Baha-'ullah, as we have
seen, acted differently; apparently he did not consider that the
Islamic peoples were quite ripe for monogamy. But surely he did not
choose the better part, as the history of Bahaism sufficiently
shows. At any rate, the Centre of the Covenant has now spoken with no
uncertain sound.
As we have seen, the two schismatic enterprises affected the sensitive
nature of the true Centre of the Covenant most painfully; one thinks
of a well-known passage in a Hebrew psalm. But he was more than
compensated by several most encouraging events. The first was the
larger scale on which accessions took place to the body of believers;
from England to the United States, from India to California, in
surprising numbers, streams of enthusiastic adherents poured in. It
was, however, for Russia that the high honour was reserved of the
erection of the first Bahai temple. To this the Russian Government was
entirely favourable, because the Bahais were strictly forbidden by
Baha-'ullah and by Abdul Baha to take part in any revolutionary
enterprises. The temple took some years to build, but was finished at
last, and two Persian workmen deserve the chief praise for willing
self-sacrifice in the building. The example thus set will soon be
followed by our kinsfolk in the United States. A large and beautiful
site on the shores of Lake Michigan has been acquired, and the
construction will speedily be proceeded with.
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