I am only endeavouring to place Gordon’s situation and action in a fair light, and I cannot do this without pointing out how greatly England has been to blame in not accepting a responsibility for which she made herself liable. This brings me directly to the second question, which deals with the reason why Gordon, with the promised support of Egypt and England, failed not only to restore order to the Soudan, but even to extricate the beleaguered garrisons. Volumes have been already written on this subject, and there are probably volumes yet to come, particularly those representing that Journal by Gordon and Colonel Stewart, which was captured by a treacherous enemy, and is now supposed to be in the hands of Mahomet Achmet, the Mahdi. I will content myself then with an endeavour to supply what I feel is the substance of the answer to be found, in this missing Journal, to the question I have raised. Gordon was constantly thwarted and never supported is the summary of a whole which I will give in detail as briefly as I can.
(1) Gordon wished to visit the Mahdi if he thought fit, but Sir E. Baring gave him a positive order from Her Majesty’s Government that he was on no account to do so. Of course, as I have already shown, Gordon, in his position as Governor-General, need not have accepted this as an order, but he was, as he always has been, most anxious to conform to the wishes or desires expressed by Her Majesty’s Government, when those wishes affected only a point of judgment, and not a point of duty or a point of honour.
(2) Gordon proposed to go direct from Kartoum to the Bahr Gazelle and Equatorial Provinces, but Her Majesty’s Government refused to sanction his proceeding beyond Kartoum.
(3) Gordon desired 3000 Turkish troops, in British pay, to be sent to Suakin, but Her Majesty’s Government, advised by Sir E. Baring, who disapproved of the measure, declined to send these troops.
(4) Gordon, being convinced that some government was essential for the safety of the Soudan, suggested the appointment of Zubair as his successor, and gave the most cogent reasons why it was absolutely necessary for the accomplishment of his mission that the appointment should be made. He reiterated his request over and over again from February to December. Her Majesty’s Government would not permit the Khedive to make this appointment.
(5) Gordon requested that in the interests of England, Egypt, and the Soudan, he should be provided with a Firman which recognised a moral control and suzerainty over the Soudan. This was peremptorily refused.
(6) Gordon asked for Indian Moslem troops to be sent to Wady Halfa. They were refused him.
(7) In March Gordon desired 100 British troops to be sent to Assouan or to Wady Halfa. In making known this desire to Her Majesty’s Government, Sir E. Baring said he would not risk sending so small a body, and the principal medical officer said the climate would exercise an injurious effect on the troops. These troops were not sent.
(8) Gordon, for the sake of everything and everybody concerned, showed that the Mahdi’s power must be smashed. Her Majesty’s Government declined to assist in, or even to countenance, the process.
(9) Gordon, in a series of eleven telegrams, explained his difficulties, and said that if Her Majesty’s Government would not send British troops to Wady Halfa, an adjutant to inspect Dongola, and then open up the Berber-Suakin route by Indian Moslem troops, they would probably have to decide between Zubair or the Mahdi, and he concluded these telegrams by saying he would do his best to carry out his instructions, but felt convinced he would be caught in Kartoum. Sir Evelyn Baring, in his reply to these telegrams, recommended Gordon to reconsider the whole question carefully, and then to state in one telegram what he recommended!