GIFT OF 
 
THROUGH WARRING COUNTRIES 
 TO THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD 
 
 --0-- 
 
 An Account of Some of the Experiences of 
 
 Two American Bahaie in France, England, 
 
 Germany, and Other Countries, on 
 
 Their Way to Visit Abdul Baha 
 
 in the Holy Land, in 
 
 the Year 1914. 
 
 By 
 
 Charles Mason Remey 
 
Aif 
 
J.D inju OUJLU2 AUTHUKJLTX JJ UK 
 INTERPRETING THE TEACHINGS OP BAHA O LLAH. 
 
 The Circulation of this Manuscript 
 has been approved by the Bahai Publi 
 cation Committee. 
 
 Copy No . 
 
 TO 
 
 It f 
 
 
 Facsimile of Author s Manuscript. 
 
 A limited number of copies for 
 private distribution only. 
 
 380125 
 
Copy No . 1.4 . 
 
 To /fcv^^.^i, 7. J^H^Ptv^s^P^^^i 
 
 Facsimile of Author s Manuscript. 
 
 A limited number of copies for 
 private distribution only. 
 
 X^. s? ^ 
 
 ................. 
 
 380125 
 
ABDUL BAHA. 
 
"And it shall eome to pass in the last 
 days that the Mountain of the Lord s House 
 shall be established in the top of the 
 mountains and shall be exalted above the 
 hills, and all nations shall flow unto it " 
 
 Isaiah II : 2. 
 
 "For, as the lightning eometh out of 
 the East, and shineth unto the West, so 
 shall the coming of the Son of Man be." 
 
 St. Matthew XXIV : 27. 
 
 "Tarry no longer for He has eorce . Be 
 hold His Temple, the glory dwelling therein. 
 It is the ancient glory with a new roaini- 
 f es tation . " 
 
 Baha c llah. 
 
INDEX 
 
 --0-- 
 
 I Foreword 
 
 II Introductory Outline of the History 
 
 of The Bahai Movement 
 
 III Narrative of Travel 
 
 IV The Bahai Cause and Peace 
 
 V The Voice of Universal Peace 
 
 Page 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 96 
 
 106 
 
I . 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 6 
 
FOREWORD . 
 
 Inasmuch as the thoughts of most people in these days are cen 
 tered upon the terrific struggle of nations now in progress in 
 Europe, and the -solution of the causes of this cataclysm, the 
 time seems opportune for me to write an account of some of 
 the experiences which befell my companion, George Latimer, and 
 myself in the war countries during the Spring, Summer, and Fall 
 of 1914, of our journey to Syria, and our visit there with Abdul 
 Sana, who is the head of the Bahai movement, who offers to hu 
 manity the solution, a spiritual remedy, for this great human ill 
 of war which is now devastating the world. 
 
 Abdul Baha s talks, herein quoted, given in Persian, were 
 for the most part translated verbally, as he spoke, by Mirza 
 Ahmed Sohrab, and taken down in English by my companion, Mr. 
 Latimer. 
 
 The large photograph of Abdul Baha here reproduced was taken 
 by Herr Consul Schwarz in his home in Stuttgart , and some of the 
 other photographs used in illustrating this folio were taken by 
 Mr. Latimer while we were in Syria. 
 
 I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the services 
 of these friends in connection with this compilation. 
 
 C. M. R. 
 
 Honolulu, Hawaii, July, 1915. 
 
ABDUL BAHA IN A MEETING OF BAHAIS IN LONDON 
 
 GROUP OF BAHAIS IN THE STUDIO OF 
 MR. EDWIN SCOTT IN PARIS 
 
 8 
 
I! 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 THE BAHIA MOVEMENT AND ITS RELATIONS 
 
 TO THE RELIGIONS OF THE PAST. 
 
 9 
 
HISTORY OP THE BAHAI MOVEMENT. 
 
 From the point of view of almost every line of thought the 
 present time can be seen to be one of change and transition. 
 Nowhere is this more apparent than in the religious world. 
 
 The present religious evolution of the world is not at all 
 confined to the personal observation of the few, for during the 
 past ten years such changes have taken place as to quite con 
 vince all fair-minded persons that now, for the first time in 
 the history of the human race, the soul of the world is awaken 
 ing spiritually, and is now demanding a religious teaching that 
 is pure and free from the human thoughts which in every re 
 ligious teaching has sooner or later obscured the simple and di 
 rect truths, encrusting them in a labyrinth of speculations, 
 doctrines, and theologies. 
 
 This awakening is clearly seen in the universal modern re 
 ligious awakening in the Christian world, whereas, as one travels 
 into the Orient, one sees a parallel religious change and spir 
 itual awakening and unrest quite manifest among the Jews, 
 Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and peoples of other religions, all 
 of which shows that in this day the religious world throughout 
 all countries is awake and searching for some new light, for 
 which it feels the need. 
 
 In looking backwards over the history of man, it is clearly 
 seen that whenever peoples have needed changes of moral ideals 
 and institutions, religious or secular, that need has been 
 supplied. 
 
 The most enlightened of the people have realized the in 
 efficiency of the present systems to give to the people the 
 moral and spiritual inspiration and force which they need to 
 re-mold or to re-form the institutions, moral and social, of 
 the day, and realizing this need the people have set about to 
 find a practical philosophy which, when applied, would give the 
 desired result. 
 
 In such times of suffering and social unrest the great world 
 reformers have arisen, the great spiritual leaders of men, 
 those holy souls who have revealed spiritual truth to the peo 
 ple. Through these great divine souls the masses of the people 
 have been freed from the superstitions and worn-out religious 
 forms and imaginations of the past, the negative power of which 
 has held humanity back from positive progress. 
 
 10 
 
The great world teachers have broken into the mental and 
 moral limitations of the people of their age, thus freeing them 
 from the limitations of their own psychology. Thus the people 
 have arisen above their surrounding conditions to become the 
 foundations of new and higher orders of civilizations in the 
 world . 
 
 Such a leader, reformer, and revealer of truth was Abraham 
 the Prophet, who went out from the land of Ur leading a small 
 band of people who were oppressed, but who, under his spiritual 
 guidance, became a great people. 
 
 Centuries passed, and in time the children of Abraham lost 
 their spiritual ideals and power, and finally found themselves 
 in a state of, bondage and slavery. Then, at the moment of 
 greatest necessity, another divine leader appeared in the person 
 of the Prophet Moses, through whom the higher law of the Creator 
 was again revealed, and through following him, and the line of 
 inspired prophets who came after him, this once oppressed peo 
 ple, now freed from their limitations, founded a great civiliza 
 tion, the glories of which are depicted in both sacred and pro 
 fane history. 
 
 Again the people lost the inspiration of the burning truth, 
 and the time came when their religion was but the shell of its 
 former spiritual power, having many outward forms, but none of 
 that spirit which had characterized its earlj days, the epoch 
 of its spiritual power and development. 
 
 Then it was that The Messiah appeared, and The Christ was 
 revealed through the Holy Person of Jesus, who took upon Himself 
 all of the trials and burdens of the world in order to teach 
 the people that they might know spiritual truth and be freed 
 from the superstitions of the ancient regime of priestly hier 
 archy which held them in thraldom, and that the peace of the 
 spirit might be theirs. 
 
 The spiritual ideals and divine inspiration of Christianity 
 were spread throughout the western world, and the great civil 
 ization of Christendom was the fruit of the divine mission of 
 The Christ. 
 
 Also, in various ages in other parts of the world, there 
 arose great prophets and divine philosophers manifesting to the 
 people the glory and the reality of divine truth. Mohammed, 
 Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucius; each arose in a time of need and 
 gave the people the inspiration which they needed to lift them 
 above the natural condition of the times, to free themselves 
 
 11 
 
from ignorance, oppression, immorality, and suffering, through 
 finding a new force and a new spiritual conception of truth, or 
 religion. Through knowing the truth they were made free. 
 
 Now, in these present days, the people of the world are 
 suffering because of ignorance and bondage, ignorance of the 
 spiritual law of Christ, and the bondage of materialism and 
 national and racial class and religioias hatred, all of which, 
 taken together, produce the human destructive agents of strife 
 and war . 
 
 Ponder over it! In Europe today millions of Christians are 
 lined up in battle against their Christian brethren of other 
 nations, and slaying thousands. Hatred and greed have taken the 
 place in men s lives which the true spirit of Christianity 
 should occupy. True religion is needed. In view of this need 
 people are awakening to the fact that below the surface of this 
 trouble there is a spiritual lack, a great religious need in the 
 world in general. Such conditions could not exist if the Chris 
 tian peoples understood and lived the spiritual realities of 
 Christianity. 
 
 In this day of need, as in parallel epochs of old, the peo 
 ple are realizing a condition of spiritual famine in the world, 
 and thousands of hungering souls are seeking the light of God, 
 whicih alone can remedy the trouble. Now, as in similar times 
 of past need, a great spiritual teacher has again arisen arisen 
 in the East bringing a message of spirit and of peace to the 
 v/orld, and, like the messages of the past, His coming is spir 
 itually and psychologically very timely, and is meeting the 
 needs of the people of the day. 
 
 The mission of Baha o llah is the infusing of spirituality 
 and the spirit of brotherhood into humanity. His teaching 
 comes as a renewal of the original spirit of the religions of 
 the past. It confirms one in one s own religion, whether one be 
 Christian, Jew, Moslem, or of any of the other religions, and at 
 the same time it teaches man of the oneness of all truth. Thus 
 the enlightened soul knows all true religion as one truth, and 
 he sees all men as brothers under the bounty of one Father, the 
 Creator. 
 
 It was in the month of May, in the year 1844, that the fore 
 runner of Baha o llah appeared in the Orient, in the city of 
 Shiraz, in Persia. He was known as The Bab, which means " The 
 
 Doer or The Gate-. 
 
 The Bab arose with great devotion and a superhuman spiritual 
 power, through which he was enabled to penetrate the hearts and 
 
 12 
 
souls of the people with His glad tidings of the near approach 
 of the great world-teacher whose mission would be that of estab 
 lishing in the world universal raligious tolerance, brotherhood, 
 and peace. The Bab sacrificed His all in exhorting the people 
 to prepare themselves and to be awaiting the advent of this 
 great Promised One whose coming had been heralded in the pro 
 phesies of the religions of the past. The Bab prepared the 
 people to be ready to follow the Promised One when He should 
 appear. 
 
 Many people arose against The Bab and His followers to 
 exterminate the new teaching. Led by their fanatical priests, 
 the Moslems killed many thousands of the followers, and The Bab 
 Himself suffered a martyr s death, all to the advancement of 
 the Cause, which prospered under this most violent opposition. 
 
 In the ninth year after the declaration of The Bab, 
 Baha o llah, the Promised One, arose. He manifested the spir 
 itual wisdom and power foretold by The Bab, and He fulfilled the 
 spiritual signs by which The Bab had taught the people to know 
 and recognize Him. 
 
 Baha o llah was met by the same spirit of persecution which 
 had been manifested by the people against The First Point of the 
 Revelation, The Bab. The superstitious and fanatical Moslem 
 clexgy, seeing their hold over the people giving way as the 
 number of the followers of Baha o llah increased, arose with 
 renewed efforts to assail the Cause. All manner of troubles and 
 trials were heaped upon Baha o llah and his followers. He was 
 exiled from Persia to Bagdad, in Arabia, then to Constantinople 
 and to Adrianople, in Roumelia, and, lastly, to the fortress of 
 Akka, in the Holy Land. Here He suffered and labored for over 
 twenty years, until the Spring of 1892, when he passed quietly 
 from this world, after His divine mission of forty years of im 
 prisonment, exile, persecution, and hardship. 
 
 Baha o llah suffered all things in order that His Cause 
 Eight be establshed in the world; in order that the foundation 
 of universal religious brotherhood, the oneness of humanity, 
 justice, and peace might be laid in the hearts of men. Upon His 
 departure from this world He left a living testimonial of His 
 spiritual mission in the Bahai Movement, and he provided for the 
 guidance of the Cause after His departure by commending all of 
 his followers to the direction and guidance of His son Abdul 
 Baha. 
 
 Abdul Baha, who shared the exile and imprisonment of Baha 
 o llah, is now interpreting and explaining the teachings of The 
 
 13 
 
Movement, and in his life of service to the people about him is 
 demonstrating the principles of Baha o llah. He is bringing 
 these spiritual ideals into the hearts and lives of the many 
 people who come in contact with him and receive His teachings. 
 
 For forty years Abdul Baha was a State prisoner and an exile 
 in the Fortress of Akka, from 1868, when he was taken there with 
 Baha o llah, until 1908, when the old Turkish government gave 
 way to the reestablishment of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876, 
 which had been crushed by the despotism of the regime of the 
 Sultans. When this political change took place in Turkey, all 
 of the religious and political prisoners throughout the Ottoman 
 demains were liberated, and thus Abdul Baha was no longer held in 
 confinement. 
 
 After his freedom Abdul Baha spent some months teaching in 
 Egypt, made one trip to Europe, and still another tour to America, 
 and again through Europe. In many cities He was received most 
 warmly by religious, philosophic, and philanthropic leaders, and 
 everywhere He went the people weie cheered by his spirit of love, 
 affection, and peace. 
 
 In the western world Abdul Baha gave the message of Baha 
 o llah from the pulpits of Christian churches of many denomina 
 tions, in the synagogues of the Jews, and in the meetings of 
 Atheists and Free Thinkers, as well as before philosophical so 
 cieties, universities, and other educational and social institu 
 tions, and in all places the people gladly welcomed and accepted 
 the universal principles of The Bahai Movement, and all recog 
 nized that the world of today is ready and needs the application 
 of these broad, humanitarian ideals in every walk of life, both 
 religious and social. 
 
 Here and there in various parts of the world are groups of 
 people of different races, nationalities, and religions, meeting 
 together to study the teachings and principles of The Bahai 
 teaching, and many people are working and serving in various 
 ways in this Cause. 
 
 The Bahi Movement has neither clergy nor organized priest 
 hood apart from the laity. All people are teachers, each in his 
 own fields or sphere of life. Some are able and have the means 
 to go about and lecture and teach publicly, while others remain 
 at home, and in their daily lives in the world find on every 
 hand ample opportunity for giving forth to others the spiritual 
 knowledge which is theirs. Thus in all activities they are 
 working harmoniously with all people for the accomplishment of 
 universal brotherhood, harmony, and peace. 
 
 14 
 
ABDUL BAHA WITH SOME EAHAIS IN STUTTGART 
 
 ABDUL BAHA WITH SOME OTHER EAHAIS IN 
 STUTTGART 
 
 15 
 
Through the illumination and the soul -unit ing spirit of The 
 Bahai Cause the people who are thus touched by it are freed from . 
 avarice, enmity, and prejudice. Thus negative forces find no 
 place in their natures, while upon the other hand they are 
 filled with the positive force of harmony, unity, and brother 
 hood toward the people of all nations, races, and religions. 
 
 The Cause of Baha o llah is striking a fatal blow at this 
 great chimera of war. Though the Cause is but in its infancy, 
 its sympathizers are many and are spread throughout the people 
 of all races, nations, and religions. Its spirit is undermining 
 the spirit of war in the hearts of the people through putting an 
 end to greed, prejudice, and hate, which are the real cause of 
 war. 
 
 This change in the hearts of the people is being accom 
 plished through teaching and living harmony and justice, 
 through inculcating into people s minds and hearts the construc 
 tive principles of peace and harmony, and through their living 
 in conformity with the teachings of The Bahai Movement, which 
 are none other than the sum total of all the moral and spiritual 
 teachings of all religions. 
 
 The Bahai Cause confirms and fulfills, and does not destroy 
 the religions of the past. It makes each soul strong in the 
 true spirit of his own religion, and as one understands and 
 lives the true spirit of one s own religion one finds oneself at 
 peace with God and with all the world. Thus are the people real 
 izing the oneness of all true religion and the necessity for 
 recognizing this truth. Through this knowledge comes a unity 
 and a solidarity between peoples of different religions, which 
 is basic and which humanity needs to realize. 
 
 This is a condition of spirit and soul, which, working in 
 the world, is destined to overcome all inharmonious obstacles. 
 
 The Cause is growing, and it is but a matter of time before 
 people in general will realize that these are the principles 
 upon which our new civilization must be built, for its princi 
 ples are constructive for the harmony of all peoples and for the 
 oneness of all humanity. 
 
 The Bahai Teaching stands for the oneness of mankind. It 
 exhorts people to study into these religious and social ques 
 tions which are now facing the world, and with fairness of mind 
 grasp all constructive teachings and ideals which make for real 
 peace and prosperity, and not to follow blindly in the paths of 
 the thinkers of the past, for in the present day there are new 
 problems which can never be solved as long as people continue 
 blindly in the way of the people of the past. 
 
 16 
 
The foundation of all true religion is one foundation, which 
 is the Divine Word. Upon this foundation The Bahai Movement 
 is uniting Christians, Jews, and Moslems with the peoples of 
 the far eastern religions, uniting them in the strongest bonds 
 of the spirit of unity and oneness. This is not a mere tolerance 
 of peoples of different religions, but a most vital spirit of 
 life and of love, which in the Bahai Religion unites these many 
 heterogeneous religious elements into one living brotherhood, 
 which is growing and expanding in many parts of the world. It is 
 ahead of, yet in line with the spirit of the new age now dawning; 
 therefore, its growth and future are assured. 
 
 Irreligion or fanaticism has been the greatest cause of war. 
 The most bloody wars of history have been so-called religious 
 wars, brought about by a misconception of true religion. Thus 
 by creating amity between the religions, races, and nations a 
 blow is beir.g struck at one of the chief causes of war. 
 
 Different religious teachings, each with its own system of 
 education and institutions tend toward separation and division 
 of the human race rather than uniting it, whereas the original 
 spirit and intent of each great Divine teacher was to illumine 
 the people and to unite them and do away with all differences. 
 
 Religion should be the means of harmony among men. If it 
 fails in this unity, it is not fulfilling its mission, therefore 
 would not be vital spiritual force, but merely an outward form. 
 In this day people need a spiritually vital religion. The day 
 is past for empty forms and imitations. 
 
 According to the teaching as demonstrated by Abdul Baha, 
 there is no conflict between spiritual and material truth, be 
 tween true religious teaching upon one hand, and science and 
 reason upon the other. These go hand in hand and must be in 
 harmony one with the other for the real advancement of mankind. 
 
 This Cause stands for the equal advantage, rights, priv 
 ileges, and responsibilities of the sexes, and its teachings 
 urge people to abandon all prejudices and fanaticism in order 
 that the highest humanitarian ideals for the progress of the 
 world may become realized. 
 
 Educational advantages for all, and a solution of the econ 
 omic problem between capital and labor, as well as other ques 
 tions which d.eal with the general betterment of the masses of 
 the people are dwelt upon and explained at length in the inter- 
 
 17 
 
pretations and explanations of Abdul Baha. These problems must 
 be solved before peace and harmony in all of its aspects can be 
 realized. 
 
 It is significant of the all-encompassing spirit of the 
 founders of the Bahai Cause that long before the attention of 
 the world in general was called to consider universalism in 
 its many aspects Baha o llah and Abdul Baha were teaching human - 
 itarianism to be greater than patriotism, universal peace and 
 arbitration, the voice of the people in matters which concern 
 their welfare, equal suffrage, a universal language, universal 
 education, and all of these universal principles which must come 
 for the best good of humanity and its peace. 
 
 The Bahai Cause stands primarily for the spiritual union and 
 harmony of all peoples of all religions. With this basis of 
 divine love and brotherhood as the foundation of. the new order 
 of united humanity, religious, racial, and national hatred will 
 disappear and all the peoples of the world will become one great 
 world people. 
 
 Religion has ever been the foundation of civilization, no 
 civilization ever having developed and evolved apart from the 
 inspiration and high morals and ideals of religion in its truest 
 and purest sense. Thus logically with all reason, with all 
 faith, and with spiritual assurance the world may look forward 
 to the great universal civilization which will evolve through 
 the inspiration, morals, ideals, and institutions founded upon 
 the principles of the One Great Universal Religion, established 
 by the great universal v/orld teacher, whose coming has been an 
 nounced by Christ and the prophets for the fulfillment of the 
 religious truths of the past and for the establishment of this 
 new age of Truth on Earth. 
 
 18 
 
Ill 
 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 19 
 
NARRATIVE 
 
 It was in Washington, D.C., in the midsummer of 1912, that I 
 first met George Latimer, who was then on his return across the 
 continent to his home in Portland, Oregon, from a visit of some 
 clays with Abdul Baha, who was then in America spending several 
 weeks in Dublin, New Hampshire, iv y new friend had for several 
 years been surrounded in his home by the atmosphere of the Bahai 
 thought, but, like many others, personal contact with the center 
 of The Bahai Cause had awakened him to the spiritual needs of 
 these times. Moved by all he had experienced while with Abdul 
 Baha and with the energy and life of a young man just out of 
 college, he wished to do some service for the Cause for which so 
 many have given their lives, not counting it a sacrifice, but 
 their greatest joy and blessing so to do. I recall how we, in 
 company with another young Bahai, sat up late one night talking 
 of the great work to be done, I recounting to them some expe 
 riences in the Orient while travelling among the Bahais. Then in 
 our conversation George and I began to dream and hope that we 
 might some day go forth together and travel from country to 
 country trying to serve in spreading the Cause . 
 
 That evening of aspiration was the beginning of new things 
 for us. We wrote to Abdul Baha of our desire to work together, 
 and in due time we had his approval and were made happy by the 
 prospect of serving together. 
 
 It was some months later that a call came to us from Abdul Baha 
 to visit the Bahai centers throughout America and to go to Hawaii. 
 
 We met in Honolulu and began to realize our one hope of ser 
 vice together. After a stay of two months in the Hawaiian 
 Islands we returned to the States, visiting the Bahai centers on 
 the Pacific Coast before parting, my friend returning to his 
 home in the west, while I travelled on through, visiting the 
 assemblies toward the Atlantic coast. 
 
 Our journey was a spiritual blessing and a -great confirma 
 tion to our faith. Upon every side we saw the growth in the 
 hearts of the people of the principles of the Bahai Cause. The 
 year previous the people had come into very close touch with 
 Abdul Baha. He had visited most of the l,rge assemblies in the 
 States and from the smaller centers off from his route of travel 
 people had come to meet him and to receive from him. Everywhere 
 he sowed the seeds of love and amity in the hearts of the people 
 by explaining and proclaiming the universal basic truths of re- 
 
 20 
 
GROUP TAKEN AT THE HOME OF 
 HERR AND FRAU CONSUL SCHWARTZ 
 
 FOUR YOUNG BAHAIS OF ESSLINGEN 
 
 21 
 
ligion, thus making clear to every hearer the letter and the 
 spirit of the Bahai Cause. These truths had taken such root in 
 the hearts of the people that in all the assemblies we felt the 
 spirit of love and unity and the firmness of the faith of the 
 people in The Divine Covenant of Religion. Whereas, before Abdul 
 Baha s journey of teaching, the people in general had been at 
 tracted to The Bahai Cause and i,ts principles of the Fatherhood 
 of God and the brotherhood of man, after his journey in America 
 the people through contact with him became confirmed in the 
 Cause, realizing it to be indeed the Cause of God and the most 
 important of all matters, and the source of spiritual inspira 
 tion. Thus many arose to serve and aid in various ways in tak 
 ing this message of glad tidings to others, of whom there are 
 many seeking that assurance and inspiration which a live and ac 
 tive faith and good works alone can give. 
 
 In the Cause of Baha o llah, as applied and interpreted by 
 Abdul Baha, the people find the source of spiritual light, which 
 light when thrown upon the teachings of the religions makes the 
 ancient truths, freed from the superstitions of the past, the 
 living truths of this day. 
 
 Wherever Abdul Baha went he carried with him good cheer, 
 hope, and assurance. He found the people sad, he made them 
 happy; wavering, he made them firm; divided, he united them in 
 the love of the Lord. 
 
 Many souls in spiritual difficulties went to Abdul Baha and 
 had their faith renewed to such an extent that they are now de 
 voting their lives to the furtherance of unity and brotherhood 
 through helpful service to humanity. 
 
 Such is the spirit of the real Bahai s, those who have been 
 quickened by the light of the new spiritual era now in its dawn, 
 the light of which is destined to change this earth from a bat- 
 tie field into a garden of peace, and its people from their 
 present destructive ferocious characteristics to those of con 
 structive prosperity and harmony. 
 
