Notes taken at ACCA

by Mrs. Corinne True

1907

Feb. 27, 1907.

We reached Haifa on Monday evening, having taken ship at Alexandria Saturday afternoon.

The trip from Port Said was very, very beautiful and the sea was perfectly calm. As we neared Mt.

Carmel the sun shone so beautifully on the point, making a picture never to be forgotten. Fresh verdure and new life began to be manifest, and, after landing, Cook’s man drove us to the Carmel House and there we breathed the most delicious air of quiet and peace, our hearts praising God that He had, in His Mercy, permitted us to come to the New Holy City, the New Jerusalem, to the King of Kings, enthroned in the hearts but imprisoned as far as the material world goes.

We remained two nights and a day in Haifa and the weather was most favorable for seeing the beauties of Haifa. The same day of our arrival the Holy Mother had driven into Haifa to see Rhooah Itharrain who is living, for the present, in Madame Jackson’s new house. The two sons-in-law of The Master care to the hotel for us to bring us to see the ladies and Mirza Assad’u’llah. We were almost beside ourselves with the joy of realizing that actually and truly we were in Haifa, with Acca just across the bay ever in sight, and, further, to have the great privilege of seeing the Holy Mother and the daughter, was almost more than the capacity of the limited heart could endure. We went back to the hotel after a-half hour’s visit with these holy souls. The moon was all but full and the entire setting seemed like heaven itself. We fell asleep on our pillows perfectly intoxicated with the realization that at last we were to visit the One whose Holy Utterances we had been feeding cur souls upon for the past eight years. Sleep was very sweet that night, and, upon arising the next morning, we looked out of our bedroom windows to see Acca across the blue sea and Camel’s point bathed in the new morning’s sunshine – a veritable landscape dream almost too beautiful to belong to earth.

During the forenoon our traveling companion, whom we had met for the first time at Port Said, was hind enough to chaperon Arna, taking a carriage drive while I looked after certain packages and letters for the friends in Haifa. They had but just left MR and turned the corner when Mirza Ameen’s brother came to the hotel to escort us to Mirza Assad’u’llah’s home. I had to go alone because I did not know where to find Madame Scaramucei and Arna. Mirza Assadtu’llah, his wife, two sons and a daughter greeted me with great warmth, asking many questions about the friends in America and the progress of the Temple. The work which Chicago had been doing was clearly explained to him and he said it was well we had made it an American movement and he hoped it would be built by the believers of the world. He commended our wisdom in referring the location to The Master. The Holy Mother and the daughter Rhooah came to call, also a sister of the Holy Mother, who lives in Haifa. Coffee and cookies were served, and, after quite a visit, I went back to the hotel and found Arna and the Baha’i sister had returned and were wondering where I could be.

At half past two we went to Madame Jackson’s home, which is called the home of Abbas Effendi, to meet Rhooah Khanum who had invited us to drive with her to the Holy Tomb of the Bab on the side of Mt. Carmel.

The blessed Master’s carriage drove up for us and our hearts almost beat aloud to realize we were to drive in his carriage, with his beautiful daughter, to that Holy Tomb of the Bab, which every believer in the world knows about. Not only is its architecture very remarkable, but its location is positively commanding, built upon the solid rock of the great mountain, very high up from the sea and looking down the main avenue of Haifa, which leads direct to the sea; a stone pier or landing having been built a few years ago for the Emperor of Germany, who visited the Holy Land, entering by way of Haifa because here is a large German settlement that originally came to Hs.ifa because they had reckoned from prophecies that this is the part of the Holy Land from which the Voice of God will be proclaimed at the second coming of Christ.

A great interest existed in our hearts to see thoroughly this wonderful Tomb, and it had grown out of the work we had been doing for our Temple. After seeing its massive wails and solid masonry, we did not wonder that the Turkish Government had conceived the idea that The Master was building a great military fort. This Tomb is built to last for at least. 8000 years, and one can quite believe it will after seeing it. There is quite a flower garden in front of this building and the wife of the keeper gathered a lovely bunch of red roses and brought them as a gift to us and later she came with a handful of violets. After Rhooah Khanum had explained the inner rooms – three in breadth, and, when complete, three in depth, we came out of the building to find this dear little keeper’s wife had placed four chairs in front of the building and was waiting to serve us a cup of Persian tea, and we sat in that wonderful place, looking over to Acca and down to Elijah’s cave and the enormous sweep of the bay, and we knew there was nowhere else on earth such a place. The Mercies of God, in this His Greatest Day, are so overwhelming that they are like a consuming fire. All of this had come to us in two days and we had not yet been to Acca. I said to our companion Bahai sister: “What must it be in the days before us if we have only touched, as it were, the hem of the garment?”

