le for the social body to be inspired with security and
confidence. Nay, on the contrary, enmity and strife will increase day by
day, and the differences and divergences of nations will be woefully
augmented. Continual additions to the armies and navies of the world will
be made, and the fear and certainty of the great pandemic war--the war
unparalleled in history--will be intensified; for armament, heretofore
limited, is now being increased upon a colossal scale. Conditions are
becoming acute, drawing nigh unto the degree of men warring upon the seas,
warring upon the plains, warring in the very atmosphere with a violence
unknown in former centuries. With the growth of armament and preparation
the dangers are increasingly great.

We must use our utmost endeavors in order that the Holy Spirit may
influence minds and hearts toward peace, the bounties of God surround, the
divine effulgences become successive, human souls advance, minds expand in
wider vision, souls become more holy and the world of humanity be rid of
its great menace. For the betterment of the world Baha'u'llah endured all
the hardships, ordeals and vicissitudes of life, sacrificing His very
being and comfort, forfeiting His estates, possessions and honor--all that
pertains to human existence--not for one year, nay, rather, for nearly
fifty years. During this long period He was subjected to persecution and
abuse, was cast into prison, was banished from His native land, underwent
severities and humiliation and was exiled four times. He was first exiled
from Persia to Ba_gh_dad, thence to Constantinople, thence to Rumelia and
finally to the great prison-fortress of Akka in Syria, where He passed the
remainder of His life. Every day a new oppression and abuse was heaped
upon Him until He winged His flight from the dungeon to the supreme world
and returned to His Lord. He endured these ordeals and difficulties in
order that this earthly human world might become heavenly, that the
illumination of the divine Kingdom should become a reality in human
hearts, that the individual members of mankind might progress, the power
of the Holy Spirit increase its efficacy and penetration and the happiness
of the world of humanity be assured. He desired for all tranquillity and
composure and exercised loving-kindness toward the nations regardless of
conditions and differences. He addressed humanity, saying, "O humankind!
Verily, ye are all the leaves and fruits of one tree; y