Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/293

 CHAPTER XVIII

TILAK— F— CHIROL.

From the Deccan * * his (Mr. Tilak's) infiuence projected far and wide. * * his prestige as a Brahmin of Brahmins, and as pillar of Orthodoxy, * * his reputation for profound learning in the philosophies of the West and the East, his trenchant style, his indefatigable activity, the glamour of his philanthrophy, his accessibility to high and low, his many acts of genuine kindliness, (his) personal magnetism * * combined to equip him more fully than any other Indian Politician for the leadership of a revolutionary movement. Indian Unrest by Sir. V. ChiroL Page 54.

THE late Mr. Gokhale used to describe how he was once humourously taken to task by an Executive Councillor for having made a seditious speech. On Mr. Gokhale*s denying having done so, a C. I. D. report of his speech was produced and both Mr. Gokhale and the Official laughed over the perversions and distortions contained in that report. It is not given to every public leader to be a persona grata with the Government, nor can he expect to have that constant communication with the highest officers which alone, can, if possible remove such misunderstandings. If in some future generation after the attainment of Swaraj, the historian of this period has access to confidential reports of the Government, he will be able to mention how hundreds