That
the promises of support were not fulfilled-- which I so
frequently and constantly pressed on those who asked him to go--
is to me GRIEF INEXPRESSIBLE! Indeed, it has made me ill... Would
you express to your other sisters and your elder Brother my true
sympathy, and what I do so keenly feel, the STAIN left upon
England, for your dear Brother's cruel, though heroic, fate!'
In reply, Miss Gordon presented the Queen with her brother's
Bible, which was placed in one of the corridors at Windsor, open,
on a white satin cushion, and enclosed in a crystal case. In the
meanwhile, Gordon was acclaimed in every newspaper as a national
martyr; State services were held in his honour at Westminster and
St Paul's; ?20,000 was voted to his family; and a great sum of
money was raised by subscription to endow a charity in his
memory. Wrath and execration fell, in particular, upon the head
of Mr. Gladstone. He was little better than a murderer; he was a
traitor; he was a heartless villain, who had been seen at the
play on the very night when Gordon's death was announced. The
storm passed; but Mr. Gladstone had soon to cope with a still
more serious agitation. The cry was raised on every side that the
national honour would be irreparably tarnished if the Mahdi were
left in the peaceful possession of Khartoum, and that the
Expeditionary Force should be at once employed to chastise the
false prophet and to conquer the Sudan.
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