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Chapter 7
BAHAI NEWS
Vol. 1 Chicago, (July 13, 1910) Kalamat No. 7
TABLET FROM ABDUL-BAHA TO THE
BELIEVERS OF GOD IN PERSIA.
Upon them be the Glory of God, the Most Glorious! HE IS GOD!O God! O God! Verily, verily the reality of Thy Oneness is sanctified above ascent or descent, and the Sun of Thy Singleness is holy above appearance or disappearance. Thou hast been in the mystery of Thine Identity and the eternality of Thine Existence; moving in the exaltation of Thy Sanctity and the loftiness of Thy Purity. The souls who penetrate through the facts of life cannot know Thee, and the minds which are imbued with the subtleties of the universe do not apprehend Thee. Far from the spiders of imagination to weave the web of their weak thoughts in the imperial palaces of Thy Knowledge, and far from the birds of understanding to attempt soaring with their broken wings toward the golden apex of Thine Explanation! Verily, all the wings of effort are broken and will not reach the glorious heaven of Thy Singleness. The intellects are bewildered and if they cannot comprehend one verse of the verses of Thine Omnipotence, how then can they perceive Thy Reality which surrounds all things and is not surrounded! Thy Holy and Sanctified Identity is beyond the knowledge of the wisest and mightiest in the world of emanation!
O Lord! O Lord! Deliver the souls from the superstitions, that they may not imagine any disappearance for Thy Lights, any setting for Thy Luminary, any descent for Thy Reality, and any ascent for Thy Identity. For verily Thou art above all these qualifications and beyond all these attributes. Thou hast been and forever shalt be in Thine Inaccessible Station and Thine Unattainable Position. The road is barred and the path is closed. Thy Proof is Thy Verses and Thy Path is Thy Dominion.
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O Lord! O Lord! These souls are righteous, their hearts attracted, their minds enkindled, their ears opened, their eyes seeing, their spirits rejoiced, their breasts dilated, their realities contented, their identities satisfied, and their hearts attentive. They are supplicating toward Thee, turning their faces to Thee, and begging for Thy Mercy.
O Lord! 0 Lord! Enkindle their lamps, ignite their torches, uplift their waves and open to them the Door of Bounty.
O Lord! Adorn their gardens, beautify their orchards, illumine their faces, confirm their words, hoist their ensigns, commemorate their names, perfect their morals, cleanse their hearts, purify their breasts and glorify their countenances; so that the manifest light may be seen upon their brow, and the Bloom of Paradise in their faces. Verily, Thou art the Merciful, Thou art the Clement, the Compassionate and the Ancient!
O ye friends of God! The waves of confirmations are successive and the hosts of assistance are drawn in battle array. The armies of the Kingdom of ABHA, like unto the waves of the Supreme Concourse, are tumultuous, and the Breezes of Providence wafting from the direction of Grace, rejuvenate with new life every faded and withered soul. The trees of the Garden of the Covenant are stirred into the utmost cheerfulness and the fruits of the Orchard of the Testament have reached the stage of perfection, sweetness and delicacy. The Majestic Palm produces luscious dates, and the Luminous Star shines with infinite brightness. The Zephyrs of the City of God bestow eternal life, and the Divine Wisdom grants spiritual insight. The Bounties of God are perfected on every side, and the Favors of the Most High have encircled all. Blessed are you! — and again, blessed are you! — for you have become the object of the Bestowals of the Beauty of ABHA and the Center of the Revelations of the Mysteries of the Supreme Concourse.
His honor Ameen* has given the utmost praise
Note: Ameen is one of the old, venerable, sanctified teachers of Persia. — Translator.
