[404] One need not be surprised at this falsifying of claims and historical facts, for it is the testimony of the Bahai historian himself ("New Hist.," p. 5) that "the principal vice of the Persians is falsehood--so universal and customary and so familiar that truthfulness is entirely abandoned and ignored." "In matters relating to religion the Mullahs have shown themselves to be ready liars and shameless forgers." The degree of reliability of this History may be judged from the following sentence, "When the people of Italy had proved the extent of the Pope's hypocrisy, guile and deceit, they so effectually deposed him and his children and his grandchildren that naught remained of him but the appearance" (referring to 1870-1871). I have received a pamphlet by A. J. Stenstrand, of Chicago, called "Third Call to Behaists." He writes (p. 27), "The Babi history as well as their sacred scriptures prove that a terrible corruption, changing and transposing of its meanings, has been going on in the hands of the Behaists." Again (p. 28), "We have plenty of proofs that there has been continual corruption, interpolation, changing, transposing and stealing away the sacred scriptures of the Babi religion in the hands of the Bahais." [405] Cf. _Jour. Roy. As. Soc._, 1892, p. 447. [406] "The Alwah-i-Salatin," in Collections Scientifiques, St. Petersburg, 1877. [407] "Trav.'s Narr.," pp. 108-164. [408] _Jour. Roy. As. Soc._, 1892, p. 313. [409] _Ibid._, p. 286. [410] _S. W._, Sept. 27, 1913, pp. 9, 10, "If thou dost not obey God, the foundations of thy government shall be razed, and thou shalt become evanescent--become as nothing. If no attention is paid to this book, thou shalt become non-existent." [411] The same explanation will account for the opposite narratives of the trial of Baha before the Turkish Court at Acca. Mr. Laurence Oliphant reports that the Court put the question to Baha, "Will you tell the Court who and what you are?" "I will begin," he replied, "by telling you who I am not. I am not a camel-driver (alluding to Mohammed), nor am I a carpenter." [412] "New Hist.," p. xxv. [413] "Facts for Behaists," p. 27. We mention a few of the important ones. (1) The so-called Tablet of Beirut, which confirmed the claim of Abbas, and was said to be transcribed by Khadim Ullah. The latter declared it to be a forgery by Abbas Effendi. (2) Abbas omitted the middle part of the "Tablet of Command" to make it certify his claims. A complete copy in Baha's own handwriting showed the subterfuge. (3) He combined parts of two different Tablets, called it the "Treasure Tablet," and claimed that it certified his succession. The two Tablets were produced and proved the falsity of the claim.