January 7, 1913 Panoramic view

Earl Redman writes (in 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Our Midst):

Photos from collection
of Hari Docherty

On the morning of 7 January ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the Outlook Tower, which had a panoramic view of Edinburgh. He was met by the Outlook Tower Society President Sir Patrick Geddes, who escorted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá up the five flights of stairs to the top of the tower. After they had admired the view of the city, Geddes showed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the ‘Camera Oscura’ which projected an image of the city down onto a large table top. Geddes, along with his nephew, Sir Frank Meres, later developed a design in the 1920s for a Bahá’í temple they hoped, futilely as it worked out, would be built in Allahabad, India.

             After viewing the various displays and galleries in the Outlook Tower, the Master had a drive down Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile, past Holyrood Palace and on to Arthur’s Seat. He then met some of the foreign students at Edinburgh University, who had come from Japan, India and Egypt. ‘Dear and honoured Sir’, said Dr Whyte as he introduced the Master, ‘I have had many meetings in this house, but never have I seen such a meeting. It reminds me of what St Paul said, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men . . .”’. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá then spoke to the students on the oneness of religion.

            That evening, the Freemasons’ Hall, newly rebuilt and ‘one of the largest and most beautiful public buildings in the city’, was the site of the Master’s first public address in Scotland, hosted by the Edinburgh Esperanto Society. ‘That evening it was packed, leaving standing room only. A crown of three hundred, failing to gain admission, remained outside’. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke about the need for an international language; his talk was later published in Star of the West with the Esperanto translation. As usual, the Master made his audience laugh, sweetening a serious subject with a touch of his ineffable humour:

There were two friends who did not know each other’s language. one of them got sick; the other one called upon him, but he could not express his sympathy, so by making a sign he asked him, ‘How are you?’ By making another sign, the sick man answer, ‘I am almost dying’, and the friend . . . thinking that he had told him that he was feeling much better, said, ‘Thanks be to God’. By such incidents you realize that the best thing in this world is to be able to make yourself understood by your friends, and also to understand them . . .

But after the meeting, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was exhausted. George S. Stewart commented, ‘he was a very weary man. I saw him at Dr Whyte’s just after the meeting. He was lying back in an arm-chair, while his personal attendant massaged his legs. He was an exhausted man’.

Graham Pole

            ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s schedule was brutal for His much-abused physical body. In Edinburgh Lady Blomfield saw the spiritual power that could overcome physical exhaustion. Before He addressed another gathering two days later, the Master looked very tired. ‘He remained seated in silence for a few moments after Mr Graham Pole had reverently introduced Him. Then, seeming to gather strength, He arose, and with voice and manner of joyous animation, and eyes aglow, He paced the platform with a vigorous tread, and spoke with words of great power’. 

            Lady Blomfield also witnessed a similar remarkable recovery in London one day, when the Master arrived home very tired after a long day.

We were sad at heart that he should be so fatigued, and bewailed the many steps to be ascended to the flat. Suddenly, to our amazement, the Master ran up the stairs to the top very quickly without stopping.

He looked down at us as we walked up after Him, saying with a bright smile, from which all traces of fatigue had vanished: ‘You are all very old! I am very young!’

Seeing me full of wonder, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:

‘Through the power of Bahá’u’lláh all things can be done. I have just used that power’.

That was the only time we had ever seen him use that power for Himself, and I feel that he did so then to cheer and comfort us, as we were really sad concerning his fatigue.   [End of Redman's account]
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Wouldn't it be great if we relied on the power of Baha'u'llah more often? What an Example! 

January 6, 1913 Edinburgh!

Charlotte Square Photo: Hari Docherty

 Earl Redman writes (in 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Our Midst):

‘Abdu’l-Bahá planned to visit Edinburgh, and on 1 January the Bahá’ís of Edinburgh sent a schedule they had devised for Him. Ahmad Sohrab wrote in his diary, ‘The plan of Edinburgh is presented to the Master. He says I have not been there yet, and they have already planned what I must do in every hour. Then He jokes with them about these . . . customs, and date-fixing of this so far ahead . . ‘. 

Alexander Whyte

            At 8 a.m. on 6 January, Ahmad Sohrab, Mírzá Mahmúd, Hájí Amín and Siyyid Asadu’lláh-i-Qumí left for the station, followed by the Master. Lotfullah Hakím (who later was elected to the first Universal House of Justice) joined the party at the station. The train left at 10 o’clock and at about 5 p.m. pulled into the Waverley Station in Edinburgh. [A local historian told us it was probably Princess Station, which is no longer there. AP] The group was met by Jane Whyte, Isabel Fraser (who had come up from London to help) and several other friends. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed at the home of Mrs Whyte and her distinguished husband, Dr Alexander Whyte, Moderator of the General Assembly Free Church of Scotland and principal of the Divinity Faculty of Edinburgh University, who were instrumental in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visiting Edinburgh.