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and commendation on behalf of all, saying that — Praise be to God! — all the friends in all parts of Persia are firm in the Covenant, have taken hold of the Testament of His Highness the Merciful: their minds are full of acclamations, their faces illumined, their hearts aspiring and their spirits soaring toward the Realm of Truth, their souls full of glad-tidings and their consciences in infinite happiness. Day and night they are engaged in spreading the fragrances, and morning and evening they deliver the Word of God. They are the Signs of Oneness and the Tokens of the Bounties of the Glorious Lord. They are the bright lamps and incontrovertible proofs. They are the horizons of knowledge and the hosts of the Supreme Concourse. In reality he has given the greatest praise and glorification. On account of this news great happiness was produced in the hearts of the believers, and all are expressing their most wonderful glad-tidings.I beg of God, that day by day this Fire may consume the world, and this Flame enkindle the earth; this Favor become all-surrounding and this Path straight. Cast ye into oblivion all signs of attachment and impurity so that all the regions may become sanctified and purified and all the dawning-places shining and illumined. Then the Paradise of ABHA will be established in the East and in the West, the glorious outpouring of the Majestic Lord, become universal, the principles of the Cause produce results and the structure of the Revelation of Truth reach to the Mansions of the Supreme Heights.
Upon ye be Glory!
(SIGNED) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
(Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, especially for the BAHAI NEWS, Washington, D. C., June 17, 1910.)
THE TARBIAT SCHOOL, PERSIA.
LETTER FROM SYDNEY SPRAGUE.
Teheran, Persia, June 9, 1910.
My dear brother Ahmad: You have been away so long from Persia and have become so westernized that you have forgotten how long it takes
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things to move in the East. I have learned during these two years in Teheran how "to labor and to wait." I have been hoping each week to be able to write you something definite, but there have been many hindrances in the way to organization. First, the believers would do nothing until they received permission from Acca and after that came,— PHOTO —
THE ENGLISH CLASS OF THE TARBIAT SCHOOL, PERSIA.
about two or three weeks ago, it took several meetings of discussion to decide how the committee should be formed, the constitution written, etc. You know how carefully every point is weighed and pondered over in the Orient before a decision is reached. At the last meeting it was decided that the present committee of the Tarbiat school take charge of the work of the Persian-American1-7-5
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Educational Society and that I should act as a representative from the Society in America and fulfill the duties that you designated for me in your program. I hope to send you, next week, the list of the boys' names, a little description of each and tell to whom they belong.As the girls' school is not yet started, I have decided, with the consent of the Spiritual Assembly (of Consultation) to use the money sent for the sixteen girls' scholarships toward the expenses of starting the school and when the school is opened we will appoint the sixteen girls. Please notify the givers of these scholarships. We hope the school will be ready in the autumn. Already we have received over $600 here in Teheran toward the school and with the help from America, this will be enough to start a good school. * * *
Now I will try to answer your questions about the Tarbiat school: We have at present 270 pupils, about 50 new ones having come to us during the past two months, for the school has really a very fine reputation in Persia. It is claimed by everybody as one of the very best. Several new schools have been founded here since the granting of the constitution and though liberally helped by rich Persians, none of them equal ours. The other day a professor from the Doral-Fonoun (Shah's University) came to our school to examine the boys in arithmetic, algebra and geometry. He had been sent by the government to visit all the schools. After examining carefully each class, he told me that our school in Teheran had such bright and intelligent boys and that in mathematics we were 'way in advance of other schools. One of the reasons why we make greater progress is that our school program is based on that of the American schools. When I came to Tarbiat school two years ago, I found its program was like that of all other Persian schools. For instance, mathematics would be taught but three days a week and then all the children who studied mathematics would be put in one room and taught at one time, though some might be advanced and others far behind. The first thing I did was to arrange the pupils in classes according to their ability and degree of advancement and have them study mathematics,
