Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/313

Mrs. Besant's proposal, had it been passed, would have emphasized our expression of gratitude at the expense of our dignity. Mr. Gandhi's resolution was graceful without being emphatically dignified. Mr. Tilak's resolution was a unique combination of grace with dignity, mellowed by a reasonable expression of gratitude. It was not a question merely of grace or gratitude. The Resolution, Mr. Tilak said, ought not to tie our hands. We must emphatically state that we are fit for an immediate establishment of Home Rule. We must emphatically state that we are not satisfied with what has been given. We must fully reserve our right to carry on a vigorous agitation for a very early revision of the Government of India Act. We must carry on our propaganda in other parts of the world and convince the different nations of the legitimacy of our demands. If the Resolution is too complimentary, if it talks too much of gratitude and satisfaction, how shall we, say next year, appeal to the British Democracy, to revise the Act ? This, in brief, was Mr. Tilak's reasoning. In the draft Resolution " Mr. Das reiterated the demands of the Delhi Congress and declared that the Reforms Act is inadequate, unsatifactory and disappointing. Mr, Gandhi's argument was that those who labelled the Reforms Act as disappointing could not be expected to use the same for the early estabhshment of Responsible Government in India. Disappointment and work could not go hand in hand. He appealed to Mr. Tilak, the commentator of the Gita, to solve the riddle and have no mental reservations towards those in England who were well-disposed towards India. Mr. Tilak repHed that disappointment should not be