Monday's papers contained the news of an attempt on the
lives of Lord and Lady Minto. As they were driving through Ahmedabad on Saturday two bombs were thrown at the carriage, one of which was knocked aside with his sword by a sergeant of Dragoons riding by the carriage, while the other struck a servant who was holding an umbrella over Lady Minto. One of the bombs was found intact; the other exploded in the hands of a sweeper who picked it up, inflicting injuries from which he has since died. No arrests have been made, but it is stated that a Hindu was seen to throw the bomb. The best comment on this outrage is furnished by the statement that Lord and Lady Mint° proceeded on their way unmoved. British officials, from the Viceroy downwards, will never be stampeded by outrage. At the same time, as the Times points out, this last attempt makes it clearer than ever that reforms alone will not put a stop to sedition. Lord Minter has since been welcomed with great cordiality at Baroda, where the Gaekwar at a State banquet expressed the profound horror excited in India by the attempt on the representative of the King, "the truest friend and benefactor of the country." In his reply Lord Mint° said that he "stoutly refused to admit that anarchical crimes should blacken the character of the whole people." None the less, they were a slur on the people of India, and he trusted that they would assist the. Government to "eradicate the seeds of poison scattered amongst them."
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