PKEFACE.

" Indians we all are, and therefore our only possible perfection*
consists in the development of the Indian nature we have inherited
from our forefathers. Centuries of real development, of civilisa-
tion, of noble fidelity to all the highest ideals men can worship,,
tiave fixed for ever the national character of India ; and if we be
not true to that character, if we be not genuine Indians, we
can never be perfect men, full and strong men, able to do a true man's
part for God and motherland. Our forefathers are our best models
and patterns ; they alone can show us what common Indian nature
can and ought to be. We must copy their greatness and their
goodness ; truly worthy are they of affectionate and
reverent imitation, for were they not men of renown in their
day, men of highest saintliness, of Indian genius and
learning and love of learning, of might and valour or the
dread field of battle—saint*, scholars, heroes.... Look
to your forefathei-s, read of them, speak of them; not in
unworthy mendicant eloquence, nor yet in vulgar boasting about
our ancient glories while we squat down in disgraceful content
-with our present degeneracy, nor least of all in miserable petty
controversy with the hireling'.liars who calumniateour dear India.
No! but to learn from them what you ought to be, what God
destined Indians to be."

One of the most beautiful of exhortations to a people-
in a position akin to ours, is the message which Pierre-
JLoti addresses to the young Egyptians :

" Reawaken," he says, "before it be too late. Defend yourselves
against this disintegrating invasion—not. indeed by violence,* not
by inhospitableness or bad temper—but by despising this "Western*
crowd that overwhelms you when it is weary of us. Try to preserve
not only your traditions and your beautiful Arab tongue, but also
all that went to make the grace and mystery of your town, the
refined luxury of your homes. This is not a question of the fancies
of artists, it is your national dignity that is in danger. You were
Orientals (I speak with respect when I use this word, that implies-
a past of early civilisation, and of pure greatness), but a few yeara
more, and if you do not take heed, they will have made mere
Levantine courtiers of you, interested only in the enhancement of
land-values and speculations in cotton."

It is in this spirit that the other nations look to us
for sincerity in our lives ; shall we answer them with lies or
trxith ? Upon that answer depends our future as a nation.

* Nothing could be more futile than a reliance upon violence
as a means of achieving Indian national independence. It is not
by destruction, but only through self-development that that end
•can be achieved.