The following extract from the record of his first journey is taken, in the main, from one of his “letters to my children,” dated from Kimberley:—­

“The afternoon Meeting was a select gathering, with the Mayor in the chair.  Most of the ministers of the district were present.  I talked with freedom, questions were proposed, and I carried the audience with me.

“At night we had a Social Meeting in the amphitheatre, which was well filled.  The ex-Mayor presided.  I do not know how long I talked, but they say two hours.  Everybody was much interested.  The doctor with whom I was staying, and a brother physician, came into the house and thanked me for my ‘magnificent speech,’ giving L5 to the fund for which we were collecting.

“I was very glad to get to bed, and to find that I had not taken a serious cold, for everything was open behind me in the theatre, and the night was piercingly cold, whilst I perspired with the exertion of speaking, and felt the wind blowing at my back, striking me like a wet blanket.  I was very tired.

“Tuesday.—­Officers’ Meetings all day.  If I had been pleased with what I saw of the Officers before, I was more so to-day.  Their eagerness to hear, and quickness to understand, the readiness with which they assented to every call and everything laid before them, was delightful.  No body of men more simple or apparently ready for action ever sat before me.

“At night I endeavoured to deal with their hearts, making clear what a full consecration to the War included, and appealing to them for it.  I don’t think I ever gave a more heart-searching address, and it awoke a solemn feeling, almost amounting to gloom, which settled down upon every soul.  You could see it in their faces.  The knife of conviction pierced them through and through, as I called up the particulars in which they came short of that life of love, sacrifice, and service which the War demanded.  We then cleared the decks, inviting those who felt condemned in regard to the past, and who were willing to make the surrender, to come out.  The first to roll up was about as handsome a fellow as I ever saw, a Cornish-man, who fell down and began to cry out aloud to God.  Others followed, and before we finished I suppose we should have nearly seventy down, row after row, sincere, beautiful cases.  Some of the testimonies that followed were delightful.  T. was one of the first to come out, and he confessed down to the ground, and wept like a child, the whole audience being much moved.  It was ten o’clock when I got home, having talked nearly seven hours, and I was glad to get to bed.

     “Wednesday.—­Officers’ Meeting in the morning.  A very precious time
     on matters of detail, which I believe helped the Officers very
     much.”

Only those who thoroughly take in the meaning of these Officers’ Meetings can hope to understand The General’s hold upon The Army, or the value of his various journeys, for such Meetings had far more to do with the success of his work than any of his great public gatherings.  He frequently uses the word “simple” in describing Officers, meaning men who have not got so much puffed up by applause as to be incapable of seeing their defects, and learning how to do better.