Medallion of Rev. Whyte

Jane Elizabeth Whyte, formerly Jane Barbour, may have been the first Scottish Bahá’í. She was married to Reverend Alexander Whyte, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, professor of New Testament literature and principal at New College, Edinburgh. Jane was a good friend of Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper and in March 1906 they had visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for two brief days in ‘Akká. On her return, she wrote:

The pilgrim to ‘Akká is asked many questions on his return. Is this a prophet? A manifestation of divinity . . . Is it enough of Divinity to see love made perfect through suffering a life-long patience, a faith which no exile or imprisonment can dim, a love which no treachery can alter, a hope which rises a pure clear flame after being drenched with the world’s indifference through a lifetime? If that is not Divinity enough for this world, what is? . . . What greater sign can you ask than the power to flood this old world with love and aspiration, with patience and courage? . . . His life, as the prisoner of the Sultán, was in continual danger by any sudden pressure from Constantinople and at that time it was not considered wise that visitors from the west should be too much in evidence. So it came that we could not have the farewell conversation we had promised ourselves. Instead I left a letter for him. In due time an answer came . . .

In ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s reply to her letter, He called Jane a ‘captive of the love of God’ and an ‘honoured lady’. She had written, ‘I am a Christian’. The Master responded with, ‘O would that all were truly Christian! It is easy to be a Christian on the tongue, but hard to be a true one’. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote that ‘the unity of truth, through the power of God, will make these illusory differences to vanish away’. At the end of this Tablet, ‘Abdu'l-Bahá listed the seven candles of unity: unity in the political realm, unity of thought in world undertakings, freedom, unity in religion, unity of the nations, unity of the races, and unity of language. These would all, He stated, ‘inevitably come to pass’.[iii]

            Upon her return from ‘Akká, Jane Whyte spread the Bahá’í teachings to her family and friends. She was able to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London in 1911, and wrote to Him the following year saying, ‘If the time should come for him to visit Edinburgh, the Outlook Tower Society will welcome him warmly’.[iv] He accepted her invitation.

*     *     *

Photo: Hari Docherty

‘Abdu’l-Bahá would have preferred to stay at a hotel, but Mrs Whyte was insistent that He stay in her home at 7 Charlotte Square, so ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His interpreter Ahmad Sohrab stayed in the Whytes’ home while the others in His party were accommodated in a nearby hotel. One Edinburgh resident remembered the three who stayed in the hotel:

His company consisted of three people, and they were entertained in a hotel within a stone’s throw of the house where he was . . . the most personal attendant was called, in translation, the ‘Lion of God’ [Asadu’lláh], an old man, picturesque in appearance and of a most attractive spirit, whose after-dinner stories were a great delight. There was a young man, an interpreter, who was not of the inner company, I think, and who had a more or less permanent home in London (Lotfullah Hakim). Then there was a very handsome, cultured man, who was a poet of some distinction, according to the interpreter, and whose talk, even in translation, was deeply interesting, spiritually discerning and beautifully expressed [Mírzá Mahmúd].

           

At 8.30 on the morning after their arrival, Ahmad Sohrab heard a bell:

When I went down to the Library I saw principal Whyte with the members of the family standing on one side and all the maids which were seven I think, standing on the other side, each having a hymn book in the hand. Mrs Whyte gave me one of these books and she went to the organ. All of us [sang] the songs and afterward Rev. Whyte prayed while all of them knelt down. It was a very new experience to me. Of course this is their daily custom for the Master and the servants to pray to God every morning before starting their daily labors. This is a very lovely custom and affords one a few moments whereby to commune with his Creator. After the prayer we had breakfast and I carried up Our Beloved’s tea to his room.

Some of the Edinburgh Bahá’ís were worried about how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would handle the cold of a Scottish winter. Surprisingly to the locals, when the Master arrived in Edinburgh, the city experienced four days of sunny weather with mild temperatures. Even so, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not well-dressed for the climate and did suffer from the cold. He did not mention it to anyone, but one of His attendants informed Mrs Whyte and she took Him out and ‘a forenoon was spent in providing for His greater comfort – to the interest and admiration of several shopkeepers unaccustomed to oriental dress and speech’.   [The story we heard in Scotland: He went out to shop for woolen underwear in a department store. Endearing, eh? AP]

            The Whytes had managed to publicize ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s coming with an article in a local newspaper on 13 December, and articles in two different papers on 3 January, so when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived, the reporters were there to ensure that His visit was well reported.

