Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/66

46 from those into whose hands it has fallen. But the Indian leaders in the first half of the 19th century failed to take note of this cardinal principle and the country, instead of pining for its lost independence was applauding the English as deliverers. Howsoever natural such an attitude might have been owing to the chaotic condition of things just before the British Conquest it cannot be too much deplored. For, relieved of the cares and responsibilities of political and international questions, the new leaders of the country attended to the next best thing, the condition of their society. In this attitude they were encouraged by their English and Anglo-Indian masters as well as by the zealous Missionaries, who, too had an axe of their own to grind. Add to this the tendency of a fallen nation to be-little its own worth and admire the customs, manners, thoughts and institutions of the rulers. Knowing that they were a mere handful in the midst of crores of Indians, the English believed that unless they maintained very high prestige among Indians the Political domination of India was an impossibility and hence they appeared to us at their best,—strong, masterful, gifted with all the qualities of greatness. They were demigods amidst a race of mortals, giants ruling over pigmies and the very limited intercourse Indians could have with them completely concealed from us their shortcomings. It is not surprising that in the psychological situation detailed above, Indian leaders, cut off from the moorings of National traditions mistook the unreal for the real, the accidental accompaniment for the substance. Conscious of their own impotence and anxious to lift up the