The British Role in the Ten Year Crusade (part 2)

Parallel with this highly vital and urgently needed exertion in foreign fields, a further intensification of effort is required on the homefront, and particularly throughout the newly opened islands bordering the homeland itself, now standing in such dire need of a flow of pioneers and a concentration of material resources unexampled in British &Baha'i history. There is no reason to doubt that the phenomenal progress achieved within the span of a few years, amidst an alien people, and in such distant and backward territories, will be duplicated, nay surpassed, among people of the same race, speaking the same language, of the same background, and living in such close proximity +P371 to the Administrative Centre in the British Isles, provided that a determination no less unyielding, and a dedication no less whole-hearted and complete, will be displayed by those who have already won such memorable victories in such far-off and inhospitable regions of the globe. He Who in recent years infallibly guided from His realms above the steps of the little band of pioneers and administrators under such difficult and challenging circumstances, Who galvanised their souls, blessed their handiwork, raised their status, and noised abroad their fame, can well enable them, if they but arise to the occasion now presenting itself, to conquer with no less rapidity and even greater effectiveness, the citadels of men's hearts, to tear down the barriers which now confront them, and ignite a fire in the hearts of their own countrymen as consuming as the one that has set ablaze, in so conspicuous a fashion, the souls of the African races over the length and breadth of an entire continent.

The rapid increase in the number of the avowed supporters of the Faith, the multiplication of groups, isolated centres and assemblies within the limits of the homeland and its neighbouring islands, must be accompanied by a marked acceleration in the process of internal consolidation, such as the incorporation of firmly established local Assemblies, expansion in the publication and dissemination of &Baha'i literature, and the adoption of carefully considered measures aimed at giving a still wider publicity, among circles hitherto unapproached, or as yet inadequately informed of the tenets, the aims and purposes, as well as the world-wide achievements of the Faith of &Baha'u'llah in both the teaching and administrative spheres of its activities.

The highly gratifying and truly praiseworthy success which has attended, so unexpectedly, the energetic efforts exerted by your Assembly in connection with the campaign of publicity initiated for the purpose of safeguarding the rights of our oppressed brethren in Persia must be regarded as a most encouraging sign, and should constitute a prelude and a stepping-stone to a still wider undertaking, aimed at a more systematic presentation of the ideals animating our beloved Cause and of its fundamental verities, and an adequate proclamation of its God-given mission to this distracted, sadly erring, and increasingly tormented generation.

The annals of the British &Baha'i community, small in numbers, yet unconquerable in spirit, tenacious in belief, undeviating in purpose, alert and vigilant in the discharge of its manifold duties and responsibilities, have in consequence of its epoch-making achievements +P372 been vastly enriched. The process set in motion and greatly accelerated through the successive formulation of the Six Year Plan, the Two Year Plan and the Ten Year Plan, must continue unabated and unimpaired. Nay with every passing day it must gather momentum. Every individual believer must, henceforth, encouraged and inspired by all that has already been achieved, contribute to its future and speedy unfoldment. That the entire community may befittingly respond to the call of the present hour and bring to a final consummation the Mission with which it has been entrusted is the deepest yearning of my heart and the object of my unceasing prayers.

Shoghi 4 November 1956 Northern Ireland Regional Teaching Committee Dear &Baha'i Brother:

Your letter of 16 &Mashiyyat 113, with enclosures, has been received by the beloved Guardian, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf.

He is most hopeful that the second week-end school will prove as successful and fruitful as the one held in February apparently was.

The Guardian is delighted over the progress being made in Northern Ireland. He greatly admires the tenacity and spirit of dedication of the believers living in the British Isles, and is confident the friends in your region will unitedly bend all their energies toward the fulfilment of the goals they have set their hearts on attaining by next &Ridvan.

Rest assured of his loving prayers for you all....

[From the Guardian:]

May the Beloved bless your efforts and those of your dear co-workers, and aid you to extend the range of your valued activities, and enable you to win memorable victories in the service of His Faith,

Your true brother,

Shoghi +P373 8 December 1956 REGARDING CHILDREN FOLLOW AMERICAN PROCEDURE. APPROVE SUGGESTED METHOD INCORPORATION MAURITIUS.