 The true Bahais are showing forth such a spirit of tolerance 
 and love for the peoples of all religious cults and sects that, 
 despite all conditions, the people are attracted to this light, 
 for in the spirit which emanates from Abdul Baha and from those 
 who in reality follow in his path of service to humanity, all 
 people find the realization of the highest spiritual ideals of 
 their own religion, whichever it maybe. 
 
 Subsequent to our first travels together, Abdul Baha wrote 
 to Mr. Latimer s mother in October, 1913: If it be possible 
 
 22 
 
that these two be together it will become the cause of greater 
 confirmation. 
 
 In February, 1914, another word came from Abdul Baha ad 
 dressed to me : If it is possible, make a journey to Europe 
 during the season of the Spring. In the various countries of 
 Europe cry in the name of The Covenant of God, especially in 
 Germany and Prance. 
 
 Again Mr. Latimer joined me, coming to Washington, D.C., 
 from his home on the western coast, and a few days later, on 
 March 27, we sailed from New York for Cherbourg en route for 
 Paris. 
 
 PARIS 
 
 It was in the winter of 1898 that the first party of Ameri 
 can Bahai pilgrims passed through Paris on their way to Abdul 
 Baha, who was then in exile in Akka. They remained in Paris for 
 a short while and through them several people living in Paris 
 for the first time heard of the Bahai Cause. Among these was 
 UBB May Bolls, now Mrs. Wm. S. Maxwell, who enthusiastically 
 responded to the call of The Bahai Message, and joined the party 
 of pilgrims going to the Holy Land, where she met Abdul Baha and 
 shortly afterwards returned to Paris as the first resident Bahai 
 worker in that city. 
 
 With great firmness and devotion to the Cause, and at all 
 times turned toward Abdul Baha for his help and guidance, this 
 lady spoke of The Movement with many people, and from among 
 these there soon came forth a group of about twenty souls 
 touched by the Bahai spirit, and firm in the Covenant of Baha- 
 o llah, whose united idea was to serve and carry to others this 
 message of light. In brief, such was the beginning of the Bahai 
 Movement in Paris. Most of the early believers eventually left 
 France, some going to America and other countries, where they 
 engaged in the work. The centers in Honolulu and in Montreal, 
 Canada, were direct off -shoots from the Paris assembly, while 
 other assemblies in various parts were reinforced by workers 
 from France. 
 
 In all places the welfare and the spiritual prosperity of 
 the Cause is proportionate with the degree of the firmness and 
 the confirmation of the friends in abiding by the truth, in 
 following in their lives and conduct the teachings, and striving 
 earnestly to follow Abdul Baha by carrying in word and in spirit 
 this message to the people. This principle was clearly demon 
 strated in Paris. In those early pioneer days of the Cause in 
 
 23 
 
Prance the work was not easy for the friends. Hardly any of the 
 Bahai writings had been translated into any western language, 
 while nothing at all had been put into print. Nevertheless, the 
 people knew that the * Promised One had appeared in the person 
 of Baha o llah, and that Abdul Baha was the testament of Baha- 
 o llah living in the world today, so with the aid of a few 
 manuscript copies of some of Baha o llah s words, and by looking 
 always towards Abdul Baha, depending upon the instructions and 
 advices received from him, the Cause found firm root in the 
 characters and lives of certain souls who arose to follow in the 
 path and to serve . 
 
 Many of the Bahai s will recall the beautiful eulogy written 
 by Abdul Baha upon the occasion of the passing from this world 
 of Thomas Breakwell, who was one of the first Bahais who heard 
 of the message in Paris. 
 
 This young man responded with burning zeal to the spirit of 
 the teaching. He hastened to the Holy Land to meet Abdul Baha, 
 and then returned to France to serve. His life was an inspira 
 tion to all, and his passing from this world into eternal ser 
 vice in the realms beyond caused his friends to realize his il 
 lumination of soul. 
 
 I was at that time living in Paris and recall vividly the 
 influence of Breakwell upon all who knew him. It was the influ 
 ence of one severed from this world and wholly turned toward 
 God. His spirit lived after him and continued to be a never- 
 ending inspiration. 
 
 The following eulogy from a tablet, letter, written by 
 Abdul Baha, is an eternal monument testifying to the purity and 
 fervor of Breakwell s faith. It runs as follows: 
 
 Do not lament over the depai ture of my dearly beloved 
 Breakwell, for verily he has ascended to the luminous rose- 
 garden in the Abha kingdom, near the Mercy of his Lord, the 
 Almighty, and is crying out with the loudest voice: 0, that my 
 people knew how my Lord hath forgiven me and made me one of 
 those who have attained. 
 
 0, Breakwell, my Beloved! Where is thy beautiful counte 
 nance, and where is thy eloquent tongue? Where is thy radiant 
 brow, and where is thy brilliant face? 
 
 0, Breakwell, my Beloved! Where is thy enkindlement with the 
 Fire of the Love of God, and where is thy attention to the Fra 
 grances of God? Where is thy utterance for the glorification of 
 God, and where is thy rising in the service of God? 
 
 24 
 
0, my dear, 0, Breakwell! Where are thy bright eyes, and 
 where are thy smiling lips? Where are thy gentle cheeks, and 
 where is thy graceful stature? 
 
 0, my dear, 0, Breakwell! Verily thou hast abandoned this 
 transitory world and soared upward to the Kingdom, hast attained 
 to the Grace of the Invisible Realm, and sacrificed thyself to 
 the Threshold of the Lord of Might! 
 
 0, my adored one, 0, Breakwell! Verily thou hast left be 
 hind this physical lamp, this human glass, these earthly ele 
 ments, and this worldly enjoyment. 
 
 0, my adored one, 0, Breakwell! Then thou hast ignited a 
 light in the Glass of the Supreme Concourse, hast entered in the 
 Paradise of Abha, art protected under the shade of the Blessed 
 Tree, and hast attained to the Meeting of the True One in the 
 Abode of Paradise! 
 
 0, my dearly beloved, 0, Breakwell! Thou hast been a Divine 
 bird, and forsaking thy earthly nest, thou hast soared toward 
 the Holy rose gardens of the Divine Kingdom and obtained a 
 luminous station there ! 
 
 0, my dearly beloved, 0, Breakwell! Verily thou art like 
 unto the birds, chanting the verses of thy Lord, the Forgiving, 
 for thou wert a thankful servant, therefore thou hast entered in 
 the Realm beyond with joy and happiness! 
 
 0, my beloved, 0, Breakwell! Verily thy Lord has chosen 
 thee for His Love, guided thee to the Court of His Holiness, 
 caused thee to enter into the Rizwan of His Association, and 
 granted thee to behold His Beauty! 
 
 0, my beloved, 0, Breakwell! Verily thou hast attained to 
 the Eternal Life, never-ending bounty, beatific bliss, and im 
 measurable Providence ! 
 
 0, my beloved, 0, Breakwell! Thou hast become a star in the 
 most exalted horizon, a lamp among the angels of heaven, a liv 
 ing spirit in the Supreme World, and art established upon the 
 throne of immortality! 
 
 0, my adored one, 0, my Breakwell! I supplicate God to in 
 crease thy nearness and communication, to make thee enjoy thy 
 prosperity and union with Him, to add to thy light and beauty, 
 and to bestow upon thee glory and majesty. 
 
 ! 25 
 
0, my adored one, 0, my Breakwell! I mention thy name con 
 tinually, I never forget thee, I pray for thee day and night, 
 and I see thee clearly and manifestly, 0, my adored one, 0, 
 Breakwell ! * 
 
 On each of Abdul Baha s two trips through Europe he made 
 visits of several months in Paris, where daily meetings were 
 held for the many people who crowded to receive his teaching. 
 He gave addresses before various .religious bodies, one, the most 
 notable of which was from the pulpit of Pastor Charles Wagner, 
 author of The Simple Life,* who is v/ell known in the western 
 world through his writings, as being a leader broad in Christian 
 thought, nor were Abdul Baha s activities confined to the Pro 
 testant world. His message was for all, and about him were 
 clustered many Moslems, Jews, and people of the New Thought, all 
 attracted and hoping to realize the ideals which he taught, for 
 this Cause is universal and for all people, and its spiritual 
 message must be given to all, and all gathered into the one fold 
 of brotherhood before union can come upon earth. 
 
 It was a beautiful morning early in April when my friend and 
 I landed at Cherbourg and boarded the special steamer train for 
 Paris. Warm rains and the Spring sun had brought out the leaves 
 and blossoms in profusion. The country through which we sped 
 was a bower of beauty, for a new season had opened up and the 
 awakening was everywhere visible and manifest. 
 
 In our hearts spiritually we were as joyous as the passing 
 scene without, for we felt surging within us a love for humanity 
 which had come to us through our faith, and this we longed to 
 share with others, that they also might have a portion of the 
 Bahai joy of being permitted to serve in the founding of the new 
 epoch of peace and brotherhood among men. 
 
 When the heart is light, time passes quickly. In an incredi 
 bly short space of time after leaving Cherbourg we saw the late 
 Gothic tower of Bayeux Cathedral above the trees and the roof 
 tops of the town, and then, as if by leaps, we were within sight 
 of the earlier and more simple spires of the abbys at Caen, then 
 after sighting the Cathedrals of Lisieux and Evreux our train 
 pulled into the grim and dusty train shed of the Gare St. Lazare. 
 We were in Paris. 
 
 We were not long in meeting our Bahai friends, who received 
 us most cordially into their midst, and thus our work began. 
 
 Paris, as I had known it as a student some ten years before, 
 had changed very much. During this interim the separation of 
 
 26 
 
Church and State had taken place, and a wave of materialism had 
 followed, which was a phase difficult to meet and to overcome in 
 the individual, for unless a soul is sufficiently awake to ac 
 knowledge his spiritual needs it is almost impossible for one to 
 awaken him. Later on we understood that Abdul Baha himself had 
 found this same condition. 
 
 Thus we spent many busy days and the struggle was intense, 
 the struggle between the materialism about us and the message 
 within, which we longed to give to the people. 
 
 Paris is the very heart and center of intellectual, artis 
 tic, and material civilization of the world. In these matters 
 she leads the world, but her people were not then seeking those 
 purely spiritual ideals for which the Bahai Religion stands. 
 
 The French are idealists by nature, and they have within 
 them great spiritual capacity and possibility, for when once en 
 thused with an idea they sacrifice everything for it, that it 
 may be realized in all its perfection. This is seen most clear 
 ly in the French art, both present and past. Surely when the 
 French people awaken to the religious needs of the world and 
 make the spiritual connection with the source of spiritual il 
 lumination they will become foremost in the new constructive 
 order of peace and unity of nations. The benefit for France 
 which one can see coming out of this war will be the blow to 
 materialism which suffering always brings, for deep grief and 
 trouble cause people to turn to the higher ideals and purposes. 
 
 It is currently reported abroad that during these months of 
 war and perplexity there has been a turning of the French people 
 toward religion and spiritual ideals. The entire world needs 
 this reverse of vision from the outer to the inner, from the un 
 real to the real. 
 
 After almost three months in Paris we felt the call to push 
 on to our next field of work, which was in London. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 For some years there has been a center of Bahai Teaching in 
 London. Abdul Baha s two visits there had a very telling effect 
 upon the growth of the Cause, not only among those who are 
 working and serving directly in the propaganda, but in the broad 
 thinking British world so keen to all of those questions which 
 deal with racial and religious matters, playing so important a 
 role in the administration of affairs where the Occident and the 
 Orient meet, as they do in many of Great Britain s colonies and 
 possessions. 
 
 27 
 
CLUMP OF CYPRESS TREES NEAR THE TOMB OF 
 BAB WITHIN THE SHADE OF WHICH 
 THE 3AHA * LLAH USED TO SIT 
 
 HADJI NIAZ KERMANI 
 TAPIEN NEAR THE GREAT PYRAMID 
 
 28 
 
In the Summer of 1911, just prior to the first visit of 
 Abdul Baha to London, there was held there the First Universal 
 Races Congress. Delegates and representatives of nations, 
 races, and religions assembled ir. London from all parts of the 
 world in order to discuss these many interracial problems 
 which, through the breaking down of the former natural geogra 
 phic and political barriers by travel, commerce, and rapid 
 intercommunication, are in this age, for the first time in his 
 tory, presenting themselves for solution. 
 
 t 
 
 Although this Races Congress did not make a great stir in 
 the world, it nevertheless marked a stage in the beginning of a 
 new era in the consideration of world unity by the thinking peo 
 ple, for it was the first time that such a body of people had 
 come together in recognition of the need of a better understand 
 ing and co-operative spirit of interdependence between the 
 races of mankind. 
 
 To this Congress came many Bahais from various lands: Prom 
 India, Persia, and Egypt on the East, to Europe and America on 
 the West. 
 
 The people were seeking that brotherhood sympathy and under 
 standing which exists so strongly between the Bahais of differ 
 ent nations, races, and religions; so our friends present found 
 many and ample opportunities for voicing The Bahai Message and 
 attracting the people towards the principles of the Cause. 
 
 Through this service The Bahai Movement was brought to the 
 notice of many thinking people of universal and world-wide sym 
 pathies, so that when Abdul Baha arrived in London a few weeks 
 later quite a group of attracted and interested souls eagerly 
 awaited his coming. 
 
 It was in the City Temple in London that Abdul Baha made his 
 first large public address at the invitation of the pastor, the 
 Rev. R. J. Campbell. Before an audience of over two thousand 
 souls he explained the principles of the great universal re 
 ligion of God and called the attention of the people to the com 
 ing of world peace through the new spirit of this enlightened 
 age, which is that of spiritual or religious unity, through 
 which brotherhood and peace will result. 
 
 The Archdeacon of Westminster, the Rev. Dr. Wilberforce, 
 also presented Abdul Baha, at a Sunday service, to his congrega 
 tion in his church where, before a large and responsive audi 
 ence, Abdul Eaha dwelt upon the necessity for the Divine Mani 
 festations or Prophets of God as the teachers of men, explaining 
 
 29 
 
how man cannot attain to the knowledge of the Infinite God save 
 through His Manifestations, (Hi;3 Prophets and Messiahs), and 
 demonstrating that the Knowledge of God and His Light have been 
 reflected to the people through these Holy Manifestations, which 
 have ever been the source of the spiritual upliftment of men. 
 At the close of the service the archdeacon and the congregation 
 knelt while Abdul Baha invoked a gpiritual blessing upon all. 
 
 In a message to the editor of THE CHRISTIAN COMMONWEALTH of 
 London Abdul Baha dwelt again upon the oneness of the Divine 
 Manifestations and prophets as follows: 
 
 God sends prophets for the education of the people and for 
 the spiritual progress of mankind. They serve the whole world 
 by the bounty of God. The sure proof that they are the Manifes 
 tations of God is in the education and progress of the people. 
 The Jews were in the lowest condition of ignorance, and captives 
 under Pharoah, when Moses appeared and raised them to a high 
 state of civilization. Thus was the reign of Solomon brought 
 about and science and art were made known to mankind. Even 
 Greek philosophers became students of Solomon s teaching. Thus 
 was Moses proved to be a prophet. 
 
 After the lapse of time the Israelites deteriorated, and be 
 came subject to the Romans and the Greeks. Then the brilliant 
 Star of Jesus rose from the horizon upon the Israelites, bright 
 ening the world, until all sects anfl creeds and nations were 
 taught the beauty of unity. There cannot be any better proof 
 than this that Jesus was the Word of God. 
 
 So it was with the Arabian nations who, being uncivilized, 
 were oppressed by the Persian and Greek governments. When the 
 Light of Mohammed shone forth all Arabia was brightened. These 
 oppressed and degraded people became enlightened and cultured; 
 so much so, indeed, that other nations imbibed Arabian civiliza 
 tion from Arabia. This was the proof of Mohammed s divine 
 mission. 
 
 All the teaching of the prophets is one; one faith; one 
 Divine Light shining throughout the world. Now, under the ban 
 ner of the oneness of humanity, all people of all creeds should 
 turn away from prejudice and become friends and believers in all 
 the prophets. As Christians believe in Moses, so the Jews 
 should believe in Jesus. As the Mohammedans believe in Christ 
 and in Moses, so likewise the JejtfS and the Christians should 
 believe in Mohammed. Then all disputes would disappear, all 
 then would be united. Baha o llah cajne for this purpose. He 
 
 30 
 
has made the three religions one. He has uplifted the standard 
 of the oneness of faith and the honor of humanity in the center 
 of the world. Today we must gather round it, and try with heart 
 and soul to bring about the union of mankind. 
 
 Abdul Baha s field of work in London was widespread and 
 reached people of all phases of life from the leaders of progres 
 sive thought and the people of culture to the very poor and 
 those of the humbler walks of life. Everywhere he was received 
 he gave to the people of the spirit and the joy of Baha o llah s 
 Cause, leaving behind him traces of the uplifting power of the 
 spirit and the living assurance that a new era had dawned on 
 earth and that through international, interracial and inter - 
 religious harmony better human conditions will follow and become 
 manifest. 
 
 My companion in work and I passed a most eventful four weeks 
 in London. There were meetings practically every day in the 
 v*eek in various parts of the city, and it was most encouraging 
 and hopeful to mingle with the people and to see and to feel 
 their devotion to the cause of humanity. We were quite touched 
 by the kindness and the hospitality of the friends. 
 
 I will describe one meeting, never to be forgotten. .It was 
 a so-called feast, an institution which has been enjoined by 
 each of the three great Bahai teachers nf this day, a coming to 
 gether of people in order to partake of both material and spir 
 itual food in the form of refreshments and food, together with 
 reading, speaking, and conversation about the Divine Cause and 
 its realities. 
 
 This particular feast to which I refer was held in the 
 King s Weigh House, where the regular weekly Bahai meetings had 
 for some time been held. It was quite typical of the work of 
 our friends in London. 
 
 Over one hundred persons assembled, people of different na 
 tionalities, races, and religions, and representing many varied 
 movements and interests. There were Moslems and Hindus from the 
 East, and Jews and Orthodox Christians, Theosophists, New 
 Thought people, and others of the new modern movements from the 
 West, each attracted to the Bahai light and enthusiastic over 
 its broad principles. 
 
 Besides public meetings, many gatherings were held in pri 
 vate homes. The homes of Mrs. Thronburgh Cropper, Miss Rosen- 
 
 31 
 
berg, Miss Gamble, Mrs. George, Miss Herrick, and others asso 
 ciated with the work and known among our friends far and wide, 
 were opened for the work of the Cause, and we were much strength 
 ened through contact with the service of these friends. 
 
 While we were in London, some people in the guise of Bahais 
 came there in order to mingle with the friends for the further 
 ance of some personal aims and ambitions of their own, which 
 were quite foreign to the object and spirit of the Cause; never 
 theless, they came as friends, disguising their intentions under 
 the name of spirituality. Abdul Baha, who is ever the watchful 
 shepherd of those working within the fold of God, knew of the 
 intention of these people, and warned his friends in London that 
 they might net be imposed upon nor have any harm come into their 
 midst. 
 
 The affair was like a storm of wind and rain shaking a tree, 
 but when passed the tree was fresher and greener than before. 
 So it was with Abdul Baha s true friends in London. After this 
 matter had become tranquillized the firmness and faith of the 
 friends in the Cause was greatly emphasized, and there was an 
 added fervor and fragrance manifest in their gatherings. 
 
 The spiritual imprint of the last meetings held in London 
 will always be with me, for each time that I recall those gath 
 erings my heert responds to the spirit manifested there. 
 
 While in England, my friend and I made a quick trip to Man 
 chester and Liverpool in order to visit the centers there. 
 
 During Abdul Baha s second visit in England, he spent a day 
 or two in Liverpool meeting and teaching people interested in the 
 Cause, thus giving an impetus to the work which is now very man 
 ifest in the activity of the friends there. In a suburb of the 
 city we attended a very memorable meeting in the home of a lady 
 who had enlarged her household that she might assume the respon 
 sibility of Lome twenty homeless children whom she and her fam 
 ily, with some outside assistance, were caring for and develop 
 ing and educating in the spirit of the Bahai Cause . 
 
 At this meeting there were gathered a goodly number of at 
 tracted souls who recognized that the Divine Light in the teach 
 ings of Baha o llah was the same as that in Christianity, and 
 these responded with much heexrt to the message given. 
 
 32 
 
Abdul Baha has often said tht the people must teach the 
 Cause of God by their good actiois and deeds. This principle we 
 saw exemplified in the philanthropic work of this Bahai family 
 in Liverpool. The several hour s which we spent with the chil 
 dren for whom they were caring was to us a demonstration of 
 their spirit and service to humanity. These little ones they 
 had taken from the slums, where degradation was the lowest, and 
 through bringing them into the kind and loving atmosphere of an 
 ordered home the children were unfolding and blossoming as young 
 plants in a well cultivated garden. The spontaneity and natur 
 alness of the little ones, and the gentle yet direct and fear 
 less way in which they approached us and climbed up for the an 
 ticipated caress bespoke the love and affection which they re 
 ceived, an element in the growth and development of a child, 
 quite as necessary for its moral and spiritual development as 
 wholesome food for its physical welfare. Any one who has visited 
 an orphan asylum where a large number of children are cared 
 for by attendants will always recall the little pathetic faces, 
 timid and hungering for that personal touch cf affection which a 
 large institution cannot provide, but which a home can give. 
 This element of personal care and affection, which cannot exist 
 where numbers are crowded together, we found in all of its full 
 ness in the lives of the children for whom our friends were car 
 ing, and this spoke louder than words for the truly Christian 
 spirit of their labors and service to humanity. 
 
 Having had some little experience myself in teaching, I 
 appreciated the joy which these little ones put into their exer 
 cises. Their freedom from constraint, yet natural restraint, 
 and their alertness and life spoke for the positive system under 
 which they were being trained. It was clear to see that their 
 efforts were always appreciated. How powerful a force is appre 
 ciation when rightly applied! Children respond to it quicker 
 than to anything else, while its anticipation spurs them on to 
 doing their best. And we grown-ups are as children in this re 
 spect, though, perhaps, we may not be frank enough to acknowl 
 edge it, for many through conventional thinking might consider 
 love of appreciation to be a weakness. Nevertheless, we all at 
 heart crave it, and when our virtues are appreciated by others 
 the result is always good. 
 
 Abdul Baha s teaching is positive. He seldom says Don t. 
 His advice is practically always Do. 
 
 By dwelling upon a person s virtues that side of the indi 
 vidual unfolds and develops, and his faults diminish. 
 
 A pilgrim once asked our teacher how to combat evil. His 
 reply was to the effect that if we filled our souls with the 
 
 33 
 
light and the love of God the evil in us, which is but the ab 
 sence of good, would disappear as darkness does in the presence 
 of light. This principle of teaching can be applied to material 
 education as well as to religious and ethical training. It is 
 a great phychological truth or law which is just beginning to be 
 understood. Yet, as we look back over the methods of the great 
 teachers of the past, those who have moved the world, it is 
 clear to see that they understood and knew the value of seeing 
 and recognizing virtue and not being blinded to the possibili 
 ties of the people by their untrained condition and ignorance. 
 
 In the Bahai precepts the necessity for the education and 
 careful training of children is repeatedly mentioned, and people 
 are exhorted to give especial attention to this matter. It is 
 not only the duty of parents to educate and train their own 
 children, but it is the privilege and duty of all who have the 
 means to care for the fatherless and the orphans. To undertake 
 this work is a necessity, not only for those individuals of the 
 coming generation, but also for the general welfare of the com 
 munity and the world at large. 
 
 One most necessary element is the eradication of poverty and 
 crime. Abdul Baha teaches that through education and training 
 this will be accomplished. If a garden is not cultivated, it 
 will soon run to weeds, and so it is with a community. If the 
 children are not trained and developed in both material and 
 moral and spiritual matters, ruin awaits them as individuals, 
 and collectively they form a class which is destructive to the 
 general weal of the State and humanity. 
 
 Baha o llah has written that whosoever cares for and edu 
 cates the child of another it is as if that person had fathered 
 and cared for a child of God. 
 
 The whole spirit of the Bahai teaching is that of eradicat 
 ing the causes of trouble in the world, and thus producing 
 millennial conditions of oneness and virtue. Prevention rather 
 than punishment will diminish the ever -increasing crime in the 
 world. Humanity must be protected from the vicious, but were 
 this ever- increasing, degenerate class trained and educated from 
 the environment and tendencies which have kept them down in the 
 scale of morality the criminal class would practically cease to 
 exist, as we know it, and one great Bahai ideal would have be 
 come realized in the world. 
 
