Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/17

 The record of such a life must be of value to political thinkers among the British people, as teaching them how to fulfil a trust, such as never before has fallen to the lot of any nation. But specially it has seemed to me a duty to place before the youth of India the example of Mr. Hume's strenuous and unselfish life, and to bring into fresh remembrance the stirring words he uttered of encouragement and reproof, both alike prompted by his love of India, and his anxious care for her future. "Excelsior!" was his motto. His ideal was indeed a high one—the regeneration, spiritual, moral, social, and political, of the Indian people. But he taught that such a consummation could not be attained without the solid work-a-day qualities of courage, and industry, and self-denial.



In order to realize the personality of Allan Hume, it is necessary to bear in mind his parentage, and his early surroundings. In the first place, he was the son of that sturdy and fearless Scottish patriot and reformer Joseph Hume, from whom it may be said that he inherited not only a political connection with India but also his love of science, and his uncompromising faith in democracy. The following character sketch is from the facile pen of the Rt. Hon. G. W. E. Russell: "Joseph Hume was born in 1777 and died in 1855. His father was a tradesman at Montrose: but the son preferred science to shopkeeping, and qualified as a surgeon. In 1796 he obtained an appointment in the service of the East India Company, and sailed for India. On the voyage the Purser fell sick; Hume took over his duties, and discharged them so well that the Company transferred him from marine to civil employment. He threw 3