been given away. A systematic distribution for nothing has been found impossible. The books will be gladly lent in some cases.
I would try to conclude with a quotation from a letter of the late Abbe Constant to the authors : “Humanity has always and everywhere asked itself these three supreme questions: Whence come we? What are we? Whither go we? Now these questions at length find an answer complete, satisfactory, and consolatory in The Perfect Way.”
I am, etc.,
M. K. GANDHI
The Natal Mercury, 3-12-1894
53. Open Letter
TO
- THE HON. MEMBERS OF
- THE HON. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND
- THE HON. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
- THE HON. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND
SIRS,
Were it possible to write to you anonymously, nothing would have been more pleasing to me. But the statements I shall have to make in this letter will be so grave and important that it would be considered a sheer act of cowardice not to disclose my name. I beg, however, to assure you that I write not from selfish motives, nor yet from those of self-aggrandisement or of seeking notoriety. The one and only object is to serve India, which is by accident of birth called my native country, and to bring about better understanding between the European section of the community and the Indian in this Colony.
The only way this can be done is to appeal to those who represent and, at the same time, mould public opinion.
Hence, if the Europeans and the Indians live in a perpetual state of quarrel, the blame would lie on your shoulders. If both can walk together and live together quietly and without friction, you will receive all the credit.
- ↑ This was circulated among Europeans in Natal on December 19, 1894; vide the following item.
