What if the League of Nations had heeded Haile Selassie's plea and
warning in 1935? Might it not have prevented World War II? And would
that not have changed the whole course of world history? ...
Think how that might have changed the whole course of your life!
The Fascist Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1935. He was saying,
"The time has come to make the Fascist voice heard!" ...
Emperor Haile Selassie went before the League of Nations in Geneva
in person. He pleaded with them to stop this fast-mounting Fascist
threat to world peace at Ethiopia, before it invaded France and
Britain, and started the greatest conflagration of world war in
history.
Did not this man, who claims to be a direct descendant of the
ancient King Solomon of Judah and the Queen of Sheba, prophesy that if
they did not stop the Fascist armies before they invaded Ethiopia,
that all Western Europe would be invaded? -- that the British Empire
would cease to be an Empire -- that nothing but trouble would come
upon the democracies of Western Europe and the United States? -- war
troubles, economic troubles -- political troubles?
But the League of Nations had no power! And the democracies didn't
think any such big war would come. So they left helpless Ethiopia to
her fate. And Mussolini took Ethiopia. He added it to Libya and
Italian Somaliland and Eritrea. After having previously made a
concordat with the Vatican he now proclaimed another resurrection of
the Fascist Roman Empire! ...
The Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was forced into exile. He went
to England, and did not return to his capital, Addis Ababa, until May
5, 1941, at the head of his resistance forces, and with British
troops. They had fought their way into Ethiopia from Sudan.
From the time of his personal appearance before the League of
Nations, in 1935, Emperor Haile Selassie became one of the best-known
heads of state in the world. He ascended his throne in 1930, and has
had the longest reign, or tenure in office as head of state or head of
government, of any man in the world.
Of all the heads of nations or of great corporations, I think none
could have triggered greater anticipation prior to meeting than this
longest-ruling of all rulers.
All my life, from age nineteen, I have had more or less close
contact with many of "the great and the near-great" of the
world-heads of large corporations, presidents and chairmen of major
banks, publishers, educators -- and in these recent years government
heads and world leaders. But none had seemed a more outstanding
personality than Emperor Haile Selassie.
So when, last March, the invitation came unexpectedly to visit him,
it was an intriguing anticipation.
It was in New Delhi, capital of India. Once again I was luncheon
guest at the residence of Dr. Nagendra Singh, one of the world's
leading exponents for world peace through international law. He had
been Executive Secretary to the President of India, V.V. Giri, and
recently appointed judge on the World Court at The Hague.
Among other guests was his Excellency Ato Getachew Mekasha, the
Ambassador from Ethiopia, and wife. Also the Ambassador from
Afghanistan and wife, and the elder son of President Giri ....
During the course of the luncheon both Ambassadors extended
invitations to visit their respective countries and their kings.
Tentative arrangements were made for the Ethiopian visit in May. I was
unable to meet that schedule, but did manage to make it in June ....
Meanwhile a second invitation had come by telex to visit the
Emperor in Addis Ababa.
At a luncheon in Jerusalem, attended by several high-ranking
university and government officials, it was mentioned that Emperor
Selassie had spent over two years in Palestine during his exile, and
our Israeli friends at the luncheon knew him well.
It so happened that in our archaeological project, a very ancient
seal, used by kings of Judah more than 2,500 years ago, had been
discovered. A lion was engraved on the seal, representing "The
Lion of the Tribe of Judah." This title is applied to Christ in
the Bible, but Emperor Selassie claims to be the direct descendant of
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and is often called "The
Lion of the Tribe of Judah."
Our Israeli friends thought it would be nice to make a blown-up
photograph of the seal, frame it, and let me present it to the
Emperor, which was done. Also our friends at the luncheon told me that
the Emperor understands and speaks English very well, although as all
heads of state do, he would speak through an interpreter at our
meeting.
While in Jerusalem I was received for a personal visit by Israel's
new President Katzir.
We had a really spectacular flight from Tel Aviv directly to Addis
Ababa (capital city of Ethiopia), over the straits of Tiran, the Gulf
of Aqaba, and the Red Sea, with Saudi Arabia on our left, and Egypt on
our right.
Ethiopia is a mountainous country, in east-central Africa, south of
Egypt, and north of Kenya. It covers an area about the size of Texas,
Oklahoma and New Mexico combined. Much of its area is a high central
plateau, ranging from 6,000 to 9,000 feet elevation. Addis Ababa is
over 8,000 feet, and I did have some little difficulty breathing,
especially early mornings, because of the thin air at that altitude.