            After dinner with the Whytes, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met with the Secretary of the Esperanto Society, the general Secretary of the Theosophical Society, several professors and many clergymen with their wives. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá then spoke about his trip from Alexandria to New York and how some had insisted that he sail on the Titanic instead of the older and smaller Cedric. He talked about his address to the Jews at Temple El-Emmanuel in San Francisco, which ‘created a tremendous effect, because most of these people are very devoted Christians’, wrote Ahmad Sohrab, adding that ‘An old scotch song was sung after the Master’s address which was very sweet and effective. The Master bade them good bye and went to his room’.

            
Florence Altass met the Master in Edinburgh and recalled:  Of course when I saw Him I knew who He was. Oh, you couldn’t mistake Him. And that heavenly smile! It was a perpetual smile, and yet it wasn’t, if you can imagine; it looked as though He smiled at everyone, and yet the smile seemed always to be there. And His eyes looked as if they were looking through you. He had the most gentle voice; I’ve never heard a voice like it . . . He embraced a good many people; He didn’t me, He just shook hands. Several of us He just shook hands with. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá shook hands with me, He seemed to transmit something to me, and I’ve never been the same since.

There was an interpreter – who spoilt the whole show! It wasn’t that His voice didn’t suit me, it was that although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke in Persian, you understood; you knew what He was saying, somehow. One was so enamoured of His voice that one sort of felt what He was saying.
[End of Redman's account]   See also:  http://www.travelstothewest.org/

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When we were there, last week!

Having just BEEN in Edinburgh, and having GONE to the house at 7 Charlotte Square, I can imagine all of this more fully!   Our photos are from a collection by Hari Docherty, unless noted. 

Tim, climbing a hill to take footage
Photo: Joseph Sheppherd

January 5, 1913 Dinner with a Maharajah

Earl Redman writes (in Abdu'l-Baha in Our Midst): 

On 5 January ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had dinner with the Maharajah of Jhalawar. The Maharajah spoke fluent English and they discussed the elevation of the women in India, aviation, dispelling prejudices in India, and the Aryan race. The Maharajah stayed till 10.30 p.m. Later, on 18 January, he hosted the Master, Lady Blomfield and her daughters for dinner.[i] The Maharajah was also at the railway station when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá departed for Paris.[ii]

---

[i] Sohrab, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Edinburgh, p. 3.

[ii] Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, p. 174.

January 1913 Seeing the true greatness of Abdu'l-Baha

Earl Redman writes (in Abdu'l-Baha in Our Midst): 

"In the January 1913 issue of The International Psychic Gazette, Felicia R. Scatcherd wrote of the great attraction she had to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but also her fear of coming too close. Her first contact with the Master was in London in 1911:

When Abdul Baha first came to England, I refused all invitations to visit him. I had met those who made pilgrimages to his prison-home in Akka, and they talked so much about ‘The Blessed Perfection’ and ‘The Manifested Splendour’ that, though interested in what seemed a useful enough form of hero-worship for those to whom it appealed, I had no desire to see Abbas Effendi for myself . . .

. . . a dear friend compelled me to accompany her to a reception of Abdul Baha, then, as now, the guest of Lady Blomfield . . . The submissive sweetness with which the venerable man received the homage of his followers affected me strongly. I wondered whether, like the gifted Heinrich Heine, he ever shrank from the burden of an enforced role of divinity. And an impulse seized me to see him in converse with an intellectual and spiritual peer. But when I cast about to find such a one, I realised the true greatness of the man in whose presence I found myself. I did not go forward with the rest to greet him on this first occasion. I stood at the door busy with my thoughts. And as if he knew these thoughts, as he passed out, he gave me a playful slap on the arm, as one would administer reproof to a wilful child, and his eyes danced with merriment.

Again and again I have noticed evidence of his awareness of the mental states of those around him. And I am assured that this keen intuition has been observed in his correspondence. Those whom he has never seen have been amazed to receive, from the Prophet in Akka, correct perceptions of conditions pertaining to them in America.[i]

On 21 January 1912, Felicia had visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Ramleh, Egypt in the company of Dr and Mrs Platon Drakoulès. Dr Drakoulès was a Greek political scientist living in Oxford, and according to Lady Blomfield ‘had invited the first Bahá’í gathering in England to meet at his chambers in Oxford’.[ii] In her notebook, Felicia wrote:

We found him in a villa, opposite the new Victoria Hotel, Ramleh. Although only 10 a.m., he had been astir for hours, attending to his enormous correspondence, and receiving visitors. Again, in his presence, the old sense of goodness and simplicity overwhelmed one. The venerable figure in its Persian costume, was just as unique in its Eastern setting, as in London.