SHOGHI 14 December 1956 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

The Beloved Guardian has directed me to write to your Assembly, with regard to the Tristan da Cunha Island.

Earlier in the Ten Year Crusade, one of the English &Baha'is offered to settle in this Island, in order to establish the Faith there. At that time, the Guardian felt we must concentrate on the goals of the Crusade only. Now, however, the Friends have won so many victories, and the goals of the Crusade are being gained currently, early in the Crusade, he feels supplementary areas may be settled--and for that matter, supplementary activities engaged in.

Thus, if this friend still wishes to settle in the Island of Tristan da Cunha, he would welcome it being done.

If only the home front would surge ahead, then the Crusade would surely be moving ahead of the schedule. Let us pray those at home will arise with the same dedication, and consecration as the valiant pioneers, causing a new life to be manifest on all home fronts.

The Guardian sends the members of your Assembly his loving greetings.... 27 December 1956 AS NATIONAL AND FEW LOCAL &HAZIRAS NOT YET RETURNED LETTER THANKS INADVISABLE.+F1

SHOGHI +F1 Proposed letter of thanks to a Head of State. +P374 12 January 1957

Mr. Arthur Norton Dear &Baha'i Brother,

Your loving letters concerning contributions to the Shrine of the &Bab Fund, and the International Fund, have been received by the Beloved Guardian, and he has directed me to acknowledge them on his behalf. These contributions from the Friends in England, and the Friends in the Seychelles, are greatly appreciated by the Guardian. Receipt is enclosed. Will you please, on behalf of the Guardian express his appreciation to Mr. & Mrs. ... and the devoted friends in the Seychelles.

The Guardian has been deeply touched by the continuing victories being won by the friends in the Seychelles.

The Beloved Guardian also wishes the dear Friends in England to know of his deep appreciation of their consecration, and their sacrifices for the Faith. This noble spirit cannot do other than attract the blessings of the Holy Spirit, which will assure victory. He assures you of his prayers in your behalf, and for the success of your many labours.

He sends you his loving Greetings.... 12 January 1957 To the &Baha'is who were present at the Birmingham Teaching Conference, January 5th 1957. Dear &Baha'i Friends,

The beloved Guardian has received your letter of greeting, and was very happy to hear that the Birmingham Teaching Conference had been such an outstanding success.

Undoubtedly the Faith in the British Isles is making steady and sound progress, and he hopes that during the coming months many of the Spiritual Assemblies which have been placed in jeopardy will be consolidated in time for the elections. He feels sure that the British &Baha'is, who have done more pioneering per capita than any other &Baha'i community in the world, will do all in their power to safeguard the precious goals they have won at the cost of so much sacrifice and valiant endeavour. +P375

He assures you one and all of his loving prayers for your success, and that he will remember you in his visits to the Holy Shrines....

[From the Guardian:]

May the Spirit of &Baha'u'llah sustain you in your highly meritorious labours, guide every step you take in the path of service to His Faith, and enable you to lend a great impetus, in the days to come, to the onward march of our beloved Cause throughout the British Isles and to the consolidation of its divinely appointed institutions,

Your true brother,

Shoghi 26 February 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

The Beloved Guardian has directed me to write your Assembly with regard to showing interior views of the Shrine of &Baha'u'llah in slides.

The Guardian read in some minutes, or in a report of one of the Summer Schools, that slides were shown of the Holy Land, and among them one of the interior of the Shrine. He would like to know whether this is the interior Garden, or the Inner Shrine itself, and whose slides they are.

He feels that the Shrine of &Baha'u'llah and the &Bab are so sacred, it is improper for any slides to be shown of the Interiors. Thus, the slide which was shown at the Summer School should be destroyed, and if it forms a part of any sets of views of the Holy Land, this slide be removed from the set.

He sends you his loving Greetings.... 27 February 1957 GREATLY DEPLORE LOSS MUCH LOVED JOHN MITCHELL STAUNCH CONSECRATED PROMOTER FAITH. REWARD HIS ADMINISTRATIVE PIONEER SERVICES GREAT &ABHA KINGDOM FERVENTLY SUPPLICATING PROGRESS HIS SOUL.