We arrived Sunday, June 17, about 1:30 p.m. at Addis Ababa airport.
Our party was met at our plane by the Ambassador to India and his
wife, who had flown from New Delhi to welcome us, as well as the
President of the Haile Selassie University, and others.
His Imperial Majesty the Emperor had sent to the airport one of his
Mercedes limousines and driver, which was put at my personal service
for the duration of our stay. Other cars were waiting for the others
of our party ....
The capital city of Addis Ababa was an eye-opener for me. In the
main it is a very modern city -- a generous sprinkling of new, modern
high-rise buildings, and a goodly number of imposing and impressive
public buildings. These included the headquarters building of the
Organization for African Unity (OAU). This is an organization of
African nations, brought about primarily through the initiative and
leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Other impressive buildings were government buildings, hotels, the
university, hospitals. Addis Ababa is a city of over 800,000
population, approaching a million.
We were driven to the comparatively new Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel,
one of the better Hiltons, and I was given the Presidential suite.
That evening our party was hosted at an informal dinner by His
Excellency the Ambassador to India, and the Minister of Information,
at the home of the latter.
On Monday morning, due to shortness of breath I remained in the
hotel ....
Monday evening the Minister of Education and Chairman of the
University Board of Governors, His Excellency Ato Seifu Mahteme
Selassie, hosted a reception for us. Of course the President of the
University was there, as well as most Vice Presidents.
But now came the highlight -- the meeting with the Emperor. Our
entire party had been invited to come along with me ....
The meeting had been set for 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. At that time
we arrived at the Jubilee Palace of the Emperor. There were, of
course, at the gates, and at the entrance of the palace, the usual
battery of armed and colorfully uniformed guards. We were met at the
entrance by aides in military attire, with the President of the
University and the Minister of Education.
We were escorted up a long grand stairway with heavy red carpet.
One of the aides, taking my arm, cautioned me to "take it
easy," because of the high altitude and length of the stairs.
Arriving on the upper level, we turned into an ornate and very long
room. There was a wide strip of red carpet down the center, the length
of the room, and at the far end, seated behind a table with flowers,
was the lone figure of His Imperial Majesty, the world-famous Emperor
Haile Selassie. I led the way down the length of the room, and was
warmly greeted, as was the entire party on being introduced one at a
time.
I then presented the Emperor with a gift of Steuben crystal, and
also with the framed picture of the 2500-year-old seal, with the
engraving of the lion, "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah."
This seemed to please him very much, as I explained about our
archaeological project, and our mutual Israeli friends.
The university President acted as interpreter. I then began to
mention some of the things the Emperor and I have in common. We are
virtually the same age -- he is just eight days older than I. But I
mentioned that his hearing seemed better than mine. We both enjoyed
long marriages, and both are now widowers. The Empress died in 1962,
my wife in 1967, after almost fifty years of marriage.
Then I mentioned that I have the genealogy of my ancestry, and that
I too, [on one side of the family] am a direct descendant of King
Solomon of ancient Israel.
"Well why not?" blurted out the Emperor spontaneously,
without waiting for the interpreter to tell him what I had said.
At that responsive quip we all burst out in laughter. From that
point the interpreter had very little to do.
Early in our talk, His Majesty mentioned that he was well aware, as
were the others in the Ethiopian government, that I was the spiritual
leader of a large worldwide following. During the first fifteen or
twenty minutes of our meeting, he tended to answer whatever I said
with a philosophical observation, apparently inspired by Solomon's
Proverbs, which I rather deduced he has studied continuously and
religiously.
The general sum and substance of our conversation revolved around
the basic fundamental principles of world conditions, evils and
problems, and how in our work we are putting solutions and true values
to actual practice, setting a living example of the way to peace and
happiness, both in our college campuses, and in the Church throughout
the world. He took keen interest in my explanation of the two
divergent philosophies or ways-of-life. which I call the way of
"get" practiced in this world, and the way of
"give" which leads to peace, happiness and success.
"Philosophy, and moral philosophy," he commented,
"is commendable, but it is far more commendable to put into
actual practice the principles upon which the philosophy is
based." He said he recognized fully our achievements of both our
institutions putting into practice the way that we preach worldwide
....
