All that Egypt had a right to expect was commiseration.
But the moment Zubehr was prohibited the situation was changed.
The refusal to permit his employment was tantamount to an admission that
affairs in the Soudan involved the honour of England as well as the honour
of Egypt. When the British people - for this was not merely the act of the
Government - adopted a high moral attitude with regard to Zubehr, they
bound themselves to rescue the garrisons, peaceably if possible,
forcibly if necessary.
With their refusal to allow Zubehr to go to the Soudan
began the long and miserable disagreement between the Government
and their envoy. Puzzled and disturbed at the reception accorded to his
first request, Gordon cast about for other expedients. He had already
stated that Zubehr was 'the only chance.' But it is the duty of
subordinates to suggest other courses when those they recommend are
rejected; and with a whole-hearted enthusiasm and unreserved loyalty
the General threw himself into the affair and proposed plan after plan
with apparent hope.
Gordon considered that he was personally pledged to effect the evacuation
of Khartoum by the garrison and civil servants. He had appointed some
of the inhabitants to positions of trust, thus compromising them with
the Mahdi. Others had undoubtedly been encouraged to delay their departure
by his arrival. He therefore considered that his honour was involved in
their safety. Henceforward he was inflexible. Neither rewards nor threats
could move him. Nothing that men could offer would induce him to leave
Khartoum till its inhabitants were rescued. The Government on their side
were equally stubborn. Nothing, however sacred, should induce them to send
troops to Khartoum, or in any way involve themselves in the middle
of Africa. The town might fall; the garrison might be slaughtered;
their envoy - But what possibilities they were prepared to face as
regards him will not be known until all of this and the next generation
are buried and forgotten.
The deadlock was complete. To some men the Foreign Office might
have suggested lines of retreat, covered by the highest official praise,
and leading to preferment and reward. Others would have welcomed an order
to leave so perilous a post. But the man they had sent was the one man
of all others who was beyond their control, who cared nothing for what
they could give or take away. So events dragged on their wretched course.
Gordon's proposals became more and more impracticable as the best courses
he could devise were successively vetoed by the Government, and as his
irritation and disappointment increased. The editor of his Journals has
enumerated them with indignant care.