SHOGHI +P376 9 March 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

Your loving letter of March 4th, with regard to the Shrine of &Baha'u'llah, interior view, slide; which was shown or to be shown at your Summer School.

The Guardian wishes me to see that all these slides are destroyed, and all informed that they should not be used. Therefore, can you send me the name of the person in America who sent the slide to the &Baha'i in England.

This will permit me to stop the exodus of these slides at the source.... 14 March 1957 APPEAL VALIANT BRITISH &BAHA'I COMMUNITY FOCUS ATTENTION URGENT NEEDS PIVOTAL CENTRES STRENUOUS IMMEDIATE CONCERTED EFFORTS IMPERATIVE SAFEGUARD OUTSTANDING PRIZES LABORIOUSLY WON FERVENTLY PRAYING SUCCESS DEEPEST LOVE.

SHOGHI 16 March 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

The Beloved Guardian has been greatly impressed by the number of Teaching Conferences held during the past year, especially in the virgin areas of the Ten Year Crusade.

My records are not complete concerning the Teaching Conference of the Northern Islands. Will you please cable me on receipt of this where this Conference was held, and the dates.... 23 March 1957 Dear &Baha'i Friend,

Your loving letter of February 20th was duly received by the Beloved Guardian, and on March 20th, the contributions referred to therein. +P377

The Guardian has directed me to acknowledge your letter and the contributions on his behalf. Receipt is enclosed.

Will you please write the &Baha'is of ... on behalf of the Guardian, and thank them for their contribution for the construction of the International Archives Building. Their sacrifices in that difficult area, at this time, shows their depth of spiritual consciousness. The Guardian will pray for them, and for the success of their work.

The Guardian also wishes to assure the &Baha'is of the British Isles, of his appreciation of their sacrifice and devotion to the Cause of God. He is praying for them, for the success of their historic work, and for the rapid expansion of the Faith. He is sure the Blessings of the Beloved Master will rest on each and every one.

Please send the Friends in Kuwait the enclosed photo, showing the present stage of construction of the Archives Building.

He sends his loving Greetings... 27 March 1957 DEEPLY MOURN PASSING DEARLY LOVED MUCH ADMIRED GREATLY GIFTED OUTSTANDING HAND CAUSE GEORGE TOWNSHEND. HIS DEATH MORROW PUBLICATION HIS CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT ROBS BRITISH FOLLOWERS &BAHA'U'LLAH THEIR MOST DISTINGUISHED COLLABORATOR AND FAITH ITSELF ONE ITS STOUTEST DEFENDERS. HIS STERLING QUALITIES HIS SCHOLARSHIP HIS CHALLENGING WRITINGS HIS HIGH ECCLESIASTICAL POSITION UNRIVALLED ANY &BAHA'I WESTERN WORLD ENTITLE HIM RANK WITH THOMAS BREAKWELL DR. ESSLEMONT ONE OF THREE LUMINARIES SHEDDING BRILLIANT LUSTRE ANNALS IRISH ENGLISH SCOTTISH &BAHA'I COMMUNITIES. HIS FEARLESS CHAMPIONSHIP CAUSE HE LOVED SO DEARLY SERVED SO VALIANTLY CONSTITUTES SIGNIFICANT LANDMARK BRITISH &BAHA'I HISTORY. SO ENVIABLE POSITION CALLS FOR NATIONAL TRIBUTE HIS MEMORY BY ASSEMBLED DELEGATES VISITORS FORTHCOMING BRITISH &BAHA'I CONVENTION. ASSURE RELATIVES DEEPEST LOVING SYMPATHY GRIEVOUS LOSS. CONFIDENT HIS REWARD INESTIMABLE &ABHA KINGDOM.

SHOGHI +P378 30 March 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

The Beloved Guardian has directed me to write you concerning a list which he desires, showing the languages into which the scriptures, or parts of them have been translated.

He has the book entitled "The Gospel in Many Tongues" issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Bible House, 146 Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.4, (in 1948). This shows specimens of 770 languages in which this Society has published or circulated some portion of the Gospel.

