THE FALL OF KHARTOUM Position of Gordon at Khartoum— -He asks that Zobehr should be sent to succeed him as Governor — British Government refuses request, but resolves to send British army to rescue Gordon imder Lord Wolseley — Army despatched too late — Narrative of campaign — Fall of Khartoum and death of Gordon — Expedition ordered to invade Soudan from the Red Sea — Expedition abandoned owing to Russian scare — Death of Mahdi.

The collapse of the London Conference was partly attributable to the fact that, from the time of its meeting, to that of its close, the necessity for British intervention in the Soudan was daily becoming more imminent. Our Government fondly imagined that, by compelling Egypt to consent to the evacuation of the Soudan, they had relieved England from any necessity of armed intervention. Their policy, whether wise or unwise in itself, might have succeeded in its immediate object if they had adhered to it persistently, and had not, in deference to popular outcry, agreed to Gordon's being sent to Khartoum as the Envoy of the British Government. But the moment our Government had requested Gordon to proceed to the Soudan, in order to effect the relief of the besieged garrisons, they had, however unwillingly, committed England to armed intervention. It is not my intention in these pages to try and pass any verdict as to the respective