my love to all of them.

Shoghi

Letter of 4 January 1924 (Enclosure)

4 January 1924 (Enclosure)

To the members of the American National Spiritual Assembly.

My dearest friends!

On Nov. 28th I received the following communication from the President of
the National Spiritual Assembly of Great Britain!

"I have now to bring to your notice, though possibly you are already aware
of it, a matter which is of the first importance in the opinion of the
National Spiritual Assembly as you will see from one of the paragraphs of
the enclosed minutes of its first meeting, which was held on October 13th.
So far the programme of the conference on the 'Living Religions within the
British Empire' is in a somewhat nebulous condition, but I have
ascertained from Miss Sharples, the honorary secretary of the committee of
organisation, that the conference has been approved by the authorities of
the British Empire Exhibition, 1924 and will last for ten days, covering
the last week of the month of September and the first three days of
October. It is proposed that all religions taught and practised throughout
the British Empire shall be represented at the conference, including the
Christians, Muhammadans, Buddhists, Brahma Somaj, Theosophists and others,
and that each one in turn shall have at its disposal a day or part of a
day for a meeting to expound its principles and deal with its organisation
and objects."

In their last letter, the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of
Great Britain further inform me that the idea of the above-mentioned
conference has originated with the Theosophical Society, but these having
later dropped its management the organisation of the conference passed
into the hands of the School of Oriental Studies and the Sociological
Society. You will also note from the enclosed copy of a letter addressed
by the same Miss Sharples to the President of the British National
Spiritual Assembly that the time offered to the Baha'i representatives
will be very limited, and that most probably the allotted time will be
just sufficient to read their papers or deliver their address and engage
in the discussion that might arise after their formal presentation of the
Cause.

As the British Empire Exhibition, of which this conference forms a part,
is itself a semi-official undertaking, and receives actually the generous
support and active participation of the government authorities throughout
the British Emp