507 



Books of the Month. 



MORE ABOUT 



GENERAL GORDON AND 

 SENT HIM OUT.* 



THE MEN WHO 



I BRACKET tlicse two books together Uccausc 

 their only abiding interest is the sHglit additional 

 light they throw upon the character of the most 

 heroic incarnation of the English ideal of chivalry 

 whoin our race produced in our time. It may no 

 doubt appear hyperbolical to say that the chief im- 

 portance of the Duke of Devonshire in history will he 

 found in the fact that 

 he was the Minister most 

 responsible for the send- 

 ing of Gordon to Khar- 

 toum. But no one can 

 read Mr. Holland's bulky 

 volumes without feeling 

 that most of their con- 

 tents are already losing 

 their living interest. 



1.— THE TWO 

 BOOKS. 



It might indeed be 

 maliciously described as 

 a dull book by a dull 

 writer dealing with a dull 

 man's dealing with dead 

 issues. For the Duke of 

 Devonshire, although one 

 of the most upright, seri- 

 ous, responsible of men, 

 was as unmistakably dull 

 as he frankly confessed 

 he found one of his own 

 speeches. If he yawned 

 at himself, posterity will 

 yawn over Mr. Holland's 

 biography. Tothosewho 

 took an active interest in 

 the questions which the 

 I )iike had to handle, there 



is much matter that they will like to read in these 

 volumes. But on the one point of permanent interest 

 to the world, in that it concerns a hero, Mr. Holland's 

 narrative is singularly disappointing. Neither the 

 author nor his subject seems to have grasped the 

 situation. An the Duke fumbled in well meaning but 

 ineffective fashion, so -Mr. Holland fumbles confusedly 

 over the narrative of that great tragedy. 



Mr. Wilfrid Blunt's hook is much more lively, 

 much more readable, but it is a scandalous production 



• " rtortlon it! Khartoum." l.cinff a pergonal nirrativcof cvcnl* in continiia- 

 linii (>( " A Secret Histnry of llic KimlUli Dccup.itiyn of Kgypl." lly Wilfrid 

 Scawpii Blunt. .SwifiandLo. 1 5s, net.) 



" rho Life of the I'uke uf Devonlhirc." By Beinard llulland. a vol«. 

 ([.on^nn. jas. net.) 



The Marquess of Haitington in the year 1888, 



(^Fx'iu llu pjintin^ ly the L.iJy A/<->£<iVi'iuj-.) 



— the mirror of a more or less disordered mind in 

 which i.s reflected the idle and malicious gossip of 

 London society thirty years ago. Nevertheless, it is 

 redeemed from oblivion that it does afford us here 

 and there glimpses of the real Gordon, although they 

 are distort<(i, and stained by their passage through 

 the meiliuni of Mr. Blunt's diaries. Much, howevr-r, 



may be forgiven a man 

 who contributes even a 

 single item to the over- 

 whelming indictment on 

 which Lord Cromer 

 stands condemned for 

 his attack upon the me- 

 mory ofthe manforwhose 

 sacrifice Lord Cromer, 

 more than any living 

 man, is responsible. 



THE RESPONSIBILITV OF 

 LORD CROMER. 



The chief value of Mr 

 Blunt's work lies in the 

 clear relief into which he 

 brings the fact that Lord 

 Cromer was the very first 

 man to suggest the des- 

 patch of an English 

 officer to Khartoum, and 

 that, writing before Gor- 

 don was thought of, he 

 defined as the necessary 

 duties of such an oflficer 

 the very task which he 

 afterwards blamed Gor- 

 don for attempting to 

 discharge. He also 



brings out more clearly 

 than before the signifi- 

 cant fact that the firman appointing General Gordon 

 as Governor General, approved, if not actually drafted 

 by Lord Oomer, expressly commanded him to do 

 those things which Lord Cronier_ censured him for 

 exceeding his instructions in attempting to do ! 

 'I'hese two are the only additional items which should 

 be added to the impeachment of Lord Cromer, which 

 I published in this Revii.w when " Modern Egypt" 

 lir.st appeared. 



A PARAI.LKI. ANU A (.ONTRASr. 



The contrast between Mr. Blunt and the Duke of 

 Devonshire is about as great as that between a 

 skittish young Arab stallion from the Crabbet stud 

 and one of those stately, solemn, powerful oxen 