Of middle-stature, and broadly-built, he yet strikes one at times, as if he were tall, and is undoubtedly imposing. Oval-faced, and large-featured, with heavy eyebrows, a nose resembling that of General Booth, he has the compelling personality of all born leaders of men. His grey eyes are unusually expressive. In moments of excitement they become dark and deep in the piercing intensity of their gaze. I have seen them slash as if generating a kind of lightning, and then they soften and brighten and change expression with all the varying moods of his active mentality. But whether under the influence of sorrow or joy, indignation or pity, they are always surcharged with sympathy. One who knows no word of Persian can share the emotions of his soul by watching the lights and shadows in his eyes. When, as often, he closed them, then one need only follow the movements of his no less wonderful hands.  [iii]

Abdu'l-Bahá's hand

Felica saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá once more, on 2 January 1913, this time with Mr Lewis and Mr Child, a well-known palmist from whom she wished to hear his impressions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s hands. Mr Lewis asked about reincarnation and the immaculate conception. In answering Mr Lewis’s question about the latter, the Master concluded by saying that those who accepted the creation of the first man without any human parent should have no difficulty accepting the birth of a person with only one human parent![iv] Felicia was so impressed with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that she travelled in Turkey trying to teach the Faith, and in 1914 wrote a book, A Wise Man from the East, about her efforts.

            One day, two ladies from Scotland, who had requested an evening with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, arrived and were welcomed warmly by the Master. But as Lady Blomfield remembered:

Not more than a half an hour passed, when, to our consternation, a persistent person pushed past the servitors, and strode into our midst. Seating himself, and lighting a cigarette without invitation, he proceeded to say that he intended writing an article for some newspaper about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, superciliously asking for ‘some telling points, don’t you know’. He talked without a pause in a far from polite manner.

We were speechless and aghast at the intrusion of this insufferable and altogether unpleasant bore, spoiling our golden hour!

Presently ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rose and, making a sign to the man to follow Him, went to His own room.

We looked at one another. The bore had gone, yes, but alas! so also had the Master!

‘Can nothing be done?’ Being the hostess, I was perturbed and perplexed. Then I went to the door of the audience room and said to the secretary: ‘Will you kindly say to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that the ladies with whom the appointment has been made are awaiting His pleasure’.

I returned to the guests and we awaited the result.

Almost immediately we heard steps approaching along the corridor. They came down the hall to the door. The sound of kind farewell words reached us. Then the closing of the door and the Beloved came back.

‘Oh, Master!’ we said.

Pausing near the door, He looked at us each in turn, with a look of deep, grave meaning.

‘You were making that poor man uncomfortable, so strongly desiring his absence; I took him away to make him feel happy’.

            Truly ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s thoughts and ways were far removed from ours!"

---

[i] The International Psychic Gazette (January 1913), p. 158, in  United Kingdom Bahá’í Archives. [ii] Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, p. 154.

[iii] The International Psychic Gazette (January 1913), p. 159.  [iv] ibid.

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What a humbling story!  And again showing the great intuitive faculties of Abdu'l-Baha!  Don't you wish we had a description/interpretation of His hands, by Mr. Child? 

January 2, 1913 A spell of wonder

Earl Redman writes (in Abdu'l-Baha in Our Midst):

"On 2 January ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to the Cedar Club House, a place run by the Women’s Service League that provided food for the poorest working mothers and ensured that their youngest children were well fed.

            ‘Through an insistent rain and blustering wind, the motor bore us across the Albert Bridge to the borough of Battersea. We turned from one of the important high highways into a dark, narrow, drizzling street, to stop before an inviting open door’.[i] The Master arrived to find sixty women and over one hundred children gathered at two large tables festively decorated with Christmas cheer. Though given a formal, elevated platform from which to speak, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rather, ‘as the real friend of the poor . . .  walked straight among them, into the body of the room. This at once established the charm of comradeship’. As He walked ‘with light characteristic step’ between the tables beaming with happiness and love, He told them:

I am very glad to be among you, who are blessed in God’s name with children. They are the true signs of his spiritual love. The most divine gifts of God. These little ones will grow to be fruitful trees. We must look to them for the founders of many beautiful families. Let their education be directed in the ways of purity and useful service. Here are the seeds of the future race and upon them may be granted God’s blessing.[ii]

‘Abdu’l-Bahá then walked among the women and children giving encouraging words, ‘pausing for a few moments to bless each little upturned face, and bestow a silver coin. The remarkable tender hands caressed a baby’s cheek or chin. One could hear him pronounce distinct words of comfort to the tiniest members of the audience’.  One mother held sleeping twins. The Master placed a coin under the chin of each, whereupon ‘two pairs of deep blue eyes opened wide in the spell of wonder’.

