Now when he
was in the mood-- after a little b. and s., especially-- no one
was
more capable than Gordon, with his facile speech and his free-
and-easy manners, of furnishing good copy for a journalist; and
Mr. Stead made the most of his opportunity. The interview,
copious
and pointed, was published next day in the most prominent part of
the paper, together with a leading article, demanding that the
General should be immediately dispatched to Khartoum with the
widest powers. The rest of the Press, both in London and in the
provinces, at once took up the cry: General Gordon was a capable
and energetic officer, he was a noble and God-fearing man, he was
a national asset, he was a statesman in the highest sense of the
word; the occasion was pressing and perilous; General Gordon had
been for years Governor-General of the Sudan; General Gordon
alone had the knowledge, the courage, the virtue, which would
save the situation; General Gordon must go to Khartoum. So, for a
week, the papers sang in chorus. But already those in high places
had taken a step. Mr. Stead's interview appeared on the afternoon
of January 9th, and on the morning of January 10th Lord Granville
telegraphed to Sir Evelyn Baring, proposing, for a second time,
that Gordon's services should be utilised in Egypt.
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