 Some months later, when we visited Abdul Baha, he one day 
 spoke upon the education of children as follows : 
 
 34 
 
The children must receive divine and material education at 
 the same time, and be protected from temptations and vices. How 
 wonderful would it be if the teachers were faithful, attracted, 
 assured, educated, and refined Bahais, well grounded in the 
 science of pedagogy and familiar with child psychology; thus 
 they could train the children with the Fragrances of God. In the 
 scheme of human life the teacher and his system of teaching 
 plays the most important role, carrying with it the heaviest 
 responsibilities and most subtle influence. A teacher is like 
 unto a gardener. Just as- a gardener sows the seeds and watches 
 carefully over their sprouting, looks after their growth and 
 progression, so also a teacher most watch over the education of 
 the children and inculcate in their young lives the highest 
 ideals of truth and justice. 
 
 In Manchester we had a truly spiritual visit with Bahai 
 friends, the joy of which remained long with us. Seven years 
 prior to this visit it had been my privilege to spend a day in that 
 city, where at that time the Bahai work was in its infancy, it 
 being carried on almost altogether through the devoted services 
 of Miss S. A. Ridgeway, who had heard the Message in America, and 
 later returned to her native country to serve and to teach. 
 
 Miss Ridgeway was a sincere student of the Divine Word, and 
 her faith and enthusiasm were firmly founded. She served un 
 tiringly, endeavoring to explain to the people that the reality 
 of religion is One Reality, that this reality in each religion 
 is identical, that the Bahai religion is the same in essence as 
 the religions of the past, and taat it comes to fulfill, not to 
 destroy, the teachings of the past. Thus those whom she taught 
 became firm in the spirit of the Bahai Cause, and they under 
 stood the Testament of Baha o llah, for they looked toward Abdul 
 Baha and were guided by him. 
 
 Only a few months prior to oar visit Miss Ridgeway *s work in 
 Manchester being ended she was called to the Threshold of the 
 Supreme Kingdom. Late one after 10011, in company with several 
 friends, we visited her grave, situated in a quiet corner of a 
 cemetery in the outskirts of the city. There we. read the prayer 
 for those departed this life, as well as the prayers for those 
 in this mortal life, and we felt the truth of the teaching which 
 assures us that the separation of the grave is but physical, for 
 in spirit those who are alive in the Lord are ever united in His 
 Kingdom, be they in this world or in the realms of the spirit 
 beyond . 
 
 35 
 

 TOMB OF THE BAB ON MOUNT CARMEI 
 
 NORTH FRONT OF THE TOMB OF THE BAB 
 
 36 
 
As we stood about the simple tombstone which marked the 
 resting place of a noble soul, my thoughts dwelt upon the great 
 and living monument which this maidservant of God had left be 
 hind her, a work which will grow and develop and ever be a 
 bright light in the world. 
 
 In this little group of Manchester people, all of whom were 
 of the so-called humbler walks of life, being working people, 
 (their teacher, Miss Ridgeway, had been a weaver of silk in one 
 of the large manufactories of Manchester) we found that affec 
 tion, ardor, arid enkindlement of spirit which always character 
 izes those meetings in which souls are firm in the Divine Cove 
 nant and Testament. 
 
 During our two days and two nights in Manchester, we were 
 entertained in the little home of one of these good brothers, 
 and to the hospitality and spirit of his family our souls re 
 sponded to a degree which has left a spiritual impression never 
 to be forgotten. 
 
 . . . 
 
 HOLLAND 
 
 It was shortly after the middle of July when Mr. Latimer and 
 I left England for Holland. Prior to our going we had been in 
 correspondence with several persons there who were much attracted 
 to the Movement, all of which we mentioned in letters to Abdul 
 Baha, who in reply instructed us to visit the Netherlands. 
 
 Our first stop was at The Hague, where we presented several 
 letters of introduction to people who were attracted to the 
 spirit of the work, and who were willing to lend a helping hand 
 to forward the propaganda of Bahai ideals. One gentleman, in 
 particular, was very much interested in the religious unity 
 aspect of the teaching. He had for some years been the official 
 resident in one of the Dutch East Indies Colonies, where he had 
 studied the question of racial and religious prejudice, and the 
 accompanying hatred and de struct iveness resulting from the con 
 dition. He was deeply interested in that phase of the Bahai 
 work which is uniting in thought, in feeling, and in service to 
 humanity the Orient and the Occident, for here is the solution 
 of the problem of bridging the great chasm which separates the 
 oriental and the occidental peoples, thus making the whole world 
 the one home of the one great human family. 
 
 This purely practical aspect of the Bahai Ideal very deeply 
 interested this diplomat, who had for some time been observing 
 the progress of our work. This great racial problem, which is 
 
 37 
 
at root a spiritual one, bears its fruits in very material ways 
 in the physical world. The Bahai spirit, the Oneness of all, is 
 not merely a beautiful theory, it accomplishes the spiritual 
 results that the world now needs. 
 
 All of the Bahai s are deeply interested in the Tribunal of 
 World Peace established at The Hague. While in that city, my co- 
 worker and I went out to The Peace Palace, where the sessions of 
 the organization are held. Situated in the midst of a park of 
 natural charm this edifice- is as beautiful as could have been 
 created by man. Architecturally it is the product of a competi 
 tion of the world s greatest architects, while its ideals for 
 the elimination of war through international arbitration are 
 supported by some of the most progressive spirits in various 
 countries, for the real progressives are those whose hopes are 
 fixed upon the ideal of oneness and the interdependence of na 
 tions and peoples. 
 
 This international institution for arbitration, as conceived 
 by the world s great thinkers, is one of the fruits of this new 
 spiritual era upon which the world is now entering. It is com 
 ing as the result of an unfoldmeirb and a greater activity in the 
 higher life of humanity. At this moment it is undoubtedly the 
 most needed of all institutions. 
 
 .Although the present phase of the Bahai work now being done 
 in the world is purely a religious one, nevertheless, this purely 
 religious work is having a great influence in the lives and 
 characters of people the world over, and is preparing them to 
 bring forth as the fruits of their lives all of these universal 
 institutions which the world now most needs, chief est among 
 which is universal peace. 
 
 At present the Bahais of the world are preparing to build a 
 temple which shall stand for the spiritual peace and oneness of 
 all nations, races, and religions. It is to be called the Mash- 
 rak-El-Azkar, Persian words which mean The Dawning Place of 
 the Mentionings of God. 
 
 In our city of Chicago a beautiful building site of about 
 nine acres, bordering on Lake Michigan, has been purchased, and 
 it is hoped that soon the actual building of the edifice will be 
 begun. 
 
 The Mashrak-El-Azkar when completed will consist of a series 
 or group of buildings. In the center will be the Mashrak-El- 
 Azkar or temple proper, a building surmounted by a dome, which 
 will be a place for worship in the most spiritual sense, a tem- 
 
 38 
 
pie open to all peoples of all creeds, races, and classes, not a 
 place for ceremonies or ritualism, but a sanctuary for reading, 
 meditation, and prayer, into which people may retreat in order 
 to come within their own souls near to God. 
 
 Around about the Mashrak-El-Azkar will be built various in 
 stitutions for practical service to humanity: Schools, colleges, 
 hospitals, asylums, and hospices, all of which form necessary 
 adjuncts of the Temple of God, for the Bahai ideal is that faith 
 and good works combined is the real worship of God, and this 
 principle of worship and service supplementing one another is 
 thus accentuated in their temple of worship. 
 
 Some years ago a Mashrak-El-Azkar was built by the Bahais of 
 the Orient. It is situated in the city of Eshkhabad, in Russian 
 Turkistan, and was erected there by the Bahais in the oriental 
 countries . 
 
 This Mashrak-El-Azkar, now to be built in the city of Chi 
 cago, is the first to be erected in the western world. It, how 
 ever, does not represent the efforts of the West alone, for 
 toward it the Orient has contributed as much as the Occident. 
 In fact, offerings in varying amounts are constantly flowing 
 toward this work from all parts of the world, and from people of 
 all nations, races, and religions, whose hearts are united in 
 this Cause. Thus, when built, the Mashrak-El-Azkar will stand 
 as a great living monument, a standard and an ensign in the 
 world, of the Divine Oneness of all religions, and the union of 
 all people through the teaching of Baha o llah, and their united 
 efforts in practical service to humanity. 
 
 After The Hague we spent a few days in Amsterdam and in 
 Blaricum in North Holland. In these places we met with quite a 
 few people who had been associated with the Theosophical Move 
 ment. They were very much alive to the spiritual needs of this 
 day, and realized that the time was at hand for a religious re 
 form in the world, a coming together of all religions in the 
 spirit of unity. 
 
 One of these Dutch friends assured me that he knew the time 
 was ripe for the coming of a world teacher who would accomplish 
 the unity and interdependence spiritually and materially of 
 all the world, and that he for one was looking for this great 
 Master. He was deeply interested in reading the words of Abdul 
 Baha upon this subject delivered before a gathering of Theoso- 
 
 39 
 
phists in Budapest, in reply to questions as to how the people 
 might know and recognize this great world master or teacher when 
 He should appear. Here is the synopsis of Abdul Baha s reply: 
 
 EXCERPTS PROM AN ADDRESS BY ABDUL BAHA. 
 Budapest, 1913. 
 
 Nine proofs upon which the coming of the great Master is 
 based: 
 
 1. That great master will be the educator of the world of 
 humanity. 
 
 2. His teachings must be universal and confer illumination 
 upon mankind. 
 
 3. His knowledge must be innate and spontaneous, and not 
 acquired. 
 
 4. He must answer the questions of all the sages, solve all 
 the difficult problems of humanity, and be able to withstand all 
 the persecutions and sufferings heaped upon him. 
 
 5. He must be a joy-bringer, and the herald of the kingdom 
 of happiness. 
 
 6. His knowledge must be infinite and his wisdom all -compre 
 hensive . 
 
 7. The penetration of his word and the potency of his influ 
 ence must be so great as to humble even his worst enemies. 
 
 8. Sorrows and tribulations must not vex him. His courage 
 and conviction must be God-like. Day unto day he must become 
 firmer and more zealous. 
 
 9. He must be the establisher of universal civilization, the 
 unifier of religions, the standard-bearer of universal peace, 
 and the embodiment of all the highest and noblest virtues of the 
 world of humanity. 
 
 Whenever you find these conditions realized in a human 
 temple, turn to him for guidance and illumination. 
 
 Our friend was delighted when the above was read to him, and 
 he immediately said: * I can see that Baha o llah was indeed the 
 
 40 
 
world teacher, for He accomplished all these things, and now I 
 long to meet Abdul Baha, that I may know more of the teaching. 
 
 The attitude of this friend was typical of that of the peo 
 ple in general whom we met in the Netherlands. There is a large 
 and a prepared field of work among those people, ready and 
 awaiting the Bahai teacher who can go there for a sojourn of 
 sufficient length of time to gather together a group and form a 
 center of teaching. These truth-seekers are thinking people 
 who, when confirmed, will go forth as workers in the Cause. We 
 would gladly have remained there to have undertaken this service 
 to the best of our ability, but the work in Germany was calling, 
 so after a visit of a few days we continued on our way, leaving 
 this fertile vineyard to others better fitted than we, who will 
 arise to accomplish this service. 
 
 The first Bahai teacher to visit the Netherlands was Mr. 
 Daniel Jenkyn, of St.Ives, Cornwall, England, a young man of 
 rare and exceeding faith and purity of purpose, whose friends in 
 many countries are mourning his recent departure from among us 
 here in this material world. Though this young man remained only 
 for a short vacation in the Low Countries, he met a few people, 
 and these were deeply attracted and awakened by him. In speak 
 ing of his friendship with a certain man in Blaricum, our host 
 there remarked that it was a mystery to him how this man and 
 Jenkyn managed to converse and communicate, for neither under 
 stood but a few words of the language of the other. 
 
 My experience, however, in travelling among the Bahais in 
 various countries has always been that a very limited vocabulary 
 is quite sufficient between persons who are united by the Bahai 
 fraternal tie. 
 
 In writing to America of Daniel Jenkyn the Secretary of the 
 Bahai Assembly in London said: He was a most spiritually- 
 minded young man, a very sincere and ardent Bahai, and a most 
 hard worker in the blessed Cause. Not long since he visited 
 Holland for the purpose of meeting some of those attracted to 
 the Movement and confirming their faith. He joined the Chris 
 tian Commonwealth Fellowship, and found that this association 
 brought him into contact with numbers of earnest seekers for the 
 truth and reality of the Bahai Teachings. He undertook a va jt 
 correspondence in connection with the faith, and by this means 
 did a great amount of teaching. 
 
 I well remember the one time that I met Daniel Jenkyn. It 
 was in Lady Blomfield s drawing-room during Abdul Baha s first 
 visit in London. Some twenty-five or more persons were gathered 
 
 4) 
 

to meet Abdul Baha, including several men and women of worldly 
 distinction, while in an inconspicuous place by the door sat 
 Daniel Jenkyn, drinking in all Abdul Baha said. He was a clerk 
 in a shipping house in a small town down on the Cornish coast, and 
 being unable to obtain a holiday in order to attain his heart s 
 desire and spend several days near Abdul Baha, he had left home 
 by a Saturday night train, travelling all night in an uncomfort 
 able third-class compartment to have a few hours in London with 
 Abdul Baha en Sunday, then returning home by night in order to 
 resume work on Monday morning. 
 
 Through our correspondence which followed this meeting I 
 soon learned that though our young friend had been of the hum 
 blest to seek Abdul Baha s presence, nevertheless, he had been 
 among those most blessed and illumined, for he saw with the 
 spiritual eye the stations of Baha o llah and Abdul Baha. His 
 life was firmly founded upon the Divine Covenant, and through 
 this spiritual power he accomplished a great work, some of the 
 fruits of which we found in The Netherlands. 
 
 GERMANY 
 
 Before leaving France a letter from Abdul Baha prepared us 
 for blessings which were in store for us in Germany. His brief 
 forecast was as follows: The believers in Germany are very 
 enkindled. You will be happy there. 
 
 The terrible calamity of war fell shortly after our arrival 
 in Germanjr. Nevertheless, this assurance of happiness from 
 Abdul Baha we realized in the fullest measure, although it came 
 to us under far different conditions than we could ever have 
 imagined. 
 
 In Germany we were blessed in meeting many friends whose 
 whole lives and souls were wrapped up in and devoted to the 
 cause of brotherhood. Never in Germany had there been manifest 
 among the Bahai friends any spirit save that of firmness in the 
 Covenant of Baha o llah, so there we found an enkindlement, an 
 enthusiasm, and a joy in those meetings which is the very life 
 of the spirit of religion, for this firmness and virility of 
 spirit attracts and quickens souls and is the very life of the 
 Kingdom. 
 
 In Berlin we remained a short while, but on account of its 
 being the Summer vacation time the people whom we had most hoped 
 
 42 
 
to meet were not in the city; therefore, after a few days we 
 went on to Leipzig, where some Bahai friends awaited our coming. 
 
 Both of us were so intent upon our own Bahai affairs that v/e 
 scarcely heard the first clamor which preceded the war. Even as 
 late as Friday morning, July 31, when we left Berlin for Leipzig, 
 we had thought of war as but a passing possibility, not a proba 
 bility. Although for a long time anticipated, when it did finally 
 come it came suddenly. 
 
 In Leipzig we were met by Miss Alma Knobloch, formerly of 
 Washington, D.C., who for seven years had been laboring faith 
 fully in Germany for the spread of the Cause. We were very glad 
 to find ourselves again with Bahp,i friends. A few days spent in 
 Berlin without this association had made us very restless and 
 anxious to get into the field of active work; therefore, when we 
 reached Leipzig, where meetings had been arranged for us, we 
 were very contented and happy. 
 
 f 
 
 After a meeting with some friends the night of the day of 
 our arrival in Leipzig, as we passed through the streets return 
 ing to our hotel, we realized for the first time that war was 
 imminent. Bulletins at the corners announced the latest diplo 
 matic news from Berlin, which produced the greatest excitement 
 throughout the city. 
 
 Though our work was one of constructive peace, and we car 
 ried within the assurance of. the meeting we had just left, 
 nevertheless, the excited and turbulent condition of the popu 
 lace was to us most distressing. All through the night we could 
 hear the cries of the venders of bulletins. The people were 
 responding to that psychological wave of thought or panic which 
 precedes war and which has ever produced the momentum accompany 
 ing the opening up of actual hostilities. 
 
 During the three ensuing days which we spent in Leipzig, 
 we met people who were deeply interested in our work. Several 
 meetings were held, one of which was generally advertised in the 
 papers, and the response was indeed good. Nevertheless, the in 
 tense war excitement made it quite impossible to do much general 
 public work, for the call to arms had taken practically all of 
 the men identified with and interested in the Bahai work, while 
 upon the women of the country had been thrust the heavy burdens 
 of family and home. 
 
 I shall never forget one cf our sister Bahai s as we all sat 
 in meeting. Her husband had just joined his regiment, leaving 
 her and the young child quite alone. She was struggling bravely 
 
 43 
 
BAHAI STUDENTS ON MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 M1RZA BADDI, GEORGE LATIMER, AND MIRZA AHMED 
 
with her responsibilities and grief, and her patience and resig 
 nation, together with her faith and assurance in the Holy Cause, 
 was a lesson to us. 
 
 In Leipzig we had hoped to meet friends from some of the 
 neighboring towns and cities, bxit because of the military opera 
 tions train service was interrupted and there was no way for 
 them to travel to us, nor for us to reach them. Since we were 
 therefore so handicapped, and because Stuttgart was our objec 
 tive point in Germany, we decided to push on as soon as pos 
 sible . 
 
 Shortly before noon on Monday, August 2, we ascertained that 
 an express train was going through that afternoon to Stuttgart, 
 and that this would be the last passenger train for some days, 
 as all regular traffic was being suspended during the mobiliza 
 tion of the army. We therefore made haste to take this last 
 train. 
 
 At the station were thousands of people and all was confu 
 sion and excitement. Regiments of men armed for the fray were 
 leaving, and families and friends were bidding the soldiers 
 good-bye. We s^aw many touching scenes, mothers bidding good-bye 
 to their sons, and fathers to their families. There seemed but 
 little hope for many to ever be united again in this world. 
 Every one was swayed by great emotion, and the many sobs of 
 heart anguish were drowned by martial music and the songs of the 
 soldiers, as they filed through the greac hall of the station, 
 singing as they went in order to keep up their spirits. 
 
 As our train pulled out from the city, we could see off in 
 the distance towering above the houses and tree-tops the great 
 war monument built by the Germans to commemorate Napoleon s de 
 feat at the battle of Leipzig. In this Cyclopean pile the archi 
 tect has depicted war in all its horrors and devastation. The 
 character is so well interpreted and executed that when one 
 enters into the gloomy rotunda of this monument, and his eyes 
 becoming accustomed to the obscurity he finds himself as a pigmy 
 at the feet of the four great colossal stone war images 
 therein, a feeling of terror descends upon him and his first in 
 stinct is to rush to get out into the light. Such had been our 
 experience a few days before, when we had visited this edifice. 
 
 From the surrounding terraces the eye sees nothing but beauty 
 and prosperity everywhere manifest. Erected to perpetuate 
 the spirit of a conflict of a century ago, this vast war shrine 
 amid its surroundings was strikingly symbolic of the present 
 
 45 
 
condition of the people. Like a great grotesque chimera it 
 loomed above and dominated the happy homes, towns, and "beautiful 
 country as far as the eye could reach. 
 
 As our train sped southward, v:e were impressed with the 
 fruitfulness and productiveness of the land. The season was a 
 good one in the vegetable world. The orchards were so fruit - 
 laden that most of the trees had been propped up to keep the 
 limbs from breaking, while the harvest was everywhere abundant. 
 
 Military operations were in evidence upon all sides, and at 
 the stations and crossings there were crowds of women and chil 
 dren and old men intent upon the passing trains, while in the 
 half -mown, over-ripe fields of grain we saw here and there wagons 
 and other wheeled farm implements, from which the horses had 
 been requisitioned for the army. There were no able-bodied men 
 at work, but in many places the women were out in the fields 
 gathering in the harvests, drawing the heavily laden wagons. 
 
 During the frenzy of excitement which accompanied the begin 
 ning of the war. it was reported that many spies were abroad, 
 and in Leipzig the story went around that a certain enemy had 
 attempted to pollute the city water supply with cholera germs, 
 but had been arrested in the act. All of these ideas had so 
 taken hold of the people that there was suspicion of all for 
 eigners. 
 
 All went well with us until our train was nearing the city 
 of Naumberg, when an off icer passed through the corridor, evi 
 dently looking for some one. We seemed to be his object, for he 
 stopped and demanded our detention at the next stop. We were 
 quite unceremoniously bundled out upon the platform, and our 
 passports taken to some official who could read English, but just 
 before the departure of the train our papers were returned, and 
 we were allowed to continue our journey. Subsequently, we 
 learned from Miss Knobloch, who bade adieu to us at the station 
 in Leipzig, that she had been questioned by a police officer as 
 to our nationality and destination, so without doubt the officer 
 who took us into custody had been notified by wire to investi 
 gate us. 
 
 The train was crowded, people standing in the corridors. 
 Everyone was very serious but pleasant and agreeable. Several 
 hands were kindly thrust through the windows to help us aboard 
 with our luggage, for the train was about to leave when we were 
 released by the police, and we had no time to lose. 
 
 46 
 
At Nuremberg our train was seized for military purposes. All 
 passenger trains here had been stopped, and the passengers, like 
 ourselves, hurried out upon the platforms. Among the civilians 
 pandemonium reigned, but not so among the parting troops of sol 
 diers, where all was quiet and orderly. 
 
 I have often recalled two panic-stricken Americans, man and 
 wife, whom we passed at this point of confusion. They were la 
 den with luggage, and not speaking the language, had boarded the 
 wrong train. They told us they were trying to get out of the 
 country by way of Switzerland. We would gladly have helped 
 them, but before we could reflect we were separated from them. 
 
 After a tedious wait we continued our way. Travelling was 
 by cross and side lines, by freight and omnibus trains, and by 
 making frequent changes of trains, for the best cars and the 
 through lines were commandeered by the army. Judging from the 
 stars above we must have made a very roundabout and zig-zag 
 route, for most of the night we seemed to be pointed directly 
 away from the direction we wanted to go. 
 
 Hungry, dusty, and tired, we arrived in Stuttgart. Crowds 
 thronged the station. It had been impossible to get telegrams 
 through to our friends, so they did not know of our arrival. 
 Upon leaving the station we were again put under arrest, but 
 upon being satisfied by our passports that we were not of an un 
 friendly people the police allowed us to pass without further 
 trouble; thus we found ourselves at the end of our travels for 
 some time, for we remained in Stuttgart for more than six weeks. 
 
 It was over nine years ago that the Bahai Teaching was first 
 given in Stuttgart through the efforts of Dr. Edwin Fisher, an 
 American Bahai. Souls became attracted, and later Miss Alma 
 Knobloch of Washington, D. C., went to Stuttgart, and for some 
 years remained there, devoting her time to the giving of the 
 glad tidings of the Cause. Many noble souls have arisen, and 
 now there is a strong and an active Bahai center in that city, 
 while in the surrounding towns and villages regular spiritual 
 meetings are held. 
 
 While Abdul Baha was on his second tour in Europe, he made 
 quite a visit in Stuttgart. Large gatherings were held and the 
 friends were spiritually confirmed, for in him they realized the 
 Center of the Covenant, through whose life of service to human 
 ity the Divine Bounties of the Kingdom are in this day flowing to 
 mankind. 
 
 47 
 
Among these German Bahais there has never .been the slightest 
 sign of weakness in the Cause of Baha o Hah. All have looked 
 directly to Abdul Baha, and their faith and teaching hat. there 
 fore been pure and luminous, and their meetings full of joy and 
 fragrance of spirit. 
 
 In reading some of Abdul Baha s tablets to the Stuttgart 
 friends one s heart is rejoiced by the clearness of his verses, 
 in which he summons all to the Covenant of God, the directness 
 of His text indicating the purity of heart and the clearness of 
 the spiritual vision of those to whom he wrote. 
 
