And Victor Hugo wrote me: “You furnish mankind with weapons, and you help peace by making war hateful.... I applaud your noble desire.”
I might say much on this theme, and bring forward a quantity of citations in like spirit from authorities of all kinds and all countries; but I must refrain, and beg you, Baroness, to accept the assurance of my most sincere gratitude and my deepest respect.
Henri Dunant
The yearly meeting of my Union for 1901 took the form of a sort of jubilee; ten years had passed since its establishment.
From among the many letters of greeting that reached me on this occasion I will include a few in these reminiscences, for the reason that they depict the status of the movement at that time, and also furnish a résumé of its philosophy.
Paris, December 27, 1901
Gracious Lady and dear Associate:
The friend has usually written you; to-day the president of the French Society for Arbitration among the Nations and—since he cannot hide the title—the first recipient of the Nobel prize sends these lines to you, though of course the friend is not eliminated. If I am correctly informed, you are holding the tenth general assembly of the society of which you are the head. And this is an event which we cannot permit to pass without notice. It means something for a Union to have lived ten years, especially for the reason that at its inception many, even among the well disposed, might reasonably have doubts of its continuance. You certainly had to meet the prejudice, if not the opposition, of some; the skepticism and the scruples of others; not to mention the ridicule of those who could not understand that a woman might take part in the political questions which, according to their ideas, are reserved exclusively for masculine intelligence and activity.
But, supported certainly by true and genuine sympathies, you have put up a good fight, and you have attained your end.
Courage, then, and patience! And may it be permitted me in my character as dean, and as a veteran of the peace militia, to send to you, and through you to transmit to your society, the thanks, the congratulations, and the benediction of all those who combine regard for human life, love for justice, and faith in the future with horror of force and bloodshed.