The vote of a million for the military expenses of
the Nile Expedition was proposed on Thursday by Lord Hartington, and passed in a thin House by 73 to 17, the opposition being confined to Sir W. Lawson and Mr. Labouchere, supported by a few Irish Members. Lord Hartington ex- plained that the Nile route had been chosen as the cheapest; he hoped that the Expedition would return this winter, and he asserted that General Wolseley had instructions to establish a Government at Khartoum. The vote was a preliminary one ; but he did not expect any such expenditure as was incurred for the Abyssinian Expedition. He thought the relief would be in time, though the latest direct information as to General Gordon's position was only down to August 29th; and he denied the accuracy of M. Ferry's statement to the French Cabinet that General Gordon had been shot on his way to Berber. Sir E. Baring thinks that report, though believed by the French Consul, a mere repetition of an old bazaar rumour, and says, if it were true, it must have reached Dongola. That remark is correct, unless the Mudir of Dongola did not choose that the truth should be made known till the Expedition had reached Khartoum ; but Sir E. Baring must be able to judge of that official's fidelity. The criticisms offered were of the most use- less kind, the only direct one being Sir W. Lawson's, that General Gordon was not worth an expedition. What has that to do with the matter, if the country is bound to send one,— which is the universal decision.
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