 In a letter to the friends in Esslingen, near Stuttgart, in 
 the early summer of 1913, Abdul Baha wrote of two Persian Bahais 
 whom he was sending there to work in the Cause, as follows: 
 
 I send to those parts his honor Miraa Ali Akbar, and his 
 honor Mirza Lotfullah, in order to associate with the friends 
 and convey to them the yearning of the heart of Abdul Baha, and 
 the explanation of the degrees of the powers of the Covenant, 
 and the importance of the Cent-r of the Testament. These two 
 persons are very blessed, assuredly the believers shall obtain 
 joy and happiness through their meeting. 
 
 Know ye this: That today the greatest of all affairs is 
 obedience to the Center of God s Covenant. The power of the 
 Covenant shall stir the regions, and the spirit of the Covenant 
 shall resuscitate. 
 
 In a subsequent tablet to the Stuttgart friends Abdul Baha 
 wrote : 
 
 The spirit of this age is the Covenant and Testament of 
 God. It is like the pulsating artery in the body of the world. 
 Speak in your meetings and assemblies about the Testament and 
 the Covenant, and invite every one to the firmness and the 
 steadfastness of the Covenant. Consider that the words of Mirza 
 Ali Akbar were so effective because he is firm in the Covenant. * 
 
 A few days before our arrival in Stuttgart the friends there 
 had the blessing of welcoming two brother Bahais from the Orient, 
 Dr. Habibollah Khodabash of Hamadan, Persia, and Mirza Azizollah 
 Bahadur of Shiraz, Persia. 
 
 These two young men had been for several years students in 
 the American University in Beirut, Syria, the former having 
 
 48 
 
graduated in medicine bxit a few weeks previous to his coming to 
 Europe, while the latter had one more year before graduation. 
 Abdul Baha had sent these friends to Europe on a mission of 
 teaching. Their plan had been to spend eight days in Stuttgart 
 and then to go to London to engage there in the activities of 
 the Cause. They had no sooner reached Stuttgart than the war 
 broke out, so they were unable to go to England as planned. 
 
 In the afternoon of the day that we reached Stuttgart we 
 went in company with some German friends to the hotel where our 
 two oriental brothers were staying. On account of the excited 
 condition of the populace these two Persians had been obliged to 
 remain within doors unless escorted by friends. Both were de 
 cidedly foreign looking compared with the Teuton type of man, 
 and had they been suspected as enemies or spies, not speaking 
 German, they would have had difficulty, for in the first flush 
 of the spirit of war the people might have handled them quite 
 roughly. It was at the advice of some of the Stuttgart friends 
 that our Persian brothers observed this caution of remaining in 
 doors. 
 
 Our meeting was a joyful one, as is always the case in Bahai 
 circles, when people of different races, nations, and religions 
 find themselves united. Miraa Azizollah had come into the Cause 
 from Islam, while Dr. Habibollah was from Judaism. 
 
 During their stay in Germany, the faith of these two broth 
 ers was a demonstation to the people of the uniting spirit of 
 Baha o llah, for through His teaching one, a Jew, and the other, 
 a Moslem, were united with Christians and were accepting Christ, 
 and in all of the meetings testifying to the divinity of Jesus, 
 in whom they now believed because of their present light. 
 
 In Stuttgart we found Bahai matters very much alive, despite 
 the upset condition of the country. Regular meetings were held 
 almost every day in the city and environs, and at these meetings 
 we were continually seeing new faces and meeting people who were 
 coming for the first time to hear of the Cause. 
 
 These people were religiously inclined and receptive. In 
 very simple and direct words was the Great Message .given in all 
 the meetings and all were invited to come and serve under the 
 Covenant of God. There was always a heart-felt response. Never 
 did we meet antagonism or skepticism. The people listened 
 
 49 
 

sympathetically and with earnestness and reverence, and we knew 
 that the words spoken were reaching the souls, and that the time 
 would come when this spiritual seed, the Word of God, sown in 
 these hearts and watered with kindness and love, would attain 
 growth and bring forth good results, and all of this good spir 
 itual work was being done amid the greatest excitement and un 
 rest, for out in the streets the one thought was the war. Crowds 
 everywhere, first the soldiers marching on their way to the 
 front, singing martial airs of war as they went, and prisoners 
 of war escorted through the streets. At all hours the passing 
 of ambulances announced the arrival of trainloads of v/ounded and 
 dying soldiers from the battlefields; then from time to time we 
 would see a company of soldiers slowly following a draped cais 
 son, bearing one of their comrades to his grave. 
 
 Often in the meetings the friends were obliged to close the 
 windows of the room in which we met because of the noise of mar 
 tial music and confusion without, but this was but a material 
 trouble. The real virtue lay in the hearts of the firm friends. 
 In the midst of war they were in Joy, because they were firm in 
 the Cause of God. They were reinforced and in great assurance 
 and confirmation of soul. 
 
 I will attempt to describe a few of the many gatherings, that 
 the reader may picture for himself the kind spirit of the 
 friends, and the many blessings which were ours through meeting 
 with such souls. Even in times of general welfare and peace 
 such kindness as they manifested would have been an inspiration. 
 As a light is more appreciated in the night than in the day, so 
 their calmness of soul, and love and affection, were all the 
 more prized because of the surrounding darkness of war and 
 rancor. 
 
 We attended several memorable gatherings at the home of Herr 
 Consul Schwarz. This gentleman and his wife and children are 
 all firm and united in the Cause, and are devoting their lives 
 to its spread. In meetings in their home there existed always a 
 most beautiful spirit of kindness and hospitality. 
 
 Herr Schwarz was among the first called from civil life for 
 army service. He had a major s commission, and during our stay 
 in Stuttgart was stationed at Ludwigsberg, a military recruiting 
 post only a few miles from the city, so we had the pleasure of 
 meeting him at the several meetings he was able to attend, hav 
 ing had a spare hour to rest froia military duty. 
 
 50 
 
In looking back over the gatherings at the Schwarz home, one 
 of these stands out particularly in my memory. The day was 
 beautiful. It was Sunday. For some days the heavy fighting had 
 been continuous, but there had not been much news from the 
 front. So much in life is based upon comparative standards that 
 even in war there are days of rest and quiet, and this day of 
 which I write was one of these. 
 
 As we stood upon a balcony at our friends home, situated 
 high up on a hillside, we could look down upon the old part of 
 the city and off upon the hills on the opposite side of the val 
 ley. It was all very beautiful. Both man s work and that of 
 Nature had been happily combined in the scene before us. As far 
 as the eye could reach were cultivated gardens and beautiful 
 trees interspersed with fine buildings, from the cathedral and 
 Schloss in the old part of the town in the valley, to the 
 modern residences on terraces on the hills, up the sides and 
 over the tops of which the city had gradually climbed in recent 
 years. 
 
 Joining the friends indoors, we met with a score or more of 
 people who had gathered to hear the Message. One of the Bahais, 
 an elderly lady with quite white hair, arrested my attention and 
 I was told that she was a widow, a relative of the wife of the 
 Consul, and that her only son, an officer in the army, had gone 
 to the front. The meeting progressed, several of the friends 
 read tablets and spoke of the teachings, when there was a slight 
 interruption, while the elderly lady just mentioned was called 
 from the room. Before leaving the house a look of distress upon 
 the face of our hostess prompted me to inquire if any news had 
 been received, and she told me that word had come that the widow s 
 son had been killed and buried on the field of battle. It was 
 under such burdens and sorrows that our friends were serving 
 in Germany and trying to lay the foundation of The Kingdom, 
 their faith giving them the necessary strength and fortitude to 
 support afflictions because they were strong in the Lord. 
 
 Some clays after our journey from Leipzig, the general mobili 
 zation of the army having been accomplished, passenger trains be 
 gan running again, and Miss Knobloch was able to come to Stutt 
 gart. Through this friend we met many people to whom she had 
 spoken about the Cause, and v/e attended a number of gatherings 
 in the home of Fraulein Dor ing, one of the first women in Germany to 
 engage in the Bahai work. 
 
 At one of these reunions we met a young Stuttgarter, who had 
 been living in Chemnitz, near Leipzig, one of the many whom, on 
 
 51 
 
SOUTH FRONT OF THE MQZAFER KHANEH 
 
 NORTH FRONT OF THE MOZAFER KHANEH 
 
 52 
 
account of the war, we had not been able to aeet while in the 
 North. This young man had been called to Stuttgart in order to 
 be ready to join the army when the call came. One could scarcely 
 imagine anyone with more love in his nature and less fight in 
 his heart than this boy of nineteen years. He was in all the 
 meetings and with us much. We often went to his widowed 
 mother s home. She kept a small restaurant, and she always hos - 
 pitably received us and fed us with various kinds of sweets. 
 She was a mother, and the kindly atmosphere of the place drew us 
 there . 
 
 With the first selection of men for the field our young 
 friend was rejected on account of not being robust enough; he 
 was but a stripling. He was supremely happy and joyful at the 
 prospect of a longer association with the Bahais, for he was 
 quite new in the Ca\ase; but after several weeks, when the call 
 went forth ^o all the younger and older men within the military 
 age limits, he was called. 
 
 One day we went to bid good-bye to the boy. He had been 
 ordered to Strassbourgh to join an army corps. The mother was in 
 tears, but submissive. The boy s lip quivered, but he was brave. 
 Upon his person he carried some Bahai treasures, a photograph of 
 Abdul Baha, a copy of the Greatest Name, and some prayers, 
 while his heart was turned toward the Covenant of the Lord. He 
 sent, a message to Abdul Baha of love and greeting, to which 
 Abdul Baha replied: * I hope, through the Grace of God, although 
 he is in the midst of fire he will be protected. Of course when 
 one is amid fire the blaze will affect one. 
 
 At the outbreak of hostilities there were some three hundred 
 or more Americans in Stuttgart. Because of the halt of all 
 civilian travel these people were forced to remain where they 
 were. The American Consulate was fairly besieged. For some 
 days I went there almost daily, hoping to get a cable or letter 
 through to family and friends in the States, assuring them of 
 our welfare, but no such communications were possible. Finally, 
 the American Consul was able to arrange for a train to convey 
 the Americans from Stuttgart through to Rotterdam, where they 
 hoped to find steamer accommodations to New York. Early one morn 
 ing we went down to the station to see our compatriots off. By 
 buying tickets to the next station down the ] ine -we had no in 
 tention of going there we were able to force our way through 
 the crowd and get through the gates, where our fellow countrymen 
 were boarding their train. Selecting one pleasant looking stout 
 gentleman from the crowd, I asked him if he would kindly take 
 
 63 
 
charge of a package of letters and, once out of Germany, mail 
 them. This he did, for in due time they arrived at their re 
 spective destinations, assuring family and friends of our safety 
 and happiness. 
 
 The long train pulled out of the train-shed amid many hur 
 rahs and. waving of American flags, and we found ourselves with 
 our Consul to be about the only American men remaining. He 
 seemed a bit annoyed that we had not grasped the opportunity to 
 leave, for he had been much harassed, and was as anxious as were 
 the Americans themselves to get them off his hands. However, 
 that was the last he saw of us, for we had our circle of friends 
 and work which occupied us. In fact, the thought of leaving 
 Germany then never occurred to us, for though the war made things 
 difficult from the material standpoint, yet from the spiritual 
 aspect all was in order, and the way was made for the work we 
 hoped to accomplish. 
 
 ** * 
 
 Our two Persian brothers were much in our company. They 
 were quartered in an apartment in the home of Bahai friends, Herr 
 and Prau Eckstein, and daily we wore off together on some mis 
 sion. Herr and Frau Eckstein had two sons, both in the army, 
 so when our two Persians found they would have to remain for a 
 time in Germany the Ecksteins insisted that they come into their 
 home and live there. Here v/as another demonstration of the 
 spirit of religious unity. A Moslem and a Jew through this 
 teaching believing in Christ and united with a Christian family, 
 who were in turn united with them, showering kindness upon them 
 as if they had been of their own race. They were all of the 
 same spiritual kind, and this illumination of soul and acknowl 
 edged oneness was the foundation of their friendly relation. 
 
 I might describe many informal meetings held at the Eckstein 
 home. We usually met our oriental friends on a balcony over 
 looking the garden adjoining the house, which, though in the 
 heart of the city, with its encircling screen of high trees, gave 
 an impression of country. However, I will content myself with 
 dwelling upon but one experience in their home. 
 
 It was one stormy night, torrents of rain and thunder and 
 lightning playing without, while within we two Americans and two 
 Persians were cosily seated at the Eckstein board trying to en 
 joy a delicious meal. Herr and Prau Eckstein were as cheerful 
 as possible, and doing and saying all they could to put us at 
 our ease and to make us enjoy ourselves, yet beneath their man 
 ner one felt that their hearts were heavy and burdened, fcr news 
 had come that day of storms and bad weather along the front said 
 
 54 
 
of heavy German losses where their sons were fighting. Despite 
 their spirit of faith and assurance in things Divine they were 
 suffering humanly. 
 
 At one time the telephone rang, and at another time the door 
 bell, and at these moments the tension of anxiety was manifested 
 in expression and glance, to be momentarily lifted when no bad 
 news was announced. Though we four visitors had no troubles of 
 our own, we were sick at heart because of the trouble of our 
 friends, though like them we were talking and thinking as cheer 
 ful and. as helpful thoughts as possible. Having finished the 
 meal, or more properly speaking left off, for we were not in a 
 mood to eat, Herr Eckstein said: * Would you not like to see 
 Otto s room." So we followed him to the vacant apartment of 
 his younger son, who was just twenty when called to the army a 
 few weeks before. There were all of the boy s things just as he 
 had left them. An alpenstock, a coil of rope, a glacier axe, 
 and light camping outfit. He had been planning a vacation in 
 Switzerland when the call to arms had come, while on a table be 
 side the bed lay a Bible. We stood around without saying a 
 word; there was nothing to say. We felt too deeply; then, by 
 common consent, we joined in a few moments of silent prayer for 
 the illumination, guidance, and protection of the boy on the 
 battlefield. 
 
 On leaving the house a few minutes later we found that the 
 storm had cleared and we all went to a public Bahai meeting held 
 in a hall in the Burghermuse, down in the heart of the city. 
 
 The stress and strain to which I have just referred, under 
 which our friends were laboring, was characteristic of practi 
 cally every Bahai household we entered. Nevertheless, their 
 spirits were sustained by their faith, and though there was but 
 little hope of their ever seeing their loved ones again they 
 were happy in their Bahai service of laying the foundation in 
 the world of better conditions to the extent that future genera 
 tions may be in peace, and that the world of humanity may enjoy 
 the fruits of unity and concord and be spared the horrors of war. 
 
 Trouble, suffering, and affliction do produce a sympathy and 
 an understanding between people. It is a terrible thing that it 
 has to be thus bought so dearly, when all that is necessary is 
 the change of heart which can be attained when the soul once 
 realizes and recognizes the spiritual reality of religion. 
 
 One Sunday afternoon a party of us were going to attend a 
 meeting of friends, people interested in the work, in the neigh- 
 
 55 
 
boring town of Felsbach. In leaving the station our train was 
 sidetracked for a few minutes to allow the passage of an ambu 
 lance train from the front. The wounded, both German and French 
 in friendly relations, were in the same box cars lying together 
 on the straw which covered the floors. All were suffering, and 
 among our own party I saw the eyes of several wet with tears. 
 Subsequently, a sister Bahai who was doing relief work at one of 
 the railroad stations, told us of an incident which had come 
 under her notice. Both French and German wounded were being 
 received, and a cup of coffee was handed to a. German, who in 
 sisted that the suffering Frencliman at his side should be served 
 first, since he had been longer without food. Many similar dem 
 onstrations of amity between the soldiers did we hear of, and 
 this made us feel sure that the time is coming when the suffer 
 ing will have become so intense that as a last resort the masses 
 of the belligerent peoples will be swept by the ideals of the 
 religion, not of man, but of God, and that in a very short order 
 a new age will appear. 
 
 ... ... 
 
 Under all conditions the active Bahai finds work to do, even 
 under the most unpromising prospects. During the mobilization 
 of troops in the various cities, the citizens were called upon 
 to house the men. There was scarcely a home, however small, 
 where there were not one or two soldiers lodged. Here was an 
 other opportunity for the Bahais to reach men whom under normal 
 conditions they would not have been able to meet. In all our 
 meetings we had soldiers. These men, quartered in the city for 
 a few days, or for two or three weeks, would frequent the even 
 ing meetings as much as possible, then when they had gone out 
 into the field, each with his small supply of Bahai literature, 
 that they might share with comrades the Bahai ideals and 
 message, other soldiers would take their places in the various 
 homes, and in turn be brought in contact with the teaching. 
 Among these was a young man from a near-by village, a florist by 
 trade, who for the few days he was with us showed his interest in 
 the Cause by attending all meetings, and by supplying the people 
 in the gatherings with flowers from his garden. One day he was 
 called away with his regiment, but in eight days was brought 
 back with a bullet in his thigh. As soon as he was able to see 
 friends, we went out to the military hospital where he lay. 
 Though suffering, he was happy, for even there among the wounded 
 upon either side of him he had been able to make the way for the 
 visiting Bahais to serve them, and tell them more about the 
 unity of the world. 
 
 The following incident, which happened to one of the Bahai 
 soldiers, was mentioned by him in a postal to his home in Stutt- 
 
 56 
 
gart. In a skirmish along the Western front he had occasion to 
 capture two Frenchmen, whom he had to take some distance within 
 the German lines before turning them over to the proper authori 
 ties. The prisoners were terrified, for they expected to be 
 killed, but our friend, though in the pursuance of his military 
 duty, showed them such kindness that when the time came for them 
 to separate one clung to his hand, while the other embraced him. 
 Thus even amid the din of battle came the opportunity for this 
 man to show forth the Bahai spirit of brotherhood. 
 
 Undoubtedly some of my readers are asking themselves: * How 
 comes it that the Bahais, who teach peace and believe that it is 
 better to be killed than to kill, are thus engaged in war? 
 Jesus answered a similar question when He said: Render unto 
 Caesar the things which are Caesar s. In the warring coun 
 tries in Europe, with the exception of England, all able-bodied 
 men between certain age limits are obliged to take up arms 
 whether they wish to do so or not. Nothing could be more dis 
 tasteful to a Bahai than to kill a brother man. Nevertheless, 
 for the present, in the war lands of Europe he is obliged to 
 render unLo Caesar,* and this he is doing, strong in the 
 knowledge and assurance taat the time will soon come when na- 
 tiors will cease to make war, and God s law of peace will be on 
 earth as it is in heaven. 
 
 The town of Esslingeii on the Nekar, about nine miles from 
 Stuttgart, is one of the most ancient cities in Wurttemberg. 
 Surrounded by mediaeval towers and fortifications, the old part 
 of the town with its * *schloB8, rathaus , and churches of 
 the Gothic period, its narrow winding streets and half-timbered 
 dwellings, the upper stories projecting out over the street, 
 takes one back several centuries. Such is Esslingen of the 
 past, but amid these ancient surroundings a new life is entering 
 into the souls of the people, for here the ideals of Baha o llah 
 are taking root, and devoted people are arising to serve the 
 Cause . 
 
 Though we went each week to Esslingen, I will only attempt, 
 to describe one of those meetings, which in enthusiasm and 
 spirit were all about equal in character. 
 
 Leaving Stuttgart in company with several of the younger 
 Bahai men who had not yet been called to the army, we took a 
 train over to the Nekar. Crossing the valley on foot, we 
 
 57 
 
climbed the Wittenberg, a mountain upon the summit of which is a 
 classic chapel, the Mausoleum of the kings of Wurttemberg. From 
 the park sxirrounding the chapel we had a very extended view of 
 the surrounding country with its many towns and villages, with 
 here and there a tower or fortification of ancient date, a tes 
 timony of past wars, while at our feet in the valley below 
 peacefully flowed the silvery Nekar, surrounded by green fields. 
 
 Striking off into the mountains by a well-travelled trail, we 
 found ourselves going through a most picturesque rural district. 
 Passing through several villages and by a number of farmhouses, 
 we were kindly greeted by the people with the salutation pecu 
 liar to the Wurttembergers: Greuse Gott. Old men, women, and 
 children we saw on all sides, all busily engaged in work, but 
 there were no able-bodied men to be seen anywhere. 
 
 Our route finally brought us out again on a height above the 
 valley near Esslingen, whither we were bound. Entering the city, 
 we went to the house of a friend, where we had tea, and later, in 
 company with several who had joined the party, we all walked up 
 past the beautiful Frauen Kirche, the largest and most beautiful 
 church of the town, and by the Jewish cemetery without the city 
 walls, (in mediaeval days they were thus excluded) to the house 
 where the evening meeting had been prepared. 
 
 Long tables tastefully decorated with flowers and refresh 
 ments had been arranged in the shape of a large U, about which 
 we seated ourselves to the number of over fifty. After all had 
 been served and partaken of material food the spiritual meeting 
 began. It consisted of readings from the Word of God, and short 
 talks from various persons present. 
 
 Our Jewish brother, Dr. Habibollah, told us some very inter 
 esting things about the Jews in Persia. How, for many centur 
 ies, they had lived closely within the confines of their own 
 views, opposing Christ, until now, through the power of the 
 Bahai light, they are being taught the truth, and a large number 
 of them have broadened out from their former attitude of hatred 
 towards Christians, and these sa-ne people now are believing that 
 Jesus was the Promised One whom their forefathers ought to have 
 accepted, a,nd in whom now they themselves believe. 
 
 None the less interesting was the story told by our Moslem 
 brother, Mirza Azizollah. He spoke of the extreme hatred and 
 animosity which for over thirteen centuries had existed between 
 Moslems and Christians, of the bloody religious wars and destruc 
 tion which was the fruit of this violent hatred, and then he 
 told of the hold which the Cause had in the Moslem countries, 
 
 58 
 
and how it had changed the hearts- of the people to the extent 
 that these very same persons who, a few years ago, believed that 
 to kill a Christian was an act which would have met with Divine 
 favor, now quickened by the spirit of true brotherhood are waiting 
 with open, loving hearts to welcome their Christian brothers 
 and sisters from the West, and to show them all hospitality. 
 This testimony touched the hearts of all present, and for the 
 moment 1 found myself transported back in thought to the countries 
 of which he spoke, countries in which I had travelled and where 
 I had been the recipient of kindness arid love at the hands of 
 many friends . 
 
 * 
 
 After the words of these frisnds were put into German for 
 the benefit of those present who did not speak English several 
 German friends spoke, dwelling upon the joy of the coming to 
 gether in love and unity of the peoples of the different reli 
 gions, of which we had a demonstration in our midst, and of the 
 importance to the progress of the world of that unity. 
 
 It was late in the night whe i the meeting dispersed, several 
 of the young men accompanying us down to the next village, and 
 then by foot across the valley, where we took a train back to 
 Stuttgart. It was a beautiful moonlight night. As we crossed 
 the bridge over the river and continued the road beyond, the 
 spirit of the meeting was so strongly with as that it was as if 
 we had glimpses into the future when Europe would be as one 
 country, and these warring elements would be fused into one great 
 world people . The peace in our hearts and the love we bore one 
 another and all humanity made the problem seem to be a very sim 
 ple one to us. 
 
 All human difficulties are solved and set right through 
 love. This Abdul Baha is demonstrating in his work of estab 
 lishing in people s hearts the light of Baha o llah, yet as we 
 walked along, arm-in-arm, we were constantly reminded of the 
 warring multitudes, who as yet had not been reached by the 
 spirit of the Cause. Far off above the hills over the valley, 
 in the direction of Stuttgart, we could see the frequent flashes 
 of searchlights patrolling the heavens, ever alert for the ap 
 proach of the airships, lest bombs be dropped on the city. 
 
 Toward the end of our stay in Stuttgart Herr and Frau Herri - 
 gel, who are well known through their service to the Cause, 
 spread a beautiful supper feast in their home. There were about 
 thirty-five at the meal, Protestants and Catnolics, including 
 a priest of the Catholic church. All were gathered in the 
 spirit of amity, and the discussion was centered upon the unity 
 of mankind. 
 
 69 
 
ABDUL BAHA ENTERING THE GARDEN OF HIS 
 HOUSE IN HAIFA 
 
 ABDUL BAHA S HOUSE IN HAIFA 
 
 60 
 
In the neighboring town of Zuffenhausen, at the home of Herr 
 and. Frail Schweizer, who are active in the work, as well as in 
 other neighboring towns, in the homes of other Bahai workers, 
 many meetings were held, all of which were conducive to the 
 spirit of the work of unity, and productive of much good feeling. 
 
