'I got on very well, and had three beautiful cases, but I cannot tell you
how I felt all day about it. I could neither eat nor sleep. I never was
in such a state, and when I saw the people, I felt like melting away.
However, I got through.'

Even to the last, when she was known all round the world as one of the
greatest women-preachers of the day, she never spoke without feeling
deeply the responsibility and importance of her work, nor without having
prepared carefully beforehand what she wanted to say.

It was very difficult for her, with four little children, the eldest only
four years and three months old, to get enough time and quiet. We should
have said it was impossible, for she was not well off, and could not
afford to put her sewing out, or to have many servants to work for her;
but she says:--

'God forced me to begin to think and work, and He gave me grace and
strength to do it. Many a time while I was nursing my baby I was thinking
of what I should say next Sunday, and between times I noted down with a
pencil the thoughts as they struck me. Then I would appear with an
outline scratched in pencil, trusting in the Lord to give me the power of
His Holy Spirit; and from the day I began He has never allowed me to open
my mouth without giving me signs of His presence and blessing.'

The two books she always used in getting ready for her Meetings were her
Bible and Concordance.

In later years she taught her children how to prepare for their Meetings,
and some of the advice she gives is very helpful to Corps Cadets.