HOLMES, THE REVEREND DR. JOHN HAYNES

[Dr. Holmes (1879-1964), clergyman, author, editor and leader of movements for peace, racial equality and civil liberties, was one of the earliest admirers and consistent supporters of Gandhiji in the United States. In a sermon on April 20, 1921, he called Gandhiji the "greatest man in the world." "When I think of Gandhi,"
he said, "I think of Jesus Christ." He devoted several sermons to Gandhiji and India's struggle for freedom. In his autobiography he wrote: "... this great Indian saint and seer was one of the supreme spiritual geniuses of history."⁶¹
Gandhiji, in turn, had great respect for Reverend Holmes. As a token of his appreciation, he sent to Dr. Holmes in 1923, through Ms. Jane Addams, a Gandhi cap made out of cotton cloth spun by his own hands.⁶²
Dr. Holmes first met Gandhiji in London in September 1931. Later, in 1947, he visited India as the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Visiting Professor and met Gandhiji again.
Dr. Holmes and Gandhiji had an extensive correspondence. They were both admirers of Tolstoy and friends of Romain Rolland.
A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Dr. Holmes was a Unitarian Minister in Dorchester and New York from 1907 to 1921 when he founded the non- denominational Community Church in New York. He was Minister of that Church from 1921 to 1949 when he retired.
He was a founder and vice-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was a leader of the Anti-Militarist Committee, formed in New York in 1915, which was succeeded by the American Union against Militarism in 1916. He was a founder and later Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was one of the founders of the War Resisters League in 1923.
Dr. Holmes was editor-in-chief of Unity, a weekly, and author of many books, including My Gandhi (1953) and I Speak for Myself (1959), as well as numerous articles and sermons.⁶³]

Letter, April 6, 1926⁶⁴

[The earliest available correspondence between Dr. Holmes and Gandhiji is mainly concerned with arrangements for the publication of Gandhiji's autobiography - entitled My Experiments with Truth - which began to appear in Young India from December 3, 1925. Immediately after seeing the first installment on January 6, 1926, Dr. Holmes rushed a letter and a telegram to Gandhiji requesting permission to publish it in Unity. He received permission and began serializing it from 1 April. Meanwhile, he received a request from Macmillan for a "refusal" on the rights to the publication of the autobiography in book form in America and Great Britain. He wrote to Gandhiji on February 16, 1926, recommending Macmillan and offering to act as an intermediary.⁶⁵]

Ashram, Sabarmati,
April 6, 1926

Dear friend,
I have your letter of the 16th February last. I did not understand from your cable that you intended it to be exclusively for Unity. This idea of exclusion regarding one's writings is new in my life. Your cable about Macmillan Company's offer set me thinking and I felt that it might be as well to let them have the exclusive right of publishing the Autobiography in book form if the terms were satisfactory. I should simply put the whole of the proceeds for the development of khaddar.
When the time comes for publishing the chapters in book form, it may be syndicated as you suggest but before they are published in book form, the chapters will have to undergo a slight revision which is already being done and if the negotiations with Macmillan Company bear fruit, you will have the revised copy.

Yours sincerely,

John Haynes Holmes, Esq.
12 Park Avenue
34th Street, New York City

 Letter, May 28, 1926⁶⁶

[Dr. Holmes wrote to Gandhiji on 14 April offering to act as his representative, carry out any instructions and protect Gandhiji's interests in negotiations with publishers.]

The Ashram, Sabarmati,
May 28, 1926

Dear friend,
I have your kind letter of the 14th April last. I am surprised at your not receiving my cable which I sent you on the 16th February last giving you an affirmative reply. I have not assigned copyright to anybody as yet because I have been in correspondence with you and because you cabled to me that you were in correspondence with the Macmillans. If the English-speaking public outside India is sufficiently interested in these chapters I do not mind selling the copyright though I have never done it before. The idea of making anything out of my writings has been always repugnant to me. But your cable tempted me and I felt that there might be no harm in my getting money for the copyright and using it for the charkha propaganda or the uplift of the suppressed classes. And I felt that if the chapters were published by a house of known standing the message contained in the chapters might reach a wider public. You may please therefore continue your negotiations whether for copyright in America or for both America and Europe. I have several letters from German and other friends for copyright in their respective states but to all I have sent a reply saying that they should wait. 
Meanwhile as I am receiving repeated applications for back numbers of Young India containing the chapters, I  am arranging to issue the first part in book form so as to satisfy this demand.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. John Haynes Holmes
The Community Church
12 Park Avenue
New York City