 It was only a few days before we lei t Germany that Mr. Lati- 
 mer and I knew definitely that we were going to visit Abdul 
 Baha. Nevertheless, from the beginning of our travels together 
 we had talked and hoped to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 
 
 From Stuttgart two telegrams were sent to Abdul Baha asking 
 for advice as to the next move of our two Persian friends and 
 ourselves, since they had been unable to go to England, but had 
 been obliged to remain in Suttgart. The first dispatch never 
 reached its destination, but the second did reach Abdul Baha, 
 and shortly we had a wire from Abdul Baha telling us to come on 
 to Haifa by the most feasible route. 
 
 It was with a heart wrench that we parted from our many dear 
 friends and started on our journey to the Orient. 
 
 A small crowd gathered in the station to see us off, and la 
 den wit i letters and messages to the Bahais in various coun 
 tries, -is well as with gifts of fruits and other edibles, we 
 boarded our train for the Swiss frontier. The train stopped for 
 a moment at Fsslingen and we had a hurried good-bye moment with 
 a party of friends assembled there. The last word was from a 
 young man to a brother Bahai in England, with whom he corre 
 sponded in Esperanto. It was a greeting of love and sorrow at 
 the war which had broken their correspondence, though it had 
 not separated them in spirit. 
 
 The spirit of brotherly love perpetrates hearts and is always 
 appreciated by all people under all conditions; nevertheless, 
 when one finds war and bloodshed upon all sides, and hatred gen 
 erally manifested about him under these conditions, he appre 
 ciates friendship far more than he possibly could amid more paci 
 fic surroundings. Such was our experience while in Germany. The 
 war spirit was rife everywhere. The people were aroused and an 
 gry. All foreigners were looked upon with disfavor, but in the 
 midst of all this rancor and unrest we found amid our Bahai 
 friends harincny and peace of soul, and such loving hearts that 
 we were made thankful and happy to have been with them even in 
 such distressing war times. 
 
 * 
 
 Our route took us by way of Ulm to Fredrichshaven on the 
 Lake of Konstarts, where our luggage and persons were subjected 
 
 61 
 
to a strict examination for any possible documents containing 
 military information before we were allowed to board the small 
 steamer which conveyed us across the lake to the Swiss town of 
 Romanshorn, where we found ourselves in a neutral country. 
 
 Taking a connecting train on to Zurich, where the night was 
 spent, we made an early start the following morning for Milan, 
 going down into Italy over the St. Gothard. In Milan we booked 
 for sailings upon the next Italian steamer from Venice for 
 Egypt. After a couple of days in Milan we went on to Venice, 
 from whence our ship sailed four days later. Though at that 
 time, late in September, Italy had not entered into the war, yet 
 the war spirit was running quite high. The newspapers were pub 
 lishing articles calculated to inflame public opinion, with the 
 result that the people were excited and stimulated to conquest 
 under the idea of adjusting past international wrongs and of 
 adding to the present national glory and power of Italy. All of 
 this was, of course, but the preliminary step towards the war in 
 which Italy is now plunged. 
 
 As we travelled through Northern Italy, we felt that, if 
 only this destructive thought in the minds of the people were 
 transmuted into constructive peace thought, war could not hap 
 pen. Everywhere there was manifested need for the elevation of 
 the ideal of spiritual peace and harmony between the nations, 
 and that this lofty ideal should be lived by the people. 
 
 A journey of five days brought us down through the Adriatic 
 and Mediterranean seas to Alexandria in Egypt, our only inter 
 mediate port being Brindisi. Even on the high seas we were re 
 minded of war. One morning at daybreak we v/ere overhauled by a 
 French cruiser, from which an officer was sent aboard our ship 
 to examine our papers. The following night we passed a Franco- 
 British squadron guarding the entrance of the Adriatic. Six 
 men-of-war in line, dressed in their dark drab paint, without 
 lights, looming up one by one on the horizon out of the dark 
 night, silently awaiting the enemy, gave an unpleasant feeling 
 of dread, not that we ourselves were in danger, but for the con 
 sequences all around should an engagement of belligerents take 
 place . 
 
 * * . * 
 
 Egypt was also in a state of war. Our party was subjected 
 to a most rigorous examination of person and effects, while 
 several of us had letters and printed matter of a strictl.y religious 
 and peaceful nature confiscated. 
 
 62 
 
In the late afternoon of the day we landed we took a train 
 for Cairo. The journey, made in from three to four hours, was a 
 beautiful ride through the rich grain fields of the Nile delta, 
 over which the setting sun shed that rich mellow golden light so 
 characteristic of the sunsets of Egypt and the desert. Here and 
 there the fellahin (native peasantry) were working in the fields, 
 donkeys and camels being their beasts of burden, while around 
 about their poor mud huts one could see preparations in progress 
 for the evening meal. 
 
 Shortly after dark our train pulled into the station in 
 Cairo. Words fail one when one tries to describe the bustle and 
 confusion that invariably attends the arrival of the traveller 
 in the Orient. At first it is disconcerting and the uninitiated 
 voyager is apt to agree to almost any demands of porters and dra 
 gomans rather than prolong the struggle, but with a little expe 
 rience one s sensibilities become somewhat hardened and one 
 learns to hold out against the multitudes for preservation of 
 purse and person. 
 
 Before leaving Alexandria we had sent a dispatch to an ori 
 ental friend in Cairo, advising him of our coming, but doubtful 
 as to whether he would be at home we were hardly expecting any 
 one to meet us. Altogether we had a goodly number of pieces of 
 luggage, and while we were parleying with several porters, who 
 were all talking to us at the same time and at the top of their 
 voices, I saw looming above the crowd about us the tall and 
 stately figure of a friend, well known among the western E aha is 
 who have travelled to the East Hadji Niaz Kermani. He was not 
 long in coming to our assistance, and in a few moments had 
 quietly arranged for the transfer of our effects. 
 
 With Hadji Niaz was Mohammed Taki Esphahani, who, like Hadji 
 Niaz, from his name we recognized as being of Moslem origin. 
 The home of Mohammed Taki Esphahani in Cairo is one of the Bahai 
 centers of h ospitality, where travellers from all lands find a 
 most hearty welcome. 
 
 f 
 
 After escorting us to an English hotel opposite the public 
 gardens Taki Mohammed informed us that he was expecting us to dine 
 with him that night, so to his home we all went. The building 
 was similar in character to many of those of modern parts of 
 Cairo. Mounting to the second floor, we were shown into a large 
 salon, from which opened out a balcony upon which we went. We 
 found ourselves overlooking a garden which stretched off west 
 ward toward the Nile. Tall date palm trees, silhouetted against 
 the moonlit sky, waved gracefully in the evening breezes. 
 
 63 
 
Those who have journeyed on , the Nile in warm seasons ever re 
 call the refreshing breezes and. the sparkling brilliancy of the 
 nights in contrast to the glaring sunlight and parching heat of 
 the day. There it is only 1 after sunset that the people really 
 enjoy themselves, that they circulate about enjoying themselves, 
 for this is their social hour. 
 
 As we sat on the balcony of our friend, several of the 
 Bahais of Cairo joined us. One, an Egyptian physician who had 
 taken his medical degree in France; another, a young man, a stu 
 dent in the American University in Beirut; another young man 
 from Persia, travelling that he might study and understand the 
 civilization!? of foreign countries; and still others came, until 
 we had quite a party. 
 
 * 
 
 It must have been about ten o clock when the meal was served, 
 consisting of foods both oriental and occidental, the principal 
 eastern dish being pilau, composed of boiled rice, light and 
 fluffy, with browned pine nuts, raisins, and small cubes of boiled 
 chicken, added to which were several kinds of sauces which one 
 could take to one s individual taste. 
 
 During the meal, our conversation was upon the subject of 
 the Cause which had brought us all together so closely, breaking 
 bread and eating at the same board. 
 
 A well known author has written: East is East and West 
 is West, and never the twain shall meet. Such indeed, and 
 far worse too, is the condition of separateness between these 
 two great halves of humanity. They mingle one with the other, 
 as does oil with water, thus forming a heterogeneous humanity 
 rather than a homogeneous unit. Although Europeans have lived 
 in the East for generations, yet they are as strangers in a 
 strange land so far as their real affilliation with the oriental 
 peoples is concerned. R.eally v/orse than this mere lack of un 
 derstanding and co-operation is the misunderstanding and natural 
 enmity which exists. The vast majority of westerners dislike 
 orientals, while the vast majority of easterners dislike with 
 equal cordiality the occidentals. . The reason for this inharmo 
 nious condition is at root prejudice, principally religious and 
 racial. 
 
 There is a darkness in humanity the world over, but there is 
 light too. When one looks for darkness one finds darkness, and 
 when one looks for light, one finds light also. Goodness and 
 virtue are equally divided among all peoples. Like the Occi 
 dent, the Orient is teeming with virtue. All that is necessary 
 is that the virtue be discovered and brought into the light. 
 
 64 
 
The oriental peoples are strong in hospitality, kindness, 
 friendship, and in idealism, and fervent in matters of the 
 spirit. The western people need these elements which the orien 
 tals have, and the oriental peoples need the material and intel 
 lectual elements of western civilization. It is for the advance 
 ment of the whole world that there should be a harmonious union of 
 these two halves of the human race. 
 
 It is very unusual in the Orient for people of different 
 religions to eat together. From most ancient times the breaking 
 of bread and the eating of salt have been the signs of the deep 
 est trust and friendship between orientals; and there we were, 
 our first night in an oriental land, received by our eastern 
 brethren and shown by form and in the spirit, the deepest 
 friendship. In the light of that meeting the problem of unity 
 and harmony between peoples did not seem to be a difficult one. 
 With the necessary brotherly spirit all other blessings follow. 
 
 This was not the only meeting of the kind in store for us. 
 Each of the several nights our party spent in Cairo we assembled 
 regularly in the hospitable home of Mohammed Taki Esphahani for 
 a late dinner, and during those times we learned much about the 
 Cause and its growth in the Orient. The name of the great Bahai 
 teacher Mirsa Abul Fazl was often on our lips. He had departed 
 this life of service on earth a few months previous to our 
 visit, and it was in the home of Taki Mohammed that he was ten 
 derly cared for and nursed during his last illness, and from 
 whence the friends carried his remains to the tomb. 
 
 Mirza Abul Fazl, of the ancient town of Gulpaygan, in Persia, 
 was one of the most learned men of the oriental world. He was 
 holding a professorship in one of the universities in Teheran 
 when he learned of the Bahai Cause and came to an understanding 
 of its principles, and he arose to promulgate its truths. He was 
 opposed, robbed of his property, and persecuted by the Moslems 
 for his stand. Five months, twenty-two months, six months, re 
 spectively, was he imprisoned at various times because of his 
 belief, but notwithstanding these troubles he continued his 
 work, writing many books and treatises on the Movement, and trav 
 elling and residing in many lands, both East and West, that he 
 might teach the Cause and establish its principles in the hearts 
 of the people. 
 
 Mirza Abul Fazl was much beloved by the American Bahais, for 
 he was one of the first of the oriental Bahai teachers to come to 
 the West. He came to the States in the early days of the Move 
 ment there, some thirteen or fourteen years ago, and through his 
 untiring efforts and devotion he instilled into the people the 
 true principles of the religion of God. 
 
 66 
 
In an interview with an American Bahai Abdul Baha recently 
 said: * Although the books and writings of Abul Fazl are used in 
 many countries as text books, never did he even give a sign that 
 he was an authority on any subject; consequently, the gifts of 
 God ever increased upon him, since he bore all honors in humil 
 ity, until he attained the Supreme Nearness. Those in real au 
 thority are known by their humility and self-sacrifice, and show 
 no attitude cf superiority over the friends. 
 
 One day, a friend, an Egyptian doctor of medicine, at our 
 request took us to visit the tomb of Mirsa Abul Fazl. Hie re 
 mains are laid in the family mausoleum of one of the Persian 
 friends, Hadji Mirza Hassan Khorassani, in a cemetery on a hill to 
 the east of the city, which looked, from a little distance, to be 
 a part of the city itself, since it was laid off in streets with 
 tombs on either side, a miniature city of the dead. 
 
 Arriving near our destination, we alighted from the car 
 riages, and going in and out of several narrow streets we en 
 tered a small building, though large for its purpose, which cov 
 ered the resting place of our late friend and spiritual teacher. 
 A simple chamber, in one corner of which stood the large marble 
 sarcophagus cf one of the members of the Khorassani family, 
 while in the center of the floor was a simple, as yet unmarked 
 slab which covered the spot beneath which rested the mortal body 
 of Mirza Abul Fazl. Around this we stood in silence for some 
 time. I have rarely felt so profound a silence. The whole 
 place seemed to pulsate and to vibrate and we each felt it. We 
 left the place, thinking and speaking of the work -and services 
 to the Cause which had made the name of Mirza Abul Fazl so pre 
 cious to the Baha is in fill parts of the world. 
 
 During our few days in Cairo, we were constantly meeting and 
 in company with our many friends. Hadji Niaz was most friendly 
 and faithful in his attendance. He personally conducted us to 
 the pyramids and to many out-of-the-way and interesting places 
 in the native parts of old Cairo. His tall, erect figure, gray 
 beard, high white turban, and flowing robes created a dignity 
 which was truly patriarchal, while his cordial smile and ease 
 of manner gave him an elasticity characteristic of a youth, 
 which the gray hair and the lines in his face contradicted. He 
 was constantly serving the friends and never seemed to tire with 
 the output of physical energy, for apparently he was quite as 
 fresh at the end of a strenuous day as he was at the beginning. 
 
 All of the Bahai s who have visited Cairo will recall the 
 meetings held in the home of the Persian Hadji Mirza Hassan, the 
 
 66 
 
merchant of Khorassan. Toward dusk of our second day in the city 
 we were conducted to his house. A driveway from the street 
 flanked by trees and shrubs led to the main doorway of the resi 
 dence. Like many oriental homes of the larger type the veatibule 
 gave into a large high hall or central room from which, opened 
 various other rooms. Doors at the far end of this main room, 
 with its high panelled cejling, opened out upon a deep loggia 
 with a tesselated marble floorinp;. Going out into the loggia a 
 beautiful vista was revealed to us, framed in between the marble 
 columns which separated this open-air room from the garden. Be 
 fore us in the midst of the garden v/as a large number of cur 
 friends, whom we were now seeing for the first time. Descending 
 a few stone steps to the level of the garden walk, we soon found 
 ourselves being most heartily welcomed by our brothers with fer 
 vent hand- shakes and embraces. We were all gathered on a large 
 circular marble terrace surrounding a fountain. Darkness had 
 fallen, and to give light lamps, alternating with vases of flow 
 ers, had been placed at regular intervals around the edge of the 
 lowest and largest basin of the fountain. We all took seats on 
 the terrace in a circle facing the fountain. A prayer of thanks 
 giving was chanted, and then selections were read from some of 
 the writings of Baha o llah. Then, in turn, we were asked to 
 tell those present of the work and friends in the countries 
 visited, all of which was translated for the benefit of those 
 who did not understand English, while one bright young man who 
 had mastered English made an address of welcome, well worded and 
 rich in the spirit of fraternity. 
 
 At one side we heard the simmering of a samovar and saw the 
 glow of light which it cast upon the low branches of a neighbor 
 ing tree, and presently little cut glass cups of most delicious 
 Persian tea vere served to each one present. It was a most beauti 
 ful experience from the aesthetic and material point of view, as 
 well as from the spiritual. Though in the heart of Cairo, it 
 seemed almost like the country, the high walls and the trees of 
 the garden resulting in a silent seclusion; but most beautiful 
 and harmonious of all were the souls in that circle. Men of all 
 ages, and from many countries, to which their various garbs 
 testified, from that of the conventional European dress to 
 flowing oriental robes of many colors. Near us sat several men 
 who attracted us much. They were students from the great Moslem 
 University of El Asshar in Cairo, for even in that stronghold of 
 Islam the work of spiritual world resuscitation is going on, 
 though unseen except by a few. These Bahais, with their long dark 
 cloaks and white turbans were, so far as clothing was concerned, 
 like the thousands of their Moslem fellow students, but the 
 light in their faces was different, because the reality of re 
 ligion had rea.ched their hearts, and they were of the new age of 
 
 67 
 
ABDUL BAHA WITH SOME YOUNG MEN ON 
 MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 ABDUL BAHA AND A GROUP OP BAHAIS AT THE 
 TOMB OF THE BAB 
 
 68 
 
spiritual knowledge, though they wore the theological garb of the 
 past. They were striving to live the life and thereby bring 
 light and quickening of soul to nheir people. 
 
 . . . * 
 
 The meeting being over our host, Hadji Mirza Hassan, took us 
 through several rooms in his house, where he had many interest 
 ing Bahai writings in manuscript beautifully illuminated. The 
 artist scribes of the Orient do rich and beautiful work of this 
 kind. We also saw photographs of some of the Bahai martyrs, and 
 other subjects of like interest which he had collected from va 
 rious sources, all of which were of great interest to us two Amer 
 icans, for in the West we have but few such treasures. 
 
 Although Egypt was in a state of war, and we had experienced 
 some difficulties in entering the country, yet once in the land 
 we saw and heard very little that savored of war. Being advised 
 of a scarcity of steamers leaving from Port Said for the ports 
 of Syria, we engaged passage by the first ship sailing, and 
 after a stay of four days in Cairo we left for Fort Said. 
 
 Almost everyone whom we had met while in Cairo was at the 
 train to see us off. All four of us, two Persians and. two Amer 
 icans, had a compartment to ourselves, and before the train 
 pulled out the place was a bower of flowers, for each of the 
 many friends brought flowers, fruit, or sweets as parting sou 
 venirs, while one arrived followed by a boy bearing a tray of 
 iced sherbets, all of which, considering the excessive heat, 
 added much to our comfort. 
 
 The people in the station and on board the train eyed us 
 with no little interest on account of the mixture of people of 
 divers races and religions who were congregated about us, for 
 even in Egypt, where Europeans have lived for some generations, 
 there is no real affinity and brotherhood between orientall and 
 occidenxal, whereas, we through the Bahai Cause were here sur 
 rounded by kind and loving brothers of foreign races in a time 
 of war and general unrest. 
 
 Because of the threatened unrest of the country, a most 
 strict watch was being kept upon all Europeans who might stir 
 up the natives against the British government of occupation. I 
 was prepared to have the military authorities ask for our pass 
 ports, but we had no inconvenience, though two of the officers 
 kept a watch upon our movements. 
 
 
 
 A run of three hours brought us to Port Said, where we found 
 another group of friends to welcome us and to make our stay 
 
 69 
 
there of three days pass very quickly. Much of our time here was 
 spent in the company of our good brother Bahai, the Persian Vice 
 Consul, Mirza Ahmad Yazdi, whose kind services to the travelling 
 Bahais has made him friends in all parts of the world. 
 
 On accovmt of the opposition of the Moslems bat little, if 
 any, direct Bahai teaching is being done in Egypt; nevertheless, 
 the light of the Cause will out, it cannot be hidden. 
 
 During one of the sojourns of Abdul Baha in Port Said, some 
 native Arabs were attracted to him and became so enkindled with 
 the spirit of the CaiTse that they soon became to be known as 
 Bahais. Two of these in particular became the target of a Mos 
 lem attack. A party of infuriated fanatical Mohammedans sur 
 rounded their place of business, demolished their windows, and 
 dragged these two men out and down the street, pelting them with 
 melon rinds and other filth from the gutter. Though shaken and 
 bruised, they fortunately sustained no serious injuries, while 
 their faith and fortitude, upon the other hand, was greatly in 
 creased. 
 
 One night we attended a meeting where we met these two 
 friends. One of the two chanted a prayer from the pen of Baha- 
 o llah, chanted in the original Arabic. We, of course, did not 
 understand the words, but the man put so much feeling and fervor 
 into his chant that we were not long in catching the spirit of 
 the prayer, for those assembled were all moved and swayed. 
 
 People have often asked me if I did not find it a drawback 
 in travelling in the East to be unable to speak the oriental 
 languages and to be dependent upon interpreters. Where the tie 
 of union is very strong, a very few words can express much; in 
 fact, at timos words seem almost superfluous. With the average 
 oriental his religion is the all-absorbing thing in his life, 
 and the tie of faith is stronger than any human tie of blood. 
 If you meet him on the ground of spiritual realities he is your 
 brother in the most spiritual sense of the word, ready to make 
 any sacrifice for you and to do you any service. The heart of 
 the most conventional Westerner soon responds to this spirit of 
 devotion and sincerity, and he is then at ease, and a rapture of 
 soul is established, and more or less intuitively he understands 
 the people about him and he feels with them. Under these condi 
 tions, though the words may be spoken through an interpreter, 
 yet the spirit of the conversation is unbroken and direct. 
 
 * 
 
 These were the early days of October. At that time Turkey 
 had not yet gone into the war. However, her relations with 
 
 70 
 
Egypt were becoming strained. Syria being under Turkey, our 
 American Consular agent in Port Said was disposed to try to dis 
 suade us from going to Haifa, telling us that the possibility of 
 a * Holy War had been reported, and in that case there might 
 be massacres of Christiana in those parts. Feeling the impossi 
 bility of making this gentleman understand the nature of our 
 mission, and the reasons why we felt perfectly safe in going in 
 to Turkish domains, we did not attempt to argue the point, and he 
 finally arranged our papers and we embarked on a neutral ship 
 flying the Italian flag for the pert of Haifa. 
 
 Sailing .from Port Said in the evening we dropped anchor the 
 following morning outside of the reef of Joppa, the port where 
 travellers for Jerusalem disembark. There was not the flotilla 
 of small boats which almost invariably swarmed here from the 
 shore and surrounded the ship, greeting the passing vessels and 
 bringing various kinds of edibles and curios to tempt the trav 
 eller, and crowded with rapacious boatmen who try to inveigle 
 one into going ashore to see the few sights of which the town 
 boasts. Presently we saw coming out from the shore and through 
 the narrow passage in the reef a boat flying a yellow flag. Our 
 own quarantine flag was flying, so we knew we were in for a dis 
 infection, for before sailing we had heard that on account of 
 reported cases of plague in Egypt a Turkish quarantine was im 
 minent. 
 
 We cabin passengers were not put to any inconvenience, but 
 the passengers in the steerage had both their effects and their 
 persons disinfected, as well as having imposed upon each a bill 
 of costs for the same, all of which from the upper deck I viewed 
 sympathetically, having on past travels twice gone through with 
 this disagreeable formality. 
 
 Joppa rises picturesquely from the water s edge on a promi 
 nence overlooking the sea. Like many of the cities of the 
 Levant it is really more attractive from a distance than when 
 one finds oneself within its narrow streets and crowded bazaars, 
 although the newer quarteis of the city are well laid off with 
 broad streets* and avenues of trees. Prominent from the sea are 
 several church towers and mosque minarets. The chief place of 
 biblical interest is the house of ** Simon the Tanner. We could 
 see its roof from the ship s deck. 
 
 Off to tne north of Joppa stretches the rocky arid sandy 
 plain of Sharon, until it is stopped by the Carmel range of 
 mountains, which come down from the interior, ending abruptly at 
 the coast. 
 
 71 
 
Early in the afternoon we weighed anchor and took a northerly 
 course, skirting along the coast, passing within sight of the 
 remains of the ancient towns of Caesar ia and Athlit before we 
 came to the Garmel range and promontory, which we rounded at 
 about sunset. Instead of harboring in the Bay of Haifa in the 
 northern lea of the mountain, our steamer crossed the bay and 
 dropped anchor off the fortress town of Akka about nine miles to 
 the north of Haifa. 
 
 Akka is the mecca of the Bahais. In her prison Baha o llah 
 and many of His followers were confined under the most dreadful 
 conditions, and within her walls Abdul Baha was an exile a.nd a 
 State prisoner for forty years. Baha o llah in His writings 
 alludes TO Akka as The Most Great Prison. It is a well-known 
 fact that under the ancient regime in Turkey some of the Sul 
 tan s most dreadful political opponents were sent prisoners to 
 Akka and left there, forgotten by the outside world, to languish 
 of disease arid to rot in her dungeons, where the sun s light 
 never reached, and which reeked with disease and filth. Thus 
 many, inch by inch, died deaths more horrible than those of 
 their less unhappy brethren who were more summarily dispatched 
 by knife or by the poisoned cup, and found a watery resting 
 place in a weighted sack at the bottom of the Bosphorus. 
 
