own by
the following letter:--

"_February 27, 1884._--I have sent Stewart off to scour the river
White Nile, and another expedition to push back the rebels on the
Blue Nile. With Stewart has also gone Power, the British Consul and
_Times_ correspondent, so I am left alone in the vast palace of
which you have a photograph, but not alone, for I feel great
confidence in my Saviour's presence.

"The peculiar pain, which comes from the excessive anxiety one
cannot help being in for these people, comes back to me at times. I
think that our Lord, sitting over Jerusalem, is ruling all things
to the glory of His kingdom, and cannot wish things were different
than they are, for, if I did so, then I wish _my will_ not _His_ to
be done. The Soudan is a ruin, and, humanly speaking, there is no
hope. Either I must believe He does all things in mercy and love,
or else I disbelieve His existence; there is no half-way in the
matter. What holes do I not put myself into! And for what? So mixed
are my ideas. I believe ambition put me here in this ruin; however,
I trust and stay myself on the fact that not one sparrow falls to
the ground without our Lord's permission; also that enough for the
day is the evil. 'God provideth by the way, strength sufficient for
the day.'

"_March 1, 1884._--We are all right at present, and I have hope,
but certainly things are not in a good way; humanly speaking,
Baker's defeat at Suakim has been a great disaster, and now it has
its effects up here. 'It is nothing to our God to help with many or
with few,' and I now take my worries more quietly than before, for
all things are ruled by Him for His glory, and it is rebellion to
murmur against His will. Excuse a long letter."[14]

[14] This letter of 27th February and 1st March has been
presented to the Trustees of the British Museum, and is now
exhibited in the Manuscript Department.

It may be well at this point to consider the position of General Gordon
in his official relationship to the Egyptian and English Governments,
for it is impossible to understand subsequent events accurately,
without a proper apprehension of the exact state of affairs. When
Gordon was first sent out, his instructions were merely "to report to
Her Majesty's Government on the military situation in the Soudan, and
on the measures which it might be deemed