 Letter, July 9, 1926⁶⁷

[Dr. Holmes contacted Macmillan Company and on 13 May sent their offer to Gandhiji, advising acceptance. They offered an advance of $500, 10 percent on the first 2,500 copies, 12.5 percent on the next 2,500 and 15 percent thereafter.]

The Ashram, Sabarmati,
July 9, 1926

Dear friend,
I have your letter with a copy of the terms from the Macmillan Company. The offer seems to me to be incomplete. Will you please secure answers to the following questions? 
1. The publishers want the right to publish the English edition only and that in America?
2. The first part is being published presently in India in book form. The Macmillan Company, I imagine, will publish after the autobiography is complete or do they want [to] publish in parts?
3. They do not want to control the translation rights?
4. How will they fix the price?
5. What is the method of determining the sales?
6. How will the payment be made on the sale?

Yours sincerely,

Reverend Holmes
New York City

Letter, September 21, 1926⁶⁸

[Dr. Holmes obtained from Macmillan the information requested by Gandhiji and sent it to him on 18 August. Their offer was for the rights to the English-speaking world, for the publication of the complete autobiography in book form.]

The Ashram, Sabarmati,
September 21, 1926

Dear friend,
I have your letter together with the original terms from the Macmillan Company. There is only one exception that I feel should be made to clause 1. Cession of the rights to the English-speaking world should not include India. My desire is to let the English-knowing public in India have the cheapest possible edition and I think too that the Indian edition should be published in India. The circulation of the Indian edition can be easily restricted to India.
I suppose the Macmillan Company know that I propose publishing parts in book form now as each part is completed from time to time. This would remain unaffected by the proposed contract. It is open to them if they wish to publish the book in parts, in which case circulation of parts outside India can be stopped.

Yours sincerely,

Rev. John Haynes Holmes
12 Park Avenue
New York City

 Letter, December 9, 1926⁶⁹

[Dr. Holmes wrote to Gandhiji on 25 October that Macmillan had agreed to the exception proposed by Gandhiji. He enclosed a contract for signature.]

As at the Ashram, Sabarmati,
December 9, 1926

Dear friend,
I have your letter enclosing the draft agreement prepared by the Company. You will see that I have made 3 additions, all of which are, in my opinion, necessary. I have signed the agreement before two witnesses and initialled the additions whether made by me or the Company.
The two parts I contemplate publishing as soon as possible. It is open to the Macmillan Company to publish the volumes as they get completed. But if they do not feel inclined to do so, they must not mind the sale of Indian edition outside India. Hence the inscription of the addition to clause 12.⁷⁰

Yours sincerely,

Dr. John Haynes Holmes
12 Park Avenue
New York City

 Letter, May 8, 1927⁷¹

[Macmillan accepted the additions made by Gandhiji, on the understanding that Gandhiji would confine the circulation of the Indian printings as closely as possible to India. Dr. Holmes sent the completed contract to Gandhiji on January 26, 1927. In a further letter on 4 April, he said that Macmillan were satisfied with the arrangements. "If orders come to you there is no reason why they should not be filled, but Macmillan assumes that you will make no efforts to obtain orders outside of India." He enquired how much longer the autobiography might run in Young India.]

