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tempted to quote the old fable of Æsop and telt them "Not to you I bend the knee but to the image you are carrying on your back;" and to point out to them one page from the life of the great Emperor Akbar.
A certain ship full of Mabommedan pilgrims was going to Mecca. On its way a Portuguese vessel captured it, amongst the booty were some copies of the Koran. The Portuguese hanged these copies of the Koran round the necks of dogs and paraded these dogs through the streets of Orınuz. It happened that this very Portuguese ship was captured by the emperor's men, and in it were found some copies of the Bible.
The love of 'Akbar for his mnother is well-known and his mother was a realous Mahommedan. It pained her very much to hear of the treatment of the sacred book of the Mahommedans in the hands. of Christians and she wished that Akbar would do the same with the Bible, but this great man replied, "Mother, these ignorant men do not know the value of the Koran, and they treated it in a manner which is the outcome of ignorance. But I know the glory of the Koran and the Bible both and I can not deba se myself in the way they did.”
Mr. Gandhi's remarks were followed by expressions of sympathy from among the audience.
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