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English, Arabic, etc., every day in the week. Ours is the only school in Teheran, I believe, which has such a program and that is one of the reasons— PHOTO —
THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, THE TEACHERS AND THE PUPILS OF THE HIGHER CLASSES IN THE TARBIAT SCHOOL, TEHERAN, PERSIA. why it makes greater progress. It takes eight years for a boy to finish the school and get his diploma. A boy is necessarily about seven years old when he starts going to school. During the first three years he must study Persian and a little1-7-7
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mathematics, geography and history. Then when the boy has a good ground work in Persian, he may start either in English or French. Mirza Farajullah Khan is the French teacher and a very good one, and I am the English teacher assisted by Fariborz who came with me from Acca. During the five years of the advanced course the boys study one of these languages, so that when they leave they are able to converse, write and translate. They study ancient and modern history, foreign and Persian, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc. They all, of course, must study Arabic. I teach also some physiology and botany to my advanced classes in English. * * * We have eleven teachers now. We have a president of the school, Dr. Ata-Ollah Khan, whose duty is to visit the school each day for an hour and report to the committee which meets every week. This servant, as you know, is the superintendent, and has a help, Mirza Yousaf Khan, who keeps the books, etc. There are also two servants. We have a good size school building for which we pay twenty toumans a month, but it is too small for our growing school and I hope next year we will be able to buy a big piece of land and build for ourselves. Another place we need is a place for boys to live who come to us from other cities. I am anxious to have dormitories with rules and regulations like our boarding school in America. We have started a boys' club of the older boys in the school, which meets every week, and I hope we can have a room for that some day where we can have English and French magazines and books. Your "Literary Digest" is very welcome and any other American magazines that people have finished reading will be very acceptable. I wish you could find some plays for boys to send me (no girls partake) — short, easy acting pieces. * * * I am sending you two photographs; one of some of the boys of the English class and the other of the teachers and the members of the committee and the pupils in the advanced course.Fraternal greetings to Bro. Hannen and all our friends who are with us in this great work.
Faithfully your brother in the Cause,
ESKANDER SYDNEY SPRAGUE.
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BAHAI NEWS
ISSUED MONTHLY
ALBERT R. WINDUST — EDITORS — GERTRUDE BUIKEMA
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE PER YEAR
Sent postpaid throughout North America, including Canal Zone and Panama; and following islands: Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, Philippines; also England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, and Shanghai City (China): Unsealed $1.00; single copy 10c. Sealed $1.25; single copy 12c.
Sent postpaid throughout other parts of Occident and adjacent islands including Newfoundland: Unsealed $1.00; single copy 10c. Sealed $1.75; single copy 15c. Sent postpaid throughout Orient, including Egypt and Russia: Sealed $1.75; single copy 15c.
Address all communications to
BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
VOL. I. CHICAGO, (July 13, 1910) KALAMAT NO. 7
BAHAI CALENDAR.
MONTH NAME FEAST DAYS1st Baha' (Splendor) Mar. 21
2nd Jalal (Glory) Apr. 9
3rd Jamal (Beauty) Apr. 28
4th Azamat (Greatness) May 17
5th Nur (Light) June 5
6th Rahmat (Mercy) June 24
7th Kalamat (Words) July 13
8th Assma (Names) Aug. 1
9th Kamal (Perfection) Aug. 20
10th Izzat (Wealth) Sept. 8
11th Mashiyat (Will) Sept. 27
12th Ilm (Science) Oct. 16
13th Qudrat (Power) Nov. 4
14th Kaul (Saying) Nov. 23
15th Masa'il (Questions) Dec. 12
16th Sharaf (Honor) Dec. 31
17th Sultan (Sultan) Jan. 19
18th Malik (King) Feb. 7
(Four intercalary days.)
19th Ola (Sublimity) Mar. 2
(Month of fasting.)
The following letter from Monsieur Hippolyte Dreyfus, of Paris, now traveling in America, will be of interest to all: To the Editors of the BAHAI NEWS.
