Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/138

 under freer conditions. That he did not become an apke vaste judge or an apke vaste councillor—and that has been the fate of Indian Judges and Indian Councillors with very rare and noble exceptions—none need feel that the country has been the poorer for it. It is probably Mr. Tilak's renunciation of the legal walk of life that has made him the greatest advocate that he is of the dumb millions of Bharatavarsha.

Incident by incident brought Mr. Tilak gradually into the fore-front and he was called upon to fill positions which to him meant mere fields of so much more experience and to others meant and, mean even to-day, the be-all and end-all of existence. He was elected Secretary of the Deccan Standing Committee of the Congress and he held that office for a number of years. The first five Sessions of the Bombay Provincial Conference were his handiwork. He was twice elected to the Bombay Legislative Council and there did his duty undaunted by official or unofficial frowns. He enjoyed the privilege, so far as it is a privilege, of being returned a Fellow of the University of Bombay. He was also made one of the city fathers of Poona by the largest vote of the people