426 EARLIER INDIAN SPEECHES
man of great culture and equally great abilities, He adds to these qualities a resolute will. The mi 11 hands were represented by his sister Anusuyabai. She possesses a heart of gold. She is full of pity for the poor. The mill hands adore her. Her word is law with them. I have not known a struggle fought with so little bitter- ness and such courtesy on either side. This happy result is principally due to the connection with it of Mr. Ambalal Sarabhai and Anusuyabai.
��A LETTER TO THE VICEROY
��Mr. M. K. Gandhi addressed the followtng letter to H. J?. the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, soon after the Delhi War Conference :
Sir, as you are aware, after careful consideration, I felt constrained to convey to Your Excellency that I could not attend the Conference for reasons stated in the letter of the 26th irstant (April), but, after the inter- view, vou were good enough to grant me, I persuaded myself to join it, if for no other cause than certainly out of my great regard for yourself. One of my reasons for abstensjon and perhaps the strongest, was that Lok. TiJak, Mrs, Besant and the Ah brothers, whom I regard as among the most powerful leaders of public opinion, were not invited to the Conference. 1 still feel that it was a grave blunder not to have asked them, and I respectfully suggest that that blunder might be possibly repaired if these leaders were invited to assist the Government by giving it the benefit of their advice at the Provincial Conferences, which, I understand, are to follow. I venture to submit that no Government can afford to disregard the leaders, who represent the large
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