Dear Friends: I trust I will be allowed to use the publicity of the BAHAI NEWS for sending to all the Assemblies of America, which I am not able to visit in this too short trip, the love and the greetings of our friends in Paris; and also for conveying to all a little suggestion which the reading of the 4th issue of your publication, giving the account of the Convention in Chicago, and only just received — from Paris, has led me to deem advisable.
I really think that we should make a point never
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to use the name "Temple" in regard to the Mashrigu'l Azkar. There are words in Persian and Arabic to say "temple," but Mashrigu'l Azkar has quite another signification, much broader and much more beautiful. It means, as you know, "the Dawning place of the Mentions of God," and this plural in itself is quite significant, inasmuch as it reminds us that BAHA'U'LLAH has taught that we should not be satisfied by praying God only in a place prepared for our meditations, but that we should above all pray to Him by our actions, in serving our brothers, taking care of the weak ones, giving hospitality and spreading instruction and knowledge. And the House of prayer, which is to be the center of the Mashrigu'l Azkar, gets its true significance, in this new dispensation, from its connection with the different social institutions which 'Abdu'l Baha has often indicated to us, and which symbolize the whole activity of our future communities.By calling it a Temple, not only, it seems to me, are we belittling one of the greatest Foundations of this Cause, but I fear that we are driving away from us many sincere souls who, in our days, have left churches, mosques, temples, in search of a broader ideal.
Besides, don't you think that the word Mashrigu'l Azkar is harmonious enough to acquire citizenship in our occidental languages with Quran, algebra, sultan, jasmine and many other words which also come directly from the East? Let us be the pioneers of this reform of linguistics, which will enable us to implant more easily new ideas into the world.
Yours truly in the Cause of Al Abha,
H. DREYFUS.
The BAHAI NEWS endorses these suggestions and has adhered to the phrase, "Mashrak-el-Azkar," from the first, but has not felt at liberty to change manuscript sent in for publication. We trust the friends will give this matter careful consideration.
That all may be informed as to what is intended for this Institution, we quote the following from a Tablet revealed by Abdul-Baha:
I am hopeful by divine bounty and grace that the beloved ones of God may be confirmed in the building of the Mashrak-el-Azkar and all its accessories, for the Mashrak-el-Azkar has important accessories which are accounted of the basic foundations. These are: School for orphan children; Hospital and Dispensary for the poor; Place for the incapable: i. e. (Home for the cripple); College for the Higher Scientific Education.
The meaning is this, that in every place:
First a Mashrak-el-Azkar must be founded.
Then a School for the Education of orphan children and the poor.
Then the Hospital and Medical Dispensary must be founded.
Then the home of the Cripple.
Then the College of Higher Scientific Education.
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BAHAI NEWS
In every city a great Mashrak-el-Azkar must be founded after this order.Now we hope the Mashrak-el-Azkar may be founded in Chicago. After its foundation the important accessories may gradually be founded.
(SIGNED) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
THE MASHRAK-EL-AZKAR.
The Financial Secretary announces the following payments have been met on the land for the Mashrak-el-Azkar:
June 24, 1910, interest on renewed mortgage. $375
July 1, 1910, third note of $5,000, with interest on $10,000 5,300
Total $5,675
We are approaching the goal so earnestly requested by Abdul-Baha, that is, to pay for the land in its entirety before building thereon. Tne friends have been so sincere and earnest in endeavoring to accomplish this first step that a statement of the payments necessary to complete its ownership will inspire us to bend efforts to bring this about speedily:
Dec. 24, 1910, semi-annual interest on renewed mortgage ($12,500) $375
Jan. 1, 1911, fourth note of $5,000 and interest 5,150
May 1, 1911, taxes and paving assessments. 700
May 1, 1911, mortgage of 12,500
Total amount to be paid $18,725
Corinne True.
BOSTON.
The Boston Assembly had the pleasure on June 12th of hearing Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Getsinger and Miss Gertrude Stanwood, of the Baltimore Assembly, has been present at the meetings recently.
