# Allan Octavian Hume, C.B./The Indian National Congress

THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS.
It was in 1882 that Mr. Hume retired from the public service; and we now approach the great work of his life—the national movement, of which the Indian National Congress was the political side. As he explained, the Congress organization was "only one outcome of the labours of a body of cultured men, mostly Indians, who bound themselves together to labour silently for the good of India." The fundamental objects of this national movement were threefold, and were recorded in the following terms: First, the fusion into one national whole of all the different elements that constitute the population of India; second, the gradual regeneration along all lines, spiritual, moral, social, and political, of the nation thus evolved; and third, the consolidation of the union between England and India, by securing the modification of such of its conditions as may be unjust or injurious. This, in simple language, sets forth his great scheme for restoring the ancient grandeur of India, ​in happy partnership with the British people. It was a labour of Hercules, but he brought to the task the necessary elements of genius — the power to formulate a lofty ideal, with infinite patience and industry to work out the practical details ; also he possessed in himself the personality necessary for success in a heroic enterprise. In him we see the true Aryan breed ; of the Western type, in character and physique with the Norse strain that belongs to Scotsmen dwelling by the North Sea ; fair and blue-eyed, stalwart and active, a dauntless lover of freedom. He had within him the compelling spirit of the Berserker ; but his craving was not for battle, but for peace and goodwill. He was thus in full brotherly accord with the Aryan of the East, the meditative and saintly type ; and it pained his very soul that West should deny to East the joys of freedom, which should be the common heritage of both.
In Japan, a peaceful revolution converted a mediaeval military despotism into a constitutional government, based on the people's will. By a process of evolution, equally peaceful, the followers of Mr. Hume have set themselves gradually to convert the precarious domination of a foreign bureaucracy into a stable national government, under the aegis of the British Empire. India will then become a tower of strength to the Empire, attached by the strongest ties to this free country, under whose auspices she will, we trust, attain redemption and happiness.
Inspired with these hopes for the future, Mr. Hume became the Founder of the Indian National Congress; and the foundations were well and truly laid. Trust in the Indian People was the corner-stone ; and the trust was well justified. During twenty-five long and weary years the Congress stood firm ; often under storm and stress : the floods came, and the winds blew upon that ​house, but it fell not, because it was founded upon a rock. And the labour was not in vain. Writing to Mr. Hume in 1907, Lord Morley said, "I know well your historic place in the evolution of Indian policy." The reforms followed in 1909, and before he passed away the Founder of the Congress was privileged to see the firstfruits of his labours.
A detailed chronicle of these twenty-five years of patient labour would be for political edification, as proving the extraordinary foresight of the Congress leaders in framing their original programme, and their tenacity in following up the claim for a substantial share of popular representation in the government. Such a retrospect would also show the unceasing care with which Mr. Hume, as General Secretary, supervised the widespread mechanism of the organization. But in a brief memoir these particulars cannot be included. I have therefore thought it best to select a few important landmarks in the Congress history, and to deal with them at some length, as best illustrating Mr. Hume's principles and methods of work. Among the most notable of these episodes we may reckon the following : i. The early steps taken in 1883 to form a national organization on a sound constitutional basis ; ii. The first session of the Indian National Congress in 1885 ; iii. The aggressive propaganda addressed to the Indian masses in 1888 ; iv. Mr. Hume's correspondence with Sir Auckland Colvin in the same year ; and v. The propaganda in England. The official recognition of the Congress began with Lord Lansdowne's pronouncement in December 1890, declaring that, as a political organization, the Congress was "perfectly "legitimate"; and was finally confirmed by Lord Hardinge's ceremonial reception of the Congress Deputation in December 1910. ​
I. The Early Steps taken in i88j to form a National Organization.
Towards the close of Lord Lytton's viceroyalty, that is, about 1878 and 1879, Mr. Hume became convinced that some definite action was called for to counteract the growing unrest. From well-wishers in different parts of the country he received warnings of the danger to the Government, and to the future welfare of India, from the economic sufferings of the masses, and the alienation of the intellectuals. But happily the arrival of Lord Ripon revived hope among the people, and produced a lull; and Mr. Hume postponed definite organization until, by his retirement from the service, he should be free to act, and able to take advantage of the growing improvement in the popular feeling produced by Lord Ripon's benign presence. Accordingly, the first movement towards a definite scheme is to be found in a circular letter dated 1st March 1883, addressed to the "Graduates of the Calcutta University." The letter opens with these wise and kindly words : "Constituting, as you do, a large body of the most highly educated Indians, you should, in the natural order of things, constitute also the most important source of all mental, moral, social, and political progress in India. Whether in the individual or the nation, all vital progress must spring from within, and it is to you, her most cultured and enlightened minds, her most favoured sons, that your country must look for the initiative. In vain may aliens, like myself, love India and her children, as well as the most loving of these ; in vain may they, for her and their good, give time and trouble, money and thought ; in vain may they struggle and sacrifice ; they may assist with advice and suggestions ; they may place their experience, abilities, and knowledge at the disposal ​of the workers, but they lack the essential of nationality, and the real work must ever be done by the people of the country themselves." Scattered individuals, however capable and however well meaning, are powerless singly. What is needed is union, organization, and well-defined lines of action; and to secure these an association is required, armed and organized with unusual care, having for its object to promote the mental, moral, social, and political regeneration of the people of India : "Our little army must be sui generis in discipline and equipment, and the question simply is, how many of you will prove to possess, in addition to your high scholastic attainments, the unselfishness, moral courage, self-control, and active spirit of benevolence essential in all who should enlist." And then he proposed that a commencement should be made with a body of fifty ** founders," to be the mustard-seed of future growth ; ^*if only fifty men, good and true, can be found to join as founders, the thing can be established, and the further development will be comparatively easy." The details of the organization would have to be decided by the members themselves. But he made suggestions as to the personnel, discipline, and working methods of the association ; and specially he insisted on its constitution being democratic, and free from personal ambitions : the head should merely be the chief servant, and his council assistant servants. This is the principle followed in later years by Mr. Gokhale in his Servants of India Society; and it conforms to the precept, "He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant." And his long letter ends with an appeal, which both stirs and tings : "As I said before, you are the salt of the land. And of amongst even you, the elite, fifty men cannot be found with sufficient power of self-sacrifice, sufficient love for and pride in their country, sufficient genuine and unselfish heartfelt patriotism to take the initiative, and if needs ​be, devote the rest of their lives to the Cause — then there is no hope for India. Her sons must and will remain mere humble and helpless instruments in the hands of foreign rulers, for 'they would be free, themselves must strike the blow.' And if even the leaders of thought are all either such poor creatures, or so selfishly wedded to personal concerns, that they dare not or will not strike a blow for their country's sake, then justly and rightly are they kept down and trampled on, for they deserve nothing better. Every nation secures precisely as good a government as it merits. If you, the picked men, the most highly educated of the nation, cannot, scorning personal ease and selfish objects, make a resolute struggle to secure greater freedom for yourselves and your country, a more impartial administration, a larger share in the management of your own affairs, then we your friends are wrong, and our adversaries right ; then are Lord Ripon's noble aspirations for your good fruitless and visionary; then, at present, at any rate, all hopes of progress are at an end, and India truly neither lacks nor deserves any better government than she now enjoys. Only, if this be so, let us hear no more fractious, peevish complaints that you are kept in leading strings, and treated like children, for you will have proved yourselves such. Men know how to act. Let there be no more complaints of Englishmen being preferred to you in all important offices, for if you lack that public spirit, that highest form of altruistic devotion that leads men to subordinate private ease to the public weal, that true patriotism that has made Englishmen what they are, — then rightly are these preferred to you, and rightly and inevitably have they become your rulers. And rulers and taskmasters they must continue, let the yoke gall your shoulders never so sorely, until you realize and stand prepared to act upon the eternal truth that, whether in the case of individuals ​or nations, self-sacrifice and unselfishness are the only unfailing guides to freedom and happiness."
This appeal — from one trusted and beloved by the Indian people — was not made in vain. The men re- quired as founders to initiate the movement, were forthcoming from all parts of India ; and the " Indian National Union" was formed. It was arranged that a Conference should be held at Poona, to enable "all those most interested in this Union to exchange opinions and authoritatively adopt an organization that, in the main, shall approve itself to all." In the meantime a Preliminary Report was issued to members, containing suggestions and conclusions, "the result of the discussion of the subject with all the most eminent and earnest politicians of this Empire." In the first place it is stated that "the Union, so far as it has been constituted, appears to be absolutely unanimous in insisting that unswerving loyalty to the British Crown, shall be the key note of the institution. The Union is prepared when necessary to oppose, by all constitutional methods, all authorities, high or low, here or in England, whose acts or omissions are opposed to those principles of the government of India laid down from time to time by the British Parliament, and endorsed by the British Sovereign, but it holds the continued affiliation of India to Great Britain, at any rate for a period far exceeding the range of any practical political forecast, to be absolutely essential to the interests of our own National Development." Amongst the qualifications for membership most commonly insisted on are the following : (i) An unblemished record, public and private ; (2) an earnest and unwavering desire to improve the status, either material, mental, moral or political of the People of India ; (3) marked natural intelligence, adequately developed by education ; (4) a willingness to sink, ​when occasion demands this sacrifice, selfish and personal, in altruistic and public considerations ; and (5) independence of character, coupled with sobriety of judgment. Progress had been made in forming local Select Committees, at Kurrachee, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bombay, Poona, Madras, Calcutta, Benares, Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, and Lahore, all of whom had promised to attend the Conference at Poona, either as a whole, or in the person of delegates selected among themselves. And it was proposed that until the formation of a Central Committee, there should be a "General Secretary to the whole Union whose duty it should be, not only to visit personally all the Select Committees from time to time and communicate to them the experiences of the other Select Committees, but also to look after the practical details connected with the Conferences, receive all communications from the several Committees and circulate these to others, and generally supervise the office work of the Union." Naturally, the discharge of these toilsome duties fell to the lot of Mr. Hume himself.
