Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/344

 marked feature of his character. He liked to dispense honours, rather than to receive them. He would be something higher than a king, — a king-maker. From the Superintendentship of the New English School and the Principalship of the Fergusson College to the Presiden- tship of the Home Rule Conference and of the National Congress, Mr. Tilak studiously kept himself in the back-ground and rejoiced in the honour of others. Time was, when, while in a minority in the Congress, he suffered his name to be proposed for the Presidentship of the Congress. But that was only for establishing a principle and not for seeking any honour ; and when his party did come to caommand a majority in the Congress, he twice refused the highest honour offered to him. The Special Sessions of the Congress in 1918 and 1920 were presided over by Mr. Hasan Imam and Lala Lajpat Rai, and on both these occasions Mr. Tilak's Presidentship was unanimously sought.

A true Brahmin and a true Kshatriya, Mr. Tilak, at the time of his death, was the most powerful personality in India.