hat the matter was finally decided.
Writing home in reference to the Khedive's kindness, he quotes that
text, "Ask of me, and I will give thee to the half of my kingdom," and
then he goes on to say:--

"And now for the reverse of the medal. It is the sacrifice of a
_living_ life. To give your life to be taken at once, is one
thing; to give a life such as is before me is another and more
trying ordeal. I have set my face to the work, and will give my
life to it. I feel as if I had nought to do with the Government.
God must undertake the work.... I think how many would be weighed
down by this immense charge; how they would shrink from accepting
it without some other help, for fear of their reputation. But for
me, I never gave the question a thought. I feel sure of success;
for I do not lean on my own understanding, and He directs my path."

On March 19th he writes with regard to his grand escort:--

"Here I met two hundred cavalry and infantry, who had come to meet
us. I am most carefully guarded--at six yards' radius round the
tree where I am sitting are six or eight sentries, and the other
men are in a circle round them. Now, just imagine this, and put
yourself in my position. However, I know they will all go to sleep,
so I do not fret myself. I can say truly, no man has ever been so
forced into a high position as I have. How many I know to whom the
incense would be the breath of their nostrils. To me it is irksome
beyond measure. Eight or ten men to help me off my camel! as if I
were an invalid. If I walk, every one gets off and walks; so,
furious, I get on again."

After being appointed Governor-General of the Soudan, the first thing
Colonel Gordon did was to attempt to bring about a definite peace
between the Khedive and the King of Abyssinia, whose territory adjoins
the Soudan. It will be remembered that in the year 1868 an English
expedition, under the late Lord (then Sir Robert) Napier, went against
Theodore, King of Abyssinia, to punish him for imprisoning and
ill-treating British subjects. Being defeated, that monarch committed
suicide. Before his defeat, as he was much hated, some of his
chieftains had broken into open revolt, and one of them had proclaimed
himself king of a certain province. Sir Robert Napier presented this
chieftain with four guns and a thousand rifles, and this recognition on
the part of the conquerors en