Lidia

Martha Root had been studying Esperanto over the years, knowing it would help in her travels. Indeed, as she went from country to country, she found that Esperanto opened many doors for her. Although her original interest in Esperanto had been as a means of attracting people to the Baha'i teachings, she became a fervent Esperantist. Martha sympathized wholeheartedly with the principles of Esperantism, believing that the international auxiliary language ought to be a neutral one. 'To people who have traveled and met the statesmen and the masses in different lands,' she wrote, *it is evident that any national tongue is not only not acceptable as a universal help- language, but it is unsuitable to the intemational thought content of a new universal cycle.' Although her native language was English, she did not wish to see English forced 'upon a world that does not want it'.

In June Martha Root had written to the congress organizers asking that the Baha'fs be allowed to hold a meeting at the Geneva congress. 'Our aim is the same as yours,' she wrote, 'the Baha'x Movement is the "Esperanto" of religions.'

That Thursday aftemoon, Lidia arrived late; the meeting had already begun. 'The hall was decorated in cool evergreens', Martha Root described her handiwork in a report, 'and mingled with the greens were filmy white flowers and clusters of violet blooms native to Switzerland. The portraits of 'Abdu'1-Baha and Dr Zamenhof were decorated with green boughs and Esperanto flags.'

The main room of the Bureau had space for sixty people. For the meeting, the doors to the adjoining rooms had been thrown open to allow another forty people to sit and hear the discussion comfortably.

In her report about the event Martha Root noted that both Zofia and Lidia were there and that Zofia read from a paper ofher father's on the need of a universal religion. Martha Root quoted Dr Zamenhofs remarks on the Baha'f Faith to the interviewer at the 1913 Bem congress as well as a statement Zamenhof had made earlier that 'The person of' Abdu'1-Baha and his work I very highly esteem; I see in him one of the greatest benefactors of mankind.' A Russian lady, Mrs Umanski, read the laudatory statements 'Abdu'1-Baha had made to various Esperanto groups, and Dr Adelbert Mŭhlschlegel, a physician from Stuttgart, Germany, gave a short talk in Esperanto about the Baha'f Faith.

'The Baha'i Movement is not merely a new oriental religion among other religions or spiritual movements, it is simply the renewal of religion,' he said, 'because there exists only one God, one love, one truth, one religion.' It was only the forms of the Divine Manifestation that changed, Dr Mŭhlschlegel explained. 'The great prophets are the reflections, the manifestations of the one divine light. . . They show forth the Divine light according to the capacity of the people of that time and place, which change. Consequently, the external forms of religion also change,' he went on, 'that is, after some time they are given a different form by a new prophet. We humans then say this or that prophet founded a new religion. In truth, he founded only a new, more modem form of the human religion.'

Moses and Christ had taught the people according to their needs and capacity, he said. 'Now Baha'u'llah has come. He speaks to the whole of humanity today even more complicated, more diverse than then . . . Through BahaVllah Christians will understand Christ better, as through Christ we better understand Moses. Baha'u'llah fulfills and carries out the words of Christ just as Christ fulfilled the words of Moses . . .'

He went on to explain that one of the Baha'f principles was the use of an international auxiliary language, either to be chosen from among the existing languages or created. This language, he explained, was to be taught to children in all the schools of the world, *"so that the whole world may be considered as one country and one home".

'"The best-beloved fruit of the tree of knowledge is this majestic word:"' he said, paraphrasing Baha'u'llah,'"Ye are all the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch. Glory is not his who loves only his country, glory is his who loves the whole world." Let us think about it, samideanoj!

'This was ordained many decades ago by a prophet in an uncivilized oriental land. Dr L. L. Zamenhof during his blessed life carried out that Esperanto inner idea, the spirit of the future new humanity, the spirit of Baha'u'llah. Because of that, Dr Zamenhof was a true Baha'f. And all Baha'fs in the whole world honor him as an ideal model, love him as majstro and brother.'

At last the meeting was thrown open for discussion, and tea was served. During the open forum, Martha Root later reported with delight, 'the President of one of Europe's best known Peace Societies and a noted Esperantist' said, '"Let us work that all Baha'is may become Esperantists and all Esperantists become Baha'fs!"'