Another perfect moonlight night and a delicious sleep brought us to this morning. We had not received the word from Acca to come, but were expecting it. We were dressing for breakfast when a knock was heard at our door, and, upon opening, Mirza Ameen’s brother was seen, bringing to us the glad tidings that we might take Cook’s carriage and go to the house of The Master this morning. After selecting the necessary clothing and packing our suit cases, leaving our trunks with Cook, we hired a sort of omnibus carriage with three horses to pull us, and started from Haifa at 10 o’clock.

The ride to Acca has been described by several pilgrims, but must be frank to say no mortal can possibly picture it to himself; he must actually take it to get any idea of its beauty. After getting through the narrow streets of old Haifa, we drove to the shores of the sea. The entire drive is on the sandy beach and nearly all the time the driver would be driving partly in the sea because it was firmer and easier for the horses. Twice on the way we had to drive out into the sea in order to ford two streams which are not bridged, the water coming almost into the wagon bed. One little word which The Master had said to Mrs. Lucas, when she made the same pilgrimage, kept our hearts in perfect peace, and that word was this: “Love knows no fear.”

To an American, with everything so open and free about our cities, the entrance into Acca is something grewsome indeed and had we not known who was within its walls and under the shelter of whose roof we were to be domiciled, we would have fled with terror. A prison city which is truly named “The Greatest Prison.”

We were greeted at the entrance by The Master’s son-in-law and another believer and kindly escorted to our room and our luggage placed there for us. We were left alone for a few minutes. Then a messenger rapped and inquired if Monevrea Khanum might came to see us. We fn7shened ourselves up after the long, windy drive and were happy to greet The Master’s youngest daughter. She came to us so sweetly with those wonderful soulful bright eyes, bearing in her hand three beautiful roses plucked and sent to us by The Master with his welcome.

In a few minutes more The Master himself came into our room and we met him at the door, kissing his hand as he entered. He is absolutely nothing like the picture in America. Once, when first I came into the knowledge of the Revelation, I dreamed of attaining the great meeting and of bringing one of my daughters. The personage I saw in my dream was not like the picture, so for several years I had fancied it must be Baha’u’llah. Today, when The Master entered, there was the One whom I had seen in vision, and, also, I had brought one of my girls, and it is Arna. He came in so naturally and easily, bringing us again a handful of hyacinths, purple and pink. He spoke many words of welcome to us and said it made him so happy to see the east and the west becoming so united; that the time was, and not long since, that an Occidental was greatly hated by the Orientals, but now, through the power of the Word of God, which alone can thus unite the hearts, the east and west were loving each other very much, and he hoped it would increase day by day.

He said each believer has a certain time when he should make the desired visit, each having a certain work to do for the progress of the Cause. He hoped all would eventually attain to the meeting. After a few such explanations, he left us and the young daughter and another Persian believer’s wife (the brother of Ahmed and. Mahomet Yazdi) joined us and talked with us until dinner was announced. When this sister came to us she brought us each a beautiful tangerine sent to us by The Master. How we longed to be able to keep these flowers and this fruit for our brothers and sisters in America, who are thinking of us these precious days spent in the home of ‘Abdu’l-Baha!

At dinner, which was served for us in the small dining room into which our room opens, The Master took each by the hand, giving us seats, placing Arna on his right as his guest of honor. The meal was served in courses by a Japanese believer who is serving as a servant in The Master’s home. The Master would take a bite or two and then give us beautiful lessons. He spoke of the difficulties the first Christians had in visiting John the Baptist while in prison. They were greatly persecuted and ridiculed for it. Then he showed how good and really necessary were these tests. As an illustration, he compared a ship on the sea, tossed about by the wind, and the wares, laden with cargo. No one on that ship, perhaps, is even comfortable, but the ship, nevertheless, brought food to the people and thus was the cause of life. So man must have the winds and waves of test in order that life be brought to the people. As no food could be had unless the wind and waves brought it, so no spiritual food can be had without the first workers in the Cause suffer tests. One point he particularly made was that in Jesus’ time the people came to test Jesus, but they did not know that He came to test them instead of their testing Him.

