'Begeesterd door de Natuur. Radermachers maidenspeech voor het Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames te Middelburg (1790)', in: De Achttiende Eeuw 36 (2004) nr.2, p.123-131 On 10 November 1790 Daniël Radermacher, squire of Nieuwerkerk and regent of the Dutch East India Company, presented his first speech as chairman of the Ladies’ Society of Natural Sciences in the Zeeland town of Middelburg. This society, founded in 1785 and liquidated in 1887, was probably the first scientific society for women anywhere in the world. More’s the pity that hardly any source material of this society has survived into today. This contribution not only offers the first publication of Radermacher’s speech in print, but also an extensive introduction to the personality, scientific interests, and enlightened ideals of this Middelburg regent who helped the genteel ladies of his city to continue their controversial project after their first chairman and Maecenas, Johan Adriaen van de Perre, had died. Radermacher’s address, written in the polished style typical for his milieu, is a characteristic example of the enthusiasm with which at the time the Dutch leisured class studied God’s hand in Nature.