 Abdul Baha never chafed under his long confinement there, as 
 will, be seen by the following words addressed to the friends 
 during his captivity: 
 
 When one is released from the prison of the self, that is 
 indeed a release, a freedom. It is very easy to be released 
 from this material outer prison, but hard and difficult to be 
 released from that other prison. 
 
 Prom this prison you may be released by only one word from 
 the Sul+an, to be released from that other prison is very diffi 
 cult, even through all the words which have been pronounced by 
 the Prophets of God. Prom this prison you may be released by 
 making a break in the wall, from that other prison it is very 
 hard to find a way of escape. Sometimes you become so weak that 
 you are unable to do anything by which to make a way out. 
 
 This prison weakens the body, but that other prison causes 
 the death of the spirit. 
 
 In present times, as in times past, the greatest light has 
 shone out from the most dense darkness. It is quite in line 
 with the history of the religious movements of all ages that 
 this great spiritual cause of modern times should have been op- 
 
 72 
 
posed by the leaders of the people whom it strove to elevate and 
 free from superstition. Thus Baha o llah in order to alleviate 
 the world s troubles took upon himself all of those troubles 
 which he sought to dispel. 
 
 The darkest side of Turkish despotism has been alluded to by 
 writers, and the tombs of many of its royal victims are visible 
 in the Turkish mosques, but its real history will never be writ 
 ten, for its deeds were never recorded on paper or parchment . 
 They were branded into the rouls of those who, through torture 
 and unnatural death, left uo earthly record of their sufferings. 
 
 There we rode at anchor before the walls of Akka. Only a 
 hundred yards or more away arose on a rock surrounded by the sea, 
 the ruins of a once stronghold tower, built by the Crusaders, 
 while off not far from the lands ide fortifications of the city 
 now crumbling with age we could dimly discern the outline of the 
 low hill thrown up by Napoleon, upon which he placed his cannon 
 when he attempted to take Akka and met with defeat. Here and 
 there lights glimmered through openings in the walls, and off to 
 the left the bright light of the lighthouse on the ramparts 
 shone clearly. Above, the sky was clear. Every star seemed 
 visible, and in a short time the moon rose in all her glory 
 above the mountains beyond the plain of Akka, bringing into re 
 lief the great white dome and minarets of the mosque in Akka 
 and the richness of the foliage of the trees along the shore, 
 while behind us in the light stretched a long band of surf along 
 the shore off towards the Mount of Carmel on the opposite side 
 of the bay. It was a scer.e the beauty of which will always re 
 main with me . 
 
 We had happily made interesting acquaintances on board, so 
 in addition to our party of two Americans and two Persians there 
 were others with us to enjoy the scene. 
 
 One of these was a young man, a recently appointed instruc 
 tor in one of the mission colleges in Syria. He was just gradu 
 ated from the University of Illinois, and before leaving America 
 had met some Bahais in his college town, and through them become 
 filled with the desire to visit Abdul Baha. Understanding that 
 we were Americans bound for Haifa, he asked us if we had ever 
 heard of Abdul Baha, whereupon we explained to him our connec 
 tion with the Cause. 
 
 Our two Persian comrades discovered a friend of theire on 
 board, a young Swiss instructor in French in xhe American Univer 
 sity in Beirut who, in company with a party of students the sea 
 son previous, had spent some days on Mount Carmel with Abdul 
 Baha. 
 
 t 
 
 73 
 
We passed a memorable evening with these fellow-travellers, 
 who were anxious to talk of the Cause. We were longing and 
 counting the hours when we would be able to land in Haifa and 
 meet our beloved teacher and friend. Abdul Baha. 
 
 At sunrise the following morning we were on deck as our ship 
 dropped anchor off Haifa. We had no difficulty in entering the 
 country. Curiously enough our luggage was not opened, nor were 
 passports asked for. The town and country were in a distressing 
 state of war panic. The banks and foreign postoffices were 
 closed, and everywhere the first stages of war were visible. 
 The army was gathering in the interior, and men and munitions 
 were daily being sent inland to the scene of mobilization, while 
 the government had commandeered all horses and vehicles, and had 
 seized vast quantities of foodstuffs and needed merchandise from 
 the local merchants and other private individuals. Business was 
 at a standstill and the panic general. 
 
 It was not known how Turkey was going to side in the war, 
 but of the fact that she was going to fight every one felt sure, 
 and the army was preparing for action. 
 
 Because of the evidently approaching hostilities there had 
 been an exodus of many families from the coast cities, and these 
 had sought refuge in the interior. On landing we were informed 
 that Abdul Baha had just returned to Haifa from the little 
 village of Abou-Sinan, situated at some little distance up in 
 the mountains back of Akka, where he had been attending to the 
 welfare of the members of his family and those of a number of 
 other Bahais, some fifty or sixty people in all; men, women, and 
 children, for whose accommodation and comfort there Abdul Baha 
 had personally arranged. One of the friends explained to us how 
 several houses had been rented in this town in the hills, then 
 of the transport of furniture, cooking utensils, and other lug 
 gage by camel pack trains, and of the carriages and wagons which 
 finally conveyed the people thither. 
 
 From Haifa we could see beyond the plain of Akka the white 
 houses of Abou Sinan off in the hills, and though we did not go 
 there ourselves, our eyes often sought the spot where so many of 
 our people were. 
 
 Haifa, at the foot of Mount Carmel, is a town which owes its 
 present prosperity largely to the religious life and interests 
 centered there. The German Temple Colony and other Protestant 
 missions from the West, as well as several Catholic monasteries 
 
 74 
 
and convents, and the recently constructed Jewish University, 
 all testify ^o the fact that Garmel is the land of spiritual 
 promise in the future with these various peoples, as well as of 
 historical religious interests of the past, while the centering 
 here, upon this Mountain of God, of the Bahai Cause is in real 
 ity the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies regarding the new 
 era of soul enlightenment which in the latter days were to il 
 luminate the whole world from this Holy Land of promise. 
 
 Upon landing we drove to the hotel of the German Colony, 
 where we settled ourselves for a stay o f some days amid simple 
 but clean and wholesome surroundings. That same afternoon we 
 went to the home of Abdul Baha on the outskirts of the city, and 
 there had our first meeting with our much-beloved teacher. 
 
 He received us simply and cordially and with the kindness 
 and affection of a most, loving father. We were moved by his 
 tenderness a? he inquired into some of the details of our trav 
 els, and asked regarding the welfare of his friends in various 
 countries. 
 
 Everyone is at ease in his presence, for his atmosphere is 
 one of sympathetic understanding and love. In fact, there are 
 few persons, if any, who do not respond to the spirit of Abdul 
 Baha, for there is in every soul that closed door which opens 
 only in the presence of true love and friendship; in fact, which 
 cannot remain closed in the face of him whose life and personal 
 ity have beer, sacrificed in the Path of God, and who has the 
 spiritual message of Divine Love for the world. 
 
 During our stay of two weeks, October 5 to 19, in Haifa, 
 Abdul Baha spent much of his time lodged in a small house upon 
 the side of the mountain near the building built over the tomb 
 of the Bab, the spot where are deposited the remains of the 
 forerunner of Baha o llah, transferred thither by the friends 
 from Tabriz, the place of Kis martyrdom in Persia. 
 
 The building occupies a commanding position upon a terrace 
 high up on the mountain side. From the garden about it one has 
 an extended view out over the sea and across the bay, upon the 
 opposite side of which is Akka. Like a bird she appears to 
 float upon the water, her white walls and towers rising directly 
 out of the sea, while behind her arise the mountains of the 
 Phoenician coast range stretching off to the north, where they 
 join the greater Lebanon Mountains. 
 
 With the deep blue of the sea and the brilliant coloring of 
 the oriental landscape this is one of the famous and most beau- 
 
 75 
 
ABDUL BAHA SEATED WRITING WITHIN THE 
 GATEWAY OF HIS HOME IN HAIFA 
 
 ABDUL BAHA WALKING IN HIS GARDEN IN HAIFA 
 
 76 
 
tiful views of the world, particularly when seen at night under 
 the mellow light of the moon as it rises over the mountains off 
 towards the east beyond the plain of Akka, high up in a valley 
 of which is Nazareth, where Jesus lived. 
 
 It was on one of our pilgrimages up the mountain, where we 
 went to the little house near the tomb to call on Abdul Baha 
 that he addressed us as follows: 
 
 * You are welcome. You are well? You are pleased and hap 
 py? How do you find the landscape and view from here? The 
 scene is very beautiful. It is permeated with spirituality. 
 This is a unique scene in all Syria. It is recorded in the Old 
 Testament that the Lord is the Excellency of Carmel, and Carmel 
 means the Vineyard of God. Practically all the prophets of 
 Israel have visited this mountain. Even His Holiness, Jesus 
 Christ, has been here several times, and HOM? the remains of The 
 Bab are resting on its slope. His Holiness, the Blessed Beauty 
 (Baha o llah) has pitched His tent on various spots on this 
 mountain. The tent of Baha o llah has been raised on this Holy 
 ground . 
 
 After a silence of several minutes, during which Abdu] Baha 
 gazed out of the window, a silence filled with deep spiritual 
 ity, in which he seemed to be receiving the vibrations from all 
 parts of the world, he continued: " For this reason these places 
 are called the Holy Land arid eulogies and praises have been sung 
 by all the seers and prophets of the past concerning these sacred 
 grounds . 
 
 My companion remarked upon the beauty of the scene, ard 
 Abclul Baha replied: 
 
 **0f course it is beautiful. Garmel is a derivative of two 
 words, Carm and El. Carm means garden, and El means God. There 
 fore it is the Garden of God. 
 
 The Fragrances of the Holy Spirit waft from this spot. If 
 the nostrils are open, they will inhale these breaths. This 
 blessed spot is fragrant. Praise ye God that ye have reached 
 this place. The result will become evident in the future. 
 
 At the time of which I write we two Americans were the only 
 Western Bahai pilgrims on Carmel, the Mountain of God, as it 
 is called, but in addition to our party there was a party of 
 some fifteen or twenty students from the American University in 
 
 77 
 
Beirut, who were spending their Summer vacation on the mountain 
 with Abdul Baha. 
 
 I have lived much of my life more or less associated with 
 student bodies, but never before had I been so privileged as to 
 know intimately so spiritually "minded a group of young men as 
 these. They were fond of all manner of humor and merriment, and 
 some very jolly times we had together, but through all, and 
 above all stood out the ideal common to them all, that of pre 
 paring themselves to go forth in the Cause as servants of God to 
 teach and to serve His people in order that more spiritual condi 
 tions might exist in the world. 
 
 In addressing us all one day and alluding to our travels, 
 Abdul Baha said: 
 
 These friends have brought good news from Germany. When I 
 was there also the believers were pure and radiant, and they 
 were quite sincere. Their spirit was inspiring. When one looks 
 into their faces one becomes very happy. Even the children were 
 in the utmost enthusiasm and happiness. This shone forth from 
 their faces. I went to Stuttgart a second time, returning from 
 Vienna and Budapest. Their souls were pure and sincere, having 
 no ambitions or desires. 
 
 All places in the world will ultimately become good. Through 
 the Divine Inspirations of the Kingdom of Abha, which are being 
 spread, every place will become good. These" rays that shine 
 forth from the Sun of Truth upon the horizons of the world will 
 reach all places. What we have to do is to carry out exactly 
 the teachings of the Blessed Beo.uty, Baha o llah. I declare by 
 Him, beside whom there is no other God, that if we follow the 
 teaching s of the Blessed Perfection, Baha o llah, in a very 
 short time the Cause of God will encompass the world, provided 
 we follow these teachings, exhortations, and divine admonitions 
 which are revealed, so that our actions may be in accordance with 
 them. We must not only read, but every one of us must bring our 
 actions and conduct in accord with these teachings. These 
 teachings are revealed for this purpose. Success and prosperity 
 are an impossibility without them. Praise be to God that we 
 have all had the experience of this course. There is no one 
 among us who has not had this experience. All of us have had 
 this experience. Apart from the Sun of Beauty there is no suc 
 cess and prosperity. 
 
 The Blessed Beauty, Baha o llah, in all circumstances has 
 given us the way to behave, explained the mode of our conduct 
 and behavior. Let us meditate over the calamities and hardships 
 
 78 
 
of the Blessed Beauty, Baha o llah. as well as over His severance 
 and fortitude, for He was two years in the Kurdish Mountains, 
 living solitary and alone in a cave, supplicating all night 
 long. The Kurds came around at night and heard His voice, but 
 they knew not who this Person was. Later they discovered who He 
 was. When He came back to Bagdad He had on a very old jacket, 
 sleeveless, and made of coarse fleece. In this manner He en 
 tered our house . * 
 
 Then addressing the believers he, Abdul Baha, continued: 
 
 Consider what the Hand of Divine Power has accomplished. 
 Where were we and where were these Western brothers of yours? 
 Outwardly there is no physical nor material relation between us, 
 but the Divine Confirmations and the Heavenly Powers have estab 
 lished this ideal communion between our hearts. Were it not for 
 this Divine Bestowal our gathering in this sacred spot would 
 have been impossible. The Celestial Grace binds the hearts of 
 men and cements together their souls forever and ever. * 
 
 One afternoon a party of people from Haifa called on Abdul 
 Baha, and after they left he summoned us all out on the garden 
 terrace for tea and fruit. When we were all seated he said: 
 
 These people who called on us today were in a state of 
 fright. They are expecting daily the bombardment of Haifa by 
 the foreign warships. No sooner did they see a little moving 
 speck in the horizon of the sea than they looked through their 
 glasses, anxiously scanning to behold whether these are the ex 
 pected cruisers. Their hearts are in a state of anxiety. They 
 are terror-stricken. They have no peace of mind. This is one of 
 the signs of the absence of faith. It is stated in the Koran: 
 They imagine every cry raised is an enemy unto them. For ex 
 ample, when a thief enters a house the least noise causes his 
 flight. He trembles and quakes, but the hearts of the people of 
 faith are assured. If they are surrounded by a thousand ene 
 mies, they stand firm on their ground. The greatest Divine 
 Bounty is a confident heart. When the heart is confident, all 
 the trials of the world will be as child s -play. Should they 
 throw one into prison, should they cast him into a black well, 
 should they heap upon him all manner of affliction, still his 
 heart is content, peaceful, and assured. 
 
 At another time, speaking of the war, he said: 
 
 This Cause has hoisted the banner of the unity of the 
 world of humanity. One of the instruments which will bring 
 
 79 
 
about universal peace is this very wa.r, so that all the people 
 might be disgusted with this confusion of the war, and that all 
 the world of humanity might be inclined toward peace. A German 
 lady living in Haifa, whose son has gone to the war, was asked: 
 "What news do you have of your son? She replied: No news, 
 but I have one son for whom I would not take the whole of 
 Prance, but now he is on the battlefield, and if he is killed 
 all France would not compensate me. She is greatly distressed. 
 Surely all the hearts will be disgusted with this war.* 
 
 Near the tomb of The Bab on the Mountain is the *Mozafer 
 Khaneh, or traveller s house. This building, as a tablet over 
 the door testifies, was built by a Russian, a friend of the 
 Cause, in order to provide shelter and lodging for the pilgrims 
 who from all parts of the world visit this eacred spot. At the 
 Mozafer Khaneh lived several Bahais, who are there to entertain 
 and serve those who pass. There daily we met and talked with 
 Hadji Mirza Hyder Al- ; , the aged Bahai teacher, who on account of 
 his faith was cast into prison under the old regime in Egypt, and 
 was sent in exile to Khartoum, where he remained for twelve years 
 until the English, under Gordon, took the city, and thus he be 
 came free, Hadji Mirza Hyder Ali was then able to go to Akka 
 and there continue his active work in the Movement. 
 
 Daily we would stop at the Pilgrim s House for a visit with 
 these friends, and Hadji would usually entertain us with anec 
 dotes of the Cause in the early days when there was so much 
 persecution that the followers were constantly in the greatest 
 danger, so that most of the teaching had to be done privately 
 and secretly. 
 
 In the late afternoon Abdul Baha usually summoned all of us 
 for tea, which was served in the oriental style from a samovar 
 in small glass cups and saucers with sugar only. Upon these oc 
 casions he invariably gave us a short talk, the substance of sev 
 eral of which I am incorporating in this narrative. Then later 
 en we would all follow him into the interior of the tomb, and 
 stand respectfully while he chanted a prayer. Then e,fter a fev 
 moments of silence we would withdraw, one by one, to the terrace 
 without, there to enjoy the view in the fading sunlight. 
 
 The Bahai s in various parts had intrusted to us many ques 
 tions to be asked of Abdul Baha, which were mostly of a personal 
 nature, but among these was one of general interest, which my 
 
 80 
 
American comrade one day presented. It was regarding the inter 
 pretation of verse fourteen from the * Hidden Words * from the 
 Arabic by Baha o llah: 
 
 0, Son of Spirit! I have created thee rich; why dost thou 
 make thyself poor? Noble have I made thee; why dost thou de 
 grade thyself? Of the essence of Knowledge have I manifested 
 thee; why searcnest thovi for another than Me? From the clay 
 of Love have I kneaded thee; why seekest thou another? Turn thy 
 sight unto thyself, that thou mayst find Me standing within thee, 
 Powerful , Mighty, and Supreme . 
 
 Abdul Baha s reply was: 
 
 There are two kinds of standing within. The first is 
 like the standing, or containing of water within an earthen 
 bowl. This is false assumption, because it is a body contained 
 within a body. This is not a correct theory, because the real 
 ity of Divinity is not a body, such as water. 
 
 But there is a second theory which is correct, and that is 
 the appearance (standing within) of the Sun in a clear mirror. 
 Therefore, the meaning of this verse is this: Purify thy heart 
 that it may become like unto a transparent mirror. Then thou 
 shalt find Me standing within thee, Powerful, Mighty, and Su 
 preme. If you interpret this verse according to the above ex 
 planation, it will be correct, because the Sun has not left its 
 transcendent station in order to find an entrance into the miv- 
 ror, but it is ever stationed in its center of grandeur and per 
 petuity. While, on the other hand, the mirror having been pol 
 ished, reflects the rays of the Sun. 
 
 During our visit on Carmel a calamity befell the household of 
 Abdul Bciha in the sudden death of the faithful and trusted ser 
 vant Bashir, whose memory is cherished by the many visiting 
 friends from all parts . 
 
 On the following Sunday afternoon Abdul Raha called the 
 friends together for a memorial service. A prayer was chanted, 
 and Abdul Baha spoke as follows : 
 
 This calamitous death of Bashir was a sudden, unexpected 
 misfortune. Therein lies a good wisdom. It will appear later 
 on. From the early years of his youth he was brought into the 
 services of our household. When he was a very young boy, he had 
 a most happy disposition, which followed him up to the last hour 
 of his life. Every one loved him, both friends and strangers. 
 Once he fell from the high roof of our house in Akka, but no 
 
 81 
 
harm came to him. No sooner had he struck the ground than he 
 got up and walked away. It is most strange how at times fate 
 overtakes a man. Truly I say he was a dutiful young man and his 
 passing away from this life was surrounded with happy and aus 
 picious signs. 
 
 The length or shortness of life is not considered important, 
 whether a man lives a few years or a hundred years. The purpose 
 of his life is to achieve some definite results. If the tree of 
 his life does not yield those luscious fruits, the purpose of 
 his existence has not been accomplished, even if he has lived 
 many years, but if he has lived only a few years and the tree of 
 his life has attained to fruition he has obtained spiritual 
 success. Consequently, the duration of life is a conditional 
 matter, subject to the will of God. For example, this stone has 
 existed two thousand, twenty thousand years, but it has not ad 
 vanced beyond the mineral kingdom. It has not yet achieved its 
 final result . Again, a merchant goes to his office every day in 
 the year. He plans commercial enterprises, undertakes vast 
 schemes, organizes large companies, but at the end of the year he 
 has not gained any profit. On the other hand another merchant, 
 through one stroke of good fortune gains large profits in one 
 day. The former merchant, although he worked hard all through 
 the year did not achieve any success, while the latter, although 
 he worked only one day, yet the outcome of his activity was 
 prosperous. 
 
 Now, praise be to God, that Bashir obtained the most great 
 result from his blessed life. When I visited him the other 
 night, I found him in a semiconscious condition. He opened his 
 eyes, looked into my face and said: * Allah o Abha! and I an 
 swered him back * Allah o Abha ! In brief , God doeth whatsoever He 
 willeth, and commandeth whatsoever He desireth. No one can in 
 quire into the wisdom of His actions. 
 
 What a happy youth he was. How good-natured he was. What a 
 sweet temper he had. What a simple disposition he displayed. 
 What a lovable character he possessed. What a firm faith he 
 manifested. His manners conveyed courtesy and politeness to 
 everyone. He was kind to all. He served all the friends irre 
 spective of their station in life. He was never cross. Often I 
 punished him, but my punishment. a never made him sad or unhappy. 
 Once I did beat him, but he did not become disconsolate, because 
 my aim was to educate and train him. Most wonderful! The more 
 I punished him, the greater became his love. On the other hand, 
 there are some people, that if I should welcome them with a tardy 
 Marhaba they would become offended, but Bashir was just the oppo 
 site from this. .Whenever I chastised him, he became happy. Firia- 
 
 82 
 
ness and steadfastness became manifest under these conditions. For 
 the right kind of correction leads to improvement of human char 
 acter. 
 
 On the following day we two Americans took a walk up to the 
 Carmelite .Monastery of Mar Elias on the promontory of Mount 
 Carmel. There below the high altar of the chapel is the rock 
 cave where the prophet Elias lived. It is a spot venerated 
 alike by Christian, Jew, and Moslem. 
 
 On the way thither we could look down into the little Bahai 
 cemetery at the foot of the mountain, where repose the mortal 
 remains of a number of the faithful servants of the Cause. 
 
 In view, just across the bay, was the fortress where Baha- 
 o llah, Abdul Baha, and so many of the followers were confined, 
 while some houses, partially hidden by trees on the plain at a 
 little distance from the city, was named Behji, where Baha- 
 o *llah spent much time during the latter years of His Mission, 
 where He died, and where His tomb now is. 
 
 On account of conditions we were not able to visit either 
 Akka or Behji, but we did not feel any privation, for we were 
 with Abdul Baha. who is the living exponent of the spirit of 
 Baha o llah. 
 
 In one of his afternoon talks Abdul Baha spoke of the Com 
 mittee of Investigation sent from Constantinople by the old des 
 potic government under Sultan Abdul Hamid to raake away with him 
 and to destroy the Cause. His words seemed prompted by the en 
 trance of his son- in-low, Mirza Hadi Effendi, who was just from 
 Akka and Abou Sinan. Looking at him he asked: 
 
 How are the friends? Are they well? 
 
 *I strive always to be the means of the tranquillity and 
 composure of the friends. Man must ever try to be the cause of 
 the happiness and security of his fellow-beings. At the time of 
 the arrival of the Investigation Committee all the means of com 
 munication were closed. Spies were stationed all around, calum 
 nies and falsehoods were hurled broadcast, and the enemies, both 
 in Akka and in other places, were united against us, drawing up 
 a number of false reports and sending them to the authorities in 
 Constantinople to instigate them and arouse their suspicion so 
 that they might make more close our confinement. It is evident 
 from these remarks how difficult it was to attend to anything. 
 One of their accusations was that I was trying to lay the foun- 
 
 83 
 

 ABDUL BAHA WITH SOME OF HIS ORIENTAL 
 FRIENDS AT HIS HOME IN HAIFA 
 
 fm 
 
 & r^ 
 
 ABDUL BAHA WALKING ON THE TERRACE BEFORE 
 
 THE TOMB OF THE BAB THE PROMONTORY OF 
 
 MOUNT CARMEL IS IN THE DISTANCE 
 
 84 
 
dation of a new sovereignty. Another was that I had built a 
 fortress on the slope of Mount. Carmel which would have a command 
 ing situation of the vicinity. Again, another thing was that I 
 had made a new flag to lead my increasing army into the active 
 field, that I had shown this flag to the inhabitants of Akka, and 
 through Mirza Zekrollah I had sent this flag through the sur 
 rounding cities, and throngh Sheik Mahmoud I had forwarded it to 
 the Arabian tribes and Bedouins in the interior, demanding their 
 allegiance and obedience. With the assistance of the Nakazeen# 
 all these reports were concocted and sent to the Sublime Porte, 
 Mirza Mohammed Ali##took a large piece of white cloth and had 
 written on it the words Ya Baha El Abha, telling them that 
 this was the flag that I had made, and. delivered it into the 
 hands of the enemies that it might be forwarded to Constanti 
 nople. The president of this Committee, who was promised the Gov 
 ernorship of Beirut, at the time declared that the first thing 
 that he would do would be to cut me into two pieces and hang me 
 on the gate of Akka as a warning to others . 
 
