Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/98

 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