the nature
and working of the Administrative Order which the Will of 'Abdu'l-Baha was
at a later time destined to proclaim and formally establish.

An attempt, I feel, should at the present juncture be made to explain the
character and functions of the twin pillars that support this mighty
Administrative Structure--the institutions of the Guardianship and of the
Universal House of Justice. To describe in their entirety the diverse
elements that function in conjunction with these institutions is beyond
the scope and purpose of this general exposition of the fundamental
verities of the Faith. To define with accuracy and minuteness the
features, and to analyze exhaustively the nature of the relationships
which, on the one hand, bind together these two fundamental organs of the
Will of 'Abdu'l-Baha and connect, on the other, each of them to the Author
of the Faith and the Center of His Covenant is a task which future
generations will no doubt adequately fulfill. My present intention is to
elaborate certain salient features of this scheme which, however close we
may stand to its colossal structure, are already so clearly defined that
we find it inexcusable to either misconceive or ignore.

It should be stated, at the very outset, in clear and unambiguous
language, that these twin institutions of the Administrative Order of
Baha'u'llah should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their
functions and complementary in their aim and purpose. Their common, their
fundamental object is to insure the continuity of that divinely-appointed
authority which flows from the Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity
of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its
teachings. Acting in conjunction with each other these two inseparable
institutions administer its affairs, coeordinate its activities, promote
its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions.
Severally, each operates within a clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction;
each is equipped with its own attendant institutions--instruments designed
for the effective discharge of its particular responsibilities and duties.
Each exercises, within the limitations imposed upon it, its powers, its
authority, its rights and prerogatives. These are neither contradictory,
nor detract in the slightest degree from the position which each of these
institutions occupies. Far from being incompatible or mutually
destructive, they supplement each oth