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Her last public tribute to the Faith she had dearly loved was made two years before her death. "More than ever today," she wrote, "when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith seeking that which binds together instead of tearing asunder. To those searching for light, the Baha'i teachings offer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and goodwill with all men." (393:2) Martha Root's own illuminating record is given in one of her articles as follows: "For ten years Her Majesty and her daughter, H.R.H. Princess Ileana (now Arch- Duchess Anton) have read with interest each new book about the Baha'i Movement, as soon as it came from the press... Received in audience by Her Majesty in Pelisor Palace, Sinaia, in 1927, after the passing of His Majesty King Ferdinand, her husband, she graciously gave me an interview, speaking of the Baha'i teachings about immortality. She had on her table and on the divan a number of Baha'i books, for she had just been reading in each of them the Teachings about life after death. She asked the writer to give her greeting to ... the friends in Iran and to the many American Baha'is, who she said had been so remarkably kind to her during her trip through the United States the year before... Meeting the Queen again on January 19, 1928, in the Royal Palace in Belgrade, where she and H.R.H. Princess Ileana were guests of the Queen of Yugoslavia-- and they had brought some of their Baha'i books with them-- the words that I shall remember longest of all that her dear Majesty said were these: `The ultimate dream which we shall realize is that the Baha'i channel of thought has such strength, it will serve little by little to become a light to all those searching for the real expression of Truth'... Then in the audience in Controceni Palace, on February 16, 1934, when her Majesty was told that the Rumanian translation of `Baha'u'llah and the New Era' had just been published in Bucharest, she said she was so happy that her people were to have the blessing of reading this precious teaching... And now today, February 4, 1936, I have just had another audience with Her Majesty in Controceni Palace, in Bucharest... Again Queen Marie of Rumania received me cordially in her softly lighted library, for the hour was six o'clock... What a memorable visit it was!... She also told me that when she was in London she had met a Baha'i, Lady Blomfield, who had shown her the original Message that Baha'u'llah had sent to her grand- mother, Queen Victoria, in London. She asked the writer about the progress of the Baha'i Movement, especially in the Balkan countries... She spoke too of several Baha'i books, the depths of "Iqan," and especially of "Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah," which she said was a wonderful book! To quote her own words: `Even doubters would find a powerful strength in it, if they would read it alone, and would give their souls time to expand.' ...I asked her if I could perhaps speak of the brooch which historically is precious to Baha'is, and she replied, `Yes, you may.' Once, and it was in 1928, Her dear Majesty had given the writer a gift, a lovely and rare brooch which had been a gift to the Queen from her royal relatives in Russia some years ago. It was two little wings of wrought gold and silver, set with tiny diamond chips, and joined together with one large pearl. `Always you are giving gifts to others, and I am going to give you a gift from me,' said the Queen smiling, and she herself clasped it onto my dress. The wings and the pearl made it seem `Light- bearing' Baha'i! It was sent the same week to Chicago as a gift to the Baha'i Temple ... and at the National Baha'i Convention which was in session that spring, a demur was made-- should a gift from the Queen be sold? Should it not be kept as a souvenir of the first Queen who arose to promote the Faith of Baha'u'llah? However, it was sold immediately and the money given to the Temple, for all Baha'is were giving to the utmost to forward this mighty structure, the first of its kind in the United States of America. Mr. Willard Hatch, a Baha'i of Los Angeles, Calif., who bought the exquisite brooch, took it to Haifa, Palestine, in 1931, and placed it in the Archives on Mt. Carmel, where down the ages it will rest with the Baha'i treasures..."
(393:3)
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