Letter from Joseph Chamberlain [Secretary of State for the Colonies], (40 Princes Gardens [London]), congratulating WSC on his work, his escape from the Boers, on his letters to the press from South Africa and also on British success in South Africa in general. He adds that he had enjoyed WSC's "River War", and looked forward to his account of events in South Africa. Chamberlain then comments on the lessons of the Boer War, praising the bravery and endurance of the "rank and file" but acknowledging that foreign criticism of British generalship was justified. He adds that the extended Empire rendered Britain liable to strain "on military resources for which we are insufficiently prepared", and that the War Office should give more attention to militia and volunteer forces, instead of treating them as toy soldiers in peacetime, and as useless during a war. He also states that the Boers had behaved well in treating British prisoners and wounded with kindness and had shown "tenacity and courage beyond all praise", noting that their skill in using cover and their mobility had helped them defend against superior forces. Chamberlain also praises the attitude of the British public, and the strengthening of their resolve with every reverse, commenting that the Government would have a vast majority to help insist on peace terms which would prevent further war, and place British supremacy in South Africa beyond doubt. Finally he wishes WSC well, adding that he was sorry to see that WSC's brother [John Churchill] had been wounded.