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[Mr. Shemeld and his wife knew Gandhiji in the 1890s in Pretoria where they were living as missionaries. Mr. Shemeld wrote in a letter to Gandhiji on September 14, 1926:
"Your frequent visits in our humble missionary home at Pretoria was a pleasure still green in our memory, although thirty years have passed since we last met you. It was indeed a grief to us when we heard of your prison sentence and ill health, resulting from your righteous stand for India and like many others, Mrs. Shemeld and myself prayed Almighty God to not only spare your life, but to grant you the desires of your heart in the freedom of India..."
He enclosed a petition which he had printed in Pretoria in 1900, during the Anglo-Boer War, "in an endeavour to prevent further bloodshed, but which was not favoured by many except missionaries."142]
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The Ashram, Sabarmati,
October 24, 1926
Dear Mr. Shemeld,
Your letter was an agreeable surprise. You remind me of happy communions of 30 years ago. I have a vivid recollection of your face and Mrs.
Shemeld's.
I do not need to tell you anything about my life here as it has become an open book. I have looked at your War Manifesto. Quite like you. Please remember me
to Mrs. Shemeld.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Shemeld, Esq.
308, The Atherton
2112 F Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
[Mr. Shemeld wrote again to Gandhiji on December 12, 1929, conveying New Year greetings.143]
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