1 74 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

of New South Wales, and who was himself a military officer in days when there was no organized colonial force. He was well acquainted with the intensity of public feeling in the colony, especially after the departure of Gordon for Khartum, when every item of news from Egypt and the Soudan was discussed with keen interest; and when the intelligence of Gordon's death reached Sydney Sir Edward wrote a letter which was published in the Sydney Morning Herald, in which he pointed out that a grand opportunity was then offered to Australia of proving, by a graceful, a loyal, and generous act, that she yielded not to any portion of the British Empire in loyalty and affection towards the mother country. Sir Edward may be said to have preached a crusade against "the warlike brave Saracens led by the Mahdi and fighting under all the savage influences of fanaticism, . . . learning the art of modern military strategy and acquiring arms and artillery and a knowledge how to use them."

To the general sentiment evoked by the intelligence of the death of Gordon he appealed in stirring terms, and the proposal which he made that a regiment looo strong, composed of recruits from all the Australian colonies, should " be raised as speedily as possible and be placed at the service of her Majesty the Queen to aid her troops already engaged in bitter war both in North and South Africa, or to supply the place at home of those drilled battalions sent out to reinforce their comrades on the field," was eagerly discussed. This, however, would have demanded a considerable time for the communications between the several colonies for the purpose of organizing the force, and, as we have seen, the British government was unwilling to incur the responsibility of accepting a force which would probably reach Egypt only to be in cantonments till the cool weather enabled the army to resume operations.

The members of the New South Wales ministry had already determined to bring the offer of a contingent to an immediate issue, and on the day that Sir Edward Strickland's letter appeared an extraordinary cabinet council was held at the office of the colonial secretary to consider a minute written by Mr. Dalley on