in the latter city that he openly declared his mission. He was “He whom God would make manifest,” whom
the Bab had announced in his writings, the great
Manifestation of God, promised for the last days; and in his letters to the principal Rulers of the States of Europe he invited them to join him in establishing religion and universal peace. From this time, the
Babis who acknowledged him became Bahais. The
sultan then exiled him (1868 A. D.) to
Acca in Palestine, where he composed the greater part of his doctrinal works, and where he died in 1892 A. D. (May 29). He had confided to his son, Abbas Effendi
Abdul-Baha, the work of spreading the religion and continuing the connection between the Bahais of all parts of the world. In point of fact, there are Bahais everywhere, not only in Mohammedan countries, but also in all the countries of Europe, as well as in the United States, Canada, Japan, India, etc. This is because
Baha’o’llah has known how to transform Babism into a universal religion, which is presented as the fulfillment and completion of all the ancient faiths. The Jews await the Messiah, the Christians the return of Christ, the
Moslem the
Mahdi, the Buddhists the fifth Buddha, the Zoroastrians Shah Bahran, the Hindoos the reincarnation of Krishna, and the Atheists—a better social organization! Baha’o’llah represents all these, and thus destroys the rivalries and the enmities of the different religions; reconciles them in their primitive purity, and frees them from the corruption of dogmas and rites. For Bahaism has no clergy, no religious ceremonial, no public prayers; its only dogma is belief in God and in his Manifestations (
Zoroaster,
Moses, Jesus, et al., Baha’o’llah). The principal works of Baha’o’llah are the
Kitab-ul-Ighan, the
Kitab-ul-Akdas, the
Kitab-ul-Ayd, and numerous letters or tablets addressed to sovereigns or to private individuals. Ritual holds no place in the religion, which must be expressed in all the actions of life, and accomplished in neighborly love. Every one must