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dangerous beast had been quelled by the stern eye of its master。

Other questions became more interestingthe Reform Bill; the

Russians; the House of Lords。 Gordon; silent in Khartoum; had

almost dropped out of remembrance。 And yet; help did come after

all。 And it came from an unexpected quarter。 Lord Hartington had

been for some time convinced that he was responsible for Gordon's

appointment; and his conscience was beginning to grow

uncomfortable。



Lord Hartington's conscience was of a piece with the rest of him。

It was not; like Mr。 Gladstone's; a salamander…consciencean

intangible; dangerous creature; that loved to live in the fire;

nor was it; like Gordon's; a restless conscience; nor; like Sir

Evelyn Baring's; a diplomatic conscience; it was a commonplace

affair。 Lord Hartington himself would have been disgusted by any

mention of it。 If he had been obliged; he would have alluded to

it distantly; he would have muttered that it was a bore not to do

the proper thing。 He was usually boredfor one reason or

another; but this particular form of boredom he found more

intense than all the rest。 He would take endless pains to avoid

it。 Of course; the whole thing was a nuisancean obvious

nuisance; and everyone else must feel just as he did about it。

And yet people seemed to have got it into their heads that he had

some kind of special faculty in such mattersthat there was some

peculiar value in his judgment on a question of right and wrong。

He could not understand why it was; but whenever there was a

dispute about cards in a club; it was brought to him to settle。

It was most odd。 But it was trite。 In public affairs; no less

than in private; Lord Hartington's decisions carried an

extraordinary weight。 The feeling of his idle friends in high

society was shared by the great mass of the English people; here

was a man they could trust。 For indeed he was built upon a

pattern which was very dear to his countrymen。 It was not simply

that he was honest: it was that his honesty was an English

honestyan honest which naturally belonged to one who; so it

seemed to them; was the living image of what an Englishman should

be。



In Lord Hartington they saw; embodied and glorified; the very

qualities which were nearest to their heartsimpartiality;

solidity; common sensethe qualities by which they themselves

longed to be distinguished; and by which; in their happier

moments; they believed they were。 If ever they began to have

misgivings; there; at any rate; was the example of Lord

Hartington to encourage them and guide themLord Hartington who

was never self…seeking; who was never excited; and who had no

imagination at all。 Everything they knew about him fitted into

the picture; adding to their admiration and respect。 His fondness

for field sports gave them a feeling of security; and certainly

there could be no nonsense about a man who confessed to two

ambitionsto become Prime Minister and to win the Derbyand who

put the second above the first。 They loved him for his

casualnessfor his inexactnessfor refusing to make life a cut…

and…dried businessfor ramming an official dispatch of high

importance into his coat…pocket; and finding it there; still

unopened; at Newmarket; several days later。 They loved him for

his hatred of fine sentiments; they were delighted when they

heard that at some function; on a florid speaker's avowing that

'this was the proudest moment of his life'; Lord Hartington had

growled in an undertone 'the proudest moment of my life was when

MY pig won the prize at Skipton Fair'。 Above all; they loved him

for being dull。 It was the greatest comfortwith Lord Hartington

they could always be absolutely certain that he would never; in

any circumstances; be either brilliant; or subtle; or surprising;

or impassioned; or profound。 As they sat; listening to his

speeches; in which considerations of stolid plainness succeeded

one another with complete flatness; they felt; involved and

supported by the colossal tedium; that their confidence was

finally assured。 They looked up; and took their fill of the

sturdy; obvious presence。 The inheritor of a splendid dukedom

might almost have passed for a farm hand。 Almost; but not quite。

For an air that was difficult to explain; of preponderating

authority; lurked in the solid figure; and the lordly breeding of

the House of Cavendish was visible in the large; long; bearded;

unimpressionable face。



One other characteristicthe necessary consequence; or; indeed;

it might almost be said; the essential expression; of all the

rest completes the portrait: Lord Hartington was slow。 He was

slow in movement; slow in apprehension; slow in thought and the

communication of thought; slow to decide; and slow to act。 More

than once this disposition exercised a profound effect upon his

career。 A private individual may; perhaps; be slow with impunity;

but a statesman who is slowwhatever the force of his character

and the strength of his judgmentcan hardly escape unhurt from

the hurrying of Time's winged chariot; can hardly hope to avoid

some grave disaster or some irretrievable mistake。 The fate of

General Gordon; so intricately interwoven with such a mass of

complicated circumstance with the policies of England and of

Egypt; with the fanaticism of the Mahdi; with the

irreproachability of Sir Evelyn Baring; with Mr。 Gladstone's

mysterious passions was finally determined by the fact that

Lord Hartington was slow。 If he had been even a very little

quickerif he had been quicker by two days。。。 but it could not

be。 The ponderous machinery took so long to set itself in motion;

the great wheels and levers; once started; revolved with such a

laborious; such a painful deliberation; that at last their work

was accomplishedsurely; firmly; completely; in the best English

manner; and too late。



Seven stages may be discerned in the history of Lord Hartington's

influence upon the fate of General Gordon。 At the end of the

first stage; he had become convinced that he was responsible for

Gordon's appointment to Khartoum。 At the end of the second; he

had perceived that his conscience would not allow him to remain

inactive in the face of Gordon's danger。 At the end of the third;

he had made an attempt to induce the Cabinet to send an

expedition to Gordon's relief。 At the end of the fourth; he had

realised that the Cabinet had decided to postpone the relief of

Gordon indefinitely。 At the end of the fifth; he had come to the

conclusion that he must put pressure upon Mr。 Gladstone。 At the

end of the sixth; he had attempted to put pressure upon Mr。

Gladstone; and had not succeeded。 At the end of the seventh; he

had succeeded in putting pressure upon Mr。 Gladstone; the relief

expedition had been ordered; he could do no more。



The turning…point in this long and extraordinary process occurred

towards the end of April; when the Cabinet; after the receipt of

Sir Evelyn Baring's final dispatch; decided to take no immediate

measures for Gordon's relief。 From that moment it was clear that

there was only one course open to Lord Hartington to tell Mr。

Gladstone that he would resign unless a relief expedition was

sent。 But it took him more than three months to come to this

conclusion。 He always found the proceedings at Cabinet meetings

particularly hard to follow。 The interchange of question and

answer; of proposal and counterproposal; the crowded counsellors;

Mr。 Gladstone's subtleties; the abrupt and complicated

resolutionsthese things invariably left him confused and

perplexed。 After the crucial Cabinet at the end of April; he came

away in a state of uncertainty as to what had occurred; he had to

write to Lord Granville to find out; and by that time; of course;

the Government's decision had been telegraphed to Egypt。 Three

weeks later; in the middle of May; he had grown so uneasy that he

felt himself obliged to address a circular letter to the Cabinet

proposing that preparations for a relief expedition should be set



on foot at once。 And then he began to understand that nothing

would ever be done until Mr。 Gladstone; by some means or other;

had been forced to give his consent。 A singular combat followed。

The slippery old man perpetually eluded the cumbrous grasp of his

antagonist。 He delayed; he postponed; he raised interminable

difficulties; he prevaricated; he was silent; he disappeared。

Lord Hartington was dauntless。 Gradually; inch by inch; he drove

the Prime Minister into a corner。 But in the meantime many weeks

had passed。 On July 1st; Lord Hartington was still remarking that

he 'really did not feel that he knew the mind or intention of the

Government in respect of the relief of General Gordon'。 The month

was spent in a succession of stubborn efforts to wring from Mr。

Gladstone some definite statement upon the question。 It was

useless。 On July 31st; Lord Hartington did the deed。 He stated

that; unless an expedition was sen

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