instincts which are the heritage of the human family.

If we do not want the English in India we must pay the price.
Tolstoy indicates it. 'Do not resist evil, but also do not
yourselves participate in evil--in the violent deeds of the
administration of the law courts, the collection of taxes and,
what is more important, of the soldiers, and no one in the world
will enslave you', passionately declares the sage of Yasnaya
Polyana. Who can question the truth of what he says in the
following: 'A commercial company enslaved a nation comprising two
hundred millions. Tell this to a man free from superstition and
he will fail to grasp what these words mean. What does it mean
that thirty thousand people, not athletes, but rather weak and
ordinary people, have enslaved two hundred millions of vigorous,
clever, capable, freedom-loving people? Do not the figures make
it clear that not the English, but the Indians, have enslaved
themselves?'

One need not accept all that Tolstoy says--some of his facts are
not accurately stated--to realize the central truth of his
indictment of the present system, which is to understand and act
upon the irresistible power of the soul over the body, of love,
which is an attribute of the soul, over the brute or body force
generated by the stirring in us of evil passions.

There is no doubt that there is nothing new in what Tolstoy
preaches. But his presentation of the old truth is refreshingly
forceful. His logic is unassailable. And above all he
endeavours to practise what he preaches. He preaches to
convince. He is sincere and in earnest. He commands attention.