`Abdu'l-Baha's Visit to Canada

`Abdu'l-Baha's Visit To Canada, By Hugh Church

 In 1912, Montreal was - by any measure - the most important city in the adolescent Dominion of Canada and its wealthy English-speaking population occupied the peak of Canadian "high society." They lived in the so-called Square Mile, the district west of downtown and between Sherbrooke Street and "the Mountain." Their homes were mock Highland castles, palatial neo-Georgian houses, faux Tuscan villas and massive brownstone mansions. They took their social cues from London. They took tea, rode to the hounds with the Montreal Hunt and gave palatial dinner parties. They were merchant princes (like the Birks and the Ogilvies) or captains of industry and commerce, such as the Molsons, Lord Strathcona, the Holts, Sir Mortimer Davis, the Holts, Lord Shaughnessy, the Van Homes and Lord Atholstan. These plutocrats lived in a neighbourhood which the Canadian humourist, Stephen Leacock (who was himself a Square Miler) called "Plutoria-under-the-Elms."

And on Pine Avenue, at the top of the Square Mile and right across the street from the Birks, lived a very successful architect and his lovely wife May. Mr. and Mrs. William Sutherland Maxwell, and their beautiful and adored two-year-old daughter, Mary. The Maxwells, who in their dress and in their residence and in their manner of living so closely resembled their wealthy neighbours were unusual in several significant ways. One was that they both were followers of a new," not-very-well-known religion, which in those days was often known as Bahaism." And on the Labour bay weekend of that year they were about to receive a very honoured, even august, visitor for whom they had entirely redecorated their home. This was `Abdu'l-Baha, the son of the man whom Baha'is recognise as the most recent of God`s manifestations to man, and the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith.

In 1912 `Abdu'l-Baha was 68 years old, and his was a "commanding presence," we are told. Time and again we read that people coming into his presence for the first time left describing feelings of awe at the meeting. But at the same time he seemed "intensely approachable." He had, after all, approved an advertisement in The Montreal Star which gave the Maxwell`s telephone number (Uptown 3015) and urged "any Montrealers who want to make an appointment with him" to do so. He had a ready sense of humour. He was not an ascetic. During part of his stay in Montreal, for example, he put up at the Windsor Hotel then the most expensive and luxurious in town. He always sought to avoid religious argument, but was uncompromising on his principles. 

Later on in his travels in North America, he insisted that Louis Gregory, a black Baha'i, be seated next to him at a dinner in the then rigidly-segregated city of Washington, DC. He always wore the clothes he was most comfortable in those of a Persian gentleman of the nineteenth century - and in a day of waxed moustaches wore an unfashionable beard. He enjoyed music. He loved children. He did not speak English or any other European language, and therefore always spoke through an interpreter who accompanied him everywhere. One can only imagine the impression he must have made on passers-by or on members of his various audiences in Montreal in 1912. (In fact, Mrs. Maxwell noted with what must have been some amusement that the upstairs curtains of all her neighbours' homes were ported as `Abdu'l-Baha arrived on Pine Avenue in the evening of August 30th so that the neighbours could glimpse the white-robed "Persian prophet.")

This brief visit was to accomplish exactly what `Abdu'l-Baha had hoped. It gave the few scattered individuals in Canada who called themselves Baha'is an awareness of themselves as a community," and gave them as well a better understanding of the Faith. (At that time, we must remember, most Baha'is in Canada had no Baha'i writings or scripture to read for themselves, and often didn’t even know any other Baha'is. Their beliefs, therefore, were often an amalgam of turn-of -the-century liberal thought, "universalism," and socialism, and many identified their barely-understood religion with `Abdu'l-Baha rather than with Baha'u'llah. It was said that these Baha'is were better described as `Abdu'l-Baha'is.) His visit attracted a lot of attention, particularly in Montreal, where more than 2,500 people heard him or nine days and where all the newspapers English and French reported extensively on his visit and his views. There were seven informal and eight public meetings, including an address to 500 socialists at Coronation Hall on the topic of Economic Happiness." Abdul-Baha met eminent people throughout Canada and elsewhere - religious and political leaders, professors, scientists, etc. In Montreal these included the Roman Catholic archbishop Bruchesi, and Mr. William Paterson, the principal of McGill University. Invariably their subsequent attitudes toward the Baha'i Faith were positive.

