Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/183

 and climb, more and more by slow degrees the cloudy summits of our times."

Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, in the course of a speech made at Calcutta, said that "Mr. Hume worked in sickness and in health for the political advancement of the people of India with a self-sacrificing zeal and a single-mindedness of purpose which will enshrine his memory in the affections of the people, and will entitle him to the deepest gratitude of the most distant generations of Indians. His name will stand forth in the golden records of Indian history as one of the great builders of Indian national life and one of the truest promoters of Indian national union. ... In the muster roll of distinguished Enghshmen who had laid broad the foundation of the British rule in India and had enthroned themselves in the hearts of the people, Allan Hume would occupy a prominent position. Mr. Hume, in the golden record of Indian history, stood as a successor and Hneal descendant of the Metcalfes and Bentincks, and the great band of mis- sionary philanthropists who had sown the seeds of their educational progress, seeds which to-day under the beautiful laws of evolution were bearing such splendid fruits."

Dr. Rash Behari Ghose, speaking at the same meeting, expressed his confidence that " when the voice of blind passion and vulgar strife is hushed, the name of Allan Hume will find a conspicuous place in the roll of those good servants of England who are imperial in the true sense of the term ; for the true imperialist is not the man who shouts the loudest about the imperial destiny of England, but the man who is conscious of the great trust which has been laid on England and which a great and righteous nation alone can discharge. . . . Hume's tomb is the whole of India and his most lasting memorial will be found not in marble or bronze, but in the hearts of those for whom he lived and died."

The Hon. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, speaking at Allahabad, said that " Mr. Hume inspired, elevated and educated those who came under his influence by the noble- ness of his nature, his world-wide sympathies, his profound