The infatuated old men were convinced that they would
have better luck next time, that another army and another Hicks
would certainly destroy the Mahdi, and that, even if the Mahdi
were again victorious, yet another army and yet another Hicks
would no doubt be forthcoming, and that THEY would do the trick,
or, failing that ... but they refused to consider eventualities
any further. In the face of such opposition, the English
Government, unwilling as they were to interfere, saw that there
was no choice open to them but to exercise pressure. They
therefore instructed Sir Evelyn Baring, in the event of the
Egyptian Government refusing to withdraw from the Sudan, to
insist upon the Khedive's appointing other Ministers who would be
willing to do so.
Meanwhile, not only the Government, but the public in England
were beginning to realise the alarming nature of the Egyptian
situation. It was some time before the details of the Hicks
expedition were fully known, but when they were, andwhen the
appalling
character of the disaster was understood, a thrill of horror ran
through
the country. The newspapers became full of articles on the Sudan,
of
personal descriptions of the Mahdi, of agitated letters from
colonels
and clergymen demanding vengeance, and of serious discussions of
future
policy in Egypt.
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