Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/137

 upon maintaining the honor of his beloved motherland was equally bestowed on maintaining the honor of all those whom he knew and loved. An incident happened about this time which clearly shows this peculiar trait of Mr. Tilak's personal character. Rao Saheb Bapat was an officer of the Settlement Department of the Earoda state. He was also Mr. Tilak's nearest friend. A number of charges of corruption was brought against him and he had to stand accused before a court of law. Mr. Tilak knew that his friend was in danger for no fault of his and so threw himself heart and soul into the defence of Mr. Bapat. Mr. Tilak the lawyer was fully utilised for relieving the distress of one near and dear and people were led to conjecture how great a luminary he might have been if he continued practising at the bar. No conjectures seem to be necessary now. The defence that he conducted for himself in the Kesari prosecution of 1908 struck the world dumb with admiration for his powers of argument and grasp of legal situations. Mr. Tilak might certainly have become a great lawyer, a greater judge and probably the greatest administrator and counsellor of Government