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ful function. Among Anglo-Indian Members of Parliament he was, I think, the most influential. The quiet assertiveness of his gentle and charming manners, the transparent sincerity of his purpose, the overwhelming power of deep conviction, which had its roots in his love for India and her peoples and his thorough mastery of Indian problems, lent to his advocacy a weight which was all but irresistible.

There was a brilliant gathering of Members of Parliament includ- ing the late Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. Ramsay Macdonald. I had of course to speak. I must say that I have never been reconciled to the English practice (I imagine it is also the European practice), of having to make speeches at festive functions. We Indians, when we are invited to a feast, go there to eat and to talk in a friendly and informal way with those whom we may happen to meet. The eating is the principal thing; the talking is a subsidiary adjunct. It is somewhat different in English public functions when there is a festive side to them. The talking is the most important thing, the eating is secondary. The result is that the dinner or the lunch is spoilt for those who have to speak. Their thoughts are centred upon the speech. The enjoyment of the dinner is gone. That is how these functions strike an Oriental. That these speeches are sometimes useful, I have no doubt. The Lord Mayor's Banquet would be shorn of much of its brilliancy and its public interest if the speeches were eliminated. I only say what has struck me. It is only a personal note, as the speeches that I have had to make at these festive functions interfered with my full and personal enjoyment of them. Nobody must imagine that speech-making costs nothing. No speech is worth listening to unless it has been thought over and carefully prepared. Demosthenes, the prince of orators for all time and countries, burnt his midnight oil in the preparation of those orations that captivated the imagination and moved the hearts of his Athenian audience.

In the speech at Sir William Wedderburn's breakfast I again spoke of the Partition and of the deportations.

Sir Charles Dilke, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald and Sir Henry Cotton followed, strongly denouncing the deportations. Mr. Allen Hume was also one of the speakers. His speech was brimful of personal recollections and kindly references to me. He said it was with very great pleasure and pride that he found himself permitted to take an active part in welcoming once more to the shores of England his old friend and tried comrade, Babu Surendranath Banerjea. It