Between the sittings of the Commissions of Investigation He pursued His ordinary life with the utmost serenity, planting fruit trees in a garden and presiding at a marriage feast with the dignity and radiance of spiritual freedom. The Spanish Consul offered to provide Him a safe passage to any foreign port He cared to select, but this offer He gratefully but firmly refused, saying that whatever the consequences, He must follow in the footsteps of the Bab and the Blessed Perfection, Who never tried to save Themselves or run away from Their enemies. He encouraged most of the Baha'is, however, to leave the neighborhood of Akka, which had become very dangerous for them, and remained alone, with a few of the faithful, to await His destiny. (43:1)

The four corrupt officials who constituted the last investigating commission arrived in Akka in the early part of the winter of 1907, stayed one month, and departed for Constantinople, after finishing their so-called "investigation," prepared to report that the charges against 'Abdu'l-Baha had been substantiated and to recommend His exile or execution. No sooner had they got back to Turkey, however, than the Revolution broke out there and the four commissioners, who belonged to the old regime, had to flee for their lives. The Young Turks established their supremacy, and all political and religious prisoners in the Ottoman Empire were set free. In September 1980 'Abdu'l-Baha was released was prison, and in the following year 'Abdu'l-Hamid, the Sultan, became himself a prisoner. (43:2)

Western Tours
After His release, 'Abdu'l-Baha continued the same holy life of ceaseless activity in teaching, correspondence, ministering to the poor and the sick, with merely the change from Akka to Haifa and from Haifa to Alexandria, until August 1911, when He started on His first visit to the Western world. During His tours in the West, 'Abdu'l-Baha met men of every shade of opinion and amply fulfilled the command of Baha'u'llah to "Consort with all the people with joy and fragrance." He reached London early in September 1911, and spent a month there, during which, besides daily talks with inquirers and many other activities, He addressed the congregations of the Rev. R. J. Campbell at the City Temple, and of Archdeacon Wilberforce at St. John's, Westminster, and breakfasted with the Lord Mayor. He then proceeded to Paris, where His time was occupied in giving daily addresses and talks to eager listeners of many nationalities and types. In December He returned to Egypt, and next spring, in response to the earnest entreaty of the American friends, He proceeded to the United States, arriving in New York in April 1912. During the next nine months He traveled through America, from coast to coast, addressing all sorts and conditions of men - university students, Socialists, Mormons, Jews, Christians, Agnostics, Esperantists, Peace Societies, New Thought Clubs, Women's Suffrage Societies, and speaking in churches of almost every denomination, in each case giving addresses suited to the audience and the occasion. On December 5 He sailed for Great Britain, where He passed six weeks, visiting Liverpool, London, Bristol and Edinburgh. In Edinburgh He gave a notable address to the Esperanto Society, in which He announced that He had encouraged the Baha'is of the East to study Esperanto in order to further better understanding between the East and the West. After two months in Paris, spent as before in daily interviews and conference, He proceeded to Stuttgart, where He held a series of very successful meetings with the German Baha'is; thence to Budapest and Vienna, founding new groups in these places, returning, in May 1913, to Egypt, and on December 5, 1913, to Haifa. (43:3)

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