            Those who were accompanying ‘Abdu’l-Bahá commented on ‘the thoughtful gaze of the women as they watched the distinguished visitor in white turban and brown burnous, moving in their midst. It is often too true that the very poor are keenly suspicious of foreigners, especially if their mission is a religious one, but Abdul-Baha brings into every environment a profound truth and sympathy that seems to crush the barriers  . . ‘. 

            As He left, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said,

 I am truly happy when among the gatherings of the poor. It brings full joy to my heart. I come in contact with those in high stations of life, and those rich in worldly possessions, but my joy is in being with those who are in material poverty, for their sufferings draw them nearer to God . . ."

---

[i] Star of the West, vol. III, no. 18 (7 February 1913), pp. 9–10.      [ii] ibid.

January 1, 1913 The stirring of a deeper spirit

Earl Redman writes: 

"The 1 January 1913 issue of The Christian Commonwealth contained several pages about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, including the whole talk He had given to the Jewish congregation at Temple Emmanu-El in San Francisco in October 1912. Like many other publications, the writer began with a pen-portrait:

Even the Western stranger coming into the Master’s presence for the first time acknowledges an emotion akin to awe, and after a few minutes speech with him, feels the stirring of a deeper spirit of devotion than the ordinary amenities of social intercourse are calculated to arouse. For ‘Abdul Baha, whose mission of peace and universal brotherhood is like the coming of the four winds into the valley of dry bones, in Ezekiel’s vision is much more than a picturesque Eastern figure in the romantic setting of Western civilisation. He is a prophet. A venerable figure, of rather less than medium stature, clothed in long, flowing Persian garments, his white beard lying upon his breast, silver-grey plaited hair falling over his shoulders, dark, brooding, pitiful eyes that yet light up when a smile or singular gentleness and sweetness passes across his face, and a low mellow voice whose tones are charged with a strange solemnity – that is the Master as the stranger sees him. But to the Bahais he is the ‘Servant of God’, the symbol of the unity of religions and races which it is his mission to promote. Although nearly seventy years of age, he has undertaken this tour of the Western world to proclaim his message of universal peace, and to recall the nations from their armed madness to the forgotten simplicities of the spirit. For nine months he travelled in America, crossing the continent from coast to coast, from east to west, addressing large audiences in churches, synagogues, temples, halls, drawing-rooms, hotels, and in some of the universities. Wherever he spoke, it was at the invitation of the heads of the institution or movement which organised the meetings. He was a guest at the National Conference of Peace Societies held recently. The subject of his discourses everywhere was the same – an exposition of the teachings of Baha’o’llah, the source of the present-day Bahai faith . . .

‘Abdul Baha rose to receive me with a gentle courtesy and a murmured Persian sentence, which his interpreter, Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, explained meant that the Master was pleased to welcome a representative of The Christian Commonwealth, which had done much to promote the progress of his mission. The stir and movement beyond the threshold of the room where ‘Abdul Baha held his audience seemed to die away, and the familiar roar of London’s traffic through which I had passed a little earlier receded into immense distance as we talked . . .

In America, he said, many societies are organised, whose purpose is the furtherance of universal peace. He has spoken before many of these organisations ‘and they have harkened to my addresses with the greatest interest. And now I have returned to Europe. I observe that, praise be to God, in this capital a conference of peace is sitting . . . Therefore I hope that the rays of universal peace may radiate from this great metropolis to all parts of the world, and that the noble nation of England and its just Government, like the people of America, will strive their utmost in promoting the principles of international peace and brotherhood…

            In answer to a question regarding the Master’s impressions of America, he said that material civilisation had advanced greatly, and he hoped that divine civilisation would be likewise established. The American universities were carrying on a most profitable and encouraging work, and he spoke of Dr Jordan, the head of the Stanford University, in Oakland, whose guest they had been, as ‘as a very wise and erudite man, whose mind is full of thoughts of peace’."

December 31, 1912 "Fraught with pathos"

I am late with my posts, as we were in Scotland FILMING for a possible sequel and attending a special arts retreat (as well as celebrating Hogmanay--New Year's--by dancing to a live band and watching one of the world's most spectacular fireworks display) and then traveling for almost 23 hours. Pretty good excuse, eh?  But thrust back INTO a centenary year by going to Europe, I am firmly committed to following the journey through 1913/2013. 

