The day after Gandhi was arrested, the War Cabinet met in London. Churchill was in a jovial mood, for, as he told his assembled colleagues, ‘We have clapped Gandhi into prison.’ General Smuts introduced a note of seriousness, telling Churchill that Gandhi ‘is a man of God. You and I are mundane people. Gandhi has appealed to religious motives. You never have. That is where you have failed.’ Churchill, with a grin, replied: ‘I have made more bishops than anyone since St. Augustine.’ But Smuts was not amused; as an eyewitness reported, ‘his face was very grave’.
