al correspondence with the
vast and ever-increasing number of Baha'is in the East and the West would
entail so much time and energy on my part as to prevent me from paying
adequate attention to my other duties that are so urgent and vital in
these days.

I shall therefore very regretfully and reluctantly have to content myself
with direct correspondence with every Baha'i group in each locality, be it
a city or hamlet, keeping in constant touch with them directly and through
their respective local assemblies and co-ordinating their spiritual
efforts and activities through the National Spiritual Assembly (National
Body), representative of all the believers and local assemblies throughout
the land.

I am exceedingly anxious, as a preliminary to the faithful execution of
this plan, to receive as soon as it is convenient an official,
comprehensive and detailed report from the National Spiritual Assembly,
stating accurately the actual standing of the Cause in Germany, describing
the progress of the activities of the friends throughout that land and the
adjoining countries such as Austria and Northern Switzerland, and setting
forth the names, the numerical strength, the history, the needs and the
activities of every locality throughout these regions, however small in
size, where the Light of the Cause has so far been able to penetrate.

I hope by this measure to enter into direct and constant communication
with every locality, however small it may be, where a single friend or
more is striving to teach the Cause and establish a Baha'i centre.

It has been my great pleasure to read some of the letters addressed during
the past months by the German friends to the Greatest Holy Leaf, and their
perusal, I assure you, has filled me with intense satisfaction and made me
still more confident of that glorious era of spiritual reawakening which
the unseen Hand of our Master is sure to unfold to our eyes in the near
future.

Your labours are unceasing, your effort knows no bounds, your devotion and
selflessness are indeed worthy of the many blessings our Beloved has
bestowed upon you and the Guidance of Baha'u'llah and His unfailing
assistance will, I am certain, enable you to crown your ceaseless
endeavours with glorious and well-deserved success.

In my hours of prayer and meditation, I remember you most tenderly and
beseech every time I visit the Sacred Shrines a fresh outpouring of His
Grace and Spirit upon your efforts for the