HOW TO RECOVER THE SOUDAN. 1 7
excesses of Turkish rule. The inevitable result followed; and
thus it may be said that the egg of the present rebellion was laid
in the three years during which I was allowed to govern the Soudan on other than Turkish principles.
The Soudanese are a very nice people. They deserve the
sincere compassion and sympathy of all civilized men. I got on
very well with them, and I am sincerely sorry at the prospect of seeing them handed over to be ground down once more by their Turkish and Circassian oppressors. Yet, unless an attempt is made to hold on to the present garrisons, it is inevitable that the
Turks, for the sake of self-preservation, must attempt to crush them. They deserve a better fate. It ought not to be impossible
to come to terms with them, to grant them a free amnesty for the
past, to offer them security for decent government in the future.
If this were done, and the government intrusted to a man whose
word was truth, all might yet be re-established. So far from believing it impossible to make an arrangement with the Mahdi,
I strongly suspect that he is a mere puppet put forward by Ilyas,
Zebehr's father-in-law, and the largest slave-owner in Obeid, and that he has assumed a religious title to give colour to his defence
of the popular rights.
There is one subject on which I cannot imagine anyone can
differ about. That is the impolicy of announcing our intention to evacuate Khartum. Even if we were bound to do so we
should have said nothing about it. The moment it is known that
we have given up the game, every man will go over to the Mahdi.
All men worship the rising sun. The difficulties of evacuation
will be enormously increased, if, indeed, the withdrawal of our
garrison is not rendered impossible.
The late khedive, who is one of the ablest and worst-used men in Europe, would not have made such a mistake, and under him the condition of Egypt proper was much better than it is
to-day. Now, with regard to Egypt, the same principle should be observed that must be acted upon in the Soudan. Let your
foundations be broad and firm, and based upon the contentment and welfare of the people. Hitherto, both in the Soudan and in
Vol, III. 38