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27

My Visit to England in 1909

I am invited to the Imperial Press Conference—Ripon College in safe keeping—the first function—irrelevance of Lord Cromer: my reply and its effect—Warwick Castle; Stratford-on-Avon; Oxford—when and why I smoked—I speak at Manchester—a visit to Windsor—work after the Conference—I speak on the Partition: repression condemned—breakfast and speeches at Sir William Wedderburn's—the assassination of Sir William Curzon-Wyllie—meeting at the New Reform Club—conference at Mr. Stead's house: my 'last words' to the British public—return to Calcutta, August, 1909.

I must now go back to the year 1909, beyond which I have travelled. Early in 1909, I was invited to attend the Imperial Press Conference which was to meet in London in the June following. It was to be a gathering of the representatives of the Press throughout the Empire. I was the only member of the Indian (as distinguished from the Anglo-Indian) Press who was asked to join the Conference. The invitation was made by Mr. Lovat Fraser, formerly of the Times of India, and at the time on the staff of The Times. It was an honour done to me, and I felt it as such; but there were difficulties in my way. The administration of the Ripon College was then being organized under the new University Regulations. The College had just passed through a serious crisis in connexion with the affiliation of its Law Department. There was a time when it seemed as if the Law Department, which was the largest in Bengal, would be disaffiliated. Thanks, however, to the powerful intervention of Sir Edward Baker, and the readiness of the college authorities to comply with the requirements of the University, these difficulties were overcome; and, while every law college in Bengal, with the exception of less than half a dozen, was disaffiliated, the Law Department of the Ripon College was allowed to retain its status and position.

We were not, however, quite out of the wood yet, and I sought the advice of Sir Edward Baker. He advised me to accept the invitation, assuring me that during my absence no harm would come to the college. A similar assurance was given to me by the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjea, who then ruled the University with undisputed sway. I had thus the satisfaction of feeling pretty

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