was dissuaded from this by Lord Granville. Although he had denounced the annexation of the Transvaal in the election campaign, he announced in January 1881 that self-government was not going to happen. The Boers rebelled against this in February and drove the British out by force at the Battle of Majuba Hill. Gladstone implemented the Pretoria Convention later in August which ended the First Boer War. In October in a speech at Leeds, Gladstone proclaimed: "While we are opposed to imperialism, we are devoted to the empire". However, in 1882 a nationalist revolt in Egypt headed by Colonel Urabi led to a riot in Alexandria whereby hundreds of foreigners were massacred. There was a danger to the Suez Canal, the lifeline to India, as well as to British holders of Egyptian bonds. At first, Gladstone appealed to the Concert of Europe to take collective action, although this was met by unenthusiastic responses. France refused to send military forces in fear of weakening France's defences against Germany. On 10 July Gladstone instructed that an ultimatum be given to Urabi to halt military fortifications of Alexandria within twelve hours. Urabi did not answer and so on 11 July the Royal Navy bombarded the city. This resulted in rioting and Gladstone got from Parliament £2,300,000 and raised the income tax from 5d. to 6½d. to finance a military campaign. On 19 August British troops commanded by Sir Garnet Wolseley landed at Port Said and on 13 September defeated Urabi's forces at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir. On hearing news of the British victory Gladstone was ecstatic and ordered salutes of the guns in Hyde Park in their honour. In January 1884 Gladstone consented to sending General Gordon to the Sudan to report on the best means of evacuating Egyptian garrisons there in the aftermath of the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad's rebellion. When Gordon arrived in the Sudan he wanted to hold the capital, Khartoum. At first Gladstone refused to send a relief expedition but a few months later he consented and in October 1884 General Wolseley embarked from Cairo to Khartoum but arrived there too late to save Gordon, who had died when Khartoum fell to the Mahdi. "No single event in Gladstone's career made him more unpopular" and a vote of censure in the Commons reduced the government's majority to fourteen. Religious issues Enormous publicity was accorded the case of Charles Bradlaugh, who was elected as a Liberal to Parliament again and again but could not be seated because he was an atheist. Bradlaugh was a conventional Liberal on most issues, but he was also a highly controversial proponent of birth control. The technical issue was whether an atheist could "affirm" his loyalty rather than "swear to God." Gladstone fought to get Bradlaugh seated, but took a legalistic approach which allowed the Conservatives to attack the Liberals with an appeal to religious sentiment. The Liberals were split and their cause suffered. Bradlaugh was finally seated in 1886 and in 1888 Parliament passed a law that allowed affirmations instead of oaths. With very little publicity Gladstone after 1880 was increasingly estranged from Queen Victoria on issues of Church of England patronage. Gladstone's policy was to nominate bishops and deans solely on the basis of merit and leadership ability. The Queen, encouraged by Disraeli, favoured moderates who would restrain the High Church party (which tended to support the Liberals). Third government (1886) The general election in November/December 1885 saw the Liberals lose 33 seats but in January 1886 Salisbury resigned the premiership after losing a vote in the Commons and so Gladstone formed a government on