The Ashram,
Sabarmati
May 8, 1927

Dear friend,
I thank you for your letter of the 4th April last. When the interim volume is published, I shall see that no efforts are made to obtain orders outside of India.
I am unable to tell you when the Autobiography will be finished. I have to write from day to day. I have mapped out no fixed plan. I write every week as the past events develop in my mind on the day allotted for writing the weekly chapter. I am now dealing with events of 1903-04 and I have to cover the stormy period in South Africa extending to the middle of 1914 and the equally stormy 12 years of India. If therefore there is really any demand for these chapters in America or Europe, it will be advisable to publish them in volumes as they are being published here. If the Macmillan Company do not propose to publish the Autobiography in instalments, it will be impossible to prevent sales outside India assuming of course there is a natural as distinguished from stimulated desire in the West for reading these chapters.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Rev. John Haynes Holmes
12, Park Avenue and 34th Street
New York City

Letter, March 10, 1928⁷²

[Dr. Holmes wrote to Gandhiji in September 1927 expressing sympathy over the floods in Gujarat and informing him that, together with Professor Harry Ward, he had appealed for contributions to what they called the "Gandhi Relief Fund." He sent at least $735 in instalments as contributions came in. In a letter of February 8, 1928, he wrote that he was watching the developments in India and that newspaper dispatches seemed to indicate a momentous revival of the nationalist movement.]

The Ashram,
Sabarmati,
March 10, 1928

Dear friend,
I have again to acknowledge with thanks a further contribution of 10 dollars for the relief fund. All these amounts have been passed on to the Secretary of the Relief Fund Committee. But I hope that you have adopted some means of conveying to the donors my sincere thanks for their generosity.
About the general situation here, I would warn you against going by newspaper reports. Whilst there is the bitterest resentment over the Commission camouflage,73 we are not yet organised enough to offer effective non- violent resistance though I have faith enough that resistance is inevitable and is coming some day not very far.

Yours sincerely,

Rev. John Haynes Holmes
12 Park Avenue and 34th Street
New York City

 Letter, April 20, 1928⁷⁴

[In a letter of March 15, 1928, Reverend Holmes requested a message from Gandhiji for a special issue of Unity, in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Tolstoy, to be published on 1 September. He wrote:
"I have come always to associate you two men together as the supreme exemplars in our time of the true religion of the spirit. I feel, therefore, that the special issue of Unity in commemoration of Tolstoy Centenary would be incomplete if it did not contain a tribute from your pen...
"I do not want in any way to burden you. Any word from you, however brief, will be welcome. A single sentence in tribute to Tolstoy over your name will outweigh all the tributes of other men."]

The Ashram,
Sabarmati
April 20, 1928

Dear friend,
I have your letter. I cannot resist you, but I take you at your word. I send you a single sentence as follows:
Tolstoy's greatest contribution to life lies, in my opinion, in his ever attempting to reduce to practice his professions without counting the cost.
Thanks for your inquiry about my health. I appear to be keeping well at the present moment.

Yours sincerely,

 Letter, September 7, 1928⁷⁵

Satyagraha Ashram, Sabarmati,
September 7, 1928

Dear friend,
Mr. [C.F.] Andrews is abridging My Experiments with Truth for an English firm. I have not interfered with his work thinking that it does not in any way affect the Macmillan Company. But on re-reading the agreement between the Macmillan Company and me, I find there is just a possibility that the Company may think that any publication of an abridgement will interfere with the contract. If so, please let me know. Personally I feel that the contract is of no value to the Macmillan Company seeing that the chapters are still running on and are likely so to do for many more months. If the Company desires it, I am quite willing to cancel the agreement. I am not at all anxious to make money from the publication of the chapters in book form. But I would like not to interfere with interim abridgements, etc., being published. If the Macmillan Company will at once publish the chapters in several volumes, they may then control abridgements or selections; but if they will not publish them in volumes, nor cancel the agreement, they should not mind

abridgements being published in England or elsewhere outside India till the whole thing is ready for delivery into their hands.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Rev. John Haynes Holmes
12 Park Avenue,
New York City

[Dr. Holmes discussed the matter with Macmillan and wrote to Gandhiji on October 22, 1928, that Macmillan was unwilling to have Mr. Andrews publish a proposed abridgement through an English publisher and regarded that as a violation of contract. He added:
"I think the solution is to be found in the fact that, as I have been informed, Mr. Andrews is coming to this country early in the New Year... May I suggest to you, and if you approve, suggest to Mr. Andrews that he postpone all negotiations incident to the preparation and publication of his book until he arrives in this country, and then that he take up the matter direct with the Macmillan Company? I feel certain that a satisfactory arrangement can be worked out..."]

