Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/63

 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.