In the preface, they state "If those versions published by other agents are included, there are now well over a thousand forms of speech represented in the Library at Bible House".

The Guardian would like to secure a list of the additional some 300 languages into which the Gospel has been translated, referred to in this quotation. Could you secure it for him, from the Bible Society, at the Bible House.

Is it fair to assume this would then be all the languages, from any source, into which the Bible or parts have been translated? Your early advice will be appreciated.

For your information, in the list of languages into which &Baha'i literature has been translated, there are some 20, not included in the published book of the 770 languages into which Christian Scripture has been published, as covered by the Book.

The question is, are these 20 included in the supplementary list, which makes the 1,000 or more into which Christian Scripture has been translated. Your sending the list will enable us to make the check here.

If you could secure this list and send it promptly, it might enable the Guardian to include this interesting point in his Convention message.... 12 April 1957 Dear John:

Enclosed please find the beloved Guardian's Message to the annual convention; it should be delivered to the Chairman to be read to and shared with the assembled friends.... +P379

P.S. In order to gain time this is being mailed through a pilgrim from Rome.

P.S. No.2. Will you please acknowledge receipt of this letter by cable to the Guardian. 19 April 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother,

The Beloved Guardian has been very deeply impressed with the latest book of our dear departed co-worker, Hand of the Cause, George Townshend.

He feels that this Book should be used as the basis of a very active campaign of teaching and publicity throughout the British Isles.

Publicity regarding the book should be arranged, book reviews secured, if possible. Religious leaders should be sent copies, even the highest Ecclesiastical leaders. Many copies should be mailed to the important leaders of the Church of England, and other religious denominations of the British Isles.

This book very finely presents the relationship between Christ and &Baha'u'llah, and outlines the manner in which the &Baha'i Faith is setting up the Kingdom of God, which the Christians are praying for.

The Guardian feels that very beneficial results will be achieved by this active public programme, with this book, "Christ and &Baha'u'llah" even if it stirs up opposition and criticism for the time being.

He will pray for your Assembly, and for the success of your many labours in the Cause of God.... 30 April 1957 DEEPLY APPRECIATE CONVENTION MESSAGE REJOICE RECENT VICTORIES GREATLY VALUE SPIRIT ANIMATING ENTIRE BRITISH &BAHA'I COMMUNITY CHERISH BRIGHTEST HOPES FERVENTLY SUPPLICATING RAPID CONSOLIDATION HOME FRONT ESSENTIAL PRELUDE UNPRECEDENTED EXPANSION GLORIOUS MISSION BRITISH FOLLOWERS FAITH &BAHA'U'LLAH FOREIGN FIELDS DEEPEST LOVE.

SHOGHI +P380 27 May 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

The beloved Guardian has instructed me to write about the ... situation raised in one of your recent letters....

It is inconceivable and wholly inadmissible that any &Baha'is in a community should be permitted to hold a Feast in their home and refuse admission to another believer; and your Assembly should write accordingly in very strong terms to the ... Assembly, pointing out that the Guardian is not only surprised to learn of this situation, but disapproves of it in the strongest terms.

Any &Baha'i may attend a Feast, a local &Baha'i, a &Baha'i from out of town, certainly an isolated &Baha'i from the neighbourhood.

It is the duty of the ... Assembly to take strong measures to remedy this situation, and to ensure that the Feasts are held in a place and in a manner that conforms to the &Baha'i spirit.... 7 June 1957 (Shetland Summer School) SUPPLICATING ABUNDANT BLESSINGS DEEPEST LOVE.

SHOGHI 14 August 1957 DELIGHTED HISTORIC GATHERING ASSURE FERVENT PRAYERS UNPRECEDENTED EXPANSION ACTIVITIES.