Having thus laid the foundations of a national organization, to voice the aspirations of the Indian people, Mr. Hume proceeded to England, in order to consult with friends there, as to the best means of getting a hearing for these aspirations from the British Parliament and Public. His first visit was to Sir James Caird, at Cassencary in Galloway, and there Mr. John Bright met him, having arranged to do so at considerable personal inconvenience. After prolonged consultation with these wise and faithful friends of India, Mr. Hume went on to Lord Ripon at Studley Royal. Thence he proceeded to Lord Dalhousie at Brechin Castle, Mr. I Baxter M.P. at Dundee, Mr. R. T. Reid M.P. at" Arrochar, Mr. Slagg M.P. at Manchester, and other influential friends. The result of these interviews was ​reported to his Indian correspondents in an interesting series of letters, written during September 1885. The first matter for consideration was the supply of Indian news to the British Press. The general public in England rarely read more about India than what is contained in the Renter telegrams which appear in The Times and other leading papers; and it had been long the complaint in India that these telegrams have an Anglo-Indian official colouring, and do not do justice to the Indian view of current events and discussions; on the contrary they usually present any case of an Indian complaint in terms hostile to Indian wishes. No opportunity existed for correcting misstatements thus published in England; and the question had assumed additional importance on account of the approaching Conference at Poona, as it was essential that this national organization should not be presented to the British public in an unfair light. Accordingly before leaving Bombay, Mr. Hume arranged for an "Indian Telegraph Union," which was to provide funds to send telegrams on important matters to such leading journals in England and Scotland as would agree to publish them. Mr. Hume undertook to negotiate this matter with the Editors of leading journals, and he later reported that among Provincial papers the following had agreed to receive and publish the Indian Union telegrams: The Manchester Guardian, the Manchester Examiner, the Leeds Mercury, the Scotsman, the Glasgow Daily Mail, the Dundee Advertiser, the Western Times, and the Bradford Observer. Unfortunately this useful agency was allowed to drop from want of funds. The next question was, how to influence the British public, and especially Members of Parliament? On this question all friends were agreed that at the pending General Election, no hearing could be got for detailed Indian ​grievances. But it was thought that the opportunity might be taken to obtain from candidates a promise to give attention to Indian affairs. This was the shrewd advice given by Mr. Reid, M.P. (now Lord Loreburn), in a letter addressed to Mr. Hume: "I would recommend you," he said, "to secure two or three men, as influential as you can, in as many constituencies as you can, and get them to write to the candidate, exacting no pledge as to the course of policy but a simple pledge to give attention to Indian affairs, and publish the correspondence in the local papers. Every candidate in the three kingdoms would pledge himself to so easy an obligation. One in ten would keep the pledge and thus give a nucleus of listeners in an Indian debate. The publication of the correspondence would make them afraid wholly to neglect business they had so publicly engaged to consider." The resources at the disposal of the informal Committee in England were not sufficient to carry out so large a scheme, but it may be noted that a limited pledge such as Mr. Reid proposed, was the basis of the Indian Parliamentary Committee, which afterwards did good work for many years in the House of Commons. In the same letter Mr. Reid gives Mr. Hume practical advice on two other points, as to coaching British members on Indian subjects; and as to getting a seat for an Indian in the House of Commons: "You must have coadjutors in Parliament. If you have a few men like yourself busy in England they will find friends inside the House. For there is a real desire in this country to act justly and generously as regards India. But members know nothing. You must have men of honour to inform them of facts. So many impostors and self-seekers are always ready to catch an M.P. to ventilate their grievances, that members are afraid to trust the in​formation given them, and never act on it (if they respect themselves) unless convinced of the integrity of their informants. Therefore you require high-class men to 'coach' and inform members. If they appear and are in earnest, you will get plenty of help." For preference, members would listen to a trustworthy Indian; and if you "succeeded in obtaining a seat for him simply to represent Indian grievances, he would be listened to in the House and would be a real power for good." Besides these definite suggestions, all British friends were agreed that if the cause of India was to make progress among the British people, a vigorous and sustained propaganda must be kept up throughout the country, by means of public meetings, lectures, pamphlets, articles and correspondence in the Press, and by securing the sympathy of local associations and of influential public men. A local British Committee, to act as the guiding and propelling power in this work, was evidently required; but it was felt that the time had not yet come to reorganize on a permanent basis the informal Committee of sympathizers, who were then attending to Indian interests in England.
II. The First Session of the Indian National Congress.
Having accomplished his mission in England, and established touch with the leading progressives there, Mr. Hume returned to India, in order to watch over the arrangements for the first Conference of the Indian National Union, which had been fixed to be held at Poona from the 25th to the 30th of December 1885. The Poona Reception Committee had made admirable preparations. To accommodate the delegates, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (the leading Association of the Deccan) granted the use of the Peshwa's palace of Heerabagh, ​which with its gardens, stands beautifully situated upon the lake under the temples of Parbati Hill. Further it was decided that, looking to the national importance of the movement, and the wide support it had received in all parts of India, the Conference should formally assume the title of the Indian National Congress. Unfortunately, a few days before the time fixed for the assemblage, several cases of cholera occurred in Poona; and it was considered prudent to transfer the meeting to Bombay. Thanks to the exertions of the Bombay Presidency Association, and the liberality of the managers of the Goculdas Tejpal Sanscrit College and Boarding House (who placed the grand buildings above the Gowalia Tank at the Association's disposal), everything was ready by the morning of the 27th of December 1885, the date when the representatives began to arrive. Thus it happened that Bombay had the honour of holding the first session of the "Indian National Congress," while Calcutta provided, as the first President, Mr. W. C. Bonnerjee—the wise head and firm hand, that took the helm when the good ship was launched.
Now looking back at the proceedings of this first Congress, we must be struck by the success which, though long delayed, ultimately attended the definite claim which formed the core of the resolutions, viz., the prayer for substantial popular representation on the Indian Legislative Councils. It will be well to reproduce in full this memorable resolution, which (a good augury) was moved by the Hon. K. T. Telang C.I.E., seconded by the Hon. S. Subramania Iyer, and supported by the Hon. Dadabhai Naoroji. It was No. 3 on the Congress programme, and ran as follows: "Resolved.—That this Congress considers the reform and expansion of the Supreme and existing Local Legislative Councils, by the admission of a considerable proportion of elected mem​bers (and the creation of similar Councils for the North-West Provinces and Oudh, and also for the Punjab) essential; and holds that all Budgets should be referred to those Councils for consideration, their members being moreover empowered to interpellate the Executive in regard to all branches of the administration; and that a Standing Committee of the House of Commons should be constituted to receive and consider any formal protest that may be recorded by majorities of such Councils against the exercise by the Executive of the power which would be vested in it, of over-ruling the decisions of such majorities." This is the resolution of which Mr. Hume said that it "indicated the very essence of the great task which the people of India, at last a nation, one and indivisible henceforth and for ever, was soberly and deliberately girding up their loins to undertake." The struggle lasted long; and ultimately this prayer for popular representation was granted by Lord Morley's reforms of 1909. But what a world of misunderstanding and suffering, of affections alienated and passions aroused, of secret conspiracy, and outrage, and Russian methods of repression, might have been avoided if the Administration had been wise in time, and listened long ago to the counsels respectfully tendered by a friendly and law-abiding people!
But here it must be noted that, although the Congress movement has always been looked on with undisguised hostility by that section of officials who are in permanent antagonism to the educated and independent classes, this disfavour has not, as a rule, extended to the higher authorities. This was especially the case at the outset. Indeed, in initiating the national movement, Mr. Hume took counsel with the Viceroy, Lord Dufferin; and whereas he was himself disposed to begin his reform propaganda on the social side, it was apparently by Lord ​Dufferin's advice that he took up the work of political organization, as the matter first to be dealt with. Lord Dufferin seems to have told him that as head of the Government he had found the greatest difficulty in ascertaining the real wishes of the people; and that, for purposes of administration, it would be a public benefit if there existed some responsible organization, through which the Government might be kept informed regarding the best Indian public opinion. He further observed that, owing to the wide differences in caste, race, and religion, social reform in India required local treatment, rather than the guidance of a national organization. These kindly counsels were received with grateful appreciation by all concerned. Indeed so cordial were the relations, that Lord Dufferin was approached with a view to the first Congress being held under the presidency of Lord Reay, then Governor of Bombay. Lord Dufferin welcomed the proposal, as showing the desire of the Congress to work in complete harmony with the Government, but he considered that many difficulties would be involved if a high official presided over such an assembly. The idea was therefore abandoned, but none the less the first Congress was opened with the friendly sympathy of the highest authorities.
III. Aggressive Propaganda in India of 1888.
At the second Congress, which was held at Calcutta, Lord Dufferin showed his sympathy by inviting the members of the Congress, as "distinguished visitors," to a garden party at Government House. And a similar compliment was paid to them by Lord Connemara, the Governor of Madras, in the following year. But after that there came a change. For years were passing on, and there were as yet no signs of any concessions being ​granted. To the ardent mind of Mr. Hume platonic expressions of sympathy by the authorities were a mockery while nothing practical was being done; for he was obsessed by the misery of the masses, and the belief that most of it was preventible. b Intimately acquainted with the inner life of the Indian village, and a witness of successive famines with all their horrors, he was familiar with the sorrows of the impoverished peasantry, and in a pamphlet entitled "The Old Man's Hope," he thus made impassioned appeal to the comfortable classes in England: "Ah men! well fed and happy! Do you at all realize the dull misery of these countless myriads? From their births to their deaths, how many rays of sunshine think you chequer their gloom-shrouded paths? Toil, toil, toil; hunger, hunger, hunger; sickness, suffering, sorrow; these, alas! alas! are the key notes of their short and sad existences." The special travail of his soul was for these suffering masses, and his prayer was, "God save the people"; echoing the cry of Ebenezer Elliott, the Corn-Law poet:
"When wilt Thou save the People?
