recognized and established governments. Nor does it constitute a
repudiation of their sacred obligation to promote, in the most effective
manner, the best interests of their government and people. It indicates
the desire cherished by every true and loyal follower of Baha'u'llah to
serve, in an unselfish, unostentatious and patriotic fashion, the highest
interests of the country to which he belongs, and in a way that would
entail no departure from the high standards of integrity and truthfulness
associated with the teachings of his Faith.

As the number of the Baha'i communities in various parts of the world
multiplies and their power, as a social force, becomes increasingly
apparent, they will no doubt find themselves increasingly subjected to the
pressure which men of authority and influence, in the political domain,
will exercise in the hope of obtaining the support they require for the
advancement of their aims. These communities will, moreover, feel a
growing need of the good-will and the assistance of their respective
governments in their efforts to widen the scope, and to consolidate the
foundations, of the institutions committed to their charge. Let them
beware lest, in their eagerness to further the aims of their beloved
Cause, they should be led unwittingly to bargain with their Faith, to
compromise with their essential principles, or to sacrifice, in return for
any material advantage which their institutions may derive, the integrity
of their spiritual ideals. Let them proclaim that in whatever country they
reside, and however advanced their institutions, or profound their desire
to enforce the laws, and apply the principles, enunciated by Baha'u'llah,
they will, unhesitatingly, subordinate the operation of such laws and the
application of such principles to the requirements and legal enactments of
their respective governments. Theirs is not the purpose, while endeavoring
to conduct and perfect the administrative affairs of their Faith, to
violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country's
constitution, much less to allow the machinery of their administration to
supersede the government of their respective countries.

It should also be borne in mind that the very extension of the activities
in which we are engaged, and the variety of the communities which labor
under divers forms of government, so essentially different in their
standards, policies, and methods, make it absolutely essential for