The most important Patriots, such as Wybo Fijnje, H. W. Daendels, Adam Gerard Mappa and Valckenaer lived temporarily in a castle in Watten and formed a kind of commune, that jointly bought a billiards set, restored the rooms and grew its own vegetables.
Hemsterhuis was the founder of a Dutch school of criticism, which had disciples in Valckenaer, Jacob van Lennep and David Ruhnken.