Gentlemen, the message of nationality, as I said before has a wider
outlook to-day. We cannot forget that we are living within an empire,
perhaps the vastest, the largest and the most glorious empire in the
history of mankind. We cannot forget that however truly national we may
be--and we ought to be national--under no circumstances should we be
divested of our own individuality and I say the Hindus and Mahomedans
of Bengal, living together side by side for so many generations,
imbibing each other's culture, surrounded by the same atmosphere,
the same climate, influenced by the same culture, the two together
form the real Bengalee nation. Although we should not lose our own
individuality, the spirit of isolation is not the best thing in
national life and philosophy.