ne Plan which, in the evening of His life, He
unveiled to their eyes He was investing them with that spiritual primacy
on which they could rely in the fulfillment of their high destiny?

"O ye apostles of Baha'u'llah!" He thus addresses them in one of His
Tablets, "May my life be sacrificed for you!... Behold the portals which
Baha'u'llah hath opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the
station you are destined to attain; how unique the favors with which you
have been endowed." "My thoughts," He tells them in another passage, "are
turned towards you, and my heart leaps within me at your mention. Could ye
know how my soul glows with your love, so great a happiness would flood
your hearts as to cause you to become enamored with each other." "The full
measure of your success," He declares in another Tablet, "is as yet
unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Ere long ye will, with
your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining
star, will radiate in the firmament of your country the light of Divine
Guidance and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting
life." "The range of your future achievements," He once more affirms,
"still remains undisclosed. I fervently hope that in the near future the
whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your
achievements." "The Almighty," He assures them, "will no doubt grant you
the help of His grace, will invest you with the tokens of His might, and
will endue your souls with the sustaining power of His holy Spirit." "Be
not concerned," He admonishes them, "with the smallness of your numbers,
neither be oppressed by the multitude of an unbelieving world... Exert
yourselves; your mission is unspeakably glorious. Should success crown
your enterprise, America will assuredly evolve into a center from which
waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of
God will, in the plentitude of its majesty and glory, be firmly
established."

"The hope which 'Abdu'l-Baha cherishes for you," He thus urges them, "is
that the same success which has attended your efforts in America may crown
your endeavors in other parts of the world, that through you the fame of
the Cause of God may be diffused throughout the East and the West and the
advent of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts be proclaimed in all the five
continents of the globe... Thus far ye have been untiring in your labors.
Let your exertions, henceforth,