One hundred years ago
IT is one of the merits of Lord Hart- ington as an administrator that he is always tranquil. He despises exaggera- tion, disbelieves rumour, and meets menace with an indifference which is almost stolid. These are excellent qualities in a statesman, more especially in our day, when so many men of real capacity betray such a liability to emo- tion; but the man who possesses them usually possesses also their defects, and we are afraid of the Secretary at War be- ing a little too tranquil as to the military danger in Egypt. He naturally and very properly looks upon the alarmist telegrams, now so frequently received, with a certain contempt. He remembers what newspaper readers seem to forget, that distances on the Nile are very great, the cities which seem so close on a map being often separated by the breadth of England; he understands that the Arabs, though splendid marchers as individuals, cannot, when congregated in armies, move much faster than Europeans; and he knows perfectly how difficult it is for them to overpower even a small force when defended by walls ... All these reasons for tranquility are sound; but they may, nevertheless, lead him to underrate the positive military strength which may be necessary to avert a cala- mity in Upper Egypt.
Spectator, 12 July 1884
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