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BAHA’I NEWS

Published by
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
of the United States and Canada
General Office: 130 Evergreen Place, West Englewood, New Jersey

No. 118

AUGUST, 1938

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EFFORT IN CONTINUITY

In this issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS is presented the National Committees appointed for the year beginning July 1. The friends, and particularly the local Assemblies, are requested to acquaint themselves with the wide range of activities which the various Committees include, and take all possible steps toward useful contact and cooperation. The year is all too brief in which to accomplish the truly vital and difficult tasks already set under the previous announcements reporting the Temple and Teaching plans.

Likewise ‎is in‎ this issue begins a new and important department entitled “The Charter of the New World Order” consisting of excerpts from the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian’s written and authoritative interpretation of the Will. Study and meditation upon these words will deepen our conception of the universal character of the Faith and purify our understanding of and service to a Revelation blending a spiritual and a social Teaching. The full capacity of the Bahá’í community will attain the field of action when we succeed in reconciling within ourselves and among ourselves these two aspects of life in the New Age, conjoined after so long a period of historical separation.

The Guardian’s explanation of two important current questions raised by the National Spiritual Assembly, already reported to the local Assemblies in the Bulletin, is also reprinted here for the ‎informaton information‎ of all believers.

Absence from local communities on account of attendance at the Summer Schools and other reasons has made the summer months a time of somewhat slackened effort, even though devoted to intensive planning for the year’s work. If the community is fewer in numbers at this time, that does not mean relaxation of effort by those who remain. It is effort in continuity, conscious of the definite tasks to be performed, that alone can produce the concentration of will able to accomplish otherwise impossible results. Let us also be on our guard lest our attention become directed to minor developments during the year, losing sight of the essential aims carefully explained in the first two issues of BAHÁ’Í NEWS published since the Convention. Those two statements, dealing first with the Annual Budget and the Temple construction plan, and second with details of teaching, must be kept present in consciousness throughout the year. Memory is the foundation of spiritual progress and social achievement.

The Guardian, fully aware of the Divine powers always awaiting to assist the efforts of unity and pure attention, has plainly stated over a period of years his expectations with respect to the American Bahá’í community. He knows what can be accomplished when the requisite spiritual conditions have been prepared. The most unassuming individual and the most unassuming local community may well surpass all and set a new and higher standard of action for all their co-workers. The National Spiritual Assembly will reinforce with all possible resources and power the efforts of the friends. Let us humbly seek to be as flowers of fragrance or fruit of attainment upon the Tree of Life.

Yours faithfully,

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY.

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LETTERS FROM THE GUARDIAN

1. To the National Spiritual Assembly.

“The Guardian has read very carefully the letters your Assembly has received from the Spiritual Assemblies of Urbana and Chicago reporting the criticisms that have been advanced by Rev. John Elder, a missionary from Irán. While he is certain that such attacks from Church missionaries are destined to increase in number and force in the future, he feels that for the present they do not constitute a challenge so grave and widespread as to justify any strong action by your Assembly. Later on, when the very progress of the Cause on the one hand, and the corresponding decline in ecclesiastical organizations on the other, will inevitably incite Christian ‎ecclesiactical ecclesiastical‎ leaders to vehemently oppose and undermine the Faith, the believers will then have a real chance to defend and vindicate the Cause. Under present conditions it would be inadvisable for the American Community to give such issues too much prominence.

“It would, however, be very helpful for the friends to know that the question which the above-mentioned missionary has raised in connection with the marriage of Bahá’u’lláh and the provisions in the ‘Aqdas’ regarding the institution of marriage have been explained by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a Tablet which the Guardian hopes to have translated and published in conjunction

[Page 2] with the ‘Aqdas’. Moreover, as regards Bahá’u’lláh’s marriage, it should be noted that His three marriages were all contracted before He revealed His Book of Laws, and even before His declaration in Baghdad, at a time when Bahá’í marriage laws had not yet been made known, and the Revelation not yet disclosed.”

“As regards those Persian or Oriental non-believers who become genuinely interested in the Cause in America, they can be admitted to study classes, but every care should be taken by the Assemblies to fully test their sincerity and the genuineness of their desire to join the Community before they are given the necessary facilities that will enable them eventually to be regarded as voting members of the Faith.”—May 25, 1938.

