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- The news of Mr Armand de Souza's death came as a great shock, for I had not even known he was ill. I believe Ceylon could hardly have had a greater loss. Few realise how much he did for us all. How many for instance, give him the credit for his work during the war? In his paper, by far the most widely read, he was constantly cheery and brave, and did more to keep up the spirits of Ceylon during that time than any one man, to my mind.
Again, he had a lion's share in the introduction of the reforms, and I am glad he saw them in, with the promise of things to come. But I need not chronicle his public deeds. Comparatively few knew what an excellent lecturer he was. He was there seen at far greater advantage than his paper, for he was there free to be himself. And he worked then for peace and better understanding between all races in Ceylon, and gave his hearers his great dreams and visions.
He was intense and vital in all he did. Very delicate, he did an enormous amount of work, and like Stevenson always showed a 'Morning Face'. He was a gallant and brave spirit and did not seek his own.
No one who knew him at all closely would fail to be struck by the beauty of his family life, and his chivalrous devotion to those who had first claim on him. His was a great generous nature and he spent himself freely, and Ceylon has lost in him one of her very best.
He made mistakes and made enemies, as anyone of his integrity and energy must. I have come under his lash as much as anyone in days long past. But I never found any personal animus in him, and he was always ready to hear the other side and to revise his judgments. I found him straight, and he was my friend. (en)
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