However, God rules
all, and, as He will rule to His glory and our welfare, His will
be done. I fear, owing to circumstances, that my affairs are
pecuniarily not over bright ... your affectionate brother, C. G.
G0RD0N.
'P.S. I am quite happy, thank God, and, like Lawrence, I have
TRIED to do my duty.'
The delay of the expedition was even more serious than Gordon had
supposed. Lord Wolseley had made the most elaborate preparations.
He had collected together a picked army of 10,000 of the finest
British troops; he had arranged a system of river transports with
infinite care. For it was his intention to take no risks; he
would advance in force up the Nile; he had determined that the
fate of Gordon should not depend upon the dangerous hazards of a
small and hasty exploit. There is no doubt--in view of the
opposition which the relieving force actually met with--that his
decision was a wise one; but unfortunately, he had miscalculated
some of the essential elements in the situation. When his
preparations were at last complete, it was found that the Nile
had sunk so low that the flotillas, over which so much care had
been lavished, and upon which depended the whole success of the
campaign, would be unable to surmount the cataracts. At the same
time--it was by then the middle of November--a message arrived
from Gordon indicating that Khartoum was in serious straits.
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