in December, 1914, and lent him some pamphlets. He had been searching for Truth in many directions, but without finding that which could satisfy his innate religious feeling; on hearing, however, the Bahá’í message he was at once impressed by its beauty and thoroughness; so much so that without delay he procured all books in English which dealt with the subject. Most truly applicable to Esslemont are the words of the Beloved Master: “Blessed is he that the Word of God had reached him and had found his soul ‘awake.’”
His progress in the study of the Sacred Books was therefore rapid, for already in 1915 he was writing to the lady above-mentioned recommending what books she should read; and in February, 1916, little more than a twelve-month after he himself first received the Glad Tidings, he wrote at length to a Bahá’í friend in Manchester in terms which show how thoroughly he had accepted the Bahá’í teachings and how profoundly he had already studied them. Thus he writes:
“We can each become like our friend if we make the great surrender of self and selfishness and become willing channels for the Divine Spirit. There is no limit to what the human spirit can achieve in the strength of Divine Inspiration. The germ of the Divine Nature is in every man; only most of us are not manifesting it. Instead, we are smothering it. It is like a plant, which needs sun and rain for its growth, the Sun and Rain of the Divine Love and Bounty. We have the power either to open our hearts to that Love and Bounty or to reject them. Only by turning our attention and interest away from the world and turning them to God can we grow in spirit. Such turning means attending to the reality and inner significance of things instead of to the outward appearance. It means that our interest in and love for everything in all God’s universe should vastly increase, but that we should regard all outward appearances but as the garments of the inner realities, as dawning places for the Glory of God. Oh! may people all over the world soon turn to God, as revealed in Bahá’u’lláh, with humble and contrite hearts, begging for His forgiveness and blessing and imploring His mercy and bounty! Then shall His Kingdom come in men’s hearts and the whole world become one home and all mankind one family.”
This extract from one of Esslemont’s early letters shows so clearly the spirit which illumined all his words and actions, that its insertion here will be forgiven by those who read his stirring admonition and appeal. That he himself did in very truth turn to God as revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, and that having so turned, he never deviated by one hair’s breadth from the path of love and righteousness is a fact known to those who had the privilege of meeting him and listening to his glowing talks as well as to those who are acquainted with him only through his writings inspired as they are with that same loving spirit which was so apparent to those who knew him personally.
Esslemont’s work as a personal teacher, apart from his letters, began in Bournemouth, where a group of adherents to the Cause gathered under his auspices, resulting in the formation of a Spiritual Assembly of which he was the first chairman, a position he continued to ocupy until he left England in 1924. In this connection it may be mentioned that he was also the representative of the Bournemouth group on the National
Spiritual Assembly of England, of which body he became Vice-Presi-
