Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/256

 of the intellectual middle class of the country, who brought to the aid of the Government on a footing of dignified equality the contribution of the natural interpreters between the rulers and the ruled. In fact he was the first gleam of public spirit in the Legislative Chamber. The Hindu of the day under the ever memorable direction of Mr. G. Subramaniya Iyer commended his nomination in a sub-leader, not in a thanksgiving spirit of "Blessed be the name of the Lord"—but in that striking manner of public approbation of which Mr. G. Subramanya Iyer will ever remain so conspicuous a master. Its comment is worth producing as shewing the reason of the esteem in which Sir Subramanya Aiyar was held then and the manner in which nominations to the Council used to be made. Sir Subramanya Aiyar may well be regarded as the ancestor of the present non-official members who are his successors of the third descent At the time he was nominated, the principle of nomination underwent a slight change in that the selection came to be fromanornamental one to a utilitarian one.The next stage arrived with Lord Cross's Act and the third with Morley's reforms. It is esteemed a unique good fortune