At 8 o'clock on Monday morning, September 21, the day after General De la Rey's funeral, General Kemp, standing on General Beyer's motor-car, presided over a gathering of from 800 to 1,000 Boers. The Rev. Mr. Broeckhuizen opened the meeting with a short prayer. A verbatim report of this prayer appeared in the Dutch papers as follows: "Lord, we thank Thee that Thou rulest our nation through these dark days and stormy circumstances. We have buried our hero and have gathered to speak in his spirit. We thank Thee for such a man as General Beyers, beside whom his friend was shot. We thank Thee also for General De Wet and General Kemp, and that Thou hast given us such men to lead us. We stand for our people. Help us, O Lord, towards the salvation of our people and the salvation of our fatherland. Amen."
The three personalities mentioned in this prayer became active participants in the rebellion, and so did the reverend gentleman who prayed. In fact the latter sent a letter to his congregation three months later from the Johannesburg prison, resigning his pastorate at Pretoria.
In opening the meeting the chairman disclaimed all ideas about a revolution. They had come to consider calmly a decision by the Union Parliament to invade German South West Africa; but while he was speaking, some one produced a flag of the old Free State Republic, and General Kemp rebuked the person for this puerile action. Whether the rebuke was due to the fact that the Boers had not yet then made up their minds to rebel, or because Maritz's plans with the Germans on the south-western frontier had not yet matured, we do not know. Anyway, General Beyers, in supporting the chairman, added that his cause was a clean one and there was no necessity for nonsensical flag-waving. They were there, he said, to pass a calm resolution and forward it to the Government.
One Mr. van der Hoff inquired why General Beyers resigned. The chairman replied that the reasons were clearly set forth in the letter of resignation. At the request of the gathering the Rev. Mr. Broeckhuizen read the letter aloud, the reading throughout being punctuated with cheers. It does not appear, however, that General Smuts's reply was also read, presumably because there was no call for it.
General Liebenberg wanted to know what the situation was that morning; then he proceeded to say: "The enemy is already inside our borders. Some one had disturbed a beehive and the result is what might have been expected. We have three generals before us" — (apparently in addition to the speaker) — "yesterday we buried the dearest of them all. I want a reply from Generals De Wet and Beyers. We are British subjects, and it is not improbable that the Government might instruct their officers to call us out to-morrow."
General De Wet, the man of the hour, then stepped on to the motor-car to speak, prefacing his speech with the remark that he could not help remembering his brother buried the previous day. Then, in beginning his speech, he said: "Burghers and Brethren, — If there be any one present who is not a brother, let him walk away. Since nobody is leaving I conclude that we are brothers all. If there be any stepbrothers here, they are all welcome, but a traitor always reminds me of Judas." Proceeding, he said that "the Germans had been made enemies by the Government. The fire was already burning, so let us adopt a calm resolution, expressing the will of the people. Not that I wish to praise my people, but we are not going to soil our hands, no not even to show our loyalty. Let us be cool, remembering that we have many sympathizers in South Africa and elsewhere. If any one wished to gnash his teeth and hath no teeth his best course is to consult the dentist for a set. Better an hour too late than a minute too early. We do not all reside near a telephone or a telegraph office and cannot be conversant with what goes on at the frontier. Even when Generals Beyers and Kemp are asleep, keep a watch and remain cool. I believe there are numerous Christians among us. When it is time the whole of the people will rise up like to-day."
Some one wished to know if it was possible to recall the forces already at the border. That, said the chairman, would be decided later.
The Rev. Mr. de Klerk said General Beyers's letter translated the real feeling of the people. Even though Generals Beyers, Kemp, and De Wet had resigned, they still remained Generals. They honoured other officers who had the pluck to resign with General Beyers (whose names the Government had not published but had suppressed), including Lieutenant Kol Bezuidenhout. One Field Cornet to the speaker's knowledge had resigned, but his name had not been announced." The reverend gentleman then betrayed his flagrant ignorance of South African history when he said: "Our people were never known to have robbed any one of land. All (?) their land had been acquired by means of purchase or barter. The history of South Africa was a spotless one." After stating that the Afrikander must express his disdain with respect to the Jameson raid and the unrighteous annexation of the Republics, he concluded: "Blood is flowing in Belgium, but is it in the interest of South Africa to draw the sword on that account? It may be in the interests of the Empire; but the hem of my coat is nearer to my body than the coat itself. The sending of troops to Damaraland is nothing but an attack upon a people that had done us no harm. I believe it to be our duty to sit still."
Rev. Mr. Van der Merwe, who said he spoke on behalf of the young people, said all their officers should resign like General Beyers and others. He hoped that any officers present would resign before noon that day.
General De Wet pointed out that the appointment of any Jack, Tom, and Harry might follow such wholesale resignations, for although he lived in the "Free" State he held a share in the affairs of that (Transvaal) Province.