Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/81

 for an earnest endeavour after purity in thought, speech and act, many more shrank from so exacting a demand. When, at a later stage, the principle which would proscribe polluted pleasure was sought to be applied to public life, some of even those that had been the most forward to urge the attack were also among the foremost to sound the retreat. But the anti-nautch movement would be a huge cry for a trifle, almost a 'much ado about nothing'—unless it presented itself as an integral factor of a larger endeavour, a particular application of a comprehensive principle, a concrete illustration of a lofty though seemingly new-born ideal. Its basis is not in fine manners, but in good morals; its aim is not mere elegant breeding, but pure living. If every one espousing this cause has not realised this high expectation, it is not the fault of the principle. Many are called but few are chosen. Among the several countries with which India would wish to compete in morals