2. To Individual Believers (published with the Guardian’s consent).

“You have asked whether our prayers go beyond Bahá’u’lláh; it all depends whether we pray to Him directly or through Him to God. We may do both, and also can pray directly to God, but our prayers would certainly be more effective and illuminating if they are addressed to Him through His Manifestation Bahá’u’lláh.

“Under no circumstances, however, can we, while repeating the prayers, insert the name Bahá’u’lláh where the word ‘God’ is used. This would be tantamount to blasphemy.”—October 14, 1937, to A. W. Bodmer.

“You have asked as to what point in man’s evolution he becomes conscious of self. This consciousness of self in man is a gradual process, and does not start at a definite point. It grows in him in this world and continues to do so in the future spiritual world.

“Man can certainly recall past experiences in his evolution, and even when his soul leaves this world it will still remember the past.

“The Guardian wishes me to answer you that he sees no objection to the friends coming together for meditation and prayer. Such a communion helps in fostering fellowship among the believers and as such is highly commendable.

“With reference to psychic phenomena referred to in your letter; these, in most cases, are an indication of a deep psychological disturbance. The friends should avoid as much as possible giving undue consideration to such matters.”—November 20, 1937, to Amelie Willard Bodmer.

“The believers ought to give the Message even to those who do not seem ready for it, because they can

MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS
Members of the Spiritual Assembly newly established on April 21, 1938

never judge the real extent to which the Word of God can influence the hearts or minds of the people, even those who appear to lack any power of receptivity to the teachings.”—January 14, 1938, to Amelie Willard Bodmer.

“THE CHARTER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER”

“The creative energies released by the Law of Bahá’u’lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have, by their very impact and close interaction, given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation.”—SHOGHI EFFENDI.

In order to promote a more direct and intimate spiritual association with the provisions of the Master’s Will and Testament on the part of the American Bahá’í Community, the National Spiritual Assembly will publish a series of excerpts from the Will, together with selections from the interpretive writings of the Guardian. The friends are urged to give deep thought to this new department in BAHÁ’Í NEWS.

THE GUARDIANSHIP

“Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. ‘In all the Divine Dispensations,’ He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, ‘the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright.’ Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.”—SHOGHI EFFENDI.¹

“O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghsán (Branches), the Afnán (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi—the youthful branch branched

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¹ The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh.

[Page 3] from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness,—as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.

“The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and against them hath rebelled against God; whoso opposeth him hath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them hath contended with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God; whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth aside from him hath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God.”—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.²

“No Guardian of the Faith, I feel it my solemn duty to place on record, can ever claim to be the perfect exemplar of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh or the stainless mirror that reflects His light. Though overshadowed by the unfailing, the unerring protection of Bahá’u’lláh and of the Báb, and however much he may share with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the right and obligation to interpret the Bahá’í teachings, he remains essentially human, and cannot, if he wishes to remain faithful to his trust, arrogate to himself, under any pretense whatsoever, the rights, the privileges, and prerogatives which Bahá’u’lláh has chosen to confer upon His Son. In the light of this truth, to pray to the Guardian of the Faith, to address him as lord and master, to designate him as his holiness, to seek his benediction, to celebrate his birthday, or to commemorate any event associated with his life would be tantamount to a departure from those established truths that are enshrined within our beloved Faith.”

“ ‘He is the Interpreter of the Word of God,’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, referring to the functions of the Guardian of the Faith, asserts, using in His Will the very term which He Himself had chosen when refuting the argument of the Covenant-breakers who had challenged His right to interpret the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh. ‘After him,’ He adds, ‘will succeed the first-born of His lineal descendants.’ ‘The mighty stronghold,’ He further explains, ‘shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to Him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God.’ ‘It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God, to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God.’ ”—SHOGHI EFFENDI.¹

“O ye the faithful loved ones of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá! It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched from the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Lote-Trees, that no dust of despondency and sorrow may stain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree. ... The Glory of Glories rest upon you.” —‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.²

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² Will and Testament.

COMMITTEES OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

1938-1939

Archives and History

Edwin W. Mattoon, Chairman.

Mrs. Carl Sheffler, Secretary, 1821 Lincoln St., Evanston, Ill.

Mrs. R. D. Pettet.

Miss Julia Sobel.

Miss Sophie Loeding.

Accountant

Mr. A. F. Matthisen, 4612 Malden St., Chicago, Ill.

