THE FALL OF KHARTOUM. 381 he passed the dreary months waiting for the relief that never came. Whatever else may be said for Gordon, or against him, the story of his death is one of which his country may surely be proud. If, after all, an heroic death may be said to be the most glorious termination of mortal life, Gordon was above all others, felix opportunitate mortis.

For reasons I have already explained, I deem the narrative of the military campaign undertaken for the relief of Gordon to have little direct bearing on the story of the Khedivate. During my visits to Egypt at this time, I was impressed with the little interest apparently taken by the native public in the vicissitudes of the Soudan campaign. The war was not their war. The Egyptian troops, even those commanded by British officers, had little part therein ; and in face of our repeated declarations that, whatever might be the outcome of the campaign, the Soudan was to be severed from Egypt, the issue, whether Gordon was to be rescued or left to his fate, possessed but small interest for the Egyptian population.

The main features of the campaign may be briefly stated. On arriving at Wady Haifa, on the 5th of October, 1884, Lord Wolseley received news that Colonel Stewart — in an attempt to reach Dongola by the Nile, and to communicate with the advancing British forces — had been wrecked and murdered, together with Mr. Power, the British Consul at Khartoum, and M. Herbin, the French Consul. It was clear, therefore, that Gordon was now left almost