future world
civilization, must, moreover, be ascribed the imperishable glory of having
launched and successfully concluded the first stage of 'Abdu'l-Baha's
Divine Plan, in the concluding years of the first Baha'i century,
establishing thereby the structural basis of the Administrative Order of
the Faith in all the republics of Central and South America. It is this
same community which is once again carrying off the palm of victory
through launching, in the first decade of the second century of the Baha'i
Era, the second stage of that same Plan, destined to lay the foundations
of the Baha'i Administrative Order in no less than ten sovereign states in
the continent of Europe, comprising the Scandinavian states, the Low
Countries, the states of the Iberian Peninsula, Switzerland and Italy. And
lastly, to its enterprising members must go the unique honor and privilege
of having arisen, on unnumbered occasions, and over a period of more than
a quarter of a century, to champion the cause of the down-trodden and
persecuted among their brethren in Persia, in Egypt, in Russia, in 'Iraq
and in Germany, to stretch a generous helping hand to the needy among
them, to defend and safeguard the interests of their institutions, and to
plead their cause before political and ecclesiastical adversaries.

On the other hand is a nation that has achieved undisputed ascendancy in
the entire Western Hemisphere, whose rulers have been uniquely honored by
being collectively addressed by the Author of the Baha'i Revelation in His
Kitab-i-Aqdas; which has been acclaimed by 'Abdu'l-Baha as the "home of
the righteous and the gathering-place of the free," where the "splendors
of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be
unveiled" and belonging to a continent which, as recorded by that same
pen, "giveth signs and evidences of very great advancement," whose "future
is even more promising," whose "influence and illumination are
far-reaching," and which "will lead all nations spiritually." Moreover, it
is to this great republic of the West that the Center of the Covenant of
Baha'u'llah has referred as the nation that has "developed powers and
capacities greater and more wonderful than other nations," and which "is
equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of
history, to become the envy of the world, and be blest in both the East
and the West for the triumph of its people." It is for this same Americ