Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/52

32 legiate education to the people. This will explain why he and his associates accepted such a low salary; this also will explain why he accepted the Government grant. For some time, negotiations, informal no doubt, were actually going on regarding the transfer of the Deccan College to Mr. Tilak and his colleagues. But the reactionary element in the Government at last prevailed and Mr. Tilak's hopes were completely shattered.

It is not to be supposed that the success achieved by the New English School in an incredibly short time was due to any accidental combination of favourable circumstances. Far from this being the case, enormous difficulties met Mr. Tilak on every side. The vested interests that suffered raised a storm of abuse and misrepresentation. The lack of public spirit made the work of collecting funds very difficult. Money came not in torrents but in dribblets. More formidable than the scarcity of money, was the difficulty of getting suitable men, willing to accept the work in true Jesuitical spirit. The Kolhapur Defamation case, the sudden death of Chiploonkar, the incarceration of Tilak and Agarkar added to the difficulties. The patriotic fervour of Tilak, Agarkar and Chiploonkar greatly impressed even the green-eyed Times of India, which while recognising that the ambition of the founders of the New English School was legitimate, was somewhat afraid that this ambition was " destined to have momentous effects on the future of India."

Mr. Tilak was the soul of this devoted band. Modest and unassuming, he never loved lime-light. Though most of the work of organisation fell on his puissant shoulders still he never cared to figure as the Head.