and
acquaint themselves with the considered views, the prevailing sentiments,
the personal convictions of those whose welfare it is their solemn
obligation to promote. Theirs is the duty to purge once for all their
deliberations and the general conduct of their affairs from that air of
self-contained aloofness, from the suspicion of secrecy, the stifling
atmosphere of dictatorial assertiveness, in short, from every word and
deed that might savor of partiality, self-centeredness and prejudice.
Theirs is the duty, while retaining the sacred and exclusive right of
final decision in their hands, to invite discussion, provide information,
ventilate grievances, welcome advice from even the most humble and
insignificant members of the Baha'i family, expose their motives, set
forth their plans, justify their actions, revise if necessary their
verdict, foster the spirit of individual initiative and enterprise, and
fortify the sense of interdependence and co-partnership, of understanding
and mutual confidence between them on one hand and all local Assemblies
and individual believers on the other.

First National Convention of Persian Baha'is

As to the state of affairs in Persia, where the circumstances related in a
previous circular letter have had their share in intensifying the chronic
state of instability and insecurity that prevail, grave concern has been
felt lest the support, both moral and financial, anticipated from the
bigoted elements of foreign Missions in the Capital should lead to an
extension of its circulation in the West, and thus inflict, however
slight, a damage on the prestige and fair name of our beloved Cause. These
internal agitations, however, coinciding as they have done with outbursts
of sectarian fanaticism from without, accompanied by isolated cases of
fresh persecution in Kirman and elsewhere, have failed to exasperate and
exhaust the heroic patience of the steadfast lovers of the Cause. They
have even failed to becloud the serenity of their faith in the inevitable
approach of the breaking of a brighter dawn for their afflicted country.
Undeterred and undismayed, they have replied to the defiance of the
traitor within, and the assaults of the enemy without by a striking
re-affirmation of their unbroken solidarity and inflexible resolve to
build with infinite patience and toil on the sure foundations laid for
them by Baha'u'llah. With their traditional fidelity and characteristic
vigor, notwi