Oh God of Mercy—when?
The People, Lord—the People!
Not thrones and crowns, but men.
"Flowers of thy heart. Oh God, are they.
Let them not pass like weeds away,
Their heritage a sunless day.
God save the People!"
With such feelings, and his heart hot within him, it was not in the nature of the man to wait with calmness when nothing was being done. The pool of Bethesda had been stirred, but no healing had followed. Time was passing; the patient was in danger of collapse; but there were no signs of a remedy; and Mr. Hume felt ​that at all hazards the authorities must be awakened to the urgency of the case. In no grudging spirit he acknowledged the benefits conferred by British rule: the blessings of peace, and protection to life and property. But the Pax Britannica has not solved the economic problem, nor availed to preserve the debt-laden and despairing peasantry from the ravages of famine and disease. British rulers, he maintained, had failed, not from any lack of good intention, but from insufficient knowledge. The sufferings of the Indian masses from famine and disease arose from poverty; and this poverty was preventible, if the Government would take into their counsels experienced representatives of the people, who know exactly where the shoe pinches. But the Government would take no action. What was to be done? The case was one of extreme urgency, for the deaths by famine and pestilence were counted, not by tens of thousands, or by hundreds of thousands, but by millions; and in order to constrain the Government to move, the leaders of the Indian people must adopt measures of exceptional vigour, following the drastic methods pursued in England by Bright and Cobden in their great campaign on behalf of the people's food.
In the days of his youth Mr. Hume had witnessed the progress of this campaign, and he told how the delegates of the Corn-Law-League were refused a hearing by the House of Commons; and then Cobden, in few but weighty words, announced the new propaganda, which was to have such far-reaching results for the people of England: "The delegates," he said, "have offered to instruct the House; the House has refused to be instructed; and the most unexceptionable and effectual way will be by instructing the nation." "So," continued Mr. Hume, "has it fared with us; our educated men singly, our Press far and wide, our representatives at the ​National Congress—one and all—have endeavoured to instruct the Government, but the Government, like all autocratic governments, has refused to be instructed, and it will now be for us to instruct the nations, the great English nation in its island home, and the far greater nation of this vast continent, so that every Indian that breathes upon the sacred soil of this our Motherland may become our comrade and coadjutor, our supporter, and, if needs be, our soldier in the great war that we, like Cobden and his noble band, will wage for justice, for our liberties and rights."
In pursuance of such a propaganda in India, Mr. Hume set to work with his wonted energy, appealing for funds to all classes of the Indian community, distributing tracts, leaflets, and pamphlets, sending out lecturers, and calling meetings both in large towns and in country districts. Throughout the country over 1,000 meetings were thus held, at many of which over 5,000 persons were present; and arrangements were made for the distribution of half a million of pamphlets; translations into twelve Indian languages being circulated of two remarkable pamphlets, entitled "A Congress Catechism," by Mr. Veraraghava Chariar of Madras, and "A Conversation between Moulvi Furreeduddeen and one Rambuksh of Kambakhtpur," showing by a parable the necessary evils of absentee State landlordism, however benevolent the intention may be.
It will naturally be asked, What was the attitude of the Indian Government, not constitutionally tolerant of popular agitation, towards this bold and drastic political propaganda? The Hon. Mr. Gokhale, speaking at the Hume Memorial Meeting in London on the 6th of August last, indicated the probable inclinations of the Government under such circumstances. "No Indian," he said, could have started the Indian National Congress. ​Apart from the fact that any one putting his hand out to such a gigantic task had need to have Mr. Hume's commanding and magnetic personality, even if an Indian had possessed such a personality and had come forward to start such a movement embracing all India, the officials in India would not have allowed the movement to come into existence. If the founder of the Congress had not been a great Englishman and a distinguished ex-official, such was the official distrust of political agitation in those days that the authorities would have at once found some way or other to suppress the movement." This conclusion was no doubt correct; and it is certain that, from the time when the propaganda was addressed to the masses, the official attitude, which till then had been one of more or less friendly neutrality, became distinctly antagonistic. Mr. Hume himself realized this, and said, "Friends come with solemn faces and say in grave voices : You mean well, but you are stirring up feelings, you are exciting passions, the issues of which you cannot foresee; you are letting loose forces that you cannot control." And he took occasion to explain his position, and put forward his Apologia, in a speech at a great meeting at Allahabad on the 30th of April 1888, which was published under the title of "A Speech on the Indian National Congress, its Origin, Aims, and Objects." Speaking of the spirit which it was desired to inculcate among the people, he quoted what had been placed on record at the inception of the Congress, "since this record embodies, not merely the ideas of one or two men, but the harmonized views of a very large number of the ablest, best, and most advanced thinkers of the nation." The record declares that the Congress was intended "to foster a wider altruism and a more genuine public spirit, by concentrating the most strenuous efforts on great national problems, and diminishing the absorp​tion in local or purely selfish interests—to educate all who took part in it, not merely in the arts of public speaking and debate, developing the faculty of thinking out clearly opinions, and expressing them lucidly to others, not merely in habits of accuracy and research, but also in the practice of self-control, moderation and willingness to give and take—to educate them in fact into what has been described as a genuine Parliamentary frame of mind—to familiarize the country with the methods and working of representative institutions on a large scale, and thus, as this familiarity grew, to demonstrate to the Government and people of England that India was already ripe for some measure of those institutions to which the entire intelligence of the country so earnestly aspires."
Having thus made clear what was the inner spirit of the movement, he proceeded to show that there was no cause for fearing political danger from Congress teaching : "The people are taught to recognize the many benefits that they owe to British rule, as also the fact that on the peaceful continuance of that rule depend all hopes for the peace and prosperity of the country. They are taught that the many hardships and disabilities of which they complain are after all, though real enough, small in comparison with the blessings they enjoy, but that all these grievances may be and will be redressed if they all join to press their views and wishes unanimously, but temperately, on the Government here and on the Government and people of England. The sin of illegal or anarchical proceedings is brought home to them, and the conviction is engendered that by united, patient, constitutional agitation they are certain ultimately to obtain all they can reasonably or justly ask for, while by any recourse to hasty or violent action they must inevitably ruin their cause and entail endless misery on ​themselves." And then, in eloquent words, he pleaded for a logical continuity, on the part of the British nation, of the humane and enlightened educational policy of 1833 and 1854 : "It is the British Government in their noble enthusiasm for the emancipation of this great people—God's trust to them—from the fetters of ignorance, who by the broadcast dissemination of Western education and Western ideas of liberty, the rights of subjects, public spirit and patriotism, have let loose forces which, unless wisely guided and controlled, might, nay sooner or later certainly must, involve consequences which are too disastrous to contemplate. And it is precisely to limit and control these forces and direct them, while there is yet time, into channels along which they can flow auspiciously, bearing safely the argosies of progress and prosperity on their heaving waves, that this Congress movement was designed. The Government has, broadly speaking, never realized the vast proportions of the coming flood which is being engendered by the noble policy of which in 1833 Lord Macaulay was so prominent an exponent; and it is we of the Congress, who through good repute and ill repute, careless what men say of us if only haply God may bless our efforts, who standing between the country and the coming development, are labouring—labouring almost frantically—to provide in time channels through which this surging tide may flow, not to ravage and destroy but to fertilize and regenerate."
IV. Correspondence with Sir Auckland Colvin.
The Allahabad speech, boldly justifying a propaganda addressed to the masses, on the model of the Anti-Corn-Law League, was certainly successful in compelling the serious attention of the authorities. But the new ​departure, and especially the campaign in the rural districts, had also the effect of causing some genuine alarm among the officials. I do not wish to enlarge upon the proceedings of the more excitable and high-handed functionaries, who put their trust in espionage; who stimulated among Mahomedans a class hostility to the movement; who desired to suppress the Congress; and who recommended that Mr. Hume should be deported. This was only a passing official phase, not countenanced by the highest authorities, which we may well forget. But it is altogether different in the case of a critic of the position and abilities of Sir Auckland Colvin, and in order to judge regarding the merits, or demerits, of this new and active propaganda, we cannot do better than study the letters which, in October 1888, passed between Sir Auckland Colvin and Mr. Hume, and which were published, with Sir Auckland's consent, as a pamphlet, under the title of "Audi Alteram Partem." Sir Auckland Colvin was a very distinguished member of the Civil Service; he held the high office of Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces; he claimed to belong to the "Liberal Official Camp"; and, until the new departure which followed the third Congress, held at Madras, he was distinctly friendly to the Congress movement. The grounds therefore of his disapproval, which are stated in calm and courteous language, are deserving of the most respectful consideration. His letter also was welcome at the time it was written, because it gave Mr. Hume a favourable opportunity of publicly making his position clear, and replying in detail to the objections raised by a competent and responsible critic. So important indeed is this correspondence, that I would gladly have reproduced the letters in extenso, but they are too detailed and (in parts) too technical for this brief memoir, Sir Auckland Colvin's letter extending to ​over twenty printed pages, and Mr. Hume's to nearly sixty; but I will give ample extracts from the text, with a summary of the arguments on both sides.
Looking to these considerations, Sir Auckland's letter of remonstrance, and Mr. Hume's answer, vindicating his action, may be taken as the pleadings in the Congress case at the most critical period of the movement; showing what could be said for and against the bold and drastic policy of appealing to the masses of the Indian people, on the lines marked out and followed in England by Bright and Cobden. Sir Auckland considered that this new departure was premature and dangerous; on the other hand Mr. Hume held that it was the path of safety, and the only way of averting national disaster.