 In short, my aim was this, that during these stirring days. I 
 sent away seventy of the believers to Egypt, Russia, and various 
 parts. 
 
 Among those persons whom I sent away was this Mirza Assad- 
 "o*llah# and his wife. At that time I provided sufficient and 
 adequate travelling expenses for everyone. I borrowed the money 
 from an American who lived in Paris. In short, I offered myself 
 for a target for every calamity and affliction. Then a steamer 
 arrived in the Bay of Akka to take me away secretly. The person 
 through whom this was arranged is now living here. When this 
 matter was arranged, I called in Seyed Ali Akbar, Aga Seyed 
 Yahya, Mirza Assad o llah, Aga Riaa, Mirza Mahmoud, and Mirza Hay - 
 der Ali,## and told them that everything was prepared for my de 
 parture, that a steamer was in the port to take me away, that I 
 should be let down from the wall of the fortress by a rope, ride 
 rapidly in a carriage, climb into a boat, and board the ship. 
 Now you consult about this matter and see whether I should go or 
 not. This group deliberated and finally decided that I should 
 go. They came to me and said: This is very good. This is an 
 excellent plan. Please go away ana leave this present condi 
 tion. We have unanimously decided upon this matte . 
 
 #Those who deny and oppose the Cause. 
 
 ## One of the deniers who opposes the Cause. 
 
 # A Persian. 
 
 ## Names of some Bahais. 
 
 86 
 
Then I told them I would not go. Baha o llah. did not leave. 
 The Bab did not leave, and I shall not leave. It is not good 
 for the Cause of aod. The well-being of the Cause of God de 
 mands my presence here. Then other events followed each other, 
 and the members of the Investigation Committee left these parts. 
 Before they reached Constantinople the Cannon of God boomed 
 forth and. the voice of freedom was raised, aud the Committee of 
 Union and Progress established a constitutional regime in Turkey. 
 
 The four members of the Committee all came to dire endings. 
 One of them was shot with three bullets, the second was exiled, 
 the third met a cruel end, and the fourth ran away to Egypt and 
 went to the friends, asking for financial assistance, which he 
 received. Before that his servant robbed hiiL of all his posses 
 sions and he did not have enough money to go from Cairo to Alex 
 andria. When the friends of Egypt wrote to me about his plight, 
 I answered them back to give him ten pounds, but they could not 
 find him for he had disappeared. The upshot of these remarks is 
 this, that man must ever think of the protection of others and 
 not of himself. * * 
 
 Shortly before the end of our visit the night came for the 
 party of students to leave for the opening of their university 
 work in Beirut. 
 
 Coming to them in the late afternoon, Abdul Baha said: 
 
 * I have heard that you are leaving today. Then I said to 
 rayself, I shall go to them to express my farewell. Praise be to 
 God thftt you have spent a delightful Summer on the slope of Mount 
 Carmel. The weather was bracing. The scenery was superb. The 
 garden was beautiful . The flowers were fragrant. The country 
 was verdant. You enjoyed the possession of such large airy 
 rooms, whose windows opened out on the blue sea. You were liv 
 ing in the neighborhood of the Holy Tomb of the Bab. Prom every 
 standpoint God s blessings were complete. I hope that you have 
 enjoyed exceedingly your sojourn in this sacred spot. 
 
 Now you are leaving for the college. Praise be to God that 
 the Bahai students in Beirut are well known for the beauty of 
 their character, the purity of their deeds, and *h^ loftiness of 
 their morality. Prom whomsoever one inquires about the Bahai 
 students they will receive unstinted praise. This is through the 
 Favors and Bounties of the Blessed Beauty who has assisted you 
 to attain such a high station. For you have lived in such a 
 manner, which has become conducive to the glorification of the 
 Cause of God. Baha o llah is pleased with you. All of the peo 
 ple are pleased with you. I an pleased with you, and the 
 
 86 
 
friends of God are pleased with you. This is the special Divine 
 Bounty which is realized at rare intervals. If one asks any 
 person concerning the Bahai students, he will answer, in reality 
 they are intelligent, sober, industrious, dilligent, displaying 
 good manners and behavior, and concentrating all their attention 
 on the acquirement of knowledge. They do not at all spend their 
 time in frivolous amusements and distracting recreations. Even 
 the enemies testify to your spotless character. I hope that 
 through the Favor and Bounty of the Blessed Beauty, His Holi 
 ness, The Bab, and the ineffable blessings which hallow this 
 Holy Shrine, the confirmations of the Kingdom of Abha may encir 
 cle you, and that you may be characterized with the shining 
 qualities and brilliant attributes of the Bahai life. Day by day 
 may your morality become more refined. May, day by day, your 
 faJth and assurance be increased. May, day by day, ycur attrac 
 tion toward the Kingdom be intensified. May, day by day, your 
 grasp and attainment in sciences and arts become more universal. 
 Perchance, God willing, ycu may become perfect and accomplished 
 from every standpoint and be the means of the enlightenment of 
 Persia. The horizon of the general morality is very dark; per- 
 adventure , through your instrumentality, the people may be 
 brought back into the realm of light, and that each one of you 
 may become like a shining candle in the lamp of Persia. It has 
 been said that often one soul is equal to a thousand persons. God 
 willing, each one of you may become like unto a hundred thousand 
 souls. This is not impossible of realisation, for the Bounties 
 and Favors of God are unlimited. Do not be astonished at this, 
 neither be ye ever discouraged. When His Grace descends, the ant 
 is changed into a mighty king, the plant grows into a huge tree, 
 the grain of sand into a lofty mountain, the atom becomes a sun. 
 When we consider the Favor and Bounty of God we realize that 
 all these things are made possible. You must not regard ycur own 
 limited capabilities, but tarn your eyes toward the unlimited 
 Fountain of Divine Grace. He makes the shepherd, Abouzer Gaf- 
 fary; the date -seller, Amanar Basscl; the oaptive, Salman; 
 (these persons were of poor origin like the disciples of Christ, 
 but became famous in the Islamic world because they believed in 
 Mohammed during His life) the fisherman, Peter. In brief, there 
 are many such instances in the religious history of the world 
 which are accounted the miracles of each dispensation. These 
 things do not happen at the other periods of huinar, history. They 
 are the special privileges of the early days of the Manifesta 
 tion. For this reason Baha o llah says in the Kitab el Akdas : 
 I shall cause the highest to become the lowest, and the lowest 
 to become the highest. Tt is also revealed in the Koran: We 
 desire to surround with a special privilege those who are weak 
 and lowly upon the earth. We shall make them a nation and the 
 inheritors of great things. 
 
 87 
 
Praise be to God that from the tender years of your life you 
 have entered the Shade of the Divine Tree and are intoxicated 
 with the choice wine from the Divine Goblet. I trust and hope 
 that each one of you will rise higher and higher until yen at 
 tain to the apex of human and divine perfections. * 
 
 Speaking about the Persian Bahai students in Beirut and the 
 confidence of the president of the college in them, Abdul Baha 
 said: 
 
 He trusts them. Confidence is the cornerstone of all of 
 life s activities. 
 
 Then Abdul Baha left the young men, but a few hours later, 
 when they were ready to leave for the harbor where their steamer 
 was lying at anchor, he came to them again for a final parting 
 word. 
 
 Night had fallen as he came out of the little house near the 
 tomb and down to where the group was gathered, saying: 
 
 May you ever be under the protection and preservation of 
 God. May yoxi ever be confirmed and assisted. I will always 
 remember you and beg for each one of you heavenly Grace and 
 Divine Beatitude. Rest ye assured, for ye are ever under the 
 canopy of Celestial Virtues. God willing, the fame of your 
 sterling characters, your spiritual qualities, and selfless 
 deeds may be spread more widely than formerly. Give my greet 
 ings and salutation to the president and those professors whom I 
 have met. Tell them I shall pray for them and am very pleased 
 with their attitude and courtesy toward you. " 
 
 I will always recall Abdul Baha as he left them with this 
 parting benediction. He walked up the hill and disappeared be 
 hind a clump of trees and shrubs in front of the house, his gar 
 ments swaying in the wind, a solitary figure, silhouetted 
 against the light of the rising moon. It was indeed a never-to- 
 be-forgotten picture of him who summons all men to love, harmony, 
 and peace ! 
 
 * 
 
 It was with much feeling we bade adieu to our young friends 
 at the foot of the mountain, particularly to our Persian travel 
 ling companion, Mirza Azizollah Bahadur, who through kindness 
 and devotion had proven himself a real friend, and whom we had 
 grown to love devotedly. Having finished his studies, our other 
 Persian fellow pilgrim, Dr. Habibollah, was remaining on indefi- 
 
 88 
 
nitely in Haifa, awaiting the advice of AMul Baha regarding his 
 next mission. 
 
 In Haifa and Akka, where the center of the Bahai Cause is, 
 there is b;:t little for the ardent Bahai to do in service for 
 the Cause. There Abdul Baha himself is carrying the burden of 
 affairs, anu to him from time to time the various friends go for 
 inspiration and for enlightenment, then going forth to their 
 various fields in distant lands charged with a new power, and 
 more zealous than ever to serve in the Cause. 
 
 Curiously enough, one often does not care to remain on in 
 definitely in the presence of Abdul Baha, for when the soul is 
 filled and overflowing with that spirit which he so freely radi 
 ates, one s desire seems to be to go forth and to share this gift 
 with others. 
 
 Such was our experience when Abdul Baha called us to him and 
 told us that he wished us to go forth again into the field. Our 
 hearts were overflowing with the love of the Kingdom, and human 
 and weak creatures that we were, our greatest joy lay in the 
 thought of taking this joy forth and sharing it with others . 
 
 Calling us two Americans to him, Abdul Baha said: 
 
 You have undertaken much trouble in coming here. You must 
 be very rejoiced because you have come to this sacred spot and 
 worshipped at the Holy Torab of the Bab. For many days you 
 have associated with me, and I have enjoyed your visit, and I hope 
 that good results will issue therefrom. Today, whosoever is a 
 herald of the Covenant is the light of the regions. In the Su 
 preme Concourse the heavenly cohorts of the Kingdom of Abha are 
 arrayed, expecting to see who will enter the arena of service to 
 the Covenant. Thus they may rush forward to reinforce, to 
 strengthen, and to confer upon him triumph. In brief, be ye 
 overflowing with joy, be ye overflowing with happiness, fur ye 
 are the objects of the Favor of the Blessed Beauty. Be ye full 
 cf clamor and exclamation like unto a cup which is overflowing 
 to the brim. 
 
 The Heavenly music is heart ravishing. That melody pene 
 trated the heart of man. That clarion bestows on man spiritual 
 ity and joy. That music awakens man out of the sleep of negli 
 gence, but the majority of mankind are not endowed with ears to 
 listen to t.uat joy-giving melody because their ears are accus 
 tomed to discord. They are not attuned to the celestial strains 
 and divine ^a.-ys. 
 
 89 
 
Perchairje God will enable you to suffer the people to hear 
 the Divine Song and the Heavenly Music. The- church-bell ;r.usic 
 is the result of metallic elements, but the notes which emanate 
 from the throat of a living temple of holiness stir the hearts 
 and the souls. 
 
 Truly I say, I am well satisfied with both of you, for you 
 have consecrated your lives to the Cause of God; you have no 
 other aim save calling the people to the Kingdom of God; your 
 hearts are empty; they are not preoccupied nor engaged with 
 other immaterial affairs. Praise be to God that your minds are 
 sanctified and holy. I am sure you will be confirmed and as 
 sisted in all things. There are many heralds in this world. 
 Here is a herald who summons the people to the love and defense 
 of their country, calling at the top of his voice: *0, my coun 
 try; 0, my beloved country! There is a herald who blows the 
 bugle of New Nationalism. Here is another herald who calls the 
 people to politics, in order that he may wield great power of 
 State. There is another person who is a herald of literature and 
 science. Here you find a soul who is the herald of commercial 
 interests and its expansion; and there is still another herald who 
 sounds the trumpet of war and militarism, but praise be to God, 
 that you are the heralds of the Kingdom of God. All thest con 
 tending voices which are raised in the world today will ere long 
 be silenced and hushed, but the call of the Kingdom of God will 
 gain volume and impetus day by day. The popularity of these 
 worldly heralds may last for a year or two. but the fame of the 
 souls who are the heralds of the Kingdom is eternal, for They 
 are sounding the trumpet of celestial, universal peace. Their 
 voices will ring throughout future centuries and will be immor 
 tal and age -abiding. Thank ye God that ye arc the heralds of 
 the Kingdom of Abha, the heralds of the Covenant of the Almighty. 
 All other voices will be repressed, but this harmonic song of 
 the kingdom of peace and truth is eternal and everlasting. 
 
 Now I desire to send you back to the United States. I sup- 
 plioate and beseech at the Threshold of the Kingdom of Abha that 
 you may go forth with a heavenly power, wit.a radiant hearts, 
 
 elestial souls, and with breaths imbued with the Fragran 
 ces of the Holy Spirit! May you be confirmed, ar.d assisted, and. 
 may you raise such a melody, and sing such a. song as to stir and 
 move the hearts of the American people. I anticipate to receive 
 glad news from you. 
 
 Looking at. us he said smiling: 
 
 You are two good friends. In conduct, in manners, in tem 
 perament, and in sociability you are one. 
 
 90 
 
It will be well for you to make another tour of the United 
 States and Hawaii to teach and to proclaim the Cause of God in 
 the outlying assemblies. 
 
 On this trip I hope tnat both of you will return to America 
 with a new power, filled with the glad tidings of the Kingdom. 
 Be ye full of joy to such an extent that in whichever meeting 
 you enter those present muy be permeated wiuh a spirit of heav 
 enly blessedness. 
 
 When yoa return to America say to all the believers in my 
 behalf that whenever a person comes to that country, no matter 
 to what nationality he may belong, and tries to collect money in 
 my name know that it has no connection with me. I am free from 
 it. Whosoever asks for money for me, does so of his own voli 
 tion. There are some people who desire to collect money under 
 all kinds of pretexts. I desire to impress upon your minds that 
 I have nothing to do with such affairs. I never ask anyone to 
 send me money. Whosoever loves money does not love God, and who 
 soever loves God does not love money. On the other hand, if some 
 of the believers voluntarily desire to help and assist one an 
 other, or some philanthropic institution, whose objects are for 
 the public welfare and progress, it is very good and praise 
 worthy. I do not desire that anyone may ask money in my name for 
 any affair. The souls must be detached from the world. Those 
 sorls who are attached to this world and its wealth are deprived 
 of spiritual advancement. The believers must live such an inde 
 pendent life r,hat if one comes and begs them to accept money 
 they should refuse him. As long as the souls are not severed, 
 how do they expect to journey along the ideal path? 
 
 On the eve of my departure from New York I told a number of 
 believers tnat His Holiness, Christ, has stated that when you 
 leave a city, shake its dust from off your feet. So far, very 
 few people nave lived according to this behest, but it is my 
 will to live accordingly. Before coming to America the believ 
 ers of God, through Mirza Ahmad, offered fcr ray travelling ex 
 penses $16, ,00, but I did not. accept one cent. Man must live in 
 the utmost sanctity and purity, and he must ever think to assist 
 others and not to beg assistance. 
 
 In short, I am sending you away. I supplicate and entreat 
 confirmation for you. I beg strength and power for you. I hope 
 that the confirmations of the Kingdom of Abha may encircle you, 
 % . and that you may become the means of the guidance of the people. 
 With reinforced hearts, strong resolution, and heavenly assist 
 ance may you loose your tongues, deliver eloquent speeches, and 
 promote the Word of God. 
 
 91 
 
ABDUL BAHA AND A GROUP OF BELIEVERS 
 AT THE TOMB OF THE BAB 
 
 ABDUL BAHA WITH A GROUP OF BELIEVERS 
 AT HIS HOUSE IN HAIFA 
 
 92 
 
May you ever be confirmed and assisted; may you ever be il 
 lumined; may you ever be the racans of the guidance of the peo 
 ple; may you ever breathe the breath of Iif3 in the hearts; m-/.y 
 you be the signs of mercy to all mankind; may you be the shinir-g 
 lamps of severance and detachment in this dork world.* 
 
 Such were Abdul Baha s words of parting blessing and encour 
 agement to us as we turned our faces westw^id toward America, 
 hoping and -crusting that by this Bounty of God we would be spir 
 itually reinforced to do the work before u. 
 
 Brief visits with the Bahai friends in Port Said and in Ram- 
 leh near Alexandria closed our experiences in the Orient. A few 
 days waiting between steamers in Naples, with a trip to Rome, 
 and we were sailing for America, where we landed a little after 
 the middle of November and continued our travels westward, 
 visiting the various Bahai centers near the Atlantic Coast and 
 across the States and on the Pacific coast, and then we took ship 
 for the Hawaiian Islands, where we arrived in the early Spring. 
 After a few weeks with the friends in Hawaii, together with 
 a party, we returned to California, that we might attend 
 the International Bahai Congress, held in San Francisco under 
 the auspice? of the Panama Pacific Exposition, where Bahai rep 
 resentatives assembled from many cities. After this convention 
 we parted, Mr. Latimer returning to his home in Oregon, while I 
 returned to Honolulu, where I now am. 
 
 We are both hoping and anticipating that Abdul Baha may 
 again give us another opportunity to travel , and together at 
 tempt to serve the Bahai Cause. 
 
 The great lesson which we learned from Abdul Baha during 
 this visit was the power of the penetrative spirit of the Bahai 
 Cause. I wont to him feeling strong in the letter of the 
 teaching, but found myself weak in its spirit, and he made me 
 realize as never before that the letter devoid of the spirit 
 killeth that which we would bring about. 
 
 Love ard harmony can only be established through love and 
 harmony. Tt is only through being in spiritual harmony oneself, 
 and truly loving humanity that one can possibly work in the 
 Bahai Cause and bring harmony and peace to the hungering souls 
 of the world. 
 
 93 
 
The deep realization of this came to me while I was with 
 Abdul Baha, not from any one definite word v/hich he said to us, 
 but simply through the awakening which comes to those sou. s who 
 make a point cf spiritual contact with him, lor to be in his 
 spiritual presence is in itself that which arouses one ar.d makes 
 one awake and alive to the realities of the Bahai Cause. 
 
 Those who have met Abdul Baha and recognize his spiritual 
 station realize that in him there is a power for fraternal love 
 before which enmity and prejudice cannot st&.nd, and in propor 
 tion as people recognize this power and its source and live the 
 life in accordance with it the Peace of God which we all so de 
 sire will come and dwell with us here upon earth. 
 
 FINIS . 
 
IV 
 
 THE BAHAI CAUSE 
 
 AND 
 PEACE 
 
 95 
 
THE BAH/ I CAUSE AND PEACE 
 
 These are days of trouble and bloodshed. The great world 
 powers are engaged in a war, the horrors of which surpass those 
 of all past ages. Above the din of battle is heard the wailing 
 of the multitudes of those made homeless, childless, husband- 
 less, and fatherless through material greec"! and hatred, while 
 even in those countries not directly engaged in the conflict the 
 masses of the people are suffering because cf the depression 
 material and moral, both produced directly and indirectly by the 
 war. 
 
 These conditions all taken together are causing people to 
 think, and for the first time in history hu.rca.nity as a whcle has 
 had forced tpon it for consideration the universal question of 
 war or peace. 
 
 The problem in the minds of thinking people is this: Is hu 
 manity to continue indefinitely this struggle between nations, 
 with its seasons of war separated by longer or shorter periods 
 of so-called peace, during which the nations are recuperating 
 and renewing their engine t, of destruction in order to enter 
 again into open conflict, destroying that which has taken years 
 of labor to construct, or has the time not come for a change 
 from this archaic system cf destruction to one of justice, co 
 operation, and construction between the nations, a system con 
 ducive to peace? 
 
 Upon this question the world is now divided. On the cne 
 hand are the extreme militarists, who hold that the peace and 
 prosperity of the nations can only be maintained, by developing 
 and maintaining the military strength of the individual nation, 
 that the world progresses through military valor, and that peace 
 is devitalizing to a nation, and without war a. people became ef 
 feminate and decadent. 
 
 Then, upon the other hand, are pacifists who hold the view 
 quite opposed to that of the militarists; namely, that peace and 
 co-operation and not military conflict and destruction are the 
 conditions under which the highest virtues of man are born and 
 develop. 
 
 World conditions in this twentieth centnr/ are not what they 
 were in pa-^t epochs. In the present time through travel, com 
 munication, and commerce the interdependence of peoples and 
 nations has become a recognized factor heretofore compara^ively 
 non-existent, which now has to be met by the world. 
 
 96 
 
In primitive times in sparsely populated countries, where 
 families were separated by distances, individual feuds, quarrels, 
 and warfare were the rule; but as the lands filled up, cities 
 grew, and people lived in closer contact or.e with another, con 
 ditions changed so that co-operation between individuals became 
 necessary and conducive to the best good of all. When the ma 
 jority of the people in a land wanted law and order they estab 
 lished it, and with an adequate police force order was forced up 
 on the disorderly members of society, and in this way life was 
 made safe for the mass of the people. Thus conditions changed 
 so that co-operation between individuals became conducive to the 
 best good of all. 
 
 In other words, conditions had changed, and it no longer be 
 ing possible for one man to enrich himself at the expense of his 
 neighbor through pillage nd theft they then began to co-oper 
 ate, and ir this new state of interdependence each found his 
 horizon of life enlarged and his scope for development increased. 
 
 From the material standpoint a parallel may here be drawn 
 between the development of peace between families and between 
 nations. In past epochs nations and peoples were separated by 
 geographic boundaries, not easily surmountable. In those days it 
 was possible for the people of cne country to invade the terri 
 tory of another nation and enrich themselves by carrying off 
 booty and plunder, (in those times often in the form of bullion 
 and slaves) and thus from the material standpoint prosper 
 through war; but now in this day those ancient conditions no 
 longer exist. Now nations are so dependent upon one another for 
 finances, foodstuffs, and supplies of all kinds, as well as for 
 the output of their own prodiacts, that their welfare and pros 
 perity now no longer depend upon war but upon peace, no longer 
 upon conquest, but upon co-operation with neighboring nations. 
 
 In this present time nations lose far more through war than 
 they possibly can gain. Were any one cf th^ European nations 
 now at war to gain an overwhelming victory over its adversaries, 
 it would be impossible for it to exact sufficient tribute to rec 
 ompense it for the material outlay, the loss of life, and the 
 many terrible after-effects of war which it would suffer. Thus 
 war has become a losing proposition, one doomed to loss even be 
 fore entered upon. 
 
 This interdependence of nations and peoples is an entirely 
 new phase of world progress, which now for the first time 
 needs to be reckoned with in dealing with military matter?. 
 
 Through the development of national military power and pre 
 paredness for war, so fervently advocated by many as a national 
 
 97 
 
protection and a means for peace, instead of making for peace 
 has quite the opposite effect, for such makes for war. A standing 
 army and a large and increasing navy is not only a great eco 
 nomic drain upon a people, but that system in itself keeps alive 
 the spirit of war; it tends to make a people proud and over 
 bearing, and thus furthers the spirit of fear and hatred between 
 peoples, reoe?, and nations, thus psychologically laying the 
 foundation for strife through the mental and moral destructive 
 influences. 
 
 The system of militarism keeps the spirit of war alive, 
 keeps the people in training for war, and places in their hands 
 and ready for use at all times the engines and instruments of 
 war, thus making war possible at short notice and little provo 
 cation. 
 
 It is a recognized fact that with a large and a growing arma 
 ment and a standing army in training for war the time comes when 
 the people want to fight, and when a people want to fight, like 
 individual. ander the power of the same fight thought, sooner or 
 later they will fight. 
 
 Thus the means of war can be said to have become a cause of 
 war, in that these means exert both a conscious and an uncon 
 scious inf lac-nee for war, increasing hatred between the nations 
 and races, all of which must be considered as fundamental ele 
 ments in the general psychology of war, which psychology is the 
 real underlying cause of wars of aggression. 
 
 While vicious marauders must be restrained by force, and the 
 weaker and innocent must be protected by force, nevertheless, 
 the power which will bring about a real and a lasting peace must 
 be a spiritual power which will strike at and overcome the root 
 or the prirrai cause of ws.r. 
 