At six o’clock yesterday afternoon

The Master came to our room to call on us and gave us very beautiful teachings and then said sore of the officials of Acca had come to call on him, so he could not take tea with us. We saw no more of him until this morning. Monevah Khanum came for us at 7:30 to come to the early morning gathering of the family, when tea is served and all chant from the Holy Utterances. A very dear little boy, the son of Hosein Yazdi, only about six years old, chanted so sweetly. He came in so noiselessly, kneeling near the door, and sat with hands folded, listening until The Master requested him to chant. Then The Master praised him greatly and called him to come to him and gave him a handful of flowers. After visiting with the women of the household, the Greatest Holy Leaf, the mother and four daughters and two Russian pilgrims from Ishkabad, for half an hour or so, we went to breakfast with Monevah Khanum.

In the course of an hour The Master sent for me to come to him and bring with me the letters and photographs which I had brought from America. Monevah Khan took me to a room into which I had not been and, there he was waiting for me. I gave him the numerous letters and then the photographs which he enjoyed immeasurably and said they were a most acceptable present to him. The roll of names for the Temple lay beside me, wrapped in a piece of wrapping paper, and before I had gotten to it to give it to him, he said that was for the Mashrek-el-Askar, - showing how well he knows everything. After I had explained the long list of names to him, he patted me on the back and said I had done well and ever after this I was to be his daughter just as if I were Monevah Khanum, his own daughter. His satisfaction at the work we have done toward the Temple seemed to fill him with great joy. I asked him about the location and he said it must be built away from the stores and business portion of the city. Then the lay of the city was explained to him and the question was asked whether it was advisable to locate back from the business portion or on the lake side and he replied the lake shore would be more beautiful for the location, as it must be in a very beautiful place. We must have as large a piece of land as we could get. Then he went into another room and brought to me a ground plan and said it must be like that. First the building, with nine sides, in the middle; then a circular court about that; leading from this circle was to be nine avenues; between each a garden, and in the middle of each garden a fountain of water. He said it would take much to build the Temple, but we must have meetings about the work, labor hard and pray to God and He would bless our efforts. The question of the design of the architecture of the building was asked and r. Remey’s kind Offer to help us in this was mentioned. He said several must consult together and not simply one person’s plans accepted. He said the Temple was the greatest matter today for the upbuilding of the Cause. When asked w7nat was the means of bringing the greatest unity among the believers, he said:
First, the character of the teachers, and
Second, the work for the Temple.

The teachers must so live that their deeds would teach the people even if they did not teach by word of mouth. The teachers are of the first importance; .their lives must be examples.

The Master gave glorious promises for the Chicago believers. He said very great souls should come from our Assembly, teachers who would not only light America, but other countries like China and Japan and the whole world. He said he was pleased with the work in Chicago – it was “khaili khoob.”

Our third day at Acca March 1, 1907.

We arose very early this morning to join The Master’s family in their meeting. After the chanting was finished and each one had been served to a cup of tea, we went back to our rooms. The Master had some Syrian bread and a little cheese served him and a cup of tea. This was his entire breakfast. We were served a nice breakfast about 8 o’clock and when nearly through eating, Monevah Khanum came to us to know if we desired to see The Master giving to the poor, as was his custom every Friday morning. When we went to our windows which overlook a big court yard, there we saw between two and three hundred men, women and children gathered. Such a mottled crowd one can see only in these parts. There were blind, cripples and very feeble persons, the poorest clad collection of people that the earth almost contains. One man had his clothing made of a patched quilt, an old woman had gunny sacking for a cloak; children were so ragged that their clothing would scarcely stay on them.

Two or three of the men believers were with The Master and the people were required to arrange themselves orderly about two sides of the court and The Master began near the gate, giving into the hand of each some piece of money and then each was required to pass out. It was a sight never to be forgotten to see The Master going from one to another, saying some word of praise or kindness to encourage each. With some he would stop to inquire into their health and he would pat them on the back, – these poor, dirty looking creatures, – and once in a while we would see him send someone away empty handed and he would reprimand them for their laziness. How clear and musical his voice sounded as he went from one to another, giving and praising! The men accompanying him kept order in great kindness, but firmness, and saw that each passed on as soon as he had received from The Master. Where, O where on this globe can one duplicate such a scene as is enacted every Friday morning in the court yard of The Master of Acca, who is a state prisoner to the Turkish government and has lived in prison cities since he was nine years of age!

