पान:ना. गोखले चरित्र.pdf/३१४

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To GOKHALE'S MEMORY

to sweep away half the difficulties at the outset. Like all men gifted with the spirit of reform, he was always on the alert to unearth and state the problems which others would be content to leave half-hidden beneath the weight of administrative machinery; but it would never have occurred to him to rest satisfied with the bare statement of the problem. The vital point in his view was to arrive at the solution, and to that end he would bring to bear all the resources of his fertile mind and all the great influence of his personality. If any illustration of his way of setting to work were needed, we turn most naturally, perhaps, to his visit to South Africa, the effects of which, in view of what has since happened, may well be said to be incalculable.

 It is almost inevitable- and perhaps it is right- that in thinking of our great men of public affairs we recall the atmosphere of their ideals and their personality, rather than the underlying fact of their sheer intellectual power. Yet in Mr. Gokhale's case this fact claims special recognition, if only because it was so often veiled beneath the modesty and sincerity of his nature. His grasp of things, both in essentials and in details, was not the least valuable of the assets which he brought to the service of his country. It is not too much to say that his annual contribution to the debate on the Budget proposals in India, to quote only one example, was one of the outstanding features of the proceedings of the Viceroy's Council, and was eagerly awaited even by those who could not see eye to eye with him in his criticisms. That a man should interest himself in the complexities of Indian economics and finance is in itself a tribute to his powers of mind; that he should master them, and should display his mastery at an age at which few people would care even to study them cursorily, was a sign of a ripening intellect and a serious endeavour which served to