Page:A Nation in Making.djvu/74

consequences, my friend, who was a lawyer, and I agreed that nothing serious need be apprehended, so long as we were moderate and kept within constitutional bounds. We decided to hold the meeting and face the consequences, whatever they might be.

It was one of the most successful meetings ever held in Calcutta. It sounded the death-knell of the Vernacular Press Act, and, what is even more important, it disclosed the growing power of the middle class, who could act with effect for the protection of their interests, even though the wealthier classes were lukewarm, and official influence was openly arrayed against them. It was a lesson that the middle class of Bengal never forgot, and which they have since utilized in many useful directions. It indeed marked a definite and progressive stage in national evolution; and was the creation of the builders of the Indian Association.

The agitation against the Vernacular Press Act was continued. The Indian Association addressed a letter to Mr. Gladstone, expressing their gratitude to him for his support of the liberty of the Press in India. The draft of the letter was mine. The Rev. Dr. K. M. Banerjee revised it. It elicited an autograph reply from the Right Hon. gentleman, which is still preserved among the archives of the Association. When in 1909 I visited the Oxford Union along with other members of the Imperial Press Conference, I was shown a record of the proceedings of the Union in Mr. Gladstone’s own handwriting. He was then Secretary or President of the Union, I forget which. The writing was fine, clear and bold. The letter in the possession of the Indian Association is altogether a different specimen of handwriting, bearing traces of the change that age had wrought.

One of the earliest acts of Lord Ripon’s administration was the repeal of the Vernacular Press Act. It is interesting to notice how same of those who had zealously upheld the measure were now equally zealous in supporting its repeal. The discipline of the Civil Service is one of its notable characteristics. Consistency is no part of its creed. It obeys the lead given by its seniors and elders with scrupulous fidelity. We have had a recent and somewhat notable illustration of this in its attitude in regard to the modification of the Partition of Bengal. The modification of the Partition was strongly resented by the Bengal Civilians. It was felt more or less as a blow aimed at the prestige of the Service. But among those who signed the Despatch of the 25th August, 1911, recommending the modification, was a prominent Bengal Civilian who had identified