independent Prince, or at least of a Prince independent of England, we
cannot wonder at his terming this a "rude answer." Mr Goschen may have
had some after-qualms himself, for he telegraphed some days later in a
milder tone, but Gordon would not take an affront from any man, and
left it unanswered.

At this crisis Gordon, nothing daunted, made a proposal which, if the
Khedive had had the courage to carry it out, might have left the
victory with them. He proposed to the Khedive to issue a decree
suspending the payment of the coupon, paying all pressing claims, and
stating that he did all this on the advice of Gordon. Failing that,
Gordon offered to telegraph himself to Lord Derby, the Foreign
Secretary, and accept the full responsibility for the measure. Ismail
was not equal to the occasion. He shut himself up in his harem for two
days, and, as Gordon said, "the game was lost."

General Gordon was now to experience the illimitable extent of human
ingratitude. Even those who disagreed with the views he expressed on
this subject cannot deny his loyalty to the Khedive, or the magnitude
of the efforts he made on his behalf. To carry out the wishes of the
Prince in whose service he was for the time being, he was prepared to
accept every responsibility, and to show an unswerving devotion in a
way that excited the opposition and hostility even of those whom he
might otherwise have termed his friends and well-wishers. By an
extreme expedient, which would either have ruined himself or thwarted
the plans of powerful statesmen, and financiers not less powerful, he
would have sealed his devotion to Ismail Pasha; but the moral or
physical weakness of the Oriental prevented the attempt being made.
The delay mentioned allowed of fresh pressure being brought to bear on
the Khedive; and while Gordon emphatically declared, partly from a
sense of consistency, and partly because he hoped to stiffen the
Khedive's resolution that he would not act with the Debt Commissioners
on the Inquiry, Ismail Pasha was coerced or induced into surrendering
all he had been fighting for. He gave his assent to the Commissioners
being on the Inquiry, and he turned his back on the man who had come
from the heart of Africa to his assistance. When Gordon learnt these
facts, he resolved to return to the Soudan, and he was allowed to do
so without the least mark of honour or word of thanks from the
Khedive. His financial episode cost him L800 out of his own poc