The Bahá’í World—Volume VIII
(1938-1940)

Mrs. S. W. French, Chairman, 390 Grove Street, Pasadena, Calif.

Mrs. Ruth Brandt.

Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter.

Kenneth Christian.

Mrs. Helen Bishop.

Louis G. Gregory.

Braille Transcriptions

Mrs. Samuel Rodman, Chairman, 24 Ross St., Batavia, N. Y.

Miss Ella G. Quant.

Miss Hilda Stauss.

A. L. Engelder.

Mrs. Lothar Schurgast

Mrs. H. C. Bolton.

Mrs. Pettibone.

Mrs. S. W. French.

Contacts

Miss Lucy Marshall, Chairman, 20 Broderick St., San Francisco, Calif.

Mrs. Emery Hall.

Mrs. Sarah Kenny.

Mrs. Stanley Kemp.

Mrs. Florence Reeb.

Mrs. Gertrude Atkinson.

Miss Ruth E. Wilson.

Editorial

Mrs. Marie B. Moore, Chairman, 41 Convent Avenue, New York, N. Y.

Miss Helen Campbell.

Miss Teresita Ryan.

Legal

George Latimer, Chairman, 1927 N. E. 40th Avenue, Portland, Oregon.

Carl Scheffler.

Horace Holley.

Library

Mrs. Wesley Bastedo, Chairman, 1332 Riverside Drive, New York, N. Y.

Miss Florence King.

Miss Beryl Edgecomb.

Inter-America Teaching

Mrs. E. R. Mathews, Chairman.

Miss Myrtle Dodge, Secretary, Regent Hotel, 562 Sutter St., San Francisco, Calif.

E. R. Mathews.

Pedro Espinosa.

Mrs. A. E. Stewart.

Mrs. Charles Bishop.

International Auxiliary Language Executive Committee

Mrs. Patrick Quinlan, 70 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, N. Y.

James Morton.

Miss Roan Orloff.

Consulting Members

Dr. C..R. Witt.

Mme. Elsa Chaslon.

Miss Lucy Marshall.

Mrs. Anna Kincaid.

A. E. Regal.

Publicity

Mrs. A. F. Matthiesen, Chairman, 4612 Malden St., Chicago, Ill.

Mrs. Edna Eastman.

Mrs. Virginia Camelon.

Mrs. Willard McKay.

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Mrs. Mary Haggard.

Publishing Staff

Mrs. Clara R. Wood, Manager, 135 E. 50th St., New York, N. Y.

T. R. Wood.

Mrs. Emma F. Smith.

Consulting Members

Horace Holley, Chairman.

Mrs. Marie B. Moore.

Miss Dorothea Morrell.

R. C. Wilhelm.

Miss Bertha Herklotz.

Wm. deForge.

Radio

Mrs. Florence Morton, Chairman, 5 Wheeler Avenue, Worcester, Mass.

Mrs. Wendell E. Bacon.

Wendell E. Bacon.

Reviewing

Miss Genevieve L. Coy, Chairman, 79 Horatio St., New York, N. Y.

Mrs. Doris Holley.

Mrs. Helen Lielnors.

National Teaching Executive Committee

Leroy C. Ioas, Chairman.

Miss Charlotte M. Linfoot, Secretary, 376 60th Street, Oakland, Calif.

Miss Marion Holley.

George Latimer.

Mrs. Amelia Collins.

Mrs. Mamie Seto.

N. F. Ward.

Mrs. Joyce Lyons Dahl.

Associate Members

Mrs. R. D. Little.

Charles Reimer.

Mrs. Mary Collison.

Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher.

Regional Teaching—California, Arizona and Nevada

Miss Honor Kempton, 2209 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, Calif.

Mrs. Edna Johnson.

Mrs. Oni A. Finks.

Mrs. Miriam Bugbee.

Joseph H. Bray.

Miss Virginia Orbison.

Ali Yazdi.

Alabama and Florida (but not the city of Birmingham, Ala.)

Mrs. Lucille Hoke, Secretary, c/o Chalmers Music Co., 12 Flagler St., Miami, Fla.

Mrs. Frances Guy.

Miss Winifred Richards.

Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia

Miss Doris Foye, Secretary, P. O. Box 228, Seattle, Washington.

Mrs. Levinia Sprau.

Rowland Estall.

