Bust of Isaäc da Costa

To his disappointment, Bilderdijk never obtained a professorship. He did, however, obtain a position at Leiden University in 1817 as a ‘private lecturer’: an unpaid lecturer who taught a subject that was not (yet) taught at the university. Bilderdijk taught Dutch history and managed to turn this profession into a true school of his own conservative and reactionary world of thinking. He thus inspired a number of talented young people, who quickly radicalized under his influence and displayed a revolutionary zest.

One of them was Isaäc da Costa (1798-1860), who caused a sensation in 1823 with his Bilderdijk-inspired pamphlet ‘Objections against the spirit of the century’ (Bezwaren tegen den geest der eeuw). It was a fundamental attack on the ideals of the Enlightenment, and thus also on the social order of the time, which had been influenced by this. Thus, Da Costa proved himself an advocate of absolute monarchy; he regarded the constitution as a declaration of war against God. He defended slavery, was against the freedom of the press, against poverty alleviation and against the cowpox vaccination.

Dutch society was in great turmoil, but a holy war was not forthcoming. Da Costa would later become a celebrated poet, and Bilderdijk's other students also became valued members of the social and cultural elite. In the years 1856-1859, Da Costa edited a fifteen-volume edition of Bilderdijk's Dichtwerken (Poems) and wrote a biography of the teacher he honored so much.