days of the Congress especially between 1887 and 1895 when he was raised to the Bench permanently, he was in closest contact with the Hindu and its stalwart conductors Messrs. G. Subramanya Iyer and M. Viraraghavachariar, and with the Mahajana Sabha, which was the premier political association in the Presidency. Yet, he enjoyed the confidence of the Government in no stinted measure. The Government knew that his advice would be sincere and honest, and the public knew that it would be patriotic and honorable and would stand the test of public knowledge. In this respect, of not losing the confidence of one party for gaining the confidence of the other, among men of distinction in India his is one of the five names that would be universally accepted, namely, Dadabhai Naoroji, M. G. Banade, Pherozesha Mehta and Gandhi. Men like Tilak and Lajput Rai have been of course beyond the pale of Executive confidence. Other distinguished men in spite of their meritorious service in one direction or another fell into a thermometer which shewed a double reading, if not uniformly, at critical times at any rate. This distinguishing feature in Sir Subramanya