Miss Doris Skinner.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
Members of the Spiritual Assembly and Bahá’í Community newly established on April 21, 1938

Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia

Mrs. Ruth Lee, Secretary, 2682 Soissons Ave., Montreal, P.Q., Canada.

Mrs. Amin DeMille.

Emeric Sala.

Miss Ruth E. Wilson.

Ernest Harrison.

Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island

Mrs. Harold M. Bowman, Secretary, Salmon Falls, New Hampshire.

Mrs. Howard Struven.

Miss Marjory Wheeler.

Mrs. Elsa Isaacs.

Mrs. V. Archambault.

New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Upper New York

Rex Collison, Secretary, 681 Castle St., Geneva, N. Y.

Mrs. Mabel Edgecomb.

Dr. A. D. Heist.

Curtis Kelsey.

Mrs. M. S. Bush.

Arthur Foster.

Mrs. Dorothy Graf.

Mrs. Marguerite Firoozi.

Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia

Mrs. F. Woodward Hipsley, Secretary, 14 Wyndcrest Drive, Catonsville, Md.

Charles Mason Remey.

Stanwood Cobb.

Ohio, Indiana, Western Pennsylvania

Miss Charlotte Lindenberg, Secretary, 2512 Bryden Road, Bexley, Ohio.

Lothar Schurgast.

Miss Elsie Austin.

Miss Eve Nicklin.

Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois

Mrs. Margery McCormick, Secretary, 503 Chestnut St., Winnetka, Ill.

Albert Windust.

Miss June Miller.

Robert Thiess.

Mrs. D. C. Rolfe.

Clarence Suhm.

Kansas and Missouri

Miss Opal Howell, Secretary, 1302 East 36th St., Kansas City, Mo.

Mrs. W. S. Amos.

Paul H. Brown.

J. B. Becktel.

J. J. Williams.

Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana (and the City of Birmingham, Ala.)

Miss Nellie J. Roche, Secretary, 713 Nashville Trust Building, Nashville, Tenn.

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Winston Evans.

Mrs. Georgie Wiles.

Mrs. Louise Caswell.

Dr. Marie Kershaw.

Mrs. Tera Smith.

Teaching Literature

George Latimer, Chairman, 1927 N. E. 40th Avenue, Portland, Oregon.

Mrs. Louise Caswell.

Mrs. Alice Robertson.

Teaching and Training Children

Mrs. Frank A. Baker, Chairman, 615 West Elm St., Lima, Ohio.

Mrs. Violet Tuttle.

Miss Elcore Georgenson.

Harry E. Ford.

Mrs. Harry E. Ford.

Mrs. Florida Sanford.

Mrs. Ruth O’Brien.

Temple Program

Monroe Ioas, Chairman.

Mrs. Marguerite Ullrich, Secretary, 904 Hayes Ave., Oak Park, Ill.

Mrs. W. Hilpert.

John McHenry.

Miss Sophie Loeding.

Dr. R. D. Pettet.

Hilpert Dahl.

Temple Photograph and Sales

Harry E. Walrath, 4639 Beacon St., Chicago, Ill.

World Order Magazine
Editorial Staff

Stanwood Cobb.

Horace Holley, 119 Waverly Place, New York, N. Y.

Contributing Editors

Mrs. Alice Simmons Cox.

Dr. Genevieve L. Coy.

Prof. Glenn A. Shook.

Dale S. Cole.

Mrs. Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.

Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter.

Hasan M. Balyusi.

Mrs. Shirin Fozdar.

Mrs. Max Greeven.

Youth

Clarence LaRocque, Chairman.

Miss Florence Mattoon, Secretary, 105 Sixth St., Wilmette, Ill.

Wilfrid Barton.

Miss Fayrook Ioas.

Mrs. Mae G. Dyar.

Fred Ascah.

Emanuel Reimer.

James McCormick.

Miss Betty Shook.

Joseph Noyes.

Frederick Laws.

John Eichenhauer.

Miss Margaret Kunz.

Miss Mildred Elmer.

Miss Annamarie Kunz, International Correspondent.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
Members of the Spiritual Assembly newly established on April 21, 1938

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IN MEMORIAM

“Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It confereth the gift of everlasting life.”—Bahá’u’lláh.

William H. Winn, Toronto.

Mrs. Ellah Agnes Rice-Wray, Los Angeles.

Mrs. Mabel Jannings, Seattle.

