A letter written during Kuyper’s trip to the United States and addressed, À messieurs les délégués de la presse étrangère. In this letter, Kuyper explains why he—the chairman of the committee for the reception of foreign journalists who were planning to come to the Netherlands for the coronation—is currently out of the country. He had given timely notice to the office of the Dutch Association of Journalists that he would only be available until the middle of August 1898; nevertheless, he was nominated to chair the reception committee. The reason for his long absence was a series of lectures. He had already accepted an invitation from Princeton Theological Seminary two years previously (cf. 1896.09) to deliver the so-called “Stone Lectures” (see 1898.15). After a few cordial remarks he ends the letter by apologizing for any possible inadequacies in the reception of foreign journalists by the Dutch press, which was preparing for the event with all its heart.

The letter is printed, with a facsimile of Kuyper’s handwriting, on five numbered sheets of stationery from the Hotel Cecil of London.