Sutherland Maxwell Welcomes the Master
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When in Bahá'í history
Montreal (today: Montreal, Canada)
Sutherland, although greatly involved in the Maxwell brothers’ architectural firm, a good sportsman and a member of many clubs in Montréal, particularly those connected with the arts, was a reserved person who did not enjoy a lot of attention. All his sensitive Scots reticence shrank from the publicity and limelight that would be thrown upon him as the host of such an attention-attracting guest as the Master and His entourage. He explained to May that although he wanted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to be their guest, he really didn’t want the Master to stay in their house and would book a suite for Him at the Windsor Hotel. The day before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived, however, Sutherland rushed into the bedroom and looking critically at the furniture declared: “This is not good enough for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I am going right down to Morgan’s to buy a new set,” then rushed downtown and bought a whole new suite just for the Master. Sutherland met the Master at the railway station and humbly begged Him to stay in the Maxwell home. The Master accepted.
Source: Earl Redman, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Their Midst, p. 181. Mahmúd’s Diary (30 August 1912) records Mr Maxwell hurrying forward at the Montreal station to greet the Master and taking Him to his home.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: abdul-baha-montreal).
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