BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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they failed in their result, but they have failed so
completely that they have shattered the political party
which in a moment allied themselves to them.82
It was a triumphant speech, filled with trumpets and fanfare,
praising the fifteen years of triumph accorded to the Conservative
cause.
Prominent in the recall was the memory of the British defeat
suffered at the hands of the Mahdi's in Khartoum in 1885.
Typical of
Salisbury, even in the moment of overwhelming victory, he mixed
exaltation with despair, warning of the prospect of "living and dying
nations" and the need of the Primrose League to ward off prospects of
decline.
While speaking to the Primrose League in 1900 during the midst
of the Boer war, it was once again the events of the 1880's, the
defeats suffered by the British at Majuba Hill and Khartoum, that
sprang to Salisbury's mind.
The death of Gordon has already been avenged. (Cheers.)
The savage empire which crushed the Egyptian Government
of that time, and in contending with which he met his
heroic death—that has been swept away utterly, so that
no vestige of it remains (cheers): and all the wide
territories which the Mahdi ruled with barbarous and
atrocious cruelty have now been brought within the
civilizing influence of the British Government in
alliance with the government of Egypt. (Cheers.) That
great blunder has at last been erased. There was
another blunder, another humiliation, even greater than
Khartoum—the humiliation which is connected with the
name of Majuba. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps it is too soon
to say that that great humiliation has been avenged,
but we feel that we are on the road to accomplish
that.83
82
The Primrose League Gazette, 1 June 1898, p. 4. The Times
also gave extensive coverage to Salisbury's speech. 5 May 1898, p. 7.
83
The Times, 20 April 1900, p. 8. The Gazette also published
the passage, although style and content varied slightly compared to The
Times. The Primrose League Gazette, 1 June 1900, p. 12.