PRECAUTIONS TAKEN BY ABBAS EFFENDI TO PREVENT STRANGERS FROM MEETING HIS BROTHER.
One feature of the policy of Abbas Efendi was to attach to every pilgrim who came to 'Akka men of his own faction, to consort with that stranger-pilgrim with the utmost kindness and tenderness, wait upon him, remain with him night and day, and accompany him wherever he went. Thus passed the days of his visit without the pilgrim being able to meet one of the Holy Family or their followers, so that he would return without being informed of the truth of the matter, or of the causes of the dissension which had arisen between Abbas Efendi and Muhammad Ali Efendi. But if any one [of the pilgrims] was so bold as to ask His Holiness Abbas Efendi to permit him to meet his brother Muhammad Ali Efendi or his followers, he would grant such permission to the seeker, with a smiling and cheerful countenance, to go to meet his brother Muhammad'Ali Efendi, expressing an eager desire to he reconciled with his brother; but at the same time he would hint to the enquirer that there was absolutely nothing to be gained by this action of his. Then he would enjoin his partisans and attendants to make it clear to that pilgrim that it would be a great mistake for him to foregather with Muhammad Ali Efendi, or any of his followers, or to speak with them, and that it was one of the things which would distress the sensibilities of Abbas Efendi. So the pilgrim would refuse to meet anyone of the rival faction, even as happened to Khayru'llah himself, when be refused to meet His Holiness the Branch (Ghusn) Badi'ullah Efendi when the latter came to call upon him at the inn where he was staying in the city of Hayfa. For he refused to meet the above mentioned Badi'u'llah Efendi, in consequence of *what had been suggested to him by His Holiness Abbas Efendi and his followers.
In consequence of what has just been set forth, none of all the American pilgrims went to interview His Holiness Muhammad Ali Efendi, or Her Holiness the Mother of the" Branches " (Aghsan).
ATTEMPT TO PREJUDICE THE AMERICAN VISITORS AGAINST MUHAMMAD ALI
Besides what has been mentioned, Abbas Efendi used to take every opportunity in the presence of Khayru'llah to rise up and speak amongst his followers and attendants, and in the presence of the pilgrims and the Americans, explaining to them how he was wronged, and the vexations which he daily suffered at the hands of the Government and its agents, the origin of all of which he ascribed to the treacherous intrigues of his brother Muhammad Ali Efendi, inciting them to avenge him, inspiring in their minds angry suspicions and the very spirit of hatred and enmity, and relating to them stories to the prejudice of the Members of the Holy House, at which the natural instinct revolted. So like wise his followers also imitated his procedure, communicating to the pilgrims the infamies which they ascribe to the Members of the Holy House. Consequently some of the American pilgrims communicated these scandalous stories to the believers in America after their return from 'Akka.
Is not such conduct diametrically opposed to the Baha'i Spirit and Truth, to the Christian Spirit, and to the Spirit of the Prophets and Apostles ?
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