A very serious danger is thus seen to be threatening the future of
India, and to avert it will require the utmost effort of the people.
They have not only to meet the economic crisis but also to protect the
ideals of ancient Aryan civilisation from the destructive forces that
are threatening it. Nothing great can be conserved except through
constant effort and sacrifice. There is a danger of, regarding the
mechanical efficiency as the sole end of life; there is also the
opposite danger of a life of dreaming, bereft of struggle and activity,
degenerating into parasitic habits of dependence. Only through the
nobler call of patriotism can our nation realise her highest ideals in
thought and in action; to that call the nation will always respond. He
had the inestimable privilege of winning the intimate friendship of Mr.
G. K. Gokhale. Before leaving England, our foremost Indian statesman
whose loss we so deeply mourn, had come to stay with the speaker for a
few days at Eastbourne. He knew that this was to be their last meeting.
Almost his parting question to Dr. Bose was whether science had anything
to say about future incarnations. For himself, however he was certain
that as soon as he would cast off his worn out frame he was to be born
once more in the country he loved, and bear all the country that may be
laid on him in her service. There can be no doubt that there must be
salvation for a country which can count on sons as devoted as Gopal
Krishna Gokhale.
--_Amrita Bazar Patrika_, 26-7-1915.