he complete equality of men and women was one of the chief
notes of Baha'i teaching.

Sir Richard Stapley pointed out that unity must not be sought in the forms
and externals of religion, but in the inner spirit. In Persia there had
been such an impulse towards real unity as was a rebuke to this so-called
Christian country.

Mr. Claude Montefiore, as a Jew, rejoiced in the growth of the spirit of
unity, and regarded that meeting as prophetic of the better time to come,
and in some sense a fulfillment of the idea expressed by one who fell as a
martyr to the Roman Catholic faith, Sir Thomas More, who wrote of the
great Church of the Utopians, in which all varieties of creeds gathered
together, having a service and liturgy that expressed the higher unity,
while admitting special loyalties.

Mrs. Stannard dwelt on what that meeting and the sentiments expressed
meant to the East, especially to the women, whose condition it was
difficult for the West to understand.

Tammaddun'ul-Mulk testified to the unifying effect the Baha'i movement had
had in Persia, and of the wonderful way in which it had spread to America
and other countries.

Then 'Abdu'l-Baha rose to give his farewell address. An impressive figure,
the face rather worn but the eyes full of animation, he stood for about
fifteen minutes, speaking in soft musical Persian. With hands extended,
palms upwards, he closed with a prayer.

Farewell words of 'Abdu'l-Baha

O Noble friends and seekers for the Kingdom of God! About sixty years ago
in the time when the fire of war was blazing among the nations of the
world, and bloodshed was considered an honour to mankind; in a time when
the carnage of thousands stained the earth; when children were rendered
fatherless; when fathers were without sons and mothers were spent with
weeping; when the darkness of inter-racial hatred and animosity seemed to
envelope mankind and blot out the divine light; when the wafting of the
holy breath of God seemed to be cut off--in that time Baha'u'llah rose like
a shining star from the horizon of Persia, inspired with the message of
Peace and of Brotherhood among men.

He brought the light of guidance to the world; He kindled the fire of love
and revealed the great reality of the True Beloved. He sought to destroy
the foundations of religious and racial prejudice and of political
rivalry.

He likened the world of humanity to a tree, and all the nations to its
branches and the pe