In the 19th century, a venerable figure surnamed Bahá'u'lláh [Aramaic meaning the Glory of the LORD] claimed to be the long-awaited Spirit of Truth. He was imprisoned and held captive by the Ottomans for nearly half a century for His claim, yet His revelation did not cease.

'In a hundred volumes, the repositories of priceless precepts, mighty laws, unique principles, impassioned exhortations, reiterated warnings, amazing prophecies, sublime invocations, and weighty commentaries...[He] proclaimed...the Mission with which God had entrusted Him. To emperors, kings, princes, and potentates, to rulers, governments, clergy, and peoples, whether of the East or of the West, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Zoroastrian, He addressed for well-nigh fifty years, and in the most tragic circumstances, these priceless pearls of knowledge and wisdom that lay hid within the ocean of His matchless utterance...'

He testified, "Ye are but vassals, O Kings of the earth! He Who is the King of kings hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory, and is summoning you unto Himself..." His call was unmistakable, yet most of the sovereigns failed to Heed it. "Had they hearkened unto Me," He proclaimed, "they would have beheld the earth another earth." History recounts their fate:

†Andrew Johnson - 17th President of the United States.  Impeached by the U.S. House.  see epistle

†Napoléon III - President of the French Second Republic.  Last monarch of France.  see epistle

†Alexander II - Emperor of the Russian empire.  Assassinated. see epistle
 
†Franz Joseph I - Emperor of Austria-Hungry.  Austria-Hungarian Monarchy dissolved. see epistle
 
†Abdülaziz I - The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.  Forced to abdicate.  see epistle

†Nasser al-Din Shah - King of the Persian Empire.  Assassinated.  see epistle
 
†Pope Pius IX - Pope of the Catholic Church.  Last pope to hold temporal power.  see epistle
 
†Wilhelm I - King of Prussia.  Died after two assassination attempts.  Wilhelm II - Successor to the throne.  Last German Emperor and King of Prussia.  see epistle
 
†Queen Victoria - Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.  Longest reign of any British monarch. 
Marie of Edinburgh - Queen consort.  First Royal to accept Bahá'u'lláh. see epistle