It is the Mohammedan Sunday and we have heard all day from the Moslem minarets the loud chanting of the Musselmen. But – saw we any one gathering the poor, the lame, the blind and halt in his own court yard and giving to them freely of what God had bestowed upon him and living with the bare necessities himself? If this is not the resurrection of the pure spirit of the humble Nazarene of 1900 years ago, then we need not look elsewhere, for its every appearance stamps it as such. Even the condition and costumes of the beggars bespeak the return.

After this crowd had been given to, I chanced to pass by The Master’s door and I saw he was lying on his bed, very tired, but he saw me and would have his daughter bring me in and he said: °These are my friends; my friends. Some of them are my enemies, but they think I do not know it, because they appear friendly, and to them am very kind, for one must love his enemies and do good to them.” The Master explained that there really was not work for the poor of Acca, only two avenues being open for them to earn, one by fishing and the other by carrying heavy loads. Yesterday, and for two or three days, the sea has raged madly so that no fishing could be done, and it requires great strength to carry heavy loads. He knows the impostors and will not encourage mendicancy, and as he passes them he rebukes them for laziness and idleness and tells them where they can go to obtain work. He said humanity was one great whole and they must help and sympathize with each other and develop the laws of attraction between the hearts. He said, “Look at this great universe with the sun, moon and planets all revolving in harmony; it is because of the great laws of attraction holding and binding them. Man must work to increase this love for his kind.”

The work done by the Chicago Assembly of Teaching in providing the Baha’i home for Mrs. Holcomb’s three grandchildren was described to The Master and he was greatly delighted, saying in English and with much force, “beautiful! beautiful!” He said to look after the orphans was one of the very first works for the believers.

The orphans are God’s children and a great test upon the people. I asked him if the grandmother should keep the children with her and he said while they were small and then the believers should take them into their homes, train, educate them and teach them the Revelation. I explained that the Temple movement of this winter seemed to be brought about by our arising to help these orphans, and he smiled and said yes, God blesses us for doing good works every time.

After this he excused himself to attend to a large pile of Tablets he had been writing. Not one moment of the day is wasted by this Mighty Man of God.

At 12:30 he came for us to come to dinner with him. He had been to the Mohammedan Mosque in the meantime. At the meal the explanation of the cloven tongues of fire descending upon the disciple after the crucifixion, and their being able to speak all tongues, was asked. The son-in-law took it down and Monevah will see that it is correct and give it to me for the believers.

I asked The Master if the fruit was the mystery of the tree that bore it and he said no, it was the mystery of the earth; that there was a germ or little forms of life in the soil, which was acted upon by the water and fed by the earth, and this was taken up by the roots, the trees having a circulation. The leaves expose the sap of the tree to the sun and this colors the fruit. A tree will bear fruit if the leaves are cut off, but it will be poor and colorless.

During the afternoon the Greatest Holy Leaf and the oldest daughter came to call on us in our room which is very large and pleasant, with windows overlooking the sea. We asked her to tell us a little of her experiences in the life time of the Blessed Perfection. She was only six years old when their exile began and she said her mother had the greatest suffering, for she had little children. Then they were exiled to Acca, seventy seven were put onto a steamer that was so dirty that it made them all very ill. They were given no food for four days and slept on deck. Only The Master and the Blessed Perfection could summon up courage to sit down and rest. The others were so distressed by the filth that they walked up and down the boat all the time. After four days they reached a city and two or three of the men were allowed to go in and buy some food. One believer was very ill and they wished to cook a little broth for him, but the captain of the boat would not allow even that, so they had to go without. When they landed they were taken in small boats to Acca and all the seventy seven were put into a small prison, the door locked on them and no food provided for the, . The Greatest Holy Leaf said in the midst of such fearful calamities they were so happy to be in Acca, even in prison with no food, just because they were not separated from the Blessed Perfection. The women were not prisoners, but went into exile and imprisonment in order to be with Baha’u’llah and. ‘Abdu’l-Baha – that was more than food or comfort.

After a short visit, the Greatest Holy Leaf left us and said she would come often if only she could speak English with us. Someone came in a few moments later and brought Madame Scaramucei and me, each, a little bottle of attar of roses from the Greatest Holy Leaf.