Miss Juliette Zimmerman and Miss Jeane Moore were guests from Worcester on June 19th.
Mrs. Myron Prescott Potter, of Tacoma, Washington, has been in attendance at the meetings on several occasions, coming in from West Newbury, her former home. She left for Tacoma June 20th. Miss Gertrude Stanwood, of the Baltimore Assembly, has been present at the meetings recently.
Harlan F. Ober.
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CHICAGO.
Regular weekly meeting of Assembly, Sunday, 11 a. m. at Corinthian Hall, 17th floor Masonic Temple, State and Randolph Sts. George Lesch, Sec'y. Address of Assembly, P. O. Box 283.The brief visit of M. Hippolyte Dreyfus, of Paris, has acted as a stimulus to all departments of Bahai activity in this city. Sunday morning, July 3rd, at the regular weekly meeting of the Assembly, he gave an excellent presentation of some of the teachings of the Kitabu'l-Aqudas, The Most Holy Book. The night before, Saturday, the friends gathered at the home of Mrs. Eva W. Russell, 329 S. Hoyne Ave., to hear him, and again on Monday night, July 4th. Sunday afternoon, he met with the members of the Spiritual Meeting of Consultation (H. of S.), discussing with them matters pertaining to the welfare of the Cause, and in the evening, addressing many of the friends at the home of Miss Gertrude Buikema, 1827 W. 12th St. Mrs. Corinne True returned from Fruitport, and opened her home on Tuesday evening, thus giving another opportunity to hear him before his departure for Montreal, the following day.
Mrs. A. S. Agnew and son are spending a few weeks in North Muskegon, Mich.
The Unity Feast of June 24th was held at the home of Mrs. Annie E. McKinney, 619 Wellington St.
The pupils of Miss Lillian James, our faithful pianist, gave a musicale, June 25th, at the Eleanor Club, 4 Twenty-fourth St.
Mrs. Myron Prescott Potter, of Tacoma, Washington, spent a day in Chicago recently on the way from New England to her home in the west.
DENVER.
Secretary of Assembly, G. Nathaniel Clark, 4141 Xavier St.Meetings are held at the home of Mrs. E. J. Bell, Emporia St. Aurora, Monday evenings.
Mrs. A. M. Bryant is at her home in Woodland Park, Colorado. Mrs. Ella T. Nash and her daughter, Miss Louise Nash, are at present at Estes Park, Horse Shoe Ranch, Colorado.
Josephine H. Clark.
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Mrs. Corinne True, of Chicago, has returned for the summer and has taken up her active work for the Bahai Cause.
Mrs. Tobin and Mrs. Waite are the guests of Mrs. True and together with Mrs. Greenleaf, who is spending the summer here, are assisting in the group work.
A weekly meeting is held at the home of Mrs. Nelson Peterson; also one in Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Mich. There is growing interest in the Movement and the seeds planted in these cities are bearing the fruits of faithfulness and firmness in the Covenant.
The Unity Feast, Friday, June 24th, was held at the home of Mrs. True. Mrs. Waite told of her trip to Acca and read from her notes taken while there.
Mr. Charles Scheffler and Miss Sophie Loeding, of Chicago, spent the following Sunday with Mrs. True, and Mr. Scheffler talked in a most impressive way at the group meeting on the subject of "Why I am a Bahai."
KENOSHA.
Regular weekly meeting of Assembly, Sunday morning. 10:30; Sunday School, 9:30 a. m., at Gronquish Hall, 218 Park St. Address all mail for Assembly to Fountain Nichols, Sec'y, 868 Park St.The Industrial School closed the season's work with a picnic. Many attended and an enjoyable time was had with games and refreshments. Mr. Wilhelm, of New York, made a contribution for the little ones and it was used for furnishing ice cream and cakes. The school will open again in September.
The Ighan class, which was held at the Kenosha Assembly's Hall during the winter and spring, has also closed for the summer.