Earl Redman writes: 

Thomas Kelly Cheyne

"On 31 December, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to Oxford to gave a talk at Manchester College, where clergymen were trained. He first visited Dr T. K. Cheyne, who had organized the talk but who was in poor health; the Master went to his home in North Oxford.  The following year Cheyne would publish his book on the Faith, The Reconciliation of Races and Religions. The meeting was, as described by Lady Blomfield,

Many of her books are still available

fraught with pathos. It seemed almost too intimate to describe, and our very hearts were touched, as we looked on, and realized something of the sacred emotions of that day.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá embraced the Doctor with loving grace, and praised his courageous steadfastness in his life’s work, always striving against increasing weakness, and lessening bodily health. Through those veiling clouds the light of the mind and spirit shone with a radiant persistence. The beautiful loving care of the devoted wife for her gifted, invalid husband touched the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. With tears in His kind eyes He spoke of them to Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper and myself on our way back to London: ‘She is an angelic woman, an example to all in her unselfish love. Yes, she is a perfect woman. An angel’.  This lady was Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne, the very specially gifted poetess.[i]

The two men talked and Cheyne showed the Master what he had written about the Faith. ‘His attitude of belief and attentiveness so moved the Master that He, several times, kissed him on the head and face, and kept caressing His head’. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called Dr Cheyne His ‘spiritual philosopher’.[ii]

            At Manchester College the Principal, Dr J. Estlin Carpenter, introduced ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the student clergymen with an eloquent tribute to His life and work. The Master then gave a talk on the place of science in our lives and about the supernatural. Interestingly, there were no questions afterwards.

[i] Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, pp. 168–9. [ii] Star of the West, vol. IV, no. 17 (19 January 1914), p. 286.

 Both of the Cheynes seem exceptional--and I need to study more about them.  Of them, 

Stephen N. Lambden writes: <http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/baha'i%20encyclopedia/thomas_kelly_cheyne.htm>

"A one time fellow of the British Academy, the London born Thomas Kelly Cheyne, D.Litt. D.D. (= TKC., 1841-1915) was, without doubt, the most eminent western academic to become a Bahā'ī during the ministry of `Abd al-Bahā (1892-1921). Oxford educated (BA 1862) and one who studied for a while under the great Old Testament scholar and orientalist Heinrich Ewald (1803-75) at the University of Göttingen, he was ordained an Anglican priest in 1865 (later he was canon of Rochester). Between 1870 and 1871 TKC lectured on Hebrew and divinity at the University of Oxford where he lived most of his life. Between 1885 and 1908 he was Oxford University's prestigious `Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture'. Influenced early on by German radical criticism, TKC was an important pioneer of the "higher criticism" of the Bible in the English-speaking world. His major works within the field of Old Testament Studies, his specialist field, include articles in the 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britanica, the Expositor and several others periodicals and number such books as The Prophecies of Isaiah (2 Vols., 1880-81), Job and Solomon (1887) and The Origin and Contents of the Psalter (1891; the Bampton Lectures for 1889). With J. S. Black he co-edited the monumental Encyclopædia Biblica (4 Vols., London, 1899-1903) -- which contains numerous entries by him, many influenced by the so-called Jerahmeelite theory (for a summary see Charles, 549-50).

TKC was the first person whom `Abdu'l-Bahā met on his arrival in Oxford on December 31, 1912. The encounter was "fraught with pathos" (Blomfield, 168). Impressed with TKC's ardent devotion and intense scholarly activity despite disabilities, `Abdu'l-Bahā several times lovingly kissed and caressed his head. The angelic qualities of the Biblical scholar's wife and carer in infirmity, the poetess Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne, were very greatly praised by the Master (Zarqani cited Balyuzi, 353). During this period `Abdu'l-Bahā' accorded TKC the epithet Ruḥānī ("Spiritual"), subsequently addressed him as "my spiritual philosopher" (SW IV:16 [Per. 3-4]). He reckoned him unique among professors in entering the "world of the Kingdom" (ibid). In a letter to the Manchester Bahā 'ī Mr. Craven dated Jan. 31st 1914 TKC wrote, "Allah-u-Abhā! Dear Bahā'ī brother..Why I am a Bahā'ī is a large question, but the perfection of the character of Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha is perhaps the chief reason.." (`9' Beginning.. 8-9). Partially indirectly supervised by `Abdu'l-Bahā, his work The Reconciliation of Races and Religions was published in London in 1914 (xx+260 pp.). It largely consists of Bābī- Bahā'ī biographical and historical notes and, among other things, was, "designed to contribute to the cause of universal peace" (Preface vii). TKC's becoming a Bahā'ī did not completely overrule his church membership or, in fact, his supportive and open attitude towards other spiritual pathways (i.e. The Society of Friends).

