Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/429



Being told just at this moment that I have to address the meeting, I feel that the tribute that comes involuntarily, without previous notice or meditation, is always the most, genuine; and thus the very few desultory remarks which alone the heaviness of the heart may permit will be valuable only as the spontaneous expression of a sorrowing soul. It has been said that the graves of great men are the gathering-places of all nations. What is true of the grave may be said to be true of the closing event in a great man's life—his translation from this to a higher realm. All differences of race, all diversities of thought, all varieties of sentiment, all distinctions of ideals are converged into one point of universal regret, of conjoint tribute to that prince among men who has long held in fee the warmest regard that the heart of India