________________
257
of the festive board, the intellectual, the religious, the philosophical board which yeu have spread for her entertainment. You did invite us, not because you are kings and emperors who have authority to com mand us, but you bid us as brothers of the same Camily and as proxenitors oi the civilization which you bow enjoy. It is a commemoration of the completion, so to speak, of one cycle of life, a picture of the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, because the first representative of race is invited to 2011:nune with ihe last and best in opportunities of nces. That this new American nation, the youngest child in the history of nations has wisely and hospitably invited the aged and well-preserved nation from the farthest country to the entertainment, is without precedent in the history of the world.
It is a pleasing thought to my country that she finds parallels of epochs or stages in the development of human lives and races. While you Americans tell of your Washington, who was first in peace, first in war, and first in the butts of his countrymen,” so we, also, have our te .gton, who many centuries ago embalmell himsa' in the institutions of my country. No greater man than King Ashoka has ever reigned in India and no succeedi ig monarch has equalled his glory. He was inspired by a liberal and catholic spirit in his internal administration and in his foreigo policy, and the profound love of truth and the destre to spread the truth, bave made his name a household word from Siberia to Ceylon.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