Mrs. Carol Johnson, Cleveland.

Mrs. Ella Filkins, Cleveland.

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ENROLLMENTS AND TRANSFERS

Pittsburgh, one. New Haven, one. Los Angeles, one. Chicago, one. Cincinnati, one. Milwaukee, one. New York, two Youth.

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ADVICE TO LOCAL ASSEMBLIES

The friends are reminded that care should be taken to make sure that travelers applying for financial assistance as Bahá’ís are actually recognized believers and not imposing upon the Bahá’í community.

The National Assembly feels that the time has come when traveling believers who visit established Bahá’í centers should give consideration to the fact that Spiritual Assemblies should not be expected to arrange meetings unexpectedly and on inadequate notice.

It is for the believer to adapt to the plans of the Assembly and not for the Assembly to adapt its arrangements to the individual believer.

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FOR CONSULTATION

The following questions are suggested by the National Assembly for consultation at Nineteen Day Feasts, in accordance with the announcement published in BAHÁ’Í NEWS a few months ago.

Does the Assembly make certain that the sick and distressed among the believers are given comfort and solace?

Has the Assembly given due attention to the vital importance of the Seven Year Plan and discussed it frequently with the community?

Are the Assembly Minutes and Financial Records carefully maintained?

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FIRST BAHA’I SUMMER SCHOOL IN AUSTRALIA

From Haifa News Letter

The first Bahá’í Summer School in Australia was held at “Bolton Place,” Yerrinbool, N. S. W., at the kind invitation of Drs. Stanley and Mariette Bolton. It was with the greatest joy that the sessions were opened on Sunday, January 9, 1938. The chairman, Dr. Stanley Bolton asked Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn, Australian pioneers, to

[Page 6] open with prayers, after which he welcomed all friends assembled.

The following greetings were read and joyously received: “Convey Summer School attendants hearty congratulations loving fervent prayers success deliberations.—SHOGHI.”

“Greetings and love to all assembled at first Bahá’í Summer School. May all your deliberations be under the guidance of the Kingdom of Abhá.— Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn.”

Greetings were also conveyed to the School by Mrs. Maysie Almond of Adelaide, S. A., and Miss Gretta Lamprill of Hobart, Tasmania, and many others. These two souls had traveled hundreds of miles to be present at the first Summer School. These two ladies had corresponded for the past twelve years and had never met until this precious time. Both spoke of the joy in being able to be present with the other friends to study this great Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. The meeting then closed with prayer.

On Sunday afternoon, January 9, all the friends, residents of the local community and visitors afar, gathered at the Yerrinbool Public Hall to attend a lecture given by Mrs. L. Gapp of Sydney, the subject being “Unity.” The chairman, Dr. Mariette Bolton, before introducing the speaker, complimented the local residents of Yerinbool, for having completed their hall to correspond with opening of the Bahá’í Summer School. The hall was built by the local community of combined volunteer labor. She extended to them a Bahá’í welcome and announced that the lecture was given under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand. Mrs. L. Gapp most ably spoke on “Unity,” and being a delegate to the Pan Pacific Conference at Vancouver, Canada, gave a word description of her impressions received while journeying through Canada and the United States. During her trip across the continent, she contacted numerous Bahá’í communities and was received with love and harmony. Mrs. Gapp informed the friends that she wished to declare her belief in the Manifestation and intended studying the Teachings so as to help the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. After the lecture, Bahá’í literature was distributed to all present, and then all assembled outside the hall for a photograph to be taken.

Commencing on Monday morning and continuing for two weeks, the program arranged by the Yerrinbool Bahá’í Summer School Committee was followed. Those who had been allotted subjects and unable to attend, most willingly compiled their lectures on paper and forwarded them to the School to be read. The sessions were opened each morning at 9:30 with prayers for fifteen minutes and then the subjects followed for two hours, each speaker taking an hour on the selected subject. At the commencement on Monday morning, four dear souls of the local community came to “Bolton Place” and expressed a desire to learn of the Teachings.

On Friday evening, January 14, the local community of Yerrinbool held a social evening in order to raise funds for their hall. To this function the Bahá’ís were invited and attended, and a most enjoyable evening was spent. Several of the local community mentioned that this time of the year is their busy season with their fruit, but that they would like to be able to attend some of our sessions but could not do so during the daytime. They then suggested that if we cared to hold a night session as well as our day session, they would attend and that they would grant us the use of their hall. This was carried out the following night when Dr. Mariette Bolton gave them a talk on Bahá’í history, after which community singing was enjoyed by all.

