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I have a distinct recollection of the Congress of 1888, the first Indian National Congress held at Allahabad. Those were the early days of the Congress; and the interest that the novel demonstration excited in a place that had never witnessed anything like it was great. It was stimulated by certain incidents. Nothing is so helpful to an infant cause seething with enthusiasm as opposition. Sir Auckland Colvin, who in 1884, on the eve of Lord Ripon's depar- ture for England, had recognized the birth of a new life in India, now fiercely assailed the Congress, which was typical of that life. He was a pupil of Lord Dufferin. Lord Dufferin had, just before he vacated the Viceroyalty, denounced the Congress and its pro- gramme, and referred to the educated community as a 'microscopic minority'. Indian officialdom took its cue from him. Mr. Hume's stirring pamphlets appealing to educated India to rally round the Congress provoked the ire of the Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces, who not only wielded his pen in a wordy controversy, but threw many difficulties in the way of the holding of the session of the Congress at Allahabad. Pundit Ajodhyanath, the leader of the Congress movement in the United Provinces, and Chairman of the Reception Committee, was, however, a host in himself. A brilliant lawyer, a warm-hearted patriot, a great organizer, he overcame all difficulties, and the session of the Congress at Allahabad in 1888 was in one sense the triumph of popular opinion over the solid opposition of the bureaucracy.

Raja Shiva Prosad of Benares, the trusted friend of the officials, entered the Congress pandal as a delegate. That he should have joined the Congress was a marvel. But it was a diplomatic move. His object was soon disclosed in the course of the speech that he delivered. He came not indeed to bless, but to curse, and he received the retort courteous from Mr. Eardley Norton in a speech of withering scorn and indignation.

Mr. George Yule was the 'President of the Allahabad Congress. He was the first non-Indian President. He was a Calcutta merchant, the head of the great firm of Andrew Yule & Co. I had hardly come across a Calcutta merchant with broader and more liberal views or with more genuine sympathy for Indian aspirations. He was a hard-headed Scotchman who saw straight into the heart of things, and never hesitated to express himself with the bluntness in which a Scotchman never fails, if he wants to show it. Through- out, he remained a staunch friend of the Congress cause, to which he rendered valuable service by helping the Congress Deputation