After becoming a Bahā'ī and though in very poor health, he continued to write several works of Biblical scholarship championing a North-Arabian/ Jerahmeelite theory (i.e. Fresh Voyages on Unfrequented Waters) becoming further "renowned for his extreme and unconventional views" (Bowden, 30). Uninformed by Bahā'ī Biblical exegesis and in large measure the eccentric products of his philological genius, they were generally very badly received. His Bahā'ī status was largely ignored or played down though his thirst for knowledge, his kindly, gargantuan scholarly spirit was much respected. Doubtless referring to his championing of liberal academic insights in biblical studies and related fields as well as to his Bahā'ī activity and writing (rather than simply to his increasingly eccentric biblical scholarship) `Abdu'l-Bahā in a scriptural Tablet or letter to TKC wrote, "It is.. my hope that in the future the East and the West may become conscious that thou wert a divine philosopher and a herald of the Kingdom" (cited Balyuzi, 354)."

Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne - Bibliography.htm  The first wife of TKC was Frances E. Godfrey (1844-1907), the third daughter of the Revd D. R. Godfrey, fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, and rector of Stow, Norfolk, whom he married on 31st January 1882. His second wife was the poetess Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne (1869-1931) daughter of John Pattinson Gibson (a chemist of Hexham) whom he married (aged 69) on August 28th [19th] 1911 about four years after the death of his first wife. Elizabeth Gibson was the sister of the `War Poet' Wilfred Wilson Gibson (b. Hexham 1878-1962): see URL:http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/gibson.htm. Both of T.K. Cheyne's marriages were childless.

Works by Gibson, Elizabeth [Cheyne]:

1899 The Evangel of joy. [Prose]. London: Grant Richards, 1899. 12pp. [Print run of 600 copies] Oxford in Bodlean Lib. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 26520 f.102. Copy in University of Texas at Austin Library Harry Ransom.

1902 A Christmas Garland, verses. London: Elkin Mathews, in Bodlean Lib. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 14770 f.261. 13cm.

1902 The burden of love. [verse]. London: Elkin Mathews, 1902. 60pp. Vigo cabinet ser. 10. In Bod. Library = Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 f.18. Copy in Cambridge Univ. Library; University of Toronto , call number = PR6005 H474 B8. PR 6005 .H474B8 ROBA. The Vigo cabinet series, no. 10. + Copies in 7 or more USA Libraries, e.g. SUNY at Buffalo; Princeton Univ. Lib, etc.

1903 The Well by the Way [prose]. London: Simple Life Press, ser. 7. 12pp. ? Copy in Bod. Lib. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 26520 f.61.Copies inNew York Pub. Library - Research; SUNY at Buffalo; University of Texas at Austin Library (Harry Ransom); Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru National Library (Wales).

1904 Leaves of Life. London: Thomas Laurie. In 2 USA Libraies: SUNY at Buffalo + Univ. of Texas at Austin (Harry Ranson).

1904 A flock of dreams. London: Elkin Mathews, 1904. Vigo cabinet ser. 22., Copy in Bod. Lib. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 f.85 . Copy in Cambridge Univ. Lib. and three USA Libraries = Univ. of Chicago; Princeton Univ. Library; Univ. California at San Diego.

1904 From a Cloister. London: Elkin Mathews Vigo cabinet ser. 19. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 f.85.

1905 Love's fugitives. London: Elkin Mathews, Vigo cabinet ser. 25. Oxford Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 f.185; Cambridge Univ. Library + Copies in 3 USA Libraries = SUNY at Buffalo; University of Chicago: Princeton University; Copy in Univ. Stellenbosch, J.S. Gericke Library (Matieland South Africa).

1905 Shadows. verse. London: Elkin Mathews, 1905. Vigo cabinet ser. 31. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 f.122. Copies in Cambridge Univ. Library and at least 3 USA Libraries = Univ. Chicago; Princeton Univ. Library; Univ. California at San Diego.

1906 A little book of saints [verse]. London: A. C. Fifield, Simple Life Press.1906. Devotional verse, Bodleian BOD Bookstack 14770 f.284. Copy in Univ. of Texas at Austin (Harry Ransom).

1906 Flowers from Upland and Valley [Prose] London: Simple Life Press [self pub?] Brochure ser. 3. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 3835 f.130.

???? A Christmas Garland. London: Elkin Mathews.

