The position of the
English in Egypt itself was still ambiguous; the future was
obscure; how long, in reality, would an English army remain in
Egypt? Was not one thing, at least, obvious-- that if the English
were to conquer and occupy the Sudan, their evacuation of Egypt
would become impossible?
With our present information, it would be rash to affirm that
all, or any, of these considerations were present to the minds of
the imperialist section of the Government. Yet it is difficult to
believe that a man such as Lord Wolseley, for instance, with his
knowledge of affairs and his knowledge of Gordon, could have
altogether overlooked them. Lord Hartington, indeed, may well
have failed to realise at once the implications of General
Gordon's appointment-- for it took Lord Hartington some time to
realise the implications of anything; but Lord Hartington was
very far from being a fool; and we may well suppose that he
instinctively, perhaps subconsciously, apprehended the elements
of a situation which he never formulated to himself. However that
may be, certain circumstances are significant. It is significant
that the go-between who acted as the Government's agent in its
negotiations with Gordon was an imperialist-- Lord Wolseley. It
is significant that the 'Ministers' whom Gordon finally
interviewed,
and who actually determined his appointment were by no means the
whole
of the Cabinet, but a small section of it, presided over by Lord
Hartington.
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