Finally, everything that he said - both in private homes, in churches and in other great meetings in Montreal and elsewhere was added to and became an important part of the corpus of Baha'i writings. In Montreal there were two addresses which became almost universally known among Baha'is - his addresses on "The Oneness of Religion" at the Unitarian Church of the Messiah (a building, incidentally, designed by his host, William Sutherland Maxwell,) and on "Baha'i Principles for the Happiness of the Human Race" at St James Church, the so-called "cathedral of Methodism" on Ste-Catharine Street.

 Before turning to those two talks, though, I'd like first to deal with an aspect of `Abdu'l-Baha`s visit to Montreal which became a very minor footnote in Canadian literature, and which, as Stephen Leacock`s biographer wrote many years later, for a while " ... must have given hurt ... to a small number of Baha'is." It interests me as a former literature teacher rather than as a Baha'i.

`Abdul-Baha`s visit had not escaped the notice of Leacock, who two years later published a satirical short story in his famous anthology Arcadian Adventures of the Idle Rich. The story to which I refer is one called "The Yahi-Bahi Society of Mrs Resselyer-Brown." Certainly Leacock was a neighbour of the Maxwells, but it is clear" from the story that he did not know and did not trouble himself to learn anything either about `Abdu'l-Baha - who figures in his story as Mr. Yahi Bahi - or about the Baha'i Faith - which he calls Boohooism. Yahi Bahi spouts an unsettling mishmash of Hindu, Buddhist, ancient Egyptian and Islamic terms, but he seems to have absolutely no religious or ethical principles to impart and is in fact, a scam artist and a thief. It must be remembered that at the time there were a lot of very well-known and very fashionable religious and occult "gurus" about - such as Annie Besant and Theosophy, for example - who were more-or-less the "pets" of society ladies with too much time on their hands and of self-described intellectuals. Leacock and others often scoffed at them and their followers. I don’t think that present-day Baha'is need be offended by this parody because it is so obviously wide of the mark. There is simply nothing of Abdul-Baha or of the Baha'i Faith in it. (And we all must remember that Leacock could be savagely funny in his comments about Anglican priests and Presbyterians as well.)

So let me now turn to matters of greater "gravitas" and of much greater significance.

In the pulpit of the imposing Church of the Messiah, `Abdu'l-Baha essentially offered his audience a summary of the basic tenets of the Baha'i Faith, without announcing that this was what he was about to do. Therefore this address can in no way be construed as an attempt at proselytizing, something which as the Guardian of the Faith he never did, and which Baha'is today are warned against doing as well. Nothing of what he said would surprise Baha'is today, and ninety-two years ago `Abdu'l-Baha apparently understood that in a Unitarian church he was unlikely to be misunderstood or to startle anyone either.

The church’s minister, the Rev. F R Griffin, in fact said in introducing `Abdu'l-Baha that "The strangest part of all about him is that nothing is strange." This is, of course, a reaction that Baha'is often encounter when they have the opportunity to explain their Faith to non-Baha'i friends and acquaintances. The Montreal Gazette reported that `Abdu'l-Baha in his opening sentences said. "God the Almighty has created all humanity from earth, from the same element."

The paper went on to note that the visitor spoke of his father. Baha'u'llah, having proclaimed that "religion must be the means of love and fellowship. If "religion" is the cause of hatred it has no meaning: it is not religion but irreligion. . . ." 

The audience might have been intrigued when `Abdu'l-Baha argued for a universal language "to "help the cause of international peace and goodwill." as this certainly would have been a somewhat novel idea in 1912. In fact, unfortunately, it still is. The Gazette said that "both in matter and in style" the message was "unique ..." On the other hand, The Montreal Daily Witness, a Socialist paper, carried an article by a local clergyman expounding the view that `Abdu’l-Baha’s "oriental doctrines are not new," in what was obviously intended as a criticism of the Baha'i speaker’s ideas. 

Present-day Baha'is should probably be able to see the point of both descriptions, since we see our Faith as both "unique" or "new" and as "not new" at one and the same time. To us this is not only not contradictory but is the only logical way of regarding the history of the spiritual development of all of mankind. Our only quibble would probably be with the use of the adjective "oriental" since we and I believe most of the world’s people today agree with us Baha'is about this - see nothing either "oriental" or "occidental" in the principles which Abdul-Baha spoke of in the pulpit of the Church of the Messiah and everywhere else throughout his life.

