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THE JAINA GAZETTE.
and as we are ourselves the most important parts of things and institutions that need reform, it is inevitable that our efforts should miscarry unless they are applied to No. 1 in the first instance The first ləsson of life to be learnt, therefore, is that whenever you wish to improve the condition of anything, you should begin by putting your house in order first of all.
Now reform is of three kinds, namely,
(1) Political, (2) Social, and
(3) Religious.
I shall deal with all these three forms of reform briefly here. To begin with Political reform, it is evident that most of our complaints would disappear if we had individually
(a) a heavy well-lined purse,
(b) a strong arm to protect our rights and to knock down aggression and arrogance,
(c) a powerful, mature mind, able to understand its own good, and
(d) an iron will, born of self-denial, that will adhere to what is right and eschew crookedness and temptation.
Now, gentlemen, I hold that each and every one of these things depends on your own exertion and cannot be granted, as a boon, by any Government whether indigenous or foreign. It is true that an unsympathetic Government can, to a certain extent, impose conditions upon a nation's efforts that are of a nature likely to paralyse its growth, but reflection will show that this is possible to a very limited extent, and then only in dealing with those who possess none of the last three requisites enumerated above. The political problem of India is, no doubt, not solved in its entirety by the above considerations, but it is clear that very little more is needed to cemplete the picture of national progperity. As for our relations with our western rulers there can be no doubt whatsoever that it is to the mutual advantage of England and India both, that the Indians should look upon and should be invited and encouraged to look upon themselves as members of a vast Empire with whose destiny their own fate is linked indisBolubly, .at least for the present. It will be your boanden duty