Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/281

 the imputation would be made or not, he would deserve it and in any case he could not escape it from himself. The very consciousness of keeping himself glued to a seat, lest he should have to forgo a part of his annuity should have reduced him to a mental plight from which he would have revolted despite the strongest inducements to stay on from friends, and followers. But in retiring under these circumstances, he won in fact the esteem of the public even in laying down his office as he had won it in making himself eligible for the place and in fulfilling the expectations of the public while continuing in it.

He felt he had done with the secular side of his life after the 65th year, and after recovering from acute trouble on account of the complaint in the eye, he threw himself into work on the religious side. The formation of a Parishad for interesting the Hindu orthodoxy in social and religious questions and the institution of the Dharma Rakshana Sabha for securing better management of temples, Mutts and religious, charitable trusts were his work in the way of organisation. The issue of books in the Suddha Dharma Mandal series was Ms work in the w,ay of diffusing a religious