The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-05-03
BY Ex-ATTAcHE.

devoted, continue to absorb the attention
| of the English people Quarterly and
monthly reviews. weekly journals, and
even the daily newspapers accord pages
and column 10 the controversy which has
arisen as to the relative merits OF the two
men. The most intense bitterness is be
/ ing displayed by the rival disputants,
! with the result that the memory Of the
/ hero Of Khartoum has been most unjustly
! assailed. while. on the other hand. sight
/ is being lost of the magnificent services
rendered by the author Of Modern
/ Egg pit" in transforming the Land Of tie
4 Nile from a iawless, hopelessly bank
rupt and cruelty oppressed country into
wsll-governed. prosperous. lsw-abiding,
/ and progressive nation.
/ No one can deny that Gordon was an
English soldier of a most inspiring type,
q Christian hero in the best sense Of the
word, filed with sentiments Of boundless
sympathy for every form Of human suf-
fering. and 70 such an extent the slave
/ Of his conscience that he preferred 10
/ sacrifice one of the most honorable and
/ lucrative offices in the government Of
/ India rather than be a party 10 what
was. af,1.- ali. vfe of the mere accepted
white lies that are indispensable 10 social
usage and intercourse. Moreover, declin-
/ ing TO avail himself OF the opportunities
TO effect his own escape from KhaTtOum,
/ he preferred to perish at the post which
1 he had chosen rather than abandon those
natives whom he had been sent to rescue.
and who. having pinned their faith on
/ him, were assured Of a terrible end at
the hands of the dervishes If he deserted
them. He died the death indeed, OF a
martyr 10 his sense of duty.
Whether Gordon ought ever TO have
been sent on that mission to Khartoum
from which he never returned. is another
question, and Lord CTOmer, as will be
seen presently. was well justified in de-
murring 10 his appointment For Cor
don with all his many admirable and
fascinating qualities, was neither a facile
associate nor an obedient subordinate
Few knew him better than the late Col
Mason Bey, formerly Of the Confederate
army, and who died in the service Of the
Khediviate only few years ago He was
with Gordon throughout the latters first
term OF governor generalship of the
Sudan, and on being asked how he alone
of all GOrdons subaltern officers had
managed % remain on terms Of close
! friendship and intimacy with him, was
fond OF relating the peculiar arrangement
which he had made with his chief TO
avoid friction.
Gordon realized that he had in some
/ respects an ungOvernable temper, and
that there were moments when he was
in such a state OF irritation as 10 be Ill
orally unarproachable. Anxious 10 avert
any quarrel with so good a fellow and
so loyal a lieutenant as Mason. he ar
ranged with the latter that whenever he
felt these FITS coming upon him he would
hang out of his window at KhartOum a
huge old battleax, dating from the time
/ of the Crusaders. and which he had pick
ed up somewhere in the Sudan. Mason
whenever he caught sight of this storm
signal, kept away from Gordon. and moth
ing not even the most pressing and
urgent business. would induce him to
go near his chief at such times.
Moreover, some of GOTdons letters
written in 1s7S-ls79 toward the close of
his first governor generalship Of the
Sudan, 10 the cabinet at Cairo, and shown
by the then premier Nubar Pasha, to
CromeT. II that time commissioner Of the
debt, were couched in such extraordinary
/ language, and so terribly abusive as to
render all those who. like myself. had
an opportunity Of reading them doubtful
about the wisdom of Gordon's reapp0int-
ment to the Sudan five years later: that
is TO say. in 1854. 1t must be remembered
that Nubar was again prime minister
when the dispatch of Gordon 10 Khar-
toum was forced from England upon
khedive Tewfk. Lord CTOmeT. and the
Egyptian government. all equally averse
thereto. and for his subsequent fate it
Is those who thus extorted his appoint
ment who are primarily responsible, but
certainly not Lord CTomer.
An attempt has been made to insinuate
that the late Queen and the present King
had a hand in the matter There is not
the slightest foundation for any such in
ference. Quite the contrary is the case.
Both were great admirers of the general.
but they were also aware Of the peculiari-
ties Of his character, especially the then
Prince of Wales: and in February. 1884
I recall a discussion at Marlborough
House in which the fact was brought TO
light that the heir apparent doubted the
wisdom Of his mission 10 the Sudan.
What Lord Cromer does not mention in
his book is that within three weeks be-
fore GOTdOn's dispatch by the English
government to Cairo for the purpose of
taking up the appointment Of governor
Of the Sudan, and charge OF the evacua-
ton, the general had in a public inter
view denounced Khedlvs Tewhk and his
prime minister. Nubar Pasha in the most
scathlng fashion. I happened TO be in
Cairo at the time, and having known
Tewfk prior TO his accession to the
throne, saw much OF him just then. He
cruelty resented the expressions used con-
corning him by Gordon, and discussed
them with me on several occasi0 S.
It will readily be understood, therefore,
that he was dismayed by the sudden an
nouncement Of the intentions Of the Eng
fish government with regard to Gordon,
his sentiments being echoed by Nubar,
and by, indeed, most Of the leading
Egyptian statesmen, as we'll as by those
older English and foreign employees Of
the Khedivial government who had been
brought into contact with the general
when he was formerly in the Sudan In
fact everybody in Cairo was opposed, not
only TO the Downing street policy Of the
abandonment by Egypt OF the Sudan, but
also 10 the selection Of the officer charged
with the duty of putting into execution
the evacuation Of that great dependency
When Gordon arrived IN Cairo, the
khedive and Nubar put good face upon
the matter, and treated him with honor
and distinction, furnishing him the neces-
sary DEGREES investing him with the gov
ernor generalship OF the Sudan. But that
they approved Of his nomination. or that
they bore him any good will. is just as
difficult TO believe as that Lord Cromer
Witnessed his departure for Khartoum
with anything but the strongest misgiv-
ing.
There are two things which. it seems
to me, are necessary TO emphasize in or