1907 From the shadow : a book of poems. Cranleigh, Surrey: Samurai Press, 1907. viii, 9-63, [1] pp. 20 cm. Bound in blue paper over boards; stamped in black on front cover; olive green cloth shelfback; off-white dust jacket. (Yale Univ. Lib. Cat.); Oxford Univ. Library = Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.670 + in at least 10 USA Libraries as listed by World Cat.

1907 By Many Streams, A Book of Poems by Elizabeth Gibson, Cranleigh: Samurai Press, 1907. 52pp. [to W. W. G] Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.618. Copies in around 10 USA Libraries = Univ. of Michegan Library. SUNY at Buffalo. Illinois Wesleyan Univ. Yale Univ. Library., etc.

1908 [4?] A book of Reverie. London, etc.. : John Lane, Bodleian BOD Bookstack 27001 f.33

1908 The day's journey. Cranleigh, Surrey: Samurai Press. 1908. Copies in Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.669; Univ. of Michegan Library; SUNY Buffalo; Southern Illinois Univ. at Edwardsville; Smith's College; etc.

1908 A Pilgrim's staff. Cranleigh, Surrey: Samurai Press. 1908. Copies in Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.672 ; Univ. of Windsor, Leddy Library (Canada); Univ. of Michegan Library; SUNY Buffalo; National Library of Ireland, Dublin, etc..

1908 In the starlight, verse. Cranleigh: Samurai Press.Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.671; Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.9772

1909 The Welling of Waters. Hexham: E. Gibson, 1909. Copies in New York Public Library - Research; University of Texas at Austin Library, Harry Ransom.

1910 Blossoms of Peace. Hexham: E. Gibson, 1910. Copies in New York Pub. Library - Research; Columbia Univ. Libraries; University of Texas at Austin Library, Harry Ransom.

1910 The son of man is come, verse. Oxford: Mrs. Cheyne. Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.9772 + Copies in at least 4 USA Univ. Libraries = Univ. Chicago; Yale Univ. Library, Harvard Univ. Library; University of Texas at Austin Library, Harry Ransom.

1910[4] (??) Unto us a Son is Given. Oxford: Mrs Cheyne. Copy in Univ. of Chicago Library + Univ. of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom.

1910 The Fruits of the Valley. Hexham: E. Gibson, 1910. Copy in New York Public Library; Columbia Univ. Library; Univ. of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom.

1911[ or 1915?] The way of the Lord. Oxford: Mrs Chyene (Self Published?), 1911. A copy exists in Cambridge and Oxford Univ. Libraries. + Yale Univ. Library.

1912 The voice of one crying, arranged in cycles by Mrs. Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne. London: Adam & Charles Black. 1912. Hbk. Bound in blue-green cloth over boards; stamped in blind and gold on cover and spine; black endpapers. Copy in Bodleian BOD Bookstack 1419 e.1936. and Brit. Library. Copy in British Library. + Oxford., Cambridge, SUNY (Buffalo), Harvard College Library; Univ. of Illinois.

1912 Cheyne, Elizabeth. The Voice of One Crying ... Arranged in cycles by T. K. C. [i.e. Thomas Kelly Cheyne.]. London : Adam & Charles Black, 1912. (128 pp.)

1913 The Beloved City, He Gave me Rest. Oxford: Mrs Cheyne, Oakthorpe Road, 1913. Copes in 3 USA Libraries: NYPL-Research; Hard. Univ. Harvard College Library; Univ. Texas at Austin

1914 The man with the mirror. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1914. Oxford Univ. Library = Bodleian BOD Bookstack 27001 e.363

1914 Oxford [poems] Oxford: Mrs Cheyne {Enterprise Printing Works]. For a description see Colbeck 1987 page 289 No. 48. World Cat says `no known copy'!

1914 Litanies. Oxford: ?? Copy in Bodlean Lib. : Bodleian BOD Bookstack 28001 e.1347

1914 Vigils. [poems]. Oxford: Mrs Cheyne, 1914. No known copy (see World Cat.)

1914 A Rosary (and other poems) Oxford: Mrs Cheyne, 1914.

1914 The Return Home. Oxford: Mrs. Cheyne, Oakthorpe Road, 1914. Copies , for example, in Univ. North Carolina; New York Public Library - Research; Harvard Univ. - Harvard College Library.

1915 The lover of life (and other poems) Oxford: Mrs Cheyne, 1915.

1915 I am the Resurrection and the Life. verse. 8pp. (?) London: the author. Copy in Bodlean: BOD Bookstack 14770 e.551 Devotional verse, theology... Copy in Univ. of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom. Several Copies in American Univ. Libraries, e.g. Harvard; Chicago; New York Public Library, etc.

1915 London. London : Mrs Gibson Cheyne, 1915.

1915 Resurrection. London : Mrs Gibson Cheyne, 1915.