Monday, January 30, 2012

18- 'Abdu-l-Bahá and Blakeslee III (Lake Mohonk)

The Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration was a "per invitation" very famous peace conference.  'Abdu'l-Bahá was invited to participate and he arrived May 14th and stayed until the 16th, 1912.

Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America
In her book Abdu'l-Bahá in New York: The City of the Covenant ,  Eliane Lacroix-Hopson mentions:
"In 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had exchanged correspondence with Mr. Albert Smiley, Founder and President of the Conference... He had been invited to be the featured speaker at the 18th Annual Conference and the Master had scheduled His visit to the United States to include this important event.

      These Conferences were attended by prominent people of New York, Washington DC, and other cities and countries. 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on the first day on "The Oneness of the Reality of Humankind." Many in attendance were impressed and came on the platform to thank Him, some embracing Him with emotion."

Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America

According to Mahmud's diary
"This conference was the greatest of all the peace conferences in America. It was held in a most ideal location and many dignitaries and delegates from various countries had been invited to attend. Lake Mohonk is four hours away from New York by train. At the train station special landaus were waiting to take the guests to the conference site. The Master took one of these and went to the Hotel Lake Mohonk. He praised the beauty of the place and the scenic grandeur of the route as His carriage drove for about an hour amidst green valleys, wooded hills, woodlands, waterfalls and natural springs."
Prof. Blakeslee did not attend the conference, nor he could have read the talk ahead of time since the conference was only about a week before to his visit to Worcester.  But he probably knew of The Master's presence, and my guess is that around this time he might have done some effort to send him an invitation, knowing that he will be in the vicinity.

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