The devoted friends of Mr. Andrews in the wider sphere of Indian life and thought have been very good to us. Sometime ago last year we had the honour of two visits from Rabindra Nath Tagore and now it gives us great pleasure to record the visit of the renowned Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his honoured wife who have come back to India after an absence of 28 years. Their visit to us was no ordinary mark of favour. They came as personal friends of the Principal, and the College had the rare privilege of offering them a hearty welcome and honouring them. They arrived on the 12th of April and Mr. Gandhi addressed the College on the 13th. As the Principal, Canon Allnutt and the staff entered the Hall with Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi deafening and prolonged cheers greeted our guests. Then a deep silence and the College prayers were said. Prayers over, the Principal in welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi said how unworthy they were of the great favour of a visit from their guests, but how gratified at the same time of having the opportunity now afforded of expressing their hearts devotion and love. Eyes of all Indians and Europeans were turned on them and though the country mourned the loss of Mr. Gokhale, it was a loving Providence that gave him and Mrs. Gandhi to guide Indias children to noble achievement. Mr. Gandhi then rose to address the College and spoke in simple Hindi. He said he took the liberty of doing so having previously ascertained from the Principal that the European Staff of the College understood the language of the people and he was glad to know they did.
In the course of his address he said that it would be premature for him to offer any advice in regard to Indian problems, for he has been long away from the Motherland. He needed to learn first before he spoke. He had come to learn and hoped to live and die in India now. Long years ago when he met his master Mr. Gokhale, he felt he had found his Guru in the sphere of politics and he tried humbly and faithfully to follow him. In the religious sphere he had not met with a religious Guru yet. But he must not leave people under the false impression in this respect. His Master, Gokhale, was a deeply religious man. Nobody who worked with him in the closest contact but felt the depth of the reality of his religious temper. To Mr. Gokhale God was a great reality and truth was a great reality. This explained his incessant and indefatigable labours which tried his physical powers to the last. He was a Hindu but of the right type. A Hindu Sannyasi once came to him and made a proposal to push the Hindu political cause in a way which would suppress the Mahomedan and he pressed his proposal with many specious religious reasons. Mr. Gokhale replied to this person in the following words "If to be a Hindu I must do as you wish me to do, please publish it abroad that I am not a Hindu." But Mr. Gokhale was a Hindu and his religion was fearless. He had a deep belief in God and in the eternal triumph of truth. This explained his arduous toil in mastering facts and in investigating truth. Indias greatest need was this fear of God -- the fear of God alone and therefore no fear of Man. That was the one thing we needed. Anarchism was not necessary. If it existed it showed no fear of God. To face evil we must stand in the strength of God and truth; and there was that ancient text on the College walls that truth not falsehood eternally triumphed. Evil of any kind could not stand the searching light of truth and could only be rooted out in the strength of God through personal suffering and not the infliction of suffering on others. That was the secret. "Fear God therefore and do not fear men and remember that ahimsa is our religion, the great gift of our rishis. What we have got to do is bring this religion of the Fear of God into all our lives and even into our politics; nothing else than this and the passionate love of truth will help us. I would exhort you therefore to obey your teachers and to be true to your College motto, to be rooted in the truth of it, so that you may worthily enter the citizenship of your Motherland." Then thanking the students for their splendid help in the South African crisis and their hospitality and kindness to the Phoenix boys when they were guests of the Principal, Mr. Gandhi resumed his seat amidst loud and prolonged applause. A photograph of the College with Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi was then taken and after a fruit party the gathering dispersed. Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi left Delhi on the morning of the 14th April.
(Reprinted from an article from the Stephanian (April 1915))

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