On Sunday morning, January 16, the regular fortnightly Yerrinbool Bahá’í Sunday School was held at “Bolton Place,” at which time the visiting Bahá’ís spoke to the children. On Sunday afternoon, a round table talk and discussion was enjoyed and then followed by singing.

On Monday, January 17, we commenced the studying of the Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, after which Mrs. Hyde Dunn spoke to us on Bahá’í Administration. In the afternoon, the Bahá’ís were invited to the home of a local resident where all spent a pleasant time talking of the Teachings and completed the afternoon by saying healing prayers for the host.

On Tuesday, January 18, the Bahá’ís journeyed by motor car to Canberra, the Capital of Australia, which is 120 miles from Yerrinbool. Upon entering Canberra, the prayers “upon entering a city” were recited, after which the Greatest Name was said 95 times.

On Wednesday, January 19, after two hour session, a picnic was given to all the children of the local community, at which 23 children were present, all having a happy time. The Feast was then conducted and in the evening all journeyed 12 miles to Bowral at the invitation of an investigator. A most pleasant hour was spent in spreading the Teachings.

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ACTIVITIES IN IRAN

From Haifa News Letter

In our News Letter of March, 1938, we referred to the services of Agha Mowhebat’u’lláh Há’i, in Iran. It will be remembered that a group of seven young Bahá’ís, including Agha Há’i himself, obtained permission, last year, from our Beloved Guardian to travel to Haifa. The Government authorities in Tihrán having refused to grant passports to these believers, the latter decided to make it possible for one of them to go on a teaching tour in Iran. In this noble and praiseworthy way they turned their disappointment into a new determination. Thus in compensation for their profound sadness in being deprived of their visit to Haifa, there sprang in their hearts a new vision—the vision of visiting fellow-believers in distant and lonely spots of the land, revitalizing their spirits in the Faith and conveying the Message to souls thirsty for heavenly Truth. The National Spiritual Assembly of Iran approved of their plan and appointed Agha Há’i to go on a teaching tour for seven months.

Our beloved Guardian has recently received a detailed account of the successful teaching tour undertaken by this faithful and devoted believer. The gist of this account is as follows:

Agha Há’i visited 27 towns and villages, some of the latter being in remote and unfrequented localities. In all these places, he met the believers, revived their spirits, organized their activities and established Spiritual Assemblies where none existed before.

The Bahá’í population of these villages varies from twenty-five to as many as 1,450 in a single village. It is noteworthy that in two villages near Abadeh, non-believers refer their difficulties and disputes to the Spiritual Assembly of the believers, and beg the latter to act as a court of justice for them. The said Spiritual Assembly also helps the poor and the needy nonbelievers from its own charity funds.

The last two BAHÁ’Í NEWS LETTERS of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran are replete with glad-tidings about the growth and development of Bahá’í institutions. We gather that according to instructions given by our beloved Guardian a Central Bahá’í Youth Committee has been organized. The duties of this Committee are as follows:

1. To be informed of the activities of Bahá’í Youth throughout Iran.
2. To be in communication with local [Page 7] Baha’i Youth Committees appointed by the Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies.
3. To translate into Persian, foreign news and subject matter that is of interest to the Bahá’í Youth and an encouragement to them to serve the Faith.
4. To suggest useful projects for the progress and upliftment of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran.

In accordance with the instructions given by our beloved Guardian, a “Bahá’í World” Committee has been formed in Tihran for the purpose of collecting the necessary materials—such as appropriate articles and photographs—and sending them to the Editorial Committee, in America, of this very valuable biennial Bahá’í publication.

The Spiritual Assembly of Tihrán is actively engaged in devising proper means and methods of inculcating in individual believers the desire and enthusiasm for spreading the Message. At the same time trained Bahá’í teachers are fearlessly promulgating their Faith throughout the breadth and the length of the country.

We learn that the International Symposium of the Bahá’í Youth of Tihrán was held in that city with great success. A special program previously approved by the Spiritual Assembly was carried out in an atmosphere of love and spirituality.

The Nineteen Day Feasts are celebrated regularly by the friends.