SHOGHI 30 August 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother:

Your communications with their enclosures and material sent under separate cover have all arrived safely, and the beloved +P381 Guardian has instructed me to answer you on his behalf and to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated: July 24, 27 and 31, August 24, 27, and 30, September 7, 26, 27, and 28, October 5, 13 (signed by all members), and 15, November 5 (signed by Dorothy Ferraby), and 28 (three), and December 14, 18, 27, and 28, 1956, and January 8, 16, 20 (one undated), and 22nd, February 4, 6, 8, 11, 19, 21, 23, and 27, March 7, 8, 13, and 18 (two), May 6, 9, 21, (two), June 3, 11, 14, 19 and 25, July 12, 16, (two), 19, 21, 26, and August 2, and 5 signed by Ernest Gregory+.

As a number of questions raised in your letters have been answered by cable or through the National Assembly Secretary, I will not go into those again here.

He was interested to see the Tablets which Dr. Moayad located in Cambridge, and appreciated having copies of them.

It has been a great pleasure to have had so many members of the British &Baha'i community here last winter and spring as pilgrims.

He is immensely proud of the work which has been accomplished during the last year, of the remarkable spirit of dedication which animates the entire community, and which invariably produces, at an hour of crisis, a strong and healthy reaction on the part of the community to rush reinforcements to its weak Assemblies, when they are in danger of dissolution.

He realises that the enforcement of the general rule that an Assembly must function within civic limits has caused considerable havoc in Britain, as well as other countries. However, it enables the friends, through splitting up into smaller communities, to have before their eyes the appetising prospect of forming yet another Spiritual Assembly, all on their own, so to speak. It gives more believers the opportunity to serve on these Administrative Bodies, challenges the teaching activities of them all, and stimulates them to fresh efforts in the hope of early victory.

The news of the success of your Convention this year; the fact that the community was able to manoeuvre its finances into a position of equilibrium, a position, incidentally, which it should make every effort to maintain; the large number of friends who attended the beautiful memorial meeting held for the dear Hand of the Cause, George Townshend, also pleased and encouraged our beloved Guardian. +P382

He was pleased to hear from Rhodesia of the incorporation of the Salisbury Assembly, which seems to be in the nature of a foundation for the future incorporation of all Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Rhodesias. This is yet another valuable service which your Assembly has been instrumental in rendering the Faith in Africa.

He thanks your Assembly for the coloured photographs of the &Haziratu'l-Quds and also for the film of the Summer School which you sent him. He was very pleased also to receive copies of the Irish pamphlets, and hopes the Gaelic translation will soon be out.

As regards your question about printing in books the approval of the National Assembly, he thinks that, if in certain circumstances this seems inadvisable, there is no objection to omitting it. The approval of the National Body should be sought for all &Baha'i publications, so as to protect the Faith from unofficially disseminating information which may in some respects be false or inaccurate. Once this has been done, it is not so essential for the fact to appear in the book, if it will mitigate the effects of the book and decrease its sales....

The death of the Hand of the Cause, George Townshend, is a great loss to the British community as it not only deprives them of their most distinguished member, their unique Hand, but also of a most inspiring and faithful co-worker and a distinguished &Baha'i author. His latest book has been read with great interest by the Guardian, and he hopes your Assembly is ensuring its wide distribution to various religious leaders in Britain. If opposition to the Faith can be aroused through this book, it will be the greatest service that dear George Townshend has ever rendered. It was always his hope that, through his pen, sparks would fly and begin the conflagration in whose light the Faith would shine forth in all its splendour. Let us hope that this last service of his will indeed prove to be the vital spark setting off this process of opposition which will inevitably lead to a wide recognition and acceptance of the Faith.

The Guardian hopes that during the present year the home Assemblies will not only be maintained and groups prepared for assembly status next &Ridvan, but that it will be possible to reinforce the work in the islands off the shores of the British Isles. The sooner a nucleus of local people is established in these goal +P383 places the sooner will the pioneers be able to move on to new fields and to lend their assistance to the teaching work either on the Home Front or in the Pacific area.

Please assure the dear pioneers that he greatly admires their steadfastness of purpose, their self-sacrifice and their exemplary spirit, and that he particularly prays for them in the Holy Shrines.

As regards the future work in the Pacific: It is entirely premature at this time for your Assembly to think about the work there. The Home Front and the work in the neighbouring islands around Great Britain, as well as those allotted under the Ten Year Plan to your Assembly in the Mediterranean, must receive the concentrated attention of your Body, its Committees and the believers. When the time comes to become active in the Pacific area, you may be sure he will let you know!