 Such a power is the Bahai spirit, and it is acting in this 
 most important matter. 
 
 In order to abolish t.ie causes of war, a blow must be struck 
 at all hatred and enmity between classes, races, nations, and 
 religions, and at the greed and avarice inherent in savage men. 
 These disturbing causes are at root in the soul of man. As the 
 actions of peoples as well as of individuals are but the reflection 
 of their thoughts and ideals, action, national as well as indi 
 vidual, can be traced back to the general and personal thought of 
 the people. The power of imagination is a far greater element 
 in life than material considerations, for the -actions of people 
 are ruled by the power of their sentiments, thoughts, affec 
 tions, and prejudices, and material desires. 
 
 98 
 
The cause of this present war is greed, national prejudice, 
 pride, hatred, and fear, all of which causes have their root in 
 the soul of man and arise through a lack of spiritual assurance, 
 poise, and development. 
 
 Peace can only be permanently established by freeing the 
 world from this obsession of war-thought, by freeing the people 
 from greed, fear, desire of aggression, and from racial, na 
 tional, and religious prejudices, all of which make up the cause of 
 war. 
 
 Because of this present war already the vast majority of the 
 thinking public are alive to this need of the day, and they real 
 ize that this question of universal peace is by far the most 
 important issue at present before the world. 
 
 The real inner peace cannot be objectively forced upon a 
 people or peoples. It cannot come from without, it nmst be 
 born from within, spiritually and psychologically in a people 
 before it begins to be manifest in their civic and national 
 life, and now the question is: how is this inner change to be ac 
 complished? How are prejudice, hate, and materialism to be 
 overcome . 
 
 The Bahais meet this question with a positive teaching in 
 woid and deed of the Divine love principle of trxie religion. 
 
 The Bahai Movement is the universal religious cause of this 
 new age. It stands for the Oneness in spirit and in deed of all 
 peoples of all religions, races, and nations. It therefore 
 deals directly or indirectly with all human problems. 
 
 One of the Bahai principles is that of universal peace. 
 This subject of peace is uppermost in the mind of the world at 
 the present time and the happiness, the well-being, and the prog 
 ress of mankind depends upon the solution of the problem. 
 
 In the problem of international peace as well as in all 
 other problems the Bahai Teaching holds aloft a high spiritual 
 ideal which must be realized in deeds and actions. * "These are 
 the days of faith and deeds, not the days of words and lip serv 
 ice.* * The effect of deeds is in truth more powerful than 
 that of words. Deeds reveal the station of the man. Such 
 are the maxims of the Bahai Teaching. Therefore, in advancing 
 the ideal of peace upon earth it is not merely advanced as an 
 ethereal dream not to be realized, but along with this ideal are 
 certain international reforms and institutions for which the 
 Bahais stand, and through the founding of which they realize 
 
 99 
 
ABDUL BAHA WITH A GROUP OP BAHAIS 
 AT THE TOMB OP THE BAB 
 
 ABDUL BAHA WITH A GROUP OP BAHAIS 
 AT HIS HOME IN HAIFA 
 
 100 
 
that war and strife will cease and a constructive system of co 
 operation will take the place of the present and past strife and 
 hatred between nations. 
 
 The Bahai Cause teaches that brotherly love is the means 
 through which the true civilization of humanity will be real 
 ized. Prejudice and hatred, be it between peoples of different 
 classes, nations, races, or religions, is a destructive factor 
 in the world and is the cause of the retrogression of the race. 
 Therefore, the followers of the Bahai Movement, in order to firmly 
 lay a foundation for human solidarity, are doing their ut 
 most to destroy these various forms of animosity and prejudice 
 by striving to implant in people s hearts the principles of the 
 love of humanity. 
 
 Pure religious truth is in perfect harmony with the reason 
 and the science of the age, before which light the superstitions 
 and imaginations which have coiae down from the past are dispelled 
 and dissipated. All men are exhorted to investigate, each 
 for himself, the realities of religion, accepting nothing 
 through tradition and hearsay. 
 
 Thus by a careful study of the reality underlying all relig 
 ions, and through the light of this present day teaching, the 
 fundamental oneness of all religions will be understood. This 
 is the foundation of the universal religious ideal, from which 
 is growing the new order of a universal spirit of faith, which 
 is the mainspring of the great universal civilization of man 
 kind which is to be. 
 
 Along with these high spiritual ideals must come their ex 
 pression in daily life and material matters. Children of both 
 sexes must be educated and trained, women must be given equal 
 rights with men, and means must be devised so that neither indi 
 viduals nor classes of individuals shall be deprived of their 
 just portion of the fruits and material blessings of the earth. 
 
 These reforms can only come about, and this millennial state 
 of humanity can only be attained through establishing in the 
 heart of humanity the true spirit of the religion of God. This 
 is true civilization, for true civilization only follows and is 
 produced by true religion. 
 
 True religion, morality, and the accompanying high ideals 
 have always gone hand in hand with human uplift and progress, 
 and conversely in times when irreligion and immorality have pre 
 vailed with the inevitable lowering of all ideals, nations have 
 retrograded, and civilization has fallen and decayed, and the 
 people have been in manifest loss. 
 
 101 
 
Even in reading this brief sketch of some of the Bahai prin 
 ciples it will be seen that each is a necessary element and a 
 part of the real peace and prosperity of the world, so that the 
 doctrine of universal peace very properly belongs in the Bahai 
 philosophy and is one of its most important principles. 
 
 Baha o llah wrote: Let not a man glory that he loves his 
 country, but rather let him glory that he loves his kind, and 
 in speaking of this Cause he is reported to have once said: We 
 desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the 
 nations; that all nations shall become one in faith, and all men 
 as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the 
 sons of men shall be strengthened; that diversity of religion 
 shall cease and differences of race be annulled. So it shall 
 be. These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass 
 away, and the Most Great Peace shall come. In the writings 
 of Baha o llah and of Abdul Baha are numerous treatises regard 
 ing peace and unity, all of which taken together form the teach 
 ing and the attitude of the movement toward this subject, nor is 
 the teaching indirect and vague in the methods it advances for 
 the establishment of harmony between nations. The nations 
 should come together and establish an international Court of Ar 
 bitration, supporting and enforcing its international decisions. 
 Besides police forces in each country sufficient to maintain 
 national order, an international police force should be insti 
 tuted in order to enforce the just decrees of the international 
 Court of Arbitration, so that if one nation should threaten the 
 peace and tranquillity of the world it could be forced into line 
 with the others without the horrors of a prolonged war. Such 
 measures, together with the strict neutrality of those nations 
 not implicated in the international dispute, and their refusal 
 to send either munitions of war or lend financial aid to bellig 
 erent, nations, would very shortly do away with the possibility 
 of war from a material standpoint, as the constructive teaching 
 of peace principles and true religion, though but slowly, now 
 is, nevertheless, surely eradicating the war thought from the 
 minds of men. 
 
 About forty years ago a book was written by one who was ever 
 under the training and protection of Baha o llah, one who even 
 then was prominent in the Bahai Cause as a teacher and a phil 
 osopher. This work was published under the title of The Mys 
 terious Forces of Civilization, and is an anonymous exposition 
 of Bahai thought and ideals relative to both national and inter 
 national affairs. Although at that time the attention of the 
 world had not been called to arbitration and universal peace, 
 nevertheless, even more than twenty years prior to that date 
 Baha o llah was laying the foundation for world conciliation. 
 
 102 
 
The following excerpt from the book in question mentions ar 
 bitration backed up by a limited military force as an institu 
 tion through which war may be eliminated: 
 
 Yea, the true civilization will raise its banner in the 
 center of the world, when some noble kings of high ambitions, the 
 bright Suns of the World of humanitarian enthusiasm shall, for 
 the good and happiness of all the human race, step forth with 
 firm resolution and keen strength of mind, and hold a conference 
 on the question of universal peace; when, keeping fast hold of 
 the means of enforcing their views they shall establish a union 
 of the States of the world, and conclude a definite treaty and 
 strict alliance between them upon conditions not to be evaded. 
 When the whole human race should have been consulted through 
 their representatives and invited to corroborate this treaty, 
 which verily would be a treaty of universal peace and would be 
 accounted sacred by all the peoples of the earth, it would be the 
 duty of the united powers of the world to see that this great 
 treaty should be strengthened and should endure . 
 
 In such a universal treaty the limits of the borders and 
 boundaries of every State should be fixed, and the customs and 
 laws of every government. All the agreements and the affairs of 
 State, and the arrangements between the various governments, 
 should be propounded and settled in due form. The size of the 
 armaments for each government should likewise be definitely 
 agreed upon; because, if in the case of any State there were to 
 be an increase in the preparation for war, it would be a cause 
 of alarm to the other States. At any rate, the basis of this 
 powerful alliance should be so fixed that, if one of the States 
 afterwards broke any of the articles of it, the rest of the na 
 tions of the world would rise up and destroy it. Yea, the whole 
 human race would band its forces together to exterminate it. 
 
 If so great a remedy should be applied to the sick body of 
 the world, it would certainly be the means of continually and 
 permanently healing its illness by the inculcation of "universal 
 moderation. Reflect that, under such conditions of life, no 
 government or kingdom would need to prepare and accumulate war 
 materials, or would need to pay heed to the invention of new 
 weapons of offense for the vexation and hurt of mankind. On the 
 contrary, they -would require a few soldiers, as a means of as 
 suring the safety of the State, and punishing the wicked and 
 rebellious, and preventing the growth of civil sedition. Not 
 more than these few would be needed. In the first place, there 
 fore, the servants of God, that is to say, all the inhabitants 
 of a State, would be freed from bearing the burden of the tremen 
 dous expense of an army. In the second place, the many persons who 
 now devote their lives to the invention of instruments of war 
 
 103 
 
would no longer waste their time upon such work, which but encour 
 ages ferocity and blood-thirstiness, and is repugnant to the 
 universal ideal of humanity. On the contrary, they would then 
 employ their natural gifts in the cause of the general well-be 
 ing, and would contribute towards the peace and salvation of 
 mankind. All the rulers of the world would then be settled on 
 peaceful thrones amid, the glory of a perfect civilization, and 
 all the nations and peoples would rest in the cradle of peace 
 and comfort. 
 
 Some persons who are ignorant of the world of true humanity 
 and its high ambitions for the general good reckon such a glo 
 rious condition of life to be very difficult; nay, rather impos 
 sible to compass, but it is not so. Par from it, for, by the 
 grace of God, and by the testimony of the Beloved, those near to 
 the threshold of the Creator, and by the incomparably high ambi 
 tions of the souls that are perfect, and the thoughts and opin 
 ions of the wisest men of the age, there never has been and is 
 not now anything improbable and impossible in existence. What 
 are required are the most resolved determination and the most 
 ardent enthusiasm. How many things, which in ancient times were 
 regarded as impossibilities, of such a kind that the intellect 
 could hardly conceive them, we now perceive to have become quite 
 simple and easy. Why then should this great and important mat 
 ter of universal peace, which is verily the sun amongst the 
 lights of civilization, the cause of honor, freedom, and salva 
 tion for all, be considered as something improbable of realiza 
 tion? 
 
 It is evident that the honor and greatness of man have not 
 arisen through blood-thirstiness, the destruction of cities and 
 kingdoms, the ruining and murdering of armies and peoples. On 
 the contrary, the cause of high-mindedness and prosperity is 
 based upon the cherishing of justice and the sympathy with one s 
 fellow-citizens, from the highest to the lowest, upon building 
 up the kingdom, the cities and villages, the suburbs and the 
 country, and upon the freedom and quiet of the servants of God 
 in laying down the foundations of the principles of progress, and 
 in the extension of the common weal, the increase of wealth, and 
 general prosperity. Reflect how many world -subduing kings have 
 sat on thrones as conquerors. For example, Hal akoo Khan, Ameer 
 Taimoor Koorkan, who subjugated the great continent of Asia, 
 Alexander the Macedonian, and Napoleon the First, who stretched 
 the hand of tyranny over three of the five continents of the 
 world. What advantages have resulted from these vast conquests? 
 Was any kingdom established, or any gain of happiness? Was any 
 dynasty permanently settled thereby, or did it mean merely the 
 ending of the reign of one particular dynasty? The only result 
 produced by the world-conquering operations of Halakoo and Djan- 
 
 104 
 
giz, provoking war on all sides, was that the continent of Asia 
 became like a heap of ashes beneath the blaze of his terrible 
 conflagrations . 
 
 Ameer Taimoor won no benefit by his subduing of the earth. 
 He only dispersed the people in his path and destroyed the foun 
 dations of htunanity. 
 
 The only outcome of the great conquest of Alexander the Mace 
 donian was the fall of his sun from his throne as a ruler, and 
 the passing of his dominions into the hands of Cassander, Seleu- 
 cus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus. 
 
 Napoleon the First found no benefit in his victories over 
 the kings of Europe, but he ruined well-constituted kingdoms and 
 well-cultivated countries. He destroyed hundreds of thousands 
 of men, terrorized and intimidated the whole continent of Eu 
 rope, and ended his life in a wretched captivity. Such were the 
 results left behind them by these kings and their huge con 
 quests. Now, consider carefully., in contrast, the graces and 
 the praiseworthy virtues, the high-mindedness and great dignity 
 of the just and righteous sovereign Anusheerwan. the Just. At 
 the time when that chief pillar of justice ascended the throne 
 the Persian government was shaken to its foundation by years of 
 misrule and oppression, but, by his God-given wisdom, he estab 
 lished the rcigri of equity, abolished the methods of cruelty and 
 injustice, and gathered together the dispersed people of Pers-a 
 under the protecting shadow of the wings of his sovereignty. 
 
 In a short time, under the life-giving influence of his care 
 and devotion, the decaying kingdom of Persia was quickened into 
 fresh vitality and became one of the happiest of nationalities. 
 He restored and fortified the weakened powers of the government. 
 His fame for justice spread over all the seven regions of the 
 earth, and the greater part of the peoples of the world were 
 raised, from the depths of extreme poverty and degradation to the 
 senith of honor and prosperity. 
 
 Although he belonged to the nation of Magi# and Center of 
 the Creation, Mohammed, the Sun of Truth of the heaven of pro 
 phecy uttered these blessed words concerning him: I was born in 
 the time of the Just King. He rejoiced at having been born in 
 the days of his government. Now, is that glorious monarch thus 
 esteemed for his loving peace and justice, or for the shedding of 
 blood in the overrunning of the world? 
 
 Reflect how preeminently he is distinguished in the world, 
 the center of wonders since the fame of his greatness is undying 
 on earth, and so he enjoys the glory of Eternal life. * 
 
 # Zoroastrians considered as idolaters by the ancient Moslems. 
 
 105 
 
THE VOICE 
 
 OF 
 UNIVERSAL PEACE 
 
 106 
 
THE VOICE OF UNIVERSAL PEACE 
 
 A letter written by Abdul Sana to a friend in London, Eng 
 land, dated Akka, October 11, 1914. 
 
 "After the declaration of the constitutional regime in Tur 
 key in 1908, by the members of the Committee of the Union and 
 Progress, this prisoner of forty years travelled and journeyed 
 for three years, from 1910 to 1913, throughout the countries of 
 Europe and the vast continent of America. Notwithstanding the 
 advancement in age, with its natural consequences, with a reson 
 ant voice I gave detailed addresses before large conventions and 
 historical churches. I enumerated all these principles contained 
 in the Tablets and Teachings of Baha o llah concerning war and 
 peace . 
 
 About fifty years ago His Holiness Baha o llah proclaimed 
 certain Teachings and raised the Songs of Universal Peace. In 
 numerous Tablets and sundry Epistles He foretold, in the most 
 explicit language, the present cataclysmal events, stating that 
 the world of humanity was facing the most portentous danger, and 
 asserting categorically that the realization of war was unfortu 
 nately inevitable and unavoidable, for these; combustible mate 
 rials which are stored in the infernal arsenals of Europe will 
 explode by the contact with one spark. Among other things, 
 the Balkans will become a volcano and the map of Europe will be 
 changed. For these and similar reasons He, Baha o llah, invited 
 the world of humanity to universal peace. He wrote a number 
 of epistles to the kings# and rulers, and in those epistles He 
 explained the destructive evils of war, and dwelt on the solid 
 benefits and nobler influences of universal peace. War saps the 
 foundation of humanity, emd killing is an unpardonable crime 
 against God, for man is an edifice built by the hand of the Al 
 mighty. Peace is life incarnate; war is death personified. 
 Peace is the Divine spirit; war is Satanic suggestion. Peace is 
 the light of the world; war is stygian darkness and chimerian 
 gloom. All the great prophets, ancient philosophers, and heav 
 enly books have been the harbingers of peace and monitors against 
 war and discord. This is the Divine foundation; this is the 
 Celestial outpouring; this is the basis of all the religions of 
 God. 
 
 In short, before all the meetings in the West I cried out: 
 0, ye thinkers of the world; 0, ye philosophers of the Occident; 
 
 Many extracts from these letters are now preserved in a 
 volume called L Epitre au Fils du Loup translated from Persian 
 into French by H. Dreyfus. 
 
 107 
 
ABDUL BAHA ON THE BALCONY OP IKE HOUSE 
 ON MOUNT CAKMEL 
 
 THE HOUSE WHERE ABDUL BAHA OFTEN STAYS 
 ON THE SLOPE OF MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 108 
 
0, ye scholars and sages of the earth. A threatening black cloud 
 is behind, which ere long shall envelop the horizon of human 
 ity. An impetuous tempest is ahead, which shall shatter to 
 splinters the ship of the lives of mankind, and a turbulent, fu 
 rious torrent shall soon drown the countries and nations of Eu 
 rope. Awaken ye! Awaken ye! Become ye mindful! Thus in the 
 spirit of co-operation we may all arise with the utmost magnan 
 imity, and through the favor and Providence of God hold aloft 
 the flag of the oneness of humanity, promote the essentials of 
 universal peace, and deliver the inhabitants of the world from 
 this Most Great Danger. 
 
 While travelling in Europe and America, 1 met altruistic and 
 sanctified souls, who were my confidants and associates concern 
 ing the question of universal peace, and who agreed with me and 
 joined their voices with mine regarding the principles of the 
 world of humanity; but alas, they were very few! the leaders of 
 public opinion and the great statesmen beleived that the massing 
 of huge armies and the annual increase of military forces insured 
 peace and friendship among nations. At that time I explained 
 that this theory was based on a false conception, for it is 
 an inevitable certainty that these serried ranks and disci 
 plined armies will be rushed one day into the heat of the bat 
 tlefield, and these inflammable materials will unquestionably be 
 exploded, and the explosion will be through one tiny spark. Then 
 a uorla conflagration will be witnessed, the lurid flames o ..- ." 
 which shall redden all the horiaons. Because the sphere of 
 their thoughts was contracted and their intellectual eyes blind 
 they could not acknowledge the above explanation. 
 
 From the beginning of the Balkan Confederation a number of 
 important personages inquired cf me whether this Balkan war was 
 the expected universal war, but it was answered: It will termi 
 nate in universal war. 
 
 In brief, the point to make clear is this: His Holiness, 
 Baha o llah, nearly fifty years ago warned the nations against the 
 occurrence of this Most Great Danger.* Although the evils of 
 war were evident and manifest to the sages and scholars, they 
 are iiov made clear and plain to all the people. No sane person 
 can at this time deny the fact that war is the most dreadful 
 calamity in the world of humanity, that war destroys the Divine 
 foundation, that war is the cause of eternal death, that war is 
 conducive to the destruction of populous, progressive cities, 
 that war is the world- consuming fire, and that war is the most 
 ruinous catastrophe and the most deplorable adversity. 
 
 The cries and lamentations are raised from every part to the 
 Supreme Apex. The meanings and shriekings have thrown a mighty 
 
 109 
 
reverberation through the column of the world. The civilized 
 countries are being overthrown. Eyes are shedding tears, hear 
 ing the weeping of the fatherless children. The heart s are burn 
 ing and being consumed, by piercing sobbings and uncontrollable 
 wailing of helpless, wandering women. The spirits of hopeless 
 mothers arc torn by rayless grief and endless sorrows, and the 
 nerve-racking sighs and the just complaints of the fathers 
 ascend to the throne of the Almighty. 
 
 Ah me! The world of creation is totally deprived of its 
 normal rests. The clash of arms and the sound of murderous guns 
 and cannon are being heard like the roaring of thunder across 
 the heavenly track, and the explosive materials have changed the 
 battlefields into yawning graveyards, burying for eternity the 
 dead corpses of thousands upon thousands of youths, the flowers 
 of many countries, who have been evolving factors in the civil 
 isation of the future. 
 
 The results of this crime committed against humanity is 
 still worse than whatever I may say, and can never be adequately 
 described by pen or by tongue. 
 
 0, ye governments of the world! Be yc pitiful toward man 
 kind! 0, ye nations of the earth, behold ye the battlefields of 
 slaughter and carnage! 0, ye sages of humanity, investigate 
 sympathetically the conditions of the oppressed! 0,. ye phi ; :>so- 
 phers of the West, study profoundly the causes that led to this 
 gigantic, unparalelled struggle! 0, ye wise leaders. of the 
 globe, reflect deeply so that ye may find an antidote for the 
 suppression of this chronic, devastating disease. 0, ye indi 
 viduals of humanity, find ye means for the stoppage of this 
 wholesale murder and bloodshed. Now is the appointed time! Now 
 is the opportune time! Arise ye, show ye an effort, put ye for 
 ward an extraordinary force, and unfurl ye the flag of universal 
 peace and dam the irrestible force of this raging torrent which 
 is wreaking havoc and ruin everywhere. 
 
 Although this captive has been in the prison of despotism 
 for forty years, yet he has never been so sad and stricken with 
 regret as in these days. My spirit is aflame and, burning. My 
 heart is broken, mournful, heavy, and despondent. My eyes are 
 weeping and my soul is on fire. Oh! I am so bowed down and 
 sorrowful . 
 
 0, people, weep and cry, lament and bemoan your fate. Then 
 hasten ye, hasten ye, perchance ye ma3r become able to extinguish 
 with the water of the newborn ideals of spiritual Democracy and 
 celestial Freedom this many-flamed, world- consuming fire, and 
 
 110 
 
through your heaven- inspired resolution you may usher in the 
 golden era of international solidarity and world confederation. 
 
 0, Kind God! Hearken to the cry of these helpless nations. 
 0, Pure Lord! Show Thy pity to these orphaned children. 0, in 
 comparable Almighty! Stop this destructive torrent. 0, Creator 
 of the world 0.116. the inhabitants thereof! Cause the extinction 
 of this burning fire. 0, Listener to our cries, come to the 
 rescue of the orphans. 0, Ideal Comforter, console the mothers 
 whose hearts are torn and whose souls are filled with the blood 
 of irremediable loss. 0, Clement and Merciful! Grant the bless 
 ing of Thy Grace to the weeping eyes and burning hearts of xne 
 fathers. Restore calmness to this surging tempest and change 
 this world-encircling war into peace and conciliation. 
 
 Verily Thou art the Omnipotent and the Powerful, and verily 
 Thou art the Seeing and the Hearing.** 
 
 (Signed) ABDUL BAHA ABBAS. 
 
 Ill 
 
DNIVEB8IT " 
 IHI3 
 
 SOcevoueShrthLT f" ""* "> of 
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 JUL 3 l 1954 
 JUL301954LU 
 
YE 16960 
 
 U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 380125 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Distributed by 
 
 Bahai Publishing Society 
 
 P. 0. Box 283, Chicago, Illinois 
 
 These books are sold at a price 
 just sufficient to cover the cost of* 
 printing and handling. 
 
 The Mashrak-El-Azkar 
 
 By Chas. Mason Remev. 
 
 Comprising Quotations from 
 Abdul Baha s words An his 
 torical sketch of the Bahai 
 Movement A general explana 
 tion of the Mashrak-El-Azkar 
 (Bahai Temple) A description 
 of the Mashrak-El-Azkar in 
 Eshkhabad in Russian Turkistan 
 and An account of the pre 
 paratory work for building the 
 first Mashrak-E 1 - A z k a r in 
 America, with descriptions and 
 illustrations of an exhibit of 
 nine preliminary designs for 
 this building, showing various 
 treatments in different styles of 
 architecture. 
 
 This book contains a portrait 
 of Abdul Baha and nineteen 
 architectural illustrations. 
 
 A large volume, bound in cloth, 
 
 Postage additional. 
 
 This book weighs 2 pounds. For 
 postage, see parcel post rate between 
 your town and Chicago.