Two vacancies in our Board of Consultation were caused by Messrs. Wilcott and Yager leaving the city. These were filled, June 19th, by the election of Messrs. Zina Tanner and Charles Carlson.
Bernard M. Jacobsen.
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BAHAI NEWS
LOS ANGELES.
Secretary of Assembly, F. B. Beckett, 429 Citizens National Bank Bldg.Mrs. Replogle, of Bakersfield, formerly of Baltimore, has moved to Los Angeles.
Miss Ella Bailey, of Berkeley, visited the friends here for two days and is now spending the summer at Banning, California.
Tropico is a beautiful suburb of Los Angeles, about nine miles away, and so many of the friends live there that the Unity Feasts are now regularly held in Tropico. There was a happy gathering at "El Azkar," the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Frankland, June 24th. Mr. and Mrs. Winterburn, Mr. and Mrs. Cline, Mr. and Mrs. Beckett, Mrs. Stoddard, Mrs. Carvel, Miss Tesky, Mrs. Roper, all of Tropico, were there and also two visitors, one from near San Diego and another from Nevada. These meetings are attended by about fifteen believers and the number is steadily growing.
A beautiful work is being done through the efforts of the friends in Friday afternoon meetings, where the study of the Ighan is being pursued in a systematic manner under the wise guidance of Mrs. Winterburn. This work is attracting some earnest students whose interest is growing. Regular group meetings are held weekly at Miss Hammond's home in Pasadena and at Mrs. Phillip's home in Los Angeles. The open meetings on Sundays in Blanchard Library Hall are attended by about forty people and are a means of presenting the glad-tidings to strangers who go to a hall rather than to a home, to learn what is going on. It is hoped that many of them shall find their heart's desire in the wonderful Words of Truth that are offered to them in the Bahai Revelation.
Thahbet.
NEWS NOTES.
Word comes to us that Mme. Aurelia Bethlen is holding meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mr. Edward Diedrich Struven and Miss Margaret Estelle Lowndes were united in marriage, Wednesday, June 29th, at Baltimore, Md.
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NEW YORK CITY.
Regular weekly meeting of Assembly, Sunday, 11 a. m. at Genealogical Hall, 226 West 58th St. Paul F. G. Marshall, Sec'y, 139 Shipper St., Weehawken Heights, New Jersey.A Unity Feast was held in the studio of Mrs. Gannett on Sunday evening, June 26th.
Mr. Howard MacNutt has recovered and Mr. J. Otis Wilhelm is reported to be convalescent.
We have the pleasure of welcoming Miss Eda Moffatt Falken, from Oakland, Calif., into our vicinities.
The BAHAI NEWS is creating much interest, and is a great bond of unity between the Orient and Occident.
Mr. Charles Mason Remey recently spent a few hours in New York City, on his way to join his parents in New England.
In the Brooklyn Assembly meetings are continued on Sunday afternoons, at 3 o'clock, at the home of Mr. MacNutt, 935 Eastern Parkway.
Recently a beautiful meeting was held at the home of Mr. Hooper Harris, 1180 Broad St., Newark, N. J., the guest of honor being M. Hippolyte Dreyfus.
The meetings in New York City are as follows: Mrs. Emma Gannett, "The Chelsea," 222 West 23rd St., Wednesday evenings at 8 o'clock. Miss Juliet Thompson, 119 East 19th St., Friday evenings at 8 o'clock. Since Mr. Kinney and his family are out of town for the summer, the Sunday evening meeting, which is under the auspices of the Council Board and the Woman's Unity, is being held in the homes of the different believers.
Word has come from Dr. Moody that the Teheran Board of Consultation has supplicated Abdul-Baha that Miss Lillian Kappes might be permitted to come to that city to teach in the Girls' Bahai School, and that Dr. Moody had personally supplicated that Miss Elizabeth H. Stewart might be permitted to come to Teheran as professional nurse to assist the doctor in her medical work. If these supplications are accepted, the hope of the Persian friends is that they can join Mr. Sydney Sprague in Haifa and return with him to Teheran.
