Page:MKGandhi patriot.djvu/38

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by heart, and according to the strictest manner of the law, he lived a Vaishnava.

The marvel was that, in the enervating atmosphere of an Indian Court, he was also incorruptible. Once. when the Thakore of Rajkot pressed him, after long service, to accept a piece of ground, urging him to take as much as he desired, he indignantly rejected the offer, thinking that it had the appearance of bribery. "What will you do with your sons?" said the Prince, "you must provide for them. Take as much as you need." Then his relatives took up the parable, and by sheer persistence, bore down his opposition. But even then, all that he would accept was a mere strip of ground four hundred yards long. Money had no fasination for him. Before his death, at the age of sixty-three, he had spent nearly all his substance, chiefly in charity.

Here is a vivid scene from his life. Once he fell foul of the Assistant Political Agent, who was an Englishman. In those days, the Thakore Sahib of Rajkot, whom Karamchand Gandhi was serving at the time, had no power beyond what was allowed him by the British representative, and, as a rule, a hint from such an authority was sufficient to