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第70章

eminent victorians-第70章

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single European subordinate。 But his motives were to be veiled

forever in a tragic obscurity。 The Abbas and her convoy set out。

Henceforward the Governor…General was alone。 He had now;

definitely and finally; made his decision。 Colonel Stewart and

his companions had gone; with every prospect of returning

unharmed to civilisation。 Mr。 Gladstone's belief was justified;

so far as Gordon's personal safety was concerned; he might still;

at this late hour; have secured it。 But he had chosen he stayed

at Khartoum。



No sooner were the steamers out of sight than he sat down at his

writing…table and began that daily record of his circumstances;

his reflections; and his feelings; which reveals to us; with such

an authentic exactitude; the final period of his extraordinary

destiny。 His Journals; sent down the river in batches to await

the coming of the relief expedition; and addressed; first to

Colonel Stewart; and later to the 'Chief of Staff; Sudan

Expeditionary Force'; were official documents; intended for

publication; though; as Gordon himself was careful to note on the

outer covers; they would 'want pruning out' before they were

printed。 He also wrote; on the envelope of the first section; 'No

secrets as far as I am concerned'。 A more singular set of state

papers was never compiled。 Sitting there; in the solitude of his

palace; with ruin closing round him; with anxieties on every

hand; with doom hanging above his head; he let his pen rush on

for hour after hour in an ecstasy of communication; a tireless

unburdening of the spirit; where the most trivial incidents of

the passing day were mingled pell…mell with philosophical

disquisitions; where jests and anger; hopes and terrors;

elaborate justifications and cynical confessions; jostled one

another in reckless confusion。 The impulsive; demonstrative man

had nobody to talk to any more; and so he talked instead to the

pile of telegraph forms; which; useless now for perplexing Sir

Evelyn Baring; served very wellfor they were large and blank

as the repositories of his conversation。 His tone was not the

intimate and religious tone which he would have used with the

Rev。 Mr。 Barnes or his sister Augusta; it was such as must have

been habitual with him in his intercourse with old friends or

fellow…officers; whose religious views were of a more ordinary

caste than his own; but with whom he was on confidential terms。

He was anxious to put his case to a select and sympathetic

audienceto convince such a man as Lord Wolseley that he was

justified in what he had done; and he was sparing in his

allusions to the hand of Providence; while those mysterious

doubts and piercing introspections; which must have filled him;

he almost entirely concealed。 He expressed himself; of course;

with eccentric ABANDONit would have been impossible for him to

do otherwise; but he was content to indicate his deepest feelings

with a fleer。 Yet sometimesas one can imagine happening with

him in actual conversationhis utterance took the form of a

half…soliloquy; a copious outpouring addressed to himself more

than to anyone else; for his own satisfaction。 There are passages

in the Khartoum Journals which call up in a flash the light;

gliding figure; and the blue eyes with the candour of childhood

still shining in them; one can almost hear the low voice; the

singularly distinct articulation; the persuasivethe self…

persuasivesentences; following each other so unassumingly

between the puffs of a cigarette。As he wrote; two preoccupations

principally filled his mind。 His reflections revolved around the

immediate past and the impending future。 With an unerring

persistency he examined; he excused; he explained; his share in

the complicated events which had led to his present situation。 He

rebutted the charges of imaginary enemies; he laid bare the

ineptitude and the faithlessness of the English Government。 He

poured out his satire upon officials and diplomatists。 He drew

caricatures; in the margin; of Sir Evelyn Baring; with sentences

of shocked pomposity coming out of his mouth。 In some passages;

which the editor of the Journals preferred to suppress; he

covered Lord Granville with his raillery; picturing the Foreign

Secretary; lounging away his morning at Walmer Castle; opening

The Times and suddenly discovering; to his horror; that Khartoum

was still holding out。 'Why; HE SAID DISTINCTLY he could ONLY

hold out SIX MONTHS; and that was in March (counts the months)。

August! why; he ought to have given in! What is to be done?

They'll be howling for an expedition。 。。。 It is no laughing

matter; THAT ABOMINABLE MAHDI! Why on earth does he not guard his

roads better? WHAT IS to be done?' Several times in his

bitterness he repeats the suggestion that the authorities at home

were secretly hoping that the fall of Khartoum would relieve them

of their difficulties。 'What that Mahdi is about; Lord Granville

is made to exclaim in another deleted paragraph; 'I cannot make

out。 Why does he not put all his guns on the river and stop the

route? Eh what? 〃We will have to go to Khartoum!〃 Why; it will

cost millions; what a wretched business! What! Send Zobeir? Our

conscience recoils from THAT; it is elastic; but not equal to

that; it is a pact with the Devil。 。。。 Do you not think there is

any way of getting hold of H I M; in a quiet way?' If a boy at

Eton or Harrow; he declared; had acted as the Government had

acted; 'I THINK he would be kicked; and I AM SURE he would

deserve it'。 He was the victim of hypocrites and humbugs。 There

was 'no sort of parallel to all this in history except David

with Uriah the Hittite'; but then 'there was an Eve in the case';

and he was not aware that the Government had even that excuse。



From the past; he turned to the future; and surveyed; with a

disturbed and piercing vision; the possibilities before him。

Supposing that the relief expedition arrived; what would be his

position? Upon one thing he was determined: whatever happened; he

would not play the part of 'the rescued lamb'。 He vehemently

asserted that the purpose of the expedition could only be the

relief of the Sudan garrisons; it was monstrous to imagine that

it had been undertaken merely to ensure his personal safety。 He

refused to believe it。 In any case; 'I declare POSITIVELY;' he

wrote; with passionate underlinings。 'AND ONCE FOR ALL; THAT I

WILL NOT LEAVE THE SUDAN UNTIL EVERY ONE WHO WANTS TO GO DOWN IS

GIVEN THE CHANCE TO DO SO; UNLESS a government is established

which relieves me of the charge; therefore; if any emissary or

letter comes up here ordering me to comedown; I WILL NOT OBEY IT;

BUT WILL STAY HERE AND FALL WITH THE TOWN; AND RUN ALL RISKS'。



This was sheer insubordination; no doubt; but he could not help

that; it was not in his nature to be obedient。 'I know if I was

chief; I would never employ myself; for I am incorrigible。'

Decidedly; he was not afraid to be 'what club men call

insubordinate; though; of all insubordinates; the club men are

the worst'。



As for the government which was to replace him; there were

several alternatives: an Egyptian Pasha might succeed him as

Governor…General; or Zobeir might be appointed after all; or the

whole country might be handed over to the Sultan。 His fertile

imagination evolved scheme after scheme; and his visions of his

own future were equally various。 He would withdraw to the

Equator; he would be delighted to spend Christmas in Brussels; he

would 。。。 at any rate he would never go back to England。 That was

certain。 'I dwell on the joy of never seeing Great Britain again;

with its horrid; wearisome dinner…parties and miseries。 How we

can put up with those things; passes my imagination! It is a

perfect bondage。。。 I would sooner live 'like a Dervish with the

Mahdi; than go out to dinner every night in London。 I hope; if

any English general comes to Khartoum; he will not ask me to

dinner。 Why men cannot be friends without brin

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