We have received a list of 58 resolutions that were passed by the Bahá’í Youth Groups of Iran when the International Symposium was held on the 25 of February, 1938. The following are some of the most outstanding resolutions:

1. To correspond with the Bahá’í youth throughout the world.
2. To edit a monthly magazine and call it “The Bahá’í Youth Magazine.”
3. To establish a Translation Board for the purpose of translating Bahá’í sacred literature from Persian into foreign tongues and vice-versa.
4. To enlarge the field of promulgating the Bahá’í Faith by publishing appropriate articles in daily newspapers.
5. To prepare a registration card giving full information about every individual believer.
6. To appoint a special census committee for the Bahá’í Youth.
7. To centralize in various localities Bahá’í books and literature so that beginners in the Faith may benefit thereby.
8. To establish Bahá’í reading rooms and libraries.
9. To collect the writings and the poems of the early believers.
10. To inculcate in the minds of every individual believer the independence of the Bahá’í Faith from all other faiths.
11. To prepare and edit a Persian “Bahá’í World,” concerning Bahá’í activities in Iran.
12. To organize a Bahá’í Summer School.
13. To send more Bahá’í teachers throughout Iran.
14. To appoint a committee for the purpose of finding employment for those believers, if any, who are without work.
15. To collect funds in order to build a Bahá’í Hospital in Tihrán.
16. To organize classes for the purpose of training Bahá’í teachers.
17. To acquaint the Bahá’í Youth with the wonderful plan of World Order according to the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
18. To familiarize the believers with the Bahá’í Calendar.
19. To organize an Esperanto Class.

MARTHA L. ROOT IN INDIA

(Continued)

Reports of the teaching work through Southern India from October 15, 1937—when I arrived in Bombay, the short visits and lectures in Bombay, Surat, Poona, the trip across the continent of India from Bombay to Calcutta and across the sea of Bengal to Burma, and the work in Burma have been written. Also a report was given of the work in Calcutta, December 3-12 at the Second Indian Cultural Conference and the First Convention of Religions held in Calcutta. Likewise the work of the Bahá’ís of Calcutta, the press articles and the public lectures.

CALCUTTA

However, I should like to add another word about Calcutta. There is a reference to Bengal in the Tablet which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to Mr. Pritam Singh which is very encouraging—I cannot quote it and there is not time to send and get it before I mail this, but it was to the effect that spreading the Cause in Bengal will help in spreading the Cause all over India. It was beautifully expressed, in a couplet, which translated reads:—

The Indian nightingales will all break forth into sweet songs.

By the Iranian sweet that will be carried to Bengal.

I should like to emphasize what great opportunities come in presenting the Bahá’í Faith in great congresses. The call is raised to thousands, the newspapers carry the resume of the lectures and there are innumerable opportunities to speak individually with people of capacity, the thinkers of India; for it is usually the progressive, liberal souls, those determined to help make a better world, who go to such congresses.

A great scholar, Professor M. H. Hidayat Hosain of the Royal Asiatic Society Library of Calcutta, a leading Orientalist of the world, has written about Qurratu’l-Ayn. Perhaps he is one of the first great Indian scholars to write about the Faith. He said that he had met the fine Iranian Bahá’í teacher, Ibn Asdaq, who came to India about 1902 or-03. “He was so charming, so spiritual, so cultured” said Professor Hosain, “and we read the Iqán together in Persian!” This very sentence throws an illuminating light to us to-day, on the qualities that a Bahá’í teacher should possess. We must all be Bahá’í teachers to-day, and the great Scholars of this and the coming generation will be quickened or left unawakened perhaps by the way we present the cause to them.

Another point, if some Bahá’ís from Iran, Bahá’ís of capacity, would give up their businesses in Iran and come and settle in Southern India and build up their businesses in all the different cities of the South here, it might advance the Cause tremendously in these critical days. People in our United States have given up their businesses to move and settle in other States. It is an important goal. There is a great cultural affinity between Irán and India, Iránians could do a glorious work here.

The Bahá’í Cause has made remarkable strides in Calcutta since I visited that city in 1930. They have a good hall, fine meetings and the membership seems to have increased five times its number in 1930.

SHANTINIKETAN, India, at the International University of Dr. Rabindra Nath Tagore.

