Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/134

 conservative have their own honest ways of thinking. Mr. Tilak sticking peculiarly to his idea of non-interference by outsiders in matters of development purely Indian—and this phase of thought it is that has very materially contributed to the emphasis he always lays upon self-help in all progress we have yet to make—threw the weight of his opinion and personality on the side of the Orthodox. With Mr. Tilak going over to the conservative two clearly cut parties sprang into existence in Poona. Patience cannot always be expected of men filled with new-born enthusiasm. And so the radical Reformer could not excuse Mr. Tilak of the abysmal fall he had suffered by pandering to the tastes of the populace. So abuse after abuse was heaped upon the head of the devoted Champion of the cause of the Orthodox. That such periods occur in the lives of great men proves neither their incapacity nor the ingratitude of the mass of mankind. It proves on the other hand that when great men are thrown up and great causes have to be worked, there is so much ferment let loose by an ordaining hand that leavens the world and creates a clearer and a better vision. Nor are the great really