He feels that the urgent need now is to get out "Some Answered Questions", which is one of the most important books for a proper study of the Faith. When this has been printed, the next publication of the Master's Works can be considered....

As to your question about the words used in the marriage ceremony; the two versions mean practically the same thing, and either may be used.+F1

It is most regrettable that the Caravan should have gotten hold of ...; if this situation is stirred up too much it will only enable Ahmad Sohrab to make a big fuss and get more publicity. In view of this the Guardian feels your Assembly should be watchful and seek out, if possible, a suitable person and a suitable opportunity to call to her attention the facts that the &Baha'i Faith, so widely spread and acknowledged, has nothing to do with the Caravan which is a purely opportunist organisation and so loosely knit together as to have almost no power of influencing people one way or another. To do the wrong thing in a situation such as this would be worse than to do nothing.

He assures you one and all of his loving prayers for your success in all you do for the Faith.

[From the Guardian:] Dear and valued co-workers,

The year that has just elapsed, following upon the swift and +F1 The two versions are: "We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God", and +F1 "Verily we are content with the Will of God". +P384 spectacular success achieved by the firmly grounded, the progressive and alert British &Baha'i community in the heart of the African Continent--a success attested by the triumphant emergence of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the &Baha'is of Central and East Africa--has witnessed a progress throughout the length and breadth of the Homefront, as well as in the northern islands in the neighbourhood of the British Isles, which, though not spectacular, nevertheless testifies to the earnestness, the devotion and the exemplary tenacity with which the members of this community are conducting, in all its aspects, the noble Mission entrusted to their care, and are grappling with the manifold problems involved in its prosecution.

This present and crucial year must be signalised in the annals of British &Baha'i history by a substantial measure of internal administrative consolidation and a noticeable expansion in the all-important teaching field, which will enable the members of this community, now standing on the threshold of a new and brilliant phase in the unfoldment of their Mission in foreign fields, to reinforce and broaden the base of their future operations beyond the confines of their native land.

The splendid work achieved, in such a short space of time, in a field so distant, and amongst a race so alien in its background, outlook and customs, must, if the significance of that Mission is to be properly assessed, be regarded as only a prelude to the series of future campaigns which the privileged members of the British &Baha'i community, residing and firmly rooted in the heart of a far-flung Commonwealth and Empire, will, if faithful to such a Mission, launch, in the years ahead, in the islands of the North Sea and of the Mediterranean, as well as in the remote territories situated in the Pacific area--campaigns which, in their range and significance, must throw into shade the feats performed in the African Continent.

To be enabled to rise to this occasion, to ensure the energetic, the systematic and uninterrupted conduct of so vast and diversified an enterprise, amidst peoples and races fully as promising, and even more remotedly situated, and presenting them with a challenge more severe than any which has faced them in the past, the small band of the ardent, the high minded, the resolute followers of the Faith of &Baha'u'llah, charged by Destiny and by virtue of the enviable position they occupy, with so glorious a responsibility for the future awakening of the great masses, living under the shadow of, or whose governments are directly associated with, the British Crown, must needs in the +P385 years immediately ahead, acquire greater coherence, increase more rapidly in numbers, definitely emerge from obscurity, plumb greater depths of consecration, enrich its store of administrative experience, become definitely self-supporting, and associate itself more closely, through the body of its elected representatives and its future Hands, with the National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies on the European mainland and in all the other continents of the globe, and particularly with the Hands already appointed in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

The sooner these prime requisites, so essential for a further unfoldment of the mighty potentialities inherent in so splendid a Mission, are fulfilled, the sooner will the call be raised for the opening of a new chapter in the history of British &Baha'i achievements overseas.

The rapid multiplication of isolated centres, groups and local assemblies, particularly in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Eire; the incorporation of firmly grounded local spiritual assemblies; a greater measure of publicity; a wider dissemination of &Baha'i literature; a quick and substantial rehabilitation of the vitally important national Fund; a firmer grasp of the essential verities of the Faith; a more profound study of its history and a deeper understanding of the genesis, the significance, the workings, and the present status and achievements of its embryonic World Order and of the Covenant to which it owes its birth and vitality--these remain the rock-bottom requirements which alone can guarantee the opening and hasten the advent, of that blissful era which every British &Baha'i heart so eagerly anticipates, and the glories of which can, at present, be but dimly discerned.

