fa he did all he could
to acquaint him (governor) fully with the construction work on Mt. Carmel,
with the comings and goings of the American believers, and with the
gatherings held in Akka. The Pa_sh_a, in his desire to know all the facts,
was extremely kind to him, and assured him of his aid. A few days after
Mirza Majdi'd-Din's return a cipher telegram was received from the Sublime
Porte, transmitting the Sultan's orders to incarcerate 'Abdu'l-Baha,
myself and the others." "In those days," he, furthermore, in that same
document, testifies, "a man who came to Akka from Damascus stated to
outsiders that Nazim Pa_sh_a had been the cause of the incarceration of
Abbas Effendi. The strangest thing of all is this that Mirza
Muhammad-'Ali, after he had been incarcerated, wrote a letter to Nazim
Pa_sh_a for the purpose of achieving his own deliverance.... The Pa_sh_a,
however, did not write even a word in answer to either the first or the
second letter."

It was in 1901, on the fifth day of the month of Jamadiyu'l-Avval 1319
A.H. (August 20) that 'Abdu'l-Baha, upon His return from Bahji where He
had participated in the celebration of the anniversary of the Bab's
Declaration, was informed, in the course of an interview with the governor
of Akka, of Sultan 'Abdu'l-Hamid's instructions ordering that the
restrictions which had been gradually relaxed should be reimposed, and
that He and His brothers should be strictly confined within the walls of
that city. The Sultan's edict was at first rigidly enforced, the freedom
of the exiled community was severely curtailed, while 'Abdu'l-Baha had to
submit, alone and unaided, to the prolonged interrogation of judges and
officials, who required His presence for several consecutive days at
government headquarters for the purpose of their investigations. One of
His first acts was to intercede on behalf of His brothers, who had been
peremptorily summoned and informed by the governor of the orders of the
sovereign, an act which failed to soften their hostility or lessen their
malevolent activities. Subsequently, through His intervention with the
civil and military authorities, He succeeded in obtaining the freedom of
His followers who resided in Akka, and in enabling them to continue to
earn, without interference, the means of livelihood.

The Covenant-breakers were unappeased by the measures taken by the
authorities against One Who had so magnanimously intervened on their
behalf. Aided by the