Mr. Isfandiar Bakhtiari of Karachi, a member of the National Spiritual

[Page 8] Assembly of India and Burma, and I visited Shantiniketan on February 13, 14, 1938. We were guests in the School Guest House. It was a great privilege to meet Dr. Tagore and to hear him talk with deep love and appreciation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whom he had met in Chicago in 1912. I am writing the interview for Bahá’í World, volume VII. Dr. Tagore said that the Bahá’í Faith is a great ideal to establish and that they in Shantiniketan welcome all the great religious aims and will be most glad if a Bahá’í Chair of Religion can be arranged in their school.

He and Mr. Bakhtiari spoke of Iran (Mr. Bakhtiari is an Iránian, he came from Yezd to India about twenty years ago), and of Dr. Tagore’s trip to Irán. The Poet asked particularly about the progress of the Bahá’í Faith in the Land of Its Birth, and praised the tolerance and fineness of the Bahá’ís.

Dr. Tagore’s School has a very excellent selection of Bahá’í books in the Library and they take great interest to have it as complete and up-to-date as possible.

A lecture was given in the hall before the whole student body and the professors. Questions were asked and answered. They brought all the Bahá’í books for an exhibition in the hall, and near the close of the lecture I explained the books, one by one. Mr. Bakhtiari was invited and chanted some Bahá’í prayers in Persian. (Many of the cultured people of India know Persian, and the Urud language, which is used by several millions of people, is akin to Persian).

The Associated Press and the United Press used interviews and one professor whom I had known in Marburg University and who knows the Cause well wrote an article about the lectures for the Associated Press of India.

When can a Chair of the Bahá’í Faith be established at Shantiniketan? Bahá’ís must help in this.

TRIVANDRUM, TRAVANCORE. Mr. Bakhtiari and I worked in Trivandrum, December 19-23, 1937. I do not know that any Bahá’í teachers had ever visited Trivandrum and given lectures and press interviews before. It is a very progressive State where the young Maharaja of Travancore, twenty-six years old, has recently opened the Hindu State Temples to peoples of all castes—a most courageous, thrilling move that may help untouchables in other States likewise to receive similar privileges.

We had a charming, illuminating audience with the Maharaja of Travancore and his very cultured progressive mother the Maharani of Travancore, at the Palace. I am sure they know very well all the modern religious movements, for they are most liberal Hindus, most awake to the needs of world unity. (I am writing an article about the audience.)

Mr. Clarmont P. Skrine, British Resident of Madras States, received us graciously, at the British Residency in Trivandrum. He has known much about the Bahá’í Teachings and met many Bahá’ís during his visits to Irán. We learned from him that the late F. H. Skrine of London who wrote a book about the Bahá’í Faith nearly thirty years ago was his father. The Resident told us his father had been very interested in the Cause.

We lectured in the Theosophical Hall of Trivandrum. The President of the Lodge, Professor R. Srinivasan, Principal of the Maharaja’s College of Science arranged it. Dr. and Mrs. Jayaram Cousins were present and both spoke a little. Dr. Cousins, one of the great scholars of Travancore, said that thirty years ago they had been given Eric Hammond’s book “The Splendour of God” and that they have always loved this Bahá’í book. Mrs. Cousins who is a friend of Lady Blomfield stopped over in Haifa on her way to India and visited Shoghi Effendi. She spoke with enthusiasm of Shoghi Effendi, his spirit, his culture, his charm. Dr. Cousins sometimes accompanies the Maharaja on the latter’s trips abroad. I hear from others, but I do not know, that the great Dewan (Prime Minister) of Travancore is a fervent Theosophist.

One reason that we went to Trivandrum just at this time was because the Ninth All-India Oriental Conference, which convenes only once in two years, was to be held there December 20-22, and it seemed most important to try to get the Bahá’í Teachings to as many Oriental scholars as possible—for who will be the Professor Edward G. Browne, the Count Gobineaus, the Baron Rosens of India if we do not interest the scholars; We wish the great Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Zoroastrian scholars to write about the Bahá’í Faith in its relation to their own Faiths. I gave a very short talk in the Conference on the Bahá’í Faith from the standpoint of great Oriental scholars. Mr. Bakhtiari gave a short talk about Qurrátu’l-’Ayn, Iran’s great woman poet.

Articles about the Cause were prepared for the press from the very first day we arrived, and then the Travancore Journalists’ Association gave a tea in our honour in their clubhouse. They wrote several articles and they will write articles in future about the Cause. They wish news of the progress of the Cause in different parts of the world.

(To be continued)