y-five or forty what would have been a party,
in this parliament, of sixty-five home rulers, and have thus
arrested (or at the very least postponed) the perilous crisis,
which no man has as yet looked in the face; the crisis which will
arise when a large and united majority of Irish members demand
some fundamental change in the legislative relations of the two
countries. I can ill convey to you how dear are my thoughts, or
how earnest my convictions, on this important subject....

General Gordon's Instructions. (Page 153)

_The following is the text of General Gordon's Instructions (Jan. 18,
1884)_:--

Her Majesty's government are desirous that you should proceed at
once to Egypt, to report to them on the military situation in the
Soudan, and on the measures it may be advisable to take for the
security of the Egyptian garrisons still holding positions in that
country, and for the safety of the European population in
Khartoum. You are also desired to consider and report upon the
best mode of effecting the evacuation of the interior of the
Soudan, and upon the manner in which the safety and good
administration by the Egyptian government of the ports on the sea
coast can best be secured. In connection with this subject you
should pay especial consideration to the question of the steps
that may usefully be taken to counteract the stimulus which it is
feared may possibly be given to the slave trade by the present
insurrectionary movement, and by the withdrawal of the Egyptian
authority from the interior. You will be under the instructions of
Her Majesty's agent and consul-general at Cairo, through whom your
reports to Her Majesty's government should be sent under flying
seal. You will consider yourself authorised and instructed to
perform such other duties as the Egyptian government may desire to
entrust to you, and as may be communicated to you by Sir E.
Baring. You will be accompanied by Colonel Stewart, who will
assist you in the duties thus confided to you. On your arrival in
Egypt you will at once communicate with Sir E. Baring, who will
arrange to meet you and will settle with you whether you should
proceed direct to Suakin or should go yourself or despatch Colonel
Stewart _via_ the Nile.

The Military Position In The Soudan, April 1885. (Page 179)

_This Memorandum