Upon this issue Sir Auckland's argument may be summarized as follows. The question, he said, was one of both principle and methods. As regards principle and the general objects of the Congress, he was more or less in sympathy; especially he was in favour of the expansion of the Legislative Councils. And as regards methods, he saw little to object to in the earlier proceedings of the Congress, as manifested at Bombay and Calcutta in the sessions of 1885 and 1886. But his sympathy received a "severe check" after the Madras Congress of 1887, when the propaganda became aggressive, on the model of the Anti-Corn-Law campaign in England. He considered that in the existing political condition of India such a propaganda was premature, and likely to defeat the objects in view. He further anticipated definite mischief from this aggressive or denunciatory method, because it tended to excite hatred of the Government and the officials, and because agitation would produce counter-agitation, dividing the country into strongly hostile camps. He objected to the tone ​and substance of the pamphlets recently issued, which in his opinion misrepresented the policy and action of the Government; and, commenting on the attitude of the Congress, he considered that its supporters unfairly claimed to represent the Indian population. Finally, he suggested that the reformers should occupy themselves with social reform, as being more needed than political reform, for the welfare of the people.
These objections are no doubt serious. But at the same time it was reassuring that they were directed against the methods, and not against the principles or objects of the Congress. As to these. Sir Auckland Colvin, keen observer and careful administrator as he was, saw little to disapprove. On the contrary, he expressed sympathy with the leading proposal of the Congress programme—the expansion of the Legislative Councils on a popular basis—which was designed to bring the most able and trustworthy Indian intellectuals into co-operation with the Government, in the grand task of rescuing the millions of India from the miseries of ignorance, of destitution, and disease. Such doctrine was in accordance with common sense. It needed no justification; and its practical wisdom was proved by the logic of events. For the early leaders of the Congress—men like Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mr. Justice Ranade, Sir Pherozesha Mehta, Mr. W. C. Bonnerjee, Mr. Justice Budrudin Tyabji, Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, Mr. Bhupendranath Basu, Mr. Gokhale, and Mr. Krishna Swami Iyer—became the trusted advisers of the Government; and, by force of merit, rose to the highest offices, whether judicial, municipal, legislative, or executive. There is no truer saying than, that in the affairs of life, as in mechanics, where there is no resistance there is no support; and it was not long before the Government realized the value of strong and independent men, who afterwards proved to ​be the firmest support of ordered progress, in the dark times of trouble and unrest.
So much for the principles and objects ; there remains to consider the experiences of Congress methods. On this part of the question Mr. Hume lost no time in reply- ing to Sir Auckland Colvin's challenge. The main point of his defence was that, so far from the action of the Congress being premature, the fear was that it might be too late. But before dealing with this central question, it will be convenient to say a few words regarding the minor objections raised. With regard to the charge that the Congress pamphlets excited hatred to the Government, Mr. Hume replied that nothing was to be gained by ignoring the notorious practical grievances felt by the peasantry. Every one who makes himself acquainted with the village life knows how bitter, when they talk among themselves, are the complaints, not loud but deep, with regard to the costly and unsuitable civil courts, the corrupt and oppressive police, the rigid revenue system, the galling administration of the Arms Act and the Forest Act. What is wanted is justice, cheap, sure, and speedy ; a police that the people can look up to as friends and protectors ; a land revenue system more elastic and sympathetic ; a less harsh administration of the Arms and Forest laws. Accordingly the policy followed in the pamphlets and lectures has been, not to ^' blink or pretend to ignore the grave evils that exist." In every hamlet there are the natural leaders of the people who " acknowledge and are grateful for the many unquestionably fine things we have done for them." But they " equally recognize and grumble over the many bad things they have to put up with by reason of our well-intentioned ignorance of how to fit our burden properly to their backs." Therefore " in our pamphlets we approach these intelligent men with sympathy, we admit their grievances, but ​we put them in a milder shape than they themselves do ; we tell them that * the English Government is superior to all other governments in the world, for its fundamental principle is to shape its policy according to the wishes of the people.' We tell them emphatically that it is not the individual governors or officials who are to blame for the shortcomings of the administration, but the system, the form of that administration ; and we further show them how, by loyal and constitutional efforts, they can secure the amelioration of that system, and a remedy for many of the evils they have to contend against." This is the answer to the charge of exciting hatred against the Government and the officials.
Next, as to the risk of a counter-agitation, dividing the country into two hostile camps. On this point it is not now necessary to recall the personal incidents of the op- position to the Congress raised by Sir Syed Ahmed and his friends. Mr. Hume considered that this opposition was not important, and he held that, excluding an inap- preciable fraction, the whole culture and intelligence of the country was favourable to the Congress. And he dealt somewhat severely with the anti-Congress party, which he said was made up of a small knot of Anglo- Indians, mostly officials, supported by a section of the Anglo-Indian Press; ^^ a few Indian fossils, honest, but wanting in understanding ; a few men who in their hearts hate British rule, or are secretly in the employ of Eng- land's enemies " ; and a certain number of " time-servers, men not really in their hearts opposed to the Congress, but who have taken up the work of opposition to it, be- cause it has seemed to them that this will ' pay.' " Further he maintained that the Congress, instead of dividing, was uniting, was binding in harmonious co-operation, men who previously scarcely met except to quarrel and even to fight ; and he instanced the case of Salem, till recently ​a hot-bed of religious antagonism between Hindus and Mahomedans.
Mr. Hume highly appreciated the distinctive characteristics of the Moslems — their manly energy and democratic instincts ; and he did not believe that the opposition represented their genuine feeling. According to his view the hostile stimulus came from the outside, from a few ill-advised officials who clung to the pestilent doctrine of ^^ Divide et impera," and from unfriends of the Government, who hated a movement which sought to unite all parties and all creeds in friendly co-operation under the aegis of the British Empire. He therefore denounced the counter-agitation as artificial and mischievous. Further, he held that, more than any other community, the Mahomedans would benefit by the united action which would bring them into the current of modern progress ; he trusted to their good sense to realize this ; and he believed that within three years the anti-Congress party would collapse. We have reason to hope that eventually opposition to the Congress will cease. At the same time it appears that there was some foundation for the apprehension suggested by Sir Auckland Colvin ; and that the active Congress propaganda did stir up, to a certain extent, religious rivalries which had, more or less, become dormant. The reason for this was twofold. In the first place the Hindus, as regards numbers, were predominant in the Congress. This was because the Congress was mainly supported by the English-speaking class, and it was the Hindus who had most readily accepted Western education. In the second place, the Mahomedans, who mostly conducted their education on the old lines, had fallen behind in the learned professions and in the competition for the public service. It was therefore not unnatural that a section of them regarded the Congress with sus​picion and jealousy, as an instrument of aggrandizement for the Hindus. It cannot be said that this feeling has died out even at the present day, but happily it is not generally shared by the rising generation of educated Mahomedans, nor by leaders like His Highness the Aga Khan. For his part, Mr. Hume indignantly repudiated the idea that the Mahomedans could not hold their own in fair competition. " The wretched plea," he said,
that they will have no chance if a fair field is conceded to all classes and sects, is monstrous. I swear that no good true Mahomedan ever, if he reflected on it, would put forward so base a libel on his coreligionists. Haven't I had thousands of both under my own eye ? Have I not hundreds of Mahomedan friends ? " He then named Sir Salar Jung, Mr. Justice Budrudin Tyabji, Mr. Justice Syed Mahmud and other distinguished public men ; and continuing, he said, ** The whole thing is a shameful libel on the Mussulmans, who, alike in times past and present, have ever held and ever will hold their own, and what- ever advantages flow from an improved and gradually developing administration of India, believe me that the Mussulmans will ever obtain, in virtue of their hereditary capacity, energy, and pluck, a full and fair share." To this he added a personal note, saying, ^* I speak warmly on this subject, because even inferentially to charge me with participation in any scheme injurious to the best interests of the Mussulmans, to whom in the past I have owed so much, amongst whom I have still so many friends, is an insult. Can I forget the brave friends and followers who in those dark days of danger and distress stood by me, protected me, and fought for and beside me in 1857 — aye, and in too many cases sealed with their lifeblood the record of their friendship and fidelity ? Never ! " ​ Sound education is what is wanted to enable the Musselmans to do justice to themselves. And to provide this, their leaders at the present day have been working, both by their scheme for a Moslem University, and by supporting Mr. Gokhale's Bill in the Viceroy's Council for free and compulsory elementary education. May they prosper in their patriotic labours ; and find en- couragement from the sympathy of so trusty a friend as Mr. Hume, and from his warm expression of regard and gratitude !
It is not necessary to go at any length into other minor points raised by Sir A. Colvin. With regard to his objection, that the Congress had no right to claim to be representative of the people of India, Mr. Hume pointed out that in Great Britain the Mother of Parliaments represented directly only a small fraction of the people, and that less than lo per cent, of the population took part in the parliamentary elections, even in such ad- vanced constituencies as the City and County of Aberdeen. He might also, without unfairness, have referred to the doings of the Free and Independent electors of Weymouth, who not so long ago had sent to the Imperial Parliament two "representatives " of the English people. He claimed that the Congress repre- sented the culture and intelligence of the country, a claim which was afterwards confirmed, in part at least, by Lord Lansdowne, when he said that the Congress represented ^' the more advanced Liberal party." As regards the suggestion that the Congress should devote itself to social in preference to political reform, Mr. Hume referred to the declared objects of the great movement of which the Congress formed only a part. The movement sought the regeneration of India on all lines, spiritual, moral, social, and political. The Congress was directed to national and political objects desired by all classes in ​India. On the other hand social requirements varied according to race, caste, and creed, so that they had to be dealt with by separate organizations; but, as a general rule, it was found that the workers for political progress were the most active friends of social reform.
