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of the early Congress leaders; but it was not possible to give effect to it.

As for myself, I found that on my return home I was involved in serious difficulties in connexion with the Ripon College. While I was away, materials were being got ready for a deadly blow at the College. It was found that a student, who had passed the B. L. Examination from the Ripon College, had been marked present on the rolls of the College, when as a matter of fact he was absent. An enquiry was started, and, by a resolution of the Syndicate, the Law Department of the College was ordered to be disaffiliated for one year. It was a serious thing for the College. If the resolution were given effect to, it would mean the financial ruin of the College; for in those days the Arts Departments of the independent colleges derived substantial aid from the surplus revenues of the Law Departments. The situation was critical. For me the joy of the good work that I was able to do in England was gone. My friends vied with one another in giving me parties and entertainments; but the central idea in my mind all the while was 'how to save the College from impending ruin'. I had built it up with my life-blood. It was a highly efficient and successful institution. I was now confronted with a crisis of the gravest magnitude.

The order for disaffiliation was, however, a recommendation which had to be confirmed by the Government of India. Therein jay our hope of relief. We were prepared to give every reasonable guarantee to prevent a recurrence of what had happened; and with the pledge of such a guarantee we approached the Government of India. The matter was sent back to the University for reconsidera- tion. The guarantees were accepted by the Senate. They were loyally given effect to; and the unhappy incident was allowed to terminate. The Ripon College, partially remodelled, continued its career of increasing usefulness.

I cannot take leave of this controversy without referring to the services of some of those who helped the College on the occasion of its greatest peril; and first and foremost among them was the late Sir Taraknath Palit. We had been friends since 1868. He had known my father and admired his genius and his personality. We first met in England and we formed a friendship, which, now that he is dead, is with me a sweet and sacred memory. He was one of the most warm-hearted men that I have ever met, strong in his likes and dislikes. A man of great strength of character, he never hesitated to express his opinions with clearness and emphasis, and