 Letter, December 7, 1928⁷⁶

Satyagraha Ashram, Sabarmati,
December 7, 1928

Dear friend,
I have your letter as also copy of the Macmillan Company's. I must confess that I do not like the tone of their letter. But I suppose they cannot look at this transaction in any other light but that of a business job, whereas I think I have told you I have never entered into any business transactions about my writings. Nor did I enter into this transaction from any pecuniary motive.
Mr. Andrews is in direct correspondence with you and between you two you may do what you can with the Macmillan Company.
The Macmillan Company are mistaken in thinking that the autobiographical articles will be handed to them in a compressed form. When the chapters come to an end, they will be handed to them just as they are. For I should not have the leisure to compress them, and even if I tried, I should not know how to do so for the Western reader.

I am forwarding a copy of your letter to Mr. Andrews.

Yours sincerely,

Rev. John Haynes Holmes
12 Park Avenue,
New York City

 Cable, March 1930⁷⁷

[When the Indian National Congress decided on a struggle with complete independence as the goal, and Gandhiji led the Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement, Dr. Holmes and other friends of India intensified their activities in support of Indian freedom. A public meeting was held in the Community Church on October 20, 1929, and Dr. Holmes wrote to Gandhiji on behalf of the meeting:
"... We regard the nationalist movement of India as embodied in the National Congress as the greatest movement of our time, and pray for its success by the noble processes of counsel and wisdom unstained by bloodshed and unmarred by violence...
"You, Sir, are leading not merely India but the world and therefore do we pledge to you in firm allegiance our affection and support."
Dr. Holmes informed Gandhiji by cable on March 6, 1930, that serious damage was being done to the Indian cause by Sailendranath Ghose - who claimed to be representative of the Indian Congress, agent of Gandhiji, etc. - by his wild statements like announcing Indian resolve for military resistance and arming million nationalists. This was increasingly alienating sympathies of millions of people. He respectfully urged Congress immediately to disavow Ghose's representative character to prevent further injury.⁷⁸]

NOBODY HAS AUTHORITY REPRESENT ME AMERICA. MOVEMENT ABSOLUTELY PEACEFUL. CONGRESS POLICY OF NON-VIOLENCE REMAINS UNCHANGED. IN EVENT MASS RESPONSE DIFFICULT SAY HOW THINGS WILL SHAPE BUT THOUSANDS BENT ON KEEPING PEACE UNDER GRAVEST PROVOCATION. NO ONE EVEN WHISPERS ABOUT MILITARY RESISTANCE. NO ONE ARMING NATIONALISTS. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE UNDER STRICTEST RESTRICTIONS BEING STARTED ON 12TH.

GANDHI

[The American branch of the Indian National Congress was disaffiliated by the All India Congress Committee in March 1930.]

Letter, February 23, 1931⁷⁹

[When Gandhiji was arrested n May 5, 1930, Dr. Holmes collected signatures of over a hundred American clergymen to a letter to the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, urging him to seek an amicable settlement with him.
A Round Table Conference convened by the British Government in London to discuss future political status of India adjourned on January 19, 1931, as it could achieve no progress without the participation of the Congress and Gandhiji. Dr. Holmes wrote to Gandhiji that this was a tribute to his leadership, and informed him that the first anniversary of the Indian Independence Day - January 26, 1931 - was observed in New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Gandhiji was released from prison on that day. He began negotiations with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, in Delhi on 17 February.]

Camp 1 Daryaganj,
Delhi,
February 23, 1931

Dear friend,
As I am now at least temporarily out of jail, I have an opportunity of writing to you more fully than I could from Yeravda. I have followed with gratefulness all the efforts that you have been good enough to make on behalf of India. I feel more and more convinced that if India comes to her own, it will be perhaps the largest contribution to the world peace which we are all praying for. It is too early to give you any idea of the negotiations that are now going on. All I can say is that I am leaving no stone unturned to attain peace with honour. But in the last resort peace or Wardha is the same thing for the satyagrahi. He strives always for peace and has to hold himself in readiness for war. In either case he follows the path that truth dictates to him. 
I hope you got over all your illness in quick time and that this letter will find you fully restored to health.