At St James Church, `Abdu'l-Baha continued his exposition of his Fathers religious teachings. Here The Gazette mentioned his call for the "independent investigation" of religious truth, and his contention that it is the lack of such independent investigation that leads to rancour and dissension. `Abdul-Baha spoke of the necessity of education, and the folly of racial and patriotic strife. As he had at other venues, he expressed his fear of the arms race in which all the European nations were then engaged, and which would make the soon-to-come Great War such a catastrophe for all those nations and for the rest of the world. He said,

"Europe is a storehouse of explosives awaiting a spark. All the European nations are on edge, and a single flame will set on fire the whole of that continent."

Today we can only regard his words as prescient. His remedy was the establishment of an international tribunal to settle international disputes. At the end of his address, the Recorder of St James, Mr. Weir, paid `Abdu'l-Baha the high compliment of saying that while some people believed the race of prophets had become extinct, . . . it was a pleasure to listen to one who was in the lofty succession of the long line of prophets." Even more moving, perhaps, was an editorial the next day in the usually very sober-sided Gazette, part of which said:

"`Abdu'l-Baha has preached universal peace for fifty years. . . In a word, `Abdu'l-Baha is the great protagonist of Peace in the world today. To bring about its accomplishment is the practical corollary of the two tenets which are the foundation of his creed - the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. For forty years he was persecuted for preaching it, for twenty years imprisoned."

It is, of course, not only ironic but tragic - in every sense of that word - that just two years later The Gazette’s pages would be filled with accounts of terrible battles, of warplanes, of gas attacks, and - worst of all - with lists of hundreds of names of the young Montrealers and Quebeckers killed or maimed in what now seems to many an entirely inexplicable and pointless war.

It is clear from everything that we know about `Abdu'l-Baha that he never wasted time. In fact, he seems to hove been the kind of person who maintains such a constant and rigorous schedule, such an unchanging and unrelenting momentum, that he appears to the casual observer not to be busy at all - rather like the Queen when she is "on tour." May Maxwell described her guest as `serene" and "calm," but during the nine days that `Abdu'l-Baha remained in Montreal, he seems either to have been preparing to speak or speaking, giving interviews, receiving guests, or paying calls upon people whom he felt would understand and should hear his message. While "resting" at the Maxwell residence. he spoke to small groups of guests on such subjects as Immortality" and The Nature of Man." 

When he ran out of time answering questions after his public addresses, he invited people to come to him to continue their discussions. Amine be Mille, an American Baha'i, tells us that early on the first morning of his stay in Montreal `Abdu'l-Baha began to receive a stream of guests, and that gall day, visitors flowed in and out. . . ." He was able to make each person feel as if somehow he or she was the very individual whom `Abdu'l-Baha had come to Montreal in order to see. (But the number of visitors was so great that after four days he felt his presence had become a problem in the Maxwell house, and he insisted upon moving into a suite at the Windsor Hotel. There even larger audiences continued.) He even found time, we know, to visit a sick child at 715 Pine Avenue, across from the Maxwell house. This was Geraldine Birks, the daughter of the "Jewellery store" Birks. (Seventy-nine years later, Geraldine didn’t remember that it was `Abdu'l-Baha who visited her, but did remember the "Indian guru" whom the Maxwell`s had invited to visit them.)

`Abdu’l-Baha’s visit to Montreal was exceptionally well-covered by the city’s newspapers. Some of the headlines seem quite touching to us today, or - sometimes - quite amusing. One paper described him as the head of a "worldwide "Baha'i" peace cult," for example. He was variously described elsewhere as an "apostle of peace," a "Persian teacher in flowing robes," as a "venerable apostle from [the] Orient," and as a "leader of [a] great universalist movement." The Gazette never used the word "cult" in its coverage of `Abdu'l-Baha`s visit, and in fact made the point that his faith was "not a religious cult, but [an] effort for Good which has grown despite Persian persecution." In a city which in 1912 was not noted for its religious and/or linguistic tolerance, or for its lack of class consciousness, both the English and French-language newspapers seemed to understand that this was a man with serious and important ideas and admirable principles. La Presse mentioned his call for religious unity and universal peace. Most of the papers, including The Star, sombrely note his "prophecy of a world war, and of the inadequacies of both socialism and materialism," and Le Devoir emphasized his idea of the necessity "to establish an international tribune to solve the problems among the civilised people of the world."

