Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/432

 inspired the whole nation with the hope of the rich possibilities ever of India. Stu- dents of Ranade may remember that remarkable address of his which he named 'the Telang school of thought and action' — an address which, in my humble opinion, could more appropriately be named 'the Ranade school of thought and action.' Of that school of thought and action, the noblest specimen in our generation has been the illustrious worthy whose premature demise we universally mourn. The leading characteristic of that school, said Ranade, is to maintain a golden mean between the stolid indifference which fights shy of progress and the unbridled impulsiveness which takes no note of practical conditions. The typical man of that school is the stout-hearted, puritan soul ever ready to battle for the right, ever pressing into broader light, always confident but never jubilant, always serious but never dejected.

Such was Gopala Krishna Gokhale. Unto him as to none else, in one generation, be-