The Emperor gave no indication or move toward terminating our
visit, but after some forty-five minutes, I felt it proper to do so,
and rose to my feet, expressing what an honor and delight the meeting
had been. Then Haile Selassie presented me with an already autographed
full color photograph of himself, with a sterling silver frame,
bearing his Imperial insignia centered over the top of the frame.
Also, he gave me another duplicate photograph (not autographed) for
publication.
Then I received a real surprise. Out of a beautiful leather case,
handed him by an aide, the Emperor took an extremely beautiful gold
bracelet which he presented to me as his personal gift to my daughter,
whom he had expected to be with me. In the center of the bracelet was
a solid gold coin (twenty-four karat), made forty-three years ago in
celebration of his coronation. The coin had the Emperor's face
engraved on it. The rest of the bracelet, except for the clasp at the
underside, was twenty-two karat gold, with beautiful garlands engraved
with exquisite craftsmanship. Jewelers have since evaluated it as the
finest gold bracelet they had ever seen.
Naturally, I thanked His Majesty very sincerely, and on returning
to the hotel, I rushed immediately to my suite and put in a telephone
call to my daughter in California. On describing it to her, she said
she would send His Majesty a telegram of thanks immediately. It is
naturally quite a conversation piece, and so far as value is
concerned, priceless. The very exquisite work was all done in
Ethiopia, where they mine gold in limited quantities, and produce some
of the world's finest jewelry.
That evening, I hosted a reception and dinner in a private room off
the lobby of our hotel in honor of the Minister of Education, the
President of the University, the Dean of Faculties, the Head of the
Institute of Ethiopian Studies, the Vice President for Academic
Affairs, the Vice President for Planning, and other distinguished
guests, and their wives.
On Wednesday, June 20, I paid a morning visit for two or three
hours to the University. There my host and guide was the President of
the University. We also paid a most interesting visit to the embryonic
Museum of Natural Science. Later this proved to be of special
significance at a subsequent meeting with Prince Bernhardt of The
Netherlands, husband of the Queen. He has a very active interest in
the conservation and preservation of wild life throughout the world.
That same day, June 20, I was guest of honor at a very important
luncheon hosted by His Excellency the Ambassador to India. He had
invited other Ambassadors. In attendance were the Ambassadors from 19
different nations, and their wives. Included, and seated on my left,
was the very impressive-appearing Ambassador from the People's
Republic of China, who, during the luncheon, extended an invitation
... to visit China ....Also present were the Chargé d'Affaires and
acting Ambassador from West Germany, and the Ambassadors from
Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain,
Thailand, Colombia, Tanzania, and the Chargé d'Affaires from the
United Kingdom and from Yugoslavia. The Ambassador from China, His
Excellency Yu Pei-wen, has held some very important posts for his
government, including that of Chief of Protocol in Peking ....
I was called upon to make a brief address before this distinguished
gathering. The entire room was buzzing with laughter and conversation
-- all in an exceedingly happy mood. After making a toast to His
Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia, I stated that we were
gathered in a World Peace-Conference, proving that so many people from
so many nations could gather together in jolly and happy friendship. I
spoke briefly, some seven or eight minutes, on the way to world peace
-- the way of God's law, briefly proclaiming the coming world of peace
-- the World Tomorrow -- the Kingdom of God.
The following day, Thursday, was the day of our departure, and we
were planning to be at the airport in the early afternoon. But that
morning we were the very special guests of His Imperial Majesty at the
graduation ceremonies of the University, held in the Grand Palace (not
the Palace which is the Emperor's residence and from which he rules
the government). We were seated on the large front platform,
immediately to the left of the dais on which was the ornate gold
throne where the Emperor was to sit, personally handing the diplomas
to each graduate.
A large band was playing at the rear. Finally the graduates marched
in, completely filling the large auditorium. There were close to 3,000
graduates.
It was a very colorful ceremony. But, with so many graduates, the
Emperor handing each individually his diploma, it was a very long
ceremony. On the front platform, but to our left and farther from the
throne, was the entire Board of Regents, and on the other side Faculty
and other dignitaries. Members of the royal family were seated
immediately in front of us. As the spectacular ceremony dragged on, an
official whispered to us that it would be quite all right if we wished
to leave, as the ceremony would carry on for more than another hour.
We were driven directly from the palace to the airport, where our
crew had our plane ready for boarding. And there, to personally bid us
good-bye were the Ambassador to India and his wife.
It was, we felt, a most profitable, as well as enjoyable, four days