To us Baha'is today, it seems thrilling that so much attention was paid to `Abdu'l-Baha and to what he said in a city which, at the time, was known mainly for its material wealth and economic and political power. It may also, however, strike us as quite sod that so little has changed in our country and in our world since he made that brief visit to Canada ninety-two years ago. But I think we have to remember that `Abdu’l-Baha’s frame of reference was never ours. He spoke, of course, for the ages. It is up to us to take note of progress wherever it has been made in our lifetimes, to build upon that progress wherever it may be found, and to keep on working.

We have an obligation to continue to trust that mankind’s progress toward the future which Baha'u'llah prophesized - and which `Abdu'l-Baha taught in Montreal and everywhere - is unstoppable. That is a very, very important part of what it means to be a Baha'i - just not allowing ourselves ever to feel defeated or to be pessimistic any more than `Abdu'l-Baha ever was. We have to act as if we really believe that those nine days which he spent in Montreal are, for Canada, among the most significant in our country’s life, because we still have the opportunity to act upon what he said then and to build a country and a world worthy of his words and Baha’u’llah’s vision. When `Abdu'l-Baha left Montreal, he said, "The time of the sojourn was limited to a number of days, but the results in the future are inexhaustible." That, of course, is still true, and we must never doubt it.

100 Years Ago - the early months in 1911 of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's stay in Egypt.

 100 Years Ago - the early months in 1911 of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's stay in Egypt.

The Hand of the Cause H. M.  Balyouzi writes about the early months in 1911 of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s stay in Egypt:

    ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been asked to address the Universal Races Congress to be held in London (lasting four days from 

July 26 to July 29th, inclusive, in the big assembly hall of the University of London)  but He decided to defer His departure from Egypt.  

    Early in May He moved to Cairo and took residence nearby in Zaytún. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sojourn in Egypt lengthened, 

newspapers showed increasing admiration and friendliness.  Al-Muqattam, the most prominent of them, had on November 28th 

of the preceding year (1910) published a highly appreciative account. Other papers such as al-Ahrám and Wádia’n-Nil were no 

less laudatory. In Cairo, Shaykh Muhammad Bakhit, the Mufti of Egypt, and Shaykh Muhammad Rishád, the Khedive’s Imám, 

called on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and He returned their call. On a Friday He visited the shrine of Siyyidah Zaynab and said the Friday prayer 

there.  The Khedive, ‘Abbás Hilmî II also met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and ‘Uthmán Páshá, the notable responsible for arrangements, later 

attested to the particular reverence which the Khedive had exhibited towards Him.  Their meeting was repeated. Ronald Storrs, 

Oriental Secretary of the British Agency, had first come to know ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1909, within the prison-city of ‘Akká; and now, in 

Egypt, in his own words, ‘had the honour of . . . presenting him to Lord Kitchener, who was deeply impressed by his personality, as 

who could fail to be? George Zaydán, the eminent writer and celebrated editor of the magazine al-Hilál, was another leading figure

 in the pubic life of Egypt who visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Indeed there were many, clerics, aristocrats, administrators, parliamentarians, 

men of letters, journalists and publicists, Arabs, Turks and Persians, who sought His presence. The poor and the deprived also had 

access to Him and went away happy.  

    His personal triumph resounding in Egypt, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá turned His attention to Europe. 

         [‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Center of the Covenant, H. M. Balyuzi, George Ronald, Pub. © Mary Balyuzi, 1987    (paper back), pp 138-139.

   Juliet Thompson writes in her diary that 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not attend the Universal Races' Congress. They had asked Him to speak 

on philosophy and to make no reference to religion, so He sent a representative,Tamaddunu'l-Mulk.  

            The Diary of Juliet Thompson (p, 155)

    

    ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent a letter to the congress—

     “Great interest was aroused on Thursday during the discussion on Abdu’l-Baha’s letter to the congress, the full text of which follows: 

    “Alexandria, May 29, 1911. 

