Law, Gordon
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[Mr. Law was a YMCA official in India for a few years and, with his wife Myrtle, met Gandhiji in Lahore in 1920. They presented Gandhiji with a copy of James Moffatt's translation of the New Testament and a book on children by an American author. They became admirers of Gandhiji and wrote an article, "Gandhi in
Jail."92
After returning to the United States, Mr. Law became Boys' Work Secretary of the YMCA at Newburgh, NY. He set up a Gandhi Club for boys at the YMCA.]
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Letter, April 5, 192493
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[Mr. Law wrote to Gandhiji on February 27, 1924, recalling their meeting, and conveying a request of the Gandhi Club for a message.94 Please see "Edward Murphy" below.]
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Post Andheri,
April 5, 1924
Dear Mr. Gordon Law,
I thank you for your letter of the 27th February. I remember our meeting and also your having given me Moffatt's translation of the New Testament.
I have sent a reply to the Gandhi Club also.95
I thank you for your good wishes.
I am sending you a copy of Young India, the first number after resumption of my editorship, and I am asking the Management to send a copy regularly to you.
Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi
Gordon Law, Esq., M.B.E.
The Gandhi Club
Young Men's Christian Association
Newburgh
New York
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Letter, December 9, 192696
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[In 1926, Gandhiji came undercriticism for reading the New Testament to 4students at the Gujarat National College at their request. He wrote in Young India: "I hold that it is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures
of the world. If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty. For myself, I regard my study of and reverence for the Bible, the Koran, and the other scriptures to be wholly consistent with my claim to be a staunch sanatani Hindu. My respectful study of other religions has not abated my reverence for or my faith in the Hindu scriptures. They have broadened my view of life. They have enabled me to understand more clearly many an obscure passage in the Hindu scriptures."97
Mr. Law wrote to Gandhiji on November 5, 1926: "It is an excellent idea for the boys and young men of one country to know something regarding the religion of
other lands." He requested Gandhiji to advise him of the best portions of Hindu scriptures which would appeal to boys. He also requested a signed photograph, and said:
"We want to have it framed and hung in our Boys Rooms here. Do you know that one of our Boys Clubs studied your life... that was their `course' during an entire year.
"And if you would send a short message to our boys or the boys of America... that would be a splendid and generous thing..."98]
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As at the Ashram,
Sabarmati,
December 9, 1926
Dear friend,
I have your letter for which I thank you. The books that I can recommend regarding Hinduism are Sir Edwin Arnold's translation of the Bhagavad Gita called
the Song Celestial, his Light of Asia, Max Muller's India: What It Can Teach Us, Dutt's abridged Ramayana and Mahabharata in verses. There are several other books but I think that these give one a fair idea of Hindu thought.
Do you know that since 1915 I have discontinued giving sittings to photographers? I have not one single copy of my own photograph. Those that are on sale at stationery shops and elsewhere are all snapshots. If you want me to get hold of one of these which friends tell me hardly represent me, I shall buy a copy and gladly sign it. But I would far rather like that the boys thought more of what I stand for than what my exterior is like. But I do not wish to
dogmatise. They shall make their own choice or you for them.
Here is my message to your boys: Above all think, speak and do the truth at any cost, with special emphasis on any.
Yours sincerely,
Gordon Law, Esq.
Boys Secretary
Young Men's Christian Association
Newburgh, New York
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