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the Montagu-Chelmsford Report was published. It was the signal of war. There was an angry outcry from the Extremist organs. Even Mrs. Besant, who now takes the view of the Moderate party in regard to the Scheme, denounced it in her own eloquent and emphatic style. 'The scheme is unworthy to be offered by England or to be accepted by India'—so thundered forth Mrs. Besant in her organ, New India, on the very day the Scheme was published. Curiously enough, on the selfsame day a manifesto issued by fifteen gentlemen of Madras condemned the Scheme in terms equally emphatic. 'It is so radically wrong', said they, alike in principle and in detail that it is impossible to modify or improve it.' The late Mr. Tilak said the same thing in his simple and straightforward fashion. 'The Montagu Scheme' observed Mr. Tilak, 'is entirely unacceptable.'

In the midst of all this excitement and ferment, a special session of the Congress was called to consider the Report, and we who did not profess the same extreme views had to decide what we should do. Should we attend the Congress or not? We decided to abstain. We felt that these hasty and extreme views would dominate the deliberations of the Congress, and that we should not lend them the weight of our support by our presence. We accordingly held a conference of the Moderate party in Bombay on November 1, 1918. I was elected President. It was the first of the Moderate Conferences, which are now held from year to year. Some of our friends, the Rt. Hon. Mr. Shastri and the Hon. Sir Narasingha Sarma among others, continued to attend the Congress, in the hope of making their influence felt. But it was a vain hope. The Congress has become more Extremist than ever, and they have since dis- continued their attendance. We have parted company—it is difficult to say for how long.

The schism indeed did not take place without a strenuous attempt on our part to arrive at a compromise. Our divisions have been the fruitful source of our weakness, and we tried to prevent a fresh one. Fully three weeks before the meeting of the Congress I wired to the Joint Secretary and to Mrs. Besant, asking them to postpone the Special Session of the Congress for a short time, for an inter- change of views which might help to bring about an understanding. The request was not complied with, and at the last moment, just twenty-four hours before the sitting of the Congress, when a final effort was made, it was far too late—the psychological moment had passed by.