Yours sincerely,

J.H. Holmes, Esq.
The Community Church of New York
12 Park Avenue, New York City

 Letter, July 30, 1931⁸⁰

[The talks with the Viceroy in Delhi resulted in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 5, 1931. The Congress agreed to participate in a second Round Table Conference in September, with Gandhiji as its sole representative.
Dr. Holmes sent an article to the Bombay Chronicle - "Will Gandhiji Compromise?" - with a copy to Gandhiji, refuting fears that he might compromise at the conference on the Congress goal of complete independence.]

As at Sabarmati,
July 30, 1931

Dear friend,
I thank you for your letter and your article. I hope to make use of your article in Young India.
There is no certainty about my going to London as yet. There are difficulties which may prove insuperable. I feel that I must not leave India unless some glaring breaches of the Settlement [Gandhi-Irwin Pact] are repaired. I am straining every nerve to avoid a conflict, but the result is in God's hands. But if I do succeed in going to London we must meet.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

[P.S.] Since signing this I have seen your article printed in the Chronicle. I have read it too. It will be unnecessary for me to reproduce it in Young India. And in any case it is too personal for reproduction.

Rev. Dr. John Haynes Holmes
Christal, Hospiz
Mittelstrasse 5-6
Berlin N.W. 7 (Germany)

 Letter, November 11, 1931⁸¹

[Dr. Holmes was in Europe when he learned that Gandhiji would be visiting London to attend the Second Round Table Conference. He rushed to London and joined the welcoming party which received Gandhiji on arrival at Folkestone by Channel steamer on September 12, 1931. He met Gandhiji several times in the next few days before returning to the United States.
Gandhiji received many invitations to visit the United States after the conclusion of the Conference. Dr. Holmes consulted several friends and wrote to Gandhiji advising him against a visit to the United States at that time.]

88 Knightsbridge,
London, W.1,
November 11, 1931

Dear friend,
You have been most diligent in writing to me and to Mahadev and encouraging others to write to me about the much-talked-of visit of mine to America. I do not know, however, whether it was at all necessary for you to take all this trouble either for yourself or others. I never entertained the slightest doubt about the wisdom of your judgment, and I have been absolutely clear in my statements to very Pressman that I would not go to America until you had decided to bring me out there. Having made up my mind to trust your judgment, was I not right in telling all and sundry that you were the keeper of my conscience in this matter? Of course, it has thrown a little more responsibility upon you, but your shoulders are broad enough to bear it and I am saved a lot of worry in arguing with importunate friends and reporters. 
I met Mr. Bomanji82 fairly often during the few days that he was here. He is now on his way to India.

Yours sincerely,

 Letter, September 10, 1932⁸³

[No settlement was reached at the second Round Table Conference which ended on December 1, 1931. Gandhiji was arrested on January 4, 1932, soon after his return to India. The following letter was sent by Gandhiji from Yeravda Central Prison.]

Y. C. P.,
September 10, 1932

Dear friend,
Just one line to thank you for your kind letter of 7th August. I have not received Bishop Fisher's book⁸⁴ yet. As you know Sardar Vallabhbhai [Patel] and Mahadev Desai are with me. We are turning the time at our disposal to good account. We are just now concentrating upon drawing from the quality of cotton at our disposal as fine a thread as possible. The experiment is deeply interesting and even exciting if there can be excitement about such a humdrum process as hand-spinning. For us it is a demand of Indian humanity.
With kindest regards from us all.

Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi

 Letter, December 21, 1934⁸⁵

[On November 1, 1934, Dr. Holmes sent a lengthy letter to Gandhiji. He informed Gandhiji of the visit of Mirabehn, an associate of Gandhiji, to the United States and the wonderful impression she made on audiences at her meetings. "She has a marvellous power to convey the inner spirit of her life and vision to those whom she addresses... I have never in my life seen audiences more profoundly moved."
He conveyed his view that the conditions were now appropriate for a visit by Gandhiji to the United States. "...I feel that it is true now, as it was not in 1931, that the American people are prepared to sit at your feet and learn of your spirit now."]
I have your very kind and full letter. Yes, Mirabehn did extraordinarily well both in Great Britain and America. Truth gives a power that nothing else can. And Mira wanted to express through her speech nothing but what she believed to be the whole truth. She will certainly come to you whenever she feels the call.
As for me I have no call at all. I feel that my work lies here and I can best speak to the world through my work in India.