    “To the President, first Universal Races Congress. 

    “My Dear Friend:—Your letter of invitation has been received, and I am much obliged for it. It is my utmost desire to be present at such a gathering, 

for I am thoroughly confident that beneficial results shall surely follow these meetings, and that they will become the means of establishing friendship 

and love among the world’s differing races. Thus the basis of enmity may be destroyed and the tent of unity of the world of humanity be raised 

throughout all regions.

    “I regret much that circumstances may prevent me from attending, but I will endeavor as much as lies in my power to attend. Failing to do so, 

pray excuse me.

    “With a sincere heart I supplicate at the Divine Threshold that this congress may be successful in founding a noble institution which shall be 

permanent and everlasting; that it may ignite a candle from which a heavenly light shall beam, and plant a tree whose fruit may be friendship, 

love and unity between all the children of men, so that conflict and warfare may be abolished, and patriotic, racial religious and political prejudices 

become unknown. Peace should replace strife, enmity be superseded by love, estrangement annihilated, and unity  established. Then what has 

been spoken of in the heavenly books will become well rooted in the hearts of all, and the glad-tidings of the sacred writings be fulfilled.  In conclusion 

I offer my utmost appreciation and respect to such a blessed congress.”    “(Sig.) Abbas”

    The chairman, Mr. J. M. Robertson, M.P., made sympathetic reference to the spirtiual language in which the letter was couched, and his remarks 

were applauded.

            Star of the West, Vol. II, Aug. 20, 1911) #9,  p. 3- 4

    Although 'Abdu'l-Bahá has turned His attention to Europe He won't sail for Marseilles until August, 1911.

May 21, 1912

May 21, 1912

New York:  Circling like moths . . .

Mahmud writes a brief entry for today: "In the morning and afternoon the Master delivered addresses at two public meetings. One consisted of admonitions from the Abhá Beauty, and the other, owing to His impending journey to Boston, was a farewell address to the friends, promising them a speedy return.

This afternoon many of the believers' children came to visit. He embraced them all with the utmost kindness and affection. He exhorted the friends to provide Bahá'í education and spirituality for these newborn trees of the Garden of Favor. To witness such meetings is a real joy. With great devotion, the young and old circled around `Abdu'l-Bahá like moths."  

It must have been hard to have Him leave--even though He was coming back! 

Juliet Thompson 

Now, here's Juliet's account of this day: "On 21 May, Mrs Tatum had a reception for the Master. The people who were there were of the fashionable world, with a sprinkling of artists and writers. Mrs Sheridan was pouring tea.

Mrs Tatum's house is beautiful. The impression you get is of space and light. A white staircase winds up through a very wide hall, from which, on each side, rooms open--living rooms, dining room, library. All these were soon crowded.

    The first friend I caught sight of was Louis Potter. He came running up to me, exclaiming: "Oh august Juliet!" and attached himself at once to Lua and me. Suddenly, there was a stir among the people, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in our midst. He walked over to a yellow couch which curved along the big half-moon of the bay window and sat down on it.

     I think I must tell you how He looked there. His surroundings were all white and yellow. Sunlight streamed in. The shadows on His face were transparent; His profile, against the blue sky through the polished glass of the windowpane, outlined in light.

     "Come, Louis," I said to Louis Potter, "let's go to the Master."

Louis had never seen Him before, but he skipped forward like a buoyant faun, his head tipped to one side, his hands outstretched.

     "Ah-h-h!" he said. It was a little cry from his soul, as though he were just coming home, and was so glad.  And the Master too said: "Ah-h-h!" His arms wide open, welcoming Louis home.

     Percy Grant arrived. As soon as he appeared, big and imposing, in the room, the Master rose almost eagerly, smiling and holding out His hand.

     "Ah! Dr Grant!" He said.

     They stood for what seemed to me minutes, their hands clasped, Percy, with beautiful deference, bowing his head, a gentle, almost tender look on his face. One of the Persians translated the Master's greeting to him but spoke so low that I could not catch the words. Then Percy sat down on the curving window seat so that he faced the Master.

