself van Marum had submitted his essay anonymously.
The fact that the theological competition garnered so much more attention is remarkable
because once Teylers Museum had been built, it was the Foundation’s support of the arts and
sciences that was to eclipse the theological work it sponsored, even if the Theological
Society’s prize essay competitions continued to be popular. In fact it seems that the
Foundation initially expected the theologians’ work to shape their public image. As much at
least can be inferred from a discussion the trustees had with the members of the Second
Society in November 1780 concerning the format of the Society’s proceedings, the first
edition of which was to contain van Marum’s essay. The Second Society was hoping to
publish the proceedings as a booklet of quarto size, just as the Theological Society already
had. The trustees however resisted this idea and insisted on a booklet of octavo size, arguing
that
“[...] all sciences, to which this society is devoted, are less common, and therefore usually
pursued by fewer people than Theology; that therefore the choice of a quarto size seemed too
risky, because it is more difficult to fill with small entries than Octavo”10
Although, as the years progressed, both Societies focused more and more on their core task of
holding prize essay competitions, and by the middle of the 19th century meetings were only
ever called either to elect a new member or to discuss issues concerning the competitions, the
Societies had initially adhered to Pieter Teyler’s suggestion that they “should meet, also with
an eye to mutual consultation about matters and topics belonging and relating to these
faculties and arts”, i.e. that they should meet to discuss matters currently of interest in
academia.103 As early as October 1778 the members of the Theological Society for instance
asked the Foundation to acquire all past editions of the Stolpiaans Legaat - a series of
treatises that had been awarded first prize in essay competitions on the subject of theology,
which were financed through a bequest of Jan Stolp; and the Second Society’s minutes reveal
that its members spent a series of meetings in early 1779 discussing a treatise that had been
101 “Directienotulen”, 25.02.1780, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 5.
102 “[...] alle de weetenschappen, aan welken dit collegie is toegewijd, minder algemeen zijn, en dus ook
doorgaans van een minder getal menschen dan de Godgeleerheid worden beoefend: dat derhalven de keuze van
’t quarto-formaat te gevaarlijk scheen, als moeilijker, om , met kleinen voorraad te vullen, dan in Octavo;”
“Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 17.11.1780, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
103 “zullen moeten vergaderen, mede ter onderlinge verhandelinge van zaken en stoffen, tot die faculteiten en
kundigheeden specteerende en behoorende”; Sliggers, De idealen van Pieter Teyler: een erfenis uit de
Verlichting, 200.