Page:A Nation in Making.djvu/372

impulse; the members of the Executive Council must sympatheti- cally respond; and the permanent officials must follow their lead. It was this condition of things, this atmosphere, that was established in Bengal from the start of the Reforms. Both Lord Ronaldshay and Lord Lytton were statesmanlike in their attitude of sympathy and help, and stood by the Ministers with their generous support. They acted as constitutional sovereigns and made no distinction between Members and Ministers. Possibly their experience of English public life helped them, and members of the Executive Council, in their turn, made no distinction between themselves and their ministerial colleagues. Goodwill was the predominating note; it was coupled with the practical recognition of an equal status.

The Government thus formed on the whole a happy family, despite differences of opinion inseparable from the discussion of public affairs. Of heated conflict and collision we had little or none; and in our discussions we had not much of the taste of the alleged evils of diarchy. A sweet reasonableness, dominated by the spirit of compromise, was the prevailing feature of our deliberations. During Lord Lytton's time the Government, as a whole, would often meet to discuss questions on the reserved side. Here we had no responsibility; we could only give our opinion, and our colleagues on the reserved side were under no obligation to follow our advice, and sometimes they did not even consult us. But our position was rendered difficult by our being held responsible for what have been called the repressive measures. The Joint Parlia- mentary Committee absolved us from all responsibility in regard to them. All the same, our critics would fasten responsibility upon us, for it afforded them an opportunity for attacking us. Our lips were sealed, we could not reply: chivalry had no place in these attacks. Our silence was interpreted as acquiescence, and the campaign of vilification went on apace.

I remember the Ministers being attacked at a Town Hall meeting for an act of the Executive Government in regard to which they were not consulted and the Government was not bound to consult them. The irresponsibility of some of the speakers—and they were supposed to be men of light and leading—went so far that they demanded our resignation, forgetting that the law provided a machinery for compelling us to resign, through a vote of censure of the Legislative Council, when we were guilty of any serious dereliction of duty in regard to any matter for which we were