We have now to consider the main contention between Sir Auckland Colvin and Mr. Hume. Sir Auckland considered the propaganda premature and mischievous ; Mr. Hume considered it necessary for the safety of the State. Which was right ? To those unfamiliar with Indian affairs, it may seem strange that there should be this acute difference of opinion between two experienced officers, both members of the same service, both sympathetic with Indian progress, both keenly anxious for the public welfare. But the interpretation is simple, and is well understood by every Indian. The difference of opinion is an irreconcilable one, depending on the point of view, whether of the ruler or the ruled. For 'after his retirement from the service in 1882 Mr. Hume had identified himself with the Indian people, hving among them as one of themselves. The difference therefore between the Lieutenant-Governor and the Congress leader, was the difference of the view held by the British administrator judging his own work, and that of the Indian subject with personal experience of its defects. Mr. Hume tells his friend how he may learn the truth : I can clearly see, he says, that you '^ still look upon our government through the rose-tinted official spectacles that so long obscured my sight. But leave the service, become a nobody, mix freely with the people, hear what they have to say when not afraid to speak their minds, study the reverse of the shield, and, knowing you as I do, I know well that you would wholly change your views." The one way of learning the truth is^ as Mr. Hume says, to " mix freely with the people " — the people of all ​classes, from the highest to the lowest ; prove to them that you are trustworthy, and they will trust you and tell you all the truth. This is not only the best way, but the only way. For whatever information English officials as foreigners, can acquire is, and must be, obtained from the people themselves ; and it may be obtained from the right men, or from the wrong men. And in this matter the ordinary official is under great disadvantages, because as the local magnate and the dispenser of official favours, he is naturally surrounded by self-seekers, who do not deal in disagreeable truths. It is the interest of these men to flatter him, and, for their own protection, to keep him out of touch with the independent men of his district ; also to persuade him that these men are un friendly and even (vague and terrible word) "seditious." Many an official is thus brought into antagonism with the best men, and falls into the hands of the secret police, and the miserable class of spies and informers. Independent Indians of high character and public spirit are to be found in every province, and in every district ; but they must be sought out with care ; they do not willingly present themselves in official quarters, where they may be met with suspicion from the authorities, and insult from underlings. Now it was this class of high-minded men, in solid agreement throughout India, friends of India and England, whom Mr. Hume took as his advisers. They saw the danger looming ahead, " tremendous in the immediate future," from the misery of the masses, acted on by the bitter resentment of individuals among the educated class ; and they warned him that early action must be taken if disaster was to be averted. Accordingly, in answer to Sir Auckland, Mr. Hume admitted that there was a certain risk in the Congress agitation, that the experiment was quite new in India ; and that circumstances were not wholly favour​ble ; also he explained that, had it been possible, he personally would gladly have postponed the propa- ganda for some years. " But/' he wrote, " no choice was left to those who gave the primary impetus to the movement. The ferment, the product of Western ideas, education, inventions and appliances, was at work with a rapidly increasing intensity, and it became of paramount importance to find for its products an overt and constitutional channel for discharge, instead of leaving them to fester, as they had already commenced to do, beneath the surface. I have always admitted that in certain Provinces and from certain points of view the movement was premature, but from the most vital point of view, the future maintenance of the integrity of the British Empire, the real question when the Congress started was, not, is it premature, but is it too late — will the country now accept it ? ... A safety-valve for the escape of great and growing forces, generated by our own action, was urgently needed, and no more elBcacious safety-valve than our Congress movement could possibly be devised." In this matter Mr. Hume, to use his own phrase, was "in deadly earnest." Appreciating the nature of the Indian people, their conservative instincts, their law- abiding character, their astonishing endurance and docility, unless driven out of their ancient quietude by feelings of despair, he felt confident that he was following the right and safe course in showing them how hope could be maintained, and that there was a peaceful and orderly line of conduct by which relief from their sufferings might be obtained.
As a lesson to the people of this country in world politics, the teaching of Mr. Hume in this matter is of the first importance, showing where the real danger in India lies — the danger under the surface, arising from material suffering among the masses and resent​ment among the irreconcilable section of the dissatisfied intellectuals. The danger is enhanced by the fact that the autocratic power is exercised by a handful of foreigners, alien to the population in language, rao and creed, and belonging to a masterful nation singularl; regardless of the feelings and prejudices of other Consequently the mutterings of the storm are unheede by them, and great disasters, like the Mutiny of 1857, and the tragedies of Cabul, come upon them like a bolt from the blue. To listen therefore to the warnings " the man who knows," like Mr. Hume, is vital to th continuance of British rule in India. History tells similar story. It is true that in Venice oligarchi government lasted for a long term of years, but there the dominion over the people was exercised by mem of their own race, men of singular political insight, who kept themselves well-informed, and dealt skilfully with the beginnings of trouble. Such favourable con- ditions are not enjoyed by the Indian bureaucracy. As pointed out by Mr. Hume, the true historic parallel is to be found in the regime of the Bourbons at the close of the eighteenth century : they had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear, and sudden destruction was brought upon them by the hatred of the intellectuals energizing the dull despair of the peasant masses. No doubt when the crisis comes, the Englishman meets disaster in a fine spirit, and usually comes out more or less victorious in the end. But there is a grievous waste of life and labour involved in this purblind trust in the sad method of " muddling through."
Indian Religious Devotees.
Looking to Mr. Hume's experiences in the Mutiny of 1857, as briefliy described in these pages, and the ​boldness and resource which he displayed, no one can doubt the importance which attaches to his personal belief in the reality of the threatened danger. Also his judgment was confirmed by that of a wide circle of Congress friends spread over the different Provinces. But in addition to this, information and warning came to him from a very special source, that is, from the leaders among those devoted, in all parts of India, to a religious life. Among his papers there exists a very illuminating memorandum regarding '^ the legions of secret quasi-religious orders, with, literally, their millions of members, which form so important a factor in the Indian problem." As regards those professing to be religious devotees, he recognizes that a large proportion of the Faquirs, Bairagis, and Sadhus are little better than rogues and impostors. But if there is dross, there is also gold ; and among the heads or Gurus of these sects are to be found men of the highest quality who, like the ancient Hebrew prophets, have purged themselves from earthly desires, and fixed their aspirations on the highest good. These religious leaders, through their Chelas or disciples, are fully informed of all that goes on under the surface, and their influence is great in forming public opinion. It was with these men that Mr. Hume came into touch, towards the end of Lord Lytton's viceroyalty. The ground of sympathy may have been in part religious, for Mr. Hume was a keen student of Eastern religions. But the practical reason why these men made a move towards him was because they feared that the ominous " unrest " through- out the country, which pervaded even the lowest strata of the population, would lead to some terrible outbreak, destructive to India's future, unless men like him, who had access to the Government, could do something to remove the general feeling of despair, and thus avert ​a catastrophe. "The jungle is all dry," they said; " fire does spread wonderfully in such when the right wind blows, and it is blowing now, and hard." "This," writes Mr. Hume, "is how the case was put to me, and,, knowing the country and the people as I do — having been through something of the same kind, though on a small scale, in the Mutiny — and having convinced myself that the evidence of the then existing state of the prole- tariat was real and trustworthy, I could not then and do not now entertain a shadow of a doubt that we were then truly in extreme danger of a most terrible revolution."
What the nature of this evidence was, cannot be better told than in his own words : " The evidence that con- vinced me, at the time (about fifteen months, I think before Lord Lytton left) that we were in imminent danger of a terrible outbreak was this. I was shown seven large volumes (corresponding to a certain mode of dividing the country, excluding Burmah, Assam, and some minor tracts) containing a vast number of entries; English abstracts or translations — longer or shorter — of vernacular reports or communications of one kind or another, all arranged according to districts (not identical with ours), sub-districts, sub-divisions, and the cities, towns, and villages included in these. The number of these entries was enormous ; there were said, at the time, to be communications from over thirty thousand different reporters. I did not count them, they seemed countless; but in regard to the towns and villages of one district of the North-West Provinces with which I possess a peculiarly intimate acquaintance — a troublesome part of the country no doubt — there were nearly three hundred entries, a good number of which I could partially verify, as to the names of the people, etc." No doubt the district here referred to was Etawah, where he had been chief executive officer for many years. He mentions that he ​had the volumes in his possession only for about a week ; into six of them he only dipped ; but he closely examined one covering the greater portion of the North-West Provinces, Oudh, Behar, parts of Bundelcund and parts of the Panjab ; and as far as possible verified the entries referring to those districts with which he had special personal acquaintance. Many of the entries reported conversations between men of the lowest classes, ^*all going to show that these poor men were pervaded with a sense of the hopelessness of the existing state of affairs ; that they were convinced that they would starve and starve and die, and that they wanted to do something. . . . They were going to do something and stand by each other, and that something meant violence," for innumerable entries referred to the secretion of old swords, spears, and matchlocks, which would be ready when required. It was not supposed that the immediate result, in its initial stages, would be a revolt against our Government, or a revolt at all, in the proper sense of the word. What was predicted was a sudden violent outbreak of sporadic crimes, murders of obnoxious persons, robbery of bankers, looting of bazaars. "In the existing state of the lowest half-starving classes, it was considered that the first few Berimes would be the signal for hundreds of similar ones, I and for a general development of lawlessness, paralysing the authorities and the respectable classes. It was con- sidered certain also, that everywhere the small bands would begin to coalesce into larger ones, like drops of water on a leaf ; that all the bad characters in the country would join, and that very soon after the bands attained formidable proportions, a certain small number of the educated classes, at the time desperately, perhaps un- reasonably, bitter against Government would join the movement, assume here and there the lead, give the outbreak cohesion, and direct it as a national revolt." ​ Such were the specific warnings addressed to Mr. Hume. The forecast of trouble throughout India was in exact accordance with what actually occurred, under my own observation, in the Bombay Presidency, in connection with the Agrarian rising known as the Deccan Riots. These began with sporadic gang robberies and attacks on the moneylenders, until the bands of dacoits, combining together, became too strong for the police; and the whole military force at Poona, horse, foot, and, artillery, had to take the field against them. Roaming through the jungle tracts of the Western Ghauts, these bands dispersed in the presence of military force, only to reunite immediately at some convenient point; and from the hill stations of Mahableshwar and Matheran we could at night see the light of their camp fires in all directions. A leader from the more instructed class was found, calling himself Sivaji the Second, who addressed challenges to the Government, offered a reward of Rs. 500 for the head of H.E. Sir Richard Temple (then Governor of Bombay), and claimed to lead a national revolt upon the lines on which the Mahratta power had originally been founded.
