"
"But surely the gathering together of Congress delegates is of itself a new
thing."
"There's nothing new under the sun When Europe was a jungle half Asia flocked
to the canonical conferences of Buddhism; and for centuries the people have
gathered at Pun, Hurdwar, Trimbak, and Benares in immense numbers. A great
meeting, what you call a mass meeting, is really one of the oldest and most
popular of Indian institutions in this topsy-turvy land, and though they have
been employed in clerical work for generations they have no practical
knowledge of affairs. A ship's clerk is a useful person, but he is scarcely
the captain; and an orderly room writer, however smart he may be, is not the
colonel. You see, the writer class in India has never till now aspired to
anything like command. It wasn't allowed to. The Indian gentleman, for
thousands of years past, has resembled Victor Hugo's noble:
"'Un vrai sire Chatelain Laisse ecrire Le vilain. Sa main digne Quand il signe
Egratigne Le velin.'
"And the little egratignures he most likes to make have been scored pretty
deeply by the sword."
"But this is childish and mediaeval nonsense!"
"Precisely; and from your, or rather our, point of view the pen is mightier
than the sword.
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