But if Mr. Montagu's abstract proposition is sound, what are
we to say of Mr. Montagu when, with a double dose of unction, he makes broad his phylacteries and says such things as, "We hold British life sacred, but we hold Indian life sacred too," the obvious innuendo being that anyone who opposes Mr. Montagu takes the reverse view. Even worse was his attempt to show that those who want India ruled for her own - good by a wise and just and reasonable trustee Government take the line that "an Indian is a person who is tolerable so long as he will obey your orders," or that if an educated native adopts English views of liberty, "he is to be classed as an agitator." The limit was reached when Mr. Montagu, in his character of the good and glorious Sultan who protects the poor man against the oppressor, exclaimed rhetorically, "What a terrible and cynical verdict!" Is it to be wondered at that he was greeted with the cry of "What a terrible speech !" ?
