ity. His will be the
task of tracing, in the work which these deputies of 'Abdu'l-Baha were
commissioned to undertake, the beginnings of that vast Administration, the
corner-stone of which these messengers were instructed to lay--an
Administration whose symbolic Edifice He, at a later time, was to found in
person and whose basis and scope the provisions of His Will were destined
to widen.

Suffice it to say that at this stage of its evolution the activities of an
invincible Faith had assumed such dimensions as to force on the one hand
its enemies to devise fresh weapons for their projected assaults, and on
the other to encourage its supreme Promoter to instruct its followers,
through qualified representatives and teachers, in the rudiments of an
Administration which, as it evolved, would at once incarnate, safeguard
and foster its spirit. The works of such stubborn assailants as those of
Vatralsky, Wilson, Jessup and Richardson vie with one another in their
futile attempts to stain its purity, to arrest its march and compel its
surrender. To the charges of Nihilism, of heresy, of Muhammadan
Gnosticism, of immorality, of Occultism and Communism so freely leveled
against them, the undismayed victims of such outrageous denunciations,
acting under the instructions of 'Abdu'l-Baha, retorted by initiating a
series of activities which by their very nature were to be the precursors
of permanent, officially recognized administrative institutions. The
inauguration of Chicago's first House of Spirituality designated by
'Abdu'l-Baha as that city's "House of Justice"; the establishment of the
Baha'i Publishing Society; the founding of the Green Acre Fellowship; the
publication of the Star of the West; the holding of the first Baha'i
National Convention, synchronizing with the transference of the sacred
remains of the Bab to its final resting-place on Mt. Carmel; the
incorporation of the Baha'i Temple Unity and the formation of the
Executive Committee of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar--these stand out as the
most conspicuous accomplishments of the American believers which have
immortalized the memory of the most turbulent period of their history.
Launched through these very acts into the troublesome seas of ceaseless
tribulation, piloted by the mighty arm of 'Abdu'l-Baha and manned by the
bold initiative and abundant vitality of a band of sorely-tried disciples,
the Ark of Baha'u'llah's Covenant has, ever since those days, been
steadily p