Page:MKGandhi patriot.djvu/48

 in abundance made the home gay, and as the brides and bridegrooms were but children, every part of the ceremony, from the priestly chanting ot mantras to the game of cowrie-shells, was full of enjoyment. That was long ago. Mr. Gandhi, like most Indian reformers, is strongly opposed to child marriage. He regards it as having sapped the vital strength of his nation, and as being at the root of many other evils. But he argues that such a life-union, begun before habits and character have been formed, is capable, if it prove happy, of reaching an ideal oneness of spirit which cannot be reached in any other way. This, probably, is the issue of his own experience. Mrs. Gandhi has been a true-hearted, heroic wife. During these months of trouble she has suffered severely. It has been her affliction to be unable to share her husband's imprisonment, but she has fasted and wept until her health has broken under the strain; while she has, reluctantly but heroically, given her eldest son to be with him, and like a true and loyal Indian wife, the little bride of Porbandar has done her duty. She lives now with three of her sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandchild, in the settlement of Phœnix. Her eldest boy, Harilal, father of the little one, is now awaiting his trial, as