Before quitting this subject one special point must be noticed, viz., Mr. Hume's belief that the reports in the seven volumes must necessarily be true, because they were the reports of Chelas to their Gurus. This point is important on the merits of the case; and it is also relevant to the present memoir, because it illustrates the bent of his mind, which induced him to study with eager interest the peculiar phases of Eastern religious thought. His explanation is as follows: "A Chela is a son, pupil, apprentice and disciple, all in one, and a great deal more. None of these terms give any adequate conception of the sanctity of the tie between Chela and Guru. No man becomes a true Chela who has not given up all worldly ​objects and finally determined to devote all his efforts, and concentrate all his hopes, in what faute de mieux, I may call, spiritual development. All Chelas are bound by vows and conditions, over and above those of ordinary initiates of low grade. No Chela would, I may almost say can deceive his Guru, in whom centre all his hopes of advancement ; no teacher will take on the Chela cast off by another. What a real Chela says to his Guru you may accept as the absolute truth, so far as the speaker is concerned. He may be mistaken, he cannot lie." Apparently some of the reporters, from being Chelas in their earlier years, had afterwards returned to ordinary secular life : " Many were respectable worldly men (a few of whom, in my part of the country, I actually knew), but these were all men who had gone through some initiations, and taken binding vows in earlier life, though from one cause or another they had given up the path. But the majority, I was told, were devotees, men of every sect and creed in the country, all initiates in some of the many branches of the secret knowledge, and all bound by vows, they can not practically break, to some farther advanced seeker than themselves, who again must obey others, and so on, until you come to the leaders who are of no sect and no religion, but of all sects and all religions." He further explains that absolute secrecy is an essential feature in the life of these de- votees ; and this accounts for the fact that ordinarily even the existence of these religious sects is unknown to the best informed Europeans, and to the majority of the educated Indians themselves. It was only under the stress of peculiar circumstances, and to avert calamity, that the leaders opened communications with Mr. Hume, although he always refused to come under their special pledges. His attitude of co-operation was thus defined : " I have promised always to do what I am asked, when ​the thing to be done involves, so far as I can judge, no moral wrong, and never to give out, without permis- sion, anything I have been informed of or shown, unless it should appear to me a distinct moral duty not to hold my tongue."
V. The Propaganda in England.
We have now to shift the scene from East to West. For the great scheme to which Mr. Hume had set his hand consisted, as regards its political side, of two parts, each complete in itself, neither effective without the other. There was essential work to be done in India ; and there was essential work to be done in England. In India, a programme of reforms was being matured ; in England, that programme had to be pressed on the attention of Parliament and the public. For Mr. Hume was firmly convinced that the British people desired fair play for India, and would see that justice was done, provided only they understood the merits of the case. No doubt the original connection of England with India was purely self-seeking. But gradually there came an awakening of the national conscience, and the sentiment of duty in the performance of a national trust. India, therefore, helpless in official bonds, should make known her grievances to her big brother, the all-controlling Demos of the British Isles ; but in order to obtain relief, it was necessary that she should raise her voice in tones loud etiough to rouse the friendly but slumberous ' giant. '
These were the views held by Mr. Hume ; and he j called on Indian reformers to make a strenuous effort ' to induce the British public to shake off the torpor of an ignorant optimism, and to restore the continuity with the best traditions of British statesmanship, as declared ​by such leaders as Edmund Burke, Lord Macaulay, and John Bright : the policy embodied in the wise Statute of 1833, and the noble Proclamation of Queen Victoria in 1858.
It will be remembered that in 1885, the first year of the Congress, Mr. Hume paid a visit to this country, and in consultation with Parliamentary friends, sketched out a plan of campaign for the propaganda in England. We have now to see what action was taken in this direction. At first he cherished the hope that some concessions might, by the force of persuasion, be obtained in India from the Viceroy in Council, but when year after year passed away without any response to the Congress prayer, he became convinced that no reform of any value could be expected from the official hierarchy at Simla, and that it was from England that the impulse must come, if any satisfaction was to be obtained for Indian aspirations. Accordingly in a letter, dated 10th February 1889 from Calcutta, he pressed upon Congress workers the vital need for the British propaganda on an adequate scale. He pointed out that in India the work of the Congress in consolidating public opinion had been in great measure accomplished, and that, broadly speaking, all Indian progressives were agreed as to the proper remedies for Indian grievances and disabilities, but "our European officials — who are here all-powerful — in consequence of service traditions and bureaucratic bias, as a body deny utterly the justice of our contentions, and are not to be convinced by anything that we can ever possibly say. We impute no blame to them for this — it is only natural — for the tendency of all the reforms we advocate is to curtail the virtually autocratic powers now exercised by these officials, and unless they were more than human they must necessarily be antagonistic to our programme. Giving all due credit to our European officials, and ​acknowledging their many merits, nothing nevertheless is more certain than that, so long as we confine our reclamations to their ears, we shall never secure those important reforms that we all know to have now become essential, not only to our own welfare but to the auspicious continuance of British rule in India. . . . Our only hope lies in awakening the British public to a sense of the wrongs of our people — to a consciousness of the unwisdom and injustice of the present administration. The least that we could do would be to provide ample funds — for sending and keeping constantly in England deputations of our ablest speakers to plead their country's cause — to enable our British Committee to keep up an unbroken series of public meetings, whereat the true state of affairs in India might be expounded — to flood Great Britain with pamphlets, leaflets, newspapers, and magazine articles — in a word to carry on an agitation there, on the lines and scale of that in virtue of which the Anti-Corn-Law League triumphed." Would that India had followed this wise leadership ! A frontal attack on bureaucratic power, firmly entrenched at Simla — with all the armoury of repression at its command — was hopeless. But success was within reach, by means of a flanking movement, that is, by an appeal to the British elector ; for the elector's vote gives office to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister nominates the Secretary of State, to whom the Viceroy in Council, with all the official hosts, is subordinate. Unfortunately the party of progress in India have never properly realized the practical advantage of this method, and in succeeding years have brought upon themselves endless woes by futile resistance in India to irresistible force, while neglecting to conduct effectively in England the operations which, with a moderate expenditure of labour and of money, would have secured to them a painless victory. ​
The British Committee of the Indian National Congress.
The first steps towards a Congress organization in England were taken in 1887, when Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, then residing in London, volunteered to act as Agent for the Congress ; but he was not supplied with funds, and being engaged in business, he could only spare a small portion of his time, so that practically little was done. But in 1888 an important move forward was made, when Messrs. W. C. Bonnerjee and Eardley Norton joined Mr. Dadabhai in England, and succeeded in enlisting for their cause the great democratic champion, Mr. Charles Bradlaugh M.P. Further, a paid Agency was established under Mr. W. Digby C.I.E. ; offices were taken at 25 Craven Street, Strand ; and a vigorous campaign was carried out in the country. Ten thousand copies of the Report of the third Congress, and many thousand copies of speeches and pamphlets were printed and circulated ; while Messrs. Bonnerjee and Norton, in connection with the Agency, addressed a number of public meetings, and Mr. Bradlaugh delivered many lectures on Indian questions in different parts of England. All this Mr. Bradlaugh did gratuitously, solely in the interests of India, but of course the Agency had to pay for the public halls, advertisements, and other incidental expenses. During the seven months of this work about £1700 were spent. For the current year 1889 the expenditure was estimated at £2500, and this amount Mr. Hume called upon India to provide. Concluding his note, he wrote, "In order first to guide the operations of this Agency, and second to check its accounts and audit them in England before they are sent out to us, a strong Committee of influential gentlemen is now being formed in London. Later I shall be able to report more fully on this matter ; at present I am only in a position to say that Sir William Wedderburn, Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, and Mr, Bradlaugh ​will certainly be upon it, and that it will include others of the most prominent and trusted of our friends in England."
Action was taken in accordance with the above . scheme, and the required Committee was formed on the 27th July 1889. It consisted of Sir W. Wedderburn (chairman), Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mr. W. S. Caine M.P., and Mr. W. S. Bright McLaren M.P., with Mr. W. Digby as secretary, and subsequently the Committee was 7 joined by Mr. John Ellis M.P., Mr. George Yule, Mr. | W. C. Bonnerjee, Sir Charles Schwann M.P., Sir Herbert ^s Roberts M.P., Dr. G. B. Clark, and Mr. Martin Wood. ^ The constitution of this Committee was confirmed by a ^ Resolution of the Congress of 1889, and Rs. 45,000 were voted for its maintenance, the amount to be raised by a proportional contribution from each of the Provincial Congress Committees. The title finally adopted was, " The British Committee of the Indian National Con- gress." In September 1892 Mr. Digby resigned the ] secretaryship, and the office was removed to Nos. 84 and 85 Palace Chambers, Westminster, a very convenient locality opposite the Houses of Parliament ; and these rooms, suitably furnished, the walls hung with portraits of Congress worthies, and with an Indian library con- tributed by Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji and other friends, became the permanent centre of operations for the Congress propaganda in England.
It has been the practice to elect, as temporary members of the Committee, any leading Congress supporters who happen to be on a visit to England. This brings the Committee into touch with the most recent developments in India, and adds much strength to its position, as will be understood from the list of these temporary members, which has included such names as Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, Mr. Subramania Iyer, Mr. Mudholkar, Mr. Gokhale, Mr. D. E. Wacha, ​Mr. Romesh Dutt, Mr. H. A. Wadia, Mr. H. N. Haridas, Mr. A. Chaudhuri, Mr. M. A. Jinnah, and Mr. Bhupendra- nath Basu. On account of his long absences in India, it was not till the 6th of May 1890 that Mr. Hume was himself able to join as a member, and for the first time to attend a meeting of the Committee.