Isabella D. Brittingham.
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WASHINGTON, D. C.
Regular weekly meeting of Assembly, Friday evening, at 1219 Connecticut Ave. Joseph H. Hannen, Sec'y. Address of Assembly, P. O. Box 192.The Washington Assembly was honored by a visit from M. Hippolyte Dreyfus, of Paris, who addressed meetings on June 15th and June 17th. On June 16th, a reception was given, at the Gareissen Studio, to Messrs. Dreyfus, Remey and Farajullah Khan. The first of this series of meetings was the regular Wednesday evening gathering at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dyer, at which the colored believers joined with us, and a large number were present. Mr. Remey spoke briefly, and the address of the evening was delivered by M. Dreyfus. At the reception the three brothers were welcomed in brief speeches, and responded in a most interesting manner, outlining the progress of the Cause in three continents. It is seldom indeed that such a body of co-workers is assembled, and a large and representative body of believers and friends were on hand to give greeting. It was announced that M. Dreyfus would be the speaker of the evening on Friday, June 17, this being the regular weekly gathering, and a goodly attendance followed. We found the expositions of this brother most helpful, and his presence was inspiring.
The Unity Feast of June 24th was given at the hall, with Mrs. Wellesca Pollock Allen as hostess. A communication from Mrs. Garrison, formerly of the Washington Assembly and now on the Pacific Coast, was read. Talks were given by Farajullah Khan, Dr. Fareed, Mr. Remey and Mrs. Getsinger. Nategh Hannen, who has been for the past fifteen months in Stuttgart, Germany, and is home on vacation, read a Tablet addressed to the Stuttgart Assembly and delivered the greetings of the friends in that country to Washington.
Miss Alma S. Knobloch, whose address is Alexanderstr. 69, 1, Stuttgart, Germany, will welcome letters and especially copies of Tablets and other literature from the friends everywhere. Her entire time is devoted to the work of the Cause, and only those who are away from home and country know to what extent news and co-operation is helpful.
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On Sunday, June 26th the writer had the privilege of visiting the family of Mrs. Duckett, of Sumerduck, Va., an isolated believer. Announcements had been made for a public meeting at the school house in the afternoon, and more than a hundred persons responded, eagerly listening to the Glad-tidings of the coming of the Kingdom. Further meetings are planned. This suggests a vast field of service in outlying districts; as for example in the section mentioned there is only one preaching service each month, and with ample time for thought and reflection, the people are hungering and thirsting for spiritual things.
Tuesday evening, June 28th the resident officers of the Persian-American Educational Society met with a few of the friends, at the Society's headquarters, 1800 Belmont Road, to consider ways and means for the extension of the work in line with the commands of Abdul-Baha, merging the Educational Society into the Occidental-Oriental Interdependence Society. A committee was chosen to draft a new set of plans and later on further conferences will be held.
On Sunday, June 26th, a special meeting was held at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Fred J. Woodward. Tablets were read and the spirit of the earlier days was strongly evidenced.
Mirza Farajullah Khan, whose visit was chronicled in our last letter, has given us some splendid talks. As he is not yet fluent in English, Dr. Fareed has interpreted for him.
The Bahai Hospice will be closed until further notice, owing to the absence from the city of Mr. Ripley and family.
Joseph H. Hannen.
The Rev. Oliver M. Fisher, Ph.D., 5 Haymarket, London, England, has prepared a series of illustrated lectures pertaining to the Cause. His subjects are: "Unity of All Religions;" "The Greatest Exponent of Unity — Abdul-Baha;" "The Remarkable Story of Over Forty Years in a Turkish Prison;" "Martyrs of the Nineteenth Century;" "Dawn of Freedom in Turkey and Persia;" "Palestine of Today."
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