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THE INDIAN ASSOCIATION
51

Naoroji, of being the first Indian Member of Parliament. At any rate he prepared the ground and was a pioneer in the cause.

Long afterwards, in 1890, when I visited Deptford, Mr. Lalmohan Ghose’s constituency, to address a public meeting upon Indian questions, I found that there was a kindly remembrance of him, among his old friends and supporters. His genius and eloquence had made an abiding impression upon all who had heard him or had come within the reach of his personal influence. To the people of India the early death of such a man was a catastrophe. I had known him since 1869, and for forty years we were united by ties of the closest friendship. In later years, ill-health and his growing infirmities had somewhat weaned him from public life; but his interest in public affairs never waned, and, whenever he took part in them, his judgment was as clear and his utterance as emphatic as ever.