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discovery of the Moraripuker Conspiracy, the trial of the cons- pirators and the heavy punishments inflicted upon the leaders.
Bureaucracy was alarmed, startled at the result of its own blun- ders. It sought to restore the situation and to ensure the ends of peace, and of law and order, by repressive measures which followed one another in rapid succession, chilling the public life of the country, and stunting its growth and development. The liberty of the Press and of public meetings was curtailed; and an old rusty weapon which had long lain unused in the armoury of the Govern- ment was taken down to deal with public workers who had been prominently connected with Swadeshism. Regulation III of 1818 was requisitioned to deport men, some of whom were the leading spirits of the Swadeshi movement, honoured and respected by their countrymen. One morning in December, 1908, people learnt with astonishment that Aswini Kumar Dutt, the leader of the Barisal District, the founder of the Brojomohan College, Krishna Kumar Mittra, one of the foremost members of the Brahmo Samaj, a man held in universal respect by all who knew him, Satis Chunder Chatterjee, Sachindra Prosad Bose, prominent Swadeshi workers, and the wealthy and patriotic Subodh Mullick, had all been deported under Regulation III of 1818.
As regards myself, it was said that the order for deportation was ready, but that it was cancelled at the last moment through the intervention of Sir Edward Baker, who had now become Lieutenant- Governor and who knew me well. Whatever the truth might be, one evening in the first week of December, 1908, as I was about to sit down to dinner, my friend, Moulvi Abul Hossain, one of the most eloquent of our Swadeshi preachers, came rushing to my house at Barrackpore with the report that the C.I.D. officers were coming to arrest me and that I had better get ready. I said, 'All right, let me have my dinner, and you too have yours.' He readily agreed. We had our dinner; and we waited for a couple of hours for the police, but the police never came. So I went to bed, and my friend returned to Calcutta with his mind somewhat at case.
As a matter of fact, I was not deported, while some of my most prominent friends and associates were. Was it ever in contemplation to deport me? I know not. The archives of the Secretariat may some day yield up the secret. While I was a member of the Govern- ment, I could have perhaps obtained this information—but I re- frained. However that may be, the report of my friend Abul Hossain derived some confirmation from the fact that on the day of his visit,