at
he restored his cattle to and recompensed in other ways a friendly
chief who had been attacked in mistake, would lie in wait for him, and
lay their views and grievances before him. He could walk fearlessly
and unarmed through their midst, and along the river banks for miles,
when an Egyptian official would have required a regiment to guard
him, and detached soldiers would have been enticed into the long grass
and murdered. Even the hostile tribes like the Bari, who, from a
mistaken view of their own military power, would not come to terms,
showed their recognition of his merit by avoiding in their attacks the
posts in which he happened to be. Thus there grew up round Gordon in
the Soudan a sublime reputation for nobleness and goodness that will
linger on as a tradition, and that, when these remote regions along
the Equator fall under civilized authority, will simplify the task of
government, provided it be of the same pattern as that dispensed by
General Gordon.

As the subject has a permanent practical value, the following passage
embodying General Gordon's views is well worth repetition:--

"I feel sure that a series of bad governments have ruined the
people. Three generations of good government would scarcely
regenerate them. Their secretiveness is the result of the fear
that if they give, it may chance that they may want. Their
indolence is the result of experience that if they do well, or if
they do badly, the result will be _nil_ to them, therefore why
should they exert themselves? Their cowardice is the result of
the fear of responsibility. They are fallen on so heavily if
anything goes wrong. Their deceit is the result of fear and want
of moral courage, as they have no independence in their
characters. For a foreign power to take this country would be
most easy. The mass are far from fanatical. They would rejoice in
a good government, let its religion be what it might. A just
administration of law, and security of person against arbitrary
conduct, would do a great deal. It is the Government that needs
civilizing far more than the people. Mehemet Ali and his
descendants have always gone on the principle of enriching
themselves by monopolies of all sorts. None, not even the present
Khedive (Ismail), have brought in civilizing habits or customs
with any desire to benefit the country, or, at any rate, they