      Soon there was another stir in the room. A small, rather plain middle-aged woman with the most astonishing eyes--very clear, very violet--stood in the doorway, almost timidly, and the Master at once sent Dr Faríd to her to ask her to come and sit by Him. This was Sarah Graham Mulhall.

     He spoke a few words to her and she rose and went out, returning after some time with a tray and a pot of tea and two cups on it. The tray was placed on a stool between the Master and Miss Mulhall and they drank their tea together.

Juliet in later years (photo/design provided by Rhonda  Palmer)

([Juliet's] Footnote. 1947. Miss Mulhall's father and brother, who were physicians, had come to New York from England to study the effects of drugs on the body and mind. Both died mysteriously. Miss Mulhall's only training had been in music. She was a very gentle, retiring woman and knew nothing of the ways of business or organization or medicine, or anything that would have equipped her for the evidently dangerous work of her father and brother. But something inside her, against which she fought, urged her to continue it. She was in the midst of this inward conflict when Mrs Tatum telephoned her and asked her to come to meet the Master. At first Miss Mulhall declined, saying that she really couldn't go anywhere, she was too absorbed in her own problems, she couldn't face a crowd of people. But later she thought: Perhaps 'Abdu'l-Bahá is a Prophet, as Mrs Tatum believes, and He might help me in making my decision.

     The Master, when He called her to Him in Mrs Tatum's house, asked if she would do something for Him. Would she brew some tea for Him with her own hands and drink it with Him? And while they drank tea and talked, He Himself brought up her problem.

     He told her she must do the work she had in mind; she would rise very high in it and become "a great Counsellor"; God would always protect her and all the Celestial Beings of the Supreme Concourse would rally to her assistance.

     She did become a Great Counsellor. After years of wonderful work, Governor Smith, Al Smith, made her Adviser and First Commissioner of Narcotics for New York State. One night she herself led a raid against one of the chief centres of the drug ring--a ring of very rich, prominent men, some of them "pillars" of St. Patrick's, some "pillars" of St. John's Cathedral. Rounding them up in their centre, an apartment on Park Avenue, she, with the help of her squad of police, locked them in; then telephoned to the governor. He took the next train to New York and upheld Miss Mulhall's determination to bring them all to trial. Then he went to Cardinal Hayes and Bishop Manning. Cardinal Hayes said: "These men are the worst type of criminals. I agree with you that they must be punished." Bishop Manning said: "You can't touch myparishioners. They are the builders of St. John's Cathedral." He threatened Miss Mulhall. "If you ruin them, I will destroy your office." Which he did, ultimately, for of course every one of the men was found guilty and sent to Fort Leavenworth. After Lehman was elected Governor, the Narcotics Commission was abolished. But in the meantime Miss Mulhall had done a tremendous work. Her book, Opium, the Demon Flower, has become world famous.)

 [Back to 1912 entry]  Then I caught sight of little "Fergie."His real name I don't want to mention because of what I am going to tell. He is a noted newspaper man who writes visionary books on economics. Percy Grant calls him "my prophet." His face is pale and pinched and suffering and he wears a thick chestnut wig. I went up to him and asked: "Wouldn't you like to meet the Master?" "I think not," he drawled, "I really have nothing to say to Him."

     And now the Master began to speak to the whole roomful of people.

     He was very happy, He said, to be with us. "Think of the contrast!" For years He had been imprisoned in a fortress, His associates criminals. Now He found Himself in spacious homes, "associating," He said, "with you."

     His talk gradually shaped itself to some definite point, which, however, He kept for the very end. I wondered what could be coming. When it came it was like a thunderclap.

     "Think of it," He said. "Two kings were dethroned in order that I might be freed. This is naught but pure destiny."

     I glanced at Percy Grant and saw that he was deeply stirred. He had been listening, still with that tender deference, his head slightly tipped to one side, but at these last startling words of the Master's, in a flash the placidity of his face broke up, something burned through and his eyes sparked.

     "And now," ended the Master, suddenly rising to His feet, strong and incredibly majestic, "you here in America must work with Me for the peace of the world and the oneness of mankind."

     And with this He left us, the room seeming strangely empty after He had gone."

Strangely empty. . . . Of course--after such a presence had filled it! 

Juliet's descriptions remind us of how human the people were who intersected with the Master. How would we be in His presence? Or friends of ours, if we took them to see Him?