Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/244

 to hand a cheque to a public benefaction, who behaved as one who in serving the Government did not part with his regard for the good repute of the Government, and who certain of obloquy from high quarters sprang forward to face the rulers with his past prestige and his present conviction—the first man to act in this manner in all India is Sir Subramanya Iyer. We do not forget the unforgettable Pherozesha Mehta, But he was at no time a servant of the Crown and the moral weight that attaches to high office in India and among Englishmen who deal with India was not present in his case. Furthermore, a lion among men as he was and although he never lacked for the fraction of a second in his whole life time courage to face any mortal howsoever high and vindicate his high sense of self-respect—he yet lacked to some extent faith in his countrymen. This lack of faith held him back from countenancing many things other popular leaders have studiedly encouraged, which he looked upon probably as dreams, if not shams. He no doubt never cared to enter into compromises,as he thought, of an unsound character either with Government or with his colleagues. He is believed to have deplored to the last day of his life the mistake of Gokhale