foundations of a literal belief in Islamic doctrines among the
Persians. It may be added that the first-fruits of Kurratu'l 'Ayn's
teaching was no one less than the heroic Kuddus, and that the
eloquent teacher herself owed her insight probably to Baha-'ullah. Of
course, the supposition that her greatest friend might censure her is
merely a delightful piece of irony. [Footnote: _NH_, pp. 357-358.]

I have not yet mentioned the long address assigned to our heroine by
Mirza Jani. It seems to me, in its present form, improbable, and yet
the leading ideas may have been among those expressed by the
prophetess. If so, she stated that the laws of the previous
dispensation were abrogated, and that laws in general were only
necessary till men had learnt to comprehend the Perfection of the
Doctrine of the Unity. 'And should men not be able to receive the
Doctrine of the Unity at the beginning of the Manifestation,
ordinances and restrictions will again be prescribed for them.' It is
not wonderful that the declaration of an impending abrogation of Law
was misinterpreted, and converted into a licence for Antinomianism.
Mirza Jani mentions, but with some reticence, the unseemly conduct of
some of the Babis.

There must, however, have been some who felt the spell of the great
orator, and such an one is portrayed by Mme. H. Dreyfus, in her
dramatic poem _God's Heroes_, under the name of 'Ali. I will
quote here a little speech of 'Ali's, and also a speech of Kurratu'l
'Ayn, because they seem to me to give a more vivid idea of the scene
than is possible for a mere narrator. [Footnote: _God's Heroes_,
by Laura Clifford Barney [Paris, 1909], p. 64, Act III.]

'ALI