Page:Heroes of the hour- Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak Maharaj, Sir Subramanya Iyer.djvu/314

 They forget that as an old man he could have found the practice of the sacred Gayatri a more congenial occupation instead of inviting official displeasure. They forget he has possessions and progeny to care for, that he has risen above the leaden weight of both, and has acted like a Sanyasi who has neither. They forget above all that there has not been another old man, although there are many old men, patriotic too, who has found "safety" in his old age as Sir Subramanya Iyer has nobly found. The true explanation of his heroic recklessness lies in the fact that with his innate spiritualism he looks upon the Motherland as a sacrificial altar on which at the hour of call each man must lay with pride and faith all that he may reckon as his. Between steadiness of vision and readiness for action is the frame of the hero encased, and Sir Subramaniem has not only seen life steadily and seen it whole, but has acted as his steady and whole vision impelled him from time to time. Truly, the country seems to have grown younger for his old age.

The child is father of the man is no half truth in the case of Subramaniem—generous to foes, helpful to a fault to friends, loyal to the