A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

ADDRESSES OF CONGRATULATIONS*FROMMADRAS AND CALCUTTA.SWAMl sREPLY TO THE ADDRESSES.HE following is the full text of the reply of SwamiYivekananda to the Addresses of congratulationvoted by the public of Madras and Calcutta inmeetings specially convened in appreciation of his servicesin America on behalf of the Hindu Religion.Madras,Friends, Fellow-countrymen and Co-religionists ofIt is most gratifying to me to find that my insignificant service to the cause of our religion has been acceptable to you, not because it is a personal appreciation of meand my work in foreign and distant land, but a sure signthat, though whirlwind after whirlwind of foreign invasion 1ms passed over the devoted head of India, thoughcenturies of neglect on our part and contempt on the part ofour conquerors have visibly dimmed the glories of ancientAryavarta, though many a statelycolumn on which itrested, many a beautiful arch and many a marvellouscorner have been washed away byhave deluged the land for centuries,the inundations thatthat the centre is allsound, the keystone is unimparied ; the spiritual foundation upon which the marvellous monument of Glory toGod and charity to all beings has been reared, standsunshaken, strong as ever. It is a generous appreciation ofHim whose message to India and to the whole world, I, themost unworthy of His servants, have had the privilege tobear ;it isyour innate spiritual instinct which saw in Him