is
acquaintances was widened, at a later date, first in Adrianople and then
in Akka. It was to Him that the highly accomplished _Kh_ur_sh_id Pa_sh_a,
the governor of Adrianople, had been moved to pay a public and glowing
tribute when, in the presence of a number of distinguished divines of that
city, his youthful Guest had, briefly and amazingly, resolved the
intricacies of a problem that had baffled the minds of the assembled
company--an achievement that affected so deeply the Pa_sh_a that from that
time onwards he could hardly reconcile himself to that Youth's absence
from such gatherings.

On Him Baha'u'llah, as the scope and influence of His Mission extended,
had been led to place an ever greater degree of reliance, by appointing
Him, on numerous occasions, as His deputy, by enabling Him to plead His
Cause before the public, by assigning Him the task of transcribing His
Tablets, by allowing Him to assume the responsibility of shielding Him
from His enemies, and by investing Him with the function of watching over
and promoting the interests of His fellow-exiles and companions. He it was
Who had been commissioned to undertake, as soon as circumstances might
permit, the delicate and all-important task of purchasing the site that
was to serve as the permanent resting-place of the Bab, of insuring the
safe transfer of His remains to the Holy Land, and of erecting for Him a
befitting sepulcher on Mt. Carmel. He it was Who had been chiefly
instrumental in providing the necessary means for Baha'u'llah's release
from His nine-year confinement within the city walls of Akka, and in
enabling Him to enjoy, in the evening of His life, a measure of that peace
and security from which He had so long been debarred. It was through His
unremitting efforts that the illustrious Badi had been granted his
memorable interviews with Baha'u'llah, that the hostility evinced by
several governors of Akka towards the exiled community had been transmuted
into esteem and admiration, that the purchase of properties adjoining the
Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan had been effected, and that the ablest
and most valuable presentation of the early history of the Faith and of
its tenets had been transmitted to posterity. It was through the
extraordinarily warm reception accorded Him during His visit to Beirut,
through His contact with Mi_dh_at Pa_sh_a, a former Grand Vizir of Turkey,
through His friendship with Aziz Pa_sh_a, whom He had previously known