 Letter, March 7, 1935⁸⁶

[Dr. Holmes wrote to Gandhiji on January 25, 1935:
"You may remember that two years ago my church conferred upon you our so-called Community Church Medal for outstanding service in the higher religious interests of mankind. I have been holding this Medal all this time feeling that it was not safe to try to send it to you. I have now come to feel however that the way is now open and I shall therefore be sending it to you..."
The Community Church had awarded its medal to Gandhiji on April 24, 1932, when he was in prison. It was received on his behalf by Haridas T. Muzumdar.⁸⁷]

Wardha,
March 7, 1935

Dear Dr. Holmes,
I have your letter of 25th January last redirected from Delhi by Devdas. I know you have been regularly receiving a diary of events from here. Therefore I need say nothing about them. I do remember a reference to your Church having conferred upon me the Community Church Medal. You may send it to my address at Wardha duly registered and I shall get it.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Dr. Holmes
N.Y.

 Letter, July 27, 1935⁸⁸

Wardha,
July 27, 1935

Dear friend,
This will introduce to you Shri H. L. Sharma who is an utter stranger to America. He is going there in order to gain further knowledge of natural treatment of diseases. Dr. Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanatorium has attracted his attention. I now learn from Dr. Kellogg's representative that he has stopped taking in pupils. I can think of no better guide for Shri Sharma than your good self. He wants to live there as a very poor man. He is hard working. If he can work for his studies and food, he would like it and so would I. If he cannot, he is assisted by a friend who will defray his expenses. Please give him such help as is in your power to give him. I am not giving Shri Sharma any further introductions, not even to Haridas [Muzumdar]. Whatever you may think necessary in this direction, you will please do. I know you do not mind my putting you to this trouble. It will interest you to know that Shri Sharma is pursuing this study purely to serve diseased humanity.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Letter, January 18, 1939⁸⁹

[The New York Times had published an AP dispatch from India in December 1938 under the headline "Gandhi would back war to end Nazi persecution." It quoted him as writing in the Harijan: "If ever there could be a justifiable war in the name of humanity, a war against Germany - to prevent the persecution of a whole race - would be justified." It omitted the rest of the quotation: "But I do not believe in any war..."⁹⁰ Dr. Holmes sent a clipping to Gandhiji.]

Bardoli,
January 18, 1939

Dear friend,
I thank you for your letter and the newspaper cutting. The heading is a misrepresentation of the purpose of my article. This is clear even from the cabled summary. But when you read the original you will discover what a cruel misrepresentation it is.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Minister John Haynes Holmes
New York City

[Dr. Holmes replied to Gandhiji on February 14, 1939, that the New York Times was responsible for the inaccurate heading and the omission of one or two sentences from the original statement in the Associated Press despatch. He had been in correspondence with the editor of the New York Times and the editor at the New York office of the Associated Press, and believed that this sort of thing would not happen again.]

Letter, July 6, 1944⁹¹

[Dr. Holmes sent condolences to Gandhiji on the death of Mrs. Kasturba Gandhi in prison on February 22, 1944. Gandhiji was released from prison in May 1944 when he fell ill.]

As at Sevagram, via Wardha,
July 6, 1944

Dear friend,
I was much touched by your letter of 10th May last.
Dissolution of my wife's body has enriched my life. For, I remember only her great merits. Her limitations were reduced to ashes with the body.
As for me, I am making slow but steady progress.
We are all passing through anxious times. Sympathy of friends like you sustains me in my struggle against forces of evil.
Mirabehn has gone to the Himalayas for health's sake.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Dr. John Haynes Holmes
10 Park Avenue
New York, 16, N.Y.

 Letter, June 23, 1945⁹²

[Gandhiji was on his way to Simla for a conference of leaders of political parties with the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, to discuss the formation of a National Government.]

As at Sevagram, via Wardha,
On the train,
June 23, 1945

Dear friend,
I am writing this whilst I am silent. This is being written on the train taking me to Simla. In answer to your affectionate letter of 23rd April I can only say I am pouring my whole soul into the attempt to express truth and non-violence in fighting the battle for the independence of India's vast, dumb and starved masses.
This will be typed for your easy reading.

Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi

Rev. John Haynes Holmes
10 Park Avenue
New York 16, N.Y.

 Letter (by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur on behalf of Gandhiji), June 27, 1946⁹³

[Devadas Gandhi, son of Gandhiji, visited the United States in 1946 and met Dr. Holmes on 24 May. Dr. Holmes sent a letter through him conveying his love and best wishes.⁹⁴]

Reading Road, New Delhi,
June 27, 1946

Dear friend,
Your letter of 5-6-46 arrived here on the 22nd. Gandhiji is so very overburdened that he literally does not get time to look at his post. I read out your kind thoughts to him day before yesterday and he has asked me to acknowledge your letter with thanks. You will understand that he is too busy to write himself.
The three months since the British Cabinet Mission came out have been long and anxious. It is with sorrow that Gandhi has had to admit - as you may have seen in the press - that his mind is clouded with doubt. Where there was light there is darkness at the moment. Things have not gone as we hoped they would. Circumstances have tipped the balance on, as we think, the wrong side. However, as Gandhiji says, if we have the requisite faith and our own actions are motivated by pure impulses, we must believe that whatever happens is for our ultimate good.
It was good to hear of Devadas's valuable work from you. He ought soon to be out here again.
Gandhiji is amazingly well. Louis Fischer who sees him after four long and difficult years finds him better than in 1942.

Yours sincerely
A. K.

The Rev. John Haynes Holmes
10 Park Avenue
New York 16, N.Y.

Letter, October 16, 1946⁹⁵

New Delhi,
October 16, 1946

Dear Mr. Holmes,
Your kind letter of 27-9-1946 and the little book came into my hands only yesterday. His goods had to follow Devadas. He could not carry them in his `plane'.
I am glad Devadas made it a point to see you, no matter how busy he was.
The book I am keeping on my desk, in the fond hope that I shall snatch a few minutes to drink in the wisdom it contains.
The rest you get from the papers.

Yours,
M. K. Gandhi

 Letter, February 5, 1947⁹⁶

[The Watumull Foundation in the United States extended an invitation to Dr. Holmes to lecture at several universities in India as Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Visiting Professor.]

February 5, 1947

Dear Dr. Holmes,
You have given me not only exciting but welcome news. The news appears to be almost too good to be true and I am not going to believe it in its entirety unless you are physically in India.
Of course we shall, as we must, meet, no matter in what part of India I happen to be at the time. My pilgrimage is the longest part of my life. I am only hoping and praying that God will give me the strength to go through the fire. "Do or die" was the motto given in 1942. It is the motto, having given it then, I must endeavour to live it myself.
I am glad you are to come via London and that for many reasons, besides seeing Lord Pethick-Lawrence. Many things will have happened here between now and October. 
I have no doubt about your ability to do full justice to the challenge that has come your way.

 Letter, June 4, 1947⁹⁷

New Delhi,
June 4, 1947

Dear Dr. Holmes,
This will be presented to you by Dr. B.C. Roy, one of our foremost physicians. Any country would be proud of him. I am sure that he needs no introduction from me. But he insisted. Hence this note. I know you will do all you can to bring him before America.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Letter, August 29, 1947⁹⁸

Calcutta.
August 29, 1947

Dear Dr. Holmes,
Many thanks for yours of 11th instant. I am forwarding your letter with enclosures to Panditji. It is a sad story. We are all looking forward to your arrival.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

Kennebunk Beach
Maine
New York

 Letter, September 16, 1947⁹⁹

["Mr. Ording's invitation", referred to in this letter, probably concerns an advisory body for the United Nations Appeal for Children, set up by Dr. Aake Ording of Norway.¹⁰⁰]

New Delhi,
September 16, 1947

Dear Dr. Holmes,
Devadas has handed me your kind letter. I do not remember having received Mr. Ording's invitation. In any event I should be at sea serving on the committee. My way seems to be different. We must discuss this when we meet and if you and I find the time for it.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi

[Dr. Holmes arrived in India in October 1947 and met Gandhiji in New Delhi.]