As a Congress leader, and as an early member of the British Committee, Mr. W. C. Bonnerjee stood pre- eminent, combining wise counsels with steady per- severance and ungrudging liberality. His lamented death occurred on the 21st of July 1906, and Mr. Hume writing of him as " one of the best and truest friends " he ever had, thus described his work for India : " From the very outset, he had thrown in his lot, unhesitatingly, with the Congress movement of which he was one of the originators, and from early in 1885 up to this his lamented decease, he adhered to and supported that movement, alike through good and evil report, giving it all the strength of his high character and position, great abilities and widespread influence. Probably no other Indian gentleman of modern times ever exercised so great an influence over his countrymen at large — not merely in Bengal, but throughout India — as did Mr. W. C. Bonnerjee, who from the first day that he put his hand to the plough of Reform very early in 1885, never grudged his time, his talents or his money, whenever and where- ever he saw, or thought he saw, that the cause of India's people might be in any degree aided or promoted by any or all of these."
As time went on, changes occurred in the permanent membership of the Committee. Early colleagues dropped out, and new friends were added. In 1903 there came an important accession of strength when Sir Henry Cotton K.C.S.I. joined the Committee, and from time to time other sympathetic Parliamentarians were added, ​including Mr. Alfred Webb M.P., Mr. Hart Davies M. Mr. C. J. O'Donnell M.P., Dr. Rutherford M.P., Mr.' Mackarness M.P., Mr. Philip Morrell M.P., Mr. O'Grady M.P. (as representing the Labour Party), and Mr. A. M. Scott M.P. Some of those who co-operated most actively with the Committee, such as Sir Charles Dilke, and Mr. Samuel Smith, preferred not to join, on the ground that they would be able to work more effectively in the House of Commons for India without being members of an outside Committee.
Now as regards the success of the work undertaken by the British Committee, it must be borne in mind that the chief difficulty in England for those seeking justice to India, arises from the antagonism of the India Office, where the Council of the Secretary of State has always been the stronghold of reactionary officialdom. As Mr. Hume put it, the India Office is "an organization per- petually employed in popularizing the official view of all Indian questions," and if Indian grievances are to be remedied, this hostile influence must be met — in Par- liament, on the Platform, and in the Press — by "an organization equally persistent and strenuous in dissemi- nating the people's view of these same questions." This therefore was the task before Mr. Hume and his friends; and they sought to fulfil each of these duties — as regards Parliament, by organizing an Indian Parliamentary Com- mittee ; as regards the Platform, by arranging public meetings throughout the country ; and as regards the Press, by founding the journal India as an organ of Congress views. Each of these enterprizes must here be described a little in detail.
The Indian Parliamentary Committee.
It is in Parliament that vital issues are decided ; and as few Indian readers are familiar with the technicalities ​of Parliamentary methods, it seems necessary to explain the difficulties which an independent member desiring reform has to encounter, and to show how completely, as regards India, official influences are dominant in the House of Commons ; also it is important to understand that things have gone from bad to worse since 1858, when the direct administration of India was assumed by the Crown. In theory, the Secretary of State in Council is supposed to be the servant of the House of Commons ; and in theory, he is supposed to occupy a position of judicial impartiality, as the Court of Appeal for Indian grievances. But neither of these suppositions has any foundation in fact. In point of fact, no matter which Party is in power, the Secretary of State, as a member of the Government commanding a Parliamentary majority, is not the servant but, in Indian matters, the master of the House of Commons ; and in deahng with the independent member who questions authority, he does not even affect impartiality, but comes before the House as the indignant apologist of the Department for which he is responsible. Also, he is free to treat the troublesome member with scant courtesy, because his salary is drawn by himself direct from the Indian Treasury, and no inconvenient motion can be brought forward for a reduction on the estimates. Further, as noted above, the Parliamentary situation has materially deteriorated since the days of the old East India Com- pany, because the House of Commons regarded the Company with a wholesome jealousy, as being a privi- leged monopoly ; and since the privileges were granted for a period of only twenty years, a searching enquiry into the whole system of administration was on each occasion carried out before the charter was renewed. Now this is all changed. The wholesome jealousy is dissipated ; and for more than half a century there has been no ​periodical enquiry, such as was before provided auto- matically, no account of stewardship, no day of reckon- ing for official delinquencies. To complete the picture, one more point must be noticed. In other departments of the administration, an independent member seeking redress of grievances, gets ready support from the Front Opposition Bench. But this is not so in the case of a Radical daring to voice India's complaint of destitution, famine, and pestilence. Him a Tory Secretary of State denounces for his malignant, though unaccountable, want of patriotism, while the ex-Minister, emerging from his retirement on the Liberal benches, re-echoes these sentiments, praises his own past administration, and proclaims " the unspeakable blessings of British rule." With a few honourable exceptions, the London Press follows suit, finding subject for amusement when the House empties itself, as soon as it is a question of India's suffering, not seeing any shame in this shameful disregard of national duty.
To stem this tide of official optimism, and get a hearing for India's complaint, is beyond the powder of a private member, unless endowed with the personality and authority of a Bright, a Fawcett, or a Bradlaugh. The only hope is in combination ; and fortunately in the House of Commons there has never been wanting an element of independence and love of fair play, if only it can be reached and made available. Acting there- fore on the lines indicated in Mr. Hume's letter of 5th September 1885 {v. p. 55), steps were taken during the Session of 1893 to establish an *' Indian Parlia- mentary Committee," not committed to any particular measures, but pledged to attend to Indian interests, and to see that justice was done. The earlier movements in the same direction are interesting, and may be noted here. Under the name of the '^ India Reform Society," an ​organization was founded in 1853, mainly through the ' exertions of Mr. John Dickinson, for the purpose of promoting combined and well-directed action among the friends of India. At that time the Charter of the East India Company was about to expire, viz., on the 30th of April 1854, and the immediate object of the Society was to secure that the customary enquiry by Parhament, previous to the renewal of the Charter, should be full and impartial. By means of the facts thus collected, and supplied to him through Mr. John Dickinson, Mr. Bright was enabled to make the noble speeches on India, which led to the issue of Queen Victoria's memorable Pro- clamation in 1858, and did so much to determine the wise and humane policy under Lord Canning, which followed the Indian Mutiny. In 1883 Mr. John Bright approved the formation of an informal Indian Com- mittee, having for its object to secure combined Parliamentary action. Some fifty names were obtained of Members of Parliament, willing to co-operate on the broad ground of a just and sympathetic policy towards India ; and it was arranged that out of these an Executive Committee of five or six should be formed. Of this Executive Committee, Mr. Bright consented to act as Chairman. Supported by this Committee, Mr. John Slagg, Senior Member for Manchester, in 1885, moved for a full Parliamentary enquiry into Indian administration. He secured a place for his motion to enquire into the Government of India Act of 1858, and Lord Randolph Churchill agreed to second it. But, unfortunately, a change of Government prevented the motion coming on, and the opportunity was lost.
The Committee of 1883, which has fallen into abeyance, was revived on the 27th of July 1893, when Sir W. Wedderburn and Mr. Caine invited a few leading independent members to dine with them at the House of ​Commons, in order to discuss Indian affairs. On th. occasion Sir W. Wedderburn, after briefly explaining tl situation, moved the following Resolution : *^ That it desirable to form an Indian Parliamentary Committe for the purpose of promoting combined and well-directt action among those interested in Indian affairs." Thi" Resolution was seconded by Mr. Caine, supported by Mr. John E. Ellis, and carried unanimously. Mr. Jacob Bright then moved, " That the following members form the Indian Parliamentary Committee, with power to add to their number." The names, which included all those present, were the following : Mr. Jacob Bright, Mr. Caine, Mr. John E. Ellis, Dr. W. A. Hunter, Mr. Illingworth, Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Mr. Walter B. McLaren, Mr. Swift MacNeill, Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mr. Herbert Paul, Sir Joseph Pease, Mr. J. Herbert Roberts, Mr. R. T. Reid, Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. C. E. Schwann, Mr. Eugene Wason, Mr. Alfred Webb, and Sir W. Wedderburn. This motion was seconded by Mr. Illingworth, and supported by Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mr. Swift MacNeill, and Mr. Schwann, and was carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr. Caine, seconded by Mr. S. Smith, Sir W. Wed- derburn was appointed Chairman, and Mr. J. Herbert Roberts Secretary of the Committee. From time to time new members joined, so that at the close of the Session the Indian Parliamentary Committee comprised no fewer than 154 members of the House of Commons, a formidable body from a Parliamentary point of view. From among these the following were elected to form a Working Committee : Mr. W. S. Caine, Mr. J. E. Ellis, Mr. W. S. B. McLaren, Mr. D. Naoroji, Mr. J. G. Swift MacNeill, Mr. Herbert Roberts (Secretary), Mr. C. E. Schwann, Mr. S. Smith, Mr. A. Webb, Sir W. Wedderburn (Chairman), and Mr. H. J. Wilson. ​ At this time the financial condition of India was very critical. The Viceroy, Lord Lansdowne, described the situation in the following terms : " To leave matters as they are means for the Government of India hopeless financial confusion ; . . . for the taxpayers of India the prospect of heavy and unpopular burdens ; and for the country as a whole a fatal and stunting arrest of its development." Under these circumstances, a letter (dated ist July 1894) was addressed, on behalf of the Committee, to Mr. Henry Fowler, then Secretary of State for India, containing a searching criticism of Mr. Westland's Budget ; and the subsequent proceedings in the House of Commons, followed by the debate on the Indian Budget, resulted in Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji's motion for a Parliamentary enquiry, which wrung from Mr. Fowler the appointment of the Welby Royal Com- mission on Indian expenditure and the apportionment of charge between India and the United Kingdom.