Now, of a certainty, is not the time for the members of this gallant band, so thinly spread over the length and breadth of its island home, and reaching out, so laboriously yet so determinedly to the inhospitable islands fringing its northern and western coasts, to dwell, however tentatively, on the nature of the tantalising task awaiting them in the not distant future, or to seek to probe into its mysterious, divinely guided operation. Theirs is the duty to plod on, however tedious the nature of the work demanding their immediate attention, however formidable the obstacles involved in its proper execution, however prolonged the effort which its success necessitates, until the signs of its ultimate consummation, heralding the launching of what is sure to be the most spectacular phase of their Mission, are clearly discerned.

A responsibility, at once colossal, sacred and highly challenging, +P386 faces not only the body of the elected representatives of this community, but each and every one of its members. As the world spiritual Crusade, to the successful prosecution of which the British followers of the Faith of &Baha'u'llah have, singly and collectively, so markedly contributed, approaches its mid-point, the evidences of this indispensable quickening of the tempo of &Baha'i activity all over the British Isles and the islands situated in their neighbourhood and far beyond their confines, must become more manifest and rapidly multiply. The admiration and esteem in which a community, relatively small in numbers, strictly limited in resources, yet capable of such solid and enduring achievements, is held by its sister and daughter communities in every continent of the globe, far from declining must be further enhanced. The historic process originated as far back as the year which witnessed the formulation of the Six Year Plan on the occasion of the Centenary of the Declaration of the &Bab in &Shiraz, which gathered momentum, as a result of the inauguration of the Two Year Plan which followed the Centenary of the &Bab's Martyrdom in &Tabriz, which received a tremendous impetus, in consequence of the launching of the Ten Year Crusade, commemorating the centenary celebrations of the birth of &Baha'u'llah's Mission in &Tihran--such a process must, as the centenary celebrations designed to commemorate the Declaration of that same Mission in &Baghdad approaches, be so markedly accelerated, and yield such a harvest, as will astonish the entire &Baha'i world, and give the signal for the inauguration, by those who have so spontaneously set this process in motion, more than a decade ago, of a blissful era designed to carry the chief builders of &Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Order, throughout the unnumbered, the diversified and widely scattered Dependencies of the British Crown, to still greater heights of achievements in the service and for the glory of His Faith.

May they, as they forge ahead along the high road leading to ultimate, total and complete victory, receive as their daily sustenance, a still fuller measure of the abounding grace, promised to the believers of an earlier generation by the Centre of the Covenant, the Author of the Divine Plan, Himself, on the occasion of His twice-repeated visit to their shores, and which has been unfailingly vouchsafed to themselves, in the course of over three decades, since the birth of the Formative Age of the Faith and the rise of its Administrative Order in their homeland.

Shoghi +P387 7 September 1957 Dear &Baha'i Brother,

On behalf of our beloved Guardian I acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your letter of 17th August enclosing the minutes of the meeting of the British N.S.A. held at the Summer School on August 8th.... 14 September 1957 WELCOME DETERMINATION ASSEMBLED FRIENDS SUMMER SCHOOL PRAYING FERVENTLY FRIENDS ATTAIN GOALS SCALE NOBLER HEIGHTS PATH SERVICE CAUSE &BAHA'U'LLAH.

SHOGHI 2 October 1957 Dear John:

In "The Voice of Youth" for July, page ten, there is an article by David Solomon in which he quotes some very significant passages from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Guardian would like to have the exact source of these passages, and the quotations in the paragraphs in which they occur, written out in full.... 11 October 1957+F1 CONFIDENT BRITISH COMMUNITY RICHLY DESERVES NEW HONOUR.

SHOGHI +F1 Sent in reply to a cable expressing gratitude for the appointment of two +F1 British Hands of the Cause of God. +P388 +P389