From Professor Richard Shannon Sir: Is it possible that Alastair
Campbell does not know that in 1882 Gladstone invaded and occupied Egypt? Is it possible also that he is not aware that Gladstone's largest holding (one third) in his bond portfolio at the time was £19,400 of the Egyptian Tribute Loan; which stock consequently shot up from 57 to 82? The Grand Old Man seems to have been quite impervious to any embarrassment in the matter of his tidy profit, no doubt because it was not then public knowledge.
People like Mr Campbell who make use of Gladstone's name and reputation for their contemporary purposes should also know that on the news of Wolseley's victory at Tel-el-Kebir Gladstone wanted guns to boom and bells to be rung. And they should be aware that one of Gladstone's subsequent puzzles as master of the Nile, the Canal, and the crossroads of the world was: 'how to plant solidly Western and beneficent institutions in the soil of a Mohammedan community.'
Richard Shannon London W1
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