here a Baha'i center was established; in Tunis where the
foundations of a local community were firmly laid; in Japan, in China, and
in Honolulu to which Baha'i teachers traveled, and where they settled and
taught--in all of these places the manifold evidences of the guiding hand
of 'Abdu'l-Baha and the tangible effects of His sleepless vigilance and
unfailing care could be clearly perceived.

Nor did the nascent communities established in France, England, Germany
and the United States cease to receive, after His memorable visits to
those countries, further tokens of His special interest in, and solicitude
for, their welfare and spiritual advancement. It was in consequence of His
directions and the unceasing flow of His Tablets, addressed to the members
of these communities, as well as His constant encouragement of the efforts
they were exerting, that Baha'i centers steadily multiplied, that public
meetings were organized, that new periodicals were published, that
translations of some of the best known works of Baha'u'llah and of the
Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha were printed and circulated in the English, the
French, and German languages, and that the initial attempts to organize
the affairs, and consolidate the foundations, of these newly established
communities were undertaken.

In the North American continent, more particularly, the members of a
flourishing community, inspired by the blessings bestowed by 'Abdu'l-Baha,
as well as by His example and the acts He performed in the course of His
prolonged visit to their country, gave an earnest of the magnificent
enterprise they were to carry through in later years. They purchased the
twelve remaining lots forming part of the site of their projected Temple,
selected, during the sessions of their 1920 Convention, the design of the
French Canadian Baha'i architect, Louis Bourgeois, placed the contract for
the excavation and the laying of its foundations, and succeeded soon after
in completing the necessary arrangements for the construction of its
basement: measures which heralded the stupendous efforts which, after
'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension, culminated in the erection of its superstructure
and the completion of its exterior ornamentation.

The war of 1914-18, repeatedly foreshadowed by 'Abdu'l-Baha in the dark
warnings He uttered in the course of His western travels, and which broke
out eight months after His return to the Holy Land, once more cast a
shadow of danger over His lif