At the elections during the ten succeeding years of Tory domination the Indian Parliamentary Committee lost many of its most active members. But at last the wave of reaction spent its force ; the tide turned ; and at the General Election of January 1906 the Tory Govern- ment was wrecked, and power came into the hands of the most democratic Government, and the most demo- cratic House of Commons, that had existed since the Reform Act of 1832. With a House of Commons so favourably constituted, no time was lost in reviving the Indian Parliamentary Committee. At the invitation of Sir W. Wedderburn, a company of Members of Parlia- ment and others interested in Indian affairs, met at breakfast on February 28th 1906, at the Westminster Palace Hotel ; and afterwards a Conference was held " with a view to reconstitute the Indian Parliamentary Committee, and generally to consider what action may ​usefully be taken in the new Parliament to advance the interests of the Indian people." Mr. Leonard Courtne (now Lord Courtney) presided at the Conference, an opened the proceedings; and speeches were made by M Schwann M.P., Mr. ]. M. Robertson M.P., Lord Wear- dale, Mr. Frederic Harrison, Mr. Herbert Roberts M.P., Sir Henry Cotton M.P., Mr. Pickersgill M.P., Mr. J. A. Bright M.P., Mr. H. Nuttall M.P., Mr. C. J. O'Donnell M.P., Sir George Robertson M.P., Mr. Byles M.P., Mr. Hastings Duncan M.P., Mr. Hume, Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, and Sir W. Wedderburn. Resolutions in pursuance of the objects of the meeting were passed unanimously ; the Indian Parliamentary Committee was duly reconstituted ; and eventually nearly two hundred Members of Parlia- ment became members of the Committee..
The Journal "India."
Next as regards propaganda in the Press. Indian reformers should bear in mind that without a recognized organ in the Press no cause has in England any chance of success. Whether the cause is Temperance or Free Trade, Land Reform, Irish Nationalism, or Female Suffrage, all reformers find it indispensable to be well represented in the Press, and spend large sums annually with this object. But as regards India the need is far greater, (i) because the subject of Indian grievances is unfamiliar, and distasteful to the national vanity of " the man in the street " ; (2) because in the London Press articles on Indian subjects are mainly supplied by Anglo- Indians unfavourable to Indian aspirations ; and (3) because there are no Indian electors to bring pressure upon Parhament and the Government. If India ceases to have an organ in the Press of this country, she will be held to have abandoned her appeal to the British public ​and the British Parliament. Accordingly, as early as 1890, the British Committee established the journal IndiUy to place before the British public the Indian view of Indian affairs. At first the journal was issued at irregular intervals ; in 1892 it appeared as a "monthly," being issued on the second Friday of each month ; and on the 7th of January 1898 it first appeared as a "weekly" in its present form.
Besides its functions of advocacy, India performs an essential duty in supplying trustworthy information to the British public. The British Committee constantly receives requests for accurate information on Indian affairs from Members of Parliament, from journalists, and from lecturers and platform speakers. In order to supply such a demand it is absolutely essential to have a complete and handy record of current facts, events, and opinions. And this is furnished by India, which is a store-house from which arms and materials are supplied to all those who are willing to strike a blow on behalf of India. The special correspondent of The Times, a none too friendly critic of the Congress, bears witness to the performance of this useful duty, when he says of India that " it may not have a very large circulation at home, but is the chief purveyor of Indian news to a large part of the Liberal Press."
Unfortunately there is another side to the question, i,e., the financial side. As already noted, journals in this country which preach reform, whether political or social, can only do so at the expense of their supporters. The advocacy of an altruistic cause, going counter to selfish interests, popular prejudice, and national vanity, cannot be a commercial success: in the school of the world it is the vender of sweets, not the doctor with his " nauseous draught " that is welcome. And this is peculiarly the case with regard to the Congress cause in England. For ​any hope of success the grievances of India must be forced on the attention of the British pubHc, and this is the duty imposed on the British Committee. Under the circumstances no source of pohtical influence can with safety be neglected. And accordingly, from week to week, by a free distribution of the journal India to Members of Parliament, journalists, political associations, clubs, and reading-rooms, the Committee have placed before the British public the case of India, her needs and grievances. But for want of funds this work has been carried out with increasing difficulty. Rigid economy had to be exercised, preventing various desirable develop- ments, and with their scanty resources the Committee could not have obtained the services of editors possessing such exceptional qualifications as Mr. Gordon Hewart and Mr. H. E. A. Cotton, had not these gentlemen been influenced by their warm sympathy with the cause. The matter is of extreme importance, and it will be necessary to urge the Congress to make suitable and permanent provision for its propaganda work in England. This should be done by forming a permanent propaganda fund, and by securing in London the continued presence of responsible Indian exponents of Congress views.
Public Meetings, Addresses, and Interviews.
There remains to be considered what can be effected by public speech and personal persuasion. This work has been done in past years by public meetings and lectures, by addresses to associations and other select audiences, by social entertainments, and by interviews with Ministers, Members of Parliament, editors, and other public men. In this work the best results were obtained when accre- dited Congress leaders, Hke Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, Mr. Gokhale, and Mr. Bhupen​dranath Basu came to speak at first hand on behalf of their fellow-countrymen. To show the nature of the work, a brief description may be given of the campaigns carried out by Mr. Gokhale in 1905 and 1906. In 1905 four Delegates from India were expected, and the British Committee arranged for some fifty meetings at important centres all over the country. Only two Delegates, Mr. Gokhale and Mr. Lajpat Rai, were able to come ; and much of Mr. Lajpat Rai's time was taken up by a visit to America, where he addressed meetings at New York, Boston, and Chicago. But Mr. Gokhale's campaign in Yorkshire and Lancashire was a brilliant success. I His visit to Lancashire, under the auspices of Sir Charles Schwann and Mr. Samuel Smith, was specially opportune, with reference to the Partition of Bengal, and the boycott of Manchester goods. At Manchester he addressed four most important meetings, (i) the Federated Trades Councils, (2) the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, (3) a meeting of merchants connected with Indian trade, and (4) the Manchester Liberal Association. At each of these meetings he made a different speech, in each case specially adapted to the requirements of his audience. The Chairman of the British Committee, who accompanied him, can bear witness to the profound impression produced on his hearers by the accuracy of his information and the cogency of his arguments. Good meetings were also held in London, and he had a gratifying reception by the undergraduates of the "Union" at Cardbridge, where his motion in favour of more popular institutions for India was carried by 161 to 62. The Fabian Society also held a special meeting to hear an address from him. At this time a Conservative Government was in power, and gave its support to Lord Curzon's reactionary and repressive policy. Mr. Gokhale's main duty therefore in 1905 was ​to arouse public opinion in this country by means of the Platform and the Press. In 1906, after presiding at the Benares Congress, he returned to England as the ac- credited representative of the Congress. But the situa- tion had much changed in the meantime. Our political friends were in power ; so that to address public meet- ings was a secondary matter ; and his main object was to come into touch with, and inform, Ministers and Members of Parliament, upon whom the future of India mainly depended. For this purpose he not only addressed meetings of the Indian Parliamentary Com- mittee, but also personally interviewed about 150 mem- bers of the House of Commons, and secured from them promises of active interest in Indian affairs. As regards interviews with Ministers, the most important were natur- ally those he had with Mr. Morley, who accorded to him a series of long interviews, in which he was able to place fully before the newly appointed Secretary of State the needs and aspirations of the Indian people. Mr. Ellis, the Under Secretary for India, who was an original member of the British Committee, also had cordial inter- views with Mr. Gokhale, and invited him to a breakfast party, where he and other Parliamentary friends expressed their sympathy. Finally the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, accorded him an interview, and gave him a most kindly hearing.
Support of the Propaganda.
These particulars of the propaganda in England, as regards Parliament, the Press, and the Platform, have been set forth in some detail for a specific purpose, viz,ai to impress on the Indian public the very precarious posi* tion of Indian interests, and the absolute need of an organization in England, well-informed, vigilant, and ​with resources sufficient to take effective action when- ever a crisis occurs. At present in England the friends of progress are in power. For a time the sea is calm, and the wind is fair. But who can tell how long this will last ? Is any one so simple as to suppose that the Imperialistic Party is dead, because for the moment it is ^* hushed in grim repose " ? Owing to the complications of home and foreign affairs, the fate of all Ministries in this country hangs on a thread. Sooner or later there must be a change ; and power will come into the hands of those out of sympathy with Indian aspirations. Surely the people of India have not already forgotten what they suffered under the Party of retrogression, of race and class prejudice, of aggression abroad and repression at home I Are they content to await passively the repetition of the same experiences ? What the Indian people have to realize is, that action in favour of Indian aspirations does not spring spontaneously front the ordinary operation of British institutions, but has ever been the result of persistent and laborious personal effort on the part of outside reformers working, both in India and England, on the lines indicated by Mr. Hume. If from time to time an advance has been achieved, it is due to the sympathy of the British demo- cracy, acting under the propulsion of independent reformers. No reform has ever been initiated by the leaders of the Indian bureaucracy. On the contrary, the class interests which hold the lever of power at Simla and at the India Office, are continuously workingto strengthen the official position. Not only have they always done their best to prevent new concessions, but when oppor- tunity has offered, they have taken away the privileges inherited from a former generation of reformers — the liberty of the Press, the right of public meeting, muni- cipal self-government, the independence of the Univer- sities. These ill-starred measures of reaction, combined ​with Russian methods of police repression, brought India under Lord Lytton within measurable distance of a revolutionary outbreak; and it was only just in time that Mr. Hume and his Indian advisers were inspired to intervene. Through their devoted efforts the gulf between the rulers and the ruled was bridged over by the Congress structure, which bore the strain of Imperialism for seven years under Lord Curzon, and made straight the paths for Lord Morley's reforms of 1909, and the Royal Declarations of 1911. Let any thoughtful Indian reflect what fatal developments, much more serious than sporadic outrages, must have followed from popular despair if, during those years, the controlling influence of the Congress had not existed in India, and if, after the Liberal victory at the polls, a duly authorized statement of grievances, and of needed reforms, had not been systematically pressed upon responsible statesmen in England. From the past learn the future; and let the people of India be assured that disaster will follow, and follow (not undeservedly) from their own default, if effort is relaxed, if the organization in England, built up so painfully, is allowed to go to pieces, and if the results of twenty-five years of labour are thrown away.