“Sir,
“Permit me to recall to your mind the remembrance of me. At that time you were pleased to take a truly humane interest in the work in favour of wounded soldiers, of which I am the founder, for which I then laboured, and which still occupies my attention. You are no doubt aware that this work has been as successful as such a work of philanthropy can be. It has obtained the adhesion not only of all the Sovereigns of Europe, and even those of the Sultan of Turkey and Emperor of Brazil (1831–1891),[¹] but also the unanimous suffrage of all benevolent persons in all civilized countries.
“In the whole European and American Continents—both of them liable to the chances of war—committees and societies for the relief of wounded soldiers have been formed, and are in activity, and it may be said, without exaggeration, that the service rendered by this institution during the late war surpassed all expectation. Official reports from this society, as well as from military authorities published more than once, have sufficiently shown it. At present, sir, I am engaged in another work, for which I hope you will not feel less interest than for that to which I have just referred, the more so as it concerns Palestine, the country made over by God to the glorious people of which you have the honour of being a member.
“You will find enclosed two copies of a notice which a committee formed in Paris for the Colonisation of Palestine—a committee of which I am a member, and which Her Majesty the Empress of the French[²] has deigned to honour with her patronage—have just published. The notice will explain to you the object and tendency of our foundation. The labours of your whole life, and the great merits acquired by you in serving the cause, rights, and interests of your co-religionists, inspire me with the lively desire to obtain your valuable advice on the work on which we are engaged. I hope that if you find our publication conformable to your ideas, you will have the goodness to cause a translation thereof inserted in the estimable journal which you edit, the Jewish Chronicle.
“I also hope that you will likewise acquaint me with the names and addresses of persons in England, whom you may believe inclined to sympathise with the moral and economical re-constitution of the ancient patrimony of the Hebrews; for our work, supported by the greatest and most aristocratic names among Christians, sympathises not the less, nay, before all, with the Israelites, whose rights to Palestine are superior to all others.
“I do not doubt but that the international sentiments which animate you will call forth in old England, and among the readers of the Jewish Chronicle, a sympathetic echo.
“Receive the assurance of my high consideration.
“(Signed) Henri Dunant,
“Founder and promoter of the international undertaking in behalf of the wounded soldier, on land and at sea.
“Paris, 24, Rue de la Paix, Dec. 3, 1867.”