Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/188

 possible, so that posterity may see how we honoured the memory of a man who, though differing in race, made himself one of us, identifying himself completely with us and with all our aims for a better state and greater contentment."

He loved India (wrote the Wednesday Review) as no other British statesman has loved her, and he had his reward in the willing homage of a vast population. " Who can forget the enthusiasm which he roused among the people when he visited this country nineteen years ago ! His tour was a triumphal progress, and showed what even a single English- man could do to bind the people of India closer to England and deepen their attachment to British rule. What made Mr. Hume's advice so valuable was his candour, and he never cared to whitewash in a spirit of mistaken kindness the shortcomings of the people for whom he worked."

"One of the greatest Anglo-Indians of the last century," was the opinion of the Madras Standard. " But for his parental care, his unceasing interest, his extraordinary exertions, his timely advice and admonitions, and his great self-sacrifice, the Indian National Congress might not have steered clear of the shoals and rocks that beset its career. To the last he remained at the helm, faithful and true, and unshaken in his belief in its strength and usefulness. He looked forward to the formation of an Indian nation, happy, contented, and manly, and a tower of strength to the British Empire. And, we have no doubt, he died with the supreme satisfaction that a mortal can have of his life's great work being fairly on the road to fruition."

The Mahratta, of Poona, said that Hume's memory would "be cherished in India not so much for his official career as for the work that he did after retirement in rearing a national Indian institution — the Congress. No one else could be said to have done so much as he did to foster that nursling in those days."

The Gujarati thought that "Providence meant to preserve his life for a great political mission, and it will be admitted on all hands that Mr. Hume did nobly fulfil the mission that