You will not this evening expect me to take up much of your time, or to say much with reference to my mission , but I wish to say one thing in a general way. I am here with my friends on a mission of peace. I am, and my friends are, guests of the great English nation. I hope that by the time we have finished our work, you will not consider that we have in any way abused your hospitality. I hope that, as the days go by, you will understand the scope of the mission on which the Congress has sent me. You will also please know that, as an agent holding a power of attorney from the Congress, I shall have my limitations. I have to conduct myself within the four corners of the mandate that I have received from the Congress. There are some words in that mandate which give to me a little measure of freedom of action, but in all respects , in all fundamental respects, I am hidebound. I may not, if I am to be loyal to the trust reposed in me , walk outside the four corners of that mandate.
I venture to feel that Congress stands for a good cause, of which any nation would be proud. The Congress wants freedom unadulterated for the dumb and starving millions. In order that Congress may represent them, the Congress has chosen, as its means of vindicating this freedom, truth and non-violence.
I am fully aware that not all Congressmen have lived up to the means, and I know that we of the Congress shall deserve the curses of the whole world if, in the name of truth and non-violence, we do the contrary. But I derive the greatest consolation from the knowledge that I possess that the best workers of the Congress today represent truth and non-violence in their essence. . . .
We have in our midst, I know, a school of violence also. I know many of these young menΓÇöI have lived with them, I have mixed with them, I have talked to them also. I have endeavoured, as several others of my co-workers have endeavoured, to win them from what we hold is an error; but, at the same time, I know that there is a common cause, even between them and ourselves. They are burning to attain the freedom to which India is entitled, which is India's birthright. I repeat what I have told them in public and in privateΓÇöthat their activities embarrass Congress, their activities set back the hands of the clock of progress. The Congressmen who are wedded to this creed realize fully that these young men, who resort to violence for the sake of gaining freedom, do harm not only to themselves but to the country, and most of all to the dumb millions to whom I have referred.
We may be nationalists, we may be ardent patriots, but immediately we apply these means of truth and non-violence, our patriotism becomes internationalism. Our patriotism is so conceived that we want our freedom not to injure the freedom of any other country or of any single individual. We believe not in the law that might is right, or the greatest good of the greatest number, but we believe in the greatest good of all, including the meanest of creatures amongst all God's creation. And if India could vindicate her freedom, attain it through these means, do you not think that it would be well, not only with India, but with the whole world?
But there is something more. There is the Settlement between the Government of India and the Congress. That is a sacred thing arrived at through the strivings of that noble Englishman, Lord Irwin. I had repeatedly promised him, if it was humanly possible, that I would come to London and, as soon as I felt the way was open, I have dashed to London .
Recommending the study of the Indian question, Mr. Gandhi realized the difficulty, because the British were rightly preoccupied with home affairs but, [he said:]
I wish it were possible for Englishmen and women to realize that the budget will not be honestly balanced, unless the balance between Britain and India is set right .
Concluding Mr.Gandhi asked the audience to work for the fulfilment of his mission , for it would be for the good not only of India but of the world.
