THE FOUNDER OF THE RED CROSS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 74

THE FOUNDER OF THE RED CROSS.

HIS GREAT WORK FOR HUMANITY,

It was at the birth of Christ that " Peace on earth, goodwill toward men " was first carolled into the world, but with the extraordinary obtuseness of the human race the world had to grow nearly 20 centuries older ere the song of the angels found its way into the international tieaties. The monveilt it did so a new epoch began, and we may hope that ere long the reign of peace may come. This is the meaning of the Red Cross, and the man, M. -Henri Dunant, who initiated it, is still living to link the past to the piesent. ' Born on May 8, 1828, in Geneva, his life-work has revolved round and about the city for ever associated with Calvin, and, for better or worse, with Jean Jacques Rousseau. His parents belonged to the class of landed gentry. Two centuries before the time of Calvin, his ancestors possessed numerous fiefs in the surrounding country. On his mother's side — and M. Dunant recalls his mother with intense fervor as the one who strongly developed in her children the sense of generosity, devotion, and sympathy towards the oppressed and suffering — he is descended from the old nobility of France, from which country her ancestors fled in 1550 to escape the persecutions directed against the Huguenots. Madams X>unarati's fatber ga-ve his services as chairman or director of the General Hospital of Geneva ; and her brother, Daniel Colladon, Professor of Mechanics, has been well known in the world of science for his discoveries regarding the transmission of sound in water and the utilisation of compressed air in the pierc- ' ing oi tunnels. The brother of the founder of the Red Cross, as Doctor of Medicine and Professor of Hygiene at the Uni- j versity, was also a distinguished Genevoise. A cousin in 1897 was President of the Swiss Council of State. It may be gathered, then (says the Christian Age), that benevolence and public service are traditions of the family. In early life Henri was interested in the unhappy. Between the ages of 18 and 19 be became a member of a society in Geneva which involved the consecration of one's leisure to visiting the poor, infirm, and aged. A little later his Sunday afternoons were devoted to reading about ( travels, history, and elementary science | to the convicts in the prisons of Geneva, the door being openedpto him by the chaplain, Pastor Vernet. Meanwhile, he had the charming example of his parents before his eyes, for they permitted the orphans of Geneva, under fitting supervision, to make use of the beautifullywooded grounds of their country house, commanding a splendid view of the lake, Mont Blanc, and the surrounding mountains. Here it was, when he was a baby of four, that his mother first read to him La Fontaine's fable of the wolf and the lamb, which to him was so real that in a burst of sobbing he cried, "' I don't want the little lamb to be eaten!" and was with difficulty consoled. When only 21 Dunant sought to form an International Society of Samaritans. The force of this can be better understood in a country like Switzerland and a city like Geneva, nestling between the other countries of Europe, than it can in~ insular England. But the idea running through the young man's mind is perfectly evident — to dissipate national prejudices and to render aid without distinction of religion, or politics, or race. Truly it may be said that Dunant thinks as a cosmopolitan, yet he remains a devoted son of Switzerland. Engaged in these works of charity he lived for some years the life of a private gentleman. When nearly 30 years of age he published several literary and ethnographical monographs, j drawing his material from his journeys along the borders of the Mediterranean. Amongst other books was one directed against slavery, in which he compared the American slavery of the Southern States with Hebrew and Mussulman slavery. But his chief work, ever to be remembered so long as Mercy and Peace and Love stand forth as Christian ideals, was his " Souvenir de Solferino." At the age of 31 he found himself a simple toiiri.st on the plains of Lombards, ! when the French under Napoleon 111 fulfilled their promise to the Italians and , helped them to turn the Austrians out of ; the country, but only at the cost of the two most murderous battles of the cen- ( tury— Magenta, which left 10,000 Aue- j trians and 4000 allies on the field ; and Solferino, which, after 15 hours' fighting, left as victims 20,000 Austrians and 18,000 allies. The scenes of horror were indescribable. Doctors, surgical instruments, linen, anything that is necessary to the sick and wounded, could not be obtained. M. Dunant, however, with the help of some ladies, organised a service of help a' Castiglione, and from his habit of

dressing in white was called naively by the troops "' le Monsieur en blanc "—the' Man" — the' Man in White. Austrians, French, and Italians alike weie tended, for M. Dimant there *md thon put in practice his belief that the enemy •wounded is no longer the enemy! In his rominiscences of those awful days M. Dunant shows how willingly inhabitants and visitors did their beM. ; but. through lack of training and lack of preparation, the help fell horribly shoit ot the necessity; and he conceded the notion o f a voluntary army organised in times of peace to lender impaitul aid in times ot war. Utopian, of course ; nevertheless it was discu&sed by the Society of Public Utility at Geneva, and another step was gained when in 1863 an intei national con- ' ference, rare in those days, was called at that city. " | Fourteen Governments sent representa- 1 tive«, and the conclus : ons drawn have been made the basis of each Xation.il Red Cross Society since formed, whether organised by ' Governments or piivate bodies. Chief i among these is the decision to regard as immune persons, baggage, and hospitals ! marked with the rod eross — the arms of Switzerland reversed. Since then all civilised nations — France remembers witli pride that she was practically the first — have agreed to abide by the Geneva Convention ; and there is a permanent Inter- , national Committee established in that city ' — the embryo of the Parliament of Nations of future ages. j Meanwliile M. Henri Dunant spent his > energy, health, and his fortune in publish- | ing his ideals, and in travelling from one court of Europe to another in order j to bring each nation under the sway of | the Red Cross. Suddenly this man, famed j above his fellows for generosity, found j himself, either tlnough some elementary lack of prudence, or, rather, through sheer J misfortune, impoverished, his foitune gone. | To such extremity was he reduced that, as he confesses, he came to lunching on a halfpenny roll, to hiding the shabby parts of his suit with ink, and to whitening a false collar with chalk ! After enduring for a long time such intolerable wretchedness, friends, to the credit of humanity, rallied round him once more; among them the widow of Alexander 111 of Russia, JNiaxia Feodorovna, who allowed him a life pension. Professor Muller, of Stuttaait, also came to his aid, and the Federal Council of Switzerland has awarded him the Alfred Binet prize of 1780 frame as founder of the Red Cross. More recently ne was awarded the Nobel prize for having contributed most to the fraternity of the , With these honours thick upon him, he is living in retirement at Heiden, on the Lake of Constance, this grand old man of the Red Cross. We all know of the Red | Cross with more or less vagueness. Its rich significance, however, has yet to be ' realised. When it is so realised we may expect some epic poem or classic oratorio setting forth the grand emotions and worthy sentiments evoked by La Croix Rouge, or l'Opera d-ella Croce Rossa. j