ch as to
arouse the envy of those who, only a few years before, had treated Him and
His fellow-exiles with feelings compounded of condescension and scorn.

The drastic farman of Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz, though officially unrepealed,
had by now become a dead letter. Though "Baha'u'llah was still nominally a
prisoner, "the doors of majesty and true sovereignty were," in the words
of 'Abdu'l-Baha, "flung wide open." "The rulers of Palestine," He moreover
has written, "envied His influence and power. Governors and mutisarrifs,
generals and local officials, would humbly request the honor of attaining
His presence--a request to which He seldom acceded."

It was in that same mansion that the distinguished Orientalist, Prof. E.
G. Browne of Cambridge, was granted his four successive interviews with
Baha'u'llah, during the five days he was His guest at Bahji (April 15-20,
1890), interviews immortalized by the Exile's historic declaration that
"these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the 'Most
Great Peace' shall come." "The face of Him on Whom I gazed," is the
interviewer's memorable testimony for posterity, "I can never forget,
though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one's very
soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow.... No need to ask in
whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of
a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain."
"Here," the visitor himself has testified, "did I spend five most
memorable days, during which I enjoyed unparalleled and unhoped-for
opportunities of holding intercourse with those who are the fountain-heads
of that mighty and wondrous spirit, which works with invisible but
ever-increasing force for the transformation and quickening of a people
who slumber in a sleep like unto death. It was, in truth, a strange and
moving experience, but one whereof I despair of conveying any save the
feeblest impression."

In that same year Baha'u'llah's tent, the "Tabernacle of Glory," was
raised on Mt. Carmel, "the Hill of God and His Vineyard," the home of
Elijah, extolled by Isaiah as the "mountain of the Lord," to which "all
nations shall flow." Four times He visited Haifa, His last visit being no
less than three months long. In the course of one of these visits, when
His tent was pitched in the vicinity of the Carmelite Monastery, He, the
"Lord of the Vineyard," revealed the Tablet of Carmel, remarkable