No doubt, too, it is possible for a
subordinate to suppress his private convictions and to carry out
loyally, in spite of them, the orders of his superiors. But how
rare are the qualities of self-control and wisdom which such a
subordinate must possess! And how little reason there was to
think that General Gordon possessed them!
In fact, the conduct of the Government wears so singular an
appearance that it has seemed necessary to account for it by some
ulterior explanation. It has often been asserted that the true
cause of Gordon's appointment was the clamour in the Press. It is
said-- among others, by Sir Evelyn Baring himself, who has given
something like an official sanction to this view of the case--
that
the Government could not resist the pressure of the newspapers
and the feeling in the country which it indicated; that
Ministers, carried off their feet by a wave of 'Gordon cultus',
were obliged to give way to the inevitable. But this suggestion
is hardly supported by an examination of the facts. Already,
early in December, and many weeks before Gordon's name had begun
to figure in the newspapers, Lord Granville had made his first
effort to induce Sir Evelyn Baring to accept Gordon's services.
The first newspaper demand for a Gordon mission appeared in the
"Pall Mall Gazette" on the afternoon of January 9th; and the very
next morning, Lord Granville was making his second telegraphic
attack upon Sir Evelyn Baring.
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