The older daughter remained for a little visit with us and told us of poor Nabil. He loved Baha’u’llah so much that, after His departure, he said he could not stay in this world. For three months he was so disconsolate. At last he wrote a beautiful poem, telling all that was in his heart, and gave it to a believer to give to The Master, but thin believer forgot to give it right away. All that night the family heard someone walking about the Holy Tomb and chanting prayers. The next morning he went to the sea, and, leaving his clothing on shore, drowned himself. No one knew of it and they searched for him all over the mountains and around. Then his clothing was found and in four days his body was washed up and it was identified. When the poem was read by The Master, it was found in it that he could not stay on earth any longer – he loved and yearned so for Baha’u’llah.

One of the daughters dressed Arna as a Persian woman and took her down into the streets of Acca and up into the pinnacle of the Mosque where the men go to pray and chant. Madame Scaramucei had a call from The Master, but it was such a busy day he did not come to us. After supper the women of the family’ were gathered in their parlor and desired us to join them. Thus there The Master came in and said we were blessed indeed to be able to come to Acca. There are two kinds of visits, - one the person comes very thirsty and the water will taste very sweet to him; the other will be that the person is not thirsty and the water will be bitter. The latter visit would much better not be made. We could not now realize what our visit meant; it was like a seed, which would sprout and grow later and bear fruits that would endure throughout eternity.

Saturday, March 2, 1907

Arising early I went into the living room where The Master meets with his family every morning, between six and seven o’clock. The widow of one of the martyr’s sits on the floor, in the Persian style, and makes and serves the tea every morning. Her husband was one of three brothers who were imprisoned for this Cause. They came and took them to prison and for days they had no news about them. One day they heard a great noise in the street, and, looking out, they saw three heads placed on long poles and being carried through the streets, and when in front of their home they tossed these heads into their mother’s room. She wiped them off with water and then threw them back, saying: “What I have given to God I will not take back.” This woman who makes the tea, had been married only one year to one of these brothers. Having lost all of her relatives through the persecutions, and Persian women having no openings for self-support, The Master took her into his household. That a wonderful household this is - over forty people living here in one home, some black, some white, Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Italian, Russian and now English and American! Not a loud command has been heard and not one word of dispute; not one word of fault finding. Everyone goes about as if on tip toes. Then they enter your room their slippers are left before the door and they come in with stocking feet and remain standing until you invite them to sit down. All the family and the servants gather in this one roam every morning and chant the Holy Utterances and drink a cup of Persian tea. After this we go to our various rooms, and for the guests a breakfast is served later. The two little Arabic girls who are serving in The Easter’s home, and are being educated by him, came in about ten o’clock and had an English lesson from Arna. They are trained to do housework and also go to school to an Italian teacher The Master hires to teach the children of his household.

At the table the question of the meaning of Babel and the confounding of tongues was asked and The Master said it meant the confusion of ideas, each one having his own idea and this brought destruction. Also, the meaning of Babylon was asked and The Master said Babylon signified the old religions, as Jerusalem signified the New Dispensation. A comparison of the words in English, similar to many Persian words, was made by The Master and he said the Persians were the old Aryan race starting beyond the Oxim sea(?). As they increased they pushed west to Persia, then to Constantinople; from there over Europe and then to America. The origin of the North American Indian was asked and The Master said they came from the eastern side of Asia when the land between western America and Asia (Siberia) was connected. There has been much more lend than there is now.

When The Master came to call on us about six o’clock in the evening, Madame Scaramucei asked him if she might remain his guest until Monday. He replied yes - he would love to keep us for a month, but that the present Governor of Acca is not his friend and it – was better that we remain a short time. He said we would better all depart together, as we had come together (Madame Scaramucei, my daughter Arna and myself). Then he said there were two kinds of visits, – one the temporal which sooner or later must terminate, and the other the spiritual which never terminates throughout eternity. Once he had a guest for eleven years. Although that was a long visit, yet it finally came to an end. The temporal visit has no effect unless it be the spiritual also.

A lesson on the seeing of a halo about The Master.

The Master said there were four kinds of light; the light from the lamp was one; but because the face of a man does not give out light as the lamp does, is man less than the lamp or greater? Some worms give off a light - is man or the worm greater? Man does not give out such a light, but man has the kingdom of the mind and it is the light of this kingdom which some see when they love a person very much, and they mistake it for a material light when it is not. This comes from the emotional nature and is an imagination. Then there is the Light of the Holy Spirit possessed by God’s Chosen Ones. The minds of men cannot comprehend this Light thus they martyr those who come with this Light. But time proves that their Light was the true Light and the light of the minds of the men of their time was limited. They comprehend the past, present and future and see things as they will be when accomplished St. John, on the Isle of Patmos, seeing into the future, foretold what would come to pass in this present Day. There is no time to this Light – it knows all things.

