But before I approach that question on this dear old beach of Madras,
you will expect me--you will want me--to offer my tribute to the great
departed, Lokamanya Tilak Maharaj (loud and prolonged cheers). I would
ask this great assembly to listen to me in silence. I have come to make
an appeal to your hearts and to your reason and I could not do so unless
you were prepared to listen to whatever I have to say in absolute
silence. I wish to offer my tribute to the departed patriot and I think
that I cannot do better than say that his death, as his life, has poured
new vigour into the country. If you were present as I was present at
that great funeral procession, you would realise with me the meaning of
my words. Mr. Tilak lived for his country. The inspiration of his life
was freedom for his country which he called Swaraj the inspiration of
his death-bed was also freedom for his country. And it was that which
gave him such marvellous hold upon his countrymen; it was that which
commanded the adoration not of a few chosen Indians belonging to the
upper strata of society but of millions of his countrymen. His life was
one long sustained piece of self-sacrifice. He began that life of
discipline and self-sacrifice in 1879 and he continued that life up to
the end of his day, and that was the secret of his hold upon his
country. He not only knew what he wanted for his country but also how to
live for his country and how to die for his country. I hope then that
whatever I say this evening to this vast mass of people, will bear fruit
in that same sacrifice for which the life of Lokamanya Tilak Maharaj
stands. His life, if it teaches us anything whatsoever, teaches one
supreme lesson: that if we want to do anything whatsoever for our
country we can do so not by speeches, however grand, eloquent and
convincing they may be, but only by sacrifice at the back of every act
of our life. I have come to ask everyone of you whether you are ready
and willing to give sufficiently for your country's sake for country's
honour and for religion. I have boundless faith in you, the citizens of
Madras, and the people of this great presidency, a faith which I began
to cultivate in the year 1903 when I first made acquaintance with the
Tamil labourers in South Africa; and I hope that in these hours of our
trial, this province will not be second to any other in India, and that
it will lead in this spirit of self-sacrifice and will translate every
word into action.