ALLAHO ABHA.

Rome, Italy, April 4, 1907.

Dearest Aimes:

One month ago our hearts were being torn asunder because we had to leave the Presence of our Lord ‘Abdu’l-Baha. We had spent six memorable days under His blessed roof as His guests, and each day we loved it more find more until, when the six days were up, it just seemed as if we could not say goodbye and go away from the kind, loving Master, whose very footsteps and tones of voice we had learned to liter for on the atoms pavement of the court upon which our roost opened. It is a remarkable thing how all these little things weave a golden network of love about the heart, and you forget the world and all its burdens and cares, and think only of the beautiful Master and His Holy Words, every one carrying a marvelous lesson with it which expands and expands in meaning us you apply its heavenly significance to the objects of life. We felt our littleness all the time while there, not because we were made to feel this but because in the Presence of so great a Light our capacity dwindled to a mere atom. Our Lord only tells us how good we are, and how we have served the Cause, and how much He thinks of us because we are sincere and faithful; but all the time you feel your lips are sealed for some reason.

The life lured and not preached in what creates the wonderful atmosphere of that Home. It is natural and normal and easy. No one ever criticises or finds fault with anyone - they only see the good in everyone, even those who have made the prison life for them.

When we landed in Naples we found, a letter from Mr. True, telling us that the Agnews would sail on the Republic, March 16th. We looked up their arrival and planned to surprise them by being there. The ship was two days late and all kinds of reports came to us of her having broken down at sea and I don’t know what all. Anyway, early Easter Sunday morning the proprietor of war hotel notified us the Republic was in and w must hurry down. We jumped into a cab and went flying to the boat landing and there we had the surprise of our lives. Instead of just the Agnew family, we found also Charlie Scheffler and Mr. Chase. None of them knew we were in the town either, so the surprise was equally great to both sides. After a few delays all secured rooms at our hotel and we were one happy family. I tell you, Aimee, we see each other’s faults tremendously when working closely together; but after a little separation these faults fade away and the noble qualities shine brighter and brighter. It was just as if the members of the party were one soul that we met that Easter Sunday in Southern Italy on the beautiful blue Bay of Naples. Our joy was unbounded. Even Arna was aflame as much as anyone else. Her joy was intense. We had a very long and wondrously beautiful street car ride overlooking that bay which is world-famed for its beauty. At the end of the car line we walked some distance to point of broad views up and down the coast and here we found a restaurant and all had coffee lemonade and cake o fulfilled literally Jesus’ injunction: “Ye must become as little children. We ate cake and drank lemonade like a lot of boys and girls, every few minutes exclaiming isn’t this too good to be true, that five of us from our home Assembly sat together there, some going to the Blessed Master and some returning from the Holy Visit! You can picture the feelings of us all. We spent the day delightfully together, had dinner at 7:30 in the evening. After the little boy had been put to bed and was fast asleep, we all met in Mrs. Agnew’s room and it was nearly twelve o’clock before we adjourned to our various apartments. Arna had bought some fancy cakes and about eleven o’clock we made these disappear quickly. Need I tell you what we were talking about till so late that night! It was Acca and the Master and the wonderful believers we had met along the line and the people on the ship we had spoken to of the Glad Tiding.

Next morning, Monday, April 1st, all got up early to see Arna and me to the depot, for we felt we must be on our way to reach Paris and tendon in title for two meeting in each city before sailing home.

When we asked ‘Abdu’l-Baha about returning, He told us to come through Egypt and Italy and Paris and London. To be as a refreshing breeze to the believers in whatever place we found them.

We are travelling hurriedly through Italy and hope to reach Paris in about a week. Arna is enjoying Rome greatly. We go to Venice on Saturday morning.

I have a terrible cold on my lungs and it being a rainy day, I have remained in the hotel this afternoon while Arna is out sight-seeing with one of Cook’s personally conducted parties. I was with them this morning. I have the thought of Honore Jaxon so many times here in Rome – of how he would enjoy the ancient ruins and their wonderful architecture.

We sail for Boston April 26th, by the White Star boat, the Arabic. About the middle or last of May, God willing, I hope to see all the loved faces of the Chicago Assembly.

Love to each and every one.
Your sister in EL-ABHA,

(Signed) Corinne True,